New York SBDC Research Network

This article from CNet notes that Adobe rolled out their brand-new Photoshop Express feature on March 27th. It's seen as a direct response to Google's Picasa application. This looks way cool to me. I've gone back-and-forth over the years as to whether I should buy Photoshop for my PC at home. Now, there's no need. If you've been looking for a low-cost means to touch-up, correct, re-color, or re-format your digital photos, and/or felt a need to store your current shots off-site, then this is the site for you. "Low-cost" with this application means "free," and off-site storage of 2 GB is available. The site will try & sell more sophisticated products to professional & hardcore amateur enthusiasts, but for people like me (who simply point & click), then the options offered by this site is plenty. The application is also usable via blog owners & This is a beta version, so there are likely bugs & hassles in there somewhere

Starting a small business is complicated, but keeping it out of the red can be even more challenging. The stress that some small business owners must experience over continually trying to keep a business afloat opposed to 'folding' must be immense. When I stumbled across the article "When to hold 'em, when to fold 'em" in the Toronto Star , I was struck by how useful some of the tips could be to our clients.

On Monday, I got a notice from an old college friend via Facebook. Yesterday, I received a request from someone to connect to my LinkedIn account. Today, I read an article from Computerworld on which of these sites was better for business. Call it karma. LinkedIn has always been designed as a networking site solely for interaction among those in business. Facebook originated as a networking site amongst those with college or university email addresses. However, it is being adapted more and more by those in the labor force as a means of finding better opportunities, contract employees, and so forth. The article presents six scenarios, and asked separate writers to argue the merits of one versus the other in that situation. Needless to say, the article doesn't provide an answer to the question of "Which is better?" (unless you consider "It depends" as a worthwhile conclusion). I only dabble at both, but I can certainly see why people get hooked on these sites.

I've been enjoying the free language learning podcasts available on itunes . I've been focusing on French and Danish. At the end of the Coffee Break French , the instructors encourage posting comments on itunes , which led me back to the site and I thought: before I post a comment I should listen to a language I do not know so well to see how manageable I found it. So I wandered over to Coffee Break Spanish and I can say that I think the program is great value for money. They offer free lessons with inexpensive add-on materials if you choose to use it. The instructor is a friendly Scottish guy who has a great accent in both French and Spanish and I think he leads other languages. The lessons are about 15 to 20 minutes long and very manageable. So, for those who have an MP3 player, this is a painless way to add some language skills to your day. Some of the other offerings on the Radio Lingua site are OneMinute Polish or Irish or Russian and MyDailyPhrase:Italian or German amo

"They're smart, they're aggressive and their services are free." Thus starts a really great article about the Niagara SBDC in the Spring 2008 issue of Niagara Business. Not only are the services of the Niagara SBDC pretty great, but the staff looks pretty great (and tough) in the cover photo of this issue. But the best part? Rick Gorko is kind enough to highlight research services! "We have librarians there who are paid to do research so the client doesn't have to spend hours or days in front of a computer trying to find out information we already have access to." Thanks for the shout out Rick! We'll do our best to keep saving the clients' time.

The state Tax Department has recently made available a new easy-to-use online NAICS Code Lookup service to locate North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for sales tax registration. "An accurate NAICS code will help us provide you with the sales tax returns, schedules, and other sales tax information specific to your type of business." It can also be useful for SBDC advisors who are entering records into various electronic databases.

Hello! Since this is my first week officially working for the SBDC RN and I am no longer the intern, I would like to introduce myself and give a little background on my education and interests. I hold a Bachelor’s of Science in Psychology and Criminal Justice from Elmira College. After graduating in June 2003, I moved around the country and spent time living in Arizona and Georgia. After returning to New York, I started my Master’s in Information Studies at SUNY Albany in January 2006 and graduated this past December. On a personal note, I enjoy reading (surprise!), cooking, traveling, watching movies, and gardening. I look forward to working with all of the regional offices. Please feel free to contact me for any reason. Best regards, Alexis Mokler