I learned the value of an external hard drive quickly when Windows 10 trashed my home computer.  <sigh>  That was not a fun time.  I'm back on Windows 7 Professional and that's where I'm staying until this computer dies.

Your computer should be backed up regularly and the backup needs to be stored somewhere other than on your computer.  External hard drives are portable, secure storage for your data and are commonly used precisely for this purpose. 

Continuous carbonless forms have pretty much become dinosaurs, having been replaced by cut sheet carbonless, which is more economical and easier to use.  You can either have the forms professionally printed (print.oexusa.com) or, to save even more money, you can print them yourself.  It's really not a difficult process - let me walk you through it. 

Back in the spring, I wrote a review of a new product - the Safco Onyx Powered Monitor Stand - and we gave one away as the grand prize in our 30th Anniversary Trivia Contest.  (You can read that review here.)  The winner of the contest recently wrote to me to tell me that he gave the monitor stand to his wife.  She is using it as part of her scrapbooking set up and he says she absolutely loves it! 

So your company is hosting a dinner.  Perhaps it's a regional meeting or the annual employee Christmas party.  You want to make an elegant table - not just paper plates and paper cups.  We have a line of fine porcelain dinnerware, along with stainless steel cutlery and tempered glassware that can help you accomplish the perfect look.

Introducing Chef's Table Fine Porcelain.  

Do you know who's watching you?  Do you keep an eye on your home or business effectively?  Every so often I like to showcase an unusual item - one that you ordinarily might not think of trying to purchase from your office supply dealer - and today I'd like to show you our selection of surveillance cameras and dashcam recorders.

Samsill has a combination binder that I think many of you will find interesting - especially if you're in sales.  They're called the Duo 2-in-1 Organizer and the Trio 3-in-1 Organizer.  It is a combination of a ring binder and an expanding file pocket and, in the case of the Trio, a hanging file folder as well. 

I know..........you read the title and said to yourself, "Are you kidding me?  It's only the beginning of September!"  But like it or not, cold & flu season will be here before you know it.  The pharmacies in my area have had their "Get your flu shot" signs up since the beginning of August even though the shots weren't available yet.

I am the proud parent of an Eagle Scout and the Scout motto is Be Prepared.  Now is the time for you to check your first aid kits - both at home and in the office - and make sure your medicines are unexpired and that the kit is complete.  You should have some cold & flu supplies......

Have a small office?  Not a lot of space for shelf files or large filing cabinets but still have files that need to be accessible?  Consider a rolling file cart.

Rolling file carts, or mobile tub files, are a great way to keep active files handy without taking up a lot of space.  And, since they're mobile, they can easily go wherever you need them to be.  With or without a lid, these carts are available in a variety of sizes and configurations:

Justick boards are an item that has actually been around for about 10 years over in Europe and recently made its debut in the United States.  It's a line of display boards (whiteboards, bulletin boards, lobby boards, tabletop presentations and promo stands) that gives you the ability to display items without using tape, push pins, glue or magnets.

Today I'm going to show you the whiteboards.

Can you believe it's August already?  The summer has just flown by - at least for me - and now it's time for parents and teachers alike to start their back to school shopping.  Teachers, now is the time to stock up on items for your classrooms - like decorations, classroom aids, literature sorters, pencil & crayon sharpeners, learning wall papers, calculators and more.

If you have electronic equipment (and who doesn't?), you need to protect it from damage.  There are a couple ways to do this - one of which is to use surge protectors.  There are lots of variables to choosing a good surge protector and I may bore some of you if I were to discuss all of them, so I'm going to try to narrow it down to the most important points.

Charging and storing multiple mobile devices can be a challenge.  In recent years, schools have begun to purchase and pass out iPads to the students.  Hospitals use tablets for portable medical records; factories or warehouses may use them for inventory, and office settings can have multiple uses for the staff.  These are expensive investments and you need to not only charge them conveniently, but also keep them safe in a secure location.

Enter tablet charging stations - offering high speed charging and syncing, while keeping them safe from theft and tampering.

Probably the main concern when purchasing casters is making sure you get the right kind for the type of surface the chair is being used on.  If it's being used on hard floors, you need soft casters and if it's being used on carpeting or chair mats you need hard casters.  The other concern is getting the correct stem length and diameter.  Match your caster stem to the diagram below for the proper size and length.

Whiteboards are a common office element.  Or should I say "necessity?"  Just about every office has one.  Or more than one.  

If you find that you run out of space to write during meetings and conferences, you may want to consider the MasterVision Tile Whiteboard Wall System.  This system allows you to create any size writing surface or posting surface.

Today I have a product from Smead to share with you.  As you know, Smead is one of the big manufacturers of filing and organizational office products and is known for its innovation.  (Plus, it is a women-owned company.)

The new Corner Organizer File is a way to maximize the corner space on your desk.  

When evaluating a workspace for ergonomic correctness, remember to consider the keyboard.  Many people can work just fine with the keyboard on top of the desk, but frequently the desk isn't the right height and the user can't be positioned correctly.  Ergonomics are a critical component of an office - a space that isn't ergonomically correct can cause multiple health issues.

Over the time I've been writing this blog, I've reviewed a couple of different staplers - and I'm about to do it again.  Why?  Because the stapler that is my topic today comes from a company whose products I have not liked.   I tried PaperPro staplers when they first hit the market years ago and they were touting their products as the greatest new invention since sliced bread.  I had continuing problems with them jamming - and jam-free stapling was one of their marketing points in their ad campaign back then!  I finally gave up and threw the stapler in the trash.  So, when the manufacturer rep gave me samples to try recently, I was intrigued to see if the newest model was an improvement over my last experience.  

This is my first "team" review.  I was given several samples of the PaperPro inPOWER+ staplers, so I distributed them to my coworkers and we've all been testing them for several weeks now.  There are several different models - we tested both the 28 sheet capacity and the 20 sheet capacity and today we are pleased to present our findings to you.

We live in a digital age.  Transactions are electronic now - we pay our bills online, make purchases online - even buy our coffee with our smartphones.  Technology is wonderful, isn't it?  

Until something goes wrong.

ID Theft is everywhere - has it happened to you yet?  It has to me.  Fortunately, an alert bank teller stopped it before it became a disaster for me.  Trying to restore your identity and credit rating, as well as recovering your money, is time consuming and frustrating.  It can take years sometimes and require a lot of hoops to be jumped through.  And you can incur a lot of expense in the process.  Just what you need, right?

Now that the winter is over (am I going to incur the wrath of the weather gods for making that statement?) the season for moving and/or spring cleaning has begun!  If you're one of those people, the main thing you need is boxes.  Small, medium, large, wardrobe - you name it.  Or maybe you need storage boxes for the office (all those files have to go somewhere.....).

When you need to make a presentation at a meeting, you may be wondering how to make your ideas pop so that people will get excited about them.  Or maybe you just need a way to display multiple concepts and be able to edit as feedback is presented.  There are lots of ways you can do that - some that are high-tech like projectors and transparencies, some a little more low-tech like easel pads.  There are lots of brands of easel pads (regular and self-stick) out there, but today I'd like to introduce you to one product in particular - the Big Pad.