At BN Design we are always looking for ways to help our customers cut costs– by saving on the electricity bill, our customers can help the planet too. In honor of Earth Day, here are a few tips to help you do both:

1. Don’t use a screen saver if you have an LCD monitor. Modern LCD monitors do not suffer from the limitations of older technologies used in the past and images will not be “burned” into the screen. Screen savers may look cool, but leaving those monitors on can really add up. When the work day’s over, simply turn off your monitor. This is the first tip we give companies, because it’s so simple and effective.

2. If you don’t have an LCD monitor and are still using a CRT, switch. LCD’s use about 60% less power anyway and you will be able to implement step 1.

3. Turn off all extra peripherals, (printers, fans, desk lamps, etc.) while your workstation is not in use. We suggest using one power strip (with surge protection) for everything on your desk, and after your computer is shut off for the day, simply flip the switch. This will really add up to great savings. If you have a server, simply turn off the monitor when it’s not needed.

4. When purchasing an appliance of any kind for the office, always look for The Energy Star logo. You may pay a little extra, but you’ll save in the long run.

5. Use as many CFL’s as possible. This is not a gimmick. You may be surprised by the price, but you really will see a difference in your bill.

Okay, try these first five tips and see how much you save. And if you have any tips for us, just send us an email.

Happy Earth Day!

Early this morning we received news from PCWorld that Microsoft had officially branded the next office productivity sweet Office 2010. As we were in the middle of linking to this article, it was removed and postponed until tomorrow morning. Luckily we got most of the scoop so here it is:

Microsoft released a beta version of its exchange server today as well as details about the upcoming Office 2010. The project was originally titled Office 14 but few thought this name would stick. The company also has plans for a web-based version. Here is a first look:

Office 14 first look

The full article will be available tomorrow morning at PCWorld.

We are so excited for the next Office release and we will be first in line to buy the product (whatever its name is) when is becomes available.

BatemanLLP.com is the online home of the Athens, TX based law firm Bateman & Bateman LLP. Visit the site here:

Athens Texas Law Firm

Runt Entertainment is an artist development company located in Waco, Texas.  Visit the site here:

Runt Entertainment

Register.com, a registrar and hosting company, may have experienced a denial of service attack attributed to the Conficker virus. We were able to gain access to the FTP and it appeared that the mail servers were unaffected.

Check back here for updates.

No BN Design customers have experienced any outages from the Conficker virus; we implemented several new security features to remove vulnerabilities. To report any suspicious activity call our Business Continuity Team @ 254.366.4828.

We’ve received news that most of register.com’s services are back online and the rest should be up by the end of April 2.