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It’s not too late to apply. Many states are still offering the Elevate America vouchers.

Check out Microsoft’s page HERE for a list of states with outstanding and available vouchers.

Microsoft, in an effort to strengthening the U.S. economy and increase global competitiveness, has set up a program to improve access to the education and workforce readiness skills required for twenty-first century jobs. In support of this commitment, Microsoft’s Elevate America initiative provides one million vouchers for Microsoft e-learning courses and select certification exams at no cost to recipients. Elevate America will be implemented in cooperation with states across the country as part of Microsoft’s overall effort to help train two million people over the next three years.

Visit the Microsoft site to check local availability for this program and use your vouchers to get Microsoft Office 2007 Training, Windows 7 Training, Project 2007 Training, and other Microsoft Training course at KeyStone Learning Systems.

I thought this was interesting….

According to a recent study, one in four workers take their laptops to bed and work on them before they go to sleep, most for 6 hours or more a week. That’s some dedication…

While I’m not planning to rush home and set up office in bed tonight, (I get in enough after-hours work from my couch, thank you very much!) I’m reminded how much our culture continues to become reliant on the web and on-demand technology.

Whether you are spending your weekend catching up on projects at a cabin, or checking your email before bed, it’s nice to know that you can get the technology you need, where and when you need it.

This is one of the fundamental reasons we developed the KeyStone OnDemand service. Our service provides 24×7 365-day access to your users, including training with subject and keyword search, full text articles, helpdesk support integration, and email notification.

Sign up for a free webcast and explore how we can help make your life more mobile.

For those of you on Twitter we wanted to let you know we will be conducting some informal polls on twitter to get to know our customers and followers a little better. The polls will cover a wide range of topics. It should be fun, I mean look at this post’s title, it has to be fun (its just fun to say)! Anyway you can find us on twitter at @KeyStoneLearn where we will keep you updated on the latest KeyStone and IT industry news. As well some periodic deals on free stuff we’re offering. See you on Twitter!


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According to independent research (completed by Vanson Bourne), legacy ‘enterprise search 1.0’ solutions are “woefully inadequate at meeting the sophisticated data needs of enterprises, which is seriously impacting productivity and profitability.” Apparently, the knowledge capture gap is prevalant because much of the company-specific knowledge doesn’t reside on a server, but rather in the heads of your employees.

So, how do you access this, as of yet, untapped information in a succinct knowledge transfer to make it not only accessible, but also searchable?

We may have the solution in KeyStone OnDemand. In addition to enabling users to quickly find desktop solutions and build skills that generate business results, KeyStone OnDemand offers the unique ability to create your own, custom content. Your staff can create, edit and assign searchable knowledgebase articles that can be easily added to end-users’ Quicklists. This is a great way to get this “tacit knowledge” out of your employees’ heads and into a company-wide searchable format.

Subscribe to the KeyStone OnDemand blog to be the first to learn about new additions to KeyStone OnDemand and special subscriber offers.

Since we find we answer this question about KeyStone OnDemand quite a bit, we figured we’d answer it right here on the blog for all to access.

Q. What are the minimum technical requirements for a user to view your training videos within KeyStone OnDemand?

A. Here are the full technical requirements: Browsers: Microsoft Internet Explorer 6+, Mozilla Firefox 1.5+ or Safari 2.0+; Resolution: 1024 × 768 or larger; Plug-ins: Adobe Flash Player 9.0.115+; Internet Connection: A broadband connection (150Kbps or faster) is recommended. You see, because KeyStone OnDemand is a hosted turnkey learning solution, there is no software or hardware to buy, install, maintain, or upgrade. KeyStone OnDemand allows your organization to immediately start learning, so product licensing includes everything you need, so you don’t need to worry about hidden IT, support and/or technology costs that can quickly add up to as much as ten times the original licensing fees.

You can check out all of our Frequently Asked Questions here.

Subscribe to the KeyStone OnDemand blog to be the first to learn about new additions to KeyStone OnDemand and special subscriber offers.

It seems like several times a week I’m hearing from our customers about how our training has helped them move on to a more rewarding job role, advance to a better position, or simply become an all-star in the position they are currently in.

With the new OnDemand portal, which really takes the training experience beyond courseware, I’m looking forward to hearing about how these changes impact and bring additional value to you.

As I get permission, I will post some of the testimonials and references I receive. If you have a story to tell, a blurb about how KeyStone training or the OnDemand platform has helped you, please feel free to enter it below or to Send me an email. I would love to hear about it.

Where we are today, and our direction for the future, is built on your feedback and our commitment to bring you the best solution available. Thank you for your time and business. It is our privilege to serve you.

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Microsoft has announced a new Windows 7 feature that will be called “Windows XP Mode“ that “…is specifically designed to help small businesses move to Windows 7. Windows XP Mode provides you with the flexibility to run many older productivity applications on a Windows 7 based PC.”

A beta of Windows 7 with the new Windows XP Mode and Windows Virtual PC for Windows 7 Professional and Windows 7 Ultimate is expected to be released soon.

You can read more about Windows XP Mode at http://windowsteamblog.com/blogs/business/archive/2009/04/24/coming-soon-windows-xp-mode-and-windows-virtual-pc.aspx.

Subscribe to the KeyStone OnDemand blog to be the first to learn about future Microsoft Windows 7 Training news and special subscriber offers.

Yesterday, we announced we were giving away our SharePoint Training Bundle ($149 value) for FREE until tonight at midnight. The response was so great that we’ve decided to extend this FREE offer through the end of April. You can now order the full online SharePoint Services 3.0 course absolutely free.

Simply go to the SharePoint Training Bundle page, click “add to cart” and enter this coupon code – SHRPTFREE.

As an added bonus, if you head over to Twitter and “follow us“ we’ll send you a direct message (DM) giving you access to our 150+ page SharePoint Services 3.0 eBook. This is the companion material to the SharePoint Services online training loaded with step-by-step instructions to help you master SharePoint.

*Offer ends Thursday, April 30, 2009 at midnight EST. Offer good for one 365-day online license. Limited to five users per organization. This product cannot be resold and is subject to standard license, terms, and conditions.

Subscribe to the KeyStone OnDemand blog to be the first to learn about future Microsoft SharePoint Training news and special subscriber offers.

For many designers, creating a logo is a rare treat. Fortunately, I got such a treat not too long ago. Since the recent launch of KeyStone OnDemand we wanted to create branding to set it apart as its own brand while still staying closely connected with KeyStone Learning Systems (KLS) branding.

KeyStone Learning Systems Logo below.

So why put valuable time in to creating a logo? At the end of the day what does a logo really do? Well, without descending in to a long boring speech about communication and how the effects of branding affect your everyday decisions, etc… It all really boils down to this, logos speak volumes, good or bad, about whatever they represent. A logo needs to not only be easily recognizable and memorable, but it also needs to communicate a clear, concise, and positive message.

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