SMB Tech News Today; 8/1

analysis
Aug 1, 20072 mins

Happy August! * Laser printers a health risk? Ouch. An Australian professor just completed a study which he says proves that the emissions on certain models of laser printers are as unhealthy as cigarette smoke. Guess breathing toner isn't good for you. He cited a lot of big names, including Canon, HP and Toshiba. (Source: CNET) * Payment card standard gets mixed reports. The payment card industry's latest Data

Happy August!

* Laser printers a health risk? Ouch. An Australian professor just completed a study which he says proves that the emissions on certain models of laser printers are as unhealthy as cigarette smoke. Guess breathing toner isn’t good for you. He cited a lot of big names, including Canon, HP and Toshiba. (Source: CNET)

* Payment card standard gets mixed reports. The payment card industry’s latest Data Security Standard (DSS) just went to version 1.1 and definitely shows improved safety for consumers. But there’s still folks questioning it. (Source: InfoWorld)

* Keyspan debuts USB server. This cute little box could be a boon for really small offices. Just plug it in and it allows you to share USB peripherals over a network. Not such a big deal for printers, but it also supports things like scanners, hard disks or digi cams. (Source: PC World)

* Microsoft releases some Mac friendliness. So if you’re using Microsoft Office on the Mac, you’re still on Mac Office 2004 which means you can’t open files saved in Office 2007’s new Open (not!) XML format. Well now you can. Just download this update and you’re good. There’s also an update that will let Mac machines access files on XP and Vista workstations. Worth a look if you’re working in a mixed OS environment. (Source: InformationWeek)