Look, it’s time we were honest with each other: we know we’re not your only blog. We know you’ve got plenty of other feeds popping up in your RSS reader of choice (which, by the way, can’t be Google Reader anymore – what are you all using instead?). Today, in the interest of full disclosure, we thought we’d share a few of the online resources we look at when we open up our laptops first thing in the morning. Check out our top 5 sites for techy news, reviews, and events:

1. ZDNet- This blog is one of the best resources for IT professionals to find information about products, trends, optimization tips and more.  ZDNet has editions for 13 different geographic regions, providing you with important news from around the world, as well as local information most relevant to you.
2. Tech Republic- This website is not just a single blog; the blogging section covers a wide scope of topics including everything from a Tech Sanity Check to CIO Insights. Definitely worth a look!
3. The Next Web- A leading publication on internet technology, business and culture.  Their conference information alone is enough of a reason to check them out. Every two weeks they update the site with a list with all of the best conferences from around the world.
4. CIO- Here’s another site that hosts multiple blogs; beyond that, they’ve also got a section for whitepapers, a job board, and plenty of extensive research and analysis.
5. CNET- This is one of the top places to get extensive product reviews and the latest tech news.  Should you buy that gadget now, or wait for the new one? Odds are you’ll find an answer here.

We could go on and on about all the useful resources online for IT and tech news, but we’d rather hear from you: help us finish this list with your own favorite go-to sites. Let us know in the comments section which blogs and publications you read for up-to-date information that helps you stay ahead of the curve. We promise not to be jealous.

I am a very fortunate individual indeed, for many reasons, most of which wouldn’t be appropriate for me to divulge in a public place like this one. One of the reasons I am so fortunate is that I get to work with talented and dedicated people on a daily basis. Take Steve Cordero, for example. Steve has just posted three new how-to videos on Adobe TV just for IT professionals like you who need to configure, deploy, update and manage Adobe Acrobat XI and Adobe Reader XI within their organization.

Steve is one of our technical support managers, who tirelessly helps our largest customers through their Acrobat deployment needs. But he doesn’t bottle that knowledge up in some kind of magical memory store [due to international copyright laws I am probably not able to make a direct reference to a famous wizarding professor in a famous castle with a famous student wizard that stumbles across a famous magical memory store]. We’re grateful that Steve has been able to share with us all how to get things done.

The latest videos from Mr. Cordero are:

• Creating an AIP for Acrobat XI
• Chaining the Installer for Adobe Acrobat XI on OS X
• Building a Bootstrapper for Acrobat 11.0.01

There are also many other videos within the Acrobat IT Tips show on Adobe TV to help you be successful with Acrobat XI in your organization.

Now, time for me to go back to brewing butterbeer…

The second video in our series of Acrobat XI tips and tricks is all about eSignatures. With the recent integration of Adobe’s web contracting solution, EchoSign, into Acrobat XI, you can easily sign a PDF yourself electronically or getting a file e-signed by others.

We are launching a new series of short videos to explain common support questions we get from IT admins. Meet Steve Cordero, Acrobat Support Engineer, who has yet to get an Acrobat problem he wasn’t able to solve. In the first 5 videos Steve demonstrates different ways to create an installer package.  Let Steve show you how to create an Administrative Installation Point   for Acrobat 10.1.

Still on Acrobat 9 and confused about the order in which to deploy security and quarterly updates?  Watch the video on creating an AIP for Reader 9.4.6. The same method also applies to Acrobat Reader 9.

Another method of creating a single installer is using a Bootstrapper. Steve shows how to modify the Setup.ini file to chain all Acrobat Updates using the command line. Whether you select the AIP or Bootstrapper method comes down to preference. While the bootstrapper method may be quicker to create, you’ll have less control should something go wrong.

If you are looking to customize Acrobat to suit your organization’s environment, the free Adobe Customization Wizard allows you to predefine features of Acrobat prior to deployment or enabled pre-deployment customization of both the installer and the installed product. Steve explains two lesser known features of the Customization Wizard:

• First up is using the files and folders option to add plugins, redaction files or joboptions. In Steve’s demo he adds JavaScript files to an Acrobat X installation.
• In the second Customization Wizard demo Steve explains how to predefine the users’ preferences by modifying the registry, for example security preferences you want streamlined throughout your organization. The example used in the video shows how to disable the Welcome screen in Acrobat 10.1.

Both the Files and Folders and the Registry features allow you to leverage an existing configuration via simple drag and drop or create new configurations.

We would like to receive your feedback about these clips. Did you find them useful? Do you have suggestions for topics you always wanted to get visual help with? Please leave your comments and rate the videos.