April 2012

PDF Must Die.

I should begin this post with an admission that I am a firm supporter or the Portable Data Format (PDF) as designed and implemented by Adobe. With that said, PDF is becoming obsolete as its distant cousin Flash is becoming irrelevant in the modern world. Why you ask?  Well, Flash was supplanted by HTML5. It is loosing support on even Android devices and was never support by iOS devices natively. PDF is similar as it is a bulky CPU hogging battery life consuming technology that has no place in the world of mobile devices we use today. Among accountants and business professionals PDF serves a very important function, that is the movement of information between parties in a non-platform, application independent format.  The idea that a PDF is basically non-non-modifiable. Yes, I know a PDF can be modified. Anything can be changed if fraud is the objective, I said basically, and that is good enough in a number of cases. PDF is an ideal way to store information for long term archive, to move information between individuals, and to replace cumbersome paper.  But, it is aging. In testing Windows 8 and Office 15 I notice that XPS has matured nicely and other vendors than Microsoft are starting to support the Extensible Publishing Specification (XPS), which first appeared in Vista and Office 2007.  It is a format that is much more at home in the mobile world. Because it is based on the XML standards (as viewed by Microsoft) it is much more mobile, flexible, and take less space and processing power. PDF simply has too much baggage that information processors do not need. We are not publishing books or magazines (both of which now shun PDF in favor of more robust solutions such as EPUB3, and yet more options are coming down the road. So yes, how, where and when we use PDF files is and will change. Begin preparing and understanding the world of Electronically Stored Information (ESI) and be flexible. Will PDF die tomorrow? No, I think this will be a long, slow, and agonizing demise. But it is coming and we will evolve with it.

Microsoft Blogs New Windows 8 Versions.

Microsoft has released at least some of its intentions for Windows 8 Versions. As of this post here is what I believe will happen, based on information from Microsoft, and here is the link to Microsoft’s Blog Post, it is as absolute MUST to read. Here is a quick summary as I see it;

§  Windows 7 Home Premium will become just Windows 8.

§  Windows 7 Professional becomes Windows 8 Pro. Win8 Pro will be able to join a domain and act as a server in a Remote Desktop session. Windows 8 Pro also includes BitLocker drive encryption and Hyper-V Server, and it can boot from a virtual hard drive. Microsoft had not responded on whether it will keep  XP Mode, for those running older DOS applications that are not compliant with Windows Vista through Windows 8. It would not surprise me if they don’t support it. Not to worry, VMware Player and other Virtual Machine tools are available free for the download.

§  Windows 7 Enterprise becomes Windows 8 Enterprise – which really is a positioning versions for large customers with Software Assurance agreements." Otherwise, go with Windows 8 Pro.

§  Windows 7 Ultimate is going away it seems. You can upgrade your Windows 7 Ultimate to Windows 8 Pro.

§  Windows 7 Home Basic will most likely be replaced by some new Win8 version targeted at emerging markets. This scaled down version of Windows will most likely be local language–only versions, and most likely will sell  outside the U.S. and pre-installed on special purpose devices. Why? Microsoft often uses this low-end version to counter plagiarism of copyright material outside the U.S. and to compete against some versions of Linux.

§  Windows RT is the new versions for Windows 8 ARM machines (WOA)

(This deserves a little discussion as the programming technology that drives the Metro interface in Windows 8 for desktops and WOA is called WinRT.  So be careful, Windows 8 tablets (based on WinRT technology) and x86 x64 processor chips will be able to run traditional Windows programs. Whle, Windows RT tablets (running on ARM chips, also based on WinRT) but won't be able to run traditional Windows applications. Windows RT "will include touch-optimized desktop versions of the new Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote." There were some hints of this at the Microsoft Convergence conference, but nothing overwhelming to report yet.

§  There will also be a Windows Media Center version that looks like an add-on for Windows 8 Pro. Still have to figure out where this one is headed.

Discarded digital devices can retain sensitive data

I have had a number of seminar attendees ask me what to do with old systems they are retiring from service and discarding. Some may be throwing the devices away, but others say they are giving them to employees who use it at home.  So two questions come to mind. First, what about sensitive information that may be on the devices storage media. In the case of a Desktop, Notebook, Netbook or server - this could be paradise for identity theft. But, even old cell phones, tablets and pads (when the time comes) or copy machines and scanners hold a lot of sensitive information you may be responsible. I agree with McAfee identity theft expert Robert Siciliano who say, "I would beat the thing to death." Remove any disk drive, take it apart and bust it up. Fire may not be the best answer, according to www.gillware.com, data recovery experts, a significant amount of data can be recovered from a device even after it has been subjected to high heat, because the fire did not penetrate the casing.  For cell phone and tablet devices, the experts recommend that you set the device to its original factory settings. In the case of Blackberry and iPhone, iPad this may be enough to remove data stored on the drive (unless you have directly stored files in a folder outside the Apple data partition - if you are guilty, you know who you are.) Android devices are not as secure as experts have found residual data, even after resetting the device. Simply formatting a disk is not enough either. In some cases data fragments can be recovered by a forensic computer scientist after as many as 15 reformat events. At the end of the day, know where your hardware is headed and that your data is not on it. After, you are responsible.

Microsoft Excel Add-in for Fuzzy lookups.

From my friend Brian Tankersley, CPATechBlog, about a year ago, Microsoft Labs issued an add-in for Excel 2010 (only 2010, not 2007) which does “fuzzy” lookups.   Although you’ve been able to do this in SQL Server for some time, there is now a free Excel add-in which performs the same function.  This is an outstanding tool for management accountants and others who have to clean up large data sets.

Information on the add-in is as follows:

• Blog post about it: http://blog.contextures.com/archives/2011/05/06/fuzzy-lookup-add-in-for-excel-2010/

• Intro video @ bit.ly/Jn5RDA

• Download @ bit.ly/Jn5PeW (Excel 2007 not supported)

Keeping On Top Of Technology Does Not Have to Break the Bank!

As a lecturer and seminar presenter for K2 Enterprises the frequent question I run across is "How can I learn more but spend fewer dollars?" One of my favorite training and education sites is www.lynda.com. For $250 a year (reasonable company rates for multiple users available) I get unlimited, "all I can eat", training on a vast and varied range of technical subject matter from HTML 5 development to creating forms in Adobe Acrobat and Excel Macros. No CPE, or interaction with with audience or instructor, but good solid, interactive education. For those of you in IT who are searching for technical training but have a very small budget, try http://learnnowonline.com/.  They are running a one year special at the moment for $99.99 and at first glance looks pretty good. Let me know where you go for training and best practice tips on keeping up with technology changes.

Who is Watching Telcom Costs?

The answer to the title of this post may be "NO ONE."  As the movement to  Bring Your Own Device, BYOD, continues to grow we have seen a marked increase in the cost to support such smart devices as Smartphones and tablets. But whether the employee buys the device, chooses the device, or is issued a predetermined device really does not matter. The real issue is what telecom charges need to be managed and by whom. And more often the whom is IT.  IT must embrace and actively address Telcom Expense Management, TEM. IT has to be recognized as the gatekeeper for TEM and not be bypassed by management. Either IT has the authority to manage costs, or they do not. Keep in mind that the cost of the device, phone or tablet, is a fraction of the cost of ownership. You much include training costs, maintenance costs, replacement costs, and usage (TEM) costs. If you do not have an Internal Control policy to govern these mobile devices and TEM, now would be a good time to start.

1 in 5 Macs Are Infected?

Sophos, a leading provider of Mac anti-virus software has released a study claiming that one in five Macs have malware. The report, released on April 24, 2012, is based on a “100,000 unit snapshot” of the millions of Macs that downloaded Sophos’s free Mac antivirus software. The study found that 20% of Macs were carrying one or more instances of Windows malware. Such malware doesn’t cause symptoms unless the Mac owners run Windows on their machines, but the machines may spread the virus to others, including Windows systems. The real statistic for me was that the report found that 2.7% of Macs were infected with Mac OS malware. The majority of such Mac OS malware is composed of fake antivirus attacks, like the recent Flashback botnet. Mac owners can contract such malware by downloading email attachments, visiting rogue websites and unknowingly installing it via their USB drive. So the bottom line is that while 20% of Macs may be infected, only 2.7% are actually Mac infections and the rest are dormant Windows virus's and may simply be carriers.

Time to Have That Talk?

It seems like having "that talk" with your teenager is not a subject for this hallow publication, but in this case we are talking about having a talk on using their Smartphone and Social Networking. Today, this conversation may be just as important as that other conversation. This article by Kim Komando in USA Today recently has some very good insight - and this advise goes far beyond teens, it applies to many pre-teens who are Internet active as well as those old 20 something employees who work for you.  Even some of the silver haired users could stand to follow this sound advice.

Printing from your Smartphone or Tablet.   

I am presenting a number of conference sessions and four hour iPad for Business seminars this year for K2 Enterprises. My number one question, after "which model should I buy," is how can I print. As accountants we know we shouldn't print everything; but we want to!  So a couple of recommendations; you can either purchase an ePrint compatible printer, most of these are HP printers and start around $69 at the low end and go up to $500, and then download the ePrint app for your i device or  android device. You might also consider the xPrintServer,  just plug it in and print to nearly any network attached printer  from your iPhone or iPad. Great tool for home or office, $149. This device only works with Apple AirPrint devices, but does an amazingly good job. Just plug it in, wait a few minutes while it finds all your printers on the network and then give it a try. I printed to all my old printers including an HP Color Laserjet 2605 and a couple of Photosmart printer as well as my HP 6510 ePrinter. All worked fine. However, one small but important glich. The unit does not jump sub-nets. So in a larger business where you have more than one access point it will not find printers on other sub-nets than the one it is plugged into. This will not be a problem for most small business or home users.

Adding Wireless Devices like Smartphones and Tablets may be more costly than you think.

Several articles have appeared lately talking about the impact of suddenly adding large numbers of wireless devices to your Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN.)  New Challenges Designing WLANs for Tablets  is a great example of one hospital who suddenly added 3000 iPads to Wi-Fi with disastrous results.  You must remember that a wireless access point (WAP) broadcast and receives message from wireless devices. These could be computers as well as tablets and phones. All these devices share the capacity of the WAP. The more devices you add the more difficult it is for a single device to service the demand, so devices timeout, crash or just crawl. Where we once used WAP packing density (how many should we install) of 2500 to 5000 square feet per device, with the larger number of devices in service we have to use the lower density and some businesses are using 1500 square feet per unit.  Bottom line, do the math first. Those $500 tablets that seem line a cheap business tool will need WiFi network access, perhaps increased Internet bandwidth for access, and don't forget the ongoing cost of maintenance, support and training.

PaaS Positioned for Strong Cloud Presence

Platform-as-a-service (PaaS) is quickly becoming a major cloud services category. There are multiple types of PaaS, and vendors are playing in more than one sub-category, so it’s not easy to tell the players without a scorecard. Here are 10 companies that have emerged as leaders in the PaaS market. An IDC study forecast 2011–2015 growth for the worldwide public platform-as-a-service (PaaS) market to increase dramatically. The worldwide public PaaS market is expected to grow from $2.2 billion in 2010 to $9.1 billion by 2015, reflecting a CAGR of 32.3%. I expect a lot of this growth in PaaS to be fueled by Microsoft who has actively adopted and expanded PaaS as the basis for their Cloud based services. The Microsoft Dynamics family of products that include Dynamics CRM, AX, and other solutions are deployed via Microsoft's Azure Cloud solutions. Customers can run their core applications from Microsoft bunkers around the world in a hosted environment. Azure SQL manages the data, and all the services link with Microsoft consultants available to support large national and international clientele. With Microsoft's support for PaaS, I can see the IDC forecast even being low as the Cloud continues to grow. K2 Enterprises presents a number of conference and all day seminars on Cloud computing for a better understanding of how it works and is it a good decision for your business. There is also a good overview of Cloud and Cloud Solutions at the K2 Enterprises accounting software site.

Custom Apps taking over IT

It was only a matter of time. Business has developed custom applications for years so they could do things the way they wanted. And, they paid the price of supporting custom applications as well. Custom applications were often not properly tested, often failed (at the worse possible time,) and required programming staff to constantly update.  So, it makes sense that with the evolution of Smart Devices such as Tablets and Smartphones, IT folks would turn to custom App development for these new devices. This is a slippery slop to travel. Developing custom apps can seem quick and simple, but the supporting of those custom apps become very expensive over time. General principles dictate that; first, make sure of the total cost-of-ownership for each app you purchase or develop. Is there a long term ROI. If you decide to develop a custom app; who will support it, are there legal issues regarding the data the file uses, who has access, and what is the life of the app?  What platform will you distribute the app on. With the consumerization of the workplace (Bring You Own Device - BYOD) you may have to support iOS, Android, and Metro to cover all possible devices and this could mean three sets of code.   Many IT departments are outsourcing App development out to third-parties. This also brings its own unique set of headaches as you have little control over the quality of the app, as well as the extent of the documentation provided. App development has to follow a strict set of rules and guidelines for management or the results will be costly and perhaps even deadly. 

Are You An e-Hoarder?

There are a ton of shows on TV about hoarders. Those poor people that keep everything! Well the traumatic condition called e-hoarding is finally coming out of the closet. Many accountants suffer from document hoarding. In other words, we keep stuff for ever - longer if we can. Why? Because! Well e-hoarding is what happens when we go paperless and more and more of our data is stored electronically.

First, e-hoarding is expensive. IBM found that one in three business leaders frequently make decisions based on information they either don't have or don't really trust. Shockingly, one in two business leaders admit that they don't have working access to the information they need to do their jobs. Business leaders and knowledge workers usually know they have the data they need somewhere, but they can't put their finger on it. They don't know how to find it, and if they do find it, they're not sure how current or accurate it is. Not following a records retention policy for the destruction of expired files could lead to legal problems in the event of litigation and e-discovery. E-hoarding leads to the retention of vast amounts of electronic documents and the potential of retrieving an incorrect version of a document for decision making - the outcome of which is a bad decision. With computers sold with higher capacity hard drives, e-hoarding doesn't stress storage the way it would have in the past. And why delete, when it may well be cheaper to store? The cost of storage has dropped from about $9 per GB in 2000 to about $.08 per GB today. If you're a well-paid knowledge worker, the productivity lost while purging old files may well cost your organization more than the bloated storage costs. That is, until it comes time to find something. Powerful search engines like Google create the illusion that information is always at our fingertips. This is however, just an illusion. If you are not sure if you are an e-hoarder or not, Network World has compiled 10 signs you're an e-hoarder. Even after reviewing these signs and deciding you are just fine - you could still be an e-hoarder. If you e-mail inbox has 10,000 messages (or even a thousand) you are most likely an e-hoarder. If you local hard drive has a copy of every document on your server - or every document you have EVER created, you are an e-hoarder. If you sent your client last years financial statement by accident, you are probably an e-hoarder. Cleaning up old documents, either by archiving or deleting, reduces error, increases system performance, and improves efficiency. Yes, it does take time, but, there are financial rewards to keeping your files in good order and limiting the number of documents you work with.

Windows 8 ARM - What you need to know.

Windows 8 is much more than previous versions of Windows. First it is actually two versions, a x86/64 (that's lingo for the traditional Intel based PC in 32bit (x86) and 64bit (x64)) version with a highly modified Desktop (looks and feels like Windows 7 but no start button, and the search capability stinks,) and a new graphical front end called Metro (derived from Windows Phone OS.) The second version is designed for ARM processors (smaller, reduced instruction set, chips) that are primarily for Netbooks, Ultrabooks, and  Tablets. These ARM devices are will support touch and gestures and limited content entry. Think iPad only really really different. There are several things you should know about Windows 8 ARM Tablets, so read up on this technology. If you are the "Computer Guy", or gal, in your office, I strongly suggest you download the Windows 8 Consumer Preview and begin working with it. It is stable enough to use in most environments, but I have not tested all specialty programs (i.e. Tax and Audit for example,) but should run pretty stable.  Windows 8 will be such a radical change someone in your organization needs to get ahead of the curve and develop a migration plan. Windows 8 is expected in October, along with a new Microsoft Office 15, so new Windows systems after than will ship with Windows 8, and there may not be an option for option for reloading the machine with Windows 7 (see UEFI article below.) Note, Windows XP should not be an option for you any longer. Security issues and an end-of-life of April 14, 2014 means this OS is dead.

Microsoft's branding confusion continues.

I am currently playing with Windows 8 and trying to learn all the new secrets. So when I installed Windows 8 Consumer Preview, I immediately wanted to protect my system and tried to install malicious software protection software. I have been a big fan of Microsoft's Defender and Microsoft Security Essentials for several years to protect my Windows computers. Naturally, I went to download Security Essentials immediately and receive a not compatible message. What to do, what to do?   In researching the problem I found that Microsoft is playing around with its branding again. This has been an ongoing issue for Microsoft. Some of you may remember the whole Windows Live ID branding fiasco. Originally Live ID was called Microsoft Wallet, then MS Passport, then .NET Passport, then MS Passport Network before finally being labeled Windows Live ID. Another product, MSN Messenger, became MSN Messenger Service, then it became Windows Live Messenger. It seems Microsoft likes to confuse us with product name changes and it seems Windows Defender is about to join the group. The latest branding is Windows Defender Online, or WDO. Branding history of WDO goes something like this. Back in 2004, Microsoft bought a company called GIANT Antispyware and turned that product into Microsoft Antispyware the next year. Microsoft then rewrote the code and named it Windows Defender in 2006, releasing it as a free download for Windows XP. Then Microsoft built Windows Defender into Vista and Windows 7 - and Windows 8. In 2005, Microsoft also bought a company called Sybari and turned Sybari's antivirus product into a corporate AV suite — Microsoft Forefront. Many larger companies run Forefront at the server/network level and it enjoys a very good reputation.

Microsoft created a free, consumer version of Forefront for the desktop called Microsoft Security Essentials (also available to small businesses for free). If you download and install Microsoft Security Essentials on a PC that has Windows Defender (ether manually installed on XP or integrated into later versions) it will automatically disable Windows Defender and takes over Defender's functions.

It now appears that Microsoft is recycling the Windows Defender name, but none of the original WD code. Microsoft has stated that "With Windows 8, we are extending the protections provided by Defender to address a broader range of potential threats." He added that Windows 8 will have "improvements to Windows Defender to provide you with real-time protection from all categories of malware …." This makes me think that Windows Defender Offline is based on the Forefront/Microsoft Security Essentials code base and has absolutely nothing in common with the old Windows Defender. However, like a lot of the new features and functions of Windows 8, we will have to wait and see when the product is fully released.  In the mean time, Microsoft has to get their branding together.  We have Office for the desktop, Office Live and Office 365 Pro - and the components are not the same everywhere. Excel is not Excel across all these Office variations, so don't expect the same functionality. Microsoft tells me that the online Office suites are "evolving,"  and it may take several years for the full functionality to be incorporated. In the mean time the branding confusion continues, if you call it Excel one place and Excel another - users expect the same Excel. Tacking words on to the product name like "Microsoft Office Essentials", or "Excel Essentials"  does not really tell the consumer much. I am sure QuickBooks users can appreciate this - after all QuickBooks Online is not the same as QuickBooks Pro or Premier than ships in a box. Hopefully, they will get it right, and maybe it is just that it is such a huge organization that it is a case of the right hand not talking to the left. But, I know I feel a bit lost. However about a product roadmap that tells us what is what. And, soon please.

The End of Java?

A number of technology professionals and most of the anti-malware industry has been recommending the end of Java for the last year or more. Even Oracle, who became the masters of Java when they acquired Sun Microsystems, has recommended uninstalling Java.  Why? Because Java has become a haven for malicious software. Oracle has offered dozens of patches for Java attempting to mitigate security breaches and they continue to occur. The most recent, Flashback, attacks Mac computers and Apple has come out and recommend shutting it down. Java is actually easier to uninstall from Windows systems and many computer software vendors recommend doing so. Microsoft says that today only a handful of applications even use Java along with those of you running very old software.  There are a number of sites on the web with instructions to uninstall Java. If you suddenly find you have an application you cannot live without, you can easily reinstall the latest version. My experience so far is that I can live without Java, and I know I can live without the constant fear of malicious attacks.

No One Is Immune.

If you are a Mac user and thought you were immune to those pesky and often dangerous malicious software attacks. Think again. A Russian antivirus company claims that some 600,000 Apple Mac devices, most in the U.S. and Canada, are infected with a Trojan Horse virus called “Flashback.” The company, Dr. Web, issued a report on 4/4/2012 that claimed 550,000 computers running Mac OSX were subject to Flashback. Later, Sorokin Ivan, an analyst at Dr. Web, sent a tweet upgrading the figure to 600,000 and added that 274 were based in Cupertino, Calif., Apple’s hometown. Seventy-seven percent of all Macs affected are in the U.S. and Canada, according to the report. Flashback was originally discovered in September 2011 and was designed to disguise itself as an Adobe Flash Player installer, using Flash player logos. After installing Flashback, the malware seeks out user names and passwords that are stored on your Mac. The resurgence of Flashback appears to take advantage of Java runtime for OSX. Apple issued a patch this week though it didn’t mention Flashback by name. The patch is available for OSX 10.6 and 10.7 as well as for OSX Lion 2012-001. Download the patch, and I advise you to run anti-virus and malicious virus detection software on your Mac.  With Apples market share estimate at near 25% in the U.S., and higher outside the U.S., the bad guys are going after the Mac now and you must be prepared. All the caution we have preached for Windows based personal computers applies to the Apple too.  Practice Safe Computing!

My Thermostat Updated Itself Last Night - Did Yours?

I woke this morning to this message from Nest.com, "Last night your Nest was updated, as long as it was connected to Wi-Fi. But Nest isn't the only thing getting better: Update your phone at the App Store or Android Marketplace to get the latest features." Yes, my thermostat!  The Nest intelligent thermostat is probably the coolest smart appliance I have purchased. It connects to my Wi-Fi and can be adjusted from my iPhone/iPad, or an Android smart device from anywhere I have Internet connectivity. The company continues to update the device to make if more energy efficient and improve features.

Codecademy can teach you to be a programmer!

Codecademy says they can turn anyone into a computer programmer through interactive online tutorials — and it says it has more than 1 million registered users, including New York City Mayor Bloomberg. Codecademy this week launched tutorials for HMTL and CSS and already offers training for the popular JavaScript scripting language which is used to build web and interactive Cloud applications. With all the attention is has received Codecademy's greatest hurdle may be growing its content. With so many languages in use today for web and mobile device program development, more training is needed.  At one point in my career I programmed in 9 languages (yes including Fortran and Cobol.)  Many of these ancient languages are no longer used today, so I have had to update to the likes of Java, C#, PHP, and Ruby. The problem is; as soon as I learn the syntax of a new language, an even newer and better language comes along. Programmers today may have to do a language refresh two or three times a year.

Because of this rapid change cycle, many aspiring youth of traditional student age are shunning away from traditional college training today because it is simply too antiquated. The languages offered by Universities today are out-of-date and the education process is too slow and poor at best; at least according to what current students of the arts are telling me. Many of the younger people (the teens) tell me they can lean all they need to know on-line and at a fraction of the cost. Since that is the way I learned most of the new languages I study today, I tend to agree with them. Also, most of the potential collage age students rebel at the thought of having to pay to take History and English (as well as PE) to learn to be programmers - so they bypass college and jump right into a six figure jobs pretty quick.  Don't like that?  Doesn't matter; that's the way it is. Welcome to life in the fast lane! 

The Never Ending Pain of Data Encryption

There's growing angst over encryption of data on mobile devices and off-site in the cloud, but IT is still as worried as ever about old problems like key management and interoperability among encryption products. Instead of making progress, the woes are just stacking up, according to the 506 business technology professionals responding to the InformationWeek 2012 Data Encryption Survey. Databases are still largely unprotected--just 33% have implemented encryption at the database level, statistically unchanged from 2009. Fewer than half encrypt company data on mobile devices. SSL/TLS has been subject to aggressive cracking attempts. When the Beast attack hit in September 2011, it spurred fears of the end of SSL/TLS as we know it. And the damage does not stop there; multiple SSL certificate companies, including DigiNotar and Comodo, were hijacked last year by attackers who then used these registration authorities to create duplicate certificates for malicious sites--including high-profile destinations like Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft's Hotmail. This allows them to pose as trusted sites and possibly bypass encryption security. Over the past six months, we have seen multiple stories of lost data and programs when OS updates failed on encrypted servers. IT is leery of most encryption schemes, and perhaps rightly so. We are completely rethinking security and the use of encryption in this country, and coming up short on good answers. This will be an on-going story.

Major Changes in the Internet is coming this year.

This is for the more technical of my readers, but there are possibly five major changes coming this year that you should be aware of and plan for depending on the size of your company and your use of the Internet. The article link noted here provides a good summary of what is happening with ICANN, new top-level-domains being released, problems with IPv4 and the expansion of IPv6. Worth a read.

March 2012

Say Hello to UEFI.

The UEFI, or the Unified Extensible Firmware Interface, has been secretly rolling out since Vista, but only a few vendors on a few computer models utilized this new alternative to the ancient BIOS interface. If you have a computer that is less than two years old, you probably have both UEFI and BIOS on board. Basic Input/Output System - or BIOS, goes back to the very first personal computers, can you say Radio Shack Model 1? The BIOS is a hardware chip implementation which computer manufactures rarely update and maintain to match OS changes. Therefore, despite how much our computer experience has changed since the first personal computers,  the BIOS has not. However, Microsoft and hardware manufacturers such as Hewlett Packard, Lenovo, Dell and others, plan to change all that with Windows 8, and plan to offer only UEFI. The standard BIOS has had issues for years. Starting with its susceptibility to malware, to its inability, in some cases to support a new operating system upgrade on old hardware. This Windows Secrets article by Woody Leonhard is worth a read for more detail information on UEFI, especially if you are in technical support. Is there a downside? Possibly. One issue that is creating some controversy is that Microsoft may require hardware vendors to load only UEFI and to restrict the hardware from loading any uncertified OS at boot time. In English, that could mean that hardware manufactures may be restricted from selling computers without the Windows OS, and you the users would be prevented from say reformatting the disk and loading Linux or other OS of choice. Pro and Cons - greater security and flexibility, while the con is fewer options and more restrictions.

An early look at Microsoft Office 15.

Public Preview due this Summer, final release in the fall. Like Windows 8, this will be a fairly large change in navigation, look and feel as you can see here.

Microsoft Convergence 2012 - A look forward at the competitive landscape.

I have just returned from a week in Houston TX. at the Microsoft Convergence. All things Dynamics were on hand for demonstration and discussion. It is clear that Microsoft is preparing for a very competitive future and plan to be aggressive and merciless (my wording, not theirs) pursuing high-end accounting and financial management implementations. While I cannot say I saw a lot of real new features and benefits, I could see that progress was begin made on what they promised last year. I also felt that things were not moving at the speed of light but with more caution.

A couple of things hit me. First of all Dynamics AX is ready for prime time, is doing very well in Europe for example where as much as 60% of all Dynamics AX is happening, and Microsoft is nibbling away at SAP and Oracle at the workplace, workflow level. By going in where the work is being done and letting data flow up to the "ERP" solution of last record, AX can be installed across the workplace quickly and effectively and a little at a time.

The next big thing. Microsoft is proud of Windows Azure and is heavily promoting it as a Platform as a Service (PaaS) solution that works. I did not hear the term SaaS mentioned one time the whole week, why?  Microsoft does not have SaaS. They run in a hosted environment and the new Azure tool along with Azure SQL give them the ability to be very responsive via the Cloud now. Dynamics GP and Nav, as well as SL, will continue to be Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) and are purely local on-premise and hosted options. Microsoft clearly sees, or at least promotes a Hybrid future for the Cloud where some of the applications and data will remain local on-premise, and some may be implemented as Cloud Services. I am not sure that this approach does not make good business sense and have no problem with the overall approach.  What is not there yet is a true mobile strategy. The old mantra of all things must be Microsoft is still going strong and they have to wake up and realize that they do not have the majority of the Tablet and Smartphone market, and may never have it and need to spend the resources to be compatible with and play nicely with "those other guys."

Office 365 plainly has a ways to go, but it was also clear in a number of discussions with Microsoft's top architects that Office 365 in the Cloud is where they want to be, it may take them 36 months to get the basics there working right, and another 36 for the accounting and BI, but that is the way the train is headed, get on board or get out of the way!

I was said that something as critical as Windows 8 was not discussed ANYWHERE, not even mentioned. A non-event!  I could not beg comments or behind the scenes peeks. In fact, I was rather set back that I actually knew more about, was more familiar with, and had spent more time working with Windows 8 than any Microsoft employee I spoke to.

Finally, last year I was pretty much the only high-end consultant in Microsoft's limited access briefing with an Apple Mac (Air), I was, in fairness running Windows 7. I got a lot of sore looks. This year however, no fewer than 6 of the 20 odd professionals around the room were running Macs - most with Windows in a Virtual Machine. Guess I was just a trend setter...

Microsoft 8 Could arrive as late as October 2012.

With talk of Windows 8 accelerating as we get closer to a date, there may be disappointment that the most current release date is now October 2012.  Speculation is that Microsoft will likely host an event in April  in which it will reveal the release date and other details for Windows 8. October is pretty much a drop dead date if Microsoft plans to release to tablet manufacturers in order to ship Windows 8 based devices in 2012. A recent report in Mashable claimed Lenovo plans to launch a Windows 8-based tablet device as early as October 2012. Microsoft released a Consumer Preview version of the OS; and I have been playing with since its release.  I have had problems with Windows 8 and a number of applications, as well as some glitches arise after an update. But that is life in the beta world. I advise against running the preview versions in production if you plan to keep your job. After viewing some of the anticipated Ultralights at CES, I know a number of the manufacturers had planned to hold off production of hardware for the Windows 8 release. All this confusion makes it hard for IT shops to plan and budget, and many will go ahead with strategic plans as they are now, settle for what is in the market now, or make it easy on themselves and just go Apple. At least that is what they are saying to me.

There is also some anticipation that Windows 8 may be ready to go, but Microsoft wants to have Office 15 (not sure what they will call it at the moment) ready to go and that is not as far along according to Microsoft folks at the Microsoft Convergence Conference in Houston this month.  I am working on getting the Office 15 beta, but waiting until it is far enough along to really test properly for the business environment. I will keep you posted.

Seems we are trying to fix Windows 8, and it is not even here yet!

Pretty much everyone agrees that Windows 8 is a radical departure from previous versions of the software since it’s designed to work with both traditional PCs and tablets. Microsoft is trying hard to do a  good job of accommodating both the traditional desktop experience, as well as that of a Tablet. But as most of you know, it is hard to serve two masters. One former Microsoft program manager Mike Bibik, has set up an entire website devoted to highlighting what’s wrong with Windows 8 and how to fix it. “Fixing Windows 8″.  Worth a visit for those engaged in preparing for Windows 8 and the End of Days.  

According to this Tweet I Read...

Twitter as an academic source? Yes, the Modern Language Association, one of three major style sources for academic writing, released formal guidelines on how to cite tweets. As a writer, author, even a journalist, this really kind of rocks me to my roots, but with so much information being conveyed via social media today, it is only expected that you would find more and more information posted via such sites a Twitter and Facebook and therefore want to reference that legitimate information. Now, the first step has been made to make such sources legitimate. OMG, JKMN!

Take a look at Windows 8 Running on an 82-inch Touchscreen

What too big for you?  There is no such thing as too big...  when it comes to televisions or fish stories.

Should you choose Android or iPhone?

 A nice guide to Android vs. iPhone and how to choose which is right for you..

The "new iPad."

Apple's Cook and others never called it the iPad 3, only the "new iPad." There was the original iPad, the iPad 2 and the "new" iPad. The roll-out announcement was March 7, with product availability March 16, worldwide. The new iPad will have all the features of the iPad 2 plus higher resolution display, the camera from the iPhone 4S, voice dictation (and no mention of SIRI,) and more.  The feature set is pretty good, but not all that was hoped for and here is the blow-by-blow of the announcement, in case you missed it. (Some of us have to work.) With millions sold since the announcement Apple is struggling to keep up with demand with the March 16 date already slipping! This must be particularly frustrating by manufacturers of "number 2" tablets, whatever you decide what number 2 is, when are struggling to sell units and Apple cannot make enough units to keep up with demand. I need to go check how my Apple stock is doing.

Apple Messages Released for OS X

This will only matter to Apple Mac users. But if you wanted to send and receive text messages to your Apple Mac as well as your iPad and iPhone, Apple released a public beta version of its new Messages app for OS X for existing users. Set to replace iChat in OS X Mountain Lion, the new Messages app integrates features of iChat and FaceTime and adds compatibility with the iMessages service introduced for iOS last year. Download directly from here (63.8 MB.)  Sorry, this is for Mac folks only.

Patent wars over Intellectual Property are just warming up!

Windows 8 Consumer Review Is Available

The Windows 8 Consumer Review is available for free download at www.microsoft.com/downloads. And, I have spent the past couple of days turning it inside out and testing as much as I could. Remember, before you install, that this is a pre-release and many changes and fixes are expected before the June/July release of final code. So caution, may not be a good idea to install on a production machine. What can you do? I use the free VMware Player, www.vmware.com, to create a Virtual Windows 7 machine as a starting place (I already had a few of these I use for presenting seminars so I took an updated, clean, VM of Windows 7 Pro (32-bit) completely up to date with Office 2010, Adobe X, etc. The new version 8 of VMPlayer allows you to run VM’s as well as create VM’s and is compatible with Windows 8. If you have not used a VM before you will need to either download the Consumer Review ISO and install clean, or create a Windows 7 VM and save it, then make a copy to upgrade to Windows 8 (which is what I did.)  

Open Windows 7 VM you want to use in the VM Player, open the browser to www.microsoft.com/downloads and download Windows 8 Consumer Review and select the option to run.  I selected the option to keep my settings, files and apps.  The installer found three minor apps that would not carry over (one of which was MS Security Essentials, so you will have to reinstall your anti-virus malware software after the upgrade is complete. Once Windows 8 scans your system, follow the instructions as you would any other Windows install. Then prepare to learn the new navigation. A few tips, when Windows 8 reboots to the opening screen, non-touch screen users should hold down the left mouse button and swipe the mouse up to open to the Metro Tile login screen, or scroll the center wheel. From there click on the tile for the option you want to try. Desktop is Windows 8 desktop (very similar to Windows 7 - o.k., it is mostly Windows 7 code). The first thing you will notice is that the Windows Start button is gone! Hover over the far left corner of the screen to see the pop-up tab to return to Metro, of do a Ctrl+Tab to select Metro, or press the Window icon key (finally, something to do with the Windows Icon Key.)  I also elected to login to my Windows Live.com account at login, which gives me a really cool link to my live account, Sky Drive, etc.

According to the registry entries of the Windows 8 Consumer Review Release we found references to nine different editions of the OS. The full list (which may change before the final release, so don't take to the bank yet) is  as follows:

Windows 8 Enterprise Edition

Windows 8 Enterprise Eval Edition

Windows 8 Home Basic Edition

Windows 8 Home Premium Edition

Windows 8 ARM Edition (for some Netbooks, Tablets and Smart Phones

Windows 8 Professional Edition

Windows 8 Professional Plus Edition

Windows 8 Starter Edition

Windows 8 Ultimate Edition

For comparison, Windows 7 came in six different editions so we may have a new Windows 8′s Enterprise Eval Edition, and Professional Plus as well as the ARM versions. From an IT standpoint, we will need to see why there are Professional and a Professional Plus versions as well as the two Enterprise versions before we can make buying decisions. I am sure will be released on versions as we get closer to the release announcement.

Visit the Microsoft Windows 8 Blog for more updates and guidance. I will post more alerts and guidance here as I continue my evaluation.

Apple Appears to be Testing iOS 6

Apple appears to be testing the next version of its operating system for mobile devices, iOS 6. At least, that’s what device access logs to websites, including Mashable, seem to indicate. The initial report came from Ars Technica, which says it discovered something unusual in its web logs. The technology site recorded several visits from browsers running on devices that claimed to be running iOS 6. Read more...

The technology site also recorded devices that were accessing the site on screens with a resolution of 2,048 x 1,536 — the rumored pixel count of the iPad 3.

February 2012

Beware the Bad Guys - Malware E-mail Abounds

Many of you know this, but a few still click on these messages anyway.  There are a number of viscous malware attacks going around. Email that says you Tax Audit has been denied, or an UPS shipping invoice is attached, or your Bank account or PayPal account in in danger. DISREGARD, do not even open!  Legit businesses will not use mass market email to notify of problems with your account. Most importantly the IRS will contact you in other ways. Don't let your curiosity get the better of you - just hit the delete key.  Some of these messages have pictures attached with embedded malware code, so just opening the message spells disaster. Also advise you to spread the word to your staff. One curious George can create a lot of headaches for you.

What you don't know about e-discovery can financially harm you.

The recent court ruling in the case of Pippins v. KPMG LLP may have serious ramification for your company, the electronic data you retain and how long you retain it. Ask yourself some pretty simple questions, like; if I am involved in litigation tomorrow, or one of my clients is (for accountants in practice,) what should I know? What should I have ready? Do my people know what to do if we are subpoenaed? How should I react?  According to my good friend Brian Tankersley, CPA "KPMG estimates the cost of data preservation required by this court order to be $100MM.  While this number is probably high, the fact that the court ordered them to retain this volume of data illustrates why e-discovery is a big issue for everyone." If your firm does not have an e-discovery policy, now would be a good time to address creating one and make sure you are doing the things you should.

January 2012

How to send a secret message.  

I am often asked is there a secure way to send someone a one-time message. An example might be sending the password to access an account. You would to send the message without lengthy encryption or time consuming method, and the person you are trying to reach never picks up their phone. Try https://oneshar.es/, and let me know what you think. The site allows you create a single use message, they create a URL for their encrypted web-site, you then send the URL to whomever, they open the one-time link, read the message and as soon as the message is retrieved the message is deleted.  Seems pretty cool.

Syncing iCloud with Windows and Outlook.  

It's Official, Microsoft Office 15

Microsoft says Office 15 will be the “most ambitious undertaking” ever by the company’s Office Division. This version will simultaneously update Office software for the PC, mobile, cloud services and servers. It’ll provide new versions of: Office, and its core programs of Word, Excel and PowerPoint Office 365, Exchange, email-management tool, SharePoint, the enterprise content management system, Lync, an enterprise messaging and conferencing tool, Project, a project-management program, and Visio, a diagram editor.

Microsoft continues to push into the mobile realm, and last year, for the first time, released bing, OneNote, and SkyDrive for operating systems other than Windows, including iOS. Office 15 is in limited preview release now, beta should hit this summer, but Office 15 release to the general public is not expected Windows 8 hits the market mid-year. Office 15 will be compatible with Windows 8 and Windows 7, according to Microsoft.

I expect to see enhancements for the suite and am very pleased to see Visio and Project moving into the suite as well. Microsoft moved OneNote from being part of the Office System of products, to part of the Office Suite with Office 2007. So bringing Visio and Project in as well further solidifies the suite in corporate America and Education.

The ROI of Picking the Right Mouse

Believe it or not, the common computer mouse can either cost you money, or make you money (by improving your level of productivity.)  If you still have the mouse that shipped with your computer - it is most likely costing you money, as most vendors include the cheapest mouse possible in a bundled price (same is true for the keyboard.) Buying a high-resolution mouse that feels right for the way you work is important.  Picking the right mouse means knowing your preferred way of holding a mouse, and which models feel best to you. Do yourself, or perhaps a coworker, and buy a good mouse today.

Develop a Strong BYOD Strategy

No, that is not supposed to be BYOB!  BYOD is "Bring Your Own Device"  and addresses the consumerization of the workplace. Employees are continuing to bring their own electronic devices into the office, and the simple act of them using personal Smartphones and Tablets to store business data opens a number of inherent risks that business owners should be prepare for in advance. It is critical that you develop a sound BYOD policy, document and train your people, then roll in out and enforce it.  BYOD programs include not only personal devices but the use of desktop virtual workspaces as well.

BIOS out UEFI in

For some of you that are more technical the term BIOS is familiar. The Basic Input Output System specification has been with us for more than three decades. However, BIOS has lived well beyond its time, more than 30 years, and it has changed very little in that time. Windows 8 will see BIOS, as we know it, go away and the emergence of   Unified Extensible Firmware Interface, or UEFI. The Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) is essentially the next generation of BIOS. It’s a system that potentially offers new and more advanced control of the boot-up process. If your PC is less than two or three years old, chances are good that it already has UEFI capabilities. Chances are very good that you didn’t know that, because the hardware manufacturers have been carefully keeping the old BIOS interface as your default boot system. But that will change with Windows 8. I recommend that technicians read Woddy Leonhard's recent article and review your systems today, non-techs but those with a curious interest will also find this a good read.

Time to Redesign Your Website

More individuals will be attempting to access your website via mobile and other unique devices (like Internet TV) this year than ever before.  All the browser vendors will be releasing updated browser software (HTML 5 and much less focus on Flash) and there will be more competitors (such as specialized browsers from Amazon and Sony.) This means you need to make sure your site is accessible, attractive and conveys your message well across many platforms. This article from Justin Spencer, with Analytics Pros, has several valid tips to follow on the Pitfalls of Launching a Redesigned Site.

Using Tablets In Your Business

One of our goals for the K2 Team, www.k2e.com, this year is to present more content on how to utilize Tablets (which include iPads) in your everyday business world. Be start in 2011 with a focus on consuming content, but 2012 will be more about Apps and Processes.  This recent article from the Intuit Small Business Blog on How Tablet PCs can Benefit Your Small Business lays out 9 ways to use a Tablet for work. A good place to start.

More to follow over the year, and it would be great to hear what works for you, and what is not working so great, in integrating an Tablet into your office routine.

Hay Buddy, Got a LTE?

If you have an AT&T user and have been waiting for 4G LTE, you time may have arrive.  If you have and AT$T LTE phone and live in one of the 11 initial market areas, you should not have 4G LTE. AT&T has flipped the switch on its 4G LTE (long-term evolution) network in 11 markets; these include, New York City, Los Angeles, San Fransciso, Austin, Chapel Hill, Oakland, Orlando, Phoenix, Raleigh, San Diego and San Jose. That brings the total number of areas AT&T customers can get LTE to 26, or about 74 million people, according to the carrier. If you are not in one of these cities, hold on, AT&T says they should have LTE fully deployed by the end of 2013. For those who are not sure what all this means, LTE is the latest and greatest wireless network technology, connecting phones and modems to the Internet on cell phone networks at speeds much faster than 3G, or even slower “4G” technologies like WiMax. AT&T began rolling out LTE network in September of 2011, becoming the second carrier to do so. Verizon went first in December 2010. The had hoped to benefit from the acquisition of T-Mobile, but when that fell through, they began aggressively expanding their offering.

Who Has Your Permission?

You might be surprised how many apps have permission to post to your Facebook, Twitter and other accounts. This means they can impersonate you and your Social Network presence. Since so many people trust the people they follow, thinking you made a post may be the same as a recommendation!  Find out quickly and easily which Apps have Permissions to your accounts by going to www.mypermissions.org.  It may only take two minutes to clean-up your Apps.

Capture Your Favorite YouTube Video.

YouTubeGet is an all-in-one software designed to make quick and easy work to download YouTube videos and convert them. Offering a multitude of methods to acquire the video, this application has all the power you need while still remaining small and easy to use. After downloading videos it will auto convert FLV files to MP4, 3GP, AVI, WMV, MOV etc. Soon, you can see YouTube videos on your MP4 or Cell phone.

Is Your Internet Provider Throttling Your Internet Access?

Many Cable and DSL providers say they are offering high speed Internet access, but in reality speed the upload/download times vary widely at different times of the day and even based on your use. If you are downloading multimedia from Bit Torrent sites, or a big on-line game player, you may be experiencing less than advertised speeds. ISPs are increasingly deploying a variety of middle-boxes (e.g., firewalls, traffic shapers, censors, and redirectors) to monitor and to manipulate the performance of user applications. Most ISPs do not reveal the details of their network deployments to their customers. If you believe you have a right to know, then Take the Glasnost test. The goal of the Glasnost project is to make access networks, such as residential cable, DSL, and cellular broadband networks, more transparent to their customers. As you begin cleaning up your systems and preparing for the new year, this is a great time to determine if you are getting all that you think you are paying for.

Apple iPhone secret test to determine the real quality of your cellular signal.

Apple has hidden a field test app in iOS, which will allow you to quickly check the quality of your cellular signal by simply dialing a special code on your iPhone. The code to dial is *3001#12345#* followed by pressing Call on your iPhone, which will launch the field test app. The signal bars on your iPhone will be replaced by a number. The higher the negative number, the worse your signal is. For example, -100 is worse than -86. If you tap on the displayed number, the display toggles between the number and the normal signal bars. There is a lot more to the Field Test, but proceed at your own risk. The real benefit here is the signal quality check. Click here for more detail...

You can create your own smart device App, no programmer required!

For some the idea of creating business app that run on smart phones and tablets seems out of reach. After all, you need a trained programmer to make that happen, and lots of money too. Not necessarily, a number of websites are offering tools for making an app, without knowing how to code.

Amped Wireless extends WiFi to 1.5-mile range.

Amped Wireless provides a number of devices to assist businesses in extending the range of wireless accessible devices.