June 2009

State Data Breach Laws Are Getting A Lot Tougher

Mass. 201 CMR 17 Compliance - What This Means for the Rest of Us. Massachusetts has introduced a tough new data protection law designed to prevent security breaches and identity theft. The state law is extremely interesting as it is the most comprehensive law surrounding data protection and could well result in other states following suit as in the case of data disclosure laws. This law addresses standards to be met by persons who own, license, store, or maintain personal information about a resident of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and this includes any business that handles Massachusetts residents’ sensitive data regardless of where that business is located. There are a number of States that are looking at Massachusetts' new law, as well as Nevada's NRS 597.970 to set the new standard for data protection and Federal guidelines are coming later this year that may make these look like slackers.

Internal Data Security Threats Outstrip External Threats

According to a new survey released in June 2009 by Ponemon Institute, more employees are ignoring data security policies and engaging in activities that could put a company's data at risk . A large number of employees copy secure data to USB drives or turn off security settings in mobile devices like laptops, which could put a company's data at risk, according to the survey. One of the most striking responses, roughly 69 percent of the 967 IT professionals surveyed said they copied confidential company data to USB sticks, even though it was against the rules. Some said they had lost USB sticks with confidential corporate data stored on them, but did not report it immediately. Nearly 31 percent of respondents engaged in social-networking practices via the office Internet using company computers. Additionally, around 53 percent said they downloaded personal software on corporate PCs, exposing corporate networks to malicious software. The number of errant employees is higher than the last survey conducted in 2007, so the trend is in the wrong direction.

Professionals surveyed blamed companies for poor training or ineffective data security policies. Close to 57 percent said their company's data protection policies were ineffective, and 58 percent said they were not provided with enough data-security-related training. The report also went on the state that the expanding use of mobile phone, Smartphone, technology is expanding the potential misuse and exposure of sensitive data.

The Future of Software Delivery

The Future of Software Delivery: The Opportunities and Challenges of Emerging Software Delivery Models is a new study released by www.researchandmarkets.com. The study points out some very interesting changes in the manner and speed with which business is adopting SaaS.

Key Findings    

• The size of the on-demand CRM market will increase rapidly through 2009 to reach 27% of total market size as the CAGR for on-demand far exceeds that for the total CRM market.    

• There are signs that enterprises with revenue of more than $1bn are also adopting more SaaS (Software as a Service) applications. Originally some industry commentators predicted SaaS would not expand beyond SMBs into larger organizations.    

• A study by Triple Tree and the Software and Information Industry Association (SIIA) found that on-demand deployments were 50% to 90% faster, with a total cost of ownership five to ten times less than installed software.    

• The growth rates for on-demand CRM and ERP application markets are significantly higher than for the premise-based market. This is an indicator of the high levels of growth potential in the market.  

The report is not free, but for those considering a significant investment in software and technology it may be worth the price.

Enter the Digi-Novel - The next evolution in the written word - may be video.

What's the next multi-media revolution? Well Anthony Zuiker, creator of CSI and related spin-offs, thinks it may the be digi-novel. The new multimedia "digi-novel" will launch a "revolution in publishing for the YouTube generation."

Level 26: Dark Origins, to be published by Dutton Sept. 8, is the first in a series in which each book will be supplemented with 20 videos, or "cyber-bridges," featuring actors playing characters from the novel. The series, written with Duane Swierczynski, features a rogue investigator who hunts serial killers. The title refers to 25 levels used by law enforcement to classify serial killers. Zuiker vows to introduce readers and viewers to level 26.

After every 20 pages or so, readers will be able to go online to watch a three-minute video. The videos are designed, Zuiker says, "to embellish the novel and drive readers to the next book."  If Zuiker is right, this could set the stage for a whole new media mixing the written word in novels with motion video.  One might suppose that this is for those too lazy to imagine their own characters - I think it is simply a new art form. We will see.

May 2009

WolframAlpha Debuts to Mixed Reviews

Stephen Wolfram is building something new, very impressive and perhaps significant to the world of computing. In may be as important for the Web as Google was, but for a different purpose. Wolfram's computational engine offers a new way to search and find more than simply information, but answers themselves. Basically, Wolfram and his team have built what he calls a "computational knowledge engine," www.wolframalpha.com for the Web. You can ask it factual questions and it computes answers for you. The WolframAlpha is better experienced than read about. The company hosted a webinar last Friday, very well attended, and released the alpha site Friday night. I will not recreate all that has been written up so far,  but there is plenty you can research if interested. Give it a try, www.wolframalpha.com, if you are at a lost as to what to ask it, here are a few Easter Eggs you might try;

http://mashable.com/2009/05/17/wolfram-easter-eggs/, http://mashable.com/2009/05/17/better-wolfram-Easter-eggs/

Google Outage Proves the vulnerability of life in the Cloud

On May 14th, 2009 Google suffered it's second major outage of the year. The outage, which lasted nearly two hours, prompted a wave of distress and frustration among users, highlighting just how dependent they are on Internet services. It was also an embarrassing failure for Google, which considers itself an example of dependability. The failure, combined with previous ones this year, prompted some people to reconsider relying on just one company for so much of their online activity. Google said the problems started at 7:48 a.m., when a systems error caused a portion of its online traffic to be rerouted through Asia. The glitch created an online traffic jam, slowing or interrupting service for 14 percent of Google users globally. Panic set in when some users discovered they couldn't get access to their e-mails became fearful that urgent messages were being missed. The always connected crowd, suddenly wasn't connected. Companies that store their documents online with Google suddenly found they couldn't access them; the technology addicted feared their work was lost, or worse.

I consider this a lesson in the future. Is the Internet infallible? Of course not. Can we expect failures to happen? Of course. Rather than hold themselves out to be perfect. Internet based companies, like any responsible business, must have contingencies in the ready. For example, a fail over site, or message of some type that says the effect of "Sorry for the interruption, we are experiencing technical difficulties, we will be back soon,"  Or my favorite "The Sky is Falling, the Sky is Falling" (get it, a pun on Cloud Computing... oh well.) After all, this is what television stations did in their early years before redundant systems and better solutions made them more reliable.  You can still see the message sometimes at 3 a.m. when they are performing maintenance. Today we seem to have no tolerance for systems, or even accept that human error still exists. Too bad, those who do not have tolerance, are most likely doomed to a tragic and fatal demise, not of their choosing.

Those considering Cloud Computing and Software as a Service (SaaS) should not be so much fearful as cautious,  and must include proper contingency planning so that the company is not adversely impacted or suffer economic hardship they cannot recover from. As with all new technologies, there will be issues to work out and improvements to be made. As my father drilled into me (he was a Drill Sergeant) "Prior Planning Prevents _ _ _ _ Poor Performance." (I left out his more colorful expletive.)

 In the mean time, if you lose your Internet - chill out, turn off the computer, and go fishing - the mail will be there when you get back.

Amazon introduces the Supersized Kindle

I guess someone decided to supersize the Kindle. Amazon announced this week the Kindle DX, which will have 3.3 gigabytes of storage, or room for 3,500 books, compared to 1,500 books on the Kindle released in February. At 18.9 ounces, the DX is also heftier than the Kindle, which weighs 10.2 ounces. The larger screen is targeted to text books and of course newspapers as many of the nations publishers look for ways to survive. Being a Kindle lover, and also fond of Kindle books on the iPhone, this will be an interesting addition at $489.

Win 7 - This year or next? Would someone please make up their mind?

Microsoft Windows 7 may be available as soon as October, according to various reports from an Acer product launch Thursday. Acer representative was quoted as saying that a new Windows 7 PC will be on store shelves on October 23. According to an InfoWorld release, an Acer representative was quoted as saying that a new Windows 7 PC called the Z5600 will be one of the company's key products in the run up to the Christmas holiday period, and would be on store shelves on October 23. Now either it is, or it isn't, or someone will get fired today for releasing unauthorized information.

It is entirely possible that Microsoft will release a version(s) of Win 7 in time for the Christmas season as it failed to do when Vista rolled out much to the complaint of its reseller channel.

I did download Win 7 RC 1, (3GB download to the first quarter million or so who grab it.)  So I can use it for 13 months for free as Microsoft says the license will be good until June 2010. More to come I am sure!

April 2009

Good Primer on Network Scanning

My friend Kevin Neal from Fujitsu has posted this very good overview document on Network Scanning this I think is a good read for those doing paperless and looking to manage the scanning process across the network.

Will there be an XP Mode in Windows 7?

Paul Thurrott's Supersite for Windows has been hinting for awhile about a stealth XP mode to be built into Windows 7. Well, it may not be new technology, but an adaption of something I have been advising for Vista users, and that is Virtual PC on top of Vista. In the case of Windows 7 it may be a new updated version of Microsoft's free desktop virtualization software (NOT Hyper-V by any means.) It should also be easier for non-technical professionals to use. Maybe.

Will Earth Day Really Make a Difference?

As we see the dawn, and quick passing, of Earth Day 2009, I have to ask myself how large is my Carbon Footprint - this from a guy with a size 13 shoe who is used to having a very large footprint.  I have a very simple home office, just my wife and I. We turn our systems off at night to save a few dollars as new systems really no longer need to stay on all the time as they are not as susceptible damage from powering on and off as computers were a few years ago. Unfortunately, we, like many small businesses, leave the printers on and running all the time. Who remembers, or even wants to take the time to turn all those devices off and on?  I have four monitors as you can see form the picture above, and my wife has three. I usually have my laptop on during the day and I often reach for my MacBook Pro while in the living room catching the news or watching the Daily Show. We call it our coffee table computer and it has replaced that large travel book that no one every opened, but looked good.

We have our cell phones recharging, our iPods charging and our Kindles charging! The TV's are on passive quick start mode - all four of them and it is only my wife and I, so they are all pulling power all the time. Just as my stereo, two DVRs and two DVD players are. I even walked by and realized I had hung up my electric guitar last night - but, I left the electric amp on. Just forgot about it.

When was the last time you got up late at night when all the lights were off and followed the trail of glowing red and green LED's?  All those devices are pulling phantom power, and, according to national studies, comprise about 8% of your monthly power bill.

All this, and I am one of those who considers themselves energy conscious. I believe that we are getting very close to having to be more Green aware. Several states are considering fining businesses who use too much energy, and a recent story on the critical power requirements at California State University shows us just a glimpse of what is to come. Now, you may not have 250 servers to worry about, as the Director of Server and Network Operations as CSU does (this is a good technical read for IT managers), but many of my clients have been reducing 40 server and less data centers to Virtual Servers to reduce costs and I imagine that many more will follow. As my friend Brian Tankersley, www.bftcpa.com, and I were discussing a few weeks ago - The energy crisis is poised to hit U.S. business where it hurts the most, in their wallets, and we should see this hitting hard by 2010, 2012 at the latest.

So as we contemplate Earth Day, Global Warming, and the coming of Spring - let's go around and turn off a few of those devices and see if we can save a little for those to come. And, do ourselves a favor in the process.

New Ubuntu Release embraces Cloud Computing and Amazon

The next release of Ubuntu Linux is expected to significantly improve the operating system's status as a real contender in enterprise networks for companies looking to connect to cloud computing systems. The release is available for download, April 23. Linux fans have been widely anticipating version 9.04 or "Jaunty Jackalope" for months. Available in desktop and server versions, the software is expected to be a viable alternative to basic Windows XP PCs, especially in the category of compact laptops, called NetBooks.

Ubuntu boasts that Jaunty Jackalope's desktop improvements will give users more time between charges along with immediate access after hibernation. Included in the bundle are the OpenOffice.org 3.0 productivity suite and support for Skype, Adobe Flash. Improved switching between Wi-Fi and 3G environments also has been broadened to support more wireless devices and 3G cards. The server version's biggest addition is its connection with Ubuntu Enterprise Cloud (UEC). The feature makes Jaunty Jackalope the first commercially supported distribution to let companies build cloud environments on an intranet or connect with an external cloud provider like Amazon's EC2.

Oracle Buys Sun

Oracle announced that it is set to buy Sun Microsoft for $7.4 billion dollars. That's $5.6 net of Sun's cash and debt, or about $9.5 a share. According to Oracle's CEO Larry Ellison, "Java is the single most important software we've ever acquired." And that is saying something for a company that has acquired the likes of PeopleSoft, Siebel, and BEA over the past few years and a dozen smaller specialty companies no one had heard of. Oracle Fusion Middleware is built on top of Sun's Java language and software.   The arrangement would provide Oracle ownership of Java and Solaris and give Oracle control of MySQL database software.  Oracle was not considered a contender to purchase by many, and this may have come as a surprise by IBM. who walked away from an offer to buy Sun last week. This announcement also does something else important - it puts Oracle in the hardware business for the first time. A place that it may not want to be, so we may see at least part of the business spun out before long.

Not everyone, especially open system developers, are happy to hear the news. One blogger commented, "I sense a disturbance in the force. Like millions of developers crying out in terror, and suddenly being silenced all at once."  Perhaps with good reason, as the acquisition not only gives Oracle Java, but the MySQL Database as well, which was starting to make inroads into Oracle Database space. No one can be sure of the future, but we can be sure that the world has once again changed. Only time can tell if for the better or not.

Oprah Tweets and the Whole World Twitters

Yes, you read that correctly. Oprah's show last Friday was all about her joining Twitter. She was also  very excited that Aston Kutcher had more followers on Twitter than CNN - a million plus individuals want to know what Aston is doing. A million followers is a lot. To put that in the proper perspective, consider that is more people than the mob following the Verizon Phone Guy in the television commercials. What does this all mean? That Twitter is now mainstream. Your Grandmother Twitters. Well, at least my grandsons, Tyler and Garrett's grandmother twitters. So is this something you should care about? Only if you don't...

Office 2010 Officially Titled

Estimated 83% of Businesses Will Not Deploy Windows 7 Next Year

Not good news for Microsoft. An early study, released by InformationWeek this week, indicates that only a small percentage of businesses plan to migrate to Windows 7 when it is released.  Even with Windows XP expiring today the economy and compatibility issues seems to be the overpowering concerns. Spending on IT in general is down because of the current economic crisis and Windows 7, while fixing a number of Vista performance issues, and adding some cool new technology, does little to address the compatibility problems with older software. The cost of upgrading the Operating System and having to upgrade all applications is more that business owners what to face. So now we wait and see. There are a lot of nervous faces in Redmond, WA these days.

Intaact Partners with AICPA and CPA2Biz

The AICPA, through its subsidiary CPA2Biz, has partnered with Intacct to develop and deliver a new client accounting solution specifically designed to transform your firm's client accounting services line and revolutionize the way you serve your small and growing business clients. The new solution for public accounting firms is delivered online as a Software as a Service (SaaS) solution. Intacct Accountant Edition provides anytime, anywhere access and eliminates the many headaches you face today managing data across disparate systems in your practice and your clients' businesses. Many accounting firms have been asking for a comprehensive solution to allow them to run their entire business via a SaaS solution and Intaact seems to be the first provider to present a viable solution.

Have you ooVooed?
Last week I mentioned the new and improved Skype, and that you should give it a try. Well, this week there is a new kid on the block you might enjoy ooVoo, www.oovoo.com. ooVoo is a full multimedia experience. It supports up to six persons on a video conference as well as the ability to send and receive video e-mail. Simple, quick, and easy. What is amazing will only be expected in the months to come. Give it a try, it is free for the basic version

March 2009

Google To Give You Voice
I told you on Wednesday, March 11, that there was some really cool tech news coming, and it should be available to you in the next few weeks. Google acquired GrandCentral way back in 2007. The basic idea around GrandCentral is “one phone number for all your phones, for life.” As we change jobs, homes and cell phones, there are a lot of phone numbers to keep track of, and keeping everyone up to date with your most recent phone numbers is a real cost. If you use GrandCentral you can give out a single phone number. Google's online voice-mail and call management system GrandCentral will be reborn as Google Voice, with several new features. The service will remain in private beta for existing GrandCentral only users for a few more weeks. But after that, Google expects to open Google Voice to the general public.  Google Voice provides a single phone number that routes incoming calls to six of the user's phones at once. It also provides a single online in-box for voice-mail messages. With everything in one inbox, you now have only one voice mail to check." 

Google Voice inherits GrandCentral's many features, including the ability to screen calls as if in a room with an answering machine, to record calls and access those recordings online, to block unwanted callers, and to receive notifications of voice mail via e-mail or SMS. It includes various personalization features, such as the ability to set how calls to one's Google Voice number are routed, based on time or caller. It also allows personalized greetings, per user or group, and the ability to personalize the ringing sound that callers hear while waiting for you to answer.
Google Voice also features GrandCentral's WebCall Button, for connecting a would-be callers phone to yours using a Web-based button, the ability to initiate a call from your online address book, and visual voice mail.

Google Voice adds several new features: automated transcriptions of voice-mail messages, the ability to receive SMS text messages sent to your Google Voice number on a mobile device, and the ability to send SMS messages from your Web-based Google Voice in-box. Voice-mail recordings can be embedded in any Web page, a feature that's sure to provide countless hours of amusement as embarrassing messages receive public airing. Goggle has acknowledged that Google Voice's automated transcriptions aren't perfect. The service indicates that by varying the shading of transcribed text, with darker words representing a higher level of confidence in the accuracy of the speech-to-text transcription. At some point, Google will probably tune its voice-recognition algorithm to recognize words in other languages and accents, but for the moment, voice-mail transcriptions are intended for speakers of U.S.-inflected English only. Perhaps one of the most broadly appealing new feature of Google Voice is the ability to place free domestic calls in the United States and low-rate international calls to select countries. The costs are comparable to the price Skype charges to call the United Kingdom from the United States. In addition, Google Voice provides easy conference calling. People simply call your Google Voice number and you can add them to a call in progress. Google says it doesn't have a current plan to monetize the service, but plan to follow their mission to make Google users happy. Google Voice may also make some telecom companies happy by increasing the use of billable SMS messages. However, just as ads have found their way into other Google properties where they hadn't existed previously, ads may find a home in Google Voice as well. You expect a lot of excitement when this rolls out to everyone so be ready! Now how fun is this?

CISCO Wants Your Servers!
What contributed to CISCO's rise to power and popularity. Well, their stuff works for one thing!  IT people want to partner with companies who provide good products, good service, good support, and good training. CISCO knows this. So when CISCO began talking about selling servers as well as network and VoIP equipment a few months ago, companies such as IBM and HP took notice. Well, after months of speculation, Cisco has officially entered the blade server market, unveiling a server offering as part of its Unified Computing System. CISCO expects to dramatically increase the use of virtualization in data centers.

There is no free Beer, but there is Skype

If you have not tried Skype, www.skype.com, or you tried it a few years ago and decided it did not work so well, try it again. I have been using Skype since late 2008 and using it heavily this year as I am in my office developing materials and working on a book. With family, friends and clients on Skype it is very easy to call someone Voice, or Video Call. I have a Logitech Pro 9000 Webcam attached and one or more of us can carry on a video call quickly and easily at NO COST (my favorite cost.)

The ability to conference call is great, but if you are a Mac user and you also share your desktop. PC users will hopefully have this ability soon. You can also simply IM someone quickly or transfer files to them immediately. a number of my associates are scattered all over North America, so the ability to hit them with a quick question immediately is great. Just like going over to their office and bugging them as we do in the traditional office environment.

While Skype to Skype PC is free, you can also use Skype from your PC to a landline anywhere in the U.S. for less than $3 bucks a month, or a couple of cents a minute, and Europe for under $7. check out the rates. Just one more tool to add to your arsenal.

Kindle Breaks OUT!  Kindle for iPhone

The exciting news, the talk of the town, There is a new application at the Apple App store that allows you to read books published for Kindle on your iPhone or iPod touch. I have been watching for and expecting this move for some time, at least to see Kindle books available across other devices than my beloved Kindle. Now it looks like the Apple platform is first. I won't reinvent the wheel, it is easier for you to read the story at CNET to get the idea. What this means is that there is a good possibility that Kindle will become the new publishing platform, newspapers, magazines, and more, books are only the beginning.

Yes, I have a Kindle 2. I should admit that I did buy a Kindle 2 (If the IRS asks, it was to demonstrate in my seminars and lectures.)  I have the original Kindle, as seen on Oprah, and so does my wife. We read a few books together (you can share books across an account so more than one person can legally read the same book at the same time) so we do our own little book club, which gives us something to talk about over breakfast now.  Many of the books are protected, so you can't just read a book and share it with someone else; but that may be coming soon as well.  I am most impressed with the Kindle 2 text to voice capability. On a flight home last week, it was late and my eyes were tired, so I simply turned on text to voice and my Kindle 2 started reading to me where I left off. Next day, I turned text to voice off and picked up reading. Text to voice is great, but not the same experience as reading a book. The Kindle 2 turns pages faster and is much more responsive to the touch controls. I is also about one-third the thickness and a little lighter. The battery is sealed in this unit and there is not SD card slot. All internal memory. But it holds up to 1500 books, so that should be enough. There was an article recently on the first Kindle 2 owners having bragging rights. This is true, I got mine the day after they shipped. I have ran into some very jealous people with Kindle envy. Expensive? $357, yes, that is a bit pricey, but new books are a lot cheaper than hardback editions, the ease of selecting a book to read is wonderful, and the availability of downloading a new book wirelessly for free in seconds just cannot be beat! What do I miss? Barnes and Nobles. I would take my Kindle there and sit and read and sip a Starbucks, but they frown on that for some reason ;-)

February 2009

Ballmer Says "No Office 14 in 2009"

Microsoft's Steve Ballmer announced that there would be no release of Office 14 this year, which may also mean no release of Office Web, as the Office Web based components of Word, Excel, etc. is being called. There was speculation that Office 14 would include rights to a web version of the same applications. All this is still speculation, but we are starting to see some results of new development emerge. For the full version of Microsoft's announcement read the Information Week article, no reason for me to reinvent the wheel. What about Vista? Not sure yet. We could see a Win 7 OS in late 2009, but it depends on a number of variables including if Microsoft decides to separate the OS roll out from the new Office, and what the economy does. I will keep you posted when I know more.

Google Mobile App For Windows Mobile

Google is getting even more serious about Windows Mobile, releasing another application following its Google Latitude and Google Sync for Mobile releases last month. Google Mobile App is a search bar for the home screen of your Windows Mobile device that allows you to quickly search the Internet. It also has 11 icons to launch other Google services on your device. One of the icons will launch the Google Maps application, which includes the Google Latitude social mapping service. Other icons will launch Web pages that will take you to mobile versions of Google Calendar, Google Documents and so forth. For now, Google Documents on Windows Mobile is a read-only service, but that may change in the near future. It's already allowing limited editing on the iPhone so other mobile platforms may not be far behind. There is an icon to launch mobile versions of Google News, Gmail and so forth.

Know your State Breach Laws.

 I received an inquiry last week from a seminar attended who lost a company laptop as the airport after Christmas. The questions was simple, "Do I have to notify my clients of the lost?"  The answer is not so simple. A safe position is that you should notify any client or customer immediately if you think that sensitive data has been compromised. In some cases, if you do not know what data was stored on the lost or stolen device, you are supposed to notify ALL your clients! There is an excellent interactive map of data breach laws by state available to let you know your potential exposure and laws by state.  There are also a series of articles explaining how to respond in the event of a security breach. My good friend Brian Tankersley let me know this morning that there have been five additional states which passed security breach laws in 2008, so updating yourself would be a good idea.

Windows 7 Pre-Beta Available for all!

Microsoft's Pre-Beta of Windows 7 is available for download. This is labeled a pre-beta, meaning it is a first view and much of the anticipated functionality that is expected in later versions is not there. This is not a "ready for prime time release" and should not be used in a real-time production environment, is real-time production is your objective.   With that said, I recommend your IT people download a copy and install inside a Virtual Machine, or a test machine to test interfaces to hardware and legacy applications in your office to begin ascertaining the impact of this OS version on you now.

January 2009

December 2008

Yes, You Can Take Your Mac to Work!

As am Apple Mac user, I have been interested in posting help for newbie's as to how to interface in the Windows work world and survive. Yes, it can be done. After much delay, I have begun the process, it is only a beginning and I will post more information here over time. If you have experience with the Mac at work, or just want to share some great business tips and tricks, please e-mail me and I will add as time permits. So, check it out and come back often. The site can be reached from the helix above.

The real cost of e-Mail

So what is the cost of e-Mail, no not the liability or even the cost of storage and retrieval, I mean the real cost area! The cost to productivity. One recent study showed that it takes on average 64 seconds to return to your train of thought after being interrupted by e-Mail. Consider that if you check you mail every 5 minutes, you waste roughly 8.5 hours a week. The study recommends you make the interval every 45 minutes and turn off the new mail alert so you are not interrupted. I agree with other studies that say that on average we check our mail every 30 minutes already and this is too often. Three times a day is more productive and still provides plenty of time to respond. Want to make more money? Manage your use of e-mail better!

Why LCD Monitors are better for you.

More personal computer users are replacing older CRT displays with LCD displays as the older CRT monitors either fail, or users simply realize the benefits of LCD.  This may be due to the fact that manufacturers have retooled production lines to favor LCD, which are less expensive to manufacturer and generally better for the ecology, think green.  LCD screens are considered beneficial to knowledge workers, who spend long hours at the computer, because LCD displays tend to produce less eye fatigue to the user. The constant light barrage and scan lines of a CRT tube tend to cause strain on heavy computer users. The lower intensity of the LCD monitors coupled with their constant screen display of pixels being on or off produces less fatigue for the user. There are a number of resources to understand how an LCD display works and some background is helpful in determining size and type of screen display which is best for you. Professor Alan Hedge, Dept. Design & Environmental Analysis, Cornell University, has published a paper on the specific research findings as to the benefits of LCD. Again, those wrestling with the decision of what to buy might want to review his findings. In the meantime, I have to apologize to a recent seminar attendee, Stephen, who called me on the discussion of refresh rate. Refresh rate is one of the negative aspects of using older CRT displays. Users of CRT displays experience flicker when refresh rates are not high enough and the eyes have to constantly adjust. LCD displays work differently as the appropriate Pixel is on until turned off. However, LCD monitors suffer from different problems than their CRT predecessors and refresh rate would more accurately be referred to as frame rate in their case (often locked at 60Hz). The only part of an LCD that could produce CRT-like flicker, its backlights, typically operate at around 200–Hz. So, if you are one of the 180 million people replacing your computer display this year, take a few minutes to learn more about the electronics you will be staring at for the next 10 years (the economic life of a typical LCD.)

November 2008

Workers can buy their own computer.

Citrix Systems, Miami, Florida, may be the first major company to come out with a new plan to get out of the computer business, but they will not be the last by any means. Citrix is giving employees a $2,100 stipend to buy a laptop and three year service plan.  Citrix says that the cost to purchase and maintain company own systems is between $2,500 and $2,600. This is probably a conservative estimate and in fact most companies can save significant dollars by not providing systems to employees.  If this sounds shocking, consider how many employees use company owned equipment for personal shopping, gaming, and social networking. Many crashing the system for IT to repair in the process. Management believes that employees would take better care of equipment they own and in the age of Virtualization,  Software as a Service (SaaS,) and mobile computing the model works. In fact, several large accounting firms have told me they  are getting out of the cell phone business as well. On the premise that we don't buy employees a car to drive to work, cell phones and in some cases computers, are not considered commodities - everyone has one.  The decision is up to you, but when you are ready to make that move remember to properly secure company owned information, software and other resources. 

How Important Is Being Technical?

A recent article in Time, The Off-Line American, concerning John McCain's comments about not being technical and not even being able to do e-mail got me thinking. How important is it to be technically capable today?  I think it is becoming more important every day.  The modern manager must not only be able to text, but Twitter and Blog as well. The failure of not being able to do so means being out of the loop and that could mean loss of business or potentially failure. More technical bosses run more advanced businesses and draw younger more aggressive talent leading to greater success.

Windows 7 - Just around the corner

Microsoft is beginning to reveal some of the new features and an expected release date for the next versions of its Windows Operating System. The beta, to be released in early 2009, has many new graphical enhancements designed to allow users to heavily customize their desktop, as well take advantage of touch screen technology on newer systems and Windows 7 will also feature a new taskbar and a streamlined interface that will make users' most frequently used programs—such as a music player or a word processing app--easier to access, according to Microsoft. Windows 7 will also include a new feature, Device Stage, that's designed to increase compatibility between the host computer and commonly used peripherals such as printers, phones, and digital cameras. So, will the next version of Windows be flexible enough to even power your coffee-maker? Microsoft thinks so. The next version of Embedded Windows OS will be a cousin of Windows 7, offering many new interactive features.

What are My People Doing?

Wondering where your people surf to from your company Internet connection? I receive a number of request year for software recommendations that allow business owners to monitor web usage at the office. There are several solutions that I and associate Randy Johnston have used and recommended to others. It is important to let users know that you do monitor computer usages and to have appropriate use policies in place.

1)      http://www.stbernard.com/products/iprism/web_filtering

2)      http://www.track4win.com/Monitor_Internet_Usage.asp

3)      http://www.cymphonix.com/Products.html

4)      http://www.websense.com/glo