Wednesday, November 26, 2008

AVG Free, adds 2GB FREE Online Backup by Carbonite

AVG Free Online Backup Tool:

This is a good quick online backup tool that's available for FREE to run an automated backup of data from your computer to an online storage site from AVG Free. If you need more than 2GB of storage, you can pay for additional storage space.

The nice thing about the software is it's very, very simple to use. The interface is very clean. You can run a backup at any given time, you can set it to run at a specififed interval, day or time. You can have it automatically backup changes. The restore is also a clean simple interface.

So, give it a whirl!

Visit here to sign-up and get more information!

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

USB 3.0 Finalized

USB speed increase coming soon...
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USB 3.0 Specifications Now Complete and Available

Shane McGlaun (Blog) - November 18, 2008 10:23 AM

USB 3.0 is one step closer to being included in our computers

It seems like everything uses USB today from cell phone chargers to keyboards, mice, printers, and cameras. What many really want are faster USB connections. USB 3.0 has been on the horizon for a while now and for a time the future of the specification and cross compatibility was unknown.

The USB 3.0 Promoters Group announced yesterday that the USB 3.0 specification was finally complete. The specification is a sort of roadmap that allows manufacturers to build controllers and products utilizing the USB 3.0 standard. The specification has now been turned over to the USB Implementers Forum, the managing body for USB specifications.

Complete article.

Thursday, November 13, 2008

Microsoft Exchange to Google Gmail Business, Cloud

Just saw this article from eWeek about a large company moving to Google's Gmail from Microsoft Exchange.

It's interesting to read since I've just recently migrated 2 non profit organizations to Google's Business Gmail. One organization was using an online email service and the other was using an in-house Microsoft Exchange server on SBS2003.

(With the "new" economy) Money and budgets were exceedingly tight for both of the organizations, so it made sense to take a closer look at the non-profit offering from Google.

I can say that both migrations have been a success, although there are some unique issues with Outlook to deal with related to IMAP, some restrictions to labeling (folder) character limits from Google, education for staff about connection items and server timeout issues... BUT for the cost *which is $0* it's a no brainer. BUT (and this is a BIG BUT) for larger organizations using the collaborative features of Exchange, Blackberry integration with calendaring and contacts, Google Gmail for Biz at this point needs to be avoided.

It truly is a case-by-case, organization by organization, business by business basis at this point.

In any case, it is interesting to read about a large for profit company moving to Google.

*Oh and just to add to the list of realistic issues with Google: yesterday in Washington, DC for about 12 minutes in the afternoon, via Verizon DSL, there was a total outage to any Google sites including google.com, gmail.com, hosted gmail, blogger, youtube. It happened on multiple systems accessing the net on completely different networks. So, we'll wait to see how uptime continues... I wonder if it was a Verizon DSL issue or a Google DNS issue? Or what?

Google's New Video Chat

Interested in Google's new video chat?
Here ya go, to download from Google.




Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Obama and McCain systems hacked

You probably know by now that both the Obama and McCain computer systems were hacked and information offloaded. The FBI was involved and investigated. There is speculation is that this originated from Chinese or Russian hackers... I haven't seen any evidence "they" just seem to say that.

In any case, we really do need to get computer security education serious for all citizens and particularily small businesses (and world-wide education, as well).

From NewsWeek.

Wednesday, November 05, 2008

Four Reasons Why You Should Care About White Space, FCC Ruling

Four Reasons Why You Should Care About White Space
Brennon Slattery
Nov 5, 2008 11:24 am
from PCWorld.com

When the television broadcast spectrum turns digital in February, a massive amount of unused "white space" will open up. Now that the FCC has approved the use of broadband devices to function within this white space, a multitude of new opportunities for consumers and manufacturers awaken. Here are a few prospects we can all get excited about.

Healthy Competition
Once the space is open, many more companies looking to invest in wireless broadband services can jump on board. This means an increased number of Internet service providers and manufacturers of handheld broadband devices will hit the market in no time at all, giving consumers broader choices. The more competition, the more competitive the prices--the consumer wins big here.

Also, those who haven't been eligible to tap into ultra-fast wireless connectivity due to geographical location will now have that opportunity.

Fastest Wi-Fi Ever
FCC Chairman Kevin Martin prophesized that the opened white space would create "Wi-Fi on steroids," and he's not far off the mark. This newly released wireless broadband can penetrate through walls and have a much longer range than the Wi-Fi to which we're currently accustomed.

Powerful Cellphone Networks
As data download speeds intensify, VoIP may become a more valid alternative to cellular phone signals. This may also open the eyes of many cellphone providers to the capabilities the Internet holds in terms of how our phones function. Best of all, with competition driving prices low, cellular users will be given a wider range of choices when deciding upon a phone.

Insane Innovation
The sky is no longer the limit. With wireless soon becoming massively available, any and every device you can think of could become Internet capable, putting a universe of information at your fingertips. Your wildest sci-fi dreams of interconnectivity may soon come true.

Obama celebrations all across the United States, Nov 4, 2008

Congratulations America!

In cities all across this nation, people poured out to the streets in jubilation to celebrate the victory of Barack Omaba on November 4, 2008 as President-elect of the United States of America.

A random selection of posted youtube videos from all over the nation following the announcement that Barack Obama had won the election! I was in Washington, DC on U St and was wondering what others were experiencing!

See the huge crowds of people all over the US, celebrating (without incident) in:

Just incredible. Power of the people!