SERVICE: Google Apps v. Office 365

Thursday, July 12, 2012

http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/datacenter/google-apps-v-office-365-summary-which-is-better/5637?tag=nl.e019

The Enterprise Cloud
Google Apps v. Office 365 summary: Which is better?
By Ian Hardenburgh
July 5, 2012, 12:20 PM PDT

*** begin quote ***

Takeaway: Ian Hardenburgh sums up his research on the Google Apps and Office 365 suites. He has a preference, but it still comes down to individual needs and your number of users.

*** and ***

So, which is better?

So at this point, you’re probably saying, that’s all fine and dandy, but which service is truly the better of the two? Well, I’d have to say Office 365, but only if your organization is prepared to (1) pay a premium (for a truly premium service), (2) take advantage of the advanced set of features noticed with auxiliary services like SharePoint Online, and (3) have the resources to thoroughly train your staff on the on-demand technology (You will have users saying, “Can’t I just have Office on my PC like I used to?). Otherwise, the scalability of Google Apps, combined with the applications and professional services that can be gained from its Google Apps Marketplace is a very close second.

Therefore, in my humble opinion, I’d say most enterprises, with the exception of extremely large ones, can be well-served by Google Apps. In increased summation, go with Google Apps if you’re a small enterprise and Office 365 if you’re a large one. It really is a crapshoot if you have somewhere between several hundred and ten-thousand users (what I consider a medium sized enterprise). Hey wait, I guess comparing Google Apps and Office 365 was simply a matter of enterprise size after all!

*** end quote ***

The choice is much harder for the “amateur” trying to get work done in the most flexible cheapest fashion.

Cloud is great if the inet is always there for you. (Only a Fortune 500 CEO or Gooferment bureaucrat has that.)

There are still format and User interface issues.

True Client – Server cooperative productivity apps are few and far between. 

Stuff changes in the wink of an eye.

Microsoft and Apple and Google all have their flaws.

Seriously, I don’t know. A plague on ALL their houses.

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Posted by reinkefj

HARDWARE: Retina MacBook Pro demonstrates Apple wants to be an “appliance company”

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/cracking-open/teardown-shows-retina-macbook-pro-is-nearly-impossible-
to-upgrade-difficult-to-work-on/696?tag=nl.e101

Home / Blogs / Cracking Open
Teardown shows Retina MacBook Pro is nearly impossible to upgrade, difficult to work on
By Bill Detwiler
July 5, 2012, 10:08 PM PDT

*** begin quote ***

Missing “Pro” features

And if all this wasn’t enough, Apple also dropped two features that set the MacBook Pro apart the thinner, but less “professional” MacBook Air–an Ethernet port and optical drive.

*** end quote ***

For awhile I was an Apple fan boy. For a very very short time before that I was a Wintel fan boy. Both times I’ve quickly soured over “offerings”. 

For Wintel, it was bloatware, crapware, feature creep, automatic updates, DRM, activation. But what really put the ultimate knot in my shorts was win rot. That almost mandatory bare metal restore every six to nine months was unacceptable. 

A brief love affair with Linux, it was just too hard to install. Too many distributions to choose from. And, they really wanted you to be a hardware geek. Personally, I’m astonished that large organizations with dedicated IT staffs haven’t jumped on this as opposed to Microsoft and it’s upgrade treadmill.

That all led me to Apple. I jumped in with Mac Book Air. And, for the most part it’s served me well. Except, like Wintel, it has Mac Rot. I’ve got several problems that the Geniuses haven’t solved and requires fairly frequent reboot. A bare metal install without a Lion distribution disk scares me silly.

I don’t like the whole app store concept. 

Personal computing has morphed into being a pawn or cash cow for the big guys.

Maybe it’s time to revisit Linux.

But, I’m going to try a Chromebox first.

Maybe I’ll be a Google fan boy next. I doubt. I always seem to find the man behind the curtain.

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SERVICE: Yahoo! Groups Labs Applications (beta) and Groups Chat — goodbye

Saturday, July 7, 2012

ygroupsnotifications@yahoogroups.com via ng4-ip2.bullet.mail.bf1.yahoo.com

to JasperJottings.

Dear User,

Unfortunately, the time has come to say goodbye to Yahoo! Groups Labs Applications (beta) and Groups Chat. We thank all the users that were a part of this program. We intend to use this learning to enhance Yahoo! Groups further with new features.

On July 04, 2012, we will shut down the Yahoo! Groups Labs Applications (beta) and Groups Chat. We request you to backup any data that you might have created using the applications.

This closure will not affect your other services on Yahoo! Groups.

We look forward to continue having you as our customer.

Best,
The Yahoo! Groups Team

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You can’t depend on Cloud apps not changing on you. Free is just a hook up. If you’re not paying for it, then you have zero assurance.

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TECHNOLOGY: Solve those traffic jams … please!

Sunday, June 24, 2012

http://www.impactlab.net/2012/06/04/32-technological-innovations-that-will-change-your-tomorrow/

June 4th, 2012 at 3:20 pm
32 technological innovations that will change your tomorrow

*** begin quote ***

6. The Congestion Killer

Traffic jams can form out of the simplest things. One driver gets too close to another and has to brake, as does the driver behind, as does the driver behind him — pretty soon, the first driver has sent a stop-and-go shock wave down the highway. One driving-simulator study found that nearly half the time one vehicle passed another, the lead vehicle had a faster average speed. All this leads to highway turbulence, which is why many traffic modelers see adaptive cruise control (A.C.C.) — which automatically maintains a set distance behind a car and the vehicle in front of it — as the key to congestion relief. Simulations have found that if some 20 percent of vehicles on a highway were equipped with advanced A.C.C., certain jams could be avoided simply through harmonizing speeds and smoothing driver reactions. One study shows that even a highway that is running at peak capacity has only 4.5 percent of its surface area occupied. More sophisticated adaptive cruse control systems could presumably fit more cars on the road.

When a quarter of the vehicles on a simulated highway had A.C.C., cumulative travel time dropped by 37.5 percent.
In another simulation, giving at least a quarter of the cars A.C.C. cut traffic delays by up to 20 percent.
By 2017, an estimated 6.9 million cars each year will come with A.C.C.

*** end quote ***

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HARDWARE: POGOPLUG highly recommended

Saturday, June 23, 2012

and …

Perhaps, I haven’t explained myself well.

About the pogoplug and the disk drive.

You plug both into any power strip.

The disk drive plugs via usb into the pogoplug.

The pogoplug plugs via an RJ45 (local area network connection) (looks like a fat phone wire with bigger that a phone socket plugs on each end) into the ROUTER.

Note: it doesn’t plug into ANY computer.

(You can, but you don’t HAVE to. The value of this little 45$ linux box is that it is it’s own computer / appliance.)

Once you do that, I can give you a directory on the drive that you can:

(a) “mount” the drive on any computer on your home lan (wirelessly or wired) and use as you would the hard disk that’s internal to that computer. Including IPADs, ITOUCHs, IPHONES, and most smart phones.

(b) by correctly defining any path to the pogoplug via it’s web interface, it will give you a URL that you can “publish”, share, or use yourself.

So, for example, Luddite can upload his corny spam megabyte movie files to is and any one who has the link can look at it. ANd, would CLOG everyone’s mail systems with HUGE files.

So, for example, MIX2 can put the that big video on the “platform” and only allow certain people to see it. (Even if someone has the link, they can’t see it. I think it comes back “404 url not found” or something like that.)

SO, you can think of pogoplug as a “personal / group / public” cloud solution.

I’d like to deploy them at all my favorite people’s routers so that I can have off-site storage. (The power is use is about 8$ per year I’m told.)

I think it’s a neat device.

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SERVICE: FACEBOOK has risks; parents should engage a “Glenda”

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

I found something disturbing aimed at one of my young Facebook “friends”.

(You know they “friend” me when they think it’s “kool” to have some “friends” and want to build up their count. Then forget that the fat old white guy injineer “stalks” them forever. Like Glenda the Good Witch, watching over them and their online presence.)

So, I immediately alerted on it to the “command authority” (i.e., her parents) via the approved channels (i.e., her aunt).

Action was taken.

This post suggests that parents need to have a view into their children’s onine activities.

Of course, I offer my “glenda service” at my usual discount. (LOL!) But, you’ll have to be “kool” about how you get a Glenda on to their friend’s list.

“Wonder what that crazy old koot is up to this week end? You see him on Facebook don’t you, dearest child of mine?” May work?

Or, find a trusted friend or relative that the child has already been “friend-ed” during their naïve days, and assign them Glenda duty.

Forewarned is forearmed. Or in this case, four eyeballed. (Yeah, I know it falls flat. But you get the idea!)

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TECHNOLOGY: Domain Name price increase sparks “clean up”

Sunday, May 13, 2012

Guess I have to begin to get organized about my domains. 

I’m a great believer in the “spaghetti theory” of domains. Have a great idea? Throw up a domain or two and see what sticks. 

For every “box of nickels” and “box of nickles”, there are a lot of “memetaxonomy”, “auntie collector”, and “ram 1968”. 

With the price increase, the cost of being sloppy in going up. 

Perhaps, there’s a better deal for registering domain names?

But first one has to have a list of one’s domain names.

Last time I got this bug was when I thought that GODADDY’s soft porn advertising campaign was worthy of some moral outrage. It was bait and switch cause the uncensored version didn’t really show anything …

(Yes, all men are pigs. And, I had to do penance for that near occasion of sin. Just seeking it, as of course a purely IT research activity, was deemed by my priest as “really?”. Can’t get anything by him.)

… and wasn’t even funny!

So, now I have the bug again. 

Let the domain hunt begin! 

Argh! 

(Thus demonstrating I have no life. When a tiny price increase gives my life real meaning. Sort of one step short of those “extreme couponers”?)

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Customer ID: 9113251

Dear Ferdinand Reinke,

1&1 Internet Inc. appreciates your business and strives to consistently provide the best quality domain and web hosting services to our customers.

We are writing today to inform you that as a result of recent price increases by
the major domain registries, we need to increase the annual
rates for .com domains. In order for 1&1 to stay
competitive and continue to offer you excellent services, we have made
the following adjustments to our pricing structure.

For domain renewals and new orders as of 07/01/2012, the following domain
rate changes will apply:

*.com domain renewals will be increased from $9.99
to $10.99 per year.

The new price for your domain(s) will be applied to your next domain
renewal after July 1, 2012.

1&1 is committed to offering very competitive prices and professional
services in the domain environment and we hope to continue to meet and
surpass your service expectations.

===========================================================================

PLEASE NOTE:
This price change does not affect any free domains included in your package.

===========================================================================

ANY QUESTIONS?

If you have any questions or concerns regarding your account, please contact
our support representatives and they will be happy to assist you.
So that we can reply as quickly as possible, please contact us via e-mail
at contracts_us@1and1.com.

Thank you for choosing 1&1 and we look forward to your continued
success.

Sincerely,

Your 1&1 Team
1&1 Internet Inc.
http://1and1.com

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P.S., SPS (i.e., Self Praise Stinks)! “excellent services”? Never, even if true, throw your own bouquets. imho!

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IPAD: The kids’ toy box; perfect for the elderly non-techie

Friday, May 11, 2012

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-57429122-37/six-scenarios-where-the-ipad-is-trouncing-the-pc/?tag=nl.e019

Six scenarios where the iPad is trouncing the PC
TechRepublic’s Jason Hiner has little use for an iPad. But he’s pinpointed six areas where it’s become people’s preferred device and is disrupting the PC market.
by Jason Hiner May 7, 2012 9:00 AM PDT

*** begin quote ***

6. The kid machine

For the past couple generations, kids have taken to computers and technology with almost no trouble and with few exceptions. However, with the iPhone this phenomenon started to go a step further — or younger. Suddenly, 2-year-olds could figure out how to swipe to unlock the phone, touch the photo app, and flick their little fingers across the screen to flip through photos. Once we got a big screen version of this experience with the iPad, the sky was suddenly the limit for infants, toddlers, and preschoolers. They had a computer that required no training from their parents. Apps like Intro to Math, by Montessorium took advantage of the iPad interface to deliver software that was inexpensive, easy to learn, fun, and effective.

On the other end of the spectrum, the iPad is easy enough to figure out that plenty of elderly people who never felt comfortable with a computer have been able to use an iPad to do a few basic things. The key to this scenario is the iPad’s multitouch interface, which requires no user manual and no instruction to get started.

*** end quote ***

Ever since I saw the YouTube video of a baby trying to stroke a magazine to make the “screen” turn, I knew Apple had a winner.

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SERVICE: FACEBOOK shoots itself in the foot

Sunday, May 6, 2012

http://techcrunch.com/2012/05/05/facebooks-positive-comment-policy-irrelevant-inappropriate-censorship/

Is This Censorship? Facebook Stops Users From Posting ‘Irrelevant Or Inappropriate’ Comments
Colleen Taylor

*** begin quote ***

Updated. Today was just another Saturday morning in blog land when Robert Scoble, the well-known tech startup enthusiast, went to post a comment on a Facebook post written by Carnegie Mellon student (and TechCrunch commenter extraordinaire) Max Woolf about the nature of today’s tech blogging scene. Scoble’s comment itself was pretty par-for-the-course — generally agreeing with Woolf’s sentiments and adding in his own two cents.

But when Scoble went to click post, he received an odd error message:

“This comment seems irrelevant or inappropriate and can’t be posted. To avoid having comments blocked, please make sure they contribute to the post in a positive way.”

Now, Facebook makes no apologies for working to create a safe and clean environment on its corner of the web by shutting down abusive or harassing behavior, content such as pornography, or generally spamming of the system. This particular method policing “inappropriate” comments may be new, but it would fall within the same general realm.

*** end quote ***

I love it when these tech giants step in it.

Like this!

Haven’t seen it personally, but I can imagine some developers buying the midnight oil to fix it and then again being “burned at the stake” on Monday morning,

Great “fun”!

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SERVICE: KODAKGALLERY days are numbered

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

http://www.macworld.com/article/1166562/shutterfly_only_bidder_for_kodak_gallery_customer_accounts.html#lsrc.rss_main

Shutterfly only bidder for Kodak Gallery customer accounts
by John Ribeiro, IDG News Service Apr 26, 2012 10:00 am

*** begin quote ***

Online photo service Shutterfly has emerged as the only bidder for the customer accounts and images of Kodak Gallery online photo services business, the companies said Wednesday.

*** end quote ***

Only last year, I urged folks to get their backup in order. 

The times are a changin’!

KodakGallery is on life support.

And, that’s the part of “put everything in the cloud” that people forget.

This is the last month for folks use Apple’s IWEB to publish web pages. 

Don’t be a sucker. Stick to open standards and non-proprietary software like what you get from Apple and Microsoft.

Don’t be lured to the “Dark Side”.

Like the Gooferment, NO ONE is here to HELP YOU!

Apple, Microsoft, and all the ISPs want to lock you in.

No matter how cheap and easy it is to start, it’s always painful at the end.

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