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I'm usually only concerned with bytes when I'm having trouble uploading or downloading a file. Bytes also are important to me when I'm trying to decide which songs to delete from my iPod so that I can add different ones. While I understand the "gist" of what a byte is, perhaps a crash course in byte size is just what the IT person ordered. 

• Kilobyte (KB) = 1,000 bytes or ½ page of text
• Megabyte (MB) = 1 million bytes or 500 pages
• Gigabyte (GB) = 1 billion bytes or 500 songs
• Terabyte (TB) = 1 trillion bytes or 200 high-definition films

Of course, byte size doesn't always account for the lag we sometimes experience while downloading or uploading a file. For example, I was recently fed to Twitter's fail-whale multiple times while trying to upload a file. I did what any logical person would do; I made sure that my file didn't exceed Twitter's byte size requirements. My file was perfectly fine, so I tried to upload it again, and, once again, I was fed to the fail-whale. After being fed to him several more times, I ceased and desisted from uploading my file and decided that either too many people were on Twitter (always a possibility), that Twitter was experiencing technical difficulties (another good possibility), or that my connection was too slow (definitely an option). In any case, I knew that my file's byte size wasn't the problem. 

If you ever have trouble uploading or downloading a file, first check the byte size. If that's not the issue, consider the others: a slow connection, multiple users, or a site malfunction. Other culprits, including viruses, may be to blame. If you continue to experience problems with lag or with uploading files, contact us. We would be happy to examine your computer and get it back to running at its best.

LulzSec and Anonymous may be garnering all the sound bites lately, but that’s only because they flagrantly broadcast their hacking efforts to the world. Equally dangerous, yet not nearly as visible, efforts continue on a day-to-day basis by other hackers. Those hackers poison search results, send spam via email or social networks, and infiltrate legitimate websites with infected code or advertisements.

Many of those tactics are socially engineered; that is, you, the end user, must take action in order for the malware to compromise your system. The story goes something like this: you search for images of, let’s say, Lady Gaga. You then click on one of the top-ranking photographs, which, coincidentally, contains malicious code. When you click on that media file, you don’t see Lady Gaga. No, you receive a warning message stating that your computer is infected and that the only way to staunch the infection is to purchase an anti-virus solution for the one-time-only price of $79.99. You’re so concerned about your computer’s health and safety that you purchase the anti-virus only to find that the solution either was unnecessary or has created an additional infection.

In some cases, you don’t have to click on or agree to anything in order for your computer to become infected with a virus. If your computer has existing vulnerabilities, such as out-of-date software or scripting languages, it is at risk of being infected. AdShuffle's story is the perfect example. Last Christmas, AdShufffle (note the difference in spelling) conned advertising networks into using their malicious banner ads instead of the legitimate ones from AdShuffle. Any users who visited those networks and had existing Windows, Adobe, or Javascript vulnerabilities became the proud owner of malware via the Eleonore Exploit Kit.

That second scenario is the scarier one. Even if you are implementing best practices – you have up-to-date anti-virus, use strong passwords, and patch your system regularly – your computer still could be infected because the site you’re visiting hasn’t used best practices. The owners of that site didn’t install safeguards to prevent hacking. They didn’t check the name of the advertiser before purchasing a banner ad. What are you supposed to do in that case? Personally, I hope you never have to ask that question. If you do, well, it may be time to call in the professionals to clean your computer’s system.

Sources: TechRepublic, Technology Review

I'm sure that all of us have experienced computer lag. We attempt to download a file or access our e-mail, and we are confronted with the ominous hourglass and, eventually, some sort of error message. Most of the time, we account the lag to multiple users attempting to access the same information at the same time that we are. This usually is not a huge issue for the average user, but lag can have serious consequences for users who are trying to access a data center. Because of this, an ongoing research program at North Carolina State University is attempting to identify other causes for lag in order to prevent hosting problems.

IT professionals are concerned with slow operating speeds for a number of reasons. One of them is hosting failure, which is a huge issue for infrastructures that support cloud computing or data centers. Other reasons are slower response times and lowered client use. These issues can result in further problems for hosting companies; companies can be financially penalized for breaking their service agreement, and they may lose current and potential clients.

North Carolina State University's computer science department is seeking to identify problems, or anomalies, before they occur and cause hosting errors. With large hosting infrastructures, the identification process can be rather complicated because the infrastructures support a variety of applications, many of which occur in a dynamic context. For example, an infrastructure may support a website that goes from being very busy to being completely idle. The infrastructure also supports multiple users, meaning that the computing resources available to a client depend upon how many users are accessing the infrastructure at a given point in time and what those users are trying to do. The reasons for hosting problems, then, seem almost limitless. 

The computer science department is meeting the challenge of identifying anomalies by implementing models that account for different contexts, such as high and low bandwidth. By using several models, researchers are able to identify what is "normal" under a certain set of conditions and to better determine what is "abnormal." Dr. Xiaohui (Helen) Gu, a professor in the computer science department, has seen success with the multiple models; she says, "Our 'context aware' prediction approach improved our accuracy significantly...We were 50 percent more accurate at predicting anomalies than any existing programs, and had an 80 percent lower rate of false alarms."

The anomaly-identification program will be of great benefit to hosting companies. Companies will be able to analyze an anomaly and to identify the exact conditions that caused the problem. In addition, companies may eventually be able to develop an early-warning system for their infrastructures. This system would allow companies to predict anomalies and to install safeguards that would keep anomalies from occurring or, at the very least, lessen the severity of them.

Source: Science Daily

I don't consider myself the most technologically savvy person (people may beg to differ after listening to my conversation with the Barnes and Nobles salesclerk about Nooks, Kindles, and Ipads), but I find Linux' new and improved operating system (OS), Ubuntu, fascinating. Most people never consider using Linux because of its reputation for being difficult to use. Not so with Ubuntu; unlike its parent, it is extremely easy to install, maintain, and use. 

I like Ubuntu for several reasons, many of which are shared by Tim Brookes, another web content writer based out of the UK. First, Ubuntu can be installed within Windows. Shocking, right? It seems kind of strange to see two operating systems working together, especially Linux and Windows, but that's exactly what happens with Ubuntu. Want to see how easy it is to install Ubuntu? Visit Ubuntu's homepage and download the Windows installer. Follow the installation instructions and reboot to complete the process.

Second, Ubuntu works with most of the free software commonly available with Windows. The software typically receives a Linux gloss; for example, Google's Chrome is called "Chromium" in the Linux-based system. Some of this free software seems to run better on Ubunto; Brookes noticed that Chrome/Chromium worked faster on his Ubuntu platform than on the Windows one. Even Skype has an Ubuntu equivalent. Some software is not available with Ubuntu; however, Ubuntu sometimes can overcome this potential problem, thanks to Microsoft Windows. 

My third reason for liking Ubuntu is the solution to the aforementioned problem. You don't have to bid farewell to all of your beloved Windows-specific programs when you make the switch from Windows to Ubuntu. Ubuntu can work with some non-Linux-based programs due to Microsoft Windows' WINE (an acronym for "Wine is not an Emulator"), a compatibility layer that allows Windows programs to work on other operating systems. I, for one, am extremely grateful for the compatibility layer; it means that I don't have to lose one of my favorite programs, Photoshop. With WINE, you can even play some of the most popular MMORPG games, such as World of Warcraft, on the Ubuntu OS.

A fourth reason to like Ubuntu is the lessened need for antivirus programs. No matter how careful you are on Windows - for example, you don't click on popups; you don't open emails from unknown senders - your computer can still be hacked. With Windows, antivirus programs are an absolute necessity. Ubuntu's need for antivirus programs is much less. Ubuntu is Linux-based, meaning that permissions play a large role in its OS. With a Linux-based system, your computer won't do anything without a specific command and explicit permission given via an administrator access and password. Don't get too cocky; Ubuntu is not completely impervious to attack. If you decide to use Ubuntu, you should still install antivirus programs if only to prevent spreading viruses to Windows users and to keep Windows users from unknowingly sending viruses to you via insecure documents or email.

A final reason to like Ubuntu is its customization capabilities. Ubuntu's default skin, GNOME, isn't great, but it can be changed easily. With Ubuntu, you can alter not only the skin but also the taskbars and window interfaces. You can even add fancy effects and OS X-style docks that are both beautiful and functional. Brookes recommends the Emerald Window Decorator and the Avant Window Manager to Ubuntu users who want the most eye candy possible. 

A final, nice thing about Ubuntu? It's free. You can test the operating system without having to pay or donate a single penny. If you like it, great. If you dislike it, you and Linux haven't lost, either. 

Source: MakeUseOf

If you've never heard of Tim Berners-Lee, you aren't alone. I had never heard the name until a technology site I follow, ThinkGeek, announced that today was his twentieth birthday. Today isn't his literal birthday, but today does mark a monumental moment in history. It was on this day in 1990 that Berners-Lee and Robert Cailliau revealed a mind-blowing idea: people could ostensibly share information over the internet via hypertext.

The work toward this day actually began in 1989. Berners-Lee, a physicist, for CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, authored a proposal hypothesizing that information could be shared over the internet through hypertext, the now all-too-familiar way of pointing and clicking through information (think search engine results). Berners-Lee probably only had a vague notion of the far-reaching effects his proposal would have; CERN merely wanted to implement his idea because they wanted to be able to share computer-stored information among all of the physicists in their laboratory. Berners-Lee plan worked, and the result was a private network in which stored information was shared among several personal computers over the internet via hypertext.

Berners-Lee next step was to create a browser/editor that would allow users to share and edit information in a common sphere and create a shared hypertext, what we now know as "HTML." Of course, Berners-Lee needed a name for his editor. He certainly couldn't call it "hypertext home" or "shared information portal." No, he needed something clever. In May 1990, the browser's name, "world wide web," was decided, which is why "www" is in almost any site's address.

The first website and web server, http://info.cern.ch/hypertext/WWW/TheProject.html, was almost solely dedicated to the "www" project. At the time, visitors to the site could learn about hypertext, technical details for creating their own webpage, and an explanation of how to search for information. The "www" developers quickly learned that no website is an island; websites don't work very well in isolation. 

Thus, Berners-Lee's team decided that they needed to find a solution for server and browser software. The system Berners-Lee used was developed on the NeXT system, which was hardly practical for and rarely available to everyday users. The team began to explore other options and developed the universal line mode browser, which was based on written commands, and worked regardless of platforms. There was no mouse or fancy graphics; rather, users typed text, and, if they had an internet connection, they were able to access information on the web.

The universal line mode browser and its platform flexibility quickly took root. By 1991, servers were available in other institutions across Europe. In December 1991, the first United States server was installed at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC). At the end of 1992, twenty-six servers were available worldwide. The number of servers dramatically increased in 1993 to over two hundred. The year 1993 also provided another milestone; the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign released the first version of Mosaic, which made the web available to people using PCs and Apple Macintoshes.

The rest, of course, is history. While people still use computers for "computing," most people use the computer to access to the internet. Where would we be without our daily dose of online news and e-mail? Where would our physicians and businesses be without electronic records? Without the work of Berners-Lee and Cailliau, the world wide web might not have coming into being. We would still have internet, but the unlimited potential of an internet-based application that can store and share information might not exist.

Source: CERN; ThinkGeek

Your desktop or laptop is your baby. You start to feel nervous when the fan whirs a little louder than usual. You break into a cold sweat when the internet slows to a snail’s pace. Your anxiety grows and grows until you’re calling your IT provider, exclaiming, “My computer is broken!”

IT technicians hear that phrase all the time, but it does them little good in diagnosing what is wrong with a computer. For some end users, saying a computer is broken could mean that the printer isn’t working or that the network is experiencing lag. To an IT person, a broken computer is literally broken. It refuses to boot. Programs and files have vanished. The hard drive has crashed.

Those problems in translation mean that an IT technician has to ask a number of questions in order to pinpoint the exact problem with your computer. Some of those questions you may be able to answer; some of them may leave you befuddled. All you can do is answer the questions to the best of your ability and attempt to aid your IT person in making a diagnosis. You can assist with that process by doing the following:

• Be specific. Saying your computer is broken is a broad statement. Try to limit it. If you are experiencing a problem with your printer or network, say so. Your IT technician needs to know what systems on your computer are experiencing issues so that he or she can diagnose the problem and provide a solution.
• Be detailed. Describe the problem in as much detail as possible. State what is happening with your computer, when you started to notice the problem, and whether a particular incident coincided with the problem you currently are experiencing. That information will help your IT provider to determine a solution.
• Be courteous. Although it can be difficult to control your tone and words when you’ve been dealing with computer issues for hours on end, it is important. The IT person is not your enemy. He or she wants to help you resolve the problems you’re having. Treat your IT technician well, and he or she will treat you well, too.
• Be your own advocate. IT professionals sometimes bear an uncanny resemblance to auto mechanics. You wonder if you’re being swindled into buying a product or solution you don’t need. If you feel uneasy about the information you’re being given, take some time to research it before making a final decision. If you know someone within the IT industry and you trust that person, visit with him or her. Yes, you need your computer up and running again, but you also need to know that you’re investing in a solution that actually solves your problem.

What do you do to be a better IT customer? Would you add anything to the list? Let us know in the comments.

In recent weeks, data loss has become the norm. BP lost data; Epsilon had data stolen; and the State of Texas inadvertently leaked data. If those entities aren't safeguarding their data, what does that say about other companies and businesses? Are they following the same trends, or are they investing in IT security measures?

Many companies think passwords and anti-virus when it comes to security measures. Those two items are important, but they won't do much good if they're the only security measures in place. Anti-virus software can't catch every single virus; in fact, Sarah Fender at PhoneFactor said that anti-virus software only catches approximately sixty percent of viruses. That means another forty percent is waiting and ready to strike.

Passwords alone aren't sufficient, either. They may have worked when information was kept on-site, and employees could only access information while at the site. That isn't today's work environment. Employees work remotely. They access e-mail, networks, and sensitive data every day on their phones, iPads, and laptops.

What, then, should companies do? They need to add to their existing security measures. They need to install firewalls if they haven't already done so. They need to make sure that their anti-virus is up-to-date. They need to encrypt their data, something the State of Texas did not do. They need to backup their data, preferably at a remote location. They need to have protocols for USB drives. They need to invest in disk-encryption software so that a lost laptop doesn't turn into a serious breach, as in the case of BP. Finally, they need to consider additional authentication measures, or security tokens, besides usernames and passwords.

Sources: MainStreet

I love Google's web browser, Chrome. It's clean, has trendy apps, and even offers a customizable background. When I first started using Chrome, my intentions were purely economical. I wanted a browser that worked faster and protected my computer better. Chrome seems to be doing the trick, although I still take advantage of my other virus and spamware programs. I was also interested in the browser because of my work in search engine optimization (SEO). It just made sense to use a browser made by a company that provides amazing SEO tools.

On Thursday, August 19, Google patched eleven security problems in a new version of Chrome. Three of these problems were critical; seven were high-risk; and one was medium. Two of the critical problems were internal, and the other one involved a Windows kernel bug. Chrome users will not need to update their browsers manually, unless they wish to do so. Unlike some browsers or online games, Chrome, for the most part, works quietly in the background, automatically checking for updates and installing them when a user restarts the browser. 

Finders of bugs and problems in Chrome are affectionately known as "bounty hunters." People can be awarded up to $3,133.70 for finding and reporting problems with Chrome. Google has yet to award that amount, but the company has awarded amounts of $1,337 to several "bounty hunters." The bounty hunter program has proven very lucrative for some; Sergey Glazunov has earned $8,011 in the program and was the first person to receive a reward of $1,337.

If you've used Google recently to search for anything - let's say digital cameras - you may have noticed the split second pause that occurs before your search results appear. If you have noticed this pause, you have just experienced the Google phenomenon known as Instant. During this pause, potential search results appear based upon the word or words you're typing. In the example of digital cameras, you could have possibly seen results ranging from dogs to digitalis until you completed your search query phrase. 

Why has Google gone "instant?" Google states that Instant is meant to make searching more effective and faster. Google claims that searchers save three to five seconds per search and are able to refine their searches much faster due to the "instant" feedback. These claims may be true, but it doesn't hurt that Google gets to display its pay-per-click advertisements a few seconds sooner than the previous version of the search engine could. By displaying sponsored ads even faster, the likelihood of users clicking on those ads increases, which can only aid Google's bottom line. 

Many web developers are skeptical of the new interface, suggesting that most users are going to type their full query without regard to Instant's recommendations. The keyword in the previous sentence is "most"; it's those few users who do pay attention to Instant's recommendations that matter. Google believes that Instant will be a success. Their research suggests that users are looking at the predictions and results without even realizing it. If that's the case, there may be many more users who are distracted from their original search onto others. Remember the digital camera example? Just think of the possibilities that the prefix "digi" conjures: Digimon, digital recorders, digital clocks, digital TV, et cetera. 

Other web developers are examining the search engine optimization (SEO) repercussions. Instant is sure to have some; the predictions and actual results are affecting whether pages are appearing above or below the "fold," the point at which you have to scroll down in order to see more results. If being on the first page was a priority previously, it's even more of one now. Search engine real estate space is at an all-time premium. Many SEO specialists are responding accordingly by re-evaluating their current keywords and optimizing their sites and social media even more. Rather than focusing on long-tail, obscure phrases, SEO specialists are attempting to identify commonly popular phrases and to diversify their keywords in order to gain better ranking and more users.

Google Instant wouldn't be possible without the advances Google has made with its data centers and coding. Faster servers and faster connections, coupled with new tricks for caching the results for the majority of Google searches, are resulting in faster and more effective search results. The digital camera example is a perfect one; based on the majority of searches, it is more than likely that a user who starts to type "digital" into the search engine query box is looking for a digital camera. Since clocks and TV also are relevant results, Google may wait to see what the user types before starting to offer predictions and results. 

In addition to a "smarter" data center, Google has also made improvements within the most popular browsers, including Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Internet Explorer. Google research found that most users type at a rate that leaves a 300-millisecond gap between keystrokes. Google Instant's mission was to offer results within that 300-millisecond gap. To do so, Google's engineers optimized the JavaScript code so that search results and ads could be parsed and displayed onscreen in a couple of hundred milliseconds.

Google's Instant has again altered the playing field. While it's unclear as to whether users will pay attention to Instant, Instant is already affecting how users search and how SEO specialists identify and optimize keywords. In any case, Instant has made strides in data-center hardware and Javascript coding that are going to be difficult for other search engines, such as Yahoo! and Bing, to defeat.

Most of us have entirely too many usernames and passwords to remember, so I think I can confidently state that we sometimes dread viewing a login screen we haven't visited in awhile. Will we be able to access the application? Will we receive the message - in red lettering, no less - that our login information is incorrect? Usually, we can reset our passwords, but with some applications, we have to call the actual business and have them reset our password manually. Fortunately, Microsoft is trying to overcome these scenarios with their current password research.

Microsoft has been enjoying success with their ability to create easy-to-remember passwords while keeping systems safe from hackers. Rather than enforcing complex passwords with a stringent number of characters or required elements, Microsoft's password scheme prevents too many people from having the same password. The effect of either measure is the same; people's passwords are more difficult to hack, which keeps their information safe.

In general, more complex passwords are thought to be safer because hackers are unable to guess them easily. Most hackers use "dictionary attacks," in which they guess multiple passwords for a single account in succession. More complex passwords tend to thwart dictionary attacks because the requirement of letters, numbers, and symbols increases the number of possible passwords exponentially. Unfortunately, more complex passwords, while good at preventing attacks from hackers, are often difficult to remember.

In addition to complex password requirements, companies sometimes implement other security measures. If you have ever tried to log into your account and received the message that you will be unable to access it because of a failed password or username, you have experienced one of these security measures - account lockout. Lockouts aren't foolproof; hackers have found ways around them. Rather than guessing thousands or millions of passwords for a single account, hackers merely guess the most commonly used passwords for thousands and millions of different accounts. Eventually, they succeed in accessing an account, and, suddenly, they have access to personal information, such as credit cards or social security numbers.

Microsoft's password service seeks to do away with complex passwords while protecting systems against dictionary attacks and password guessing. The service is meant for systems that have millions of users, such as email host providers. The service tracks how many people are using the same password. When the number of people using that password reaches a certain limit, the password is banned, and nobody else can use that password. 

Researchers at Microsoft believe that this new approach to creating passwords has the potential to increase security and usability. Since only a certain number of people can use a particular password, hackers no longer have the option of guessing commonly used passwords. Microsoft currently is receiving feedback about their service from the security research community and has yet to implement it in any Microsoft products.  

Source: MIT Technology Review

With the advent of the holidays, it should come as no surprise that spammers and scammers are trying to lure in unsuspecting customers with fake websites and emails. A recent attempt, as reported by Sophos, includes emails supposedly sent by Amazon. The emails themselves contain typos. Most users are wary of such things, but they might not be as suspecting of the attachment the emails contain. When opened, the attachment directs people to a web form requesting their address, date of birth, and other identifying information.

The attachment is yet another version of a phishing scheme. Phishing schemes usually involve links but not necessarily. It seems that spammers and scammers are investigating new options as people become more aware of spam warning signs. The signs include:

• Misspellings. The authors of spam and scams usually aren’t writers and editors. They don’t proofread their work.
• Incorrect grammar. Many spam emails use obviously incorrect grammar. The subject and verb don’t agree, or the sentence structure is awkward.
• Incorrect addresses. If the address is wrong, it’s probably spam or a scam. At best, it means that the person didn’t take the time to determine your gender. Unless you have a name that is common to both sexes, you should be addressed correctly almost all the time.
• No security protocols. If you are redirected to a form requesting personal identifying information, that form should have HTTPS enabled. If it doesn’t, you should refrain from entering any information.
• Requests for money transfers. Money transfers are the most obvious form of spam and scams. They usually come from your rich uncle or aunt in Nigeria; however, some schemes employ one of your contacts’ email addresses and says that your contact is stranded overseas and needs money.

If you still aren’t sure you’ve received a spam email, you should call the company or person who purportedly sent it. Confirm that you need to submit your information. See if your friend actually  is stranded and in need of assistance. You never know; you might rekindle a friendship or customer relationship with the simple act of a phone call.

How do you identify spam emails? What do you do when you receive one?

I've never seen it happen, but I've heard of computers catching on fire. In fact, my brother's almost caught on fire a few weeks ago; he was witness to a few sparks. His "fire" wasn't due to overheating, but overheating is one of the main causes of slow computers, shortened lifespans of computer components, and computer failure. Fortunately, computer overheating can be prevented, which will keep your computer's hardware and software running well and fire free for the foreseeable future.

Computers typically handle heat in two ways: a fan and a heat sink. The fan is most often found on the back of the computer or tower and blows air externally. The heat sink, which is cooled by an additional fan or coolant system, is positioned over the central processing unit (CPU) to prevent the processor from overheating. Some computers have additional fans that encourage airflow and protect high-heat components, but this varies from computer to computer.

A computer overheats when it exceeds its maximum temperature. This temperature ranges from computer to computer; in general, computer processors can handle temperatures between 50 and 70 degrees Celsius. Some computer processors can handle temperatures as high as 100 degrees Celsius. To determine the maximum temperature for your computer, you should check your computer's manual.

The culprits behind computer overheating are nefarious and diverse. Some of the most common perpetrators include:

• The power supply isn't properly installed in the computer case.
• The vents are sending hot air to the wrong place.
• High-heat components are too close together.
• The components or cords are impeding airflow.
• Dust inside the computer and around the fans acts as an insulator, trapping in heat.
• The computer is run in a hot environment.
• Too many programs are being run at one time.
• The fans are obstructed by walls, curtains, or other items.
• The computer is overclocked.
• The computer is run for continuous and extended periods of time.
• The computer is kept next to a high-heat device, such as an air vent or other machinery.

Fortunately, most of these perpetrators can be thwarted with prevention and maintenance.

Preventing computer overheating is mostly common sense. Don't leave the computer open; the computer case is meant to conduct airflow. Taking the case off will only allow more dust to filter into your tower and make your overheating problems worse. Other preventive measures include:

• Clean your computer. The best way to clean the inner workings of your computer is to use compressed air, which can be bought at most retail stores. You can also use a vacuum cleaner to remove dust from the ports and fans outside the computer.
• Keep the computer off the floor. Doing so will make it that much harder for dust and dirt to penetrate your computer. 
• Install additional fans on your computer. Extra fans can improve ventilation. Many computer cases have specific places where fans can be installed. If you install extra fans, make sure that they blow air in the correct direction.
• Keep your computer away from walls and any other items that distribute rather than dissipate heat. Also, keep your computer clear of debris. Keeping items on top of the computer can act as another form of insulation and cause overheating problems.
• If your computer is still overheating, you may have a hardware problem. A broken fan or heat sink can cause multiple and severe problems. If you still have a warranty on your computer, call the manufacturer or return the computer. You can also speak with one of our technicians.

Source: Suite 101

Who remembers the '80s movie War Games? When I started to read about Priority Inbox, a new feature in Gmail released on August 30, 2010, I began to hear the computerized voice ask, "Would you like to play a game?" Perhaps I'm being overly dramatic, but Gmail's newest feature is a power trip. Priority Inbox is a streamlined and more powerful - perhaps even addictive - way of organizing massive amounts of email.

Priority Inbox works on an algorithm that uses your keywords, your favorite contacts, and your email habits to determine which emails are the most pressing. These emails are then placed at the top of your inbox and marked as important so that you know to read them first. This algorithm is extremely helpful; for example, I belong to LinkedIn and have accidentally checked the "Yes, I would like to receive an email when someone comments on this discussion" box. Some of these comments are insightful, but I don't necessarily want to sort through all of them to find emails from actual people needing actual replies.

Priority Inbox also is adaptive. As you mark emails as important or unimportant, the system learns which emails, contacts, keywords, and other factors are most important to you. You can fast track this learning process; simply use Gmail's filters to mark emails that are the most urgent, such as ones from your family or employer, and Priority Inbox will automatically and immediately categorize your emails.

Priority Inbox is found above the "Inbox" link. Rather than indicating how many unread emails you have in your inbox, Priority Inbox shows the number of urgent messages needing your attention. These emails appear at the top of Gmail as "important and unread."

Priority Inbox also interacts with the "star" function. If you use the "star" in Google Reader, you're familiar with how the "star" works. You read an item and, for some reason or another, you "star" the item. In my case, I usually "star" items that I would like to reread or discuss in a future blog post. In the new version of Gmail, starred emails work in a similar manner. They are saved as important but are ranked secondary to priority emails. Thus, they are found immediately below your priority emails. All of your other emails are located beneath your starred items.

Is Gmail's Priority Inbox a power trip? Oh, yes. A war game? Well, there's no computerized voice asking us to play just yet, but I'm sure Google can work on that.

Source: Mashable

In recent years, the number of Yahoo! users has declined, primarily due to Yahoo's inability or refusal to compete against the "big guns," such as Google and Microsoft. Yahoo! has lost consumers primarily because their services have no comparison to its Google and Microsoft counterparts. Now, Yahoo! is playing catch up with the leaders through a revamped email service and search engine results. 

During the next three years, Yahoo! will introduce innovations to their email service that will increase the service's speed by up to two times, improve the email filtering system, and create additional options for interacting with social media applications. One of the innovations is already in play: the Facebook update. At first, Yahoo! only had an internal status updater. It was a nifty thing, but why bother? Nobody pays that much attention to the Yahoo! status when everyone goes to Facebook to check up on one another. When Yahoo! integrated with Facebook, though, Yahoo!'s status updater became much more attractive. Suddenly, it became possible to interact with Facebook without leaving Yahoo!'s email service. Ingenious, Yahoo!, ingenious.

In the next few months, Yahoo! will add another social media application: Twitter. Just as with the Facebook feature, Yahoo! users will be able to update their Yahoo! status and their Twitter account simultaneously. The assumption is that the Twitter option will work just like Facebook; if users want to update Facebook as well as Yahoo!, they check both the Yahoo! and Facebook boxes. If they only want to update Yahoo! or Facebook, they check whichever application they want to update. If Twitter works the same way, it will be a great incentive to consumers who use Twitter for business networking but also have a business page and a personal profile on Facebook.  

Yahoo! will be upgrading their search engine some time this fall as well. The company is attempting to lower its costs by pulling their search engine results from Microsoft. Yahoo! is trying to distinguish itself from Microsoft's Bing by packaging their search results differently. The new and improved Yahoo! search results sound sneakily similar to Google's search engine and Google Buzz; key information will be included in a highlighted "capsule" placed directly above links from other sites. For example, if a Yahoo! user were to search for Usher, the search results would contain a "capsule" with photographs and video clips of Usher and popular songs by him.

My question is: Is it too little or too late for Yahoo!? Can the company salvage its reputation after failing horribly in the past few years? To be sure, there are Yahoo! devotees out there who will never change to another email service, but a dedicated following isn't always enough when a company's stocks and financial performance are continuing to decline. The only sure thing is that Yahoo! has some stiff competition. Google remains the granddaddy of search engines, and Microsoft has a great advertising campaign for Bing. Will Yahoo! be able to compete? Maybe; the company has made a decidedly strong and strategic maneuver by piggybacking on Twitter and Facebook. Perhaps Yahoo!'s cause isn't a lost one after all.

Source: Technology Review

The term, "the cloud," is not new. In fact, it is a rather well-known cliché for the internet. When it is used to describe computing, though, the term's definition can become a little fuzzy. Everybody seems to have a different meaning for the word, either too narrow or too broad (for example, considering anything shared outside of a firewall as being part of the cloud). 

I thought I had a grasp of the "cloud" and what it meant in terms of sharing information, but my understanding of the term was recently undercut. One of my friends, an international businessperson, recently spoke of how he and his business partners were collaborating on multiple projects via the "cloud." Once I heard this application of the cloud, I began to see that my understanding of the cloud was somewhat narrow and limited. As a result, I decided to research the term a little more thoroughly, particularly in its application to computing and information technology.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) provides the following definition for the cloud: "a pay-per-use model for enabling available, convenient, and on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources (e.g., networks, servers, storage, applications, services) that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort or service provider interaction." Basically, NIST is saying that the cloud is a way for IT professionals to extend their capabilities without having to invest in new infrastructures, licensing software, or personnel. IT professionals typically offer these new capacities and abilities in real-time over the internet via a subscription service or a pay-per-use model.

While cloud computing is still in its early stages, it holds great promise for IT professionals and end-users. Cloud computing is resulting in advances in storage services, spam filtering, applications, infrastructures, and software-as-services. Consider the following applications of cloud computing technology:

• Software as Services (SaaS): With SaaS, a single application is delivered through the browser to multiple, concurrent users. Benefits of SaaS technology extend to customers and providers. Customers do not have to invest in servers or licenses, and providers have the ability to maintain a single application without increasing or only slightly increasing their hosting costs. Examples of SaaS include SalesForce and Google Apps.
• Utility Computing: Utility computing is not a new concept, but cloud computing has breathed new life into it. Many companies, including Amazon and IBM, are implementing cloud computing strategies in order to extend their storage and virtual servers. Eventually, cloud computing may be able to replace parts of the datacenter and create a virtual datacenter through the cloud's ability to merge memory, I/O, storage, and computational capacity over a network.
• Web Services: This application of cloud computing is similar to SaaS. In this particular version of cloud computing, APIs are offered to developers who can then increase their functionality on the internet without having to use a full-blown application. Web services can range from the very simple to the very complex, such as the ones offered by Google Maps and credit card processing services.
• Platform as Services: This application also shares similarities with SaaS. Rather than offering software, this form of computing offers development environments. These environments are created on the provider's infrastructure and delivered to users through the provider's servers. The environments that can be created are constrained by the provider's design and capabilities; however, the benefits of pre-integration and predictability can outweigh the limitations placed on creative capabilities.
• Managed Service Providers (MSP): MSPs are one of the oldest forms of cloud computing. The services are typically offered to IT professionals rather than end-users. The services offered include anti-spam services, virus scanning services, application monitoring services, and desktop management services.
• Service Commerce Platforms: These platforms are a hybrid of SaaS and MSP. The platform creates a service hub, often found in trading environments, with which end-users interact. Users can order a service from a platform that coordinates the service delivery and pricing within the specifications set by the user. For example, multi-listing services (MLS) operate in a similar fashion. The end-users specify their price range, number of rooms, and other details. Upon submitting their request to the server, information is returned to them that falls within their specifications.
• Internet Integration: Most providers are moving toward internet integration. Although this is the trend, most IT users typically have to connect individually with isolated clouds of services. In the future, it is more likely that enterprises will become a node in the over-arching cloud rather than being encompassed within individual clouds. OpSource, CapeClear, and Grand Central are three companies that are ahead of the trend; they already provide integrated bus services.

I hope examining "the cloud" in a little more detail has helped. The cloud and its capabilities are constantly growing and adapting, which is why its importance to IT professionals and end-users cannot be underestimated. While the forecast remains "cloudy," perhaps the clouds will now be a little less nebulous.

Sources: InfoWorld, National Institute of Standards and Technology, ScienceDaily

Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 offers greater reliability and better performance. New and revamped features allow users to simplify their administration, protect their communications, and increase their business mobility. Other features include new deployment and storage options, enhanced inbox management capabilities, and an e-mail archival system. 

For businesses, the improved and, sometimes new, features help to lessen business expenses and increase business outcomes. The new mailbox has a better resilience, which provides businesses with high availability, disaster recovery, and back-up abilities. Microsoft Exchange's features also include more comprehensive information protection capabilities, including the capacity to moderate or encrypt e-mails easily.

These business features are experienced by the everyday user, often without the user realizing it. The new system has resulted in a more consistent inbox, calendar, and contacts across all platforms, including PC, browser, and phone. The new features also include an "integrated conversation view," which allows users to view any relevant information they need across all folders, inbox, and sent and deleted items. Another helpful tool is the "mail tips"; it notifies users about potential mistakes before they send an e-mail.

These features, for both businesses and users, are only a few of the new items offered by Microsoft Exchange Server 2010. For a complete list of the new features, visit Microsoft Exchange. If you are interested in learning how Microsoft Exchange or IDS' hosting services can enhance your business, contact us.

Turn on the TV or pay attention to your browser's sidebar, and you'll see ads for any and all gadgets. Looking for a smart phone? How about a Kindle? Deals on a desktop computer? Today's world seemingly has everything, but not "everything" will work for you.

While I'm sure that most of us would enjoy testing all of the latest gadgets, I highly doubt that many of us have the time to do so. Determining what gadget or gadgets are best for you is primarily based on the mind and body factor. What you do for a living and what you do during your off-hours also are considerations.

• The Body
  The body is a huge component in deciding what gadget to purchase. How is your eyesight? Your manual dexterity? While smart phones have an amazing zoom feature, you will still be looking at a screen that measures four inches or less. You are also going to have to finagle the touch screen - swipes, swishes, and taps. Netbooks - mini-laptops - can also be frustrating due to their small keyboards. Netbooks and smart phones really aren't meant for anything beyond basic web browsing; you are going to have to upgrade your choice of gadget if you want or need something more powerful. 
• The Brain
  Why do you need the gadget? Are you a "talker"? Do you spend most of your time texting, tweeting, or actually talking with friends? If so, you may be perfectly content with a smart phone. Are you a "consumer"? Are you constantly watching movies or videos on YouTube? The best choice for you would be something along the lines of an Apple iPad, which has a very pretty screen. If you're a "creator," a person who actually uploads files or is creating artwork in a design program, you are going to need something with adequate memory and space. For you, the only way to go is a heavy-duty laptop or a desktop computer.
• The Work
  What do you do for a living? Maybe you need multiple gadgets. You might have a desktop computer at work where you can manipulate and save files, but you also have a laptop that you use when you make presentations or have a meeting with a client. You might even have an iPad to stay up-to-date with the latest news and a smart phone to keep track of your hectic schedule. The number of gadgets you choose to own is a matter of personal preference. If you like having multiple gadgets, great. If you like to keep things simple and streamlined, you may be happier only owning one or two gadgets.
• The Weekend
  What do you do in your off-hours? Do you email the people you didn't have a chance to contact during the week? Do you browse the Twitter feed? Do you catch up on the news? Maybe you spend your weekend uploading photos from events you attended during the week. Perhaps you work on a new illustration or write a blog post. Maybe you read the newest bestseller, in which case, you might have a Kindle or a Nook - their displays are easier to see in bright sunlight than the iPad's backlit LCD screen. Whatever your weekend tech activities, they are a consideration in your choice of gadget or gadgets.

Making the choice of which gadget to buy is an important one. Make sure to consider all of the factors and to make a choice that will satisfy your needs and, if possible, your wants. Fortunately, if you're not happy with your original decision, you can usually return the gadget and try another.