Finally, A Faster USB! For the first time in over 8 years, Universal Serial Bus, or USB for short, is finally getting an upgrade. The non-profit group formed by various manufacturers to set the standard is scheduled to announce the new USB 3.0 standard.
According to some Internet news reports, McColo Corp., located in downton San Jose, California was shut down a few weeks ago when its two Internet backbone providers finally shut off their Internet backbone connection. McColo is a web hosting provider for many international organizations involved in spamming of everything from pornography to pharmaceuticals.
I ran across this article on one of the blogs I frequent. This study tracked specific cell phone models for a year. The results are, well, let's just say I'm glad I didn't get a Blackberry.
Two weeks ago I flew out to see a client in Nashville for a few days. Houston Intercontinental Airport and Continental Airlines instituted a new test program where you could have your boarding pass displayed on your browser enabled cell phone. I decided to give this a try and it worked like a charm!
Voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP) is definitely here to stay. If you haven't checked into it yet for your company, you should. It could possibly save you a ton of money. The quality is generally excellent now, and this is not your old voip in the beginning where the call quality was marginal at best. This is now a very mature product, and in fact, the long distance companies have been doing it behind the scenes for a long time. If you ever made a long distance phone call, odds are some part of the call was run over voip, with or without your knowledge.
While I previously blogged about Circuity City filing for Chapter 11 reorganization and cloing 155 stores nationwide in the process, I mentioned that the local store here was not included in the list of closings.
The Energy Star specification for computers is currently under revision for version 5.0. Did you know that the new Energy Star compliant laptops and PCs actually use 15 to 25% less energy on average than the other new computers on the shelf?
Is your company still using the old email provided by your Internet Service Provider? You know who you are. Your company uses emails for its employees like , , , , or some other iteration similar to these examples. It might be time to step up to "real" email.
Circuit City, which WAS the number two big box electronic store, filed for bankruptcy last week. They plan on closing 150 stores nationwide. From what I have been told, the local Beaumont, Texas store is not slated for closure. But I wouldn't hold my breath.
Some busines owners see these uncertain economic times as tough roads ahead, while others see this as a perfect opportunity to get out in front of their competition, and truly help their customers weather this storm.
With the announcement that Microsoft is launching SBS 2008 on November 12, 2008 it might be a good time to address a few house cleaning items you will need to get in order if you are planning this upgrade.
It looks like WiFi is finally available while you are on your flight. American Airlines has been testing a new WiFi service from GoGoInflight which allows you to get high speed Internet access (for a fee, of course) while you are cruising at 30,000 feet. From most reports I have read, the service works well, and is fairly reliable. So, now you can send and receive those emails, download that important presentation you forgot to bring with you, or just surf the web.
You have to be careful what you say nowadays. A case in point revolves around a post I recently made on a blog that tracks the industry my company is in. I was commenting on the site about a particular business model we use and how it has simplified our billing, etc. Another poster asked me what software we used to track some specifics. I replied back with the name of the software, but added a caveat that we were in the middle of implementing a different solution.
This following is from one of the many technical blogs that we follow. It is worth reading in regards to Daylight Savings time. The change comes at a different time than normal again this year. Not all computers can cope with it.
Are you running Vista and can't get Adobe Reader to install? Well you aren't alone. It was recently listed as one of the top complaints regarding Vista. Fortunately, we have an answer to the issue. Actually, two answers!
Since I have strong ties to the airline industry (those who know me know why) I found this little bit of humor all too true. Enjoy!
Last week in "How About a Phone System for the Little Guy" I talked about Microsoft Responsepoint, the new Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) phone system for small and medium business. It has the blue Responsepoint button that, when pushed, responds to your voice commands. It also has a built-in auto attendant, voicemail capabilities, and even the ability to convert your voicemails automatically to emails to send to your email account.
The other day I ran into a post on a forum I frequent. The poster was asking what the other small business owners did in regards to having a logo created. One of the answers was to utilize the power of the web.
Last month I told you I was in Seattle mixing with the SMB partners and Microsoft types. While there, Microsoft VP Cindy Bates shared with us the new "I'm a pc" advertising campaign. Microsoft has put together a site where visitors can view and even create their own "I'm a pc" commercial. I must admit, we "pc" types are a very creative lot. Click here to see some of the "I'm a pc" uploads, and hey, if you want to make one of your own, I won't tell! You might just find mine if you look hard enough!
Microsoft released its entry into the smb telephone marketplace about 9 months ago. Responsepoint is the first affordable telephone system that runs on your own computer network, integrates with Microsoft Small Business Server, and has a simplified form of Unified Messaging. It also integrates with your Outlook Contacts, so when one of your contacts calls, it pops up on your screen with the contact's information.