SADA Speaks

Tony Safoian Speaks on Cloud Computing at Google's I/O Conference

2008-06-26T10:40:00.000-07:00

SADA President and CEO, Tony Safoian, joined a crowd of developers and IT professionals estimated in San Fransisco late last month to attend Google's annual developer conference, Google I/O. This conference provides developers and professionals from all over the world a forum to share their experiences, and announce new products or developments in the world of Internet technology.

The paradigm in IT, both in the way it functions within organizations and how companies like SADA Systems deliver services as 'solution providers', is changing. Google understands that, and through innovation in products like Google Apps (a part of a solution set offered by Google Enterprise) is helping drive this change. Organizations like SADA Systems are in turn, helping bring these solutions to market by providing services focused on implementation into organizations of various types and sizes.

You can see Tony's presentation at I/O in the video located here.

LA Sixth in the Nation for Tech Jobs

2008-06-25T09:34:00.000-07:00

An article in the San Fernando Business Journal, published Tuesday (June 24th), ranked Los Angeles sixth in the nation for jobs in the technology industry. The study, published by the AeA (American Electronics Association) revealed that within the LA region there were 172,000 employees within the electronics and technology industry. The combined payroll for all employees comes to $14.3 billion. The actual numbers may be a little different as the most recent statistics are from 2006.

Areas ahead of Los Angeles include some you might expect. Cities that lead Los Angeles in the number of tech jobs include the New York Metro Area, Washington D.C., San Jose/Silicon Valley, Boston, and Dallas-Fort Worth.

The study, "Cybercities 2008" is available on the AeA website. You can view the report by clicking here.

Dell No Longer Offering Windows XP on Computers

2008-06-19T16:21:00.000-07:00

The last official day to purchase a new computer from Dell with Windows XP loaded was Wednesday, June 18th. Even so, the company is still making it possible to get a computer with Windows XP loaded, but customers will be expected to purchase a Vista license. the business and personal computing markets remain largely lukewarm in their reception of Windows Vista, Microsoft's much maligned upgrade to Windows. Nonetheless, the tides are changing, and Microsoft annoucned that it will cease retail sales of Windows XP as of June 30th. OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers) will still be able pre-load computers with Windows XP. Support for Windows XP OEMs will continue through 2010.

Dell's offer allows them to take advantage of 'downgrade rights' built into Windows Vista Business and Windows Vista Ultimate licenses. Essentially, this allows the party purchasing the computer to choose an installation of Windows XP Pro instead of the Vista OS, with the option of returning to Vista at a later date. Customers who take advantage of this offer will receive their computers with Windows XP pre-installed, but bundled with a Vista installation disc.

There's more. In order to take advantage of the downgrade option Dell's customers must first upgrade to one of the eligible versions of Vista (business or ultimate). In addition, this option comes free of charge only on Dell's 630 and 720 H2C desktops, and the M1730 laptop. There are extra fees to downgrade the Latitude, Optiplex, Precision, and Vostro lines. Finally, Dell's best-selling brand, the Inspiron, does not offer a pre-installed downgrade to XP. Customers purchasing these computers will have to manage the downgrade to XP themselves.

What does this mean for you? Essentially, Microsoft is phasing out Windows XP in favor of Windows Vista. The older operating system will be supported for a while yet (until 2014), but the time to make the switch is coming. Given the high hardware and software demands of Vista, it may be best to wait until you're ready to buy that new computer before making the switch.

POP3 Configuration tool for Outlook: Free, Open, Customizable

2008-06-18T14:35:00.000-07:00

What if you're helping move dozens, hundreds, or thousands of users to Google Apps, and you find that many people wish to continue to use Outlook or Outlook Express and download their mail, as opposed to just using their web browser? Simply distribute a version of the tool with your custom settings, and have your users help themselves! This tool can potentially save dozens of hours of manual labor in time it would otherwise requires to plan, coordinate, and manually add the new settings for all Outlook users in your organization or group of users.

About the tool
POP Configuration tool is a free and open Windows executable which will configure Microsoft Outlook Express, Microsoft Outlook 2003, 2002 and earlier versions of Outlook to use Google Apps via POP3/SMTP. The only information a user of the tool needs to provide is the email address and name to be displayed in the From: field.

Usage:
Tool executable can be downloaded from SADA's Public Site

Make sure the email client you are configuring (Outlook Express or Outlook) is closed.
Download and save the file.
Double-click on the file to execute it.
Enter your email address (the portion before @ symbol).
Enter your full name.
Hit Next. Hit Finish.
Your email client is now configured to be used with Google Apps POP3/SMTP.

Customization:
The source code can be downloaded from SADA's Public Site

A number of UI elements in the tool can be customized, such as logo, text fields, and icon. If you'd like to modify the logo, it must be 157 pixels wide, 57 pixels high, and less than 15 kilobytes in size.

Customize the file sada_customization.txt
Create configuration file by running the following command: ./make_config.pl sada_customization.txt NEWDIR English
Modify gmailconfig.nsi by replacing pop.YOURDOMAIN.com with pop.gmail.com and smtp.YOURDOMAIN.com with smtp.gmail.com
Compile gmailconfig.nsi using NSIS
-Download and install NSIS from http://nsis.sourceforge.net/Download
-Run NSIS
-Click on compile NSI script
-Click on Load Script. This will compile the script and create tool executable
You're done. Distribute the executable to your users

Google Sites Basic Workflow

2008-06-18T12:44:00.000-07:00

SADA uses Google Sites for project management in cases where a lot of content and status elements need to be managed, and a large number of people need to be kept in the loop.

One of the nice features of Apps is the basic notification rules you can set (and encourage others to set), so that all updates to the project Site are automatically send to subscribers. This saves steps in having to update the Site AND THEN tell people about the progress you've made. This way, you just do it once, in one place, and everybody who needs to know gets notified.

How do you set this? It's painfully easy. Check out the instructions below:

Google Apps Email List Management Tool, now available

2008-06-18T11:51:00.000-07:00

SADA has released a customizable, email list management tool available for hosted and on-premise implementations for those organizations who want a more streamlined method for managing email distribution lists in Google Apps.

Review the Presentation below for a basic use-case overview.

If you're interested in pricing for the tool, please contact us through our intake form on our website.

Four Trends that Fuel the Web Application Movement

2008-06-11T11:29:00.000-07:00

In a recent article for CIO, Rishi Chandra, product manager of Google Enterprise, spoke on the adoption of web-based applications. Speaking for the Enterprise 2.0 conference in Boston, yesterday, Chandra indicated that four key trends will be responsible for the trend of rapid adoption of web-based applications by consumers and businesses alike. Chandra feels the following four trends are key to the success of computing in the cloud:

Consumer Innovation Setting the Pace

Rise of the Power Collaborator

New Economics of Scale for IT

Barriers to Adoption Are Falling

Basically, all of these trends indicate that focus has switched from trying to capture the business and enterprise market, to trying to capture the consumer market. As Chandra put it, "People can go from Google search to Yahoo search in one click." It is due in part to this that enterprise technology companies must provide the consumer with the best possible value. As a result, innovations in technology are now driven by end-user demand. Prior to the ubiquity of the Internet new technologies were driven by innovations in the workplace, and users were forced to learn new applications that were sometimes difficult to master. It was a case of experts writing for experts. This model has since turned 180 degrees, and applications are being developed to be easy to use in order to capture the broadest possible cross-section of the consumer marketplace.

To view the complete article click here.

Notebook Computers Go Small, Really Small

2008-06-11T11:12:00.000-07:00

For a number of years computer manufacturers have been wrestling with the size of the laptop. Specifically, they've been trying to make notebook computers as small as possible and energize the 'ultra-portable' market. Entries into this division have ranged wildly in price and quality, and the major hurdle for manufacturers and consumers alike was sticker price. Up until recently consumers paid big bucks for tiny computers. With the introduction of the Intel Atom, a miniaturized processor, one of the major hurdles in bringing affordable micro-notebooks to the market has been cleared. Another major roadblock has been storage. Drives small enough to fit the dramatically reduced form factor of a 'sub-notebook' have only recently started to drop in price, paving the way for manufacturers to begin the introduction of smaller and smaller notebooks.

With the Eee PC Asus is now leading the pack in the marketing of small notebooks. These computers have been dubbed 'netbooks' as their primary focus is on wireless connection to the Internet, web browsing, and email.

One interesting outgrowth of this new trend in Internet-centric computers is the adoption of Linux as a viable, even preferable, alternative to Windows. To date Asus has sold over one million units, and has projected that over five million will sell before the end of the year. For Linux this is a huge increase in user adoption. Given the success of Linux on these machines it's easy to speculate that users of Windows might start to question why they need the more expensive OS from Microsoft. That said, Asus is now releasing a version of the Eee PC that uses Windows XP, and HP is marketing their own netbook with Windows Vista.

Clearly a demand has been created for ultra-portable computers with advanced wi-fi capability. So, what could this mean for desktop applications? It could mean that client-side software comes under attack by software in the cloud, or hosted applications. The nature of the netbooks makes them an ideal platform for writing, storing, and sharing all of your documents online with services such as Google Apps or Zoho Office.

Obviously, these are not ideal systems for high-end graphics work or gaming. More typical high-end notebooks and desktops will still be used for those purposes. The low cost and small size of these computers make them ideal for students who need a computer for taking notes during class. Writers and Business professionals who are rarely in the office or at home might also appreciate the low cost and flexibility of a netbook.

Watch a Google Street View Cam in Action!

2008-05-29T06:00:00.000-07:00

Last year Google introduced Google Street View as a component of Google Maps offering panoramic street-level views. Using the feature users can view parts of selected cities and their surrounding metropolitan areas at ground level.

In order to produce the imagery for the service Google mounts a special panoramic camera on a pole on top of the roof of a vehicle. Then, the car simply drives around town capturing the imagery as it goes.

Here is a video of a Google Street View cam car in action, moving along Interstate 10 near Palm Springs, California.

And here is a Street View image of our favorite pizza place here in NoHo.

View Larger Map

Tony Safoian to Speak at Google I/O

2008-05-28T17:36:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow Tony Safoian will travel to San Fransisco to give a presentation at an annual developer conference, hosted by Google. Google I/O, as the event has been dubbed, is meant to bring together developers from all over the world to discuss the future of web applications. Developers will get together to discuss new horizons in developing next-generation web applications that make use of Open Source web technologies provided by Google, and the Open Source community.

In his presentation Tony will cover Google Apps, as it relates to customers in the SMB and Enterprise marketplace. Tony's presentation will highlight SADA's experience implementing Google Apps for organizations of all sizes.

Here is the Presently-based slideshow Tony used in his presentation today at the event:

For more information about the Google I/O developer conference visit the official website by clicking here

PC World also has a good article about the event. That article can be found here.

Google Introduces "Print Layout" to Docs!

2008-05-23T10:39:00.000-07:00

Thursday morning I was working in a few different Google Docs, gathering information and collaborating with my co-workers when I noticed something different about the next doc I opened up.

The document was in a fixed-width page view; that is the document essentially looked like how it will on the printed page.

Google quietly released this new feature (similar to print layout in Microsoft Word) that gives you the option of viewing your document in either the fixed-width view or normal or "plain" view (the equivalent of web layout in Word). To choose between either, just click on the View menu tab in docs.

Google is continually enhancing and improving Google Apps and updates are delivered without you having to install, patch or do anything. In my view, that's pretty neat!

For more information about Google Apps, please visit goZEROi.com!

SADA Presents Google Apps at Angelbeat

2008-05-15T10:03:00.000-07:00

Angelbeat is a series of seminars begun by CEO Ron Gerber. Where most tech seminars are focused on technology professionals and developers, and are full of indecipherable acronyms and techno-babble, Mr. Gerber's seminars are intended to reach out to business and enterprise users. The very people who are wondering, "How do I save money on IT?" In today's troubled economic climate this is a valid concern. The Angelbeat series takes place in several major cities over the summer, and brings together tech professionals, enterprise business executives, and end-users to discuss possible solutions to just this concern.

At the invitation of Google, SADA's own CEO and President Tony Safoian flew to New York for the Long Island Angelbeat event. Tony was attending with Google as a Google Enterprise Partner, and gave a presentation around Google Apps and how it can be used as an Enterprise solution, or software as a service.

To visit the Anglebeat website and learn more about upcoming events that may be in your area, visit their website (www.angelbeat.com) or click here.

Below is the presentation Tony gave at the event:

Following are some pictures from the event:

Google CEO Talks About the Cloud

2008-05-01T16:16:00.000-07:00

Google CEO Eric Schmidt talked about computing in the cloud in a recent interview. Following is an excerpt from that interview:

Bartiromo: Mm-hmm. And, of course, Google has been getting all these newkiller apps, whether it's Gmail or Maps or, you know, spreadsheets.Ultimately is the game to compete direct, head on, with Microsoft?

Schmidt: Well, Google is actually trying to be an innovator, and we'realways concerned about competition. We have found that if we can simplyinvent a brand-new product that really solves a problem that really doesmatter to you, we can get your business, we can get your attention, we can getyour traffic and your customers or what have you. We're trying in a new thingcalled cloud computing to offer very powerful Web services that do the commonthings--e-mail, word processing and so forth--where the data's kept in thecloud, it's kept by somebody else, it's managed by professionals. You don'tneed to worry about where you keep all that information. We like that model alot. We're getting traction. It is a competitive threat to other companies,but we think it's a technological breakthrough.

Bartiromo: What about the corporate customer? I understand that there aretests going on right now. What are you hearing from that customer?

Schmidt: We're working with the corporate customers to do the same thinginside their networks as we do with consumers. Now, corporate customers arenot the same thing as consumer customers. Corporate customers have a muchhigher need for reliability, so we'll sign an agreement that guarantees acertain level of service. But then we charge for it. So that's a case wherepeople are willing to pay for something which is free without the level ofreliability. They also have other needs. They need greater security, for allthe obvious reasons. And they also need better integration with all of theother services that their companies have. This is a long process. It's not afast process. But it's very deeply valuable. And those customers we willhave for 20 or 30 or 40 years as they build into our model. We like thatmodel. It's an enterprise play. It's a business that I've been in for a longtime, and one which will ultimately be very, very lucrative through Google.

150 Year Old Computer Comes to Life

2008-05-01T15:21:00.000-07:00

While modern computers are a fairly recent innovation, the concept of the computer is far from unique. The idea of a 'thinking machine' has been around for over 200 years. Some of the roots of modern computing can be found in the idea and designs for 'thinking machines' known as difference engines dating back to 1786. J.H. Muller was an engineer in the Hessian army who conceived the idea of a difference engine in a book published in 1786. Muller was never able to acquire funding to research or develop his concept, but the idea persisted. Thirty-six years later inventor Charles Babbage proposed the use of such a machine in a paper to the Royal Astromical Society. The machine proposed by Babbage used the decimal number system and was operated by cranking a handle. Babbage was able to secure funding to begin work on the project, but the British government withdrew their support after Babbage made no progress, but continued to ask for more money. Undaunted, Babbage continued to work on his designs and produced a design for the "Difference Engine No. 2" sometime between 1847 and 1849. This design was never realized in Babbage's lifetime.

The concept of the 'thinking machine' or 'difference engine' has influenced science, both actual and physical' for the past 150 years, and continues to do so through speculative fiction such as Steampunk. Real world interest in the Difference Engine has waned with the advent of computers and the Internet, until recently when the Computer History Museum in Mountain Veiw, CA built the Difference Engine No. 2 under the direction of guest curator Doron Swade.

Click the link below for more information about the Museum's Difference Engine, including a slideshow.

Link: Difference Engine No. 2

Gartner: "Windows is Collapsing; Microsoft Must Make Radical Changes"

2008-04-12T10:18:00.000-07:00

Speaking at a Las Vegas conference Thursday, Gartner Research analysts Michael Silver and Neil MacDonald described as "untenable" Microsoft's continuing challenges in developing future versions of the Windows operating system. Silver and Mac Donald predicted that if the Redmond, WA based company didn't make "radical change" to Windows soon, they risked becoming a "has-been."

In their presentation, the two analysts said Windows is "collapsing" and issued the following warning to Microsoft:

"Users want a smaller Windows that can run on low-priced -- and low-powered -- hardware. And increasingly, users work with "OS-agnostic applications," the two analysts said in their presentation. It takes too long for Microsoft to build the next version, the company is being beaten by others (GOOG) in the innovation arena, and in the future -- perhaps as soon as the next three years -- it's going to have trouble competing with Web applications and small, specialized devices."

We've been working on and talking about this concept for quite some time. We call it ZEROi.

Our experience around the use and implementation of Google Apps and other software as a service platforms confirms this. Why have lots of expensive hardware, bloated software and even more bloated operating systems when clean, simple, elegant and robust alternatives will do the job?

Don't wait for the consultants and pundits tell you what's next - give us a call here at SADA Systems at 818.766.2400 to see the future!

Google Eases POP3/IMAP Access for ISP's Moving Existing Users to Google Apps

2008-04-11T11:43:00.000-07:00

The battle has been going on for some time now in terms of the legal requirements for ISP’s and other users of Google Apps Partner edition who need to migrate their existing users onto the Google Apps platform.

The biggest risk for any ISP? Churn. No matter how great the Google Apps platform is, ISPs fear that any change which requires a lot of action from their existing users will cause a great deal of frustration, lots of calls to the helpdesk, and ultimately, some percentage of their subscribers taking their business elsewhere. Existing subscribers who were accustomed to getting their email via POP3 or IMAP most likely would want to continue to do so, so it’s imperative that POP3/IMAP access is turned on for those subscribers *at the time migration* automatically!

Until yesterday, this was not possible, as Google required that each user agree to their Terms of Services and enable this function manually. I’m happy to announce, after lots of lobbying on the parts of customers, Partners like SADA, and many internal powers that be at Google, the U.S. Google legal team has finally approved a way for allow the Terms of Services to be rolled into the master agreement with the ISP, in which case, all existing users could have their POP3/IMAP activated at the time of provisioning/migration! This is a major victory, and very effective in reducing the risk of churn, and the complexity of the migration process – especially when you’re dealing with hundreds of thousands of accounts.

Well done, Google team! You continue to show you understand the requirements and needs of your clients and your partners!

Vista, Mac Hacked in Pwn2Own Contest

2008-04-07T13:15:00.000-07:00

This year CanSecWest, an annual security conference held in Vancouver, Canada, sponsored a security contest called "Pwn2Own" (pronounced p-own to own). The targets for this year's security specialists were three fully patched systems that included:

A Sony Vaio VGN-TZ37CN running Ubuntu 7.10
A Fujitsu U810 running Microsoft's Vista Ultimate with Service Pack 1 installed
A fully patched and updated version of Mac's OSX running on a new MacBook Air.

A successful attack on any of the three came with a cash prize and the successful team got to keep the hacked machine.

The difficulty of the challenge changed over the course of the three day contest. On the first day the contestants were allowed to attack only the default installation of the operating system over a network. Starting on the second day of the contest the competitors were allowed to make attacks on the target systems by exploiting vulnerabilities in Internet browsers and email. The third and final day of the contest the competitors were allowed to make attacks on the target systems through any popular third-party application.

None of the competitors were able to successfully attack any of the three target systems on the first day. Indeed, according this article on The Register, none of the hackers even attempted to assault the systems on day one.

Of interest to the general Internet and computing community is that the first system to fall was the MacBook, which was running a fully patched version of the latest release of OS X (Leopard). Contestant Charlie Miller was able to bring down Apple's entry to the Pwn2Own contest in two minutes by exploiting a vulnerability in the Safari web browser. Miller took home both the MacBook Air and a $10,000 cash prize.

The target machine running Vista was the next machine to fall. It came down on the third day of the contest when Shane MaCaulay exploited a vulnerability in Adobe's Flash. No one was able to make a successful attack on the target machine running Ubuntu. MaCaulay went home with the Vaio and a cash prize of $5,000.

Does this mean that Mac, and more specifically Safari, is actually the most vulnerable machine out there? Does it mean that Linux, and specifically Ubuntu, is actually the most secure operating system? No, on both counts. It is important to remember that tests such as this are a necessary part of uncovering potentially threatening vulnerabilities. It is also important to note that malware threats such as those used by the competitors are commonplace on the Internet. No system, regardless of operating system, is invulnerable to attack. The best way to protect your sensitive information is to practice common sense in your browsing and email habits, and to keep your anti-virus and anti-spy programs up to date. Back up your data often and avoid opening email messages if you're uncertain of the source. These few simple tactics will help prevent your system from falling to malicious hackers.

New and Free - Google Email Uploader now supports Contacts.

2008-04-04T09:42:00.001-07:00

Finally, a great, free tool from Google direct which supports migration of BOTH Contacts and Emails from Outlook.

http://mail.google.com/mail/help/email_uploader.html

If you combine this with the great new and free Calendar Sync tool, this is really all you need to move from Outlook to Google Apps (or, even just use both systems).

Well done, Google team! This means that the Enterprise can rely less on third party applications for basic and fundamental requirements of moving from one platform onto Google Apps. This should go a long way of increasing the comfort level for any organization wanting to make the move. Oh, and it’s all free – which doesn’t hurt either.

Offline Google Docs: They're Here!

2008-03-31T16:03:00.000-07:00

We all know how great it is to create and collaborate online with Google Docs. But of course the greatest part of Google Docs - the Internet connection - is also a real downside when you don't have it. But not anymore!

Google Docs is slowly rolling out an "unplugged" option. Using the Google Gears platform, a limited number of you (and more of you soon!) will have the option to save and work on Google Docs locally when you have no Internet connection. So if you're on a plane, at your folks' cabin in the mountains or the barista accidentally plugs the espresso machine into the wireless router, you can still work.

The offline version of Docs currently only supports the English language and is not extended to Google Spreadsheets or Presentations. But that will come later. Offline Google Docs pretty much works in the background - your docs are synced with your Google Apps account as soon as you have an Internet connection again.

For more information about using the power of Google Docs online or offline please contact us here at SADA Systems, Inc. at 818.766.2400.

Yahoo Supports Google's OpenSocial

2008-03-26T09:16:00.000-07:00

We've been watching the movement to make social networking more open for a while now. The Washington Post reports a major step in that direction Tuesday.

Google has joined forces with Yahoo as well as MySpace to create the OpenSocial Foundation. The Foundation will support the technology developed by Google that allows developers to create applications that work across many social networking platforms such as MySpace, LinkedIn, Orkut, etc.

This is an exciting development for users who have often found themselves having to create multiple profiles via various networking sites in order to take advantage of specific applications or to link up with various friends and associates.

US Navy Program Adopts Google Apps

2008-03-24T09:06:00.000-07:00

For over 230 years the mission of the United States Navy has been successfully defending America's shores and its interests at sea. When this branch of the armed forces decides to go with Google Apps, its definitely a "Victory at Sea" for the platform.

According to FCW.com, the Navy's Maritime Domain Awareness program has licensed Google Apps for 5000 users.

The Maritime Domain Awareness program keeps an eye on all types of oceanic traffic, shipping, etc. to scan for potential threats to the US at sea. It also works to coordinate a number of humanitarian efforts.

The Navy will use the collaborative power of Google Apps to share information among various units, government agencies and international partners. It will also integrate much of this information with it's Google Earth Enterprise initiative.

Whether at sea or on dry land, Google Apps is a useful tool to help accomplish any mission. To see how we can put it to work for you, contact us at SADA Systems at 818.766.2400.

Personal Trainer Gets Results with SADA Systems, Inc.

2008-03-14T08:34:00.000-07:00

Advertising is great, but nothing speaks more to a company's ability to deliver than the words of it's clients.

Jack Witt is a personal fitness trainer and consultant based here in our hometown of North Hollywood. Jack's goal was to increase the size of his business; reaching out for more clients and new business opportunities. Jack engaged SADA Systems, Inc. to redesign his website at http://www.getfitwithwitt.com/ The redesign project also including adding e-commerce options to Jack's site and engineering it around search engine optimization (SEO) strategies and techniques. Jack's site was developed by SADA Senior Designer Eric J. Seaton, a veteran designer who has worked on numerous site redesign and SEO projects for SADA.

"I recently had a new client join for my personal fitness training services. She wasn't referred, didn't know me from any of my business networking organizations, nor see a flyer of mine anywhere around town. She lives in North Hollywood and Googled "North Hollywood Personal Trainer" and my website came right up. She really liked what she saw and "felt" from the site and immediately hired me and pre-paid 40 sessions in advance. Through that one transaction, my initial website expenses paid off. Thanks SADA!"

SADA develops cutting-edge technology tools for business that meet a marketing and/or operations need and add directly to the bottom line whether it's cost savings, additional business or even tools that can generate revenue themselves (ask us!).

If you'd like SADA to give your site a "workout" like we did for Jack, please call Michael Higby at 818.942.1094. If you need to give your self a "redesign" call Jack at (818) 760-3891.

Keep the 'Net Neutral?

2008-03-12T14:23:00.000-07:00

Put your ear to the proverbial rails in the world of IT News and you'll likely hear rumblings of the giant, broad-reaching issue of “network neutrality.” The question of neutrality has been debated for about the last 8 years. On one side of the argument are advocates of neutrality. Behind the regulating, restricting, and monitoring network activity are the major providers and telecoms.

While definitions of what it means to be neutral vary somewhat, it can be generally understood to mean a broadband network free of restrictions on the following:

What equipment may be attached
Allowed modes of communication
The type of content that may be found online

The question of neutrality has recently been returned to the spotlight by Comcast Internet. Comcast has begun limiting the bandwidth speeds of certain sites that make use of the file sharing protocol, BitTorrent. Like other peer to peer file sharing networks BitTorrent allows users to download and then share out any kind of content. Unlike other file sharing networks, BitTorrent reduces the load of a single file by splitting the transmission over a theoretically limitless number of computers. Movie downloads have become particularly popular. By making use of BitTorrent users can transmit files that are even several gigabytes relatively quickly, and certainly faster than the same download might be from a single server or shared computer.

Comcast claims that the network resources required to share files in this manner clog the network and cause bandwidth problems for customers not engaged in file sharing activity. This sounds reasonable, but there's no evidence that any such clogging of network resources takes place due to file sharing or any other activity. It does raise some ethical questions as throttling back certain activities means Comcast has to take more than a cursory look into the private transmissions of its users.

So, what does this mean for the average Internet consumer? This could go one of two major directions.

If providers are allowed to limit bandwidth at their discretion it means that service providers could set their price structures based on content, not just bandwidth. In other words, access to websites that feature streaming video would cost more than access to Wikipedia, for example. This assumes the service provider doesn't have an online knowledge base that competes with Wikipedia.
If the 'net remains neutral it means that service providers would be required to set prices based on available transfer speeds alone, and not discriminate based on content. The downside is the government could become involved in the regulation of the offerings of service providers, and by extension the Internet.

Either way this is a complex issue full of subtleties, with consumers caught between the interests of big telecom companies and the government. In whatever manner this issue is resolved, it's a fair bet the Internet will be changed forever.

For more information about the pro-neutral argument visit: www.savetheinternet.com
Formore information about the argument against neutrality visit: www.handsoff.org

Correction: Cisco UC 500 will not support 96 users

2008-03-07T07:48:00.001-08:00

Well, sorry all – looks like we had a little bit of misinformation about the plans to expand the capabilities of the UC 500 to support 96 users. We were recently sent the correct information about the upcoming capabilities directly from the UC 500 product manager at Cisco. It reads:

“As part of continued interest to offer flexibility to our SMB market, Cisco plans to introduce license-based “user count” upgrades for all the currently shipping Cisco Unified Communications 500 Series. This enhancement would allow a field deployed 8 user version (desktop form factor) of the Unified 500 Series to be upgraded to the 16 user version. Similarly, the 24, 32 user systems, available in the 19” rack mount form factor, can be upgraded to the 32 and 48 user version of the system.”

So – not as good as the ability to scale to 96, but even still – nice to know that you can upgrade your system from 8 to 16, or 16 to 32, etc… with a simple software upgrade, and NO NEW hardware! Yet another advantage a fully digital system of this type has! More info to come.

The iPhone (and Apple) is for business after all.

2008-03-06T20:07:00.001-08:00

Apple made a major announcement today – not only releasing the SDK for the iPhone (which means finally, many real, legit applications will be created for the iPhone), but as exciting, announcing “enterprise” support for the iPhone – meaning direct support for Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync! Hell hasn’t frozen over quite like this since the first time Apple released iTunes/iPod for the PC!

So, for all of those IT managers who have been resisting the iPhone – all of those excuses are about to go out the window (no pun intended). Here is a list of typical ActiveSync features, coming soon. Like some of the recent hype, I believe this is going to allow Apple overall to gain traction in the Enterprise again, and be accepted as a business tool – I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again – Apple will have 20% market share in the desktop computer/laptop space by 2013.

Enterprise features in iPhone 2.0 software beta.

Upcoming iPhone support for Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync and industry-standard corporate security standards will allow IT professionals to seamlessly integrate iPhone into their enterprise environments. New features include:

Push email
Push contacts
Push calendar
Global Address List

Certificates and Identities
WPA2/802.1x
Enforced security policies

More VPN protocols
Device configuration
Remote wipe