In the past month, I've had the chance the use a variety of mobile devices and tablets. I was testing the iPad and Samsung Galaxy for a customer, and several customers have purchased new phones (mostly Android).
One exciting aspect of my testing is that I was able to use the 2X Application Server with Windows Server 2008's Remote Desktop Services to publish Windows applications to an iPad. The programs worked properly, but I was disappointed with the user experience with the onscreen keyboard's monopolization of the screen. I will be testing with an iPad case that has an integrated hardware keyboard. This may help the customer make a decision as to whether they will standardize on the iPad.
I also had a chance to use the Samsung Galaxy. I have to admit that I like the size of the Galaxy and ability to thumb type as many other reviewers have pointed out as well. The Galaxy seems like a great form factor to leave hanging around the family room or kitchen. Yet, the price tag on the Galaxy is simply too much. I'll, personally, be waiting to purchase a tablet device. I'd like to see the price to be sub $200 for decent hardware specs.
As far as phones go, I have seen many Androids in the past few months. Pretty standard. The Droid Pro on Verizon is a BlackBerry style hardware device with the QWERTY keyboard on the face of the phone... nice for the BB user that you've been trying to get to Android. With the iPhone coming to Verizon, I will be happy to see/hear the feedback from early adopters. As for myself, I will be upgrading my phone when there is a larger selection of Verizon 4g phones (I still have some time left on my Droid contract time).
Ultimately, the consumer wins with all of this Apple, Google, Microsoft, RIM competition. My bet is on Android. The conversations I've had recently about the Mobile Wars have struck a note about how Apple is, once again, closing themselves off... like they did in the PC Wars, and we know how that turned out (success in the long run, but not when you compare it to Microsoft).
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Monday, January 3, 2011
Why I avoid customers that are not serious about IT
2011 is here, and I'm excited and optimistic about the economy showing some stability. With 2010 behind us and a slower year than desired, DELTYME will be renewing its efforts in Sales & Marketing to win some new customers. Our ideal customer is 10-50 employees in an office environment.
Typically, professional services companies have been a good fit for DELTYME. They rely on their computers/network to perform their work, and they appreciate good service.
On the other hand, companies that are not serious about their own IT infrastructure and services are avoided at all costs. I've found that these companies will be demanding without wanting to pay a fair price for the service or even understanding the value in their investment. Often non-ideal customers are in unique industries that have lagged in terms of IT investments. Even the simplest IT project recommendations are met with resistance.
Here is an example: this company was referred to DELTYME by an existing customer. We were told that they were having IT problems. Upon seeing the small office cabling infrastructure, it was clear that they needed to start from step 1, get good, organized physical cabling. See the existing cabling.
Yet, this small company decided to decline the proposal to invest in a new cabling infrastructure. When asked why, the customer stated that they were just too tight on their budget. Ultimately, DELTYME chose to decline to work with this potential customer.
Typically, professional services companies have been a good fit for DELTYME. They rely on their computers/network to perform their work, and they appreciate good service.
On the other hand, companies that are not serious about their own IT infrastructure and services are avoided at all costs. I've found that these companies will be demanding without wanting to pay a fair price for the service or even understanding the value in their investment. Often non-ideal customers are in unique industries that have lagged in terms of IT investments. Even the simplest IT project recommendations are met with resistance.
Here is an example: this company was referred to DELTYME by an existing customer. We were told that they were having IT problems. Upon seeing the small office cabling infrastructure, it was clear that they needed to start from step 1, get good, organized physical cabling. See the existing cabling.
Yet, this small company decided to decline the proposal to invest in a new cabling infrastructure. When asked why, the customer stated that they were just too tight on their budget. Ultimately, DELTYME chose to decline to work with this potential customer.
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
TV - My thoughts on television and the internet
Television is a great entertainment device, but cable/broadcast TV is dead, except for live events. With excessive commercials, demanding life schedules, poor programing, high price of cable, etc., who wants to watch TV the "old" way?
As of today, Hulu, many TV networks, OnDemand, NetFlix, Boxee, Apple TV and the upcoming Google TV are forever changing how we watch television. People can now search for what they want to watch, and most of it is free over the internet via legal sources. And of course, there are also the other channels such as Justin.tv, atdhe.net and Veetle.com.
I've been using the Boxee (http://www.boxee.tv) program to make watching my favorite shows more convenient. I simply click to The Office, and the most recent shows (and reruns) are displayed in a list for me to select the one I want to watch.
Commercials are still present, but minimal. I assume that this is the trade off of the advertisers being able to target better. Believe me when I say, they know more about you than you think about who you are (sex, age, interests), or can at least target ads more specifically than a broadcast TV commercial.
How do you feel about this? I'm not sure that I like it. Privacy is eroding.
But, I can say that I'm excited about the changes coming to the stale television industry.
As of today, Hulu, many TV networks, OnDemand, NetFlix, Boxee, Apple TV and the upcoming Google TV are forever changing how we watch television. People can now search for what they want to watch, and most of it is free over the internet via legal sources. And of course, there are also the other channels such as Justin.tv, atdhe.net and Veetle.com.
I've been using the Boxee (http://www.boxee.tv) program to make watching my favorite shows more convenient. I simply click to The Office, and the most recent shows (and reruns) are displayed in a list for me to select the one I want to watch.
Commercials are still present, but minimal. I assume that this is the trade off of the advertisers being able to target better. Believe me when I say, they know more about you than you think about who you are (sex, age, interests), or can at least target ads more specifically than a broadcast TV commercial.
How do you feel about this? I'm not sure that I like it. Privacy is eroding.
But, I can say that I'm excited about the changes coming to the stale television industry.
Friday, June 4, 2010
The FREE computing environment
I'm a big fan of free stuff. I also like the open source community. As the economy waivers, I thought I'd give a FREE computing environment scenario for any interested parties.
Hardware: Well, unfortunately, this is not free. But used PCs can be found on craigslist.
Operating system: I like Ubuntu 10.04 64 bit
Office applications: OpenOffice
Web browser: Firefox & Chrome
Graphics editing: GIMP
Photo manager: Picasa
IM: Built into Ubuntu
Online backup: Dropbox (2gb free)
External hard drive backup: RSync
Video player: VLC
Music player: Built into Ubuntu
FTP: FileZilla
Twitter: TweetDeck
With these applications and the ones available via the Ubuntu Software Update, you have a great personal computer, and you didn't have to spend any money on software.
Hardware: Well, unfortunately, this is not free. But used PCs can be found on craigslist.
Operating system: I like Ubuntu 10.04 64 bit
Office applications: OpenOffice
Web browser: Firefox & Chrome
Graphics editing: GIMP
Photo manager: Picasa
IM: Built into Ubuntu
Online backup: Dropbox (2gb free)
External hard drive backup: RSync
Video player: VLC
Music player: Built into Ubuntu
FTP: FileZilla
Twitter: TweetDeck
With these applications and the ones available via the Ubuntu Software Update, you have a great personal computer, and you didn't have to spend any money on software.
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
How to - Add storage to Dell 2900
One customer site that I service has a Dell PowerEdge 2900 with a Perc 6/i RAID controller. The customer has been set up with Microsoft Hyper-V, and two virtual servers (Windows SBS 2003 and Windows 2003) are running on it.
More storage was requested and added. Here's how.
(3) 1TB SATA drives and Dell drive trays were purchased. The drives were installed into the trays and the trays into the server. During boot, CTRL-R is pressed to enter the RAID configuration manager. Once at the console, a VD is created by adding the drives, assigning RAID level and settings, and letting the disk initialize (a couple of hours). Helpful link if you're a novice.
Upon booting into Windows, I used an MMC console to access Disk Management and Share and Storage Management. During the configuration, I chose an MBR disk signature. This threw the disk/volume management off as the MBR doesn't work well for large disks. Thus, I had to do some "diskpart" commands in order to remove the READONLY attribute and to convert the disk to GPT. Reference
After handling those items, I went back in to Share and Storage Management, and I used the Provision action to add 1.82TB of RAID5 storage to the server.
That space will be cut into VHD (virtual hard drives) and assigned to the servers as additional storage space. Ultimately, the customer saves by making better use of their hardware and meeting their storage needs.
More storage was requested and added. Here's how.
(3) 1TB SATA drives and Dell drive trays were purchased. The drives were installed into the trays and the trays into the server. During boot, CTRL-R is pressed to enter the RAID configuration manager. Once at the console, a VD is created by adding the drives, assigning RAID level and settings, and letting the disk initialize (a couple of hours). Helpful link if you're a novice.
Upon booting into Windows, I used an MMC console to access Disk Management and Share and Storage Management. During the configuration, I chose an MBR disk signature. This threw the disk/volume management off as the MBR doesn't work well for large disks. Thus, I had to do some "diskpart" commands in order to remove the READONLY attribute and to convert the disk to GPT. Reference
After handling those items, I went back in to Share and Storage Management, and I used the Provision action to add 1.82TB of RAID5 storage to the server.
That space will be cut into VHD (virtual hard drives) and assigned to the servers as additional storage space. Ultimately, the customer saves by making better use of their hardware and meeting their storage needs.
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Free online backup of data using Dropbox
I've mentioned many times to customers, associates, friends and family... you need to backup your data. No matter how sophisticated or amateur you computer kung-fu, you must backup your data.
Dropbox is FREE and automated. Two words that any computer/network administrator loves to hear.
Check it out - https://www.dropbox.com/referrals/NTczODQ2Njk
Dropbox is FREE and automated. Two words that any computer/network administrator loves to hear.
Check it out - https://www.dropbox.com/referrals/NTczODQ2Njk
Sunday, April 18, 2010
VirtualBox tweaks after Windows 7 upgrade
After performing an upgrade to Windows 7 this weekend, I noticed a couple of issues on my new Windows 7 (64bit) install.
I found that the Virtualbox Host-Only Ethernet Adapter issue (as described here http://johnsonyip.com/wordpress/2010/02/02/fix-virtualbox-host-only-ethernet-adapter-error-in-device-manager-for-windows-in-4-steps/) was exhibited. Thanks for the fellow blogger for the resolution.
Also, I found that the service for the Sun, VirtualBox Bridged Networking Driver was removed during the upgrade. I was able to reinstall the service/driver by adding it to the NIC properties (Choose Install, Service, Sun, VirtualBox Bridged Networking Driver, then browse to your Program Files, Sun, VirtualBox, drivers folders and find the file it is looking for.
Following the installation of the VirtualBox Bridged Networking Driver, I was able to set my VM back to bridged for the machine's network adapter settings.
I found that the Virtualbox Host-Only Ethernet Adapter issue (as described here http://johnsonyip.com/wordpress/2010/02/02/fix-virtualbox-host-only-ethernet-adapter-error-in-device-manager-for-windows-in-4-steps/) was exhibited. Thanks for the fellow blogger for the resolution.
Also, I found that the service for the Sun, VirtualBox Bridged Networking Driver was removed during the upgrade. I was able to reinstall the service/driver by adding it to the NIC properties (Choose Install, Service, Sun, VirtualBox Bridged Networking Driver, then browse to your Program Files, Sun, VirtualBox, drivers folders and find the file it is looking for.
Following the installation of the VirtualBox Bridged Networking Driver, I was able to set my VM back to bridged for the machine's network adapter settings.
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