Mini Me

If you have not been to an Apple store in forever, then you probably are not aware of the entry level Mac computer…the Mac Mini. This little box of love weighs an unbelievable 2.9 pounds, has a foot print of only 6.5″ x 6.5 ” and she packs an Intel 2.0 GHZ processor, two gigs of ram and a price point of only $799

 

 

She may not be the most powerful of Macs to hit the market, but if you’re thinking about making a switch and are hesitant to make a large financial investment then this is the computer for you.

Apple also sells an OS X Server, which is perfect for a low cost entry level web server. With all capabilities as a Windows SBS, it has email, http, chat server, content management and even video streaming without all the extra costs of licenses. Install the server on to a Mini and it becomes a very reasonably priced server, that is perfect for a small shop or the internet/computer enthusiast, looking to have a secure and fast web server.

There is a company in California that will host your Mac Mini in their data center. They have a range of options; you can send them your Mini or rent one from them. This is a great if you don’t have a dedicated Internet connection, but want to have a server directly connected to the Internet.

Now, it’s time for me to REALLY geek out. Since this machine is so small and draws very little power, the first place I thought about installing it was in my car. Yes, that’s right, at one point I had one of my Mini’s installed in my car. You’re probably asking yourself, “why?” My answer is, “why not?” With a full Mac built into your dashboard, the possibilities are endless. I hooked it up to a 7″ touch screen, and had the ultimate in-car entertainment system including DVD, MP3, and even was able to download movies from YouTube.

I also had a great GPS application running on my Mac called Route Buddy. Just like a Garmin or TomTom, it does route based directions and by adding a Verizon USB wireless card, full mobile computing is available: email, Internet searching, streaming media and even location based tracking.

 

 

The Mini is a great versatile computer that can serve many functions. It is perfect for a new Mac users or the Mac enthusiast that has an addictive personality.

 

 

Spamalot

According to a recent study, there are roughly 170 billion emails sent worldwide each day.  The average employee spends a little under an hour reading and writing emails each day, and checks their email roughly 30-40 times an hour.  Add March Madness on top of that and you’ll probably find that yesterday and today are the most unproductive days of the year.

 

Email originated in 1971when Ray Tomlinson (no relation to Ladanian) sent a message from one computer to another one of his computers.  Ray was probably a big hit with the ladies like this guy.

Since then, email has become an integral part of almost every business and organization, as well as almost everyone’s personal lives.  Twenty years later, as email started to catch on, so did spam.  However, back when email was first created, Tomlinson never foresaw spam as an issue because, back then, there were only a handful of users.

Now, countless hours and dollars are spent trying to combat spam.  Almost every business needs a spam filter (GURU recommends the Barracuda Spam Firewall appliance for larger businesses and the Sunbelt Ninja Email Security software for smaller ones) if they want to keep their employees sane.  Imagine having to filter through a thousand useless emails before stumbling across one that you really cared about.  The shocking part, is that 85% of all spam comes from one of six bots, a term for a collection of “zombie” computers that carry out automated tasks.

Almost 70% of all spam promotes male enhancement pills.  I guess, they have to get the word out somehow since Simon Cowell turned down the role of Viagra spokesperson.  And then you have to worry about the money laundering scams, phishing emails, refinancing emails, and porn emails.

 

There are number of ways you can reduce the amount of spam you receive.

1)      Use a free email address dedicated to online registrations.

2)      Avoid posting your email address in plain text on your website.

3)      Don’t click any links in spam emails.

4)      Never reply to a spam email.  Those “unsubscribe” links are sometimes ploys to redirect you to a certain website.

5)      Invest in a spam filter.

 

I’m hoping there will one day there will be a Do Not Spam registry, similar to the Do Not Call registry and the proposed Do Not Mail registry.

iPhone and the Enterprise

Why does the Black-Berry hold the market on corporate mobile email? Its due to its simplicity. The fact is the BB is the easiest mobile device to use.  With push email, calendar, and contacts; the end user has  seamless integration with their corporate email system.  But that’s all about to change. 

Apple announced a few weeks ago the new SDK, as well as Enterprise integration.  The iPhone will now have all the same features as the BB.  However, this is not the only thing that will take a major bite out of BB’s market share.

As we all know Apple being the innovator of simplicity, has a tendency to dominate any market they enter. For instance take a look  at the iPod. In a short time, they dominated the MP3 player industry. Not to mention iTunes dominating the Internet based music buying market.

With Apples amazing attention to simplicity, I think you are going to find the enterprise market running with open arms to adopt a new player to the industry.  Not only have they incorporated push technology, they have also introduced a product that gives people everything they want in a mobile device. 

Because of the SDK, we are going to see applications for the iPhone that the BB just cannot produce. For instance, Quick Books, custom corporate applications, and even games. Yes, I know the thought of your employees playing games is a scary one for productivity, but if you think about it, everyone needs a break from time to time, and wouldn’t you prefer they play on a device that alerts them during game play the their clients or boss needs something?

Lets not forget one of the most important features(well for the IT managers) is the ability to have total control over the device.  This includes remote wipe, in the event your phone goes missing or god forbid stolen the IT manager can send a command to the iPhone to totally wipe it clean.  In addition, IT managers now have the ability to set permissions on the device. Just like the PC, the IT manager can apply rules for certain websites, installing applications, or disabling the iPod features.

A few of my clients (www.guruconsult.com) are waiting for the update, so they can adopt the device. I am excited about a new comer to the enterprise market. There has not been a shake up in any IT industry in a long time. A revolution is upon us!

Here is the Keynote ( the short short version) that explains all the features, and a few of the new applications that we can expect in June.

  

"Are you challenging me to a walk-off, Boo-Lander?"

Ever since we were young, we were always taught that smaller is better (note: the following post does not apply to the state of Texas). This mentality was thrust upon us through Micro Machines, My Little Pony, Polly Pocket, GameBoy, and Spud Webb.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CitnrHyoONU&hl=en">

These days, it’s no different. Gone are the days of briefcase portability. And by “portability” I mean you’d need one of those Home Depot back braces to carry this around.

In the words of Matchbox Twenty, “Let’s see how far we’ve come.” In terms of portability and laptops, The MacBook Air is the latest offering from Apple and it’s been turning heads everywhere because of its sleek design and the fact that it’s thinner than my girl Nicky Hilton. If you haven’t heard of the MacBook Air, you’ll be amazed by their commercial.

While Apple definitely boasts the thinnest laptop, it isn’t the only company going small and thin; the Lenovo X300 is right behind with their Windows-based laptop and each one has its pros and cons.

But what is the cost that comes with something so small? One airline traveler was recently stopped by TSA officials when they didn’t believe his new gadget was legit. After all, they didn’t see how a laptop could function without a traditional hard drive and without any ports in the back. As he was pulled aside and heavily questioned, the traveler missed his flight.

Elsewhere, a Newsweek writer was recently lent a MacBook Air in order to review it but, because it is so thin and light, he misplaced it and is convinced he accidentally threw it away with his newspapers.

In the coming months, you may also hear about the Asus Eee PC, which can run either Linux or Windows XP. While it doesn’t offer nearly as much as Apple or Lenovo’s lightweight laptops in terms of hardware, it comes at just a fraction of the cost of its competition.

Also, don’t be surprised when you start hearing about the Picotux 100, dubbed the world’s smallest Linux computer, only slightly larger than an RJ45 connector.

At this rate, we’re just a few years away from the Zoolander cell phone.

"My hands are small…."

When I was in college, my best friend and I decided it would be useful to share our computer and email passwords with each other. It came in handy whenever I needed him to check my email and check my grades online. Little did I know that the password I thought was so clever, “blink182,” was (and still is) one of the most frequently used passwords. Since many computer systems require at least eight characters and a combination of letters and numbers, I thought it was a perfect password. After all, it was 1998, Dammit was one of the hottest songs out, and “hands” doesn’t have any numbers in it. Yeah, I was a big Jewel fan, too.

Note to self to make myself feel better…Blink 182 got even better after Travis Barker joined them.

What’s funny is that whenever I’m working on a client’s computer and I get prompted for a password, there’s about a 25% chance I can guess what it is within five tries. I never thought to try my own, though. Fortunately, I had that password nearly ten years ago and identity theft, malicious hacks, and intrusive attacks were not nearly as rampant as they are today.

In fact, a group of researchers from Princeton recently published a paper showing how a computer could be hacked with just a spray duster and a screwdriver. Why does this sound so familiar? Oh yeah.

While Princeton’s method requires shutting down the computer and physically removing the memory, a New Zealand security consultant recently discovered a way to unlock Windows and OS X passwords using a Linux machine connected via Firewire.

Note that both of these methods require physical access to the PC, which is not the most common forms of attacks. Most attacks occur through the network where they can go undetected. Therefore, in addition to physically protecting your computer, there are steps everyone should take to protect themselves from network attacks. Obviously, purchasing a firewall is a huge plus but the easiest and most effective thing you can do to protect yourself is by protecting your computers and accounts with strong passwords. Here’s a helpful Microsoft article on creating strong passwords so you can minimize your chances of getting hacked.

And if you’re worried about forgetting your complex password or you’re stuck on using band names from the 90’s, you’re better off leaving your password blank. Windows computers require a password to be accessed remotely, thus making blank password a better solution than simple passwords.