The day I almost fell in love with an Apple

The day I almost fell in love with an Apple computer was a strange day. A client had recently purchased a new Macbook Pro from me and I had just delivered the Mac to her. Now to say I am anti-Apple is not correct, I am just neither for it or against it. Given that this Macbook was to be first time setting up a Macbook I was a little apprehensive about what to expect.

Image via CrunchBase

Opening the boring brown box only to reveal the beautiful packaging of the Mac box immediately got me going into the positive mindset about Apple. Opening the box feels like a sense of occassion, it makes you want to open the box and see the mystery that awaits inside.

Opening the box does not dull the occassion, there it was the brand new shiny silver Macbook Pro glistening in the late winter sun, the Apple sign looking polished and ready to snapped up. Even unwrapping the plastic coating is an experience, effortless, simplicity at best.

Switching the machine on and hearing the familiar 'gong' the screen comes alive, the setup is so easy and then the migration assistant prompt appears. This is an awesome tool, selecting the old Mac and transferring the data to the new could not have been easier. It even moved all the applications, everything! Coming from a strictly Windows background I will admit I was in awe of this machine.

The design, the simplicity of use, the way it basically set itself up, it felt like some real IT voodoo magic was happening before my very eyes. After all the stardust in my eyes had settled and I started to use the MacBook and check the settings the magical effects began to wear off.

Setting up the scanner was not as easy you would think, although the scanner was installed, when trying to scan the documents were being cut-off and other random things were happening. Thankfully it was enough to fix.

Then the confusion over the Thunderbolt adapter, having to have an adaptor to connect to an external screen is stupid. The Macbook easily has the space for this why make something easy into a money making thing and force people to buy an adapter.

Adapter in hand, setting up the projector was ok, it didn't just work. I did have to go into system prefernces and fiddle with the display settings but it now works. While I am going on about adapters, only having two USB ports? Seriously? I would really have thought a company has design and customer focused would realise that two USB ports just doesn't cut it.

I do like the magic touchpad with all its gesture controls, but sometimes you can end up flipping screens and scrolling through the wrong document but that is more user error than anything and not the fault of Apple.

Whilst I am thoroughly impressed with the Macbook's packaging and easy setup making you feel like you have not bought a computer but something more something unique something wonderful, that all starts to fade as you realise it is just a computer. Considering that it still costs more than an equivalent spec Windows computer, I do wonder what the fuss is all about.

Is Safari really better than IE9. Is Mac Mail with its limitations better than Windows mail?  Can a new user take to a Mac quicker than Windows. I do not know, but since I love my right click being on the mouse and not a keyboard and mouse click combo. I will stick to Windows for a little longer.

Maybe when Apple release their next model, I will take a look at again, that won't be to far away either as there constanly seems to be a newer model launched every month, we are already up to the iPhone 4S already, I think the 4T comes out soon. I joke of course, but the day I almost fell in love with an Apple certainly changed my admittedly limited perception of what it is all about.

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• Next MacBook Pro: Retina Display, ultra-thin, USB 3.0 ports

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• New MacBooks coming in June, next-gen iPhone launching this fall according to report

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Clouds of 1's and 0's

Cloud computing is fast becoming the future of information technology. Everywhere you go people are talking about it, even people that would not normally speak about something technological are talking about it. Cloud computing and cloud based services are pretty impressive. This blog is done in the cloud, people have been using the cloud for a long time and may not have known about it even.

My initial thoughts on cloud-based services are less than favourable to using it from an enterprise perspective but from an end-user point of view cloud services are fantastic. My concerns are mainly around security of ones data mind you.

Why trust someone else to look after my data? What happens if the company whose hands you have willingly placed your data into fails? Big companies can crash especially in economic times we are in, think Lehman Brothers in 2008 or scarier Worldcom, the big telecommuncations company back in 2005.

Who is to say that the likes of Amazon, Apple, or Google may go bankrupt. Then what will happen to all that data and the businesses that have been reliant on their services being there and suddenly they are not.

At this stage there is no real security regulation of the cloud based services? We would like to think the corporations will look after our data but big companies are also targets for hacking groups which could led to unexpected down time of your business should you be making full use of cloud services.

The accountant may see benefit in moving things to the cloud but for the IT administrator / security engineer the cloud is a potential landslide of issues. In a country like South Africa where a decent internet connection is rare, why would a small business or for that matter a large business move to cloud based services.

Even if the Internet was better what about the issue of power, can we rely on Eskom to provide sufficient power. Sure UPS devices in businesses work for a shortime but eventually you will lose your Internet connection ergo your business. Not every business can have generators running 24/7.

In my opinion cloud based services are not for South Africa yet, the services will become mainstream in SA as they have elsewhere but only because the accountants think it is cheaper. This is until a Telkom outage or Eskom load-shedding incident occurs showing the folly of the decision.

We will not escape the cloud as it is the future. Microsoft are already designing and launching products aimed at the cloud and with pc's, tablets, and phones increasingly needing the internet it is not surprising.

The cloud is coming, will it be a big, grey and stormy one or a beautiful, soft and fluffy one we will not know. The cloud is there on the horizon looming large, lets wait and see what it brings.

Related articles

• Talkin' Tech: Cloud Computing (blogs.cisco.com)
• Everyone becoming a cloud provider: financial services (zdnet.com)
• Next-Generation IT: Why We Need A Cloud Middleman (bjconquest.com)

Happy 30th Birthday PC!

New York City on August 12, 1981, the IBM 5150 personal computer made its debut. The IBM 5150 ran the Microsoft Disk Operating System, MS-DOS, the precursor to modern day Windows.

Over the last 30 years the technological evolution of the PC has been astounding. The personal computer has lead to many breakthroughs in the way in which we do business and even interact with other. The PC of today is vastly different from the one that made its debut in NYC way back in 1981.

We now have Xbox and Playstation consoles that are more capable and better equiped than most PC's from just a couple of years ago. The ubiquitous smartphone is everywhere nowadays and even these devices are more functional and powerful than a PC of only a couple years old.

This does make you wonder where the PC of the future is going to be. Is there even going to be a need for the PC as we know it today? Why not just have a smartphone that can double up as a PC when needed. The phone could project a 'screen' and a keyboard at the same time and you could work away. The rise of cloud computing and services means you just need a phone with a browser capable of providing such service.

The will be no licensing issues, just a paid-for access account to the services needed. No need for cumbersome printer drivers with modern printers linked to the Internet and their own e-mail addresses. There will also be no lost software disc's.

I think the PC is going to be made redundant within the next few years and replaced by better and faster smartphones. Then again weren't online news sites supposed to have killed off the newspaper already? Either way I for one am very keen to see what the future brings.

FNB Smartphone App for Blackberry

FNB has launched a South African first, a smartphone and tablet banking application (App). The good thing going for it immediately is that it is free (for now). It is available for registered FNB online banking customers who have a compatible Android, Apple or Blackberry smartphone or tablet device. Symbian device support is coming soon.

As stated on the FNB website:

The FNB Banking App allows you to view your account list and balances, transfer funds, make payments and get detailed transactional history.

The FNB Banking App also brings you additional value added benefits like the ability to access a FNB directory and make free calls to any FNB Call Centre. You can also locate FNB branches and ATMs on a map using Location-based Services.

My first impressions of the FNB app have been good. The Blackberry App world allows for an easy installation of the app. On your side all you need to do is provide your banking username on the app and then login to FNB online banking and link your phone with the site. Once done you login to the App on your phone and access all the content and functions mentioned above.

When starting the app on the Blackberry Torch there is a little delay in opening but there is a decent splash screen and you are welcome to a nice slick and simple to use menu. All the buttons are self explanatory and the interface makes navigation very easy.

On the down side, the app is a little sluggish in changing screens and did make my Blackberry hang upon accessing the app the third time round. The phone did recover without any issues and use of the app continued. Given that I have not used the app all to much yet, my first impression of the app is that it is very good but only time will tell.

Kindling has taken - Kindle books selling faster than print books

The sale of Kindle books has overtaken the sale of old school print books according to Amazon.com. Amazon.com started selling books, softcover and hardcover, in July 1995. Kindle was introduced in November 2007.

It toook just three years to out sell hardcover books and a further six months more to overtake softcover books to become the most popular format on Amazon.com. Today less than four years after the launch of the Kindle, Amazon.com customers are buying more Kindle books than all print books combined.

Since April 1, 2011 for every 100 print books Amazon.com sold it sold 105 Kindle books. This is excluding the free books that Kindle offers. Amazon.com has sold more than three times as many Kindle's so far in 2011 than it did in 2010.

Kindle books let you "Buy once, read everywhere" on all generation Kindles as well as on other platforms like Blackberry, iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch, MAC, PC, Windows Phone, Android-based systems and many others.

However it will be interesting to see how the sale of Kindle books will be affected by an Apple issued edict that all Apps offering content for sale or subscription are required to do so through the App Store and not through external links to the sellers web store. In addition to this Apple also want 30% of sales through an iOS app!

The Kindle seems to be an amazing product and more importantly it means that people are still interested in reading books. Although the medium through which we read books is shifting from paper to digital it is still great to see that the Kindle is getting people reading more. Maybe not more people reading but at least people are reading.

Western Digital LiveWire Powerline AV Network Kit

Powerline Ethernet adaptors (network devices that use your house's existing power cables) have been around for some time and the Western Digital LiveWire Powerline kit is one of the best on the market.

The WD LiveWire Powerline Kit Adaptors

The LiveWire kit offers 4 ports per adapter which is a significant boost from other powerline Ethernet adaptors. It is also faster than most and the price if the kit about R1,000.00 makes expanding your home or small office network quick, simple and relatively cheap.

LiveWire comes with two identical powerline adapters each with four network ports. At one end you plug your ADSL router into the adapter and at the other end of the house or office you plug in your pc / gaming console or other networked device and you have setup a powerline connection. It is as easy as that.

There are of course some drawbacks to the LiveWire kit as with other powerline kits. It is not designed to work with power strips or surge protectors and needs to be plugged into the wall directly. We tried the adapters with a few power strips anyway, and they actually worked with some. However, they did not work with surge protectors. Given the state of Eskom’s power supply this may be something to be concerned about.

Another drawback is that of, what if your neighbour plugs in a LiveWire kit, will they be able to snoop around on your network? If you press the Sync button within 2 minutes of each other a private 128bit encrypted connection is made between the adapters, preventing other powerline adapters from connecting to them. Should you wish to reset this there is a reset button underneath the adapter.

You can also manage the device and view the performance of the kit by using the LiveWire utility that comes with the kit on the CD. The CD also contains a well illustrated flash application to walk you through the setup of your LiveWire kit.

Performance wise you get varying speeds as you are dependent on the electrical wiring in your house and the plug connection.

The good:

• Excellent performance and it comes with eight network ports.
• Easy to use and setup
• The adapters automatically support voltage ranging from 100V to 240V, meaning they can be used just about anywhere in the world
• WD Livewire Kit isn't particularly expensive
• Data transferred between adaptors is 128-bit encrypted

The Bad:

• Speed depends on the electrical wiring so it is not consistent from building to building
• The 'sync' button gives next to no indication whether it's been pressed or not

All said and done the LiveWire kit is a fantastic quick and easy way to setup  or even expand your home network. Western Digital offer other great media products that make is possible to network your house with a Media streaming without ever needing to lay a single ethernet cable or battle with intermitten wireless networks.

Password construction and management

Passwords are the first line of security in many applications and used by everyone every day. Passwords give access to such a vast array of services like Internet banking, Facebook, Twitter and even your pc (for those that have a password).

Keeping track of all these passwords can become very difficult and to have a different unique password for each and every application is near impossible, so what is one to do? There are a number of options available but before that lets go over some absolute no-no’s when dealing with passwords.

Do not write the password(s) down on anything and do not leave the post-it note with your password stuck to your monitor or underneath the laptop. Apart from breaking the first rule why bother having a password.

Try not to use family names, favourite sports team, pets or birthdates as your password. With the increase in use of Facebook and other social media it is very common these days for people to put such personal information onto the web and for a hacker this is the easiest place to start when trying to access your account.

Passwords should be as complex as possible, but this brings its own complexity t it. If you make the password to difficult you will either forget it or you end up writing it down, breaking rule 1. A possible solution is creating your own unique formula for passwords.

Facebook password could be something like Fr13nd$456 and Twitter maybe B1rd!35, by associating the site with what you do on it can help you create a unique password that meets the general norms of strong password creation.

Creating strong passwords normally require a mixture of the following:

1.       Be Alphanumeric (letters and numbers)

2.       Contain a special character (!, @, %, etc...)

3.       Be at least 7 characters or more in length (the longer the better)

4.       Refrain from using normal words found in a dictionary

Trying to manage passwords is difficult and most people do get lazy and set one password for every site. This may be fine if you have a very strong password but remember if you have password for all it is like having a master key to everything.

Another tip when setting up new accounts or registering for something on a page and you need to answer a personal question in case you forget your password, do not put the real answer. So if you select your personal question to be your mothers’ maiden name, use your grandmother’s name instead. Just doing something a little extra will help protect yourself that much more.

IT Security in the small business – Part 2

It is still with some alarm that I come across people and their lack of understanding of the importance of keeping their passwords safe and making passwords more difficult than ‘12345’ or the good ol’ favourite ‘password’.

Passwords still are and will be the primary security mechanism for computing for many years to come.  A Password in its simplest definition is a word or string of characters that will authenticate and allow you access to the information you seek.

It is surprising that most people do not change the default the ADSL router passwords for example and even if they do, the password is changed to something easy like ‘12345’ and even further to this the password is left on a note stuck to the router.

Granted most people think passwords are a waste and a nuisance. How would you like it though if anyone could just access your details like for instance your bank details? Or gain access to your e-mail account or even get onto Facebook as yourself and say what they wish.

Since the majority of passwords are ‘12345’as proved in various e-mail hacks a couple of years ago, why are people still reluctant to change their default passwords? In many corporate companies, people are forced to change their password every 60-90 days. Yet in the small business, most computers do not have passwords, anyone can access the computers and worst of all if there is even a password set, the entire office knows what it is.

Often people will use the same password and username on all the sites they are registered for, so the username and password for Facebook will probably work on a number of different sites. People need to be taught about password management, how to construct difficult but easy to remember passwords.

The ramifications of a leaked password for a normal person are bad enough, but imagine now that person is the accounts person for your company. Most likely the password that person used is also going to be used to gain access to your accounting package. That is of course if there was a password setup in the first place to protect your data?

Further articles will detail some tips on how to manage and construct passwords.

Installing a shared printer on Windows 7

One would think this is to be relatively simple given previous versions of Windows. To install a shared printer on a Windows 7 machine is different from the normal Start > Run > \\servername and double clicking the printer.

To install a printer that is shared on another computer you need to do the following:

1. Click on Start > Devices and Printers
2. Click Add a Printer
3. Click Add a Local Printer - it sounds odd I know took me awhile to figure this out too
4. Select Create a New Port and select 'Local Port' as the port type
5. In the Port Name box type in \\computername\printershare 
6. You will then be asked to go through the Add New Hardware screens - this is where you can eventually install the driver for your Printer.

It took awhile to figure the above out but it does work.

IT Security in the small business - Part 1

Information Security in the small business owner mindset still seems to be very much stuck in the 'I have a firewall, I am safe' thought track. Whilst most owners seem to at least understand the concept of having some form of security very few have actually followed through with implementing any security practices.

Most thankfully ensure they have some form of anti-virus software running on their computers and the standard Windows firewall. Both of which are decent enough and in most cases are actually all you need to protect your business. However the problem is that whilst it sounds great to say you have anti-virus and the 'firewall', people do not update them and don't care what they do on the pc.

Imagine this situation, you are going to do a presentation at a major client. You take along your memory stick and your client plugs it into their computer and instantly your presentation is deleted off the memory stick due to some virus infection. Hopefully you have other copies available to carry on the presentation but the bigger problem is what is your client thinking of you at that moment?

Surely this guy uses anti-virus? who doesn't these days? Maybe this was one of those random moments in IT that do just happen and you are able to laugh it off and move on, however the potential fall out is considerable.

If you are tendering for business from this client and will need to keep their information, a incident like this could spark worry in your clients mind. If the memory stick is infected, then is the computer infected? If the computer is infected how many in the office are infected? Is the file server infected, possibly with spyware sending information out? Are the computers patched?

In a world where information is everything and personal information so easily exploited it is certainly in the small business owners best interest to a minimum baseline of security standards in place. The attitude of I have a firewall has not been sufficient for many years now.