The Inimitable Have Tex Blog

For years I’ve cursed Outlook and used it anyway. I’ve struggled with customers’ enormous PST files, crashes, and “Why can’t you just fix it?” requests. Finally I have an answer: “We’ll move you to Google Apps and use iGoogle to replace Outlook”.

Is it really that simple, well no, not really, but it is an attractive alternative for lots of people struggling with Outlook. My page has 4 columns, with gadgets for Mail, Calendar, Google Docs, reserving the 4th column for news feeds.

I use Chrome to display it, and set it as my home page. Chrome gives me the greatest amount of real estate “above the fold”, i.e. visible on my laptop without scrolling down.

Try it, you may never go back to Outlook.

Still love it, and still use it a great deal. After living with it for a few months, some new thoughts:

– Best Albums is a great way to access Picasa Web Albums. I’ve recently added Picasa Tool to my Android phone, and an EyeFi SD card to my Digital SLR. Now I can upload all my pics over the air to Picasa, and access them from the iPad, which makes a great photo viewer. Maybe the lack of a card reader isn’t such a big deal after all.
– Bluetooth keyboard, I broke down and bought one. The onscreen keyboard, good as it is, is no substitute for the real thing. It’s a little heavier than my prior case, but means I rarely need my netbook on trips. Wish it had a scrollpad, it would be nice not to have to tap the screen to navigate, especially when filling forms that need scroll down. If the keyboard has a way of doing that, I haven’t figured it out yet, and, believe me, I’ve tried.
– Data on the go, customer calls me, needs a file I have on my server, go to iFiles, pick the file, choose send and either send it as a link or an attachment. Great when I’m out and about and the customer needs it right away.
– Data on the go, not on my server, remote into my desktop with Pocket Cloud, email the file, or upload it to server then email link.
– Travel apps, love Trip Advisor, helps me find hotels, restaurants, post reviews.
– Real estate apps, my wife and I are starting to look at possible retirement locations, Trulia and Realtor.com both have iPad apps that let you find property easily, map it out, and get a feel for what’s available. The open house feature on Trulia is cool, but often poorly maintained. The Realtor app has more complete listings, is more up to date, and has more sophisticated search criteria, but Trulia is more fun to use and manages pictures and map based searching better.

In the year since we started deploying cloud services to our customers a lot has changed. Here are some of the highlights:

- Mobile Access. When we started most access to cloud services was from a PC or notebook. Now access is frequently from a tablet or smartphone, so we’ve been spending a lot of time looking at viewers and editing tools that work on those platforms. iFiles for the iPad and iPhone is a great tool. If you need to edit, then QuickOffice works well.

- Data Security. So many sites have been hacked that people are much more concerned about security. We insist on secure access only, and deploy two factor security for those of our customers who wish it on Google Apps.

- Backup. We’ve focused on cloud backup, with local copies. Encryption in transit and at rest are important too. Egnyte is a great partner in this respect delivering all of that, plus mobile file access.

- Touch once, see everywhere. People won’t put up with doing things twice or more. A combination of IMAP and CalDAV let people manage mail and calendars once and be done. Send it from your phone and it’s in your Outlook sent folder. Set an appointment on your iPad browser, and it’s on your Android phone moments later.

- Cloud files, need to edit on your iPad and access later from your PC, that’s OK. Just need a little creativity to set up and it works fine.

- Business Apps. There are so many to choose from. Simple invoicing, accounting, CRM, industry vertical apps, you name them, they are out there. We often help our customers pick the apps that are right for them, then wean them off having us do all the setup!

So if you’re at the beach this summer and a little bored, check out some cloud apps from your iPad. I know I will, I burn easily so any excuse to stay out of the sun!

B&N has a winner on it’s hands. With the 1.2 update it’s a crossover between an e-reader and a tablet. Rooted, it gives the Samsung Galaxy tab a run for its money. It’s definitely the best value Android tablet under $300.00.

I’ve spent a lot of time and effort on Android. It’s a great operating system, I still love my Droid phone after eighteen months, and my Nook Color is a great e-reader, and, since the most recent update, a pretty decent tablet. I’ve also played around with other Android tablets in stores, including the Galaxy Tab and Xoom, but never felt the desire to buy one.

We recently acquired a customer that’s exclusively Apple, that I need to support remotely, without hauling my MacBook around. Apple launched the iPad 2, and Verizon had a bunch of 64GB gen1 wifi iPads for $500.00. As I already had a Verizon MiFi, I didn’t need a 3G version, so I grabbed one.

I was a little apprehensive about the price of iPad apps, and the lack of Flash for websites, but the app selection is truly amazing, and the quality is excellent. My iPad has become a constant companion. Here are some highlights:

• Email is a snap. Easy setup (much easier than Outlook, Mac Mail, or Android), and a great email client. I use my iPad to check mail more than any other device.
• Browsing, Safari is fine, but try Terra. It emulates Firefox and IE, and while it won’t do Java or Active X, it really works pretty well at giving the full web experience.
• Remote access, Wyse Pocket Cloud to access my PC, and Mac. On the PC it’s really intuitive,  lets me manage any desktop or laptop I put the (free) remote client on. Mac client is great when it works, but crashes a lot. It uses gmail for authentication, so you don’t have to poke holes in firewalls, or pay $15-20 per month per PC for the privilege. Once logged into my PC I can remotely support my managed service customers, anywhere I can get a Verizon signal. I also use iTeleport to support Macs, let’s me do anything on a Mac remotely, without the Pocket Cloud crashes, but Pocket Cloud is more intuitive when it works.
• Entertainment. Hulu Plus, Netflix, HBO GO, if that isn’t enough, you’ve simply got too much time on your hands. Streaming quality is great, and the iPad will give you at least 4 full length movies on a charge. You can do it 3G, but watch your data plan, and expect some “intermissions” for refilling the buffers.
• Books, iBooks, Kindle, Nook, what else do you need? Doesn’t do magazines though like the Nook Color.
• Music, iTunes, of course, plus Pandora, Amazon Cloud Player.
• News, all the major TV networks have apps. Special shout out for BBC, CNN and Pulse. Great interfaces and feeds
• Productivity. Quick Office. Is it everything you can get in MS Office, no, but what it offers for $15 is truly astounding.
• Cloud storage, you just have to try iFiles. I can access Google Docs, my Egnyte server, Dropbox, and lots of others right from iFiles. The built-in viewers are great. Now, if I could just get it to launch Quick Office instead of the viewers, I’d be all set.
• Games, wrong person to ask, but Angry Birds is fun, and I can feed my FreeCell addiction.
• Speciality interests. We have a bird feeder in the back yard, lots of entertainment. But if you want to know what the birds are, try the Audubon guides, $10-15 each or $30 gets all four. Great graphics, bird calls, and you can even record your own sightings.

Downers, there aren’t many but there are a few irritations:

• No multi-tasking. So when you click on the link in the email it launches the browser, so far so good, but it isn’t Terra, it’s Safari, and when you’re done, you have to relaunch email.
• No Flash. Apple has a large enough effect on the market that lots of sites with video/animation work, but not all, and it’s annoying when they don’t.
• No card reader/USB ports. You have to synch everything you want on it via iTunes. There are $50bn reasons why Apple wants it this way, but it still sucks!
• Too big/heavy. This is a little unfair, I like the large screen when I’m looking at email and web pages, but the thing is a pain in the ass to read books in bed. It’s just too cumbersome, and the darned screen keeps rotating when you try to get comfortable. I can’t get the screen lock to behave as I want.
• No keyboard, now I’m really being picky, but the on-screen keyboard is OK for short emails and doc edits, but a pain for creating copy. I’m tempted by a Zaggmate bluetooth Keyboard/Case combo, but as I told a buddy of mine, I already have a netbook .

So if you’ve been on the fence about an iPad, jump on in, the water’s fine.

The Chromebook is answering a question no one is asking. Windows netbooks and low-end laptops are cheap. If all you want is to web browse and use browser based apps, Acronis will let you reload Win 7 from a protected image in a few minutes, so malware issues can be worked around easily.

If you want a richer graphics experience, tablets from Apple and Google’s Android operating system offer more options, are more compact, and some are cheaper.

If you want a locked down corporate OS, virtualized remote desktops work just fine and protect data from theft/exposure.

So what’s the the point exactly? I’ve been in IT for over 30 years and just don’t get it.

1.     Back it up on-site. An on-site backup lets you quickly get back to business after hardware failure or virus damage. Ideally you need to take a snapshot, or image, of your hard drive, so you don’t have to locate all your software CDs and DVDs, or re-download all your programs, and re-establish all your settings and passwords.

2.     Back up offsite. Vital when you can’t get into your office, because of fire, flood or other emergency that destroys your computers. There are many ways to do this, but online backup services are best. These backups are data only. If you have to replace the hardware, you don’t need image backups, as you need to load all the programs on new equipment. Have an IT pro set up these backups, so you don’t miss important databases or email.

3.     Secure your offices. While this seems obvious, people have been put out of business when thieves have stolen, or vandals have destroyed, their computers and backup hard drives.

4.     Vet your employees carefully. Data theft and sabotage is most often caused by dishonest or disgruntled employees. Running background checks and periodic audits can minimize the risk of such losses. Never grant your employees more access rights than they need to do their jobs, change passwords frequently, use strong passwords.

5.     Manage social media use. Social media can be used to promote your business.  Moderate employee use enhances morale. Excessive use kills productivity, and can expose corporate data in ways that are hard to detect and prevent.

6.     Protect your network with a state of the art hardware firewall. Current hardware firewalls stop viruses and spyware in their tracks, and help you uncover patterns of data access from within and from outside your network that you may not be aware of. Make sure the firewall is professionally monitored and maintained. If it’s been compromised, or its virus protection is allowed to expire, it’s a lot less useful.

7.     Protect your PCs and servers with full spectrum antivirus, antispyware, spam filtering and phishing protection. Make sure it’s kept up to date.

8.     Keep your operating systems and software patched up to date. Software vendors constantly release updates to close security loopholes.  Properly patched systems are much less vulnerable to attack.

9.     Set rules for optical drive and flash drive use. As WikiLeaks has shown, employees can take huge amounts of data on flash drives or CDs/DVDs. Disable USB ports, or use read-only optical drives on most PCs. Disable autorun to prevent malware from getting on your PCs from infected optical or flash media.

10.  Manage data access on mobile devices. In addition to the risk of stolen laptops, we can add netbooks, tablets and smartphones to the list of powerful devices with lots of storage. These devices do wonders for productivity, but are a treasure trove of data for for thieves and competitors.

Be prepared to seek professional help. Most small business owners don’t understand or know how to fix all the risks they face. Even IT pros are constantly vigilant keeping up with the latest risks. Friends, and relatives make their best efforts but lack the depth of expertise to deal with rapidly changing threats. If you think IT help is expensive, try handling a data loss or breach of data security.

EditThere’s a lot of buzz this holiday season about eReaders. Having researched them all, I’ve come to the conclusion that the Nook Color best suits my needs:

Pros

• Smaller than an iPad at 7″,  hold it in one hand like a book.
• Backlit LCD, works in low light. (Kindle and the first Nook, better outdoors.)
• Gorgeous 1024*600 screen, the same as a netbook, but more portable.
• Responsive, load books quickly, immediate page turns. Full color magazines.
• Full web browser, except flash, you can see full pages, and they load quickly.
• Plays most eBook formats, you don’t have to buy from Barnes and Noble.
• Lend books to Nook users, and borrow them. Borrow from libraries.
• Plays music, and supports 32GB Micro SD card, so you can store all of it!
• It’s been rooted, you can load Android on it if you’re a tech savvy risk taker.
• Because it’s been rooted, lots of pressure on Barnes and Noble to roll out more apps to its own store.

Cons

• No Flash video, yet! An Android update is expected to fix that in January.
• No 3G support, so you have to get to a wifi network to download books or browse the web.
• $100 more than a monochrome eReader (I think it’s worth it, you may not).
• Video quality is poor, I expect that to improve with the Android update also.
• Very limited apps, no calendar, contacts, email. No access to the Android market.
• There is a Nook appstore, but there’s almost nothing in it as yet.
• Check out at Barnes and Noble

Most people are honest, trustworthy and hard-working. Perhaps I’m naive, but treat people as you would like them to be, and as you would like to be treated, and you get their best efforts.

Things aren’t always as they seem. A couple of years ago I ended a relationship, because the other party wasn’t living up to its side of the agreement, and it threatened my whole business. I talked to the other party, then, reluctantly, used the courts when that failed. I didn’t just walk away, I tried to make it work, and then ended it in a professional, legal manner.

When one of my vendors’ employees quit, he implied I should do business with his new firm. It would have violated my contract with his employer. Even though my day to day relationship was with him, I had no doubt the correct response was to honor my contract and contact his employer.

I’m confident the owner will work hard to keep my business, if he doesn’t I’ll renegotiate the agreement. Worst case, I won’t renew.

Most importantly, I can look myself in the eye. To me that’s integrity.

In November 2009 Android phones got a shot in the arm from Verizon, the best US provider, and I got my Droid. Now Android is everywhere, and all major US carriers each have several Android phones.

No single phone dethroned the iPhone as the smartphone of choice, or the Blackerry as the corporate go to phone, but the Android army has taken the mobile world by storm.

My smartphone journey was from Palm Treos, via a Blackberry Curve after I just couldn’t stand Palm’s crashes and lack of any real improvements, to the first generation Droid. We are an Android family, my wife has a Droid Eris, not the most capable of all phones, but fine for her needs, and my son has an LG Ally, great value and he’s thrilled with it.

Motorola did a great job with the first Droid, would I like to upgrade, sure, but it still works well, thanks to frequent upgrades and great free/low-cost apps.

Speaking of Apps, now over 100K, found a few more good ones:

• Launcher Pro, on the whole I like Froyo (Android 2.2), but it bogs down sometimes, not with Launcher Pro replacing the standard launcher. The only downside is that it doesn’t bring your home screens over, so you have to rebuild them.
• PdaNet, discovered this on an AmTrak train. Turns out free wifi is only on Acela trains, so I needed to tether my phone to my laptop. Verizon wanted $20 a month, PdaNet does it for free. Great app, allowed me to support customers while riding the rails to Newark.
• Big Killer, great task killer, more thorough than Advanced Task Killer. Gets back memory from apps you aren’t using, speeds phone up.
• Nook reader. Love the page turning feature and the font control. Nook Color is now on my Christmas list. Kindle app OK, but lame.
• Google Maps/Navigation. Still great app, use it daily and don’t need a separate GPS.
• Useful switches, replaces Settings, but quicker to use.