|
|
|||||||||||||
**** NewsBytes **** NewsBytes **** NewsBytes ****
Windows Server 2003 Release 2
Although the emphasis from Microsoft is on the optimisation of existing Windows Server 2003 rather than headline-grabbing features, the vast majority of R2 is newly-written code and does not bundle all post-Service Pack 1 fixes and packs (SharePoint Services being one exception), allowing system admins a greater degree of control. However, what they can look forward to, in terms of specifics are: centralised management of file and print functions in branch offices; faster data replication across wide area networks; fewer user passwords and ID operations; delegation of user management, more stats and disc space monitoring for efficient storage; better interoperability with Unix systems via Sun's Network File System (NFS). Active Directory Federation Services makes it easier to extend access for users and applications outside of a firewall (extranets). Overall, R2 should simplify branch server management alleviate the time admins spend on automating the running of remote offices. More info:
www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2003
Cloudmark antispam ranked most accurate
November UK Sales in Cloudmark hit a new high for the year. A recent Network Computing review on spam filters that integrate with Exchange ranked Cloudmark #1 in accuracy and #2 overall. Version 2.0 of Cloudmark's Server Edition goes into Beta test from January. This version of the product promises to have improved reporting on Spam blocking statistics and to add the client "Block" reporting feature, available to all the Cloudmark Desktop users. A revised price list is expected soon.
Network Computing review. (quite a few links to follow before you get there)
Ask us about installing Cloudmark antispam.
NTL - touched for the very first time
A complicated series of proposed deals continue to surround NTL/Telewest and Virgin Mobile, with the latter rejecting NTL's takeover offer in the December and the possibility of a repeat performance in January. Clearly NTL is hoping to add Virgin's mobile phone facilities (and 5 million customers) to its existing portfolio of TV, fixed line phone and broadband services. While Sir Richard Branson talks up the deal in customary entrepreneurial style, the sounds of scuffling behind the scenes at the 'other end of the line' are barely masked. From its past history of massive investment in rolling out cable and seeking of Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the US, NTL finally reached the point in October of announcing the long awaited merger (potentially £6.5 billion) with cableco Telewest. This, in the face of stiff competition from BSkyB, who around the same time bought EasyNet to enter the broadband market and push TV-over-IP services. Easy to see why, since a combined NTL/Telewest group would be racking up 5 million residential consumers, heading to be the largest UK domestic broadband provider with a 2.5m subscriber base, also the second largest pay-TV company and number two in the fixed line telephony stakes. Meanwhile NTL has reshuffled its senior management, though the new president and chief will continue after its takeover of Telewest is complete. As if there weren't enough deals on the table, a group of private investors has been showing interest in buying NTL once it has completed the merger.
A safer Net for children
Occasionally we are asked about software for protecting children from seeing the undesirable parts of the Internet. While many of the 'nanny' type programs require time to set up and aren't that effective against even vaguely tech-savvy kids, concerned parents may be comforted by new Home Office recommendations being issued to ISPs. The measures include Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) checks for staff, enhanced chat rooms moderation, and search engines content filtering.
Child Protection Taskforce
First patch of the year
Microsoft will release its first security update of the year for the WMF vulnerability on 10 January. Exploits for the Windows Meta File (WMF) vulnerability were exposed and published n the Internet between Christmas and the New Year. The virus, acting within the Windows graphics rendering engine, once again employs a buffer overflow to gain access and control of a PC, but also changes as it replicates to circumvent conventional virus detectors. A temporary workaround is to re-configure file associations for .wmf files.
Charity website hacked
The days of web site attacks being aimed solely at large corporates are over. Hackers broke into the UK website of Aid to the Church in Need to steal donor details, including addresses and credit card details. The existing online security systems of www.acnuk.org employing secure encrypted connections didn't stop the perpetrators. The charity was quick to shut down its site and contact more than 2000 affected supporters, urging them to check credit card statements and bank transactions. An unpleasant warning that even charities need to review website security on a regular basis to ensure they stay ahead of the hackers and fraudsters.
Dotcom predictions for 2006
Last year we made several predictions that now seem ridiculously modest. But a few ideas were pretty close. We've got a feeling that 2006 will be a big year, and here are some of the reasons why:
South Korea fines Microsoft
In a demand of sanctions mirroring those from the EU, South Korea wants Microsoft to offer a version of Windows minus its Media Player and instant messaging components. The Korea Fair Trade Commission (FTC) has also ordered Microsoft to pay a $32m fine for antitrust violations. Microsoft's response is that it has created value for its customers and opportunities for developers through the integration of Windows technologies. Both cases are subject to appeals by Microsoft, which has reserves of several billions of dollars.
Urchin overwhelmed by popularity
Google Web Analytics has been offered up as a free service to Google account holders, potentially disrupting rivals in the web analysis market, but has been flooded by demands for its use. The tool, formerly a chargeable service branded as Urchin, helps organisations examine visitors interaction with their websites to assist with site design and email campaigns and is available in 16 languages.
Google Analytics press release
**** end of NewsBytes ****
| ^ Back to contents ^ | ||
|
1. Home Computing Initiative - solutions for end-users
| ||
| More help at hand. All the back issues just a click away |
The Home Computing Initiative has been set up to encourage people to work at home through a series of tax breaks. This was covered in full in our March edition, if you missed it, the full article can be found here. In response to this, Co-Operative Systems has put together a home user solution that will meet the needs of the home worker, whilst being secure and compatible with the head office. We have put together two main packages, one based around a laptop, the other a desktop machine. In order to provide a complete solution, a multifunction printer, firewall, necessary software, installation and support is also included. If your head office currently has a remote access configuration, then the solution can be adjusted to allow secure access to your head office network (please note the standard solution does not included this). The solution can be broken down as follows:
The Dell laptop we recommend offers a 14.1-inch screen, a Pentium M mobile processor and is relatively lightweight making it great to work from home, but easy enough to carry around if needed. A DVD Rewriter drive allows large amounts of data to be copied onto disc, whilst the wireless card means that you are never far away from an Internet connection. The three years next-business-day on-site warranty coupled with three years accidental damage cover adds peace of mind too. 
In a similar way, the Dell desktop machine offers a robust, high performance solution boasting an Intel Pentium 4 processor and 1GB of RAM memory. The dual-layer DVD Rewriter drive permits several GigaByte's worth of data backup or general storage on DVD discs and the 17-inch height, adjustable monitor will ensure a clear viewing area that can be set to just how you need it. Again, the desktop PC comes with three years next-business-day warranty to ensure it will be fixed in the quickest possible time should anything go wrong. 
The multi-function printer included covers all your imaging needs by offering a high quality colour inkjet printer, copier, scanner and fax saving the need to have multiple devices. A hardware firewall is included to ensure that your home setup is protected against unwanted external access as well as providing an ADSL gateway and wireless access point. This means that you do not need to worry about wires connecting to your PC or laptop, and you will be able to move the laptop around your home and work wherever is most comfortable. SoftwareThe software included in the package offers a high level of virus protection as well as a software firewall and protection against phishing spam, spyware and identity theft. The Microsoft Office licence will allow you to use all the key Microsoft office programs that you have in your office, such as Word, Excel and PowerPoint. Broadband Connectivity
This package allows time to help you get a home broadband connection in place, or if you currently have one, to make the necessary checks to ensure that is will be suitable for use with the rest of the solution. This can then be used with the equipment as outlined above to provide a fast and secure internet connection. Installation and SupportA Co-Operative Systems engineer will visit your home to set up and configure all the equipment and install the software The set up will ensure the system is secure and will therefore not compromise any data stored on the machine or indeed at your head office should such a connection exist. Documentation will also be provided to help with future changes and to help give you a reference point. Help Desk and Remote Access support is included to make sure any problems you may be have are resolved as soon as possible. We also suggest that a small amount of Facilities Management time is used to make sure that your equipment is kept up to date with all the latest patches and updates. A Complete SolutionIn all, our package has been designed to provide a complete home user solution offering good performance and functionality whilst still being robust and secure. The tax incentive make it attractive for both the company and employee. If you would like to find out more about our HCI solutions then please contact the products department on 020 7793 0395. Contacts-IB- |
Good read? Rate this article |
| I | B | |
| ^ Back to contents ^ | ||
|
2. Coping with Internet loss
This year, your internet connection will fail. How will you cope? | ||
| More help at hand. All the back issues just a click away |
Now that so many surfers are connected via broadband lines and downloading their websites, email, radio at ever higher speeds, one's impression from ISP adverts is that all is finally rosy in the Internet garden. However, just mention Internet Service Providers to colleagues and friends and everyone will tell you a tale of how theirs failed them, perhaps disastrously. We've all experienced the scenario before: the line goes down, closely followed by organisation-wide panic! Does this affect our behaviour to circumvent the loss of a crucial service? Sad to say, not a jot in many cases. The back end of 2005 saw a few major problems with several big name ISPs where Internet connections to large geographical areas suddenly became intermittent then disappeared. It's not that the failure itself wreaks havoc so much as unpredictable ISP service and more often communication over when normality will resume. It is this uncertainty over when Internet services will return that causes irritation to customers and causes organisations to waste vast amounts of staff time as each member goes off on their own workaround solutions. When confronting a calamity that's going to be a near dead cert in the months to come, it's kind of irrational to simply hope "It'll be OK - they will fix it in time", especially when it flies in the face of all known first-hand experience, and it's not just Sod's Law at work here. So a safe bet is to make a strategy - a "what happens if" scenario and then put it into practice. POTSIn constructing a fallback position, remember how stable the Plain Old Telephone Service is nowadays. So at the very least it's worth putting a plain old modem in place connected to a standard analogue telephone line. Then when the broadband service does suddenly take a dive, at least one person should know how to switch over to the modem, thus allowing at least a trickle of emails through. Not ideal but better than none at all. A handful of routers will provide this service automatically and your ISP will often provide a free backup phone number to connect with. Failing that there are many free dialup services that can be hooked up in an instant. See How do I dial from a modem?, October 2005. A more robust solution would be a second inexpensive broadband service, obviously from a different ISP. A second router would then route your network unattended to the 'failover' ISP service. The plan could also taken the possibility of throwing yourself on the mercy of the local Internet cafe, if it's desperate enough, but remember that a broadband issue at the local exchange may affect others in the same geographical area. For tackling other points of 'IT exposure' read Downtime - and how to avoid it. -IB-
|
Good read? Rate this article |
| I | B | |
| ^ Back to contents ^ | ||
|
3. How long can you go without IT?
- Josiah Bartlet, President, West Wing | ||
| More help at hand. All the back issues just a click away |
When was the last time you bought some new equipment? A small networked printer, or a departmental scanner perhaps. Day by day, the welcome acquisition slowly moves from the status of 'novelty accessory' to 'office essential'. Then suddenly, a small group of people find they have been effectively sleepwalking into reliance upon a particular technology. Only they don't realise this until the day it packs up. The exposure here nearly always stems from where you have one of something, whether that's a lump of hardware, a unique service or a particular person. The best strategy is to have a fallback for each scenario; at the very least it's worth thinking through the possibilities. Examples to consider.How long can you do without ......... ?
Computers uniquely set up to perform specialised functions like those with a raft of layout programs or web design tools. Make a machine-cloned disc to avoid saving and re-installing lots of software. At the minimum, run some audit software over the PC so you don't have to rely on grey cells to remember which programs were installed before the machine went to the graveyard. If the PC is really precious, keeping a hot spare may be appropriate. When the service behind the 'killer application' dies, grab a webmail account like Yahoo! or a simple POP3 box from www.emailaddresses.com, many of which are free, to keep communications alive. www.mail2web.com provides an excellent uniform window to any POP3 and IMAP mailbox if you don't like the interfaces provided with them. Fortunately, servers have always been packaged with plenty of fault tolerant and safety devices like tape backups and RAID discs, but it can be worth designating a hot spare machine in case of total meltdown, since any recovery strategy will still need a physical server for the data to be restored to. A temporary replacement can avoid making an expensive purchase under pressure. See Coping with Internet loss The printing workhorse of any department inevitably sees a lot of throughput since that's how lasers earn their keep: sheer efficiency. But a serious breakdown could take half a day to fix. Knowing how to re-route jobs to another nearby printer is a good workaround. Even better, getting a second inexpensive laser or even an inkjet in advance could take the heat out of a crisis. Voice over IP is relatively new for large-scale use. Providers always show some small print that says VoIP can't used for emergency calls and it will almost certainly fail in the absence of electric power. Ensure a conventional analogue line and phone is in place that draws its power and data from the BT network. Often the ultimate impulse buy due to the plethora of sub-£80 units, the humble off-the-peg scanner will peg out when it is worked hardest. At these prices, buy a second one (the HP2400 retails at below £40 inc VAT) and wipe out the cost of a potential catastrophe in the space of a few minutes. When the VPN is down, users may still be able to make do with a remote email client like Outlook Web Access Got a second space? Your domain could be re-pointed in a couple of hours with the control panel at your ISP; learn how to use it before you need it. Don't disappear off the Internet! The only person who knows how to manage mailboxes or reboot the server is off sick. Got a backup person? Better still, a backup outsource like Co-Operative Systems. When the in-house IT support person goes off for a well-earned holiday, you need to make handover plans well in advance too. How to go about creating fallback positionsPick up a copy of your inventory list and look for single items of hardware or software that stand out. These will form, or link to, points of exposure. Use real examples of emergencies you can remember on which to base avoidance strategies. Think about which staff were key players in the emergencies you identified. Then create a fallback position for each case. An obvious example would be to divide up your Internet dependency so that the email, web space and Internet connection are handled by three separate ISPs to avoid putting all your Internet eggs in one basket. Ask us to help build a strategy for reducing your downtime. -IB- Acknowledgements: Phil Anthony |
Good read? Rate this article |
| I | B | |
| ^ Back to contents ^ | ||
|
4. The Mobile Web: Practicality or Pipedream?
Ten years ago most of us had started to get to grips with browsing the web. Making the transition to the mobile phone platform presents huge challenges. | ||
| More help at hand. All the back issues just a click away |
BenefitsIn the mid-90s more and more charities began to have at least one computer with a web browser installed, usually Mozilla or Netscape. If anyone had polled those early-ish adopters and asked if they had been able to find some information on the web (perhaps even something useful), they would have confirmed their success without hesitation. Not that connections weren't a problem; with erratic dialup modems being the norm, the Internet's main stumbling block was getting out of the building at all. However, the basic browser technology worked pretty well, considering its fledgling status, and the willingness of public and voluntary bodies and beings to throw up web sites with gusto - if not finesse - made for a satisfactory, though crude browsing experience. Even the arrival of Internet Explorer, despite its tendency to pursue non-standard web rendering, brought the web suddenly closer to vast numbers of web newbies, namely Windows PC owners. Internet web access is now practically a given on almost any device you can think of: media centres, televisions, handhelds, anything that calls itself a computer. But the what about today's mobile phones and handheld devices? Is the experience even equal to that of 10 years ago? 
Arranged in BAFTA's auditorium, the Mobile Web Initiative was an event aimed at examining some of the issues of the web on mobile platforms. In a venue where stars of many sizes of screen usually receive awards, dozens of delegates, from companies dedicated to bringing the web to the smallest of screens, laid out the challenges and sought to find some answers. 
Opening the event in a virtual broadcast from the US rather than in person, web pioneer Tim Berners-Lee praised the assembled congregation in their journey towards setting goals for mobile web standards, while hinting at the enormity of the challenge, namely: it is likely that more people will eventually access the web from mobile devices than from conventional computers as they do today. To prevent that accessibility from fragmenting into mobile and non-mobile arenas was just one among the many challenges.
Philipp Hoschka, Deputy Director for W3C Europe and Mobile Web Initiative leader pointed out that W3C recommendations generally take around 3 years to mature into real standards. Typical parameters under consideration would be how page widths are handled, the display of understandable error messages, that scrolling should only require one direction and whether that should be 'y' not 'x' or vice-versa and how to indicate the 'cost' of following a link - the number of bytes the user is about to have to download and perhaps pay for. However, the development of mobiles doesn't stand still and their potential to give ready access to the web by a newer and wider audience - notably children - throws up issues of protection and content control. More than half of all Internet data traffic is web browsing, a fact highlighted by Franklin Davis (Nokia) but the current WAP standards for mobiles produces a 'walled garden' effect where a claustrophobic, restricted experience is gained from finding a mobile web populated only by say, ringtones and phone wallpaper available through a provider's micropay system. Nokia's S60 browser based on the Mac's Safari is aiming to bring the web to all S60-equipped phones and the increasing use of RSS news feeds. That's not to say that what exists of the current mobile web isn't used. Chris Yanda emphasised his own BBC web site statistics, revealing hits of up to 3 million button-wielding phone-thumbers by the end of the year compared to zero in 2001. More staggeringly, a determined 28% of these (approx. 1 million hits) visit purely from their mobile. 
Another ploy to circumvent the long gestation period of standards is switch to a browser that attempts to support everything. Using every possible opportunity to plug the word Opera, Charles McCathieNevile (from Opera) talked up the 'Third Browser's' current support of 7 desktops (Windows, Linux, et al) versus 42 types of mobile to create their goal of "One Web Everywhere" with their Opera and mini-Opera browsers. The scheme uses just a handful of common web protocols - like (X)HTML, CSS, DOM, HTTP - rather than a whole armful. Their new mini Opera browser claims to run on 700m phones. By the way, did we mention Opera? The approaches mentioned above are basically summarised as one of making the browser end of things cope with whatever is thrown at it, frequently described as 'tag soup', due to the variable quality of web site coding. Arguing instead from the point of view of standardising the web content itself, Rhys Lewis (Volantis) pointed to a database of existing mobile devices which numbered over 2000 and growing. Embedded content varies hugely: just look at text, pictures, audio, video, Flash. So the challenges for the device-orientated approaches are vast, for instance, adapting to screen size, how colours are handled, what user controls are provided. We shouldn't be constrained by authoring for the lowest common denominator device, whereas providing more and better meta-tags in our web content will allow mobile devices to decide for themselves which parts they can render and how. According to Keith Waters (France Telecom), the 'One Web' means "Author once, Publish to many [devices]", although a realisation lost on most people is that the web experience on desktop computers today will not be replicated or translated on mobiles tomorrow. The necessity of a mind shift for web creatives was reinforced by panel chair Rotan Hanrahan (MobileAware); most authors don't state the purpose of their web content. However, all hope is not lost as a significant recent driver has been accessibility to the blind and partially-sighted, resulting in more use of tags and descriptions to indicate what content is present on a page. Finally, for those campaigning for an approval level and recognition that their web site reaches a certain standard and "guarantees a minimum predictable experience", Jo Rabin (mTLD) put forward the .mobi brand whose approach is to present a W3C-based Style Guide, including mandatory as well as best-practice recommendations for web developers, aiming to give confidence to users when they see the logo. Contacts-IB-
|
Good read? Rate this article |
| I | B | |
| ^ Back to contents ^ | ||
|
5. Can I see your licence please, Sir?
| ||
| More help at hand. All the back issues just a click away |
With Microsoft and other software companies tightening up on licensing and licence numbers, it's important to keep the originally-supplied media and licences readily accessible. New rules and an Internet-based approach to licensing mean that it is not acceptable to switch over to another set of CDs or 'borrow' another similar licence. It's an issue we've probably raised before. Taking care of media and licences is vital and is the responsibility of the end user or organisation. If these are not to hand, Installation Jobs or Support Work can end up being delayed with extra cost all round. So it's vitally important to keep licences safe but accessible. If you need help in creating or maintaining a software inventory, we can provide these services via Facilities Management and take the hassle out keeping records up to date. -IB- Acknowledgements: Phil Anthony |
Good read? Rate this article |
| I | B | |
| ^ Back to contents ^ | ||
|
6. Q&A: Save an Outlook email to a file
Question 
Hi Mark, I'd like to save emails direct from Outlook into a file, but they come out with lots of gobbledy-gook characters. Is this possible? | ||
| More help at hand. All the back issues just a click away |
Sometimes you want just the text from an email, rather than lots of character formatting that gets in the way. With this method you also get the basic email headers like From, Sent by, Date, To, and Subject.
(If it is in HTML or Rich Text and not greyed out, you can change it. If it's in Plain Text already you can't add formatting to it, other than by pasting into a new message.) 
(These changes won't be permanent unless you make them so on closing the message window)
You now see a Courier-style font.
You're not done yet! Close the email message window (choose to save the plain text version of your email or not). If greyed-out boxes appear in the Format menu, then:
If you can't do any of the actions above, the message is already in plain text format. Messages also arrive and can be saved in other formats, eg
-IB-
|
Good read? Rate this article |
| I | B | |
| ^ Back to contents ^ | |||
|
Clicks of the Trade - How old is that web page?
--- Quick tips for happier clicks! --- | |||
| More help at hand. All the back issues just a click away |
-IB-
|
Good read? Rate this article | |
| I | B | ||
^ Back to contents ^Overview of InfoBulletin Opinions expressed within InfoBulletin do not necessarily represent the views of Co-Operative Systems.
E&OEViewing IB Implementation Privacy |
Subscriptions ^ Back to contents ^Contact details
|
|
|
Read recent and past issues of InfoBulletins on the Web at http://www.coopsys.net/ibindex.htm or search our archives and subject index.
We hope you found InfoBulletin useful! If you would like to comment on any of the articles or request particular subjects to be covered, mail us here.
| ||
