C O N T E N T S
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January 2007 Choosing Windows Vista, Phone-to-Calendar synchronisation, Blu-ray v. HD DVD, How full is your inbox?, How safe is that web site?
August 2006 Dell 9G PowerEdge servers, Shopping online precautions, 8M ADSL, KVM server control, Computing and telephony converge
December 2005 Fly away on my cell phone, $100 laptop, Email etiquette: subject for discussion, lastminute IT strategy
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1. Free storage providers online
Sometimes you just can't give it away - or can you? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Occasionally you just want a bit of overflow space, or maybe a holding bay to transfer stuff while you move between office-and-home or home-and-away, or a more reliable alternative to sending a disc full of data by post. Internet storage can be quicker than scrabbling around for (and irritatingly discovering you have lost!) your USB drive, and more convenient for synchronous working on a project, perhaps with a bunch of volunteers. Fortunately for space-hungry Internet users, many providers are just gagging to give disc space away. We looked at 4 contenders providing free space and checked out exactly what you get for nothing. When to use free storageAn alternative to The Bane Of IT Support (and everyone else) - sending a CD or DVD. With these shiny discs having multiple sessions, formats (ISO 9660, Joliet, RockRidge) and recording software (Nero, Roxio, etc), it's a nightmare route for delivering data, not least because of the high possibility of the courier losing or breaking the CD or DVD, or once it does arrive, of the recipient scratching it or not being able to run it in their DVD drive. Now that broadband limits have created a faster Internet, it's far better to whack the data up on some remote storage and allow the recipient to download at their leisure. FTP is the blindingly obvious candidate here, but you need to have a bit of web space handy, and the credentials to go with it. Yet FTP is a funny beast and it's surprising how many people simply can't get on with it. Firewall restrictions often stump even experienced FTP-ers at the last hurdle. Any browser-based interface certainly beats that on grounds of simplicity: you can browse web sites, ergo you don't have a problem getting into your online storage, and neither will those people to whom you grant permission to access the data you want to share, so any setup problems just vanish. Uploading data to free online storage also acts as a crude form of file backup. Not a versioned, automated record with full and incremental options like most backup applications – it's a manual procedure – but better than losing it all once your mind is wrapped up in the middle of that busy project. Space for rent – how it all worksYour online storage space works just like the folders on your computer but stores the files centrally online instead of on your local hard disc. The provider may have racks of discs running in a data centre somewhere or, more likely, rent the hardware from even larger providers, the kind of people that deal with server provisioning and all the logistics like building rental, security, alarms, temperature control and fire prevention. Online storage providers add on a nice graphical user interface (which is where they may exercise a flair for identifying their brand) and this allows subscribers (if we can call them that) to access their files stored online from anywhere, share them with friends and colleagues, publish them to web sites and so on. In some cases files are securely backed up and encrypted too. Buyers-in bewareDumping your data on some unknown distant disc pool is obviously not appropriate for confidential data, financial accounts or HR records. Often it's impossible to ascertain the effectiveness of administrative security at the far end – indeed the policies in force are like to be those of a different country, so it would be useless quoting the UK Data Protection Act at them in the event of a breach. As if it didn't need emphasising, the clue is in the word "free", in other words you're not getting much else other than storage. Why do companies give storage away free?Since the arrival of TeraByte-sized (1TB is 1000MB) disc drives at affordable prices, the digital world is almost awash with storage space. We see this in web hosting farms, PCs, even phones. Thus, storage has become the new lost-leader, to use the marketing speak. The draw for providers is that the bait of giving away a few hundred MegaBytes will hook potential customers. The hope is then to alert passing trade to buy services that do attract some revenue. In the examples above that might be that:
The most obvious revenue generator for any storage provider is a simple upgrade to pay for more storage, on the basis than once you've got some, you'll soon outstrip the limit and want more. Cue a 'kerching' from the till and a smug "That'll do nicely!" from the provider. Another potential revenue puller is that, because all such storage offerings effectively inveigle users to join a 'club', the successful ones will eventually grow a sizable community with a large wodge of very marketable email addresses. Look at where Google's Gmail/Googlemail got to with it's sponsored ads links above the inbox. Free Internet storage providers
Metamorphosis - paradigm of the Internet start-upMediaMax was formerly known as StreamLoad. Sharemation has morphed into a beta test site for the Xythos Enterprise Document Manager application. Google's Gmail (now Google Mail) has sprouted documents, spreadsheets, and photo applications. Illustrations like this indicate another difficulty for those venturing into online storage: shifting sands. The platform of Internet storage is based on a tide of continually surging disc space and, because the foundation for such new start-ups is a ubiquitous lost-leader (free storage space), their business model is likely to change rapidly – or capsize. If that isn't enough to bring on seasickness, they are probably nurturing a business idea that's strong enough to see them home and dry. Larger than life storageThe most famous of all digital, movable feasts is Gmail's ever-growing space allocation: you can see it ticking comfortingly upwards at gmail.com - last seen heading steadily towards 3GB. A neat marketing trick if ever there was one. Rapidly realising that email space could be translated into more versatile file space, a stroke of genius on Google's part permitted third-party developers to write programs that allow users to access their own Gmail space via independent applications, turning their spaces into an online drive or an FTP host.
More details on Gmail drive space add-ons here. Room to growIf unlimited storage is your bag, then Humyo would seem to be a good bet. Indeed, once inside the account you only find figures telling how much space is used and not what's left. Probing a little further reveals that this isn't all free however. There are plans (unknown at the time of writing) to add premium storage upgrades, but exactly what these are we don't know. What they do say though is that "'customers' who don't want to upgrade to these services will continue to enjoy the product, as it is, free of charge". Interpret for yourself. Likewise, Google Mail's versatile space shows no signs of being capped, though like Humyo, blogs are clearly hinting at chargeable models of business to come. Protocol and practiceCompared to other providers, Humyo make a good fist of explaining their security policy (passwords not visible by staff but accounts could eventually and laboriously be accessed), though it's worth encrypting anything sensitive before placing it in remote storage. Contacts-IB-
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2. More Windows versions on the way
Microsoft's goal: a new release every 2 years of both Windows client and server. Here's how it's shaping up and what to get ready for. | ||
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Looking back, the 1990s seem to have hit us with wave after wave of Windows desktop operating systems, culminating in 2000, with the simultaneous outpouring of Windows 2000 in both desktop and server editions. The current word on the bustling MS street of servers, clients and their ever-morphing codenames is that Microsoft's server management teams have reconciled themselves to delivering Windows client and Windows server releases separately rather than simultaneously. Consider the effort like the difference between having twins versus kids evenly spaced, perhaps. However, client releases won't be completely divorced from their parents-to-be (to obfuscate the analogy utterly), since Vista's Service Pack 1 (expected more or less now) is likely to help Vista clients work better in tandem with Windows Server 2008 servers. Promising futuristic features employing as-yet-unused technologies is no mean feat, since design is hardly a routine process, with testing phases incorporating exponentially larger amounts of programming code and participants in equal measure. Add to this the fact Service Packs that are launched in between are major projects in themselves (to wit the much-lauded Windows XP SP2), and one begins to understand why MS releases are famously late and the company's tendency to be reticent about firming up definite dates. At the Windows Hardware Engineering Conference (WinHEC) this year, Microsoft outlined a roadmap for its forthcoming versions of Windows server software. The roadmap - updated since - is looking something like this:
Finally leaving the '32-bit years' behind, Centro will be a 64-bit-only release, likely to integrate Windows Server Longhorn, Exchange Server 2007, System Center Essentials, SQL Server 2005, and ISA Server and Forefront security technologies, according to Microsoft. On the Windows client front, the map dissolves into more of a scrawled sketch. Totally understandable perhaps, when competing technologies like search engines appeared to force Microsoft to rejig its file searching strategy for Vista half way through. The next major version of a Windows client, Windows Seven, is the only anchoring piece of the jigsaw that Microsoft is stamping a date on. Industry pundits can only guess at the rest:
'Fiji', hailed in various headlines as "The Next Version of Windows", will in fact be an update to the Windows Media Center type functionality of Vista, though clearly out-of-step with conventional release intervals. A look at Windows version numbers (run the shell command "ver" to see yours) gives an insight into to how closely Windows client and server versions of code are converging as each new product is released:
Early 2008 could thus prove a watershed for Microsoft with its unfaltering, drip-drip release programme of servers and clients. Industry pundits and potential customers alike will be watching expectantly from the banks to see if the result is a pool of sparkling water lilies or a lake full of dead sheep. Contacts-IB- Acknowledgements: Mary Jo Foley's Microsoft blog |
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3. One point four tonnes. How big is yours?
Co-Operative Systems decided to take the plunge and weigh up its ratings in the carbon emissions stakes. The problem was finding anyone to compare with. | ||
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There has been wide-ranging discussion in the last year about carbon footprints and heated debate over the most controversial of its popular 'solutions' – carbon offsetting. Getting personalPlenty has been published on personal carbon emissions - activities like holiday flights, home energy use and local car travel all contribute hugely to Green House Gases (GHGs) and global warming. So much so that many individuals are now familiar with figures like the carbon footprint of the average Brit (11 tonnes of CO2). Perhaps they're also familiar with (or embarrassed by) their own CO2 tally, made possible by the burgeoning list of online calculators on offer. Indeed you have to look hard to find folk with a personal CO2 count of under 5 tonnes.
"Three quarters of the British population say more information on a company's social and ethical behaviour would influence their purchasing decisions"
Many authorities believe that a global average of around two tonnes per person is the maximum which the planet can sustain, so we have along way to go. Compare that to the lifestyle impact of the average inhabitant in developing countries - a carbon footprint of less than 2 tonnes – and one wonders whether terms like 'developing' and 'undeveloped' should start being applied the other way round. 
Getting professionalLittle is known however (and less is declared) about business carbon footprints. Already a bevy of online calculators has sprung up to remedy the knowledge gap, but the faster the calculation, the more simplistic the result, so more accurate answers will mean employing the services of a business team from one of the many carbon offset providers. Once an organisation has made its footprint calculation, it then has a foundation on which to mould the most guilty working practices and reduce its carbon emissions. Law firm Addleshaw Goddard is one those bold enough to quote a 3.6 tonnes per person per year figure as a starting point. Makers of fruit smoothies, Innocent, have chosen to calculate theirs by the bottle, coming up with 294 grammes of CO2 for each 250ml bottle they produce. We opted for the ClimateCare business carbon calculator. Since we keep detailed records of client visits, it was relatively easy to establish an estimate of the average impact made all employees and contractors at Co-Operative Systems. Figures were compiled on the basis of commuting miles from Google maps plus client visits and office energy consumption. The total comes out at just under 24 tonnes, or 1.4 tonnes of carbon emissions per person per year. 
The figures are necessarily approximate and may be considered low compared to personal emissions (at home), but we shouldn't forget that all this must eventually be included within a sustainable per-person allowance. The UK Government is seeking to reduce the average Brit's all-up footprint to 4 tonnes by 2050. What have we been doing so far?
Good to talk By using phone conferences and videoconferencing, BT claims to have reduced its carbon footprint by 97,000 tonnes of CO2 p.a., resulting in the elimination of 860,000 face-to-face meetings. (Survey conducted by the University of Bradford and research group SustainIT). For us, energy consumption is one of the biggest factors in an office footprint and clearly is an important item to tackle early. We'll be reporting back to let you know how we get on. Contacts
Business calculators and services-IB- Acknowledgements: Chris Harris |
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4. Beta-blocker
Is it worth tackling beta programs? Google shoves them out by the bucket load and everyone is doing it, even Microsoft. | ||
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What is a beta?Beta programmes essentially give you an early version of software to play with in return for being a guinea pig: lots of new features and absolutely no guarantees! Nowadays the 'beta club' is less exclusive than it used to be. It's far easier to sign up for a Windows testing programme than before, Google betas are scattered all over the place and there was a time when it seemed that Microsoft's AntiSpy application was in permanent beta and would never become a proper release. However such pilot testing can creep up on you by accident now that third party developers are eagerly invited to add their bit and swell the status and functionality of any given package, to wit Google Desktop widgets and Firefox browser add-ons. Overnight you can find your PC has turned into a lab rat! Looking back, beta programmes (and programs) are some of the most challenging and fun projects I've encountered. Removing the rose-tinted spectacles for a minute however, it suddenly becomes clear that, for the amount of time invested, they had to be, because one rarely reaps the rewards of that huge investment of time. Those rewards go to the software author or company, in whose testing regime one is but a small cog: every single catastrophic failure for you is just a small piece in the completion of their code-writing jigsaw. Reflecting on any one programme, I can assert: Sure it was fun, I learnt a lot, and for a perhaps few weeks our group moved itself up a notch in the global software development game. But as a means of achieving productivity or organisational efficiency ... boy, it was a hellishly expensive path! I guess it's just a matter of more clearly defining work from play. Contacts
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5. How to attach remote files to OWA
Typical scenario for the remote worker: they log into email via Outlook Web Access, but can't send files located on the the office server. | ||
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Give users a new technology and they just want more. So goes it with remote working, or perhaps so it seems to IT managers. 
Having procured a smooth-running Microsoft Exchange as the organisation's mail server with mail clients inside the office, say, as Outlook 2003, it's a fairly simple step to set up OWA (Outlook Web Access) for workers at home or travelling who want to dial-in quickly via a browser and catch up on messages. All goes well, until they want to send a file, that is. In OWA, clicking the Attach button permits the user only to browse files from their local machine. Fine if they remembered to synchronise or backup all their office work and bring it with them. Bad if they didn't. Worse if they're stationed at a hotel workstation or Internet cafe. All they want to do is see the remote files in the office via OWA, and probably just forward one or two to colleagues. Ensue conversations like, "You'll find find it somewhere on the shared drive, can't remember what it's called, can you send it to me?" or more terrifyingly, "I'll have to give you my password so you can login as me". Without a Virtual Private Network installed, OWA's lack of native ability to access files that are not locally stored swiftly engenders risky behaviours. 
Fortunately an OWA add-on called AttachWay comes to the rescue in that it enables remote email users to attach network files to an OWA email no matter where they are. It even allows users to save existing mail attachments back to their internal office shared folders. AttachWay adds a new button to the standard OWA interface, giving users access to browse local or remote files with their usual rights when if logged into the same domain. Administrators can grant or restrict access to directories as they wish. In fact, OWA users can now browse and manage their network files, since AttachWay presents familiar commands such as copy, move, create new folders, etc, for everyday file manipulation. 
An additional add-on called SecureView skirts the issue of exposing documents from within OWA when they are automatically downloaded for viewing to the local machine; such viewed documents are easily retrievable from the systems trash folder and from the browsers cache by rogue software of if a laptop is lost. SecureView permits document types to be previewed remotely, retaining them in a secure environment on the server. Both Outlook Web Access products feature a free 30-day trial download. AttachWay is licensed by total number of users, a 10-user license coming in at $595. Contacts-IB-
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6. Q&A: Can 2 users work on the same spreadsheet at the same time?
Question 
Hi Mark, My question is simple: can two or more users work on the same spreadsheet at the same time? | ||
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This one is both Yes and No. The design limitations of a spreadsheet program marks it out inherently as single user software. Unlike databases, key requirements are missing such as secured multi-user permission management, version control and managed multi-user environments. Having said all that here are some more positive answers to set you on your way. Answer: YesWith an online application called eXpresso, you can upload and share Excel spreadsheets on a secure server. Office 2000, XP, 2003 and 2007 versions are all compatible. There is also an eXpresso Plug-In to Excel for offline access.Answer: MaybeYou could try signing up for Google's free online applications under Google Docs and Spreadsheets which have a collaborative nature. A detailed discussion of Google's strategy here from Evolving Trends might suggest the answer to the question is nearer: "Yes, but only with the right technology. Answer: Sort ofAnother method to try is the linking facility of spreadsheets - for Excel and others - which is based on the powerful Windows feature, object linking and embedding (OLE). This would mean splitting the data into different spreadsheet files and assigning them to various colleagues. Then link those sheets up from formulae inside the worksheets. (Look up "Create a link between cells in different workbooks" inside Excel). When you open a workbook containing links to other workbooks, an update prompt appears. It's not ideal, but might work for 2 or 3 colleagues.
-IB-
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Clicks of the Trade - Eyes right for left-handed shortcuts
--- Quick tips for happier clicks! --- | ||||
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