When they were building this remarkable plane (carbon fiber fuselage, 20-25% better fuel economy, wings that bend substantially in flight, a cabin that can operate at a much lower pressure to make you feel more comfortable, even bigger windows) they re-thought everything.  Sometimes that’s helpful and sometimes it’s not.

The example I heard about the Dreamliner was how they spent a large amount of money on building a 3-D image of the key mechanical sections of the plane.  This 3-D image could be viewed on tablet PCs by maintenance crews while working.  However, the maintenance folks don’t want to have a tablet to carry around while their working on things.  I wouldn’t either.  So… they just hook the tablet PC up to a printer and print things out… in two dimensions.

Everyone in technology needs to think about this scenario.  Are we spending too much time, effort, and money creating things that our clients won’t use?  Does it make things more complicated? 

Are you listening Microsoft?

Google is the fourth largest computer hardware manufacturer. That means that behind HP, Dell, IBM (or whoever is third-doesn’t matter) there’s a company that is making a remarkable amount of equipment… and not selling it to anyone.  They use it only for themselves.

All data is broken up into many many pieces. That means security. Think about it this way: If you and I were able to get past the defenses of a Google datacenter, steal a few servers, and make it back to your garage, we would actually have nothing of any value.  The data is stored across many different servers in many different locations.  Think about that.

Google is going after businesses.  First they enabled them to work more efficiently with search, Google Maps, and Google Earth.  They they bought Postini, one of the best web filters on the plant to keep spam out of your email inbox.  Now they are offering a large selection of tools that do everything from word processing and spreadsheets to better email and website tracking to online checkout.  You can even use Google Document Translation which can translate languages in real time.  Google is converting over 3,000 businesses a day.   Some sample clients are: the cities of LA and DC, Motorola, and Jaguar.

What are you doing with Google?

Those are eight easy energy saving tips that, over time, add up. Give them a shot

However, I did get a few questions about the internet taxes that are being discussed in Congress.  It’s been presented by Representative Bill Delahunt (don’t worry- no one else has heard of him either) from Massachusetts.  It’s called the Main Street Fairness Act. 

Here’s what it does:  Right now you can do all your Christmas shopping at Target, or Banana, or Bass Pro shops, or wherever.  You can drive over there, pick it out, buy the stuff, pay taxes and leave.  Or you can get online and order everything and have it shipped to you… only you don’t have to pay taxes because it’s online.

Yes- Online purchases are largely exempt from state and local taxes.  Most states are looking for money these days and they feel like you should pay taxes on things purchased online.  They argue that, all other things equal, your local bookseller is at a disadvantage because it costs more to purchase the same item at their store than online due to taxes.

You can be against taxes or all for them but I don’t think this tax means that the US will fall behind the rest of the world in terms of technology.  I also don’t think it will have a significant impact on internet usage, the online marketplace, or even internet retail sales which are driven more by convenience and low pricing related to volume than taxes.  I’d be willing to bet that most people who purchase things online don’t even realize they aren’t paying taxes until they reach the Checkout section of the website anyway.  At that point they are already going to buy.

So yes- it’s a new tax but no, it’s not the end of the world.

Wrong.  It took us nearly 4 months to find the right fit.  Don’t get me wrong- I’m very happy with the person we found who’s a great fit for us.  It was just harder than you’d think.  Skills required include an IT background, a successful sales record and a person that would represent Cantey Technology in a way that would make us all proud.  I didn’t think that was too much to ask.

We posted the position on CanteyTechnology.com, Craigslist, Monster, and on CharlestonJobMarket.com.  We were even the job of the week on the Charleston Regional Business Journal’s daily email.  I’ve found that many folks just send in their resumes, regardless of the job requirements on the posting.  Does that every work?

So, after 100 days, we finally found a good list of five people that made it through the first round of interviews, an assesment tool that my friend let me use, and team interviews.  We went through salary discussions because I know good people aren’t cheap, even in tough times.  And finally, we found a great fit.  But it wasn’t as easy as you’d think.

If you do, many people won’t take you seriously.  That’s a little crazy, but it’s true.  For example, I had a someone apply for a job with an aol.com email address.  Everyone in IT support hates AOL so that was strikes one, two, and three.   Also using a one of these services for your email address makes you look small.  It’s like the people who print out their business cards on copy paper.  I’m sure it saves them money but it makes their operation look “Mickey Mouse.”

It’s not hard to change your email address to the “domain name” of your website or at least an email address that looks like you run a serious business.  Don’t skimp on this step.   You can do this yourself through many different sites such as godaddy.com or networksolutions.com.   We can help if you need it.

Don’t worry- You can still use the old email address to forward to your new one so you don’t have to check two email accounts.

•  Yahoo finally gets social networking- Yahoo is still trying to get into the social networking world.  This may be their fourth serious attempt.  I don’t think it will work.
• Facebook goes for older users- One of Facebook’s the fastest growing demographics is the over 40 crowd.  Virtually everyone (in the US at least) who is under 30 and on the internet is already on Facebook.  So decides to Facebook raid the old folks home- Yahoo.   This will probably work.
• Facebook users get Yahoo content- Yahoo has decent content and a huge network of content sites.  Facebook could use some content that’s not related to “here’s what my baby ate today” or commentary on Dancing With the Stars.  (What?  Your friends don’t post that kind of stuff on Facebook?)  Yahoo is actually a good place to get movie, sports, and investing info.  This part will work.

 Bottom line- If you use both sites, I’d check out the integration which should come out in a few days.

So- Here are the key features:

Thinner phone

Flat back

Higher resolution display (four times the resolution of previous iPhone models)

Longer battery life

New operating system, iPhone OS 4.0

Front facing camera so you can take pictures of yourself, make “video calls,” and use applications like Skype Video

Is this worth getting a new phone?  Honestly, I would wait a little while before rushing to the Apple store.  I think it’s exciting but not worth ditching your slightly older iPhone.  This stuff from Apple gets better and better all the time and the prices drop every 6-9 months.  It’s OK to wait a while.

Also, there’s been a lot of talk in the news about AT&Ts new data pricing plans.  People worried that they would have to pay more for data.  I don’t think this is the case.  Very few people use all the data that Apple is offering with the new plans.  As a matter of fact, you’d have to download a ridiculous amount of audio or video to exceed the new plan limits.

On the positive side, I think these new plans will allow many users to subscribe at a much lower data pricing plan.  You can always download large files through iTunes or when you’re connected via WiFi.

Additional info: “The typical smartphone customer consumes about 40 to 80 megabytes of wireless capacity a month. The typical iPhone customer uses 400 MB a month.”- Slate

Today you can  temporarily allow someone to access your computer so they can troubleshoot issues.  Some options include Crossloop, LogMeIn, or others.  Although Cantey Technology is onsite when we need to be, we often “remote in” to help clients who are not in the local area or may just need some basic remote IT support.

I’ve attached a map from LogMeIn which shows how their software is helping people across the planet help people in the United States.  Click on the link, wait a minute, and run your mouse over the US and then India .  You’ll see that there are over a thousand new connections each minute between locations across the globe.  Very cool stuff.

https://secure.logmein.com/US/visualization/fullscreen/

One of the first questions related to online security. It was directed to me and, after panicking, I told them that the biggest threat to online data is very, very simple- weak passwords. We all agreed on this. It’s not something to mess around with. If I had a dollar for every client who used “1234″ or “1111″ or, one of my all time favorites “Password,” I would be able to hire someone to write this blog.

Here’s why- It doesn’t matter if your bank, your email provider, or your laptop, has a fantastic encryption solution to keep the bad guys out if they can simply guess your password. It’s like leaving the key on top of the doormat.

I recommend that you chose a password with numbers and letters that is at least 7 characters. This can’t guarantee that everything will be safe but neither does looking both ways before crossing the street. What are you going to do, not cross a street because there’s risk involved? Of course not. So come up with a good password and stick to it.