Online Security with "Pragma"-tic Solutions
Jul 27 at 1:01pm by ObverseView
If you’re like most people, I bet you don’t give much thought to security on your blog or website, do you? I didn’t, until I had my own blog hosted on a VPS style system that allowed me to login via SSH. In fact, at the time I had to go and look up SSH to figure out how to login via TELNET. That was something my regular hosting account allowed, but TELNET didn’t work on the VPS system! Added security I guess.
But you can bet your bottom dollar there are hackers out there, who are able, willing and keen to hack into insecurely protected systems to steal information, commit financial crimes or even to just mess with the system! That’s where you need secure FTP to allow you privileged access to your server, upload files and download information.
One company, Pragma Systems, created a range of software tools that are used by a large number of Fortune 500 companies to protect servers worldwide. In fact, it’s quite likely no matter where you live, you’ve had contact with at least one of their clients in the past 3 months. So it’s reassuring that these companies are striving to protect their data, and yours with quality technology. Given that we live in a “Windows” world (at least for the time being), this is doubly comforting as Windows is notorious for being ‘cracked’, ‘hacked’ or ‘jacked’ depending on the variety of hacking that’s being used.
This image highlights the windows client that access your resources, no matter what services that are being run: Windows, Linux, Solaris, or whatever! In fact, one of the touches that impressed me was the mobile client software that allows mobile or handheld clients to access the same resources. Not every handheld is supported, but most of the Windows CE, Mobile or Pocket PC seem to be supported.
This post was brought to you by Pragma Systems.
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Great Virus Software, and it’s free!
Jan 12 at 1:01am by ObverseView
I recently have been trying two different anti-virus softwares. One of them is listed below.
AVG Free Edition is the well-known antivirus protection tool. AVG Free is available free of charge to home users for the life of the product. Rapid virus database updates are available for the lifetime of the product, thereby providing the high level of detection capability that millions of users around the world trust to protect their computers. AVG Free is easy to use and will not slow your system down (low system resource requirements). Highlights include automatic update functionality, the AVG Resident Shield, which provides real-time protection as files are opened and programs are run, free Virus Database Updates for the lifetime of the product, and AVG Virus Vault for safe handling of infected files.
I have found that it in fact slows your system somewhat, esp. older systems. I was running it on a Pentium II, and the lag is noticeable for users. So it’s not great for older systems. But it runs well on my Pentium 4 systems without too many problems. I like the fact that scanning is constant, it’s on demand, and it’s updated. Overall, much better than the Symantec Crap that used to be installed on one of my systems.
The other I’m trying is Avast. I’m not done evaluating this yet, but will report back. In the meantime, you can read this post, too.
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RAZR V3m: So cool you could cut yourself!
Jan 9 at 2:02am by ObverseView
I have a mobile phone by Sharp GX31 that I bought for its multimedia capabilities… I was quite disappointed by the poor performance of the MP3 player (crude), the camera (low quality pictures, except in great light) and the movie features (highly pixelated, too short, and just useless). Also, I found the bridge from the memory card really slow reading the card. It’s fast enough for MP3s but slow when previewing pictures. So I am on the look out for a wonderful new phone.
The Sprint Red RAZR would be a great candidate for me, as it has high quality multimedia functions, with mobile TV (cool!) and a Music Store that you can download stuff from, in fact both of these offer streaming media, now that is what I call trendy. It’s got quite a sleak form factor that is noticeable in red. How many red phones have you seen? It’d be sure to attract some attention! I’d also need a good MP3 player so that I can listen to music without having to carry another Ipod or mp3 device.
However, the digital camera really isn’t much better than mine at 1.3 Megapixels and the zoom is a 4x Digital Zoom, which will reduce the quality of any zoom pictures. Optical zoom would be much more effective in producing clear images.
Another negative with Motorola phone is the need to purchase extra things that other companies include. In this case, it’s software to enable synchronizing with your pc. Now that’s bad. Also, when I purchased my Sharp phone, I was given, yes ‘given’, two chargers, two batteries, an earpiece, a car charger, and a software disk. When I bought a phone for my wife, a Panasonic, it was the same. I didn’t have to buy anything extra for quite some time. She only recently bought a battery for it.
However, my first phone was in fact a Motorola, though. I was less than impressed by the extra essentials that I had to buy: namely a car charger, additional charger, extra batteries, … . Also, I found the PIM features of most mobile phones poor in quality compared to a PALM pilot or mobile PC. So, I wouldn’t purchase the phone based on this need, either. Another issue that I found with Motorola was its clunky OS, which occasionally crashed. I think that’s a feature that has been talked about by other bloggers.
Overall, I’d recommend this phone for its size, its standby time and its cool design. Oh, and by the way, if you buy the phone, you can also support the fight against AIDS in South Africa ( a truly depressing situation! )! Now that ought to make you feel good every time you open your phone!
This post has been brought to you by Wirefly and my own ‘sharp’ words!
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Can ManagerAssistant help the busy SME boss?
Jan 4 at 12:12am by ObverseView
“Ever have a late review, didnt get a review, got a bad review? This software will help with reviews and more.”
Oh, hello, another software package for the overworked boss to learn, along with Excel, Word, Access, … “Can it really do all it promises?” asks the cynical boss.
Performance Review Software may actually help the time pressed SME chief do the kinds of things that are best done informally otherwise. These questions occupy a lot of time: How do you appraise your employees? How do you manage your employees? There are only 24 hours in the day, and sometimes it seems that the SME boss has to be a master of everything.
ManagerAssistant will allow you to organize your information in one location. No longer do you need to go chasing that lost excel file with the Johnny’s poor sales performance, while he’s sitting waiting for an appraisal outside your office. It’s all at your fingertips. It’s price, while not cheap, could certainly offset some costly mistakes on your part, e.g. if you fire the wrong person for the wrong reason! And, best of all, there’s a demo, you can download to try. So, come on, SME bosses, give it a try. I know I will.
This post is sponsored by ManagerAssistant.com LLC
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Live Video Conferencing: Go Live and Get a Life Back!
Dec 13 at 12:12pm by ObverseView
Have you ever traveled somewhere only to waste hours on a flight, hours getting to the airport, and hours waiting at an airport? I don’t dare mention lousy hotel rooms! I know you’re a bit skeptical of video conferencing, but perhaps Video Conferencing Equipment can change your mind!
LifeSize Room™ is offering a system that can remove some of the problems of business meetings, save a bunch of money, and ease the life of busy people! They say things like:
“exceptional quality and user simplicity to make remote communications a productive, true-to-life experience.”
“See and hear colleagues clearly to improve productivity and make better decisions. With simple-to-use, high definition video communications, seeing truly is believing.”
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Vista is coming, but is it hasta la vista, baby?
Dec 12 at 1:01am by ObverseView
I’m sure that tag line has been used before. Will Vista score big or drive people to Linux?
I have been a bit of a misoM$ist at times, but I noted this quote:
With most businesses replacing PCs soon, and most individual customers purchasing PCs like dishwashers these days, I don’t think Linux desktop will appear any time soon. Linux hasn’t really made any impression on the average consumer yet, and businesses all pay for large scale licensing schemes, so I’m pretty sure that Vista will be something of a qualified success.
It’s unlikely any time soon that Microsoft will be unseated as the king of the desktop, UNLESS they make a huge mis-step, and Linux is there to pick up the slack. This kind of thing has indeed happened before with M$, but is it likely to happen this time around? I doubt it. Now, M$ has become a multi-footed giant: Business, the Home, Gaming, Servers, etc. so it’s difficult to see them forsaking their lead any time soon.
Linux’s advantage is that it hasn’t reached the tipping point yet, the point at which the constant accumulation of little advantages becomes overwhelming. That, I would suggest, is just a matter of time, time which Linux can use to its advantage to develop the kind of consumer reliability, and ease of use, that we come to expect these days. The other OS now nipping at Windows is of course Apple!
This three-way battle of the OSes could in all likelihood just end in a whimper as everything converges on the Internet, anyway. In that situation, I don’t see M$ or Linux suffering as much as Apple. Hence perhaps Apple’s interest in the Entertainment market as an alternative to desktop? Well…
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phpxplorer: file management software
Nov 9 at 11:11pm by ObverseView
phpxplorer >>> administration
I’m not particularly competent at it, and the documentation/help files are MINIMAL! But it is useful, you can upload stuff easily, and control who can get it, and so on… I’m testing it for some stuff. Don’t know exactly how useful it will be.
It’s a bit finicky, but I think you’ll understand quite quickly how to use it. There is also a ‘guest’ user – you may or may not want to allow them access. I suggest you monitor the guest user uploads, esp. – it is liable to abuse.
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Yahoo! Domain Names…
Nov 9 at 11:11pm by ObverseView
Just a quick thought. You can check your domain names at http://smallbusiness.yahoo.com/domains where you an enter the different names you want to try. It’s pretty good. Also, they offer good deals for new customers for domain names (occasionally!). You could, if you want, buy your domain name there and use it with the any other package you want from another webhosting company. When you set up your account, you’ll just alter the location of the dns server! Should be simple.
I have heard that some people’s names don’t get renewed properly or registrations get screwed up, so as always ‘caveat emptor’!
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FTP Tools I have known and used…
Nov 9 at 9:09pm by ObverseView
I recommend this one.
http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/filezilla/FileZilla_2_2_28_setup.exe?use_mirror=jaist
This will download an installable file. Just click the link. You will then need to install it.
I also found my son has been using modzilla firefox and was already on the computer – does work as an FTP program?
Firefox CAN have an FTP function, but you have to add it with an add-in.
It’s actually pretty useful. You can FTP without having to leave your browser. Now that is neat.
Kenneth
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Confused Posters: My suggestions for you!
Nov 9 at 10:10am by ObverseView
A lot of my users have English as a second language and a few have sent me PM’s saying they are confused about how to use the forums – mixing up posting messages and private messages etc. For some it’s their first time using a forum and it takes a while to get used to the PHPBB system.
Would you like to move to an easier board? Many of the boards now have features similar to PHPBB, but are smaller, and simpler to manage than PHPBB. You can go to this website, and try the different boards, so that you find one you like. http://www.opensourcecms.com/ and click on ‘forums’. Some good ones are there. I tried miniBB, too. That was perhaps TOO simple.
(Edit: SMF forums really have some advantages, including user selected default languages, and PHPBB themes, which can help to avoid some of the confusion mentioned.
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