03.04.08
Posted in Hardware at 10:47 pm by Alice Pretchet
We are about to take on our own internet server and beefing up the company intranet, I remembered that Candice use to work at one of the big computer manufacturer / retailers and she went from retail level computer sales to corporate accounts. I was amazed when I heard how much these big companies spend on networking equipment. Routers costing more than $1,000 each and many companies needing dozens of those, along with multiple servers, switches and more. She is no longer working with this big manufacturer and now my company is finally in a position to consider getting our own servers online and the network equipment to handle lots of internet and intranet traffic.
So I called Candice and she recommended looking into used cisco equipment. She said that I could probably get the same warranty and save big money by going for used network equipment, and often times the places that offer the used or refurbished equipment are getting pretty new pieces that are being sold to them for next to nothing from big companies that have just gone out of business. I know that Cisco makes industrial strength equipment that is meant to take the stress of constant use, so that’s exactly what I am recommending to Derrick.
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02.26.08
Posted in Hardware, Software at 5:38 am by Alice Pretchet
This web site I just stumbled upon offers not just video conferencing, but hi definition video. There have been several occasions when I have resorted to video conferencing for sharing project details with colleagues, but when the subject comes up for sharing our projects to potential investors and clients, we normally fly out and meet up. With this hi definition
n videoconferencing option, we may be able to have virtual meetups that keep us looking on top of technology rather than having the substandard video technology getting int he way of our message.
So if you need hi quality Videoconferencing check out lifesize, the hi definition hardware and software available there will get your message looking as good as the info itself. With option such as:
- High definition video communications (1280 x 720 resolution, 30 frames per second)
- Support for video bandwidth from 128Kbps up to 5 Mbps
You know that this is an online video service that is top notch, using the best technology available today.
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01.26.08
Posted in Hardware at 12:04 am by Alice Pretchet
There has been a lot fo talk about the one laptop per child initiative, or OLPC’s - when the news broke about $100 laptops - all kinds of people were talking about it. I remember talk about the possibility of buys one $200 and that would provide someone in a third world country with a laptop while you get one too. Well it looks as though the price has gone a bit (as of today around $230 - $300 perhaps) - and it seems that they have created a rugged design at a good price. Unfortunately some of operating issues may make these a failure.
In an article I found one guy talks about the OLPC and the necessity to upgrade the linux by command line in order to get it update and get on the internet:
They eventually had to reconfigure and upgrade the operating system, a complex process certainly not doable by a computer rookie. Pity the child in a remote Cambodian village trying to figure out this instruction from the OLPC Web site: “At your root prompt, type: olpc-update (build-no) where (build-no) is the name of the build you would like.”
Even worse, in order to save trees, the OLPC arrived with very few printed instructions. Instead the users were directed to a Web site for help, which would have been an insurmountable challenge if this was their only computer.
The article goes on the whine and moan that the intel version had a hard time with a word processor being while along with a few internet tabs. Of course there is no telling which writing software was being used in this little experiment, open office, microsoft’s bloated office or what. For that price and the ruggedness I would happily use a stripped down notetab lite to write with. Perhaps a second generation of these will be available and we will have a success story then.
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09.11.07
Posted in Blogs, Developers, Hardware, Mobile, Mobile Devices, News, WaSP at 11:44 am by Alice Pretchet
Mobile Safari without the IPhone
Apple has brought Mobile Safari to the Ipod
Last week, Apple announced the new iPod Touch (essentially, an iPhone without the phone bits). What is particularly interesting about the iPod Touch is that it includes WiFi connectivity and Mobile Safari.
There are two aspects to this release that make it particularly interesting:
- Mobile Safari is now poised to explode in terms of market share, possibly driving a lot of innovation in the handheld browser market, and
- developers now have a far less expensive means of obtaining and testing on the new browser.
What do you think of this announcement? What repercussions do you think we will see?
Written By Aaron Gustafson
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06.08.07
Posted in Developers, Hardware, Mobile, Mobile Devices, News at 10:19 pm by Alice Pretchet
MIT team powers light bulb without wires
“In a perfect world, there’d be no wires. They clutter the view, get tangled behind desks and limit how far networks can reach. That’s why the telegraph gave way to the radio. Cell phones unstrung telecommunications. Wi-Fi liberated computer data.
Now even the last knotty wire that seemed destined to remain - the power cord - could be on its way out.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers announced Thursday they had made a 60-watt light bulb glow by sending it energy wirelessly, potentially previewing a future in which cell phones and other gadgets get juice without having to be plugged in.
The breakthrough, disclosed in Science Express, an online publication of the journal Science, is being called “WiTricity” by the scientists.”
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