Are you riding the [Google] Wave?

Have you checked out Google Wave yet?

If not, read up on it really quick, dive in, wade around, and then check back here to let me know what you think.

Google self-describes Google Wave as, "an online tool for real-time communication and colalboration. A wave can be both a conversation and a document where people can discuss and work together using richly formatted text, photos, videos, maps, and more."

I will not lie to you, I love Google. I support almost all of their apps and because of their user-friendliness and creativity inspiring atmosphere, I'll usually choose a Google app over any others.

However, I simply cannot steady myself on this Google Wave. I am trying. I've been in for almost two months now and outside of mediocre conversations on "how we all can't wait for more peopele to be using Google Wave," I have hardly used it at all.

I watched the About Google Wave video and loved watching them plan their vacation, eagerly awaited planning my own events, sharing my own photos and documents, and chatting with Google Wave. However, this hasn't really happened. Perhaps not enough people I know are using it. Perhaps its because its not the preferred file sharing method of our company. Perhaps it is just that we all have discovered how to do all the things it does through other sources. But then again Facebook started slow and amongst college students. But so far I haven't seen Google Wave getting its footing with a certain group.

Do not get me wrong, I am still excited about Google Wave and I cannot wait to hear your success stories from it... and to use it more for myself!

Don't take my opinions for truth though, check out another opinion here.

And then lastly - give me your opinion! I want to know!

Books > Computer.

Okay, okay, the title is a lie. Books are NOT greater than the computer... They are equal. But I do admit sometimes I would love for us to think the first way. Novels, pages, writing, words, have all had a very special place in my heart since I was a young kid and I'm sure that some of our readers feel the same way! Even if you're reading it on your kindle (which I am not, I love the physical book too much to transition)... I say open it up!

Now, in this departure from all things technological, I give you...

MY FAVORITE READS FROM 2009:

Overall favorite: 

Jesus Land by Julia Scheeres

This book did exactly what a 'favorite' book should do - I laughed, cried, gasped, and fell in love with the characters. This deeply striking and honest memoir deals largely with two topics that we'd rather look passed: racism and religioun ... and it does it in the midwest in the 1980s. A book I suggest you immediately put on your own 'to read in 2010' list.



Favorite tug-your-emotions book:

The Five People You Meet In Heaven by Mitch Albom

I realize that I'm a little behind on this one. I'm sure you've already tucked this fantastic, quick read under your belt. I finally dug into it and spent a few solid summer afternoons pouring over Eddie's life and his wanderings through 'heaven.' It was a beautiful portrayal of love and cyclicality of life that we all (or at least I) often overlook.

Favorite brain candy:

The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs

Calling all ladies ... and especially anyone of you who are knitters. This quick, but lovable read is a light-hearted book about a woman, her daughter, and her knitting shop. If you love books that give you a great glimpse into the hearts of its many characters, you're sure to love this one. And what is there not to live about a little heart-warming romance woven throughout (pun intended, haha).

And here's what's on my list...

TO READ IN 2010:

• Hotel On The Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford
• The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown
• The Road by Cormac McCarthy
• The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

Have you read any of these? Planning to add any of my recommendations to your 2010 reading list? Let me know!

DVD-R or DVD+R, Which is Better?

I get asked occasionally which blank DVD media is better to buy, DVD-R or DVD+R? The simplest answer is DVD-R. While both media have high success rates in most DVD players, DVD-R format is the official format of the DVD forum, the group that controls the specifications and licensing for the DVD logo. A quote from the forums website states "...the "DVD+R" format was neither developed nor approved by the DVD forum.” The DVD+R format was originally a rogue format, invented by companies that were unwilling to pay royalties to the DVD forum in order to use the DVD logo.

According to the DigitalFAQ, DVD-R format tends to have a playback compatibility of about 90-95% with all DVD players that exist. The DVD+R format tends to have a playback compatibility of about 85-90% with all DVD players that exist.

Regardless of which media format you choose, the most important thing to consider is the brand of media. There are only a few manufacturers of DVD and CD media in the world and this media is re-branded into hundreds of different brand names. Most media is fine for burning and will work in any DVD or CD player but if you're archiving data or creating a DVD movie collection you'll want a higher grade of media that will last the test of time. My personal favorite DVD and CD media is Taiyo Yuden (which was recently purchased by JVC). JVC Taiyo Yuden ranks as professional grade media and has the least hard and soft errors in lab tests. Verbatim and Ritek also make professional grade media. High grade media usually can't be found locally in stores and can only be found online at such places like Meritline. The good news is that media such as JVC Taiyo Yuden disks are competitively priced if not cheaper than the blank media found in neighborhood stores.

"Maintained & Refurbished" is the new "Shiny & New "

“Does it have to be shiny and new?” by Ann Bednarz, Network World

http://www.networkworld.com/news/2010/010410-outlook-buying-used.html

To boil it down to potential oversimplicity – this article is about making your IT stuff last longer. The writer, Ann Bednarz, is suggesting that instead of replacing equipment as soon as something goes wrong or begins to age, that we should consider preventative maintenance and willingly accept the expense it takes to fix it. As the article said, “"For every dollar they spend refurbishing and redeploying, they defer $14.50 in new procurement. It's a huge gainer in terms of preserving capital," Houghton says.”

And my favorite part of this short article is at the end when Houghton (CEO of IT Asset Recovery for Redemtech) says, “the big change we see is that thrift is cool, thrift serves the business. And thrift is not a word that IT has ever used before." In 2009 from January to May I took on a challenge, I only shopped secondhand. It was my attempt at proving that not everything has to be shiny and new in order to work well. I had good success with my secondhand sweaters, abandoned TV stand, and hand-me-down folders. All it needed was a new owner that believed in it. So why isn’t it the same with our computers? Love the old ones – replace broken parts and maintain what’s working.

Easily keep your email from being blocked or mistaken as SPAM? Not so easy after all!

With the introduction of Microsoft Exchange 2007, Microsoft widely adopted an authentication method to ensure that legitimate email from legitimate companies (like yours!) is transported to their intended recipients without being blacklisted or accidentally mistaken for spam. This technology is called SPF for SENDER POLICY FRAMEWORK.

Here's a diagram of how this works:

Many of today's Anti-Spam filters use an SPF record to authenticate that the message was sent by the person it claims to be sent by. This reduces the chances of users receiving "Spoofed Emails" in their inbox. What a great technology right? Who wouldn't sign up to make sure their recipients receive fewer spam messages and less advertisements for drugs and landmines shipped discreetly to your door? I know I would like to do anything that will cut my spam levels, so I decided to get on board with creating an SPF record for our domain: http://www.theohiogroup.com/ where our mail servers send out all of our corporate email.

This is the point at which I discovered that no one I knew, except the other technicians, would ever be able to do this without calling me for help. It was a nightmare to get setup and to make sure that I put in all the information needed, i.e: server Ip address, MX records, and Reverse DNS for our domain, just to create the SPF record. What a hassle! And none of my customers probably have the experience tinkering with their domain DNS Zone Records to even know how to add an SPF, let alone set it up correctly. This is when I searched google for an answer to my woes, and alas, Microsoft had the answer: An easy to use wizard! "Sender ID Framework SPF Record Wizard" that you just fill in a few questions and they will automatically generate your SPF record. This wizard won't automatically add it to your domains DNS zone file... however, a simple call to your domain registrar, or to us, can quickly solve that problem and make sure that all email that gets sent from your domain will end up in the inbox rather than the Junk Mail folder of the person it was sent to. You will also be doing your part to help mainstream this practice!

For more information, or to receive help setting up your SPF record, DNS Zone file, or make changes to your Domain, please visit us at http://www.theohiogroup.com/

Happy New Years! Anyone feeling disconnected this year?

Happy New Years Everyone!

I hope you all had such a wonderful New Years Eve! I definitely did myself. I stayed home, away from the crowds, and away from the crazy New Years drivers! So suffice it to say... I'll be sticking around to see next New Years Eve!

Anyway... I wanted to talk about how I think social media such as Facebook and Twitter has revolutionized and also handicapped the way that the majority of the younger population now communicates. I was surprised last night by the massive amount of texts that came to my phone as dozens of my friends sent out mass-messages to all of their Facebook contacts saying "Happy New Years!" but that I did not receive ONE phone call from even some of my closest friends. I think that this is so strange because I can remember even just last new years eve getting half a dozen phone calls from friends and family after the ball had dropped wishing me well in the new year. Does anyone else feel like our personal relationships are slowly being stripped away by the laziness that encompasses social media? Maybe not... but lets take one thing away from my ramblings... Don't forget that even though it's easy to send out mass greetings on such Holidays as Christmas and New Years... it's always much nicer to get a phone call from those you really connect with. So lets not forget what social media was intended to do: Bring us closer together and help us keep in touch with friends! So next time you send out a mass message to your friends on facebook, don't forget to also call up the people that you value most and let them know that you still care enough about them to use those fingers of yours for more than just text. Until next time, Happy New Years!

Here's a fun article for those of you interested. It's about using Facebook and Twitter Safely, and comes from CNET News: http://news.cnet.com/8301-27080_3-10420861-245.html