CyberStreams Blog

It’s a busy mobile marketplace out there with lots of options. At CyberStreams, we use and recommend Windows Mobile but some of us recently made the switch to Android 2.2. Were we too hasty; should we have waited for the prolonged release of the Windows Phone 7 (WP7)? I’ll let you decide.

Starting with the basics, both of these products are mobile OS’ that are designed to make life (business and personal) simpler and more efficient. At the end of the day, both Android 2.2 and the WP7 will help you accomplish this, but which is easier to live with? Read the rest of this entry »

At this point in history, I think it’s fair to say that everyone uses the internet. But, how does everyone access the internet. Conventionally, for home internet access there was DSL and cable, but now, there is a newer player in the game, WiMAX. Let’s examine the veterans first.

DSL stands for digital subscriber line and is a method of providing data transmission over traditional phone lines while maintaining telephone services. Cable provides data transmission through coaxial cables. While on the surface DSL and cable may be very similar, once you dig deeper you will find that cable internet is generally preferred to DSL. However, this preference also depends on where you are, because prices and performance depends on where you live. Therefore, DSL loses the first battle because DSL performance suffers the farther you are from the central hub.

DSL provides connection speeds at a minimum of 768 Kb/s to 1.5 Mb/s whereas cable can provide speeds starting at 2 Mb/s. However, getting cable internet means you have suffer the installation process and charge from the cable company, whereas DSL has much easier installation.

So what about the new guy? WiMAX is where it gets exciting. There is a potential for future WiMAX to provide up to 1 Gb/s of connectivity. The idea of WiMAX started with the forum sharing the same name that promotes the interoperability of WiMAX technology. Recently, speeds on WiMAX have been seen at about 12 Mb/s in Australia, but realistic speeds in your neighborhood may be much slower. WiMAX is based on the new IEEE standard, IEEE 802.16, which was created to promote “Wireless Metropolitan Area Networks.”

Obviously, one of these technologies is better than the other, however, it will take some time for WiMAX to become fully available and the general standard for internet access to change.

The new Microsoft SharePoint is here and better than ever. Initially, it seems that Microsoft has upgraded most of the features of this business software, but let’s take a deeper look. For starters, there is a new user interface which mirrors the added “ribbon” menu of the Word/PowerPoint 2007, providing easy access to SharePoint’s advanced tools.

Additionally, Microsoft has further improved the collaboration tools. For example, it is now possible to simultaneously work on Word documents and PowerPoint presentations. The calendar functions have also improved with added drag-drop functionality of events and multiple calendar views as well as group calendaring. The new SharePoint workspace also allows you to work on sites, libraries, and lists offline only to be updated the next time you access your network. Read the rest of this entry »

Microsoft is making changes to its Small Business Server (SBS) line of products! The next installation in the series will be a pair of products; one (SBS 7) is an update to the expected old SBS options and the second has been called Aurora which partially relies on cloud services. While the both of these products are targeted towards small businesses, they are drastically different. Read the rest of this entry »

Software is generally sold in two versions, 32-bit and 64-bit. So what is the difference? Is 64-bit twice as good, twice as fast?

The difference starts with the processing power of the computer. Not all computers are capable of handling 64-bit applications. Take Windows, for example, the 64-bit version can handle more hardcore processing involving large amounts of data. This means that the computer running 64-bit Windows will run its applications faster and more efficiently, however, a user may only notice the difference when using large applications that use up a lot of computing resources. Generically, 32-bit processing involves 2 GB of memory at any given time, where 64-bit processing can handle vast amounts more.

Thus, 64-bit processing sounds impressive but it requires somewhat impressive hardware to back it up. As technology improves, all computers are slowly making the move towards 64-bit processing. However, if you want to run a 64-bit application, say professional video editing software, you need hardware that is capable of handling 64-bit processing as well as an equivalently geared up operating system.

Generally, you should be able to run 32-bit software on a machine that has a 64-bit operating system. Based on your needs, 64-bit computing may be a vast improvement, but if you don’t require that kind of intense computing power, it may be a waste.

The new age of the smartphone and PDA is here, and Microsoft (one of the oldest members of this market) is late to the party.  Originally, Microsoft’s new smartphone OS, Windows Mobile 7, was slotted for arrival in December of 2009. Have no fear though, the now re-branded Microsoft Windows Phone 7 (WP7) is on its way, tentatively set to arrive during the vague “holiday 2010” time period. Read the rest of this entry »

On January 22, 1984, an advertisement aired during the third quarter of Superbowl XVIII that set the country abuzz. A brightly-colored female athelete was seen to smash a huge screen broadcasting the message of uniformity and conformity to sexless masses in a dysutopian world based on George Orwell’s “1984.” It was an advertisement for the then-new Apple Macintosh personal computer and sought to position Apple as a liberator from the oppresive, entrenched companies such as IBM and Microsoft. Read the rest of this entry »

Amazingly enough we still find people using IE 6 when we first engage with clients.  From security flaws to functionality, IE 6 MUST be upgraded.

It’s funny how people just don’t like change, and how technology changes every day.  Assuming “no harm”; “no foul”, this is a fascinating and humourous dance playing out within our increasingly wired society.  If you like to occasionally reflect on that type of thing objectively. 

CyberStreams is obviously an advocate of change, however often our efforts to convince people go ‘unheard’ or misunderstood. 

This article on CNN highlights a web design company whom is really having fun with the concept: they are having a funeral for IE 6 today in Colorado!

Check it out!: http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/03/04/ie6.funeral/index.html?hpt=Sbin

It can be pretty common to run into a few snags when trying to uninstall Exchange 2007.  Exchange has so many different components and ways to connect with other servers so it gets very picky when you try to remove it.  Which I suppose can be a good thing, because it’s trying to prevent you from messing up your network.  Here are a few errors I’ve run across and ways to fix them.
Read the rest of this entry »

Elite outsourced IT service providers need to take pride in helping each one of their clients effectively optimize technology for their success within each of their unique business models. Their success is your success! Everything an elite outsourced IT provider implements and recommends to their clients needs to be built around the foundation of 4 key concepts….affordability, simplicity, continuity, and flexibility.

Affordability – Business technology requirements significantly differ from personal technology requirements. Business innovation today should allow elite outsourced IT service providers to research, certify, and implement enterprise level technologies within the constraints of a small business budget.

Simplicity- “Knowledge is a process of piling up facts; wisdom lies in their simplification.” Elite outsourced IT service providers IT process simplification recommendations are designed to achieve increased productivity, higher profitability, less errors, reduced stress, happier staff, improved communication, and client longevity.

Continuity – In today’s competitive business environment IT continuance and security are essential. “Security in IT is like locking your house or car – it doesn’t stop the bad guys, but if it’s good enough they may move on to an easier target.” The value of stored business data far exceeds the value of the hardware it resides on. Hardware can be quickly and affordably be replaced, but data cannot. Elite outsourced IT service providers need to be able to effectively apply these IT security and continuance principles to all their client’s continuance plans.

Flexibility – Business improvement based on IT optimization evolves with time through education, adoption, and application. Elite outsourced IT service providers use this cycle to foster business growth by recommending technology that small businesses can affordably grow into without forklift type replacements.

To achieve the elite IT provider status using these four concepts it is vital that IT service companies are successful at immersing themselves into each of their client’s business plans, goals, and challenges at management levels. Without being successful at this, your client’s technology has no chance to be transformed from a mere expense into a valuable asset.