While AT&T has branded Crossville as a third world wasteland in terms of wireless data speeds. Verizon seems to be taking us much more seriously.

I noticed on a friends newish Motorola Droid, that the “3G” icon was lit. After some research, I discovered that Verizon have quietly activated 3G between Nashville and Knoxville some time ago. AT&T’s 3G in East/Middle Tennessee has basically stayed the same.

A client of mine had an application that required higher speed mobile data. After some research, I opted to recommend the Novatele MiFi 2200, and given that Verizon now has 3G here, I also recommend their Data service.

Of course we got to play with the MiFi and the service for a bit. The MiFi works by having 2 radios in it. One connects to the cell towers for data, and the other one creates a small bubble of 802.11g wifi network around the device. The unit itself is very small and very light. About the size of a business card holder. The ideal is that you can switch it on, leave the MiFi in a purse or pocket and use your laptop or other network wireless device just as you would on any normal computer wireless network. There is very little interaction with the MiFi itself, it has just a single on/off button and two indicator lights.

No mater what the sales person tells you, you DO NOT have to have the Verizon crap-ware installed to use the service. Once the unit is activated, ANY device can connect through it to the internet. The security comes from either hiding the SSID (network name broadcast) or from creating a password protected WPA wireless computer network. Both of these security features are normal for securing fixed location computer wireless networks, so any desktop, laptop, or PDA should hookup just fine.

Where you do need the Verizon crap-ware is for the “activation” of the MiFi. But while it’s completely unnecessary for normal use, at least the install method is brilliant. The MiFi does not come with any driver disks. Instead, when you plug the MiFi up to a computer via USB, the MiFi has a small amount of flash storage in it, which contains the software. Your computer can simply install the software directly of the MiFi itself. A brilliant delivery mechanism, despite it’s dim payload. I wish printers did this.

Other than activation, you can theoretically send and receive text messages with the software, but why would you want too? The software can also “configure” your MiFi, but you can just as easily “configure” the unit via a web browser in much the same way as you would a home router. The MiFi can be used in wifi mode, or tethered via the USB port. USB tethering does require drivers, but those are separate from the Verizon software, and can remain after uninstalling the Verizon branded software. While this USB tethering is a physical (and perhaps ackward) connection, the benefit is that the MiFi is powered/charing off the USB port while in use.

As to the charge, we did not have the MiFi long enough to test it’s battery life. There was some disappointment that the MiFi used a USB micro plug instead of the more common USB mini. But USB mico is the comming standard for chargers, so I gather in 2 years this complaint will be moot and we’ll mutter about things still using USB mini.

Now here’s the best part, the speed was AWSOME!

We fired up the unit in our testing lab, and quickly linked up 5 devices to it. (The MiFi is limited to just 5 networked devices at a time. ) We started out with a basic speed test. The Verizon network really shocked me in terms of speed.

These were the numbers, 1111 kbps down and 418 kbps up. To put that into prospective, my entry level home DSL numbers are here:

1248 kbps down and 545 kbps up.

We were able to do Skype Calls with video without any issue. In fact we did 2 Skype calls, one from a laptop with a two way video feed, and anther skype to landline call from an iPod touch. We watched a few minutes of a Netflix film, and some Hulu, no problems at all.

Where Verizon didn’t do so well was in latency dependent things like Remote Desktop and Gaming. We noticed alot of stutter in trying to use Logmein.com for remote access, and a typical First Person Shooting game had some issues. I think this stems from the way Verizon prioritizes its traffic. The top speeds seem to come from applications that do sequential streaming, like video, or any sort of downloading. Random hits and bursts, like with remote access and gaming, seems to move much slower.

In the end, we really did like the device. Verizons 3G is a hundred times better than the whimpy EDGE that AT&T has in Crossville. I’m not sure I personally could justify the $60 a month fro data, but the real deal-breaker for me is the 5GB cap. If not for the cap, I could almost see using this as a functional replacement for someone who needs Broadband at home and on the road.

From ash drawings on cave walls, to papyrus scrolls, to 20lb white paper, humans have been evolving new ways to convey information. Here at TCG it’s time for us to evolve.

One of our new years resolutions is to try and stop using as much paper as we can. To that end, we are starting to e-mail our invoices and statements. For the next little while we will still send out paper items, but we will also send letters telling our clients about the transition. Of course anyone who needs paper will still get paper, but we are hoping that in may of our clients will join us in trying to make the “paperless office” dream a reality.

I get asked from time to time which satellite, cable, DVD rental, digital download or online viewing services I use, and how do I “watch” or “listen” to those. To try and give a comprehensive answer to this question, I’m going to write a periodic series called “My Media”. In these articles I’m going to try and lay out how I get my media, how I processes it, and how I (and my family) consume it.

Now this may seem like a lame topic for some people, but media is changing. It has been over a decade sense I watched TV based on a broadcast schedule. In fact I even remember the last TV show that I arranged my time around to watch. It was a show on TNT called “Witch Blade”. (A show who’s comic book forerunner had tries back to a fellow Crossvileian, Michael Turner.) Media is now “on demand” and omnipresent. We watch video on small screens and large screens, listen to music from devices that can hold entire audio genres at ounce, and read books from wireless connected pads. There is such a great divide between the way I watch video and the way my parents watch video and I look at my daughter and wonder just how different her experience with entertainmnt and information will be from my own.

I brag that I’ve not watched “TV” in years, though I do have the lighted box commonly referred to as ” the television”. I also have subscriptions to various providers of video and audio. But the way I’ve seen people watch “tv” is not the way I watch TV. I’m proud to say I’ve never watched a reality TV show, unless you count Formula 1 racing and UT football, and those are less like reality shows than soap operas.

While I don’t think there is a “right” way to take in media, I know there are many, many, “wrong” ways to do it. This is just the way I do it, and some thought about what I feel are good ideals and bad ideals in the changing media state.

Legality.. I going to come right out and say that some of the things I’m going to write about here are legal gray areas. While I’m not going to give a step by step “how to” on violating copyright law, I don’t what to misrepresent myself as someone who is puritanical on the issue of copyright. In those places where copyright holders have provided me with a method that conforms to the way I wish to view my media, then I have no problem abiding by their framework. However when a copyright holder does not provide a method that conforms to the way I wish to view my media, then I feel I have every right to circumvent their framework so as to conform to my needs. As far as compensation for copyrighted works, I make every effort to abide by the sprit if not the rule of the controlling licensing agreements. I understand that the production of good media requires money. However, I also know that as a savvy consumer, I find the best ways to obtain my media. I will say that my conscience is not troubled one bit and I sleep very well at night. So that means I’m ether on the right moral side of the issue or I’m a sociopath.

Sometimes in my line of work, I find it necessary to hunt down images.

Searching for an “image” is somewhat of a dark art. While there have been many advances over the years, computer do a horrible job at recognizing the contents of a image. One only has to look at the error rate in most OCR software to see that even on something as plan text, machines have trouble distinguishing between “$” and “S” or “l” and “I”. So asking a computer to find me a picture of a woman with black hair standing at the western face of the Siegessäule in Berlin is a bit of a stretch.

For some time Google has had image searching system, but has worked primary by guessing the content of an image based on the context clues of the page on which that image sits. The search can be refined a bit by specifying size and overall color composition, but in the end I’m still left sifting through dozens if not hundreds of images looking for something that may or may not exist hoping that someone both has posted the desired image and described it contents in minute detail.

Today was such a day in which I was on a bug hunt for an image. I had a small thumbnail of an image, but needed to confirm details within that image which had been lost when the image was shank. I spent some time on Google, but could only find other thumbnails of this same image. One of the things about the internet is that is constantly copies itself. If information is posted, it will be copied, stored, and republished elsewhere. This is one of the great strength of both the technical and social elements the network. (and the biggest reason why current copyright laws don’t work in the digital word). In my case, the thumbnail of the image I was after could be found in Google images, but the full-size version was proving more difficult to locate.

After some time I decided to check Microsoft’s Bing image search. To my astonishment, using the same search terms as I did with Google, the full size image I was looking for was the third choice on Bing Image search. No only did I find the image I as looking for, but I also found several related full size images that were part of the same set that I did not know even existed.

While this incident has not persuaded me to move from Google to Bing for my search needs, I do feel more like Bing is becoming a legitimate competitor to Google. Microsoft has publicly stated that they will destroy all traffic records after six months, and this bodes well for my need for privacy. I also feel better knowing that Google is standing up to China’s draconian censorship policies. Maybe the worm has turned.

While the people here at TCG are great conversationalists, sometimes a problem with technology just can’t be handled over the phone. When that happens, it’s best for one of our techs to go “hands on” with the afflicted system. In the past this involved a trip onsite to visit a client, or having the client bring things to us.

Back 15 years ago, I would spend 30 minuets driving to and from a location to preform a 5 minute “fix” for a problem. To overcome this discrepancy of billable time my employers of the past would often institute bizarre fees such as “Service call charge”, “one way travel bill”, or bill at a high rate for work done on site. When I started TCG I wanted to eliminated this confusion, and not penalize a client just because I was clever enough to fix their issue in 5 minutes. This is one of the reasons we never bill for things that take less than 10 minutes to fix.

However, time is the most valuable of all resources, for both our clients and our techs. As much I enjoy my clients company, sometimes the best use of everyones time is for me to go “hands on” with technology without the need for scheduling an onsite visit and travel time. This is were the gem of IT Consulting comes in, Remote Access. Remote Access gives the ability for a tech to take “remote control” over a system, and use it as if he or she was siting at the desk.

This is not new, in fact remote access features have been a core part of the Windows Operating system for almost 10 years. Even here at TCG we have a collection of remote access methods, mainly centering about the use of Windows RDP, Open Source VNC, and Mac Screen Sharing. The problem is however that there is not a unified and simple way for any of these methods to transit the complex world of Internet security and firewalls. The end result is that even with our own remote access methods we spend more time maintaing the access paths (port forwarding, routing, etc) than we ever do proving support.

Starting late last year, I started a research project to find the “best” method to create a system that would allow us at TCG to best serve our clients via remote access. The fruits of that research have lead a company called LogMeIn.

There are several commercial and free remote access software packages, such PC Anywhere, RealVNC, Windows Remote Desktop, and MAc Screen Share. The problem with a software package is that it requires that we here at TCG maintain a “path” into whatever system needs to be remotely accessed. This gets even more complicated when realized that most computer no longer connect directly to the internet, but rather are behind NAT routers and firewalls. Several computers within a single office all share a common “gateway” to the internet, and transitioning this gateway to access a single system within that network is a non-trivial task. Also, there was no real uniformity between Macs and PCs. Both had native remote access system, but of course they are not compatible. VNC does work on both, but it’s not a totally secure method. Because of all of this, we ruled out using a “software only” solution.

The other possible solution was a “hosted” remote access system. The advantage of a hosted system is that it is much easier for client and tech to link up. Both sides report to a common third party computer that handles the messy technical details of the connection. This means that accessing any number of computers behind an office NAT router is no longer a problem. There are several high profile companies that offer this hosted remote access service, they include Webex, GoToMyPc, and LogMeIn. The down side of these hosted remote access services is the cost and the dependancy on a third party companies which may or may not be around in the future.

Of all the services I looked at, I liked LogMeIn. I felt like they offered the best overall package of features for the price. But what really tipped the scales was they apparent embrace of new technologies. They no only offer remote support for Mac and PC, but also Windows Mobile, Blackberry, and Symbin Phones. They also have an iPhone app that will allow me to take a quick look at a clients machine directly from my iphone.

The correct software for LogMeIn can be downloaded from the software section and instructions for installation and use can be obtained by contacting us at TCG.   

We here at TCG have always known that in IT, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. However getting businesses and individuals to actively consider system management and maintenance can often be a daunting task. It’s easy to forget that computer systems, networks, and software are like any other equipment and require regular maintenance to operate and peek performance and to help avoid costly downtime.

With this in mind, we are considering offering an economic incentive to businesses and individuals to help them keep up this vital regular maintenance. On-going maintenance can often be a complicated and confusing endeavor for both the receiver and provider of services. We have looked at several ideas for ways of providing this service, and have come up with a plan we feel is very cost effective for our clients. Before we implement this plan, we wanted to present it and ask for comments about it. After all, while we feel it’s a good idea, we also feel that our clients should have input in the process.

First, some background. Our rates for service have been he same for many, many, years. We’ve never gone in for complicated billings arrangements. Our fee structure is VERY simple: flat hourly rate, billed in half hour increments, and we don’t bill for time that is not productive. This has held us well all these years, but the higher level of expertise we have now, combined with the higher costs of doing business have conspired to force the issue of a rate increase. Starting January 1, 2010, we will have to raise our service rates. We are currently in negotiation with our sub-contractors and other service providers to keep the increase as low as possible. One of the ideas that came up was to try and “normalize” our business by moving from a “reactive” to a “proactive” model of service. This would allow us to have greater control over our work flow and better budget our resources.

Simply put, under our current “reactive” model, when something breaks, we go and fix it. The danger here is that if too many things break in too many places, we are unable to react in a timely manor. There is also the strange (but very real) fact that things happen all-at-once. We spend several days doing very little, then become inundated with calls.

The Plan:

To promote good system maintenance, and to help avoid costly downtime, we are asking our clients to consider retaining us as professional IT managers. The arrangement is very simple, we ask for a monthly retainer equal to the amount of time it would take to preform normal system management and maintenance. The amount will vary from business to business based on individual needs.

On a scheduled cycle we will perform these normal system management tasks and maintenance as needed. This will not only accomplish the routine tasks, but also give us “hands on” time with the equipment so that we can spot trouble and correct it before it becomes a serious and costly problem.

These normal system management and maintenance services include things like anti-malware, OS updates, software update, physical system cleaning, hard drive integrity testing, backups, extraneous software removal, and system optimization for all IT systems, servers, printers, connected devices and even cell phones.

Our Retained Services Clients will also continue to receive the same hourly rate ($50) and the same “at cost” arrangement on parts for anything they require above and beyond normal system management and maintenance. We will also be providing a 2 hour incident response program that will have one of our specialists at your location within two hours of your call for those times when emergencies arise. As we have in the past, we intend to be very open and giving in regards to our services, so our clients never have to worry about “nickel-and-dime” invoices for things not maintenance related.

In addition to the tasks for normal maintenance, we will offer two additional services to our Retained Services Client, “remote support” and “backups”.

With “remote support” we will be able to asset our clients with many simple questions either over the phone or via remote access to their system. Our Retained Services Clients will have access to our specialists for assistance over the phone or by remote access at no additional charge.

The sad reality is that no matter how much maintenance is given, all things man-made will fail. Unless your data is backed up on a regular basis it will be lost. We want to make sure that your data is backed up regularly both at your location, and in a secure offsite location in the event of fire or flood. We have over the past year created and perfected a means by which your data can be securely and safely stored in both your office and our data center in Cumberland County. While there are many “online” solutions that claim be be able to provide offsite or “cloud” backups, these are limited in space and/or can have high monthly costs. We have always felt that for proper security, data needs to be stored in a location where you as the client can walk-in and be given your data in person, working with people you know and trust.

The Cost:

Starting in January we will be contacting our key clients with details and estimates. Until then we would genuinely like to get feed back from our clients and friends as to this new strategy. We hope that it will lead to lower IT costs and greater peace of mind for our clients, as well as better management of our own resources here at TCG.

I’ll start off by saying that ANY of the current voice recognition systems out there today fall short of perfect (or even usable). I think we as a population have been lead to believe in the Star Trek model. The ideal that we can speak simple directions to a computer, and it will carry out those directions. The reality is that it’s a massive technical challenge for a machine to understand the human voice, but some machines do it better than others.

For the most part I love my iPhone. There are about 5 or 6 nit-picky things that I would like to see, but for a mass market device, it’s almost perfect. On the iPhone 3GS there is an option for Voice Control. The ideal is that you can press a button and “speak” some basic commands to the phone. The commands I think most people use concern making calls. So on the iPhone I can activate Voice Control, say something like “Call Kristen Tabor on Mobile”, and the iPhone will find Kristen Tabor in my address book and call her mobile number. Simple, except when the iPhone doesn’t quite understand me and calls my sister-in-law, Christina Tabor, by mistake. Fortunately, the iPhone does gives me back confirmation that its are calling the wrong number, but leaves me scrambling to terminate the call before I have to explain (again) to my bothers wife why I called her.

Now as I said, no voice recognition system is perfect. But I have used some that are better than the iPhone Voice Control. Not in terms of actually recognizing my voice, but in terms of usability. For a few years Microsoft has had a voice recognition system for their mobile platform called Voice Command, and I used the system when I was a Windows Mobile user. While I can’t really compare the quality of the voice recognition between the systems, I can say that Microsoft’s usability was I feel better than that of Apples. While it took a few more seconds to make a call on Microsoft’s Voice Command, the chances of making a wrong number call were much less.

On Microsoft’s Voice Command, a call was made like this:
1. Press Button to active Voice Command
2. After tone, I would say “Call Kristen Tabor on Mobile”
3. Voice Command would ask “Call Kristen Tabor on Mobile Phone?”
4. I would say “Yes”, and dialing would start.

While the steps 3 and 4 confirmation were simple, they dramatically reduced errors in dialing. Should the phone have miss-interrupted my voice and said “Call Christina Tabor on Mobile Phone?”, I had the option to say “no”, and the phone would prompt me to try again.

Additionally Microsoft’s Voice Command could give me more information than Apple’s Voice Control. Voice Command could tell me my schedule, next appoint, battery and single levels, control the media player, and announce incoming calls. Aside from dialing, Voice Control only has limited iPod operations. Of course Microsoft’s Voice Command was $50 add-on software package where Apple’s Voice Control is free with the iPhone 3GS.

I like the fact Apple is taking some initiative in this area, but having be burned by false dialing and missing the call announce feature, I’m going to hold off using Voice Control until it matures a bit.

Here’s a term that long time computer users may not know, “Presence”. In a multi-tasking operating system like MS Windows or Mac OSX, the active or front most program (know as a “window” on all platforms) is said to have “Presence”. This means that keystrokes and mouse clicks are sent to this program/window.

What has always bugged me about “Presence” is the way the operating system handles it. As a power user I am often apt to start a new program while still typing into another. Even on a fast computer, some applications take several seconds to load. Knowing I will need a slow loading app in the near future, I will go ahead and start that app, then return to complete my pervious task while it loads. The annoying part is when the operating system suddenly gives “Presence” to the new loading application. The REALLY annoying thing happens if my previous app happens to be a word processor or text editor. For a moment when “Presence” shifts I am blinding sending keystrokes into the new application. This has on more than one occasion caused strange things to happen. I’m not quite sure why it happens, but some applications take “Presence” on opening while others do not.

Speed changing applications is one thing that while it annoys me, it’s narrowly my own fault. A very real design flaw is the pop-up error message that takes “Presence”. There have been many times that I have been happily pounding away at my keyboard and see the flash of a dialog box. But because my fingers are outrunning my head, I will hit a key that clears off the message before I have a chance to read it.