Ulistic Projects Blog

November 21, 2018November 12, 2018

Don’t Let a Disaster Destroy Your Holidays

The festive season is fast approaching, and it is a well-deserved opportunity to celebrate with friends and family. However, the joy of the holidays can quickly turn tragic if you are not careful. Emergency rooms visits and the number of calls to first responders see a sharp increase during the final few weeks of the year. It is possible to avoid a holiday disaster by following a few simple guidelines to help safeguard you and your family.

Happy Thanksgiving

Ways to Stay Safer During This Year’s Holidays

Avoiding Decorating Disasters

Inspect your holiday decorations before putting them out. Even if you took the time to double check your decorations before storing them, look again. Check for frayed wires, loose connections, broken bulbs, and other fire hazards.
Ensure outside decorations are weather-resistant. Never assume that all decorations are suitable for hanging both indoors and outdoors. Look at the tag and make sure that the item has an outdoor rating from Underwriters Laboratory (UL) before using it anywhere it may get wet.
Don’t put yourself at risk for injuries. While decorating your entire home in lights and figures may look amazing, don’t try to do more than you can do safely. Make sure you know what you are doing before you try to climb a ladder or secure a holiday scene to the top of your roof.
Stay away from candles. While no one can deny that real flames add a magical warmth to your home, burning candles can significantly increase the chance of a house fire. You are more at risk if you have young children or pets at home. There are many LED candle lights which offer a similar, but much safer, candlelight effect.
Don’t leave your decorations on the entire night Besides saving energy and money, using a timer switch to turn your decorations off at a reasonable time each evening can prevent a fire from breaking out while you sleep. Homeowners who have plans to go away for the holidays should completely unplug decorations until they return home.

Don’t Cook Up a Disaster

Keep kids out of harm’s way. Cooking with your kids during the holidays can be a great experience. Prevent little ones from being injured by ensuring they stay away from the stove and never allowing them to use sharp knives. Instead, give them simple, safe tasks like kneading dough or decorating cookies.
Watch your food temperatures. Many cooks only cook large roasts or whole turkeys during the holidays. For cooks with less experience, it is easy to undercook the meat resulting in serious illnesses. Always follow a recipe and use a meat thermometer to ensure the food thoroughly cooked.
Make sure your stove and oven are off. It is easy to become distracted and forget to turn appliances off. Do yourself a favor and double check before going to bed for the night.

Keeping Healthy and Secure During Holiday Travels

Give yourself plenty of travel time. Driving during the holidays often means huge delays, so leave early enough so you won’t need to rush to get to where you are going on time. Take the time to plan out food and bathroom breaks before hitting the road. This step is particularly helpful if you are traveling with children or other passengers who may need special considerations.
Always use seat belts and properly installed car seats. Seat belts and car seats save lives, so there is no excuse not to use them correctly. Buckle up even if you are only heading down the street to pick up a last-minute gift.
Never use a cell phone while driving. Increasingly people are depending on driving apps to find the best way of getting to their destinations. Although these apps work well, they can become a distraction if you need to interact with your phone physically. Set your destination before leaving or have a passenger handle the navigation and concentrate on the road.
Be extra careful when driving in neighborhoods. During vacations from school, expect to see more children outside at all hours of the day and night. Reduce your driving speed and stay alert for people who may dart out in front of your vehicle.
Even one drink may be too much. If you are planning to attend holiday parties where they serve alcohol, imbibe responsibly and never drive unless you are completely sober. It is always a better idea to have a designated driver or use an alternative means of getting home to avoid a life-changing accident.

Keep these tips in mind this holiday season, and we wish you a joyful time full of beautiful memories.

November 20, 2018

Is Google Maps The Next Great Social Network For Australian Businesses?

Google launched its Google Maps web mapping service in February 2005. The service stood out as innovative for the times, providing users with detailed satellite overviews of countries, cities, and streets. It provides a “bird’s eye” or “top-down” view of an area using satellite imagery as well as aerial photography taken from between 240 and 460 meters. Images used in Google Maps are no more than three years old, with frequent updates performed.

The core functions of the program includes an API (application program interface, a set of building blocks used by programmers to create a program such as Google Maps) that allows maps to be placed on external websites (such as those of an Australian business) and a locator service for companies to provide information, including URL (uniform resource locator – web address).

Interestingly the initial program for Google Maps was developed by a pair of Danish brothers, Lars and Jens Eilstrup Rasmussen and their company Where 2 Technologies. Where 2 Technologies was a start-up mapping related business that is based in Sydney. The company’s mapping technology, which became the engine for maps, was acquired by Google in October 2004.

Google Maps as a Social Network

Social networks, such as the popular ones like Facebook and Twitter, and business-oriented networks like LinkedIn, provide a perfect avenue for facilitating communication locally, regionally, nationally, and globally. The ability to cross borders in a seamless matter allows businesses a way to broaden their appeal, gain additional market share, and extend boundaries for their products and services.

The thought of a mapping service as a social network entity is not as far off an idea as you may think as your business’s IT thought leader. More than half of smartphone users (either iOS or Android) have used Google Maps and its companion service Google Earth. This makes the service one of the most widely used apps by mobile users and a further indication that its use as a social networking medium should be strongly considered by businesses.

Add also Google’s Local Guides service and businesses can use the functionality of maps to post information about just about anything and everything that there is to know about the company. The service provides a real-time (or near real-time) way to interact with maps users, post searchable links, and provide users with valuable information about your business, products and services.

Social Network Usage in Australia

Consider these metrics when deciding if the use of Google Maps is an appropriate consideration for you doing business in Australia. Facebook is the most extensive social network used by Australians. It is reported that more than 60 percent of the population are active Facebook users and that more than half of the country’s population logs into the platform at least once in a day. Based on information from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, this number of active users represents a population of about 25 million.

Other platforms popular in the country (based on monthly active or unique users) include YouTube, the video sharing platform, with an estimated 15 million monthly active users and Instagram, the photo-sharing platform, with also an estimated 15 million unique users. These numbers are good signs for those businesses engaged primarily in delivering their goods on a business-to-consumer (B2C) basis. For business-to-business (B2B) providers, there are approximately 4.5 million monthly active Australian users.

How Australian Businesses Utilize Google Maps as a Social Network Tool

Using Google Maps as a social network tool should receive strong consideration by businesses across Australia. The tool’s design as a locator service provides businesses with a way to direct potential customers to their doorstep and provide imagery and other enticing data points to bring in more business. Maps are designed to create a greater interactive experience with a higher-level prospect as the user who accesses this service primarily for information or directions.

Whether B2B or B2C or both, tapping into the potential Google Maps offers as a social network platform unleashes unlimited potential. Linking maps with your other social media outlets, such as the popular Facebook and Instagram apps for B2C contacts or LinkedIn for your B2B connections, provides business with a dual messaging threat. Information supplied via casual social network contact on one of the country’s popular platforms can direct users to maps for specific company information, driving instructions, and real-time location-to-location mapping. In these terms, Google Maps indeed represents the potential to become the next great social network for Australian business.

November 20, 2018November 19, 2018

The CRA scam that is making Canadians lose thousands of dollars.

Tax compliance is a matter that many people try to adhere to in Canada. That means that when one receives a call asking them to immediately clear apparent tax deficits or face arrests, they merely comply. It is often impossible to tell apart the scammers from real CRA employees as they use masking technologies that make it seem like you really are getting a call from the CRA. This problem is so rampant that millions of dollars have been transferred to these scammers leaving many unaware Canadians cheated.

Over the years, many individuals have come forward to make complaints on their losses. This has however posed a rather unique problem to the Canadian police force. This owes to the fact that these scammers are international and not being Canadian citizen’s makes the law unable to cater to these woes. These scammers have gotten away with it for so long that at this point there are several call centers established in many towns in India.

These scammers have been getting away with this matter for many years even with a government that is aware of what is happening. With corruption a big problem in the Indian police force, there is no doubt that some of these scammers have merely paid off the police officials to keep away and let them proceed. The result is a scam that forces many unsuspecting Canadian citizens to lose their hard earned money thinking they had tax deficits.

How they scam Canadian citizens

This is a very large operation in India. As there are so many scam call centers in India, you find that they have narrowed down their targets to either the elderly or immigrants who are yet to get acquainted with how tax collection works in Canada. This unfortunate matter is conducted in a manner that has kept the operation alive for several years and expanded the operations.

The scammers generally call using a robot. Most of them mask their numbers that they appear as a CRA number. After the person on the other end picks up the call, they identify themselves CRA employees. These then progress and they firmly inform you that you owe a certain amount of money. They then begin pushing and prodding asking that you send the money.

They don’t always ask for money, sometimes they ask for apple gift cards as well as an incentive. People get threatened that they will face jail time or lose property by auction to cover their costs. They will target anyone that they think might not be aware that it may be a scam. One businessman admitted to having been scammed over a hundred thousand dollars from his business.

How they collect and hide the money

The scammers hide the money in different ways. Most of them are known to use financial cartels from overseas who are usually given around 40% of the cuts. They also tend to use different cartels to keep their operations as untraceable as possible. The operation is an extensive network that originates in the streets of Mumbai and other Indian towns. The popularity that the call centers get by the locals has made many more young people venture into scamming as a primary source of income.

The biggest motivators and continuers of this are young people in their twenties usually. They are people hoping to make a lot of quick money for they quickly try to make pacts with local cops who are generally happy to receive a bribe to ignore the illegal activity. Since the call centers are the only place to trace where this scam originates, it is difficult for a Canadian citizen to know who scammed them or for these scammers to be linked to specific cases.

Efforts to stop the phone scammers

In the past, there has been little to no effort to prevent this kind of scam. Canadian citizens have learned to ignore or easily recognize a fraud. The people who are most likely to be victims of this are people who are not well versed with how the CRA works as they actually communicate by use of mail. This makes elderly people who may be unaware of changes to be victims as well as newcomers.

There has however been a recent progression in solving this. The local Indian police in cohorts with the RFPD have begun to search for these call centers. They have been identified and raided on national TV to show these people that the time to end these operations has come. This raid has led to many operations being revealed and there is hope for this massive operation to be brought down once and for all. Many Canadians have fallen victim to these scammers and more will continue if the word is not given to them.

November 20, 2018November 19, 2018

Can 4G LTE and WiFI Benefit School Districts Inside and Beyond the Classroom?

As individuals, we’ve been using 4G LTE to connect to the internet for years. 4G LTE can benefit all school districts, and it is a particularly good choice for districts with schools in a wide or rural geographic area. It also offers a type of flexibility that wired connectivity doesn’t have. But how can this mobile wireless technology benefit school districts, from students to faculty and staff?

How Can 4G LTE on School Buses Strengthen Districts?

Some school districts are installing 4G LTE on their school bus fleets with program names like “WiFi on Wheels.” Each bus in the fleet receives an in-vehicle LTE wireless solution that can be used while students are riding the bus to and from school.

The most prominent results from “WiFi on Wheels” initiatives are coming from school districts in widespread, poor, and rural areas. One California school district’s 100-bus fleet covers 1,250 square miles.

Many of the district’s students lacked internet access at home and also had long bus rides. After implementing 4G LTE on district buses, students became more academically engaged. In one year, graduation rates in the district increased from 70 to 80 percent.

4G LTE on buses has also been shown to increase student safety and reduce incidences of violence and bullying. From a resource management perspective, 4G LTE on school buses supports telematics to improve cost-efficiency and GPS that shows the location of buses at all times for fleet management.

Can 4G LTE Strengthen School Communications and IT Support?

Districts with widespread facilities and campuses can use 4G LTE to manage digital signage and communications. Instead of localized programming, district-wide messages can be sent instantly.

Remote tech support and troubleshooting can also be improved by 4G LTE technology. Wireless 4G LTE networks can enable remote solutions and inter-school conferencing.

If your district uses sites that aren’t typically connected to the internet, like gyms, sports complexes, and temporary classrooms, 4G LTE enables these buildings and locations to be flexibly included in the school network as needed.

How Can 4G LTE Benefit Campus Safety and Security?

In the same way that districts implement “WiFi on Wheels” on buses, campus safety vehicles can use 4G LTE for communications, monitoring, and reporting. Security and real-time communications for students, faculty, and staff can be supported through 4G LTE cameras and other monitoring devices.

Because 4G LTE technology is wirelessly delivered, security within the system is also important to prevent intrusion and hacking. 4G LTE technology enables districts to isolate their own data and cloak any personal information that’s going through the district’s devices. The district can define its own information perimeter using software, limiting the network’s use to authorized students and staff.

How can Wireless WANs Support Parents and Student Volunteers?

Parent groups who are holding music, athletic, recreational, cultural or theater events can use the network remotely to process credit card payments. Student leadership groups can process payments for dances, campus events, and year-end activities. 4G LTE technology enables these transactions and events to be conducted safely and securely.

There are many good reasons to consider 4G LTE technology for school districts and campuses. From improving school bus safety and increasing student academic performance to connecting remote campuses and enabling remote IT support, connecting a district and all of the people in it with 4G LTE can be an effective, efficient communications choice.

November 20, 2018November 11, 2018

How You Can Celebrate Entrepreneurs’ Day in 2018?

Look around you. Your desk lamp, your headphones, that smartphone in your hands — everything you own and use daily was created in the mind of an entrepreneur.

Sure, it may be mass-produced now, but at one time, every item in existence had to be thought up, created, and marketed for the very first time. It took the innovative and productive mind of a special entrepreneur to do that.

Today, entrepreneurs still exist as they always have, but because of mass production, globalism, big box stores, and yes, the Internet, they’re not as celebrated as they once were. Entrepreneurs’ Day is bringing back the much-deserved admiration and appreciation of the entrepreneur.

Below, learn exactly what Entrepreneurs’ Day is, how it started, and how you can celebrate this 2018!

What Is Entrepreneurs’ Day and Why Is It Special?

Entrepreneurs’ Day is a day that celebrates the men and women in this country who are able to build something out of nothing. Entrepreneurs certainly think up, produce, and market the things you use, collect, have fun with, and eat on a daily basis. But they’re much more than that.

Entrepreneurs are special because of their innovation and creativity, but they also create jobs and spur the economy. Many entrepreneurs help small- and medium-sized towns grow and develop. They give opportunities to those that might not otherwise have them, and they donate to and care for their communities. Entrepreneurs have built what you see today.

Sadly, there are fewer new business ideas sprouting up around the United States today than ever before. Often, this is because small businesses who make an attempt to get off the ground aren’t able to earn enough to maintain their footing. Building a business out of nothing is certainly no easy task.

Entrepreneurs’ Day aims to change all of this by uplifting and celebrating entrepreneurs. It’s a day to pay tribute to these amazing businessmen and women — and maybe even become one yourself.

When Is Entrepreneurs’ Day?

Entrepreneurs’ Day is always on the third Tuesday of November. In 2018, Entrepreneurs’ Day will be celebrated on Tuesday, November 20^th.

History of Entrepreneurs’ Day

The term entrepreneur was first coined by French economist Jean-Baptiste Say in 1800 to denote someone who “shifts economic resources out of an area of lower and into an area of higher productivity and greater yield.” Entrepreneurs’ Day began in 2012 when President Barack Obama declared the month of November in the United States to be National Entrepreneurship Month.

Top Ways to Participate in Entrepreneurs’ Day

When you’re an entrepreneur yourself …

1. Get together with other entrepreneurs in your area.

Form a club or organization where local entrepreneurs can share their ideas and new concepts they’d like to bring forth. Even if it’s just an informal get-together, it’s a way to begin an important dialogue among entrepreneurs in your community.

2. Mentor another entrepreneur.

If you’ve successfully gotten off the ground as an entrepreneur in your own industry, consider mentoring someone else who is just beginning. Give them advice, shout out their product or service on your own social media pages, or just give them a pat on the back and some inspiration and motivation to keep moving forward.

3. Have a celebration!

If you own your own startup small business or are just starting out with a new product or service, celebrate Entrepreneurs’ Day by offering your customers and clients special discounts or a fun event. Even if your budget isn’t up for deals and sales quite yet, you can have an open house with cookies and punch or do a small giveaway of some sort to celebrate the day.

When you’d like to support entrepreneurs …

1. Shop with entrepreneurs in your area.

Shopping for holiday gifts or birthday presents? Looking for new clothes or items for your kitchen? Don’t go to the big box stores or the Internet this time. Shop with local entrepreneurs. Alternatively, if there aren’t any start-up small businesses in your community, you can certainly connect with entrepreneurs online who aren’t part of big-box chains.

2. Thank an entrepreneur

Know someone who has started their own business in the past or is hoping to in the future? Give them a shout out “thank you!” on social media, or thank them in person.

3. Talk about it!

Finally, remember that Entrepreneurs’ Day exists and persists largely by word-of-mouth, so spread the word! You can use social media on the days leading up to Entrepreneurs’ Day to tell your friends, family, and followers about this day — and of course, use the suggestions listed above to celebrate yourself when November 20^throlls around!

November 19, 2018

New Modems: The Solution for NBN Outages

National Broadband Network outages or NBN outages are usually focused on coastal Australian areas, which means all our major cities like Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Sydney, Adelaide, Camberwell, Ryde, Marrickville, Parramatta, and Windsor according to Aussie Outages. If your business services are affected by NBN outages on a regular basis, there may be technology steps you can take to prevent them, or at the very least get your network services up and running faster.

Of course, NBN has to prioritise reconnection of certain essential services in an outage, including:

Hospitals
Fire
Police
Emergency services
Community infrastructure such as:
- Traffic management
- Sewerage
- Power utilities
- Water utilities

In an NBN outage, the NBN will also prioritise reconnection of business services essential to community recoveries, such as banks, petrol stations, and supermarkets. If your business services fall into one of these categories, you’re in luck in the Lucky. If not, you may want to educate yourself about options.

What Causes NBN Access Network Outages?

NBN access network connections may occur for different reasons, such as cyclones, severe storms, bushfires, car accidents, or tree branches falling onto power lines in your neighborhood. While NBN has a dedicated emergency response team that prepares for, responds to, and recovers network connections in emergencies, its priorities may not be yours, leaving your business services in the lurch along with your clients and your income.

What Can You Do About NBN Outages?

Although NBN outages can be crippling, technology services companies may have the solution business services owners, C-level executives, and managers have been searching for. A better modem is that solution. Recently released modems allow customers like your business to keep using landline phones and internet during fixed-line broadband outages. With these newly updated modems, phone and internet landline services are automatically diverted to the technology services company’s mobile network following a fixed-lined business broadband outage.

How Can Telstra Help During NBN Outages?

Technology services companies’ updated modems essentially keep your business services in play through the use of another mobile network. For instance, if your employees are on the phone when the NBN is disrupted, they can resume making and receiving calls as soon as the internet connection switches across to the telco network. These new modems still require battery backup during a power outage, but your business should not pay extra for mobile data use during the fixed-line outage. Speeds are generally capped at 6 Mbps down and 1 Mbps up. Voice calls are charged at standard rates for landline phones.

With these new modems, landline calls take advantage of the mobile Voice over LTE standard and use Quality of Service to reserve necessary bandwidth for voice — call quality will not suffer when the internet is being used. Whilst running over the telco’s mobile broadband network, your business will not lose income or clients.

How Can My Business Obtain a Telstra Gen 2 Modem?

New, updated modems are available from most telcos if your service is NBN, DSL, or cable, and should be on sale now. Keep in mind older modem models will receive voice fallback via a firmware upgrade in 2019, anyhow. There are over 600,000 older modems in Australia, and voice fallback will only be available to NBN customers.

What are the Benefits of Using a New Modem?

The best benefit is that new modems will not kill your landline. They also allow telcos to meet obligations to provide interim broadband service to customers when NBN connections are delayed, and when telcos are unable to reconnect Australia’s business services with their legacy broadband connects. Essentially, a new modem can save your business headaches later and preserve your telco connection while you serve your clients.

November 19, 2018

Will The New Apple iPad Replace Small Business Computers?

Did you know that the new iPad Pro sports more powerful features than most entry-level laptops in stores today?

Yes, the iPad is powerful but can it replace a computer?

Is the iPad a tablet or a computer?

This is a question that has been asked repeatedly since the iPad Pro was first released in 2015. With the debut of the latest iPad Pro in 2017 with the more robust iOS 11, improved multitasking and better file management, choosing between a MacBook and an iPad has been made more difficult for mobile users.

Apple advertises the iPad Pro as a replacement for laptops. Looking at some of the videos posted by Apple on YouTube, mobile users are convinced that the device can (almost) do everything a laptop can. So, is it time to ditch your laptop for an iPad? Read on to learn more.

What can the iPad do?

The Apple iPad Pro works like a computer. The device comes with either a 10.5-inch or 12.9-inch display with the smaller version being bigger than the standard iPad’s 9.7-inch display. With this larger display, the iPad renders colors better than most mid-level laptops, and it has a faster chip to power heavy graphics, paint and video apps. By all accounts, the iPad Pro is better than all other iPad models especially considering the add-ons it comes with.
Coupled with the best keyboard, iPad Pro gives you the best experience drawing, writing, editing videos and much more.

When can the iPad replace a computer for small businesses?

The most common tasks small businesses carry out on laptops and desktop PCs are the same that the iPad Pro is designed to excel in. These tasks include surfing the web, taking notes, reading and replying emails, balancing the checkbook, writing, editing and publishing online, engaging leads on social media and keeping records.

With the new iPad Pro, productivity has been made easier with the virtual touchpad letting you manipulate text with ease. The iPad has been engineered to support Microsoft Office and comes with a free version of Apple iWork letting you create documents straight out of the box. If your office work involves a lot of typing, you can connect a Bluetooth keyboard and type a lot faster.

Not only can the iPad perform almost all tasks a laptop can but it can do some even better. The iPad comes with a back camera allowing you to film a movie with ease. After filming, you can edit the video right on the iPad. Connecting to the internet while on the go, you do not necessarily need Wi-Fi since you can connect it with your smartphone with ease.

The iPad is a portable gaming device thanks to its high resolution and high-end graphics. While it cannot match X-BOX One or PlayStation 4, the device is in the same ranks as XBOX 360 and PlayStation 3. The iPad also works with different illustration apps giving artists an easy time creating.

What can’t the iPad do?

Even with all its great features, the iPad still has some limitations. One of the reasons iPad Pro might not replace your laptop is of your business uses a proprietary software not found on iPad. While most businesses today are using cloud-based solutions, which means most of the software are build on the web, there are still many of them that rely on software that needs Microsoft Windows.

Any application that you require on your laptop or desktop PC will require a replacement on your iPad. While this is easy for web browsing, writing, and email, it is difficult for other software. The iPad has been updated making it better at video editing, which means you will not miss iMovie. However, businesses that deal with professional video editing might still need more powerful video editing software not available on iPad.

Storage is another issue for the iPad. The iPad Pro can have storage of up to 256, but this still does not compete with the storage offered by most laptops. While the iPad can run a lot of apps, you can only store the limited number of videos in it.

For some users, a 12.9-inch display is still small for the tasks they carry. This is especially true for artists who love multitasking and working on different screens.

Figure out whether you need to replace your computer

Apple’s iPad Pro can replace your computer. If you are not sure whether you should replace your laptop with iPad Pro, you are ready to test it for a week or two. In most cases, the iPad will suffice whether a laptop would be needed. However, you might need to have your laptop in case there is software you need once or twice a month on it.

With more improvements, the iPad Pro will mirror a laptop in all aspects.

November 19, 2018

Solid State or Hard Disk: Which Should You Choose?

As a business that relies on or drives technology, the best equipment is key to success in any industry. How do you know which hardware is the best for your business? Let’s take a look at one of the basics of computer hardware, the two different types of drives. We’ll look at each drive, then compare the two so you can make the best decision for your business or IT department now and in the future.

The first things to know about computer drives is that they store your precious information in very different ways. That said, each drive has its own positives and negatives, and deciding on the best drive for your business depends on what your computers or devices are being used for.

What is a Hard Disk Drive?

Hard disk drives (HDDs) are the original drives; solid state drives didn’t show up on the scene until much later. HDD are made up of one or more magnetically sensitive platters that look like DVDs. Each platter has an actuator arm with a read/write head and a motor to spin the platters and move the arms when necessary. The I/O controller and firmware lets the hardware know how to function and also communicates with the rest of the computer or device.

How Do HDDs Work?

Just like DVDs and CDs, the platters have tracks or concentric circles. The tracks consist of sectors that each have unique addresses used to locate and organize the data you put on the computer or device. Firmware efficiently detects and corrects data errors before writing it on the platters utilizing an algorithm. Preset speeds for home use HDD platters are 4200-7200 rpms, although they will be higher for businesses who need higher read/write rates to process data faster.

What are the Drawbacks & Benefits of HDDs?

HDDs have several drawbacks due to the mechanical pieces that find data, as they can break. Additionally, finding data this way is more time-consuming than electronic methods, like those the solid-state drives use. Just like a record player, HDDs can skip or refuse to work at all if they are dropped suddenly or not taken care of. Laptops are particularly susceptible to this issue. HDDs are generally less expensive that SDDs and have the same amount of storage space or more.

What is a Solid State Drive?

A solid state drive (SDD) is newer than HDDs and rely on non-volatile memory to store data electronically. Non-volatile means the data remains on the device or computer when it’s turned off. SDDs resemble USB drives but are more substantial. Both pieces of tech use the same technology to function, known as NAND. NAND is flash memory that stores data in gates organized in a grid pattern. Blocks are composed of grids, and grids are composed of pages. Instead of a read/write arm, the SSD controller keeps track of data locations.

SSDs use a more complicated process to update data, and all data in a block must be refreshed at once if any is updated. Old data is erased after being moved to a different block, and new information is rewritten with changes in a new block. Whenever an SSD drive is idle, “garbage collection” completes this process of throwing out the old while bringing in the new. TRIM prevents premature wear and tear on an SSD by noting when rewriting can be skipped with some data.

What are the Drawbacks & Benefits of SDDs?

SSDs have their own set of drawbacks and benefits. SSDs are more expensive than HDDs due to new technology, and it can be challenging to find enough storage on SSDs if you need a significant amount. In general, HDDs may hold about 2.5 times more data. SSDs are fantastic for games, apps, movies, and videos because they load much faster, weigh less, and can withstand more abuse. SSDs are much cooler because they use much less energy than HDDs.

Should You Choose and HDD or an SDD?

If you need large amounts of storage and are not concerned about portability or video or gaming capability, HDDs are best for your line of business. If you’re more video or gaming focused, then SDDs may be right for you. Ultimately, the individual demands of your particular business will help you decide which type of drive to use, or whether you need to migrate to a different kind of drive to accommodate your business.

November 18, 2018

How Do Australian Business Leaders Face the Digital and Innovation Divide?

American companies are making a play for Australia’s digital attention by offering innovative services. The dominance being imposed by foreign organisations should be viewed as significant forays into the country’s IT infrastructure and serve as a wake-up call.

The examples of international interest in Australia’s eCommerce business is as follows:

Amazon has established access for Australian small businesses to utilize the eCommerce giant’s logistical support and fulfilment platform for shipping their products. Amazon, which launched its marketplace platform in the country in December of 2017, has seen more than 5,000 local businesses access the service. This is at the cost of $69.09 (AUD) per business utilising the platform plus a commission on sales of between one and 15 percent.
Mobile payment company PayPal recently inked a deal with NSW state government to allow for over 1,000 transactions from 40 different agencies to be paid for through the company’s payment system. This arrangement further solidifies PayPal’s presence in the country as the leading electronic payment.
Tesla (which is owned by PayPal’s co-founder Elon Musk) launched a community battery storage project in Western Australia, through a partnership involving the company Synergy and the government-owned Western Power. The project came online three months ahead of its projected timeline. Coincidentally, the Tesla recently announced the appointment of Australian telecom executive Robyn Denham as the company’s new chairwoman, taking over the role from Musk as part of a settlement arrangement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

What are some of the things that businesses need to consider to rise to the challenge and stake their own claim on the country’s $2.69 billion (AUD) eCommerce market? It is clear that the American companies are here to stay and the challenge now falls on the shoulders of Australian companies to dramatically and decisively get in the IT game.

The growing eCommerce marketplace is indeed one strong consideration for organisations to begin the process of bridging the digital and innovation divide. Another strong argument is that as the business continues to grow more global in nature, greater interdependency is needed between different countries to develop new products, solve common issues, and create and build the next great thing.

Crossing the divide is going to require several things of Australian companies. First and foremost, businesses must state a commitment to building their digital infrastructure and dedicate the necessary resources toward innovation. This sounds like a small thing, but in fact, it is one of the foundational steps that must be taken to guarantee success. A KPMG report from December 2017 cites a survey it conducted of Australian IT leaders across a spectrum of businesses. The study found that though many companies agreed with the premise behind the need to devote resources toward innovation and building an information technology core, the resources necessary to move forward often did not match the lip-service given to the problem.

The need to innovate and build a capable, world-class digital system must come from the top of the organisation. Leadership by chief executives, boards of directors, and senior management working together with the same sense of purpose and urgency is critical. An IT systems manager or director or anyone who lacks the proper decision-making authority will do little to combat the growing influence of foreign entities like Amazon, PayPal, and Tesla, whose growing influence and financial power will soon dwarf any efforts Australian IT concerns may consider.

Learning to take risks and fail is another requirement business in Australia must be willing to take on to succeed in building digital prowess. This is a difficult ask of companies where risk-taking and failure are not rewarded. Fear of failure becomes a fear to try, which stunts attempts by change-agents within an organisation to suggest innovative approaches.

Adopting an entrepreneurial mindset, similar to the one used to start the company, is required to advance innovative ideas and build the required inertia toward IT success. The KPMG report also cited a need for Australian companies to adequately fund and establish a dedicated area within their facilities that lends itself to experimentation. These so-called “think labs” are an idea space for creative teams to meet, work, and fail to succeed toward new IT solutions that have a regional, national and international/global scope.

Another consideration for Australian businesses in their desire to overcome the country’s digital and innovation divide is that for the use of big data. What companies like Amazon, Tesla, PayPal, and others have learned is that the bits and bytes of data that customers leave behind when making inquiries, filling out forms and answering surveys are marketing gold. Understanding and managing the habits and expectations of customers using predictive analytics is the difference between mastering the digital marketplace and settling for the crumbs left behind by those companies with a better vision and plan.

Speaking of planning, undoubtedly any approach must begin with a plan. This plan must be driven by a company’s leadership but must also involve every stakeholder whose input is vital toward driving the proper results. This not only includes CEOs, CFOs, CIOs, board members, and other members of a company’s senior management team but must also include project leaders, line employees with hands-on knowledge and experience and, of course, customers.

Global companies with a large footprint have set their sights on Australia as the new frontier in the war for digital dominance. Australian IT may have received the wake-up call it needs to not only respond to this intrusion but through committed action, may be able to establish its own proper foothold.

November 16, 2018

Microsoft Search in 365 is Personalized for Your Business

If your business uses Microsoft 365, you know how difficult it can be to locate information amongst many different programs and applications on your computer network, your devices, and any other place you may be working from. But what if there was a way to access the information you need as quickly as you needed it? What if there was a way to search across all your different, integrated apps in Microsoft Office 365 and find everything relating to one employee or one project so you could comprehensively view the progress of a project or an employee?

Sounds fantastic, right? It is, it’s new — and it’s called Microsoft Personalized search. Let’s take a look at what Microsoft Personalize search is, how it works, and how it can help your Canadian business reach its goals with less time spent searching.

What is Microsoft Personalized Search?

Microsoft Personalized Search is a cohesive way of searching across different apps in Office 365. Microsoft Search can help you and your employees find, discover, command, and navigate all your business software and cloudware to make business easier and more simplified — saving you time and dollars. Personalized search allows you to search for any application or project in Office 365.

How Does Microsoft Search Work?

Microsoft Personalized Search uses artificial intelligence (AI) technology from Bing, a search engine whose name you may recognize. This IA and Microsoft Graph’s deep insights into personal search usage make searching more effective for organizations. The purpose of the new Personalized Search is to connect your projects and your employees across your business’ data network to make projects easier, more collaborative, and above all, help you find the information you need when you need it.

Hyperlinked pages of results from searches are not what Microsoft or your business is after with its new search algorithm. Here are the differences you may notice right away:

That oft-used “search” box will be visible and available across the apps your business and employees work with every day — it will stay in one place in Outlook, PowerPoint, Word, Excel, Sway, OneNote, Microsoft Teams, and Sharepoint.
As soon as your employees click in the search box, personalized results will begin popping up (names of people you share with most or recent documents); no query is required for suggestions
The search box will command the application you’re working in. Want a quick example? If they begin typing “acc” in Word, employees will get a list of suggested actions they perform often — no more hunting through toolbars and wasting precious business time.
Search results will include results from across your business organization, including a Word document you’ve been working on, the PowerPoint that goes with it, and the Excel spreadsheet that demonstrates the budget for that project. The employees working on the project will also pop up in the search results.
Organizational search will work wherever your employees are working: Bing, Edge, or Windows, as long as employees are signed into Office 365 accounts.

How Can Microsoft Search Help My Business?

The main benefit for your business of Microsoft Personalized Search is saving time. No more precious minutes spent looking through toolbars or trying to hunt down the document or presentation employees were working on. Another intangible benefit that will definitely increase your business bottom line is your oversight ability. With a word and one click on the search icon, you can locate all the information about a particular project and who’s working on it in a millisecond. You can reach out immediately to start a conversation, get an update, or suggest changes. The time and convenience Personalized Search provides is priceless.