wendy gauntt’s tech zest

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It’s Earth Day…is your computer saving energy?

In honor of Earth Day…here are a few easy tips to save energy by updating settings on your computer.

Obviously you can save energy by turning off your computer when you aren’t using it, but even when you are using it there are a variety of settings you can tweak to make the most of your energy usage.

In your computer’s Control Panel, you can find Power Options. You’ll be able to tweak your power settings here, by turning off your monitor and hard drive if you computer hasn’t been active for more than a few minutes.The exact steps vary a little bit between different kind of computers, but it’s usually pretty easy to change these settings so don’t be afraid to try this step.

Lower the brightness on your monitor for another energy-saving boost, as long as it doesn’t strain your eyes. Look for control buttons on the bottom of the monitor, or at the top of your laptop keyboard.

Wireless broadcasting also requires quite a bit of energy, and most laptops have a button that turns wireless on or off. If you are working offline, you’ll find that turning off wireless can great extend your battery life.

That’s it for now…just a few simple steps and you’ll be helping to save the planet!

Website hosting basics

Published April 10, 2009 Basics , Servers , Websites Leave a Comment
Tags: bandwidth, data center, website hosting

I get a lot of questions about website hosting…why do you need it, what is it, who should do it…here are answers to the most common questions.

Why do you need website hosting?

The answer to that is simple – without hosting, no one can visit your website.

What is website hosting?

Hosting is basically rented server space. You are buying space and bandwidth on a server that’s connected directly to the Internet. The space is used to store your website files – code and images – and the bandwidth is the amount of data that’s transferred each time visitors come to your site.

The more visitors you have, the more bandwidth you will use. If you have streaming media like audio or video stored on your site, you’ll use up more storage space AND more bandwidth.

Who should host my site?

You have many options for hosting. Generally, what’s most important is uptime, so that your website never goes down, and support in the (hopefully) rare instance that you do run into problems.

The recommended option is hosting on a server in a secure data center. Data centers have multiple connections to the internet, multiple power sources, 24×7 monitoring and onsite staff, and the ability to correct any issue quickly. With a good hosting vendor, your website will experience almost no downtime.

You can host your website on your own server, but unless you have a data center in your office, you will have a tough time maintaining the same level of website uptime. It also introduces potential security issues to your network.

What you should avoid, at all costs, is hosting that’s done by a small IT shop in their back office or someone’s basement. No matter how good you think they are, they are unlikely to provide the same level of reliability.

Don’t dismiss your local tech without asking a few questions…they may be set up with hosting in a data center, in which case this can be the best of all worlds. They have a trusted relationship and will manage the vendor relationship for you. It simplifies your life because you only have one call to make – to the company you already know – and they will take care of any issues for you.

Web designer vs web developer: what’s the difference?

Published April 3, 2009 Basics , Websites Leave a Comment
Tags: graphic designer, interactive, web designer, web developer, web programming, website

There are so many people who claim to build websites…have you ever wondered what’s the difference between a web designer and a web developer?

Generally, a web designer focuses primarily on the graphic look of a website. The best ones are trained graphic designers who have chosen to specialize in web design. Most can do at least basic website programming. Their strength is creating a cohesive image for your website that reflects your company’s identity.

By contrast, a web developer is a programmer who has specialized in web programming languages, from the basics (HTML, CSS, JavaScript) to more advanced languages (PHP, ASP, Java, AJAX). Sites that are coded by a good web developer tend to perform better, load faster, and work more smoothly no matter what internet browser is used. You’ll need the talents of a web developer when you build advanced interactive sites that include e-commerce, content management, and interactive features like forums, blogs, chat, etc.

In most cases, your best choice is to work with a team that includes both web designers and developers, so that your site looks good AND works well.

Geeks are no fools: techie pranks for everyone

Published March 31, 2009 Gadgets , Personal Leave a Comment
Tags: airzooka, annoyatron, april fools, Gadgets, office dog, phantom keystroker, pranks, thinkgeek, tv-b-gone

tv_b_gone Need a good April fools’ joke? Technology comes to the rescue once again…

“TV-B-Gone” has been around for a while, but it’s still a classic. Press the button and nearly any TV will turn itself off within a matter of seconds. shocking_pen Spouse won’t pay attention to you? TV-B-Gone. Sports bar getting too rowdy? TV-B-Gone. Any time you want a little peace and quiet, TV-B-Gone is there for you.

You can also try the “shocking pen” which is not a pen at all, it’s simply a pen-look-alike that shocks the unwitting victim when they hit the button at the top. Eeek!

For more stealth pranks, check out the “Annoy-a-tron 2.0,” which puts out your choice of annoying sounds. This tiny device can be hidden nearly anywhere and programmed to randomly emit beeps, buzzes, chirps, and more. Because of the random timing, it can be very hard to pinpoint the source of the noise, and the geeky folks at ThinkGeek assure us the noise truly lives up to its name.

phantom-keystroker This tiny little device looks like a regular flash drive, but it’s actually a “phantom keystroker” which will randomly move your mouse and type garbled phrases. For someone unaware of its presence, it will seem like the computer has gone crazy.

Lastly, who could pass up the “airzooka“? This baby blows a ball of air up to 30 feet. Really. Recommended applications for this device: ruffle a co-workers’ hair, blow papers off their desk, or startle the office dog.

Need more? Check out all the geekie toys at ThinkGeek. I always find things there I never knew I wanted.

Small business network support: the coming revolution

Published March 27, 2009 Computers , Servers Leave a Comment
Tags: amazon, cloud computing, data center as a service, Google, microsoft, network support, small business network, virtualization, vmware

In technology, you get used to constant change. Every year, month, week, day…new technology, new products, new ideas. Whatever. It’s the norm.

But in the last few years, my piece of this world – in particular, small business network support – has gone through radical changes. Anyone in our trade who’s doing things the same way they’ve always done them is missing out on huge opportunities to increase efficiency and provide more stable, reliable services for their clients.

Sorry to say, any of you business owners out there who are comfortable with the status quo are also missing out. You may want to ask your tech how he keeps current on industry trends.

We’re working hard to stay ahead of the curve, by investing in tools, training, and infrastructure. I’m part of an industry mastermind group with colleagues from all over the country, where we continually evaluate and share the latest best practices. As a result, we’re making the most of these opportunities, and our clients see the benefits. We receive alerts to problems so we can be proactive and prevent serious issues, we can handle about 90% of the work remotely, our tools allow us to make network-wide updates in a fraction of the time others can manage, we have sophisticated systems to track client history…I could go on but you get the idea.

It’s nothing compared to what’s coming.

Cloud computing, virtualization, data center as a service…these trends stand to revolutionize the industry even further, providing network infrastructure as a utility that’s paid for on a usage basis. In many cases this will eliminate the normal investments in hardware and software. The business ROI is enormous.

Whether it’s computing power, help desk support, application software, or storage space, major players in the industry want to bring you these services on a subscription basis. When I say major players, I’m talking about the likes of Google, Microsoft, and Amazon.

We’re seeing these services hit the mainstream already, although it will be a gradual transition over the next few years. The way you handle technology in your business will change radically as we all move ahead with these new choices.

We’re already looking towards the future to see how we can better serve our clients. So here’s my question to you: are you already falling behind, or are you ready for the coming revolution?

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