Jonathan Brock's Information Technology Blog

Super Intelligence

2012-02-29T23:07:00.001-05:00

The age of super intelligence is upon us. The smart devices we carry allow us to have instant access to information anywhere in the world. After completing a review of a new smart phone I am rolling out, I was amazed at the capability at our finger tips.

The new device I am rolling out is a Verizon Pantech 4G which has built in video for face to face communication. The Android platform has applications that allow us to communicate socially to family, friends and business partners. Applications are constantly being written to improve our productivity, entertainment, and communication.

The pace of innovation is amazing as speed and capability increases with each new upgrade and release. High definition video, 4G speed, texting, Facebook all come included while storage increases and the devices become more affordable. The Pantech Breakout is the most affordable 4G device in the Verizon line up. See my initial review of this new high tech device.
My Pantech Breakout review

Targeted Individual - persistent advance threat

2012-01-29T22:52:00.000-05:00

The new security treat is advanced persistent threat (ADT) attack when an individual target is researched and the malware program is customized so the threat signature goes undetected. In the crime arena, we would consider this crime of opportunity.

The hacker crafts a malware program allowing back door entry into your computer system allowing theft of property, ideas, drawing, and various building and production plans at the corporate level. Today the targets go behind household zombies, but corporations with significant resource, both financially and technologically.

The latest and most sophisticated attacks involve installing remote administrator tools (RATS) on command and control servers on corporate networks. Many of these attacks are developed over months and years to infiltrate various systems.

To counter these attacks, the Open Information security Foundation (OISF) is building the next generation intrusion detection system / intrusion prevention system (IDS/IPS) engine. One protection strategy is to use a layered security technology in addition to user training and education.

Since hackers often find ways to get around perimeter protections, the focus becomes controlling out bound data and communications used to steal information. We need to use best practices to secure data and control the fact that information cannot leave the network or be off loaded.

Implementing security initiatives by protecting mission critical systems via network segmentation and virtual local networks can limit damage. Additional security can be enhanced by limiting peer to peer sharing.

Prevailing wisdom suggest all networks will be potentially compromised so the appropriate response is critical. Currently it can be difficult to find a compromised system which makes correcting issues difficult. One approach is to analyze logs to look for indicators of an intrusion. This usually take the form of internal traffic being redirected to an unauthorized domain name system (DNS) server.

Security top ten

1. Improve security awareness and training among staff

2. Enforce security controls during concept phase

3. Encrypt data on removable media devices

4. Protect passwords change cycle

5. Develop social media program to enhance and protect assets and reputation

6. Review access to key assets frequently (limit privileged access)

7. Develop application white list for employees who manage sensitive data

8. Conduct risk assessments

9. Engage complex authentication

10. Limit access to sites or warn about potential spyware and malware issues

Future network on my Vizio 48'' HDTV

2011-12-29T23:11:00.002-05:00

I purchased my first true flat screen TV which is my new Vizio 48"" HDTV 1080P. I did my research on Plasma, LCD, and LED technology. The LED technology provides a superior picture in all lighting situations. The picture clarity and definition is amazing. The LED technology is a little more expensive, but well worth it.

While doing my product evaluation, I was not sure how much value Wi-Fi and and web applications would provide. After using the web applications, they are definitely worth having. The applications I like the best is Netflix. Watching movies is seamless and you do not experience the drag and disconnects you see on the Xbox. Early morning leisurely movies on the week end are fantastic. After using web applications, you can see how how media is moving towards web content and personal media libraries.

The pre-installed applications that I really like include: Netflix, Twitter, Facebook, Web Videos that include content from Fox, WB, TMZ, SHOWTIME, 4O additional channels. The is a widget Gallery that includes additional web applications that can be down loaded at any time. Media outlets are writing applications to publish content over the web on a continuous basis. Here is an example of applications available for download: Fox5 Las Vegas, Snap (share your life), Live Traffic, Movies Demand, etc. I recommend the Vizio LED HDTV. By the way, set up and installation was a breeze.

I am currently interested Vizio the company!

Google maps GPS navigation

2011-12-07T22:13:00.001-05:00

Use your Android phone for GPS navigation via Google maps.

Google maps is built into Android devices so the set up is relatively simple. To use Google maps as your GPS, complete the following:

Turn on local Stand alone GPS service (settings, locations, security)
Select Google maps on home screen
Accept Google service agreement
Google maps will typically calculate your location based on GPS signal availability
Select options button
You will be prompted to enter start (my location GPS) and End point (destination)
Google maps will give you directions, miles, time based on traffic (you can switch to transit, walk, bike mode)
Finally you can view directions base on map or navigation (voice and turn navigation)

This can be quite handy if you want to save on purchasing separate GPS system.

Personal justice, pursuit of happiness

2011-11-12T17:01:00.001-05:00

As I headed past the Boston financial district heading to serve as a federal juror, I could not help but ponder if justice would been served, would I have to determine someone fate? I hurried past an unhappy group of occupy Boston people who had obviously felt justice had not been served. The signs and sentiment was corporate greed and government mistrust was prevalent in this camp? This was a big wow, and how did these people get to this point?

There was a distinct feeling of sadness for the unemployed and many hurting people. Still I had to rush to jury duty to complete my civic duty. Once settle among my peers, I walked out to the lobby and viewed a spectacular view of the Boston harbor. I distinctly imagined sitting on the deck of a beautiful boat enjoying a cup of coffee,the sunrise, and simplistic happiness. Hopefully soon rather than later.

Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, after all was what made America great. As I completed my civic duty and headed homeward bound, I realized that each person should try to make the world a better place. Life can become so hectic and the pressure intense, we neglect to enjoy simplistic happiness. May the road to justice lead us to a better place!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Life’s Bucket list review

2011-10-19T21:45:00.000-04:00

Be happy -- find a way to achieve happiness and peace. “Money cannot by happiness”
Challenge yourself physically and mentally. Everyone needs a reason to get out of bed.
Strive for perfection, but do not be hard on yourself if you fall short.
Find and develop hobbies: My hobbies and challenges include: Kite boarding, surfing, wake boarding, sailing, golf, snowboarding , snow mobile in the clouds, landscaping, etc.
Travel and see the world and make some friends along the way. Destination list: Hawaii, Miami, Aruba, Bermuda, Hilton Head, new destinations I have not seen yet.
Make the world a better place.

American Economics according to the left and right, my solution

2011-07-30T15:25:00.000-04:00

American economics and balancing the federal budget appears to be a distant pipe dream. Regardless of which political ideology you follow:
Left, Right, or Independent, balancing the budget has never been a priority. The financial markets and confidence have diminished as the economy has been shaky and lay offs of USA workers have continued.

The Left has always lived by the motto of raising taxes and spending to support increased social programs to help solve society's issues. This policy worked great when we had economic growth and subsequent high tax revenues. We were able to make historic reductions in the federal deficit during unprecedented economic growth.

The Right has always lived by the motto of lower taxes, lower spending on social programs, but increased spending on defense and the military. This policy works well during economic growth, but seems to do very little to reduce the federal deficit. The posturing and political wrangling has usually resulted in congressional gridlock.

Both ideologies do not work well when we are in an economic recession. The combination of sending USA jobs overseas by many corporatiosn, hand outs and wasteful spending, have caused many hardships for the average American.

Both the Left and Right must move toward the center where we have the correct balance of spending, tax reductions, elimination of hand outs and wasteful spending. It may be time for us to make a run at correcting issues that are important to us. So, who is with me?

Writing applicaions on a modern platform

2011-07-05T15:07:00.000-04:00

As cloud computing evolves, developing application interfaces is an emerging niche. The cloud service become a valuable tool when it improve service and decreases cost. This is difficult to accomplish but companies must be able meter usage and charge for services provided.

Some of the more popular cloud offerings are: Google business applications, Microsoft Azure Office 365, connectivity applications for iPad, Playbook, and the many tablets that are being introduced in to the market.

Here is a review of the Platform: iOS SDK and available tools: The tool set to develop on Mac, iPhone, iPad uses Xcode 4.02, iOS SDK 4.3 Integrated developer Environment. The cost is $99 per year. The developer program allows for writing, testing/debugging, and distributing apps through iTunes App store.

Goal is write first application for iPad solving a business problem.

Once the application is completed Apple must approve placement on App store which is a long time consuming process.

The Apple platform has a unique advantage in applications can run on desktops, notebooks, tablets and smart phone which is great for the customer base you server.

Google business Apps corporate email migration

2011-06-05T11:08:00.001-04:00

The corporate cloud email migration to Google business Apps has advantages and disadvantages.

The advantages of Google cloud email are: savings related server builds, email licensing, spam, greater disk space for user inboxes.

There disadvantages to Google email in the cloud are: having to migrate Corporate email to Google cloud, switching DNS servers, Google sync issues (very slow), lost emails, calendars, and contacts to mention a few.

Having Completed a migration, there many challenges, difficulties, and frustrations involved.

One thing to consider when migrating to Google business Apps is mobile Cellular devices. Google Apps connector for Blackberry Enterprise does not work well with Blackberries. Typically mobile users must be migrated to Andriod devices for the solution to work. That being said, good luck if you are considering a move.

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2011-05-20T09:47:00.003-04:00

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Shell Shocked in honor of the military

2011-05-20T09:47:00.001-04:00

I had the honor of doing volunteer work umpiring baseball at Fenway park. The baseball ball game was to raise money for the Boston foundation.

The Boston Foundation helps many service men and women deal with post tramatic syndrome after returning home from war. They cover expenses not covered by insurance such: medication, psychologist, hospitalization for post tramatic syndrome.

We should thank the military service personal for service and dedication in very difficult circumstances. The war on terrorism has subjective people to seeing death and destruction that the mind is not ready to cope with.

I hope the service men and women come home safely and are able to adjust back in to civilian life. To deal with life threatening altering situations, your survival instinct kicks in.

When your are getting bombarded from all sides you become shell shocked. To survive in the most dier situations, you must alter your thinking to survival mode.
A singular postive thought,while removing yourself and compartmentalized your experience, in essence protecting your spiritual being. God bless our military!

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Mobile life

2011-05-06T22:14:00.000-04:00

As smart phones have improved technology in many phase to include social media. Most technical savvy users get a good portion of their information from the web including: Face book, Twitter, and many online sources. The ability to choose and run all kinds of applications on Blackberry, Android, and iPhone as made our live truly mobile.

Many people now spend more time on their smart phone, iPads, lap tops than speaking to friends and family. We spend a majority of our time communicating through our mobile devices. We communicate with each other via Facebook, texting, blogging, and occasionally make a phone call.

The mass array applications we can use: Google maps, Facebook, texting means we are constantly in touch. The million dollar questions is, how much will it improve ultimately improve our lives? The answer is ultimately in our hands.

Conscientious consumer

2011-04-19T21:02:00.000-04:00

Conscientious consumer -- When and where we, the American consumer, spend our dollars has a huge impact on the global economy.

As we spend more and more dollars on goods made overseas imported into the USA, we see many USA jobs sent and outsourced to foreign lands. To change the way corporate executives conduct business overseas, we need to change our buying habits:

My buying/purchasing matrix:

1. Buy the best product to fit your needs.

2. Where is the product manufactured? Purchase USA products of equal quality first, if possible.

3. Corporate image, does the company ship USA jobs overseas? (Buy else where)

4. Purchase and support companies that our keeping jobs in the USA!

5. Purchase products from companies that provide goodwill (charitable)

6. Purchase products that our environmental friendly (Green).

7. Purchase and support companies that stand against discrimination and corporate greed!

8. An informed consumer is a good consumer!

Alternative Energy source

2011-03-20T21:53:00.000-04:00

Over the last few weeks Things in the world really been crazy specially with earthquake in Japan.

I have done an analysis of the Chevy volt looking to go truly electric and think this would save a lot of money in the long run. The Chevy volt is projected to go 40 miles on electric charge, but that number is reduced when running the heating system and electrical systems, true range is around 20 miles. I am considering the Ford hybrid Fusion as an alternative to the Chevy volt just because of the short range on the battery for the Volt.

Due to the nuclear problems in Japan, I also consider going solar to power my house. I am waiting for estimates to come in to install solar electrical system. I'm hoping this solar system is the wave of the future. We need to reduce our carbon footprint and implement new renewable energy sources.

I did use Dragon Dictation to complete this post which save me a little time. Happy spring!

My Favorite iPad applications

2011-03-07T20:44:00.000-05:00

I have owned my iPad for three months and my favorite applications are:

Flipboard which is a magazine style link to Google reader, Facebook, Flipboard content (tech, photos, style), top men, digital, SI, USA, Car and drive and many more. I probably check out this application every day.

Friendly for Facebook quick way to check and update your status

Ipad notes - who needs paper?

Dragon dictation -- just got a new mic to help dictate notes, still testing and implementing into blog

CNN news

iPad task

The iPad is really convenient, but can not replace a lap top. (Just saying!)

Lastly, I am testing my Logitech video camera which has some audio bugs I am trying to work out. Check me out on video.

2011-02-23T13:17:00.001-05:00

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Great People and places

2011-02-15T22:35:00.000-05:00

Great places and Great people:

There are many great people who sacrifice their own well being to help others. Many have a calling to help that is bigger than self and exemplified true love and compassion. The people on the list and places that honor them should serve as inspiration to us all. Hopefully I will be able to one day visit and pay my respects!

1. African-American civil war memorial and Museum, Washington DC Site to see in Washington National mall in U street neighborhood, pays tribute to African-Americans who fought in the civil war. Visit “Black Broadway known for famous stars, great clubs, and music and art venues.

2. Birmingham Civil rights District, Birmingham, Ala The most prominent home of the civil rights movement. Places to see include 16th Street Baptist church (infamous bombing that killed four girls) Birmingham Civil rights Institute, Alabama Jazz hall of fame, Kelly Ingram park (home to many civil rights demonstrations), tribute to Clergy’s positive influence in movement.

3. Harlem NY

What to do and see in NY from a Boston guys propspective? To see the ubran experience and culture we take a stroll in Harlem begining at 110th in upper Manhattan. Check out the eateries, stroll 125th street, getting cutting edge music CD's, while seeing live performance at Apollo theater. Recommended destination is Gothic-style Abyssinian Bapist church home of renowned preacher Adam Clayton.

4. Harriet Beecher Stowe Center Harford Conn. Harriet Beecher Stowe was a remarkable woman know for her anti-slavery book "Uncle Tom's Cabin". She was an outspoken abolitionist prior to the civil war. She was not affraid to speak out about what she believed was wrong, and was a stong advocate for change. The house she lived in (gothic-revival cottage) contains, books, manuscripts, memorabilia, and art work. There is a vistor center which has an exhibit "Uncle Tom's Cabin: a moral battle Cry for Freedom" that display gifts from diginities inspired by her progressive ideas. Change and progress is dictated by great people doing great things.

5. The Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site, Alanta A trip to Alanta foundly know has Brookline South by many high school classmates, warrants a trip to "Sweet Auburn District" highlighting Dr King's birth place, Ebenezer Bapist Church, Fire station 6, the first desegregated fire station (shows exhibits). Sites to see include Martin Luther King Jr. center for Nonviolent social change paying homage to King with educational and inspirational materail. You also have the Civil walk of fame and APEX museum devote to acheivements of African-American culture.

Dazzling thoughts outside the box, determine mathamatical analystical solution

2011-01-24T23:18:00.000-05:00

In a very competive job market, many companies are looking for top talent who can think outside the box. Evalutating talent at many top companies involves asking analytical question to determine computational abilities.

Here are examples of some questions asked by top companies and various interviewers:

These questions were compiled by glassdoor.com based on 1000 of inteview questions:

Amazon.com asks, if you had 5,623 players in a tournament, how many games would you need to play to determine a winner? Answer 5,622
Microsoft asks, why is a manhole cover round? Easier for a person to enter the hole.
Google asks, how many backetball can fit in this room? First determine area of room Length x Width x height and then determine area of basketball. Divide the are of the basketball into the area of the room to determine number of basketball.
Facebook asks, given the numbers 1 to 1,000, what is the minimum number of guesses needed to find a specific number if you are given the hint higher or lower for each guess you make? Answer 1 (1 and 1000 chance)
Goldman Sacks asks, if you were shrunk to the size of a pencil end put in a blender, how would you get out. Answer I would jump and knock over blender. ( Analyst position)
Deloitte asks, How many ridges [are there] around a quarter? Answer 119 based on anti- acounterfiet measure and to assist the blind (Project analyst)
Aflect asks, "What is the philosophy of Martial Arts?" Answer self defense (sales associate)
Boston Consulting ask, "Explain [to] me what has happened in this country during the last 10 years." Answer Obama elected first black president, Housing and financial meltdown 2008, war on terror 9/11/01, Natural disaster Hurrican Katrina Hatian Earth quake, Global warming, Enron whitecollar crime, (Consultant position)
AT&T asks, "If you could be any superhero, who would it be?" Answer Superman (sales rep)
Blackrock Portfolio Management Group asks, "You have a birthday cake and have exactly 3 slices to cut it into 8 equal pieces. How do you do it?" Answer cut two pieces in to 8 equal parts and eat the third
Epic Systems asks, An apple costs 20 cents, an orange costs 40 cents, and a grapefruit costs 60 cents, how much is a pear?" (project management)
Apple asks, "There are three boxes, one contains only apples, one contains only oranges, and one contains both apples and oranges. The boxes have been incorrectly labeled such that no label identifies the actual contents of the box it labels. Opening just one box, and without looking in the box, you take out one piece of fruit. By looking at the fruit, how can you immediately label all of the boxes correctly?" (software QA engineer)
Argus Information & Advisory Services asks, "How many traffic lights in Manhattan?" ( analyst)
Eze Castle asks, "You are in a dark room with no light. You need matching socks for your interview and you have 19 grey socks and 25 black socks. What are the chances you will get a matching pair?" (Quality assurance)
Guardsmark asks, "What do wood and alcohol have in common?" (staff writer)
IBM asks, "How do you weigh an elephant without using a weigh machine?" (software engineer)
Intel asks, "You have 8 pennies, 7 weigh the same, one weighs less. You also have a judges scale. Find the one that weighs less in less than 3 steps." (systems validation)
NY life asks, "Why do you think only a small percentage of the population makes over $150K?" (Sales agent)
Schlumberger asks, "You are in charge of 20 people, organize them to figure out how many bicycles were sold in your area last year." (Field engineer)
The Nielsen Company asks, "How many bottles of beer are drank in the city over the week?" (research analyst)
UBS asks, "What's the square root of 2000?" (sales and trading)
USAA asks, "A train leaves San Antonio for Huston at 60mph. Another train leaves Huston for San Antonio at 80mph. Huston and San Antonio are 300 miles apart. If a bird leaves San Antonio at 100mph, and turns around and flies back once it reaches the Huston train, and continues to fly between the two, how far will it have flown when they collide?" (software engineer)
US banks ask, "How are M&M's made?" (program development)
Volkswagen asks, "What would you do if you just inherited a pizzeria from your uncle?" (

Top Information Technology companies for 2010

2011-01-03T20:13:00.000-05:00

What does it take to be one of the best Technology companies to work for? Having a great management team and a CEO who supports and values employees is very important. This usually results in high morale among staff and employees.

Top information technology companies based on various rating systems:

1. Intel chip manufacture

2. Genentech biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry

3. Salesforce.com sales automation

4. Adobe PDF reader developer

5. Qualcomm mobile communication provider

6. Flour engineering and construction company

7. Google best benefits and perks industry wide

8. Bristol Myers Squibb pharmaceutical highest ranked among women

9. Synopsys electronic design automation EDA

10. Analog Devices signal process design and top green for reducing carbon foot print

11. Apple hottest consumer products and minimal corporate politics

12. National Instruments 11 year reputation of a great place to work

13. NetApp enterprise storage company

14. Shutterfly Internet social publishing great medium size company

15. Mitre system innovation non profit for Government

16. Slalom Consulting Microsoft business intelligence partner

17. SAS Institute security firm

18. Boston Consulting Group BCG excels in equality and human rights

19. Bain and Company consulting tops in career development

20. Facebook internet usage power house

Does corporate good will and reputation result in higher gross profits and stock prices. I hope to analyze this relationship.

Merry christmas

2010-12-25T10:08:00.000-05:00

Wishing you a merry Christmas and a prosperous new you!

Data and Bot-nets for sale cash in

2010-12-18T15:32:00.000-05:00

There are many Bot-nets that are causing problems on Internet such as Kneber, Rustock and Koobface, Zues Trojan: these bots and infected systems send out spam and malware compromising mail servers and web sites. Cyber criminals use these tools / programs to make money spreading infectious programs as fast as possible to many victims. Once enough system are infected and controlled, these systems are actually rented out for $9 - $65 per hour.

Kneber: has infected 75,000 systems around the world. This malware is used to steal passwords from Facebook, Yahoo, and other sites. The key piece of data being collected is log in credentials to online financial systems, social networking sites, and email systems.

Based on a security study, over a week period of time, 68,000 credentials were stolen from Facebook and Yahoo among others. Many times surveillance is conducted on victims to determine crimes committed.

Here is a listing of money making scams:

1. Bank scam – looking for users to provide bank account number to claim lost funds (Nigerian royalty, China, etc)

2. Stranded SOS message -- family member email address used to request money be sent via Western Union

3. Cyber Attack threat “DOS attack” threat to force you out of business bring down all communication, pay demand

4. Steal game assets online gambling attack while stealing credentials and assets

5. Fake Anti-virus software – pop up requesting users to buy A-V making crooks 160 million per year

6. Fake Pharmaceuticals – user buys drugs which are fake 3.5 million per year

7. Credit card theft user receives fake link as for credit card information, credit card number is used or sold

8. Bank Zeus Trojan clicking on malware link infect browser Trojan captures log in credentials and steal small amounts of money

Even though the scams are old, they still cause many problems on networks and over the Internet. Check my solution to these problems to come!

Ipad and the digital life

2010-11-29T20:01:00.000-05:00

I win an iPad at the Celtics exective offices and I feel like won the NBA Title!

The end result is that I am looking at applications on all three major platforms, Blackberry, Android, and iPad.

Currently the toy of choice is the iPad:
I have been researching and testing the best free applications for the iPad.

The first application I have tested is:

Dragon Dictation from Nuance -- the application records speech and converts in to a word document.
I have a iPad application that you uses to convert speech into text, Dragon dictation. I'm speaking in to the iPad and it is supposed to be writing down what I'm saying is. Trying to determine if the dictation software will actually save time eliminating typing the words. I just learned that the accuracy of the software improves if you speak directly in to the microphone or use a iPad head set. Seems to be a pretty cool application.
I am still working to incorporate video and sound into my blog so stay tuned!

Fall Colors -- Ivory Towers

2010-11-01T22:02:00.000-04:00

As falls color burst and the weather cools, it time to reflect on aspirations and levity. The hard work in the spring and summer bear fruit to a successful fall season.

The successful marketing plan, web development project, delivers new customers. The well coordinated campaign brings victory at the polls. The new security protocol saves lives. Fund raising and volunteer work delivers a cure and ends suffering.

Some where in our hectic, busy lives, we find time to reconnect with a friend. Before the snow falls, we turn a leaf, renew the journey. The epic journey to the mountain top, ivory tower, in search of pristine condition. Enjoy the season and reflection.

Mobile development

2010-10-10T20:30:00.001-04:00

As mobile devices become increasingly popular, opportunities to develope applications has increased.

Looking at developing applications to increase productivity!

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2010-10-10T20:12:00.001-04:00

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Programming and Development

2010-09-23T21:51:00.000-04:00

The programming field has been in a state of fluctuation over the last few years due to out sourcing. Many companies have out sourced their programming functions to countries where the cost of labor is significantly cheaper than in the USA.

There still is plenty of programming jobs here in the USA related to mobile technology and social media design. So what are the hot programming skills in demand now?

The building blocks of a good programmer starts which basic knowledge on C# and .net language. A very good way to program is using design patterns. A design pattern allows you to reuse a solution to common problems. The design template can be used to solve many different complex problems which reduces the amount of programming work involved.

Developing good programming skills can be a valuable skill.

Motorola Droid X Android review

2010-08-30T21:11:00.000-04:00

The Motorola Droid X and the Android platform is a very nice package. I have had my Droid X for about a month and it is an excellent phone. The high definition resolution of the screen is amazing. The typical things you do on a computer I can now do on my phone, such as: browsing the web, reading email, video, updating Face book.

The second great feature is the Social Networking that ties together all service: Face book, Twitter, My space all into one screen where I can instantly stay up to date with business, family, and friends. An added feature is social networking friends are added to your contact list automatically. Hopefully, this will result in new business.

The smart phone essentials such as email and text messaging appear as shortcuts on one of 5 customizable home touch screens which makes navigation a breeze and feels like a iPhone. You end up saying to yourself, wow, that is cool.

One of the touch home screens is automatically set up to pull in RSS news feeds which keeps me up to date on the latest economic and business news. This is great for causal reading and to follow developing stories. If you want more information, the feed links out to the published article. This is another nice feature.

The latest thing that is useful is the built in GPS that I have car mounted with Blue tooth technology. This included Google maps, latest traffic conditions, voice navigation which comes in pretty handy during the daily compute.

The down side is battery life. If you are going to be away from your charger for a full day, (amusement park, beach) you will have to manage your battery life. Since smart phones run applications automatically, you have to manually turn off application that are not needed. This conserves battery and takes a little bit of practice on how to do.

One word of cautions is, when installing free application from Android market place, read user reviews, to ensure you are getting good software. I can say this is the most complete smart phone I have had up to date.

Economic Conditions

2010-08-08T19:43:00.000-04:00

The economy has been mostly up and down for most of 2010. In the first quarter the economy started to pick up. The private sector and the government were hiring for census and the economic stimulus program.

The housing market has started to show signs of recovering and the stock market was growing again. In the last two months growth has leveled off and we lost more jobs than were created. The major problem is, many people are unemployed and it is still very difficult to get a new job.

Even though the latest economic news has not been great, we seem to headed in the right direction. I have found it very interesting that many American companies who have moved their operations to China, are moving back the the United Stated due to cost increases. The cost of labor in China is no longer cheaper than in the U.S.A, (in some cases) and the cost to shipped product has dramatically increased overseas.

I anticipate many qualified U.S. workers will begin to get good well-paying jobs in the fall. I will be designing a new talent web site to help get unemployed U.S. workers good jobs. Be sure to check back in the next week or so!

Smart Phone replaces lap tops

2010-07-26T23:25:00.000-04:00

As Smart Phones become more technologically advanced and new applications are developed; having critical data available for business users is a must. Smart phones are now integrated in to the information technology infrastructure.

Today’s savvy worker has the flexibility to work in the office, on the road, and at home. Today’s smart phones allow you to stay in touch anywhere in the world.

As social media has increased in popularity for personal and business use, most mobile devices have application that allows you to update your status from your phone. As business use increases, having access to Facebook, Twitter, and possibly Linkedin becomes more important.

As the smart phones increase in speed and functionality, mobile users will use their lap tops and PC less often. I will be testing and reviewing the Droid-X compared to Blackberry smart phones.

Video Surveillance and security uses

2010-07-19T20:29:00.000-04:00

The use of video has evolved so we can capture every aspect of life. We use video cameras on our phones to capture sporting events, special occasions, and to remember loves.

Video capture devices have advanced where we can capture a person face in minimal lighting and a licence plate on a get away car. For many business is has become very beneficial to keep an accurate video library for many purposes.

As the use of Video Surveillance and security has grown the need for storage and capacity has doubled. Most of the high end storage system are now clustered and include fail over in case of disk failure. Video storage is very write intensive to the disks. The use of share Internet protocol storage is essential to reduce over all operation cost.

All types of video are common place in every day life. I hope the use of video improves the quality of life.

Socail Media search -- develop leads

2010-07-10T15:56:00.001-04:00

As social web sites gain popularity, many businesses, recruiters and professionals are using tools on these web sites to connect. Down loading applications to your PDA has become a must for the savy technology users to always stay connected. Getting instant updates on your PC and PDA can keep you in the loop and get you hired.

Developing strong on line relationships and getting postive reviews and recommendations can prove you have stong business and technical skills. As the use of socail media as evolved, to this end; the average user is now spending more time on socail web sites than reading email which can significantly open leads and potentials.

A developing trend is to use Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedin to promote business, get leads, and advance your career. Tying together, social media sites, blogs, web site presence, and public relations can go along way to enhancing your overall success.

Social Network and Media

2010-06-30T23:28:00.000-04:00

As social networks have taken off, many people have profiles on Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedin and countless others. Most professionals uses these sites to improved and increase business contracts.

Many recruiters and business routinely search these online profiles to see more information about applicants. People should make an effort to make their profiles look professional and show off talents.

Managing and mining social media has become an important part of business public relations. Social media can really improve prospects both professionally and socially if managed well.

Learning to win and be successful

2010-06-21T21:26:00.000-04:00

Learning to win and being a success takes effort, dedication, and will power to master a skill. Winning and being successful needs to be defined in such a way that the end result makes you happy.

The most effective way to learn how to win is being mentally tough. You must come to the realization that every emotion, motion, and act contributes to a positive outcome. Winning is really an end result of being able to perform your best when it counts the most. Preparing yourself to give the best performance regardless of outcome prepares you mentally to win.

Winning does not guarantee happiness, so defining success can provide some inner peace. Reaching for a goal and enjoying the journey there gives us a chance for fulfillment.

Strength and success is a true inner belief and a positive attitude. Learning to win and being success is a journey, brick by brick, down the golden road. Let enjoy the journey!

Getting Real reflection

2010-06-09T21:49:00.000-04:00

Interesting enough I see a reflection of an image that portrays an aspiring model who still needs to get cut and lean and mean. As we look at the image we see in the mirror, are we truly real in the evaluation of inner and physical beauty?

For years striving to achieve a six pack of abs but always only achieving a three pack. If achieving a three pack is reality, does accepting this image define getting real.

Achieving physical beauty is only part of the mix, but being comfortable with who you are is equally important. When you look in the mirror or walk down the beach, it nice to be happy with your image. Hopefully, insanity work out will lead to the six pack abs I been looking for. Enjoy your summer and have yourself a day at the beach! Here is to a great look!

Guidance and Responsibility

2010-06-06T23:01:00.000-04:00

The world is despertate for guidance and for individuals to take responsibility for their actions. Through out the world there are so many companies, organizations, and groups that are seriously lacking proper guidance and therefor, individuals taking responsiblity for their actions.

BP and their CEO have not take responsiblity for the worst oil spill in U.S. history and they have to pay dearly. Us as consumers must take repsonbility and never purchase purchase products from companies that do not act responsible. In some sense, the US work force and consumers must fight to keep and bring jobs into the US.

As more individuals fail to take repsonbility, more over all corruption occurs. The US as a country and inviduals in particular must get back to doing the right thing. Fight for a better tomorrow and a bright future.

Oil Spill -- A technological failure of epic proportion

2010-06-01T22:02:00.000-04:00

The oil spill off the Coast of Louisiana is natural disaster that is a result of many technological failures by British Petroleum in general and by the company that owned the rig.

The primary cause of the oil spill disaster is the British Petroleum management pushed to continue to make huge profits in the tune of millions per day over implementing and testing safety and security measures to protect the environment and it's employees.

There is an alarming number of industries (banking for example) that have been allowed to focus only on profits, the results have been catastrophic for consumers; and this trend will continue until consumers vote with their dollars. I believe management can balance making profits while providing safety and protection for the environment.

After reviewing British Petroleum summary of what caused the disaster, it is clear that safety was secondary and Government over site and enforcement was lacking at best. The overall set up of the oil rig (which is true across the oil industry) lacks the automatic kill to the oil well that is used in most countries in Europe. This whole incident high lights how far behind the world the US is in regards to developing and managing energy.

The main issue related to the oil disaster is mechanism called the blow out preventer. The oil ring owner and

British Petroleum knew there was a problem with this device, that was never addressed. The systems used to measure and test oil pressure to prevent an explosion failed along with emergency disconnect system. The failure of all these systems is not coincidence, but systemic. Obviously the government decision to provide waivers on this project is tragic.

British Petroleum, US government, and the American people have a huge price to pay for such a deep failure. I hope the oil industry specifically cleans itself up and we, the American consumer demand more from companies we deal with. Hopefully, the tide will turn in the right direction.

Hitting a Grand Slam

2010-05-25T23:38:00.000-04:00

Every new spring brings the search for the picture perfect swing that knocks the ball out of the park. Every year baseball has been a big part of my life from coaching little league, softball, babe Ruth, to umpiring. There always seems to be the search for the ideal symbol of achievement.

The current search for beauty is having the prettiest landscape, beautiful gardens, a perfect lawn, a crystal clear pool, all ending with a grand sunset. Often when solitude and peace are achieved, we are grateful.

As I ponder technology advances, new systems to implement, gaining a business advantage, you realize: the most important technology is the one that brings us together. When it all come together and you hit the ball out of the park, just enjoy the moment as the ball sails into the sunset!

Social media Super Star

2010-05-18T21:46:00.000-04:00

Social Media has given us the ability to develop in to social networking super stars. Social sites such as Linkedin, Facebook, and Twitter has given us the ability to share knowledge, wisdom, and expertise with co-workers, friends, and family.

Many savy consumers are now using social media outlets to discuss experience with products and support operations. Product and operations can gain both postive and negative press via social media. Managing social media and public relations has become and increasingly important skill.

Having a popular blog, web site, or social following can improve all important business prospects. Developing and managing a social media strategy is a must for business success!

Economic Turn around -- how good depends

2010-04-29T22:58:00.000-04:00

As the economy starts to turn around, how good will the recovery be? Most large companies will see the most gains in customers and revenue. Many CIO's at large companies will see their budgets increase in the next 6 months and hiring will increase. Executives at large companies are confident that business will improve dramatically.

Along with increase budgets companies are spending money on upgrading network and server platforms especially in relation to virtualization. At smaller companies, budgets are increasing but at a slower pace. Typically 50% of small business plan on spending on information technology projects and hiring will increase at a slower rate than their large counter parts.

As economic condition improve, depending on your sector, positioning yourself to take advantage of increase budgets and new projects can help improve your upward mobility.

Google -- America's best company

2010-04-19T17:22:00.000-04:00

Google search and documents has revolutionized the internet. Most people use Google search to find any thing and every thing on the internet. The search engine has lead to greater profits and higher stock prices for Google. Has innovation made Google America's best company?

In many ways Google business approach is less is more has been very effective. The Google home page is very simple and loads fast, prompting users to make Google their default home page. This switch helped introduce iGoogle personalized home page and eventually Gmail. Gmail itself became a game changer because user received 1GB mailbox t no additional change and the competition has to follow suit

Google innovation has continued to lead the way with Google Apps such as: Google talk, Adsense, Wave, Earth, Android, and Google 411 which has evolved into the Google cloud. Google is betting a higher number of users will do business and work in the Google cloud as oppose to on their own desk top.

As more businesses move toward a collaboration platform, Google is updating Docs to be a all-in one cloud based collaboration. Google Docs is being designed to take Microsoft office documents and convert them into Google Docs with out losing Office formatting. Supposedly, two or more people can be editing various documents with very little delay time, enhancing real time collaboration

Google Apps have proven to be stable enough for business to move their entire email systems to Google's enterprise email solution. Google email is $50 per user a year, and Docs are included. Google Apps included email, word processing, spreadsheet, and presentation suite.

Innovation and good applications and services has made Google a success. I am currently testing Google suite of applications and will review.

How good is the IPad, really cool or just hype?

2010-04-05T23:10:00.000-04:00

The IPad is a pretty cool device for causal browsing, responding to emails, watching Videos, but very limited if you actually want to get some work done. I would consider buying and IPad for entertainment purposes only.

The things I like about the IPad:

Great screen which is high definition and how thin the device is, "remarkable".
Touch screen capability is very similar to the Ipad-Touch which is cool
I was concerned about the virtual key board, but it seems to work perfectly
Great convience

The things that need to be improved on the IPad:

The screen is overly glossy and is difficult to view in sun light and certain lighting situations
Lack of storage space of documents
Limited USB support.

Overall, nice product and good design.

How good is your credit and is your data safe?

2010-04-02T20:31:00.001-04:00

Having good credit along with the gold plated credit card has been a good thing. The gold card gets you privileges and access to the goods things in life, "I really have arrived"! Assuming your credit is good and has not been affected by the recession, how safe is your credit card # and data?

Based on various large security breaches, such as the infamous Heartland breach, it time to improve credit card security.

To improve the safety of consumer credit card data, Ma has implemented The Massachusetts Data Protection Law which required companies to take additional steps to secure data. These measure help in Ma, but does not solve the problem of credit card theft.

After the Heartland security breach, the House introduced the Data Breach Notification Act. The law requires persons engaged in interstate commerce and in possession of sensitive data to disclose breach of such information.

What can be done to improve credit card security? Many other countries outside the US have implemented smart card technology. The US government must at some point, mandate credit card companies to implement smart cards. Smart card technology could have helped prevent the Heartland breach, where intruders hacked into systems used to process millions of card transactions affecting 100,000 of merchants. To prevent the data from being compromised, smart cards generate one time response to financial transaction requests from banks, so the data stream is good for one transaction.

Implementing smart cards is a must, and transferring the liability to credit card issuers from merchants can discourage or prevent fraud. Culpability for fraud should be determine by the courts thus giving credit card companies the incentive to implement smart cards and chip and pin technologies.

Consumers need to be responsible consumers, keep your computer security up to date, and check for virus / malware on a regular basis. Checking your credit card statements and credit reports is advisable. Enjoy your well earned privileges, live large.

Virtualization and Storage

2010-03-31T22:22:00.000-04:00

My storage
As I go through the process of building my virtualized environment, one of my key considerations is storage. We are leaning towards a terabyte SAN storage device to improve the speed of back ups and virtual machines (VMS) can be moved faster. The ability to quickly deploy VMS is the key to quick disaster recovery.

System Management

To ease the management of VMS you should create VMS IDs. The use of VMS IDs allows for control of mobility from server to server and enforce policies automatically. The management tool for Vmware VMS is hypervisor. Management tools become critical because VMS are moved to different servers and taken off line which makes management tricky.

In addition to managing VMS, you must successfully manage all of your licensing. Licensing has been traditionally been tied to per user or per CPU based pricing, but this model does not work with virtual machines. Many vendors must update their licensing models to account for VMS. VMS builds must be accurately tracked to control additional licensing cost associated with OS instances and applications.

Security in a virtual environment is key as the challenges and stakes are high. Any management tools such as hypervisor must be secured properly to protect VMS that ride below. Additionally all your SAN builds become critical as the house all VMS.

Once you have your virtual environment up and running you can decommission servers that have been replaced with VMS. This ultimately saves on power, cooling, and management costs. If you were ever to decommission a virtual server, you would have to find it; and justify the reasoning.

As Virtualization becomes a reality, the key components that need to be monitored are: application availability, resource utilization and allocation, security, storage, and redundancy. The journey has began and is well worth it.

Virtualization Planning -- disaster recovery and power

2010-03-29T22:15:00.000-04:00

I have been reviewing a Virtualization plan for the last 12 - 18 months and I getting close to implementation. The key goals of the Virtualization plan are: consolidation of servers, disaster recovery, reduced power consumption, and fault tolerance.

Virtualization is attractive because it reduces sprawl. The key component of Virtualization is the deployment of virtual machines. Licensing of software running on each virtual machine must be managed and in compliance.As all o the corporate servers become virtualized, down time and disaster recovery become more efficient and cost effective.

Lines of management of virtual servers can become blurred as far as who CIO, CTO, data center, systems manager takes ownership. It seems to be dependent on who is making the decisions regarding deployment.

My current Virtualization plan is as follows: assessment of current resource utilization patterns, security implications, internal and external service requirements, and business disaster recovery plans.

I am in the process of testing Virtualization and determine which technology to use base on cost effectiveness (VMS or Hyper V). Since VMS is the most mature product and easily deployed, I probably will start on this track. When VMware and virtual machines where first deployed there were basic issues with vendors related to licensing, compliance, reliability and performance. During the testing and deployment phase, each of these aspects must be reviewed and responsibility for virtual machines (VMS) must be determined. In some organizations the responsibility for VMS does not fall under I.T., but business managers or some other non-technical discipline. I am in the process of deploying a test virtual server in my environment. Stay tuned as I update my progress!

Digital Crime scene forensics and Computer espionage

2010-03-28T08:30:00.000-04:00

Computer digital forensics is an emerging field of science to help track and capture cyber criminals. Now that social media sites and the web are a part of our daily life, protecting and securing cyberspace has taken on greater importance.

Computer forensics uses scientific methods to solve questions related to law and computer hacking and possible espionage. Since computer and technology evolves so quickly, it is very difficult for security experts and law enforcement to standarize digital forensic tools and procedures.

All of the computer data and various technologies flow over computer networks which requires network forensics. To improve network security and prevent cyber crime, data and evidence that passes over the network must be analyzed using network forensic tools and procedures.

In the years to come solving computer related crimes will require computer and network forensics and this data will be common component of trail cases. Developing techniques and standards to handle this data is vital to security and fairness of the judicial system.

Network security and cyber crime prevention is tied to collecting and analyzing network data. This is a difficult task as the data typically resides on internet service providers servers. In many case you need a sapena to get access to data. Many companies are implementing out bound content monitors so they can analyze data that is leaving their network.

In the legal system, the dilemmas revolves around who owns the data, which is considered evidence. Creating standards for network forensics and evidence gathering could solve wide ranging legal issues. Currently, security experts and developers are designing software and hardware solutions that will improve overall computer forensic sciences.

Even though a de-facto forensic standard has not been developed, there are some reasonably good data forensic best practices:
Best Practice Standardization issues

Preservation How is the data preserved (media) and by who
Identification What tools should be used to identify data (suspicion)
Extraction How accurate is the data being extracted (purpose)
Documentation How are finding documented and archived (quantity)
Interpretation How is the data interpreted and by who (technology)

While researchers and developer create new software solutions, there are no concrete standard to test against. Typically the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) creates standards to test tools used for network forensics, but there has been no clear definition of what forensic tools should do.

As new network forensic tools emerge (commercial and fee) manufacturers and developers should partner with standards organization such as (NIST), to create functional standards for network forensics. Standardized tools and methods will allow researches, security experts, legal professionals to use forensic tools prevent and monitor various security breaches and computer crimes.

Health Care Universally Good or Bad, is the hype real

2010-03-23T19:12:00.000-04:00

Health Care is both good and bad depending on who you are speaking to or about. I would tend to think, if you currently have health insurance you feel Universal Health Care is bad because the cost of your insurance will increase. If you do not have health insurance or are having a difficult time paying for health insurance, Universal health care is good. I myself fall into the group of people who are concerned that health cost are going to increase.

Knowing some of the facts of the plan may allow us to determine how the plan may help us. First, I will review the projected cost. As health care is phased in, a surtax will be assessed against the wealthiest Americans making over $500,000 per year. The surtax will be 5.4% income tax for individuals in this tax bracket. The surtax will be eventually charged to a greater percentage of the American population.

For many people including the wealthy, any new taxes are bad news. One solution is to get rid of the surtax and find additional ways to fund health care including a carbon tax. A carbon tax is an environmental tax on emissions of CO2.

There has been confusion on how employee base health care would be managed in relation to health care exchanges. In economic theory, both employee based health care and exchanges would compete to get insurance coverage, resulting in greater competition; therefore, lowing cost. It is true that both health care coverages are subsidized (employer / government) currently at the tune of 200 billion per year.

Some of the major issues with the health care bill are related to health exchanges. Health exchanges allow for individuals to pool resources to shop for insurance coverage. The exchanges purpose is to make insurance affordable to individuals and small business including a public plan. The regulations related to exchange plans are very strict and limit individual choice. These restrictions seem to benefit the insurance companies in regards to require the purchase of more expensive plans. There should be a push to allow insurers to cut prices if they can offer a more attractive package.

Some forced coverages can have a negative affect on small and medium size businesses. The health care bill required business with payrolls in excess of $500,000 to purchase health insurance for their workers of face a $2,000 per worker fine. Since most employees have to purchase their own insurance, in most cases with help form their employer, this fine is very steep.

Regardless of what party you belong to, the plan is workable and helps more than it hinders people. All of the hysteria in the media and within the GOP is way blown out of proportion. The health care legislation can be used to strengthen the country and the American people as opposed to destroying the country as some have said.

Even some GOP supporters have said, it time for the republicans to get real and move forward. I feell reasonably comfortable the Health Care bill is good for the country!

Perimeter security -- Pearly Gates

2010-03-22T21:19:00.002-04:00

The goal of ultimate security is to keep unathorized or intruders outside of a secured area. Security experts traditionally has focused on perimeter security such as gates, guards, video, firewalls, to prevent undesireable from getting in.

Since security has become more disperse and threats have changed in nature, the focus has become more than just the perimeter.

In todays environment the threat of a security breach is: equally likely from an external or internal source. Typically an internal breach will occur when some one's credentails or idenity is stolen. Organizations and associated facilities must prepare for unauthorize access with in the preimeter security.

To enforce security measures and protect consumers data, federal cybersecurity and senate Judiciary committee has imposed data security programs. The new security model has evolved into a data centric security or focusing on the value of data and the potential fall out if the data is compromised.

To increase security, the focus becomes who and what process gets access to critical data. The level of protection correlates to quantified risk of breach. The goal of all orgizations is to properly secure sensative data and minimize risk of potential data breach. I will review various technologies that are being used to protect your data in cyberspace. Stay tuned...............

Top 25 Technology innovations that have changed our live

2010-03-17T23:02:00.000-04:00

11. iPhone / iPod -- The iPhone is considered the catalysis for changing the smartphone market for the better. We can know say we have great mobile devices.
12. Mac OS X -- build on Unix and has raised the bar for innovation in operating systems
13. Multi-core Processors -- The new PC generation is based on multi-core processor for under $1000 comes with tremendous speed and performance. This is a must for next PC purchase.
14. Netbooks -- we finally have a notebook that is small in size, decent capabilities, and low prices.
15.Openoiffice.org -- loosened up the monopoly and opened up document formatting standard
16. POE -- Power over Ethernet, ability to power VOIP phones, access points, and appliances with out need for wall outlet power.
17.SalesForce.com -- one of the first virtual enterprise customer resource management systems
18. Social Networks "Facebook" has had a profound effect on the way people and businesses connect and communicate.
19. Palm Treo -- for bearer of today's smart phones.
20. Twitter -- changing the way we communicate
21.Red Hat Linux -- stormed business and took hold in the enterprise environment.
22. VMware -- vitualization done in simple terms allowing enterprise class virtula servers running on servers using very little hardware.
23. VOIP Skype, SIP -- Skype allows for cheap voice calls over internet via PC, while SIP signaling allowed for wide spread adoption.
24 Solaris 10 -- leading edge of OS technology including virtualization and 64 bit architecture and open source strategy.
25 XP -- The desk top operating system of the decade.

Technologies that changed the decade and some live

2010-03-16T22:45:00.000-04:00

Every decade new technologies have been developed that improve business and quality of life. Over the last decade there have been some great improvements in technology, here is a list of some:

3G Broadband -- gives us the ability to access the Internet any where in the U.S. and Europe. Carriers use (UMTS / EVDO) standard which allows smartphone, laptops to get internet access any where.
802.11G wireless networking protocol allows for the transfer of large files to other systems on the same wireless network. If you are installing a wireless network, make sure it is 802.11G. 802.11G has allowed for the spread of WI-FI to most public venues.
AJAX standard scripts for building web appliation technologies. I need to build AJAX to create attractive and interactive web based graphical user interfaces that do no require plug in or extensions that work with most browsers
Amazon EC2 -- rolling out cloud-computing platform, Amazon's Elastic Compute Cloud, business are capable of running their operations on EC2
AMD64 -- AMD builds 64 bit platfrom that has become main stream.
Blackberry -- mobile device build around business, resulting in the term "Crackberry"
Blade Servers -- rack mount servers consoladating space and cooling.
FireFox -- Mozilla forced browser innovation, resulting in more and better choices
Bluetooth -- wireless innovation allowing us to go hands free.
Google Apps / Gmail provides features, convience and reliability for many businesses.

Many of us use these technologies in are daily lives to be more productive. Implementing and customizing these technologies can be very benefical for business and their employees.

Digital data and tracking lives

2010-03-14T22:28:00.001-04:00

Every one through out the U.S. has a digital I.D. Tracking I.D.s related to law enforcement uses three primary databases FBI's Integrated Automated Fingerprint ID system (IAFIS), the DHS's IDENT fingerprint database of 90 million foreign nationals. ghather from vista applications, and the Departmment of Defense Automated Biometeric Identification sytem (ABIS) monitoring foreignation and military combtants.

All of these database are GJXDM compaint to share data, the over all goal is to update all databaseos t support NIEM standard. This would allow for data exchange outside of law enforcement and allow for next generation of IAFIS and ABIS to incorporate facail and iris recongination capabilities.

Database over view:
Department of Justice / FBI /Crimial Justice / Information Service (CJIS)
Inegrated Automated Fingerprint ID system: ID 55 million people, mugs shot and fingerprints (10), terrorist watch list

Next Generation ID system:
IAFIS add palm, face, iris recognition, photo searching ability
National Crime Information center database (NCIC)-- 20 million records, crime, gangs, terriorist organization, missing and wanted people
Law Enforcement National Data Exchange -- correlation of criminal incidenent reports

Department of Defense -- Automated Biometric ID system 2.4 million records on foreign nationals -- finger prints, face and iris biometeric data

Department of Homeland Security -- Vistor and Immigrant status Indicator Technology (US-VISIT)
IDENT Automated Biometeric ID system -- ID 90 million nationals, ID checks at the border

Upgrading, installing, and training 100,000 of system require great project management skills and great system engineers. Making a difficult job of law enforcement easier or more effective is key, integrated systems should help keep the law abiding citizens safe. Good bless you and America!

Big Brother and Big Business

Sharing are digital lives and data -- holding it's weight in gold

2010-03-13T20:06:00.000-05:00

In today's digital world, we have the ability to share the most intimate details of our lives via, photos, videos, blogs, tweets, Facebook pages. All of your data is being shared and stored in Cyber space on Facebook, Twitter, Blogger, etc. For many of us, this is a great thing and enriches our lives.

The internet and specifically the computer was designed to share data for collaboration by the department of defense. Sharing expertise and information across boundaries can make you and your organization more successful.

A great case study in information sharing is law enforcement handling of 911 data. Since 911 failures in handling data, the federal government has implemented better processes for capturing, storing, and sharing data. The biggest challenges in law enforcement is track and identifying terrorist / criminals via information gathering. Once this is completed, investigators need access to incident reports across many agencies nationwide.

Improving data sharing among all these agencies has improved by developing Global justice XML (GJXDM) data model. XML helps provide a standard for common vocabulary and structure to exchange data among law enforcement databases.

To improve data sharing across the country, the US department of defense and home land security built the National information exchange model which was an extension of GJXDM. Data sharing has now become more efficient with in area of public safety, intelligence, homeland security, and emergency and disaster management.

To over come data sharing limitation among disperse system, computer to computer data exchange as been developed using web services or service orientated architectures. To track potential criminals, all agencies keep identity databases. Many of these database are not NIEM-compliant, but are in the process of being upgrade.

One of the major consideration in managing data, is your digital identity. Managing your digital brand has become a hot topic and possible revenue generator. Come back soon to see the completion of the study and how it can affect our lives.

Is Customer Service a dirty work? Probably not for these companies

2010-03-13T09:47:00.001-05:00

The listed companies below got the highest vendor rating in a national publication. This favorable rating should drive some business to these companies. What are these companies doing right to receive such high praise? I will be reviewing how these companies to see how they can help you and my firm Jbrock Consulting

Contact Center -- Genesys Telecommunications
Web Self Service -- Rignt Now Tehcnologies
Workforce Optimization -- Verint systems
Feedback Management -- Allegiance
OutSourcing -- Convergys

Looking for some type of data analysis that shows customer satisfaction / loyality is key to repeat business. Surely this is true, but how can you maxmize and turn into new sales? Business development is key to generating income!

Going Green and Virtualiztion technology

2010-03-11T21:36:00.000-05:00

Go Green thus Virtualizing servers is one of the hostest technologies because it reduces administrtive costs and engery costs.

Typcially, vendors who specialized in Virtualization over sell by teling customers you can host 100 vitrual machines on a virtual server. If a virtual server is hostisng to many virtual machines in a production environement, over loading can result in poor performance and possbile outages.

The typical consoladation is 6.1 in regards to database, ERP, and mission critical email. Typically over consolidation helps the budgetary numbers but adversely affect performance.

When specing out virtual servers, you must consider bandwidth usage, memory, CPU, and storage requirements. Even the best performing two quad-core processors experience botltlenecks and peformance hits due to highly transactional applications.

Planning our vitualization involved:

Capacity Analysis - VMware tools have the ability to perform indepth capacity anlysis that monitor server hardware utilization. What resources can a server contribute to the virtual pool? With vitual servers you must monitor and manage RAM and CPU spikes and look for performance degeradation. The key is to create balance work loads among all of the vitual servers.
Monitor Peformance Continuoulsy -- Typically you monitor RAM usage, but any I/O problems must be addressed quickly. Many virtaul users will monitor reads / writes to disk to see disk performance.
Test all applications -- test all mission critical applications before and after deployment. You must spread out similar work loads among different servers so they will not be fighting for resource. Split up web servers, email servers, file servers to manage demand. To make sure your environement works the best, take into consideration peak usage times to know resource demands. The typical testing phase will last at least one month.
Develop bench marks -- trying getting in contact with similar orginations that have virtualized to compare key statistics related to virtualization project.

New Hot I.T Skills

2010-03-10T22:15:00.000-05:00

Virtualization -- the new I.T. infrastructure
Service Managment -- Support customers in regional cloud
Unified Computing -- the ability to manage all aspecting of communication (voice, data, email)
Go Green -- deploying green technology
Communication -- Basic good people skills
Resource management -- managing I.T. and facilities with data center
Engineering -- edge networking, equipment management, various system
Network -- configuration, hardware, and security
Financial analysis -- application and technology economices
Project management -- ability to complete project on time with in budget

Always striving to sharpen my skills and manage up coming projects!

Corporate Inclusion and I.T. relations

2010-03-08T19:29:00.000-05:00

In the coporate world, minorities and women are under represented in certain fields and especially in Information Technology ("I.T.").

In an effort to reconginze minorities in I.T. and promote advancement. I am looking at the group B.I.T or Blacks in Technolgy (web site Blacks In Technolgy).

Greg Greenlee and Ronnie Hash developed B.I.T community to motivate and inspire African Americans to pursue careers in technology.

B.I.T is a social networking group that has the outward goal of driving individaul growth, developement, and sustained success in the field of infromation technology.

We as the American consumers and work force, need to work together to develop systems that work for us and benefits us indivually and as a nation. I commend the postive work B.I.T is doing, especailly in the sense of helping others.

Minority Stake in Infromation Technology Management

2010-03-01T20:03:00.000-05:00

Many minorities have made significant contrubtions to Information Technology field. Many have started their own companies and climbed the corporate latter via hard work and dedication. Every one can find inspiration from some one succeeding by over coming obstacles and hurdles to find happiness and success.

IBM has been in the fore front of promoting minorities in to the management ranks. I applaud IBM's for it's diveristy efforts lead by Ron Glover (VP) of diveristy at IBM. IBM has the highest amount of blacks in senior manage positions.

IBM has been committeed to building a diverse work force which reflect it's customer base it serves through 170 countries. The focus is about opportunity for all and eliminating barriers to success. May the path of opportunity lay in front of you, that you may follow it to happiness and success.

There are many companies and inviduals who have made I.T. accessible to all who are willing to work hard to become success. I would some day like to meet some of these I.T. leaders.

Pursuit of Perfection

2010-02-19T21:12:00.000-05:00

Striving for perfection involves hard work and determination to be the best. Perfection is elusive and some what subjective unless you are going for olympic gold. In the pursuit of athletic profection, I seek a combination of strenght, endurance, perfect form, and true content with performance. True perfection is when every thing has come together and you are totally satisfied.

Once you reach the pinnacle of your profession, does the pursuit change? What elusive challenge must be present to motivate dominating performance. The fun of it all is the challenge to obtain that prized possession, once obtained; it becomes about your effect on those around you.

Perfection in life is a combination of phyiscal, emotional, and spiritual well being. Congratulation to all olympains who have reached the pinnacle of their sport. God bless and may you reach your vision of perfection.

Office Romance ramifications

2010-02-16T21:45:00.000-05:00

Early in your career when you were single, did you ever find one of your co-workers attractive. The office bombshell hits on you and you wonder, should I take a chance on a office romance? Things to consider:

In corporate America, office romances are fairly common in the tune of 40% of workers have dated a co-worker. Typically, most of the relationship (72%) are in open or known about. To protect yourself and your co-worker, you should find out if the company has a policy about office dating. Currently, 25% of companies have a inter-office dating policy.

The obvious down side off an office romance is risk of lost productivity due to flirting and trysts. A bad office romance can be very disruptive and lower morale for the people involved. If the romance ends badly, the result could be loss of key personnel, which ultimately is a management concern.
The worst possible out come for your office romance is a lawsuit based on harassment and coercion complaints. If you are considering and office romance during your career, I would proceed with extreme caution.

Upgrading computing power (32 to 64 )bit processor

2010-02-04T22:42:00.000-05:00

I looking to upgrade to a 64 bit processor and operating system to increase speed and performance. So what is the deal?

The main advantage of upgrading to 64 bit processor is you double the processing power. A computer works on a bit and bite format or binary. A bite in binary notation can be represented as a 1 or 0. The computer stores data in a series of 1 and 0 such as 10110101 and that how computations are made. A 32 bit processor can represent number from 0 to 4,294,967,295 while a 64 bit processor can can represent numbers from 0 to 18,446,744,073,709,551,615. The bottom line is, the 64 bit processor is must more efficient and faster when doing computation on small and large complex problem.

Companies that have large database and process 1000 of transactions can really benefit from upgrading to a 64 bit processor and operating system. The new 64 bit processor Athlon is backward compatible where you can run 32 bit operating system and software programs. 32 bit O.S. and programs are not designed to take advantage of the extra processing power so you will see little benefit.

The following Windows software will run on X64 bit platform: Exchange, SQL database, Virtual Server 2005 R2, SharePoint 2007, Windows 2008 and XP. If you are using these platforms, it is well worth it to upgrade. The speed and performance increase are fantastic!

The Real and hidden cost of college

2010-01-27T22:31:00.000-05:00

For most college age students and their families, it has become very difficult to afford the sky rocketing cost of education. The typical college expense can run from $30,000 - $50,000 per year. Each year the cost to attend college rises 3% which out paces inflation. This cost typically does not include hidden costs such as extra fees, student activity fees, class dues etc.

While the economy continues to slump, many people are questioning whether the huge cost on a bachelors degree is even worth it. The latest statics show, only 1 and 5 college graduates had a job prior to graduation in 2009. To help you and your family afford college, you should look at tuition and any additional fee that may be charged, these additional fees are not disclosed unless requested.

By federal law, Universities are required to provide the overall cost of attendance. The reality is, many schools provide the lowest possible estimates and only reveal these costs when asked. As consumers, we must factor in activity fees, lab fees, health clinic fees, gym fee and technology fees. You also have to account for room and board, text books, supplies, health insurance, and transportation expenses. You can do some research on various costs at http://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/

How to prevent wasting good money?
The number one way in which families waste money on college is when students drop out or take forever to finish. The drop rate for the average freshman is 55%. In addition, 45% of the students take 6 years to get their degree. When the economy is down these numbers are worse.

The worst case scenario is when the student flunks out of school. To prevent drop out, the student has to want to be in school and recognize the value in the investment in education. College is an investment and you should look to get the greatest return on your investment. Of course, this is easier said the done.

Financing college -- if you are looking at college in the next few years, here are some tips:
Scholarship link http://www.usnews.com/education/paying-for-college/articles/2010/01/24/10-steps-to-raise-15k-or-more-for-college-now.html

Financial aide from admissions http://www.smartmoney.com/spending/rip-offs/10-things-college-financial-aid-offices-wont-tell-you-15281/

College Education 101 bang for you buck

2010-01-20T23:11:00.000-05:00

The value of a college education is dependent on getting the most bang for your buck. In order to get the most bang for your buck, we must understand the economics of the degree obtained. To be successful after college and in your career, students must be smart, attend a high quality college, and earn a degree in high demand.

The real value of a college education based on a US News report is about $300,000 during a life time. College graduates on average earn $20,000 a year more than high school graduates. For the average person who works 40 years that amounts to $800,000 minus inflation over these years, the real dollars are $450,000 today. Subtract the cost of the college education at $30,000 per year and that gives you at net value of $300,00.

The benefits of a college degree are: a good quality job with benefits such as health insurance. Typically college graduates can find and keep their jobs. The unemployment rate of college graduates tends to be must lower such as 2 - 3%. Most college graduates who are willing to work hard, have smartest, and dedication can find a rewarding and well paying career.

Higher Education and the Economy

2010-01-19T23:51:00.000-05:00

Now that the graduate has that degree, where do we go from here?

In the USA, we face many problems on multiple fronts that we need college graduates to help solve. First and foremost, we need more graduates in the field of science, math, engineering, and technology to drive innovation.

We need graduates who can lead in developing a balance between spending on the military and socail programs that uplift and help US citizens and deal with immigration problem.

We need new innovative educators who lead in fixing our education system. There needs to be a balnace between spending on education and actually education our students. We should once again make education a top priority for all, not just the wealthy and private.

We need new graduates who will lead in solving the health care dilema. How do we make health care affordable and cover the millions of un-insured.

In short, we need our educational institutions to prepare the graduate of tomorrow who are willing and able to make the world and the USA a better place for all.

The Best College Education

2010-01-18T17:23:00.000-05:00

The best education is one the affords your a satisfying and rewarding career that compenstates you very handsomely.

The old saying goes that college is the best four years of your life. You go to college, choose a major , in my case, Businesss Administration, get your degree, and live happy ever after.

The problem is the cost of higher education has sky rocketed, since I graduated. Since 911or the last decade, the economic climate has made it difficult for graduates to get a job that is related to their field of study or major. Many times graduates are forced to take the best job offer available. The first job out of college may have no relationship to your major and this can adversely affect a students career path.

If a college graduate never gets a job related to his or her field of study, how valuable is the college degree? The question becomes what is the value of a college eduction and how do you measure this?

Thanks to my followers

2010-01-08T17:30:00.002-05:00

I hope you all have the greatest year of your life!

Nexus One and mobile productivity, and our digitial life

2010-01-08T16:24:00.000-05:00

Now that Google has launched the Nexus One into the smart phone market against BlackBerry and iPhone, how does it stack up?

Base on reivews, here are some the key features it brings to the table:

The interactive home page does sound cool, there is a pond setting where the water ripples when touched and leaves float around.
The Andriod open source O.S. has improved built in speech recongnition software. The applications that use voice (as opposed to typing) is where most of the productivity gains will occur.

The voice recongination software allows you to pull up contacts by speaking their name, saying message will converts voice into type. The voice recongination software can annouce who is calling you, convert in bound SMS tesx to voice, say calendar appoints, read email etc.
Popular internet socail media sites are built in such as: Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, Google Maps GPS and search accept voice commands.
Retail price over the web is $529 which is unclocked or can use any carrier, T-Mobile contract $179, not yet available on Verizon network.
GPS shows current location and direction from here
Great screen 3.7 inch and fast 1 GHz processor
Many open source applications to improve productivity

Taking these capabilities to improve performance, productivity and staying in touch is key.

I will be reviewing these voice applications on the Andriod O.S. and the BlackBerry platforms. I will let you know how they can help you achomplish more.

The Journey

2010-01-04T21:24:00.000-05:00

The journey began with an idea and possibly a dream. It all seemed to fit in the grand plan or the master scheme.

We studied, read up, prepared for the great journey. We all seemed excited, energized, that the journey would be a great success. Most every one believed in the grand plan, but I know some doubted it's success. I knew my utmost confidience would lead the team to success.

After some soul searching, I realized the journey would require a detailed business plan. I would have to learn how others made their journey a success.
A sound business plan would require a great foundation, some financing, and confidence in the teams skills and expertise. The foundation has been built, the required elements acquired, and any potentail issues and problems have been minimized.

Now that the team is ready for the journey, we are getting closer to the moment of truth. As we prepare for the rubber to hit the road, when know we must sell and market the master plan for ultimate success. We need to establish a solid customer base and a true following. In short we need to stand out in the crowd.

As we reflect on where we started to where we have come, we realize it about the journey and not neccessarily the destination. We continue to fine tune the plan so the journey has the greatest chance for success. Establishing a great sales pitch, niche, and good chemistry will ensure the journey is grand.

Learning from a successful coach

2009-12-27T18:32:00.000-05:00

IT Leadership:

The ability to have every one focus on a common goal
Get the team to commit and devote to the process (role model)
Commitment in your focus -- conversations, promptness, attention to detail, show concern for people
Empowerment -- get feed back, ideas, and input on decisions
Set expectations for yourself and staff
Coordinate team events such as: service projects, dinner parties, and various outings.
Help others achieve their goals will inspire effort and enthusiasm.
Establish expectations for performance and hold people accountable
Find out from every one what they bring to the table
Always continue to develop expertise
Extra effort to develop an edge / niche in the market
Continue to raise your game via networking, education, and conferences.

Develop a pattern of success.

The Year in the Executive Suite “taking stock”

2009-12-21T15:12:00.000-05:00

As I look back and reflect on the past year, what have been the greatest successes, accomplishments, and goals achieved? In order to make this determination, I review the climb to the summit.

While reflecting on the rough economic climate in 2009, business prospects have improved especially in regard to potential cliental. There have been improvements in using social media sites such as Face book, LinkedIn, and Twitter to build a network of business contacts, industry experts, and various leaders. There has been success in building expertise in computing technology.

As many business leaders and executives truly understand the reach and power of information technology, integrating key technologies into business (is key). Being in position to develop and lead the development of key technology initiatives has been gratifying.

As a business and I.T. leader, the focus is truly understanding the business process and using technology to add value by increasing productivity, sales, and customer service. One of the prime examples is the mobile work force. Managing the mobile work force to ensure they have every thing they need at their finger tips such as: Email, Contacts, instant messaging, stock, GPS, voice mail, which provides great value.

The year has been successes by confidently bring value to the business, not just from a technology stand point, but also from a process and leadership standpoint. The end point has been the ability to help improve the way the business works utilizing key technology. The focus continues to be improving: business processes, customer interfaces, improving interaction among employees, customers, and suppliers.

Merry Christmas, Happy New year to business partners, family, and friends!

Security against the latest threats

2009-12-01T17:30:00.000-05:00

Typical network security involves implementing a firewall. The firewall is a barrier between you and the evils of the internet. Most good firewalls will examine common ports and protocols and ban and bar any suspicious packets from entry.

As many treats got more complicated, trusted sources, ports, and protocols carried any number of threats. It has become increasingly important to look inside data packets while nothing their source, destination, and type.

My typical network security configuration deploys a firewall, content filtering, anti-virus/spam, and intrusion detection. As the number of device appliance increased, so does the cost associated with management and licensing. Out of necessity and consumer demand, unified threat manger (UTM) was designed. I will be reviewing UTM.

Global Diversity, Out Sourcing, economics

2009-11-17T22:56:00.000-05:00

Global Diversity for U.S.A. has become a reality as the internet has made every corner of World accessible via the internet. While many companies top executives have embraced diversity, many companies and citizens are still un-accepting, or behind the times.

Many minorities and woman have made great progress in breaking the so called glass ceiling. We have a Barack Obama, a black president, Deval Patrick, the first black governor of Ma, and many other influential business people. When people make it to the top of their profession, they tend to hire and reward people in their inner circle. In the recent past, trickle down economics meant, minorities and woman where the last hired.

During this economic down turn, gains made in the Information Technology sector by blacks, Hispanics, and women have been reverse by wide spread lay offs.

Global diversification of the work place has proliferated as a result of wide spread out sourcing. Many support functions have been sent to countries such as India, Guatemala, and China. The fact is, many people in these countries can speak multiple languages (fluent English) but speak with a distinct accent. It time to realize that the world is no longer US (USA) and them (foreigners), but we as one!

When in this global economy, all U.S. workers need to be able to work with all cultures and countries. We as US citizens need to take a look at the world beyond our borders. How can U.S. business and workers use the global diversification and economy to our advantage? It time to refocus from Main Street to the global super highway and I as a business man, will be reviewing our relationship with Europe and our global strategy.

Massachusetts Information Technology -- State Legislature

2009-11-09T18:50:00.000-05:00

Massachusetts state government and Governor Deval Patrick has under taken an initiative to merge all state agencies under one umbrella. The key person in this project would be the chief information technology officer for the state.

The CIO would help merge the MA highway department, public transit, RMV, and Aeronautics under the Executive Office of Transportation. The EOT budget was projected at 20 million which also over sees 3000 agencies. One of the key duties for the CIO was working with the Information Technology Division and Federal funding sources to identify and secure financial resources needed to support IT initiatives

Once of the keys to merging agencies involved the state’s effort to move towards open document format (ODF) with in executive branch agencies. Transforming IT operations for 3000 agencies is a huge investment that the state appears not ready to make. The last two CIO have resigned as a result of the “Massachusetts Legislature's decision not to fund most of the state's IT projects”.

During the last three years, battle lines have been drawn over the direction of digit document format. Both former CIO’S have decided to go with ODF, XML based format using a variety or products including IBM workplace and StarOffice. The decision to not use Microsoft’s digital format resulted in opposition from Microsoft, legislators, government officials, and special interest group.

I was interested in tracking this project as I assisted in locating person to fill CIO position for the state of Ma. They key to project management is, the person or people running the project and associated funding. If either of these two variables are lacking, chance of success are diminished greatly.

American Dream -- Milton Academy style via Governor Deval Patrick

2009-10-28T16:45:00.000-04:00

Milton Academy -- Deval Patrick

Deval Patrick's road to first black governor of Massacusetts.

Deval and his good friend President Obama both offered similar hopes of optimism and hopefullness

many people were hungry for. Many people felt that changes would bring a brighter day for every one, not just the rich and greedy.

Deval's back ground is interesting. He graduated from Milton Academy and Harvard law. He became a top federal civil-rights enforcement officer in the Clinton administration and cheif counsel for Coka-Cola.

Deval grew up in Chicago (poor) and earned a scholarship to prestigious prep school Milton academy. He went on to Harvard and graduated from Harvard law school. He was a private attorney in Boston, specailizing in poverty law and civil rights work. In 1994 President Clinton named him assistant attorney general for civil rights. Deval has lived in Milton Ma, but his residence was reported up for sale, speculating a move to Washington with President Obama.

Deval made his in roads as an attorney working for Stephen Rienhard U.S. court of appeals as a clerk. In Berkshire county, Mark Riehard is a polical science professor at Williams College,who helped Deval get the prestigious clerkship. Deval has built a multi-million dollar second home in Richmond Berkshire county.

Back when Deval started his campain for Governor of Massachussetts, Judge Rienhart helped

get the campain off the ground and was a person of great influence and affect on Deval's life and career.

One thing that impressed me about Deval, he was not freightened or overwhelmed that he would not fit in among youth of power and privilege at Milton academy. He made the effort to reached out to others and learned that other kids were just as frieghtened as he was. There was a sense of community among adults and teachers at Milton academy where others took interest in helping you along. I also learned that there is a strong minority presence at the academy, which must have been helpful as well.

By all accounts Deval has lived the American dream. Deval ran for governor on the premise of keeping the American dream alive. In order for people to realize the American dream, the USA must have a strong economy. The education system in the USA must improve and health care should be affordable. Deval has just released a new intitutive to help small businesses acquire capital, which hopefully will lead to job creation.

Deval is an inspirtion for all based on his hard work and success. His record as governor of Massachussetts is another question. My hope is there will be brighter days ahead for Massachussetts and USA.

I am heading to Milton Academy this week end to officaite a football game. I wonder if I will run into any future leaders and hope to see some interesting sites.

Windows 7 upgrade and review

2009-10-22T11:49:00.000-04:00

Windows 7 upgrade:

If you are currently running Windows Vista you should be able to upgrade to Window 7 with out a problem. Windows 7 is designed to run on the same hardware as Windows Vista which is good news.

Windows 7 key feature are: the improved performance resulting in a faster and more stable operating system. Newer systems will run Windows 7 fine, but on older systems, you should review the hardware requirements below.

The system requirements for Windows 7 are as follows: 1 GHZ or faster processor, 1GB RAM 32 bit, 2 GB RAM 64 bit, 16 GB hard drive space and a graphics card compatible with Direct X 9. You can also run Windows 7 upgrade advisor at http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/get/upgrade-advisor.aspx

The Windows upgrade advisor will let you know what hardware and software will work with Windows 7, all others you will have to find and load the appropriate drivers. Microsoft does have some new security features available in security essentials. http://www.microsoft.com/Security_Essentials/

The early reviews on Windows 7 are good. It’s faster, better looking user interface and has touch screen capability. I will provide further overviews and review once I install.

Manage Success -- a New England tradition

2009-10-16T11:39:00.000-04:00

What can we learn from other’s success?

The Story of a Hall of Fame Coach Bill Bellchick

As the story goes, Bill got his love of football from his father Steve. Steve an immigrant got to college on a football scholarship. As a player Steve realized he would some day like to coach. Steve loved to break down film, analyze play principles, various formations, and scout opponents for hours. By the age of ten, Steve’s son, young Bill (being around his father) would spend hours absorbing every fact, thought, and perspective. The key is identifying and developing a love for what you do.

Bill’s early guiding principles were order and patterns through football. Bill would play football at prestigious Andover Academy and receive a football scholarship as well. His major in college was economics; this would dictate how his teams would manage the salary cap, and how he would value his players. A key piece to building any successful business is, providing a great product at a great price. The final result would be the molding of a championship team, the New England Patriots. The NE Patriots championship teams of the 90’s lacked super stars, but had many great team players. Many of these players performed above expectations, providing great value, and contributed to one of the most successful teams in NFL history. Through tradition, principles learned: hard work, thriftiness, and moral responsibility, Bill and Patriots were able to build a dynasty that many believed was impossible.

IT security breaches what are the damages?

2009-10-08T16:24:00.000-04:00

After many well publicized security breaches at large companies, the damage and resulting aftermath is costly and disturbing. Over the last 12 months security breaches have become a large problem for many companies. You can attribute attacks to economic conditions and to new hacking techniques with wide range objectives.

According to studies, the numbers of security breaches are the same as last year, but the damage is more severe. The average cost on a security breach is $85k, lost business, security repair.

Based on recommendation from FBI and Homeland Security Assessment:

Companies need to adhere to rigorous attention to security and the implementation of security technology such as Firewalls, Anti-Virus solutions, and intrusion detection systems.

Implementing a password security policy is key. Help desk support should be trained on how to verify users identity prior to releasing passwords; especially over the phone.

Setting up self automated password reset technology can be very useful in managing users’ password. Taking these steps can minimize damages from a security breach.

Out Source USA Pride

2009-09-29T17:21:00.000-04:00

Economics of outsourcing USA jobs

At some point in the last decade it become acceptable to send USA Jobs else where. I recall working for a management firm, where we would provide the hourly workers and management. We could do the job better and save our customers money which would improve profits.

At some point ohter countries caught up with the USA, especailly in regards to certain skills and education. Approximately at the same time, foreign manufacturers began to make products that were just as good or better at a lower cost. This situation made it more difficult for US companies to compete in the global economy.

The USA consumer was lead to believe that buying American made products was no longer important.

Many USA consumers began to buy foreign products espceially cars and electronics. As this became an acceptable norm, USA began to focus on profit and stock price above all else.

To increase profits, companies hired foreign workers and companies who could do work cheaper and some times better. At first, the public was lead to beleive that companies were only using foreigh workers to do jobs that USA could not do, especailly math, science, and programming.

At some point out sourcing become more than a USA skill or labor shortage, but a profit center. According to recent research, 40% of all US jobs could be "offshored". I was shocked to learn that many companies have sent I.T. support jobs over seas to countries such as India. I was stuned by the fact the human resources functions were be sent over seas.

According to research, an occupation's "offshorability" has no relation to skill level, education, or wages. Bottom line, any one's job can be sent over seas.

I have struggled with, why USA companies would send jobs over seas and put workers on the unemployment line. Unlike many other countries, especailly Japan, we show very little value for US workers. If offshoring can save the company money, you are probably gone.

What if you were a CEO "cheif executive officer" would you outsource / offshore to increase profits. I believe for most people, the answer would be yes. The question is, how can this change? We must once again, make good products, buy American, and punish companies who offshore for a meassly short term profit at the cost of longer term prosperity.

Mozilla Firefox Web Browser security

2009-09-16T17:49:00.003-04:00

Mozilla Firefox Web Browser security

Mozilla Firefox is set up like Internet Explorer but does not support ActiveX and security Zones. Firefox does support configurable security policies but with out the graphical user interface.

You should take the following step to disable certain features in Firefox. To edit your settings, select tools, then options:

select main or general category, you can set browser as your default or select option always ask me where to save files. This allow you control what files are saved on your system. This will help protect your system from web sites storing and saving unwanted files on your system.

Officating life -- my journey

2009-09-15T17:22:00.006-04:00

Officiating life

I have began a new phase of my life, officiating. As I began this new journey, I have begun to see the game through a new perspective. The games has changed from win at all cost, playing time, to fair enforcement of the rules.

As I have spoken to officials, coaches, players, parents, and fans, I realize that games are a microcosm of society. The first thing your learn is how to deal with over crazed parents, coaches, and fans and what to do if people get out of hand. Many parents, and to some extent coaches, live their lives out through their kids or players. This results in people taking the game way to serious and getting out of control. As an official and manager of the game, my goal is to enforce the rules fairly, manage the game, and make it an enjoyable experience for all.

We can make the game better and translate that into a memorable experience for all.

Sharon vs Randolph High School Ma 9/12/09

Managing security associated with cookies and password

2009-09-09T17:28:00.007-04:00

Managing cookie and your password

On the privacy tab there is an advanced button used to manage cookies. Cookies are text files placed on your computer by web sites you visit directly (1st party) or indirectly(third party) ads banners. The cookie can contain any data the company wants to store. The cookie is often used to track movement on web sites (shopping ) and passwords. Therefore, you should select advance button, select override automatic cookie handling. You should select prompt for both 1st and third party cookies. After you get comfortable managing your cookies, you can allow session cookies to be enabled. Session cookies have less risk than persistent cookies.

You may wish to evaluate each site to determine whether you want to allow or block individual cookies. You probably would want to block sites that our advertisements. By selecting sites button, you can manage cookie setting for specific sites. The last option you may want to consider is, setting the privacy setting to high. If this causes any functionality problems, you would have to allow cookies for this site to work properly.

Lastly for Internet Explorer, I will review advanced setting you may want to set.

Cyber Control, Parental Control, blocking web sites

2009-09-04T16:09:00.007-04:00

How to block web sites using Internet Explorer

There probably will become a time when you want to block certain web sites due to inappropriate content,viruses, and to protect children.

1. Open Internet Explorer and go to tools, Internet Options, content. In content adviser box, click enable.

2. Click the approved sites tab. Enter the address of the web site you want to block. To block the whole site use and * *.myspace.com Click never and OK.

3. Click the general tab and select users can see web sites that have no rating.

4. Enter password to control access.

5. You can review rating setting by selecting the ratings tab.

Happy web surfing.

Securing your browser -- trusted sites

2009-09-03T23:12:00.005-04:00

After setting your security level to high for the Internet, you should start to add trusted web sites that should not have any malicious software. To add trusted sites:

Go to Internet Explorer, select tools, then Internet options....Click the security tab and then trusted sites. There is an option that only allows HTTPS which means the web traffic is encrypted. Typically you will have to unchecked verify site HTTPS for sites that are not encrypted or use only HTTP. The security level for trusted sites is usually set to medium to ensure proper functionality. Once the site is added, the ActiveX and scripting are enable to allow for greater functionality.

The next post will review the use of cookies.

Securing your web browser

2009-08-24T23:32:00.003-04:00

Securing your web browser

In order to secure your web browser, you must change the setting on Internet Explorer by selecting tools then Internet options on the web browser tool menu. Select the security tab were you set the security level for Internet zone. The Internet zone is applied to all web sites that do not have customized security levels set. You can learn more about Internet security zones at http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/ie6/using/howto/security/setup.mspx.

The recommended setting for the Internet zone is high security setting. The high security setting will disable ActiveX, Active scripting, and Java. In the security setting for this zone, drag slider control up to high. You can further customize your security settings by clicking on the custom level. This gives you the ability to control security settings for the current zone. IF you plan on using only one browser, you will have to use trusted sites to have full capability of web sites that uses ActiveX and scripting.

Web Browser Security 2 -- protect your data and I.D.

2009-08-10T15:57:00.010-04:00

Web Browser feature vs. risk:

JavaScript is a scripting language that makes web sites interactive. JavaScript has to be set to limit access to local files.

VB Script is a Microsoft scripting language that makes web sites interactive. The added capability of scripting is often abused or attacked by hackers.

Cross-site Scripting or XSS attack takes advantage of trust relations you have with certain web sites.

Cross-zone vulnerabilities web browser typically limit access to local files or domains via security zone separation. If your security level is to low, you may be vulnerable.

Detection evasion Anti-virus, Intrusion Detection System, Intrusion Prevention System looks for and detects specific activity patterns. If a know bad pattern is detected then counter measures can be taken. Web scripting can go undetected due to dynamic nature of programming.

Securing your web browser

The software listed above must be configured properly and you must understand the functionality of ActiveX, Java, and scripting to understand the risk involved with vulnerabilities. Some features you may want to disable or turn on for specific web sites to enhance security.

Most users who have a Microsoft Windows operating system may use Internet Explorer as a default web browser. There are many different web browsers available such as Mozilla, Safari, and Chrome. Since different applications may use different browsers, all must be secured. You may at some point want to have a totally secured web browser for all financial activity and one for general web browsing. By securing your web browser you can minimize the chances that vulnerability in a web browser can be used to comprise your information.

Web Browser security -- protect your data and I.D.

2009-08-05T17:05:00.006-04:00

Web Browser Security
Hackers are using vulnerabilities in Web browsers to comprise computer systems. Many of the high profile security breaches have resulted from web browser security holes. I will be reviewing how to protect your data and your Identity.

Web Browser features vs. risk:
Active X is used by Microsoft Windows Explorer and allows application to use the browser. Active X has been targeted by Hackers and used to comprise many systems.

Java is object orientated programming that develops content for web sites. Java applets require a Java virtual machine that has the capability to modify operating system settings if exploited properly.

Plug-ins applications are used with browser such as Mozilla, Safari and Adobe Acrobat and typically can not be used outside of browser application or Adobe flash. Plug-ins can contain programming flaws such that allow buffer over flows and other security violations.

Cookies are files used to store data about certain web site. If a cookie is used to store log in I.D. or password, a hacker could obtain unauthorized access to that site by obtaining the cookie.

I will be covering how to secure you browser in next blog.

The Economics of Microsoft

2009-07-28T15:55:00.009-04:00

Once windows became prevalent, Microsoft office bundled (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) were successfully integrated into Windows. The bundling of Office increased market share, profits, and limited competition. The end result was Microsoft Office bundle were priced much lower than the competition base on functionality and features. This in fact was the guiding principle of economics of information.

Back in the 1990s Internet was just getting popular. AOL Dali up was the popular choice and most people used Netscape as their browser. Bill Gates and Microsoft sensed the Internet was ready to explode, so they developed Internet Explorer in the mid-1990s. Of course, Internet Explore was bundled into Windows for free, which eventually killed Netscape. Since Microsoft was quickly becoming a monopoly, antitrust trails followed. At one point, the antitrust court tried to break up Microsoft, but was unsuccessfully due to Judaical mistakes and a somewhat flimsy case.

One of the key things Bill Gates did at Microsoft was attract and surround Microsoft with best people in the industry. Many of the most innovative software design and development people came to Microsoft due to Bill Gates. To stay successful, Microsoft must evolve again in the web 2.0 environment.

Bill Gates Boy Wonder

2009-07-17T17:30:00.002-04:00

Bill Gates Boy Wonder

Back in the early day of Windows 1.0 produces in 1983 through Windows 3.0 which debuted in the 1990. Throughout these years, Microsoft surpassed Lotus as the Largest software company. Gates plan was always to wait for the market to develop and then move in once he fully understood the market.

Gates and Microsoft over took pioneers such as Lotus Notes 123, Netscape web browser, and countless others. Many of the business practices seemed to be designed to push out competition and dominate markets that resulted in some antitrust cases. One of the early crucial moves Gates made was, developing a relationship with IBM(D.O.S.) This relationship eventually allowed Windows to over take IBM as the leading developer of PC software.

Barack Obama's Harvard years influence

2009-07-17T16:30:00.003-04:00

Barack Obama Harvard years

Barack graduated from Harvard law school J.D. magma cum laude in 1991. He was the first black student elected as president of the prestigious Harvard Law Review.

Barack made his distinction at Harvard law school via a well known path to academic excellence. Barack broke down many barriers that existed for minorities. He supported and helped his classmates and the Coalition of Civil Rights to get Harvard to hire more women and minority professors.

When Barack decided to run for president, most people did not give him a chance. Many minorities did not believe that "white people" would support a black candidate. Once it was clear that Barrack could relate and appeal to all people, then people began to believe he could win.

Many Harvard educated people are helping reshape Health Care, turn the economy around, and save the environment with green initiatives. I will be reviewing who these people are and how we can help turn things around.

Computing Domaince at an end for Microsoft and Bill Gate

2009-07-15T16:00:00.008-04:00

Bill Gates and the computing revolution

Bill Gates built a computer empire that crushed rivals and dominated the desk top software market for the last two decades. Gates brilliance revolved around great technical knowledge, strategic business development, and a personality that was a great driving force.

Gates no longer runs the day to day operations, but Microsoft has approximately 84,00o0 employees and 68 billion in annual revenue. Gates now spends his time running the Gates foundation. http://www.gatesfoundation.org/Pages/home.aspx

The magical combination Gates used was technological brilliance along with uncanny business sense. Gates was able to build upon technical and business knowledge at the MIT Sloan school of management. Gates used his technical knowledge to build and design PC operating system software that allowed for a relatively inexpensive PC's that every one could afford. The windows operating system is installed on 1 billion PC's or has a user base of 1 billion users.

With these vast resources and now that Bill Gates is retired, can Microsoft maintain it's dominance and fend of Google? I will look at Bill Gates' legacy at Microsoft and the computer industry in general.

Harvard's Black eye

2009-07-08T08:29:00.006-04:00

A young man named Justin Cosby was murdered on the haloed ground of Harvard yard. The death of an alleged drug dealer on campus has stunned many. In the fall out, a young black woman's future comes crashing down as she is expelled due to her link to the killing.

Chanequa Campbell 21 claims she is being targeted because she is black and poor "The Boston Globe". She won a scholarship from NY Times and Coca-Cola an was due to graduate during the spring or a week after the murder. She has since been kicked off campus.

According to the investigation, the murder was a result of a botched robbery.The alleged drug dealer was shot for marijuana and $1000 in cash according to police. Chanequa was friends with the alleged murders girl friend who is a student a Harvard.

Supposedly, the issue revolves around a security pass that was given to the killer. According to sources, the murder took place in a different dorm then were Chanequa lived.

According to police investigation, this robbery was planned but resulted in murder. To the causal observer, this young woman future has crashed due to her association with the thug element. So the question becomes, if this woman has not been convicted of a crime; is it fair to punish a student based on association?

Many people come from varied back grounds and have friends or associations that have made mistakes. As a society, do we expect people to change over night. If you are from a poor neighborhood, should you have to give up all your friends because of a possible criminal element. Many people and institutions (Harvard included) make decision based on good or bad publicity, not always bases on the facts. It is very disappointing that some ones fuure and goals can come tumbling down and collapse due to some dumb decision or mistake.

Harvard has done tremendously good job at helping and promoting minority who have acheived great things in the U.S.A and through out the world. Barack Obama being the latest and current president!

Cyber Security

2009-06-30T20:01:00.005-04:00

As the U.S. department of Defense reviews it security initiative and policies, what can we do to improve our personal security?

The first step to improving your personal security is to have good anti-virus and spy ware. Viruses and spy ware are usually installed on computers that have security holes or vulnerabilities. It is very important to keep your software (Microsoft Windows, Office, Adobe, Apple) up to date with latest security patches.

Many computer systems are infected by getting tricked into visiting malicious web sites that install viruses and spy ware to gain control of your PC. The hackers launch attacks, steal information, once access is gained.

A properly configure firewall can prevent infections and keep you safe. To improve your security, you should run a virus and spy ware scan at least monthly.

If you need assistance removing viruses or spy ware, please feel free to contact me directly. Here is to safe surfing and computing.

Economic Stimulus and security

2009-06-18T22:19:00.003-04:00

The economic stimulus plan should help us improve infrastructure (roads, Bridges), save energy by going green, expand high speed Internet, and improve computer security. For many of our unemployed workers, competition for jobs is very steep. You have to have specific skills or go back to college or technical school.

The government and the prior sector has acknowledged the need for more technically trained worker force especially in the science, math, and engineering fields. We must lead in the creation on the next wave of technology innovation especially related to green energy and computer security.

A computer security expert like myself, is very interested in getting more talented people interested in computer science. There is such a demand for highly trained and skilled individuals in the science fields (computer science, green energy, health care, mechanical engineering related to road design).

For the US economy and it workers to prosper, we must lead once again in all facets.

Health Care Reform

2009-06-11T23:17:00.002-04:00

There is much need for Health Care reform in the U.S.A. What is the best approach and the answer is not easy. We hear about socialism and the government's huge speeding, but who is right. No easy answers and many questions.

US Cyber security plan

2009-06-08T22:56:00.001-04:00

President Obama has put together a plan to address U.S. cyber security. Computer networks in the U.S. are under constant attack from hacker and foreign countries. The high profile attack on the electric grid was the most dangerous attack yet.

Addressing computer security is a big step in the right direction, but the plan is short on details, and much has to be done in the public and private sectors.

Firing U.S. workers and keeping H1-B visa foreign workers

2009-05-27T17:46:00.004-04:00

The federal government has found companies who have fired U.S. workers and keep H1-B foreign workers. An IT firm in N.J. has been indicted on visa related fraud charges. It appears that the senate has approved stricter rules on hiring H-1B workers.

According to arrest records in six states, the companies involved were firing qualified U.S. workers and replacing them with H1-B visa workers. The fraud related to H-1B visa has deprived many U.S. citizens of employment. In January 2009 the number of workers employed in the H-1B visa program exceeded 241,000 unemployed U.S. citizens in the same occupation. Essentially,these companies were giving our U.S jobs to foreign workers.

According to statics, the number of technology jobs were down 200,000. Currently the cap of 1-B visa is 85,000 visa annually. The company in N.J. only hired foreign workers to fill I.T. jobs which resulted in lost wages and benefits for thousand of U.S. citizens.

My opinion is, any program that encourages moving or displacing U.S. workers should be limited. The drive for profits seems to lead to some form of corruption even if it means hurting U.S. workers.

Immigration and H-1B vista

2009-05-13T17:16:00.005-04:00

Immigration and H-1B visa program for Foreign workers has always been a double edge sword. The dig and cut involves companies hiring foreign workers via H-1B while laying of U.S workers.

In this economic recession, there has been talk of the government making it more difficult to hire foreign nationals to increase the hiring of U.S. workers. Many companies claim, there are not enough qualified U.S. works to fill certain job vacancy. This is the key component that needs verification.

The H-1B Visa program allow2 65,000 foreign nationals with skillS not easily found within the U.S. and 20,000 exceptions for graduateS from U.S universities. Companies who have received Trouble Assets Relief Program (T.A.R.P) who have more than 15% of their staffs on Visas; would have to prove they have tried to recruit U.S. workers. The problem with this, there is a lot of fraud related to recruiting U.S. workers.

During this recession, some U.S. High-tech companies are laying of U.S. workers. but are not cutting H1-B visa holders. There definitely should be some restrictions to hiring H1-B visa holders while companies are laying off U.S. workers.

Much of the contention U.S. I.T. workers have is, companies will hire H1-B visa holders even when you have a qualified U.S. worker available. I believe exemptions for U.S. University graduate is O.K., as many foreign students come to the U.S. to study and then work for U.S. companies.

We need a stronger policy that improves hiring of U.S. workers, H1-B visa holders, and limits out sourcing of U.S. jobs.

Immigration and Out sourcing "Profitable business?"

2009-04-30T10:34:00.007-04:00

This is a direct correlation between out sourcing U.S. job over seas and hiring illegal immigrants, lower wages and higher profits for companies involved. The easiest solution to both problems is to remove the incentive or profit that companies can make by increasing fines and enforcemnet of existing laws to discourage violators.

At some point it become fashionable to ship U.S. jobs over seas. You got to point to the auto industry to see how shipping U.S. jobs over seas became fashionable. Once it became clear that in the global economy, over seas competitors were able to make a superior product at a lower cost, US jobs were in trouble. The question is, who fault is it that many over seas competitors can make a superior product at a lower cost (management, worker, unions, health care)? Management and Executive sold us on, the only way we compete in the global economy is to send our U.S.jobs over seas. Ever since, it has been down hill and we are still trying to recover.

In a free market, there is great pressure to maximize profit at all cost. Many executive teams at companies have jumped over board in the regard. What can we do to help turn things around especially for the middle class. Many worker advocates would point to the Employee Free Choice Act currently in front of congress.

In my next post, I will look for solutions that will help U.S. companies stay competitive while ensuring more U.S. jobs are not out sourced and overwhelmed with immigration issues.

Immigration "The good, the bad, and the ugly"!

2009-04-21T17:40:00.003-04:00

The good immigrants helped build America into the country it is today. Many immigrants came here and built successful business and contributed to our economic growth. The US is truly diverse country where Evey one has a chance to be successful. Additionally the USA has access to talent through out the world, who want to work under our H-1B visa program.

Though out the last few decades, we have heard more stories on illegal immigrants who live in the USA illegally. For many of these people, they have been here for decades and have children who are presumably legal citizen by birth. Many of the the illegals are uneducated and perform very low wage jobs that helps many of our service industries run such as: farming, season employment,construction labor etc. With out these workers, many of our industries would have a problem (labor shortage).

The ugliest of the situation is, many of these people get a free ride (health care, crime,welfare, etc which hurts our legalized citizens. We need to know what has been done to improve the situation? These our the facts I will try to uncover.

Stem cell research

2009-04-07T20:36:00.006-04:00

Stem cell research
Does stem cell research have the potential to save and benefit life. If stem cell research can cure cancer in our life time, would we be more tolerant of abortion and pro choice. To really understand these questions, we must understand what stem cell research is all about.

The first scientific break through was related to embryonic stem cells used to grow human cells such as: blood and skin cells. These specific cells can be used to re engineer cells to repair damaged tissue.

Research related to stem cells has been limited, because congress limited public funding for any research related to embryonic cells in 1995. Due to these bans, much of the funding comes from private sector.

The ethical disputes centers on when human life begins? Some people consider human life to begin when the egg is fertilized. In this scenario, the embryo is consider a human life. Conducting research on an embryo would in some way destroy a potential human life.
On the other side, a fertilized egg must be implanted in the uterus to sustain life. In Vitro fertization generates embryos that are excess and therefore, could be used for research.

There is valid points to both agreements and the true test is, whether scientific advances, improve life and are used in the most ethical ways possible.

Health Care reform status:

2009-03-27T17:47:00.002-04:00

The for runners of the Health industry have been developing RHIO’s (Regional Health information organizations composed of hospitals health maintenance organizations looking to share information among themselves.

Covinsint and e-market developer help health organizations communicate while keeping all of the information private. There roles is authenticate system users, ensure compliance with regulations, and has created application programming interfaces so practices and HMO’s can connect to various management systems.

There is a growing number of service providers entering health care information exchange market. The development revolves around personal health care records developed by each provider. The health record would theoretically be available from one site. Many question still remaining concerning this approach; can such a company be trusted to handle such personal information? This approach would require each individual to keep their medical records up to date.

People in the industry believe a system is available which can be used to create a national electronic health records system. The bottom line is, the system has to improve services and treatment by effective sharing critical information. Implementation and integration remains a complex and difficult process. To make the system work, there has to be great cooperation, innovation, and investment in health orientated IT. Here in Boston, we have began the ground work.

Health Care reform and records standards

2009-03-24T18:13:00.005-04:00

One of the huge problems with government implementing reform is conflicting interest. In most cases private industry can do a much better job than the government especially when it comes to innovation. These conflicting interests usually slow down development until these differences can be hashed out.

The Veterans administration has developed a Electronic Health Records system using Vista, but private medical software providers claim they can develop a better system. This debate has been going on for better than the last decade.

Cooperation between the government and private industry should create interoperability standards using SOA, middleware, and standard file formats, similar to open document format (ODF) and resource description format (rdf) standards for information medication base structured meaning.

There is a process to create Continuity of care, an XML base standard file format standard for Electronic Health Records (EHR) vendors can write in the same file format. To facilitate this conversion, the Commission of the certification of Health IT does certification and creates interoperability and definition guidelines in three key areas: Privacy, format, and content.

The Health care industry use glossary of terms to describe procedure and diagnosis of patients which revolves around International Classification of disease IDC-9 which must convert to IDC-10, IDC-10 holds 155,000 codes allowing the tracking of disease, diagnosis, and treatment procedures. Deploying or upgrading from IDC-9 to IDC-10 is another challenge for Health care professionals and IT staff.

There is an overwhelming amount of information that must be tracked especially related to molecular understanding of disease. The information system needs to help make better decisions while being comprehensive, flexible, and manageable way to handle data.