bMighty Blog

Avaya Predicts Unified Communications Will Grow From The Bottom Up

Wed, 14 May 2008 15:15:16 -0500

Most observers think of UC as a big enterprise technology that will eventually trickle down to small and midsize companies. But there�s another possible approach: UC may be more likely to trickle up from consumer services into the business world.

Microsoft Office 2004 for the Mac Users Get Their Own Update

Wed, 14 May 2008 12:07:33 -0500

Yesterday, we discussed Service Pack 1 for Microsoft Office 2008 for the Mac. The company also released a minor update for Office 2004 for the Mac, bringing it to release 11.4.2

McAfee Spam Experiment Results: Spam Is Bad And There's Lots Of It

Wed, 14 May 2008 11:47:08 -0500

All spam all the time -- that's what volunteers for McAfee's Global S.P.A.M (Spammed. Persistently. All. Month.) experiment looked for, and that's what they got when they turned in their brand-new, completely unprotected machines and opened themselves to the deluge.

A Better Way to Ease Disaster Recovery Chores?

Wed, 14 May 2008 10:19:37 -0500

Every company fears an unforeseen event, such as a fire, flood, or hurricane but needs to be prepared for such catastrophic possibilities. Such preparation has been time consuming, tedious and often ineffective, so vendors are trying to streamline the task.

That's One Way To Choose A Technology Vendor

Wed, 14 May 2008 00:15:30 -0500

Smaller businesses rely on partners to design, customize, install, support, and service their technology needs from infrastructure to customer-facing applications and everything in between. That makes the choice of vendor every bit as crucial, as the software, hardware, and services they provide. There are myriad reasons to select a particular vendor, but the latest third-party data on their quality could help inform a tough decision.

Microsoft's First Update to Office 2008 Is Big. Literally.

Tue, 13 May 2008 21:31:32 -0500

Office 2008 for Macintosh is off to a roaring start, according to Microsoft. In its first four months, the software sold faster than any other version of Office for Mac, the company says. And now the software is getting better, or at least less buggy, with Service Pack 1 now available.

You Think You've Really Destroyed That Data? Take A Look At What Got Recovered From Shuttle Columbia

Tue, 13 May 2008 11:31:47 -0500

The loss of the Space Shuttle Columbia and its crew in 2003 continues to haunt many of us -- and, unexpectedly, has offered a lesson in the persistence of hard disk data.

Should Smaller Businesses Twitter? Some Say Yes

Tue, 13 May 2008 11:13:14 -0500

Social networking has met its match in Twitter, whose dedicated users are fixated on SMS-ing or IM-ing their "tweets" in the small space allotted by the messaging service. But what can a smaller business do with the 140 character limit to generate business? Apparently, a lot.

Firefox 3.0 Release Schedule Update

Tue, 13 May 2008 08:15:09 -0500

In a previous post, I mentioned that we would probably see a Firefox 3.0 release candidate before the end of the month. Based on a senior Mozilla developer's recent remarks, that estimate looks to be right on track.

OpenOffice.org Readies Its Mac Attack

Tue, 13 May 2008 07:27:37 -0500

Mac support has never been a big selling point for OpenOffice.org. Fortunately, this is about to change in a big way.

Stamp Costs Are Up. E-Mail Costs Are Not

Mon, 12 May 2008 11:33:45 -0500

The US Postal Service is increasing the costs of stamps again. It'll now cost you 42 cents to mail a letter -- and you'll have to dig deeper to mail other items also. But the price of sending an e-mail hasn't changed.

Email Overload Drains Corporate Productivity

Mon, 12 May 2008 07:00:24 -0500

How much time do your employees spend sifting through and responding to their email messages? Do you think they know how to perform that task well? What are some of the prime missteps that users often make?

iPhone Update May Be Coming Soon

Sat, 10 May 2008 19:49:41 -0500

As of Saturday, May 10, the iPhone is currently out of stock at the Apple Store, including both the 8MB and 16GB models. That can mean one of two things.

The Next-Generation iPhone: It's Nearly Here, We Hope

Fri, 09 May 2008 20:42:28 -0500

The original iPhone is a GSM handset that uses the EDGE wireless network as well as WiFi. While the iPhone is a marvel of multimedia usability, it's not at the cutting edge of mobile networking. That may be about to change, if stories are true about the forthcoming debut of a 3G iPhone.

Data Center Conservation: Some Practical Tips

Fri, 09 May 2008 12:37:14 -0500

Jack Pouchet, the director of energy initiatives at Emerson Network Power, believes companies can reduce 50 percent of the power consumption in their data center, if they tried just a little. Is your small or midsize business interested?

Backscatter Spam Spreading, Bouncemail Battle Heats Up

Fri, 09 May 2008 10:56:56 -0500

Have you been backscatter or bounceback spammed yet? No? Be patient -- if your e-mail address has ever been published on the Web, the odds may be against you.

Getting Windows Audio/Video Files into Your Mac

Thu, 08 May 2008 15:39:21 -0500

The world is filled with multimedia files, and if you receive files from a Windows user, it may be in a Windows format. The challenge can be to play them on your Mac, and to import them into iTunes.

Reliability Study Serves Up Good News For Linux Users

Thu, 08 May 2008 13:47:04 -0500

A 2006 research study caused an uproar when it reported that Windows Server 2003 was more reliable than Linux. This year's results tell a somewhat different story -- at least in terms of which side wins the bragging rights.

Web Text: They're Not Reading Much So Keep it Short

Thu, 08 May 2008 11:29:53 -0500

Recent research into the reading habits of the average Internet user reveals what we've all long suspected: those visitors to your site are not reading much. The lesson for smaller businesses is obvious: Tighten up that copy and remember to make those words that you put up there count.

More On Disaster Recovery: Mind The Gaps In Your Plans

Wed, 07 May 2008 13:49:51 -0500

We've talked a lot here about disaster recovery, and almost as much about planning for disaster recovery. In considering these, it's well-worth considering -- and looking for -- any hidden gaps or vulnerabilities that might bring even the best-laid plans to grief.

Management Vendor Broadens Reach

Wed, 07 May 2008 05:51:29 -0500

Systems and network management have been coalescing, so dividing lines between the two have become hard to discern. Consequently, it is not too surprising to see vendors in one of these areas moving more squarely into a new niche.

Big Blue Thinks Smaller

Tue, 06 May 2008 12:26:01 -0500

IBM is launching a web-based application initiative for smaller businesses. The company is finally starting to realize there's real money to be made off small to midsize businesses. The question is what took them so long?

Most Workplace Toilet Seats Are Cleaner Than Most Workers' Keyboards

Mon, 05 May 2008 14:54:36 -0500

The viruses in your computer can harm your computer's data; the viruses (and germs and bacteria and toxins) on your computer can harm you.

Web 2.0: Videos Can Give Smaller Businesses an Edge

Mon, 05 May 2008 11:41:11 -0500

On the Internet, nobody knows you�re a dog, goes the famous New Yorker cartoon. Nobody has to know you�re a smaller business either � and videos are one of the most effective ways to look bigger and impress the search engines, if you do it right.

10G Ethernet Moving from Fiber to Copper

Mon, 05 May 2008 11:20:52 -0500

Faster speeds are something that IT departments constantly desire. 10G bps transmissions have been relegated to backbone switch connections but are starting to make their way into servers and storage systems because of less expensive cabling.