Posts Tagged ‘internet’
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Internet
Friday, May 13th, 2011
During the past couple of weeks the Internet has been buzzing with the news that various companies have been vying for Skype. A few of the companies that have been eyeing the Internet telephone service included Google, Microsoft, and Facebook. On May 10, 2011 in the official Skype Blog it was announced that Microsoft has put an end to this competition by paying $8.5 billion to acquire Skype. Microsoft stated that they finalized the offered price of $8.5 billion dollars on April 18, 2011 and signed the contract on May 9, 2011, making this deal Microsoft’s largest purchase to date.
From Microsoft.com
May 2011
At the Microsoft and Skype Press Conference, Microsoft’s CEO Steve Balmer and Skype CEO Tony Bates went into details regarding the recent purchase and the directions that they intend to take. It is their goal to provide “experiences that aren’t limited by distance or device”. Peter Klein the Chief Financial Officer for Microsoft stated that both companies “felt that it was a compelling opportunity to build on their strengths and accelerate what they do”.
If you are unfamiliar with Skype it’s a Voice over Internet Protocol (IP) service which is used to make calls using the Internet. Skype offers free Skype to Skype text, voice and video. Skype also offers a low rate premium service that also offers regular Internet calling to mobile and landlines, group video calling, and a ton of additional features. At the time of the purchase Skype already had over 170 million users and reported over $860 million in revenue in 2010. Skype is already a successful company that is continuing to grow strong and offers tremendous growth opportunities for both businesses and consumers. Last year Skype was used to make about 207 billion minutes worth of voice and video calls. Was Skype worth the $8.5 billion that Microsoft paid? Potential revenue aside, the acquisition of Skype was a solid strategy to increase their brand recognition and to prevent their competition (Google) from gaining a further advantage.
Now that Microsoft has purchased Skype, what can we expect? During the Microsoft and Skype live press conference the following key points were emphasized.
Microsoft will begin to offer product support to their customers using Skype. (Microsoft Office, Xbox, Messenger, Hotmail, Outlook, Lync, Exchange, etc.)
- Microsoft Devices that utilize Skype
More of their products and devices will feature Skype. Microsoft has the opportunity for more exposure within mobile, desktop and gaming environments. (Xbox, Xbox Live, Xbox Kinect, Windows PC, Windows Phone, etc.)
The Windows phone can properly compete with the other smartphones on the market by offering a product with video chatting like Apple’s FaceTime.
- Could be a big win for Facebook
Microsoft is an investor in Facebook and could decide to offer Skype as a way to further propel the peer-to-peer social networking website.
Most importantly there will be continued support for non-Microsoft users and devices. The company was very outspoken about building and enhancing the current customer experience. Microsoft has fully committed to serving current Skype users regardless of what type of device they utilize. This shouldn’t really come as a surprise even though some users were concerned about not being able to use Skype anymore. Skype already has a following of 170 million and a good number of those users are not strictly Microsoft users. Although only providing Skype on Microsoft products would force people who want to use Skype to buy their devices it would also upset many of the Skype users who use it on non-Microsoft systems. Part of the reason why Skype is so valuable to Microsoft is the fact that it already has a large customer base and upsetting the current users or deterring future customers would only go to show that the $8.5 billion spent on Skype was a waste.
Many Skype users have already questioned how this will affect them and seem to be unsure about Microsoft/Skype’s future intentions. During the press conference users were reassured that this business venture will be beneficial for all parties involved and will only enhance the Skype brand and user experience. The core assets of Skype are an engaged user base, monetized opportunities, and innovation in technology. When considering these assets and how Microsoft is an “ambitious, forward thinking, and irrepressible company that has been empowering consumers and businesses for over 35 years”, the two companies seem to be a perfect match. As for whether $8.5 billion was too much to pay, we can only wait and see but Microsoft remains very hopefully due to Skype’s strong foundation and future growth opportunity.
How do you feel about Microsoft and Skype, What would you like to see Microsoft do with Skype?
For the full press conference visit: Microsoft/Skype Press Conference
And to learn more about Skype visit: What Skype has to offer
Thanks for Reading have a Great Day!
Dustin
CDTek.com
Tags: growth opportunities, internet, Microsoft, press conference, Skype, Skype users, video calling, VoIP
Posted in Communication, Internet | No Comments »
Thursday, January 27th, 2011
Creating professional email with the proper business etiquette is an easy enough concept but with a lack of face to face communication it is not uncommon for businesses to neglect to be professional. Often email serves as a quick method of corresponding between two or more individuals but due to social networking and methods such as texting, the written language has taken a hit. Although texting and social media are beneficial and respectable ways to communicate, they frequently convey slang or shorthand which of course can carry over to the other forms of communication like email.
A majority of the time we may find ourselves typing or writing “u” instead of “you”  or some other shortened version of a word. This type of shorthand is fine in some cases or if you have a good relationship with the correspondent, but with professional writing, it is important that we follow certain guidelines when it comes to conveying our messages. If we’re unable to communicate in a professional manner it is very easy for the reader to not take us seriously, as they normally would. The following are a few tips on how properly construct business emails.
- Establish a professional email account:
The name says it all and no one is going to take us seriously if our email address is inappropriate or juvenile. Use one that has your name or company name on it, or better yet use your company’s email account with your company’s domain name.
- Address the recipients using their full name and title:
Give the recipient that you are communicating with the proper respect and recognition that they deserve (Hello Dr. Smith,).
- Fill in the subject line:
Provide a summary of the topic you plan to discuss in the email so people know what the email is about. Letting the recipient know what they will be reading about draws more attention to the email as well as the emails level of importance.
- Proper greeting:
Although it is a business email it is polite to ask how someone is doing with brief chit chat. Be personable and move forward onto the core reason for the email. This helps to establish a good relationship with the person you are contacting, shows that you are caring, and can break up some of the heaviness of the message.
- Watch the tone of the email:
Often when writing tone can easily be misunderstood and could cause confusion or misunderstandings. Keep your tone in mind throughout the email and if you think that the phrasing has the potential to be misconstrued, rephrase the sentence more appropriately.
- Be concise:
Make sure that you are making your point without getting too wordy or confusing. Re-check to ensure that you have made your point and have covered all the necessary components that you needed to include (bullet points may be helpful).
- Don’t get fancy:
Try to stick with one text font and color. Use a font color that is easy to read, like black, and try to only use a color if you need to draw the recipient’s attention to something that is important. Using multiple fonts can make email harder to read.
- Proof read:
Proofing your email cannot be stressed enough. Nothing is worse than having misspellings and sentences that do not make any sense. Read your email out loud, find any problems and make any needed adjustments. Just because the spelling and grammar checker may not have found an error doesn’t mean that you are off the hook, it is still possible for your email to have mistakes (to, two, too).
- Avoid abbreviating:
Avoid using slang and phrases that you may use outside of a professional environment.
- Polish the email:
After correcting any mistakes polish off the email with a nice conclusion. Wrap up any loose topics and conclude your message appropriately.
- Signature:
Sign the email with a personal electronic signature and footer. Create a permanent footer for all your emails that include your name, signature, position, company, and any other elements you find necessary. For an example of email sign off check out the link email footer.
These tips are here to help you make a good impression of being professional, polite, and concise so utilize them when necessary. The reasons to have better email etiquette are clear. Suitable email practices convey that you are professional, respectful; they build better working relationships, leaving a good impression, and can generate future business.
For more tips on creating effective business emails visit:
Business Email Etiquette
32 Important Email Tips
Thanks for Reading have a Great Day!
Dustin
CDTek.com
We are an information technology firm providing Internet Marketing and Technical Support to businesses.
Tags: business, email, etiquette, internet, professional, Small Business
Posted in Communication, Etiquette, Small Business Tips | 1 Comment »
Friday, December 24th, 2010
 Searching the internet is a common task for most of us and has become another part of our day to day routine. However there are those people out there that are still plagued with poor or inaccurate search results. This can be reduced and the following tips are here to illustrate the basic search techniques to help improve your search results.
If worded correctly and emphasized accordingly, a search engine has the power to find almost anything that a user is seeking. If you’re the type that just dives right into your searches then you are most likely missing out on the best results. Try out these methods of performing a search and see if you notice a difference.
The Basics
- Search the subject by narrowing the topic and adding search terms
Limiting the topic by using exact terms will return fewer and more accurate results. For example if you were interested in locating an outdoor movie theatre in Maryland it would be important to include the word “outdoor” and “theatre” in the search window. Performing a search with just a movie theatre would most likely return a host of results that has nothing at all to do with Drive-in theatres.
- Exclude Results
Before trying an exact phrase with quotation marks you can also exclude any unwanted search criteria with the subtraction sign. By placing the minus sign in front of the term you want to exclude it will tell the search engine to ignore any sites yielding that result (example “outdoor theatres Maryland -Annapolis”).
- Try to use the exact phrase
Searching outdoor movie theatres would return with sites that include any of the following words: outdoor, movie, and theatres. However adding quotation marks around the words “outdoor movie theatres” would return only search result pages with all the words found in it.
- Word Variation
Still too many results and not exact matches for what you need? Try using a capital “OR ” in between the variations while still using the quotation marks. Like this “Drive-in movie theatres” OR “Outdoor movie theaters”. This technique will result in sites containing either of the phrases. This type of search method is known as a Boolean Search.
- Place Name
Add any other necessary details such as where you’re looking (pace name). In this case we would include “Drive-in movie theatres” in Maryland. If you have any words misspelled Google often assists with corrections by displaying a “Did you mean…..” at the top of the page. In addition Google also displays pages that are on the same website as the previous search result with an indentation. Learn to recognize this as it will be a hint that you may have already checked out this site on one of its other pages.
- Scan Keywords
When Google returns the search results, locate the Cached Link next to the web link. Clicking this will open a window and highlight the words that the search engine found in common in your search box. With this the user can now skim the document and locate material relevant to their search quickly and efficiently.
Hope these tips put an end to your search engine problems and for more basic search engine information and tips check out the following:
About Search Engines
Using Keywords
Thanks for Reading have a Great Day!
Dustin
CDTek.com
Tags: business, internet, results, search engine
Posted in Internet | No Comments »
Tuesday, November 23rd, 2010
 Hello and welcome to Chesapeake Digital Technology´s blog. We’re an information technology firm in Maryland. We provide two primary services, Internet Marketing / SEO and Technical Support for business.
Picture your corporate network. It doesn’t matter if you’re a Fortune 500 company or a medium sized business. You have a network with computers, printers, etc all coming together to make your business function well. You have some important stuff on there, right? Client lists, pricing, billing info, etc. Well, there are people out there who want your data and they will take it by force. Among the arsenal at your disposal for defense are an IPS and an IDS. Here’s how they break down.
IDS – Intrusion Detection System
An IDS monitors network traffic. It can be hardware or software based, but regardless, it scans all the data that goes in and comes out of your network. The big thing here is logging. An IDS is not designed to stop attackers or suspicious data packets from entering your network. Rather, it is designed to track them and let you know where they came from, where they were delivered, and plenty more information.
Open Source Options
AIDE
Bro NIDS
OSSEC HIDS
Prelude Hybrid IDS
Snort
Suricata
IPS – Intrusion Prevention System
An IPS, or Intrusion Prevention System, is a great start to network defense. An IPS employs several methods for protection, but the key difference here from an IDS is that the IPS will analyze all relevant data AND keep the packets out of your network. They key is placement on your network. An IPS setup in the DMZ (demilitarized zone – special area between the Internet and your local network) can work wonders for network security.
Solutions
Cisco Security Agent (originally by Okena formerly named StormWatch Agent)
Denyhosts
Fail2ban
Mcafee Entercept
So there it is. Talk about these options with your IT people and see if they are right for you. Remember, an IPS will cost you more, but it will also take care of some of your security concerns.
-Josh
CDTeK
Tags: business, data, IDS, internet, IPS, network, Security, support
Posted in Security | No Comments »
Friday, October 15th, 2010
 Hello and welcome to Chesapeake Digital Technology´s blog. We’re an information technology firm in Maryland. We provide two primary services, Internet Marketing / SEO and Technical Support for business.
Tech Support work isn’t cheap. Like most specialized work, it takes years of training and experience to make sure that you know all the ins and outs. Therefore, like calling an electrician, Tech Support costs a bit of money. However, it doesn’t need to break the bank. In the past, tech support calls would require someone to drive out from a central office to your workplace to take a look at the problem. Now, however, there is an easier and more efficient way to get support: Remotely.
Remote support allows for a technician to take control of your computer, with your permission of course, and solve the majority of software issues you are experiencing. This provides a myriad of benefits for both you and the technician.
First, there is no need to travel. This makes everyone’s lives easier. The tech doesn’t have to drive out and lug equipment with them and you don’t end up paying for travel time. Working closely with this is the fact that the tech will have all of his resources available to him at his office. There is no case of “I forgot X” or “I need to go back for Y”. Any software can be sent along online and with no need for physical media.
Another benefit is that you save money overall. Most companies will charge less as a result of being able to remotely support you. We do that here at CDtek. If we can help you remotely, it saves us a lot of money and we can turn that savings around to you.
-Josh
CDTek
Tags: internet, IT, Remote, support, tech, Technical
Posted in Business Tools | No Comments »
Friday, October 8th, 2010
 Hello and welcome to Chesapeake Digital Technology´s blog. We’re an information technology firm in Maryland. We provide two primary services, Internet Marketing / SEOand Technical Support for business.
Most business people use smart phones. You need them to stay connected to the world and deliver to your consumers. It could be email, the web, or any number of online services. Many users have Blackberries, and that’s what brings us to this discussion. Recently, the Blackberry backup service was cracked. Now, there are a few things you should know about why what happened matters to you.
The Good: The main benefit of this crack is that you can now get to backup data even if you’ve lost your password. Your Blackberry can be cracked and the data restored. Your IT crew will often keep tools like this around. I know one professional who uses a Linux crack to break administrator passwords when people get locked out of their PCs and do not recall their administrator password.
The Bad: Your Blackberry could now be vulnerable to attacks from cyber criminals. This is the classic debacle. While a new hack can help you out, the big risk of attack can create a lot of reasons to flee a particular service.
The Question: Should you stick with Blackberry? The reasons have been building up for a while now to leave the service backed by RIM. Apple’s iPhone and Google’s Android OS are valuable options that are often more powerful than Blackberry’s tools. In addition to productivity, the hardware in general is often more accepted publicly as user-friendly.
-Josh
CDtek.com
Tags: blackberry, internet, mobile device, Security, WWW
Posted in Business Tools | No Comments »
Friday, September 17th, 2010
 Hello and welcome to Chesapeake Digital Technology´s blog. We’re an information technology firm in Maryland. We provide two primary services, Internet Marketing / SEO and Technical Support for business.
Printing from a digital device is something that users have wanted for years. Lots of devices support this, and the number is growing constantly. Laptops have of course had this ability, but things like PDAs and Smartphones have notably lacked it. Specifically, Apple’s line of iDevices (iPad, iPhone) have been without this ability. Well, coming in iOS 4.2, AirPrint will enable these device to print wirelessly.
Since the iPad and iPhone can already view and edit documents, spreadsheets, etc, printing was a natural step. Why it has taken this long, no one can be sure. However, AirPrint will allow for users to take advantage of their mobile devices like never before. There will be two ways to use this feature. The easiest way will be to use a wireless printer that supports AirPrint. This might take a while, as this is a new feature. However, since I don’t know the intricacies of the Apple code for AirPrint, I could be wrong. In this case, your iDevice would connect directly to the printer to send the data. The other way to make this happen would be to use a utility on your computer to share the printer. In conjunction with AirPrint, your iDevice would not be able to send files the printer.
Both of these methods will be especially helpful in the home or office. If you need to print out an email, simply send it to the printer with your iPhone. Writing a short paper on your iPad and need to print it out? Done. By offering this technology, Apple takes another step closer to replacing netbooks and expanding their market share.
-Josh
CDTek
Tags: AirPrint, blog, internet, ios 4.2, iPad, iPhone, printing, Productivity
Posted in Business Tools, Printing | No Comments »
Friday, September 10th, 2010
 Hello and welcome to Chesapeake Digital Technology´s blog. We’re an information technology firm in Maryland. We provide 2 services, Internet Marketing / SEO and Technical Support to small and medium business. Okay, so you know how shipping ports work, right? Ships come into certain ones, while others are reserved for other types of traffic. This is analogous to how ports work when talking about exchanging data via the Web or your local network. Now, a good firewall will block the superfluous ones for you, but you might find you need to fine-tune it a bit. There’s also a great chance you’ll never have to deal with any of this. That’s what IT people are for right? Well, in the likely chance you’re going to be making decisions affecting those people, and the rest of the company, here are a few ports to know.
Port 110/25: POP/SMTP (E-Mail)
These ports are designed to have e-mail exchanges funneled through it. I won’t get into how traffic is sorted, but suffice it to say that this is the port universally agreed upon to get email. Make sure it is left open. POP and SMTP are two different ways to fetch email, and either one might be in use for your email client.
Port 443: SSL (Secure Web Connection)
We’re all seen the little lock, castle, whatever at the bottom of our browser when we go to check our bank account info. This means that the connection is secure, because the data being sent back and forth is encrypted. Port 443 is reserved for this, so make sure it is open, or you won’t be able to go anywhere that requires a name and password.
Port 80: HTTP (Web Browsing)
Straightforward web browsing is relegated to Port 80. All of your connections, usually just Internet surfing, that use HTTP go through here. If this port is closed, you won’t be able to get outside of your network for Web access. Good for tight lockdowns, bad for just about everything else.
-Josh
CDtek
Tags: blog, firewall, internet, mac, networking, PC, port, Security, TCP ports, web
Posted in Internet | No Comments »
Wednesday, August 18th, 2010
 Hello and welcome to Chesapeake Digital Technology´s blog. We’re an information technology firm in Maryland. We provide several services, like Internet Marketing and Technical Support to small and medium business.
Congratulations! Your small business is expanding. You might even have an IT guy/gal working for you now. This is a big step. He/She has told you that since the company is growing, you’ll likely need a server to help out soon. However, you don’t know where to start. We can help. Here is a list of reasons why you might need a server. Take a close look and see if any match your organization.
Hosting Software
Some software requires that you host (install and run) it from a server. This is usually true of database software or some other records keeping programs. For example, Champion’s Way’s MAS software, designed to help martial arts studios track vital statistics, will only run from a server. Take note of software you might need in the future and what it requires to run.
Storing Data
Along the lines of running software, storing data in a central location, not tied to any one user is often a good idea. This is good as servers have redundant drives where workstations usually do not and keeps one person from having too much control, though you will still need to trust some people to keep the server up and running (usually your IT employee). This ties into another important consideration for servers.
Security
Keeping PCs secure from viruses and malware is one thing. However, you need to start putting protections in place to prevent people from just sitting down and accessing your network. Security settings on servers (for example, those running Windows Server 2008 R2), can give you the control you need to make sure that you are meeting the “prudent man” standards. That is to say, doing what is reasonable to protect yourself.
Internal Email Hosting
This is sort of a hassle, but setting up your email system internally can be a great benefit to a growing organization. Using a Microsoft environment (Windows Server 2008 R2, Exchange 2010) for example, allows you to integrate your various pieces of software. Interoffice emails won’t depend on an external connection, leading to faster send/receive times and occasionally sustained productivity in the event of an Internet outage.
-Josh
Chesapeake Digital Technologies
Tags: Exchange, internet, PC, Server, Tips, windows
Posted in Computers, Hardware, Small Business Tips | No Comments »
Thursday, August 12th, 2010
 Hello and welcome to Chesapeake Digital Technology´s blog. We’re an information technology firm in Maryland. We provide several services, like Internet Marketing and Technical Support to small and medium business.
Cloud Storage is something we’ve talked about here before. If you’re not familiar with it, you can check out links here and here to brush up on the data. Now that that’s out of the way, there’s a big question that a lot of people have about cloud storage: Is it safe? Well, that’s a great question, so let’s go ahead and check it out.
Know Your Provider
Make sure you do some research on the company providing your Cloud Storage service. Any site worth the free will use some form of encryption. Check to make sure that this is the case. With bigger companies’ solutions, like Amazon’s S3, you don’t have to worry. They use secure connections to handle everything.
Will Others See My Data?
Make sure to read the terms of service agreements when handling this. The fact of the matter is that some cut-rate services may offer free data storage, but could possibly comb through it for marketing information. If this is something you are uncomfortable with, then make sure you know where you’re sending your data.
How Reliable is Cloud Storage?
In a word? Very. Again, this depends on your provider, but the quality services have your data backed up and duplicated in several locations. This prevents any one point from breaking the whole system. This process is important in any IT project, and so a good provider will ensure that your data isn’t easily lost.
-Josh
Chesapeake Digital Technologies
Tags: Backups, Cloud, data, internet, Secure, Storage
Posted in Computers, Internet | No Comments »
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