Scot joined Data Network Group in October 2006. He worked the previous 8 years as a systems administrator for an underground utilities services company.

Scot grew up in Pittsburgh, PA – and, yes, he is still a Steelers fan. After high school he joined the Army. Scot spent two years in Germany and finished up at Ft. Carson, near Colorado Springs. After leaving the Army, Scot moved to the mountains and was a “ski bum” for a few years before moving to the Denver area where he attended school.

Scot enjoys spending his spare time with outdoor activities such as telemark skiing, mountain biking, fishing as well as indoor sports such as bowling. Scot lives in Arvada with wife Jennifer, two sons (Owen, age 10, and Declan, age 8), a dog, a cat and a blue-tongued skink.

First let me say, Gesture Based Computing (GBC) is fun. From my first experience in my childhood with the Nintendo Power Glove, I have always been interested in GBC. As an owner of an Xbox Kinect for the past 15 months I have a lot of first-hand experience. If you are not familiar the Kinect is an accessory for the Xbox video game console that allows interaction with the system without a controller. The interaction with the console can be performed using voice or gestures. Jumping, ducking, leaning moving is all picked up by cameras and is then translated into movement in the game. While playing golf, tennis, river rafting, etc… is fun; is this technology viable for the productive people? I believe it is, and there is probably a Minority Report style computer in the future for all of us that will be useful for more than just games.

When the Kinect was released in November 2010 there were a lot of individuals working to use the Kinect with their PCs. While a lot of “proof of concept” programs were created, most of them fell under the realm of novelty. Some of the more interesting ones have been acknowledged by Microsoft on this page. On February 1st Microsoft is releasing the Kinect for Windows. While I cannot imagine all of the possible uses, video chat, creating digital artwork, mechanical simulation, and use as an educational utility are in progress.

While I have only written about Kinect, there are others out there. Some are video game systems: PlayStation Move, Nintendo Wii and some are development projects that are in the works. Windows has been between 85-90% of the computer market for many years, it’s a good bet that this technology will be developed for broad usage on Windows first.

So back to the real question, is it useful? I can’t imagine entering data into an Excel spreadsheet, or recording transactions into QuickBooks using only gestures. But ultimately it will depend on the software and interfaces created for GBC. In the coming years it will be interesting to see how this technology progresses.

Whether it’s a few PCs or hundreds on your network, there’s one thing that can separate your system from being compromised: a great password.

Why? Hackers want access to anything and everything. If they can guess your user name and password, you might as well have given them your wallet and the keys to your building. Here are some tips on creating a great password.

1) Don’t Be Complacent!

Hackers are a devious bunch and will stop at nothing to get into your network and files. They use three different methods to get to you: brute force, dictionary attacks, and social engineering. Brute force is the most time-consuming method. Basically, it involves a program that tries every combination of letters, numbers, and keyboard characters to guess your password. It starts with trying every character, and then tries two-character combinations, and so on. The longer the password is, the exponentially more difficult it becomes to crack. Another method of attack is through the use of custom dictionaries. These dictionaries are filled with words and names, but also number and letter combinations, such as 11111 and abc123. Simple passwords such as “duke” or “ilovemydog” can easily be guessed. The third and most effective method of attack is social engineering. This involves someone with criminal intent soliciting a password directly from a user. Many people divulge their passwords to co-workers and strangers without even realizing it.

2) Know What Makes a Bad Password

• Don’t use only letters or only numbers.
• Don’t use names of spouses, children, girlfriends/boyfriends or pets.
• Don’t use phone numbers, Social Security numbers or birthdates.
• Don’t use the same word as your log-in, or any variation of it.
• Don’t use any word that can be found in the dictionary — even foreign words.
• Don’t use passwords with double letters or numbers.

Some of the worst passwords are: password, drowssap, admin, 123456, and the name of your company or department. Finally, never leave it blank. That’s a surefire way to let the bad guys into your system.

3) Get Better at Creating Good Passwords

A good password is one that is easy to remember but difficult to guess. That sounds like a paradox, but it’s really not.

There are a couple of different ways to create difficult-to-crack passwords. One is substituting letters with characters and numbers. To make it easier on yourself, try to use numbers and characters that resemble the letters they are replacing.

Another method is to use the first letters of the words in a favorite line of poetry or a verse of song. “Hail, hail the lucky ones, I refer to those in love” becomes “H,hTL0,IR2t1L.”

The best passwords are at least eight characters in length and use a combination of numbers, keyboard characters and upper- and lower-case letters. The longer your password is, the longer it will take someone (or more likely, some program) to crack it.

4) Change Your Password Often

This one is pretty-much self-explanatory. A stale password is a violated password. Changing the password every 30 days is ideal, but not always practical. I usually recommend at least a 60 day schedule but I would advise you not to go more than 90 days.

Data Network Group’s number one core value is SERVICE. Throughout my decade with DNG, excellent customer service has been something we discuss and work on literally every day. With the beginning of 2012, DNG has made several changes to continue to improve our service to each of our clients:

1. Megan has joined DNG as our full-time Service Desk Coordinator. Megan’s primary responsibility is to be primary point of contact for all client requests and to make sure issues are responded to and resolved as quickly as possible. Megan will also be following up on issues to make sure we are providing excellent service. Megan brings a lot of experience in our field, having worked most recently in a similar role for an IT consulting outfit in the mountains of Colorado.
2. We now employ 10 full-time support engineers, 6 on our internal NOC (Network Operations Center) team and 4 on our field service team. Nathan and Julian are the latest additions to our internal team, while Joe and Glenn joined our field team last year. All in all, I believe this is the best support team DNG has assembled in my time with DNG.
3. Michael, whom most everyone knows from his long tenure at DNG, has moved into an account manager position to help provide his clients with direct technology planning, provisioning, and service needs.
4. Quentin has moved from our NOC team to a full time System Administrator role, focused on keeping all client endpoints and networks updated, patched, monitored, backed up, and generally humming as smoothly as possible.
5. Similarly, Rob has been promoted to the role of “Escalation Engineer,” where he will provide an internal escalation point for more challenging issues and help us resolve them more quickly.
6. Lastly, I’ve moved into a Director of Service position, where I have begun managing all our internal support staff. My number one goal is to continue to train and motivate our internal support team as well as to improve our processes in order to deliver the best technology and customer service possible in 2012!

The flooding in Thailand last year continues to impact availability of the hard drives used to assemble many of the PC’s, laptops, and servers that small businesses rely on. We recently blogged about this issue in greater detail here.

One of the many responsibilities we assume for our clients here at DNG is management of their hardware and software procurement. As these shortages are expected to persist in Q1 2012 and beyond, we are making the following recommendations to our clients:

1. Plan ahead. Not only have lead times on delivery of new equipment increased, they have also become unpredictable. At times we have seen availability on new equipment change significantly overnight.
2. Budget accordingly. We have seen prices slowly trending up since Q4 last year. Expect to pay a little more for your equipment for the foreseeable future.
3. Consider a solid state drive option. Many of the large manufacturers are substituting solid state hard drives in place of traditional drives in order to meet demand for new systems. Although more expensive, solid state drives can provide many technical advantages over a traditional drive and many manufactures are currently offering discounts on SSD’s to ease this transition.

Additional information:

• http://www.nasdaq.com/article/idc-q4-global-pc-shipment-edges-down-on-hdd-shortage-20120112-00020
• http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/12/12/us-intel-idUSTRE7BB0UR20111212

The only constant in the IT world is change. This mantra has been chanted over and over here at DNG. A big change is occurring for me here at DNG in 2012. I am moving from the Service Manager position that I have held for the last five years, to an Account Manager role. I am looking forward to spending more one on one time with our customers and helping them with their IT needs. The last five years have been very good to me and I will miss the daily interactions I had with the techs.

My new role will be a challenging one, but hopefully a rewarding one and I look forward to an exciting 2012.

A recent study by NPD Group found that 73 percent of businesses are planning to make tablet purchases in 2012. Most of those businesses are considering iPads, but Android tablets are also receiving some attention. With most tablets costing between $400 and $600, how good of an investment are they for SMBs?

As some of the first truly cloud-powered devices, tablets offer users a diverse range of functions, on-the-go technology access, and an attractive (and usually intuitive) interface. Of course, so do smart phones. Are the big screens, increased storage, and slightly better processing power worth it? The answer is complex.

(Disclaimer: As an SMB owner who works with SMBs, I actually find NPD’s tablet survey results unreliable. I’d estimate that a quarter to a third of my SMB clients are truly considering a tablet purchase in the coming year. Additional disclaimer: I own two Android tablets, but they’re both primarily recreational devices.)

When Tablets Make Sense

Sales and real estate: As tablets’ own popularity suggests, they’re good at selling things. Tablets provide an elegant, attractive interface and often stunning displays. For on-the-go sales and real estate agents, tablets provide a digital portfolio or sales presentation that gives agents the opportunity to wow potential customers with beautiful visuals, multimedia presentations, and engaging interactive features. They’re more convenient and sexier than laptops… and let’s not even mention paper literature.

Healthcare professionals: Many hospitals deploy iPads and other tablets because their lightweight, portable stature and easy-to-use interface. While laptops typically offer more efficient input methods through traditional keyboards and mouse’s, they usually lack the portability and convenience offered by a tablet. Because of their popularity in major healthcare centers, a number of companies have developed tablet apps focused on doctors, nurses, and other clinicians. For these professionals, having a tablet makes sense, especially if they’re using a cloud-hosted practice management solution that integrates seamlessly with their tablets.

Mobile or traveling employees: Employees who frequently engage in long commutes, drives, or travel may find that tablets are a convenient and comfortable productivity solution. Tablets endure being lugged and tossed around better than laptops (especially ones with traditional hard drives), and they’re also lighter weight with smaller form factors. While employees aren’t likely to write a detailed memo or report on their tablets, they can do email, scheduling, research, and form completion. Tablets can also be conduits for cloud-hosted software and virtual desktops.

Marketing devices: Customers find tablets attractive, which means if they’re strategically positioned at businesses where they may find themselves spending time waiting, they offer businesses an opportunity to capture and direct customer attention. Tablets can be used for branding, promoting specials and other products or services, obtaining customer contact information, and allowing customers the opportunity to engage with the company on social media platforms.

And When They Don’t

Employees who type: While almost every tablet has wireless keyboard options (and some Android ones even support standard USB keyboards) tablets just don’t make sense as laptop replacements for employees who spend a substantial amount of time writing or entering data. For that matter, if an employee spends most of his or her time in front a keyboard, then there’s probably no need for a tablet as a secondary device either.

Phones are good enough: For employees who already have smart phones that will run whatever apps may be necessary, there’s really no need to also supply them with tablets. Unless the point of the app is to impress potential customers with dazzling displays, phones can usually accomplish whatever tablets can.

Office employees: Tablets may be cool, but they tend to lose their luster quickly in a productivity environment. Sure, they can browse the Web, create documents, manipulate slideshows, and handle email and calendars… but why would any employee regularly use such a device when laptop and desktop computers can handle these tasks much more efficiently? Giving office employees tablets is akin to providing them with a distracting toy.

Tablet as gimmick: While retail stores or other customer destinations might see a slight bump in interest from customers who enjoy playing with their tablets, such interest is not likely to be sustained. As tablets become more main stream and consumers have access to them at home, they will grow increasingly less impressed when they’re used at businesses in lieu of simpler and less ostentatious solutions. I’ve already found myself turned off at businesses using tablets when something as simple as a sheet of paper—or even a real life person!—would suffice.

The Changing Equation

Tablets are popular for a large and complex set of reasons, but two of their two most becoming features are their light weight and large selection of apps. As ultrabooks—or other super lightweight notebook computers—continue to come to market, tablets may find themselves being pushed out of the business world as extraneous entertainment devices.

Ultrabooks offer a similar level of portability as tablets, and both Google and Microsoft are working on creating browser-based app markets for traditional computer uses that will compete with the Apple App Store and Android Market. They also provide more durability than older models of laptops, mostly owing to their solid state hard drives that can weather much more abuse than platter-based drives.

I also wouldn’t be surprised if the next 12 to 18 months don’t bring us super thin, network ready, touch enabled LCD/LED screens that stream cloud-hosted content. Such devices could be larger, thinner, lighter, and far cheaper than the current incarnation of tablets. In such an environment, tablets strike me as a short-lived, intermediary device that’s bridging the gap between traditional computers and a world of interconnected, cloud-hosted digital surfaces.

Facebook’s issues with security have been well publicized, as well as their issues with keeping your information private. Don’t rest now because it looks like another attack has occurred on the social network giant, compromising at least 45,000 accounts.

The cause of this latest security breach comes in the form of a worm. If you are not aware of what a worm is, in computer terms it is described as a self-replicating program which uses a network to send copies of itself to other computers. Now that the worm has spread across the entire network, and remember the internet is one large network, the worm can perform its intended purpose. In the case of the attack on Facebook the worm called Ramnit, which was modified for Facebook, originally attacked financial institutions compromising online banking sessions and penetrated several corporate networks and stole users log on information.

A security company, Seculert, tracked the worm and found 800,000 machines were infected between September and December, the majority of those machines were found in the UK and France. This is an alert to your online presence whether you have a Gmail account, tweet, your Corporate SSL VPN, Outlook Web Access, or many other logins on the net. The creators of the worms know that many people use the same password for all accounts. Also, be very weary of links sent to you within Facebook, as the goal is to transmit malicious links for you to click on and then they can gain control of corporate networks. In a previous blog post on this site Joe Kuter alluded to how quickly your password can be compromised, so make your passwords long and complex and please do not use the same password for multiple websites.

Written by Scot Clark, Field Consultant for Data Network Group

I recently had the opportunity to help a client recover from a water disaster. A tenant upstairs from the client left the water running over the weekend and the water cascaded down through the floor and right down on their server and network rack. Water managed to find its way into all their equipment. I went onsite to help assess the damage and found standing water inside their server. As I removed their primary network switch from the rack, I had water pour out of the vent holes down the front of my shirt. Needless to say they were in bad shape.

Fortunately they had systems in place where they were able to still work and service their customers. This particular office was a branch office and the email and other critical applications were at the main office in another state. They had backups and once they got their servers and other equipment replaced they were back up and running.

Since your business could be one plumbing mishap away from disaster, it is important to look at where your IT equipment is located and make sure there is no major plumbing facilities nearby that can flood your equipment. It is also a good idea to review your backup plan and make sure you are truly protected in case of any disaster.

If you thought humans were the only primates who enjoy playing with an iPad – think again. Some folks over at the Milwaukee County Zoo in Wisconsin recently discovered that apparently orangutans like the tablet computer too. According to reports online, the orangutans were fascinated with their photographs being shown on the tablet, and with watching video clips of other animals.

“They like many of the free apps that I think children would like – they like the free apps where you can finger-paint, they like the apps where you can use the drums,” says Trish Khan, Milwaukee County Zoo’s orangutan keeper.

The orangutans also enjoyed programs like Doodle Buddy (a drawing app), Magic Piano (to create music) and simple games like Koi Pond. Right now they are being observed to see how they interact with the iPad tablets so that developers can hopefully come up with more orangutan-optimized apps in the future.

The iPads help provide a little extra enrichment, physical and mental stimulation for the orangutans living in captivity. Zoo Atlanta and the Smithsonian National Zoo are some of the other facilities that have similar programs for their orangutans.

While they enjoy playing with the tablets, the orangutans typically have to do so through their enclosure’s metal bars. If they got a hold of the tablet, they might attempt to take it apart. So the zookeepers will need to find a way to safeguard the tablet before they can leave the iPad with them full-time.

If you would like to support this program, Orangutan Outreach is accepting donations of cash or gently used iPads to get more tablets in the hands of apes and their zookeepers, who are interested in participating in the program. The organization is hoping that first-generation iPads will become more affordable and accessible once the iPad 3 debuts in the coming months.