Data Link Professionals

Apple announces OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion

jparker — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 15:28:31 +0000

Mountain Lion, which is available to developers from today, takes more features and applications from the iPad and iPhone and brings them to Apple’s laptop and desktop computers. It will be available to users, Apple says, “in late Summer 2012″.

The new version of OS X brings iOS features such as Notification Centre, Game Centre and AirPlay mirroring will now be a part of the Mac Applications such as Notes and Reminders, which will be familiar to iPhone and iPad users are also coming to OS X.

“The developer preview of Mountain Lion comes just seven months after the incredibly successful release of Lion and sets a rapid pace of development for the world’s most advanced personal computer operating system,” said Phil Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of worldwide marketing, in a statement.

The biggest new feature is Gatekeeper, which lets you control the apps that run on your Mac. With Gatekeeper turned on, your Mac will run only apps downloaded from the Mac App Store or those from elsewhere that have “a unique Developer ID from Apple”. For added security, users can choose to run only apps from the Mac App Store.

The new security features clearly nudge users towards the Mac App Store – and towards a more controlled application environment, similar to the iTunes App Store. However, Gatekeeper is optional, so users who prefer to run whatever apps they like can continue to do so.

As with iOS, Twitter has been integrated throughout Mountain Lion to make it easier to share links, photos and other content. Sharing to Flickr and Vimeo is also possible from several places within the new version of the OS but Facebook and YouTube remain notable omissions.

Mountain Lion extends the integration of iCloud, Apple’s cloud storage service, further into OS X. When users start up a Mountain Lion computer for the first time they will have the option to sign in with their Apple ID and automatically set up iCloud, FaceTime, the iTunes Store and the Mac App Store.

In a statement, Apple said: “The new iCloud Documents pushes any changes to all your devices so documents are always up to date, and a new API helps developers make document-based apps work with iCloud.”

iPad 3 – Everything we know (or think we know)

jparker — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 21:44:35 +0000

The Apple iPad is one of the best-selling tablets in the world, and the iPad 3 is one of the most anticipated devices from Apple this year. John Paczkowski of AllThingsD is claiming that Apple will hold a press event in the beginning of March to announce the new iPad, which he calls “iPad 3″ (noting that might not be its official name).

In a nutshell, the Apple iPad 3 is rumored to have a new, thinner and sleeker design, down nearly 20 percent in size compared to the iPad 2. It is also rumored to have a new retina display with a screen resolution of 2048 x 1536.

Apart from that, the iPad 3 will have a lighter battery, reducing the weight of the tablet. However, the battery is reported to cost 20 to 30 percent more than the current iPad’s battery, and will also have a longer battery life.

It is also rumored that the iPad 3 will have a wireless charging technology, which will be able to charge the battery and transfer data wirelessly.

Let’s now take a look at all the features in depth:

A6 Processor

The current Apple iPad 2 has a 900MHz dual-core ARM Cortext-A9 processor, Apple A5 chipset and PowerVr SGX543MP2 GPU. This certainly made the Apple iPad 2 a powerful tablet and a main competitor in the world of tablets. Now Apple is aiming to make the competition tougher by sporting an A6 Quad-core Processor in the iPad 3. This would make the iPad 3 as powerful as any high-end desktop.

According to Linley Group senior analyst Kevin Krewell, “We expect the A6 will be a quad-core ARM Cortex-A9 design, which would be competitive with next year’s best mobile processors. In 2012, Nvidia will offer a quad-core Cortex-A9 processor, and Qualcomm will have the aforementioned MSM8960, a dual-core A15-class processor operating at 1.7GHz. Fabricating Apple’s A6 in 28nm (instead of the 40nm process Nvidia is using for its quad-core part) will reduce both die cost and power, yielding a much better product.”

iOS 5

The iPad 3 will come with the latest iOS 5, which will host the multi-touch gesture technology. However, analyst and tech enthusiasts predict that Apple would introduce OS X Lion for the tablet, since it will be powered by a quad-core processor.

This will also include multitasking features, such as notifications, task-finishing, app-switching, location and background sound.

3D Feature and New Retina Display

Apple enthusiast expected the Retina Display feature on Apple iPad 2; however, Apple has been working majorly for an improved version of it to include it in the iPad 3. The iPhone 4 currently supports the Retina Display with a screen resolution of 960 x 640. Apple explains Retina Display as: “Developing pixels a mere 78 micrometers wide, Apple engineers were able to pack four times the number of pixels into the same 3.5-inch (diagonal) screen found on earlier iPhone models. The resulting pixel density of iPhone 4 – 326 pixels per inch – makes text and graphics look smooth and continuous at any size.”

With the Retina Display feature, the screen resolution of the iPad3 will be 2048 x 1536 pixels. However, it is said that the third version of the tablet is delayed due to Retina Display issues, and Apple is expected to ship the tablet in early 2012.

There are speculations that the tablet will display the 3D view. Although it’s too early to expect features like 3D display, devices like the LG Optimus can record videos in 3D, and output the same through HDMI.

Camera

The iPad 3 will come with an improved camera, since the previous version of the table didn’t seem impressive enough. Unlike the iPad 2, the new tablet will come with LED flash to support the camera. It is expected to have a 5MP camera with 1080p or 720p video recording quality of 60 frames per second. The technology made by OmniVision will help reduce the size of the table by 20 percent.

Fingerprint Proof

Apple has already been granted patents on this technology, and is working real hard to make the iPad3 fingerprint proof. The touch screen will be coated with oleophobic materials, which will reduce the oil and fingerprints on the screen.

Conclusion

The iPad 3 is sure to break all sorts of records, yet again. Whenever it comes out, it will be a hot item.

Half of Fortune 500s and US Govt. Still Infected with DNSChanger Trojan

jparker — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 21:37:08 +0000

More than two months after authorities shut down a massive Internet traffic hijacking scheme, the malicious software that powered the criminal network is still running on computers at half of the Fortune 500 companies, and on PCs at nearly 50 percent of all federal government agencies, new research shows.

The malware, known as the “DNSChanger Trojan,” quietly alters the host computer’s Internet settings to hijack search results and to block victims from visiting security sites that might help scrub the infections. DNSChanger frequently was bundled with other types of malware, meaning that systems infected with the Trojan often also host other, more nefarious digital parasites.

In early November, authorities in Estonia arrested six men suspected of using the Trojan to control more than four million computers in over 100 countries — including an estimated 500,000 in the United States. Investigators timed the arrests with a coordinated attack on the malware’s infrastructure. The two-pronged attack was intended to prevent miscreants from continuing to control the network of hacked PCs, and to give Internet service providers an opportunity to alert customers with infected machines.

But that cleanup process has been slow-going, according to at least one security firm. Internet Identity, a Tacoma, Wash. company that sells security services, found evidence of at least one DNSChanger infection in computers at half of all Fortune 500 firms, and 27 out of 55 major government entities.

“Yes, there are challenges with removing this malware, but you would think people would want to get this cleaned up,” said Rod Rasmussen, president and chief technology officer at Internet Identity. “This malware was sometimes bundled with other stuff, but it also turns off antivirus software on the infected machines and blocks them from getting security updates from Microsoft.”

Computers still infected with DNSChanger are up against a countdown clock. As part of the DNSChanger botnet takedown, the feds secured a court order to replace the Trojan’s DNS infrastructure with surrogate, legitimate DNS servers. But those servers are only allowed to operate until March 8, 2012. Unless the court extends that order, any computers still infected with DNSChanger may no longer be able to browse the Web.

Rasmussen said there are still millions of PCs infected with DNSChanger. “At this rate, a lot of users are going to see their Internet break on March 8.”

Tom Grasso Jr., an FBI supervisory agent at the National Cyber Forensics & Training Alliance in Pittsburgh, Pa., said the DNSChanger Working Group — the industry and law enforcement coalition that’s handling the remediation — has been discussing what to do about the upcoming deadline, but he declined to offer specifics.

“We’re certainly exploring all different options to minimize whatever impact there’s going to be on a lot of people,” Grasso said.

Even if the DNS Changer working group manages to get the deadline extended, the cleanup process will likely take many years. At least, that’s been the experience of the the Conficker Working Group, a similar industry consortium that was created to help contain and clean up infections from the infamous Conficker Worm. That working group was formed in 2009, yet according to the group’s latest statistics, nearly 3 million systems remain infected with Conficker.

Given the Conficker Working Group’s experience, shutting down the surrogate DNS network on March 8 may actually be a faster — albeit more painful — way to clean up the problem.

“I’m guessing a lot more people would care at that point,” Rasmussen said. “It certainly would be an interesting social experiment if these systems just got cut off.”

Keep it cool! Cooling your hard drive can save you time and money

jparker — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 13:53:15 +0000

Storage is a very important part of a computer. These days, computers do far more than they ever have in the past. From businesses to family photo’s, storage is the ideal way to keep documents on your computer. The most popular method of storage is the hard disk drive, which we all count on for keeping our data safe.

Even though the hard drive stores data, it isn’t perfect by any means. Hard drive failure is very common with all computers, with no real way to prevent it. Although there are several different reasons why a hard drive can fail, the most common is overheating. Viruses and crashes are common as well, along with theft and accidental deletion. Make no mistake: Your hard drive WILL fail. It’s only a matter of time.

With the older style and mechanics of hard drives, the RPM speed was low, meaning that the drives wouldn’t overheat. The hard drives we use now days, have speeds between 7,200 and 10,000 RPM, meaning that they can get quite hot when they start working. Computers of this day and age come with fans to cool everything down, with most hard drives including temperature sensors as well, so you can keep track of just how hot your hard drive becomes.

With hard drives today, overheating is a very common problem. The faster hard drives come with speeds of 10,000 RPM, which can make the temperature soar above 70 degrees F, really heating things up inside the drive. The mechanics on the inside are built to withstand the heat, although if things become too hot, you’ll encounter problems. If a drive becomes too hot and ends up losing the data, it may be next to impossible to retrieve the information – no matter how good your data recovery specialists may be.

One area that suffers from the drive overheating is the platters, which are magnetic media. Platters are what carry the data throughout the hard drive. Platters are constructed from optical glass, aluminum, or ceramic and normally coated with a layer of magnetic material. Once the hard drive begins to heat up, the platters will start to expand, which changes their size. When this happens, the magnetic surface on the platters will get destroyed, which results in a loss of data. If the physical area of the platters are damaged, it will result in unreadable sectors.

Other areas of the hard drive that can be damaged due to overheating are the read and write heads, head actuator, and the controller chip. Hard drives are very sophisticated pieces of hardware, and can’t handle overheating. The read and write heads are a common example, as they can easily render the drive useless if they become damaged. If they get too hot, they don’t make any contact with media, which pretty much stops the flow of transfer from information to the computer.

To prevent your hard drive from overheating, you should always make sure that it is cooled properly and well ventilated. You can always get additional fans and coolers, which will improve both ventilation and the flow of air in your computer. You can buy fans and coolers at very affordable prices, which makes them an ideal investment for keeping your hard drive or hard drives cool.

You can also get software that monitors the temperature of your hard drive as well. Whether it’s software, or additional fans, you should always ensure that your hard drives are kept cool. By keeping them cool, you’ll greatly reduce the amount of crashes. You’ll also increase the stability of your hard drive as well, which will make your entire computer perform much better.

Why Apple assembles in China

jparker — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 18:56:19 +0000

Look at the back of your iPhone, or your iPad, or on the bottom of your Mac. You’ll see the following words embossed somewhere: “Designed by Apple in California. Assembled in China.” Many Americans, all the way up to the President himself, have wondered why Apple has outsourced virtually all of its manufacturing overseas. At a dinner with several top US technology executives last year, President Obama asked Steve Jobs flat out what it would take to bring those jobs back to the US. According to Jobs, there’s simply no way for it to happen.

Why not? Why can’t iPhones, iPads, and all the rest of Apple’s magic gadgets be built in the States? More generally, why can’t more US-based consumer electronics and computer companies do their manufacturing work domestically, helping to create American jobs and boost the struggling economy?

The New York Times asked that question, and after an extremely well-researched report involving interviews with both former and current executives at Apple, the answer the Times found is both simple and chilling: iPhones aren’t made in America because they just can’t be. The infrastructure and labor force doesn’t exist at the levels necessary to support Apple’s operations — it’s not even close.

The Chinese factory where most iPhones reach final assembly employs 230,000 workers. I just asked Siri how many cities in the US have a population higher than that, and the answer was a mere 83 cities — and that’s total population, not workforce. With an average labor force of around 65 percent of the population, only 50 US cities are large enough to provide that kind of labor pool… and even in the biggest US city of them all, New York, 230,000 people still amounts to almost three percent of the city’s entire population. Can you imagine three out of every hundred New Yorkers on an assembly line, cranking out iPhones every day?

Over the past couple of years, we have heard a great deal concerning working conditions at factories owned by Foxconn. The Chinese manufacturing company is responsible for assembling consumer electronics for most of the major vendors out there, including Apple. Around a fourth of those 230,000 people live in company-owned dorms or barracks right on factory property; that’s almost 60,000 people living and working at the factory. Many of the people at “Foxconn City” work six days a week, twelve hours a day, and they earn less than US$17 per day. It may sound inhumane by American standards, but these jobs are in high demand in China — so much so that Jennifer Rigoni, former worldwide supply demand manager for Apple, told the New York Times that Foxconn “could hire 3,000 people overnight.”

Those are just a couple examples of how the scale, speed, and efficiency of Chinese manufacturing outstrips anything the US is currently capable of. But the Times’ report is full of more evidence, and it’s damning. Even though the 200,000 assembly-line workers putting part A into slot B could potentially be classified as unskilled labor, the 8700 industrial engineers overseeing the process can’t be — and according to the Times, finding that many qualified engineers in the States would take nine months. Chinese manufacturers found them all in 15 days.

With the notable exception of the A5 processor, most of the components used to make the iPhone are also manufactured overseas, many of them within a relatively short distance of the final assembly plant. Shipping those components to any potential US-based factories would incur greater costs, and even worse from Apple’s perspective, manufacturing delays.

Traditional defenses of outsourcing of manufacturing jobs have revolved around cost. “It costs more money to build in America,” the reasoning goes; “You have to pay your workers more, you have to pay benefits, insurance, higher taxes. Everything costs more.” Since companies want to make a profit, that added cost inevitably gets passed on to the consumer in inflated prices for goods.

To exaggerate the point, many have claimed that an American-manufactured iPhone would cost thousands of dollars. It turns out that’s hyperbole; according to the New York Times, the increased cost of paying American wages to workers would add $65 to the cost of an iPhone. The other costs, added together, probably wouldn’t drive the unsubsidized price of a 16 GB iPhone 4S over US$1000. But the dollar cost of manufacturing in America isn’t the biggest issue that’s driving Apple’s decision to outsource manufacturing to China. Instead, it’s about who can build the greatest number of iPhones within the shortest period of time, all while remaining flexible and instantaneously adaptable to Apple’s needs. According to one current Apple executive, “The US has stopped producing people with the skills we need.”

The Times provides a telling example from the early days of the iPhone, before it ever hit the market. It’s hard to believe now, but originally the iPhone’s screen was going to be made from the same scratch-prone plastic that graced the fronts of its contemporaneous iPod models. In mid-2007, just over a month before the iPhone was scheduled to hit stores for the first time ever, Jobs realized the folly of using that plastic when the screen of the iPhone prototype he was carrying in his jeans pocket had accumulated dozens of scratches. “I won’t sell a product that gets scratched. I want a glass screen, and I want it perfect in six weeks.”

Anyone who knows how Jobs worked knows that he wasn’t bluffing — if the iPhone didn’t meet his standards, it wouldn’t go on sale, period. Six months of anticipation had driven demand for the first iPhone into a frenzy, so Apple knew it was going to have to crank them out as quickly as possible. But the last-second change to what was arguably one of the iPhone’s most central components meant initiating the kind of mad scramble that simply wouldn’t be possible in US manufacturing. Apple would have been an industry laughingstock for as long as it took to overcome the manufacturing delay. Instead, what might have taken months to transpire in the US took place in six short weeks; Apple sourced a virtually scratchproof glass from Corning, and Chinese factories rapidly managed to integrate it into the existing iPhone design.

As it’s an American company reaping unprecedented financial rewards, many Americans have lamented the fact that the rewards coming back into America are so comparatively meager. Apple employs 43,000 people in the United States, less than a fifth the number of contractor employees assembling iPhones at one Chinese factory. One could argue that Apple’s success has come at the expense of the American manufacturing workforce, but if the New York Times’ report is anything to go by, it seems the workforce Apple would have needed in America never existed to begin with.

by Chris Rawson

Website owners resolutions for the new year

jparker — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 23:06:21 +0000

When the New Year is upon you, as a website owner you should double check a few things and make sure your site is ready for the New Year. Just like work around the house, your site deserves to have a New Year’s makeover to make room for all that’s in store in the upcoming year. The following are a few good tips to cleaning up your site for the New Year.

Fix your copyright dates
Make sure to change all copyright dates on your site to the New Year. This might also help you to remember to renew any licenses that you have for the New Year as well. This is very important to fix the dates because an old out dated date may seem more untrustworthy for your site. A simple php solution is to just echo the year:

Renew your content
A new year is a good time to start fresh with everything. Take some time to go through all your site has to offer. Make sure your links are still working and any that are not get fixed. Is there out dated material including the old previous year that needs edited? Make sure to go over everything for any typos, or out dated information.

Double check all your links
When you are renewing all your content that is the perfect time to check out all the links on your site. Make sure you fix any broken links and those that send customers to 404 or other error pages. There are a few different sites that can help you to tell if there are any broken links on your site, such as Google Webmaster Central, or Link Checker.

Remove any old images
Make sure to remove any holiday images, or those that are outdated. This will help to give your site a new clean look, and make it appear more trustworthy and kept up.

Check your site statistics
You should really take a look over your site statistics often. This can help to give you an idea of what type of viewership or customer base your website has already. This can also help to give you an idea of what pages are being viewed more often on your site so you can learn to utilize this information on the other pages.

Update any listings
If you have local listings or others listed in a directory on your site. Now is the perfect time to recheck all those to make sure they are current and none are outdated. A good service to help with this is GetListed.org.

New Design
What better time to give your site a new looks then the New Year? It’s important to give a fresh look to your site to help keep your current viewership to show you are always updating and keeping track of your site. And by creating a new look you can even help attract a new viewership.

Happy Holidays from all of us at DLP

jparker — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 17:06:04 +0000

As we wrap up 2011, we wanted to tell everyone (our families, our clients, and our friends) thank you! This has been a great year for everyone at Data Link Professionals. We have expanded yet again, added two new members to the team (John and Yunus), and have beaten all goals we set for ourselves this year. We have changed the workflow and the way business is done (for the better) in several hundred offices this year, and we have continued to contribute heavily to the open source community. We look forward to doing even more in 2012!

We wish everyone a safe and happy holiday season and a great 2012!!

Moving to the Cloud

jparker — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 03:45:11 +0000

With technology moving and changing so fast around us, it only makes sense for a business to consider moving to the cloud for all their business needs. If you want to see how popular cloud services has become, listen to an officer at Microsoft who says that over 70% of Microsoft employees are doing a portion of their work using cloud computing. As amazing as those numbers are, he also says that within only a year, that number will jump to 90%. Like it or not, cloud services are the technology of the future.

Cloud services is extremely popular with small businesses because they do not have to deploy file or email servers and storage systems. Employees of a small company and its partners can easily collaborate with a browser. This has huge advantages to small companies with little capital. While the local data center is now able to be freed up to allow more mobility, many businesses are seeing their needs can be fulfilled with cloud services.

When you consider moving your services to the cloud, you have to understand exactly what is cloud services. With no software to ever install, you are basically using the service on subscription based terms. The terms are month to month and you have the ability to easily scale the service from as little as a few employees up to over 4,000 if needed with no hassle. The cloud services are designed to grow as your business grows.

In Houston, the cloud services are becoming more popular by the day. Houston business owners are very aware of the fact that the security of their data is extremely important, and a technology firm looking for cloud services will also be looking for hosting services in line with the cloud. To remain competitive many business turn to companies like CITOC in Houston. They will provide a company with private, secure hosting compatible with any business platform you are using.

Cloud services can help your growing business in many ways. The basic three parts of cloud services are Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS), Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) and Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS). The trend with cloud services is as the infastructure continues to grow as businesses grow, eventually everyone will be plugging into the cloud, ensuring it will be around for a very long time. Cloud services also known as sky computing, will continue to provide a more flexible, cost effective way for a company to meet their business needs.

Because cloud services delivers applications via the internet, and stores all the data at remote servers. Being able to access the information such as emails and software with a browser or mobile app, allows the end user much more flexibility in their business. The cloud service industry has had a huge impact on businesses, that the federal government has begun to restructure their IT capabilities to lower the overall spending budget. Today, many of the top government agencies are employing some form of cloud services.

Millions of HP printers open to devastating hack

jparker — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 14:52:07 +0000

Could a hacker from half-way around the planet control your printer and give it instructions so frantic that it could eventually catch fire? Or use a hijacked printer as a copy machine for criminals, making it easy to commit identity theft or even take control of entire networks that would otherwise be secure?

It’s not only possible, but likely, say researchers at Columbia University, who claim they’ve discovered a new class of computer security flaws that could impact millions of businesses, consumers, and even government agencies.

Printers can be remotely controlled by computer criminals over the Internet, with the potential to steal personal information, attack otherwise secure networks and even cause physical damage, the researchers argue in a vulnerability warning first reported by msnbc.com. They say there’s no easy fix for the flaw they’ve identified in some Hewlett-Packard LaserJet printer lines – and perhaps on other firms’ printers, too – and there’s no way to tell if hackers have already exploited it.

The researchers, who have working quietly for months in an electronics lab under a series of government and industry grants, described the flaw in a private briefing for federal agencies two weeks ago. They told Hewlett-Packard about it last week.

HP said Monday that it is still reviewing details of the vulnerability, and is unable to confirm or deny many of the researchers’ claims, but generally disputes the researchers’ characterization of the flaw as widespread. Keith Moore, chief technologist for HP’s printer division, said the firm “takes this very seriously,” but his initial research suggests the likelihood that the vulnerability can be exploited in the real world is low in most cases.

“Until we verify the security issue, it is difficult to comment,” he said, adding that the firm cannot say yet what printer models are impacted.

But the Columbia researchers say the security vulnerability is so fundamental that it may impact tens of millions of printers and other hardware that use hard-to-update “firmware” that’s flawed.

Why IT Outsourcing may help your business

jparker — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 15:47:24 +0000

IT Outsourcing is when companies and small businesses contract with technology firms such as Data Link Professionals, for certain in house IT jobs, without having to keep a full time team on staff all year long. This is a win-win for both the small business and the outsourcing company because these qualified programmers or system administrators can work with flexibility on specific jobs they are good at, while the company that hired them can maintain a reasonable staff level. The IT work can be left to the professionals, and the company can focus on growing the business, while they keep their overhead to a minimum.

Whether your company is in the middle of a new advertising campaign, a merger or a complete web redesign, the amount of help you need to complete certain IT tasks can be overwhelming. With IT outsourcing you will be bringing in a company that specializes in all these areas and will complete the task in far less time, and at a much lower price had the company kept a dedicated staff onboard for these jobs. The biggest areas where this particular business model work best, is in the area of website design, LAN maintenance, and application development. The majority of the work involved can be done remotely, with the IT professionals delivering the work digitally. This in turn allows the company to pass on those savings to the customers, allowing them a huge competitive edge.

Houston, Texas is a city growing faster than many ever imagined. Many of these business in Houston work to have a family atmosphere in the workplace. The one drawback to IT Outsourcing is that you lose the connection that you have with employees that are on staff all year long. There is no real personal relationship with the IT consultant, his job is to come in and complete the task at hand, and move on.

The world of IT Outsourcing is an ever evolving industry, and the competition in this field can be fierce. Technology is advancing at such a rapid pace, that many IT Outsourcing companies that fail to keep up are being driven out by newer companies with IT programmers on the edge of all the latest technological advances. A specialist in one areas may be obsolete in a year if that individual does not stay on top of his game and stay current on all aspects. Many companies realize all the changes and advances would cost them significant amounts of money to continuously train employees to stay current.

Small businesses are vulnerable to the constant changing technologies, and simply can not focus keeping current and maintain growing their business. Hiring an IT outsourcing company like Data Link Professionals is a perfect solution for the small business of today to grow, and stay competitive, yet keep their overhead to a minimum.