5 hidden costs of aging technology

Did you know that most business owners don’t even think about replacing technology until it fails? That can make it more expensive than it has to be. Here’s why.

• More downtime – Lost time is lost money for essential equipment and software 
• Lower efficiency – Competitors with newer solutions can do more in less time 
• Higher maintenance costs – Spending more money to get the job done hurts margins 
• Costly rentals – Substitute equipment is expensive and can create cash flow issues 
• Urgent replacements – Emergencies can lead to rushed decision making on long-term solutions

Is any of your technology getting to the place where it may be costing more than you thought? Get in touch and let’s break down the costs to see if an update could save you some money in the long run.

Don't forget that the cutoff for support of Windows 7 is coming up on January 14th 2020.

Naked Security Post: Huge Marriott breach puts 500 million victims at risk

by Mark Stockley

Marriott has today revealed that its Starwood guest reservation database has been subject to unauthorised access “since 2014”. The scope of the data breach is huge, covering nearly five years and approximately 500 million guests.

The company has created a website to deal with the breach at info.starwoodhotels.com (note that at the time of writing it redirects to answers.kroll.com).

Who’s affected?

The company warns that if you made a reservation at one of its Starwood brands in the last five years then you are at risk:

If you made a reservation on or before September 10, 2018 at a Starwood property, information you provided may have been involved.

According to Marriott, its Starwood brands include: Starwood branded timeshare properties, W Hotels, St. Regis, Sheraton Hotels & Resorts, Westin Hotels & Resorts, Element Hotels, Aloft Hotels, The Luxury Collection, Tribute Portfolio, Le Méridien Hotels & Resorts, Four Points by Sheraton and Design Hotels.

What data is at risk?

It seems that different guests may be subject to different levels of exposure, according to how much data they shared. Until you have successfully confirmed your level of exposure with Marriott, you should assume the worst.

Information put at risk by the breach includes “some combination of” name, mailing address, phone number, email address, passport number, Starwood Preferred Guest (“SPG”) account information, date of birth, gender, arrival and departure information, reservation date, communication preferences, payment card numbers and payment card expiration dates.

Although payment card numbers were encrypted, thieves may have stolen the information required to decrypt them.

What happened?

Marriott has not revealed what events or security failures occurred (it may not yet know), but it has released some details about how it discovered the breach.

The company says that on 8 September 2018 it was alerted to an unauthorised attempt to access the Starwood guest reservation database. Security experts called in to deal with the incident revealed that unauthorised access to the Starwood network started as far back as 2014, two years prior to Marriott’s acquisition of Starwood.

On 19 November 2018, Marriott learned that a recent attempt to encrypt and exfiltrate data from the network had included data from the Starwood guest reservation database.

As you can see from what Marriott has revealed so far, it can be difficult for everyone concerned to tell the difference between data that has been put at risk and data that has actually been stolen.

Until they can confirm otherwise, victims would be prudent to assume they amount to the same thing.

What are the Highlights of CES2014 this year?

If you take a census of opinions by looking at everyone’s articles it appears that there were a lot of pretty Bluetooth Speakers being shown, there was quite a bit of Wearable Tech for all of you Dick Tracy’s out there, T-Mobile made some major headlines with their offerings and their antics, many more options are becoming available for having your own personal HUD using smart glasses and small projectors.

Audi and other auto manufacturer’s were showing off their future options from infotainment to self parking cars. Really neat stuff and things I want in my car but not much about pricing or availability yet. The future looks very interesting with all that is coming.

Samsung still seems to be the leader out there with their TV offerings. Curved TV’s are all the wave and Samsung’s 85 inch screen that has a mechanism built in to bend the screen to your liking is strange in concept to me but is an interesting method of giving you this capability.

Sony was showing off a short throw projector unit with built in speakers that made me drool a little until I heard the price tag of 10’s of thousands of dollars. Great concept but ouch to my wallet. It can scale up to 120 inch 4k display. because it is a short throw you can walk right up to it with blocking the image. Probably should be considered as an event type unit because of both the cost and function.

Streaming media was a big subject as well and one of my favorites is the Roku technology and they are now partnering with TV manufacturers to build their technology right into your TV. As you may know, most Smart TV's are never updated so whatever you have when you buy your system is what you are stuck with. Roku is trying to change this.

A modular gaming server was shown that is a cool idea but it is a really boutique type setup. Hmmmm. Maybe I am just getting too old. There were lots of new controllers to choose from to fit the needs of just about anyone. Other items in the game arena is the offering of different options to access the Steam Gaming Network.

Home automation is coming around again. Intel had made a big initiative in this area many years ago and we went so far as to put together an example of a digital home demo  in the building we now use for other purposes. Maybe this is the year that we are going to finally see it coming to the masses.

CES 2011

Last year Jude and I had launched our video studio right about this time and had produced some videos about products that we thought were neat and that we wanted to have. Many of these products never came into production as is the nature of the beast, but it is still interesting that the same basic theme this year seems to be the same as last year.

Hands down I think that one of the most exciting products of last year was the iPad and I am so glad that I found a way to justify my purchase because once I did get it into my hands, I found many more uses for it then I originally imagined. One of the things that I do daily is look for either new applications or peripherals to add to my collection of supporting items for my iPad. My two newest purchases being speaker docks that charge my iPad and iPhone while playing content. Productivity enhancements and ease of sharing data between systems is still my biggest concern when choosing a new application.

So, enough of my Bully Pulpit! The main focus of new and improved upcoming products include iPad type devices either using Android and Microsoft's Windows for operating systems. Throw in products from HP and RIM and we have a large number of choices in many varying sizes. For many of these we will still have to wait and see if they will actually reach production.

Another carryover from last year is the eBook reader. My feeling is that Amazon and Barnes and Noble are our two leaders with Sony in as a distant third. I am not sure that there is any more room for anything else out there but when people see a successful product they will try to ride the coattails of those products with what they feel is a better mousetrap.

3D TV was introduced last year but this year we see it being put into almost everything with a screen. I am not sold on this yet as anything more than a gimmick, but there is a lot of money being poured into it.

Believe it or not there are some interesting things happening with desktop and notebook computers with the new integrated video residing right in the same silicon with the CPU. there are many benefits to be found doing this that I will discuss in some follow-up articles. But we are seeing a small resurgence in Tablet Notebooks (convertibles), and more units in smaller more powerful form factors.

I haven't seen any new product groups yet but we are still pretty early in the show for me to determine that, more on this later. Anyway, over the next few days we will be perusing CES from afar and as we come up with products that we fill compelling, we will be sure to bring them to your attention.
So for now I'll go back to work and see what I can find!

Where has the time gone...

So now I have made the mistake of adding a few more suggested Blog RSS Feeds to my greedier list and now I am getting about 2500 message a day that I have to sift through. The calendar says it is the thirteenth of the month I took a quick peak at my blog stats for the month and I have only posted one time to the web. It seems by the time I have sifted through everything I have no more energy left to write.

So I am going to try to do better because there a lot of things happening right now that I want to share with you and if I don't get busy they will get real stale and a whole less interesting. My goal has always been to work in about 25-30 new products or How to Demos each month, so that now that I have restated my goal let's see if I can get close to it.

TWiT Live Specials 32: The Future of the Web

It was really amazing to listen to these teenagers and their thoughts about being an entrepreneur and their vision of the future. This is really worth the time spent to listen to their thoughts and view and of course what these kids have are planning to accomplish. It is refreshing to hear from kids that are looking at what they can do to fulfill their hopes and dreams, of their projects and thoughts about what they are going to a have to do make their dreams come to fruition.

If you need a little lift these kids will definitely provide one for you. Jump to Twit Live Specials…

Fall is going to be an exciting time for us hardware geeks

Two things will be be going on this fall and Christmas season, first Intel is releasing its new dual-core Atom processor for Netbooks and we are about to see Netbook Manufacturers like Acer, Asus, Lenovo, Toshiba and others releasing new models with this processor installed. This will begin to take the Netbook for internet browsing status to a system with a little more clout. The dual core will help manufacturer’s provide more energy efficient models for us to play with and hopefully we will see a whole slew of these products with full size keyboards and 11.6-inch screens. This will be a great boon for someone that wants a reasonably priced Netbook that will allow them to do more functions more easily…

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Blogging Pitfalls: How to Not Abandon Your Blog | BloggingPro

If you are thinking of starting a blog or are currently working with one, this article points to some really good insights that are important to keep in mind. Be sure you keep up with so that it shows some activity. Otherwise people will think that it is abandoned. Then you will lose followers and eventually you’ll probably lose interest. Take a few minutes and peruse this great article.

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My new constant companion.

So what item do you normally always have with you these days that you feel lost if you don’t have it with you. I’m sure most of you would say your phone. If it is a smart phone, of feature phone and you are into texting, you would probably find yourself looking/reaching for it to see who has contacted you or wanting to respond or tell everyone what is going on in your current situation. Well, for me, I have found that I have been neglecting my phone more and more to give my new companion most of my attention. Yes, I’m talking about my iPad and it is now my new favorite device that I can’t be without.

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Tech Toys

It is such a sad thing to open my desk drawer and see all of the my tech toys of the past just lying there with their sad faces staring back at me, no longer seeing the light of day. no longer being touched with loving fingers, no longer being recharged to provide the enjoyment that they once did. I do love my toys. I love trying to find new uses for them

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Never Say You’re Sorry

You have all probably been in the situation where you have lost a file on your computer, either because you accidentally deleted it, had a system crash, virus attack or the super catastrophe, a drive failure. Recently, on my blog site, I had written about a virus that goes in and encrypts all your music, picture and document files so they disappear and if you try to run a virus removal program to fix the problem, it actually causes irreversible damage to those files so that they cannot be recovered. So if you are like me, and your work and family memories have all become digital… You need to start considering how you’re going to protect your digital treasures from permanent loss.

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Clean Up Weekend!

I have made some major changes in this website this weekend and this posting describes most of what I did and what to go and see. There have been some major changes and additions to make available the video productions that I have put together over the past two years. You will also notice a much cleaner look with the main blog page as well. Let me know how you like it by choosing through the contact page (another new addition) your favorite way of communicating.

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Example: Exploiting a typical Windows Domain network

If you ever wondered about the way someone can exploit a network, Brian Fine found a nice explanation of one method that can be used to gain access to your systems. It is interesting to note that it all starts by visiting a “Trusted Site” that contains the initial code to give the initial access to the remote user. The original source for this information came from the SANS security web site. This article is full of information about many Top Cyber Security Risks and if this is your cup of tea then it is a good read.

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Do you need another reason to backup your data?

Brian Fine one of our in-house support technicians reported today, but this virus seems to have been around since at least Dec 2008. So it isn’t exactly new but its delivery is. It seems to have found the WIN Antivirus (virus) trojan and is now using it to jump onto your machine although we are not positive this is the case.

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New Version of WIN Antivirus (virus)

Watch Out for Shelly!

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Spring is here and if you are like us you are excited about soaking up the Sun and enjoying the out of doors…

So, I did my outside chores today, (believe it or not one of them was splitting wood) and then I spent the last part of the afternoon enjoying the little bit of sun that was left over and playing with my gadgets. I took my netbook, Kindle and iPhone out doors with me to enjoy the late afternoon sun, and started to work with them. The first thing that I noticed was the readability of the screens. The Kindle I have to give a thumbs up because it looked better out in the sun then when I am sitting on the couch.The netbook, well, I could see it when I squinted, but who wants to squint.

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Apple iPad Excitement

The first hurdle that we have to consider is whether or not we can justify spending this much money on the solely entertainment device.  I know I would desperately and like to try it out before purchasing but I don't believe that is an option.  I love the way of the e-mail and calendar apps are setup, with that much screen real estate they are really making good use of it.  The fact that it has access to all of your bike touch and I phoned applications and will run them, and if you'd like will run them at a larger size. What I am really waiting to see is what apps developers will do with the extra screen size, and Processing Power that is in this unit.

 Another drawback that I see is that what still don't have flash support in the browser.  With so much of the web content now being served up using Adobe's flash drivers, we are still going to miss the correct experience of many web sites.  Since Apple is promoting this as a system that provides the best web experience that you have ever seen, not having this as part of the basic functions of the unit is a large shortcoming.  But all in all, this new device by Apple has grabbed my eye and is definitely on my gadget wish list.  So, luckily its not available today which prevents me from making an impulse buy and will let me watch how this product evolves over the next six months.  Hopefully, we'll see it come down in price because I'd really like to buy in at the 64 GB and the 3G data plan. If you're going to get that device you want to be able to work with it in as many places as possible.

First impressions of my Flip HD Video Camera

Merry Christmas Everyone! It’s rainy and wet here today, Yuck!, but we still have a little snow to make it seem like Christmas. I want to start with the Flip camera.

I liked how easy the camera worked and the low light capabilities of the unit. One thing that I noticed though was how noisy 20 odd people can be when crowded into a small space. Because the camera is so light you don’t get tired holding it but you also don’t have the heft to help you steady it either. I tried putting together the pictures using the Flip Software but it seems cumbersome so I tried switching to Window’s Movie Maker. The sound track from the video seemed to shift some on that and I wasn’t real happy with that either. That bothers me because Movie maker is easy to use it would be nice if it would work for this purpose.

I need to give it another try but I miss my big machine. It got a little sick with of the stupidity of its primary operator. I had a Facebook message come through that pointed to a site that a virus/trojan attached and I went through the motions of loading the virus without thinking. Shouldn’t be operating a computer that early in the morning I guess. It really got zapped and the guys are still working on it. I hope we don’t have to reload the computer from scratch. This is not the time of year to be doing that.

My off loading the data to network drives will allow me to bring the system back up to speed rather quickly though if that is what we have to do. So if you run into an email that has you installing software onto your system, don’t do it. Delete, Delete DELETE! Even the best of us can get suckered.

Soft-spoken Troy Polamalu appears on the Jimmy Fallon show

It never ceases to amaze me how such a sweet, quiet man can play The Game the way Troy does but it is a thing of wonder. He is such a good fit for the Steelers, whose personnel are all the hard work ethic and controlled personal lives type of people. You don’t last long when you don’t fit this mold with the Pittsburgh Steelers. I really think this is even more so then in past years and that this is what brings the team together, working together and the friendships that arise on the team. Team Spirit is what makes an organization click. Picking up where your fellow worker/teammate leaves off is what makes your organization better then the ones that don’t do this. While this doesn’t have the same tone as most of my technical articles it is meant to make us all stop and realize that we are all in this together and where we finish is dependent on how we approach our lives both at home and at work.

Note: almost forgot to put in that the reason Troy appeared on this show was to promote his support for Operation Once in a Lifetime which promotes granting returning Vets there special wish. Much like the Make a Wish Foundation does for children.

Technology Benefits to be gained from the Government Stimulus Package

Most of the benefits that you will see from the Government’s Economic Stimulus Package will come in the form of tax cuts. The government view is to have you spend money to improve your company infrastructure and hopefully your bottom line. That way they can get more taxes from you with your new and improved performance. Here are some of the benefits you can gain this year by spending some money on your company for those improvements that you have been holding back on.

Equipment Expensing and Valuing. Purchasing computers, machinery, and off the shelf software may result in substantial write-offs.

A provision buried within the Obama administration’s nearly $800 billion stimulus package will
extend a piece of the earlier Bush administration plan designed to aid small businesses that
purchase new equipment.

Section 1201 of the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) allows additional
first-year depreciation of 50% of the purchase cost of new equipment by extending for one year
Section 179 of the 2008 Economic Stimulus Act.
Last year, finance experts applauded the provision, saying Section 179 had led to increased
sales among equipment manufacturers as customers reaped the benefits of the new tax
deduction.

Like the original provision, businesses can write off twice as much equipment acquisition costs as
an expense rather than depreciating the purchase over several years, with qualification extending
to almost all tangible personal property. If the company exceeds the $250,000 cap, the law
features a provisional depreciation bonus that lets it write off up to half of the purchase in the first
year, on top of the regular depreciation allowance.

A laundry list of state-sponsored opportunities, many boosted by the ARRA, can be found  at www.business.gov. Included on the site is state or industry specific information pertaining to the R&D, training and implementation incentives outline in the ARRA.

The thing to remember is that the government is providing the incentive to purchase the products that will enhance your company’s ability to support your clients better. Make the changes you have been hesitating on and advantage of these extra tax benefits while doing so. As always, talk to you tax advisor to make sure you qualify and determine the best way you can take advantage of these tax savings.