Ninite

Ninite is a cloud-based tool that was created, in my own opinion, to save a lot of time during the process of installing local applications. With this tool you are given a gallery of applications to choose from. Every application you select will be downloaded and install on your local machine. You will find that Ninite does not install any junk toolbars or add-ins because it is designed to give an auto-response of "No". Install multiple applications from a central location and don't worry about missing any annoying check-boxes! View my presentation from the link below, I even created a demo video.

Kevin's Presentation

Userful Cloud Based Tools

What kind of IT support would I be if I didn't start with a cloud-based antivirus?



Panda Cloud: this is a free antivirus that lives in the cloud and by doing so it spares your computer from the heavy load that most antivirus programs press on your computer. As each user downloads and installs Panda Cloud it begins to grow. Panda Cloud gathers information about potential threats as each user travels through rough waters. It is updated every few hours instead of every few days.

Amazon Cloud Drive: if you are a big fan of Amazon then this is the tool for you. All music purchased on this site will be stored in your Cloud Drive. You will receive 5GB of free drive space and multiple options for growth are available. By purchasing one MP3 album you will receive 20GB for a year, free! Other storage options are available for purchase, all the way up to a 1TB.

Skype: a personal favorite for many people, especially those with family living far distances away or companies who use video conferencing on a major scale. Skype is a cloud-based tool that allows users to make video calls from their computer or their mobile phone. This is perfect for those wanting to see loved ones they haven't seen in a while or for the company trying to bring groups together to deliver the same message. 

Mon.itor.us: a free website monitoring service that helps website owners monitor their websites for maximum availability. This service allows the user to monitor the traffic that their websites receive, a task most website owners don't have in today's work place.

Ninite: this cloud-based service is free and fully automated. No more hunting for those common applications over and over again. Ninite brings a magnitude of major applications to a central locations. From web applications such as Firefox, Internet Explorer, and Chrome, to runtimes such as Flash Player, Java, and Silverlight. Take a fresh operating system and install the most common applications in a one stop shop for free. A great time saver!!

Shades like the Terminator!

If you have ever seen the movie Terminator, then you know the Terminator had the ability to scan human faces for recognition. Soon technology may bring this ability to the real world, starting in Brazil. With the World Cup coming up in 2014, the cops will really be able to scan the crowds for bad guys. How you ask? They will all be wearing sunglasses that will be equipped with cameras. These cameras have the strength to scan up to 400 identified criminals a second. I find it hard to believe Mr. Bad Guy can hide in with the civilians now.

What if they are far off in the back? As long as the criminal is within 12 miles then their facial structure can be scanned. The cameras in the sunglasses can scan 46,000 points on the human face to create an exact match of the criminals in the database. Through a wireless connection, the sunglasses can attempt to match their results with up to 13 million profiles. What happens if the find a match? A section of the shades will bring up instructions for the officer’s next move. I think they should relay a successful scan between officers, this way the other officers in his/her close proximity will receive the same scan alert and directions for a group effort in the takedown.

They still have three years to complete this technology before the big event finally gets there but once it arrives how long before you or I can own a pair of these terminator shades? Will we be able to scan our peers just as the cops can or will we be limited by some unknown protocol? I find it hard to believe that this sort of power will be made public considering how easy it might be to reverse engineer the shades. What I mean by this is that maybe with the right tools and skills a hacker could tap into the police database and create their own server with police recognition technology.

Coolest-gadgets

Sony Move meets Linux Desktop

Now that Sony has joined its two rivals (Microsoft and Nintendo) in the world of motion sensors, developers have begun evolving the idea of a gesture controlled desktop PC’s. In other words, your PlayStation Move controller will be used as a magical wand/mouse. One developer by the name of Jacob Pennock has already demonstrated that through the use of the new mouse you can wave the wand in the air forming an “F” on the screen and open a Facebook page from your Linux-based desktop. In further detail, the PS3 records the motion registered by the Move controller, which by the way is connected via Bluetooth, through the use of the PS3 Eye and transmits the data over a network to your computer. The technology is in the “closed beta” stages of its development but the group is working hard to add more gestures to their recognition library for the public this spring. Here’s a demo below:

PCMag.com

The Smart House

A company named Savant is leading the way into the future with their new line of Apple based home automation products. From changing temperature, opening the blinds and turning on the TV to HDMI switches and bathrooms that will read RSS feeds to you while you shower, they can do it all. Savant uses On-Screen Display (OSD) control and automation technology to customize your iPad, iPhone, and even your HD TV into a user friendly control panel with the help of a backbone ran through one or more MAC minis. Through the use of their app from the Apple Appstore, you can see a picture of your living room and touch a lamp to turn it on. Not only that, you can press and hold your finger over the lamp to open up a diming switch. Yes I said a diming switch! You can lower the amount of light in your living room by pressing on a virtual lamp from your Apple device. Check out this video to help give you a taste of this absolutely amazing technology!

Here is my question: How much longer before your stove has an RJ-45 connection coming out of the back of it?? You’re on the way home from work and you're running late. You need to have dinner ready by a certain time because you are having important guest over. Well if you could preheat the stove from your iPhone you could most definitely save yourself some time. Next could be the dishwasher or maybe the washing machine...who knows where this technology could lead us into the future?!?

SavantAV

Google’s Disco allows group messaging.

Google has an in-house startup company called Slide that it purchased for only $182 million. Slide works freely within the walls of Google and has created a new app that allows a hand chosen group of users to text with one chat interface. Users have to sign-up at Disco.com and create an account using your 10-digit mobile number. From there the website will send you a text to your mobile phone to verify that you are who you say you are. Now you are allowed to create groups, naming them as you see fit. Other members of the group will see the group name so be careful not to step on anyone’s toes.

Now that you have created your group, the website will forward every text through-out the group members creating the group chat from your smart phone. The app works with Facebook so that you can use your “Friends List” to add group members. There have been rumors of Facebook creating its own group messaging so that is something to watch out for in the near future.

PC-Mag.com

New PC, Even Better!

So you have your old computer sitting next to your new one and you want to get started. I have found five steps that will speed up your new computer and help it fit in like the old one.

• Step 1: Backing up your data residing on your old computer with Windows Easy Transfer to an external hard drive. Important data such as your music, pictures, videos, any important documents, maybe your favorites, should be the main ingredients to making your new computer fit in. 
• Step 2:  Try a program called SlimComputer to scan your PC for safe programs that you may want to prevent from starting up or wish to remove. If you like the extra apps sent from the manufactures warehouse then I would recommend skipping this step.
• Step 3: Update your drivers via custom software already installed or by going to the manufactures website, finding the support page and downloading the latest drivers. Believe it or not, they do send out new computers with a driver update soon to come.
• Step 4: A personal favorite, Ninite. This is a website that helps you install a collection of very useful shareware in one swift move. Simply check the box next to the software you want to install and let go of the wheel (Mouse). Ninite is smart enough to know if you need the 32-bit version or 64-bit version of a program.
• Step 5: Use Windows Easy Transfer to load your backed up data onto your new computer and bam you are back in business!

Five Steps to a Better New PC