For some the “blank” is money, other’s it is love, for many it is success in whatever they are pursuing. While I will always consider conventional wisdom-I won’t blindly follow it-personally or in business. Anything else is just crazy talk, foolish to me.

Next time someone tells you something is impossible, remember this. That is the short story of Christian the lion. Christian was purchased from Harrods department store in London by 2 guys. Christian had been part of a store display and got too big for the window display. When he outgrew his owners, they released him in Africa. The owners wanted to visit him 2 years later and were told Christian was forming his own lion pride and not only would he not recognize them it would be dangerous. Christian did recognize them and in fact brought his wife and children to meet with them. True story.

I admit it-I am a 24 junkie and I voted for Jack Bauer for President last November. 24 is fast paced, patriotic and uses a lot of really cool technology that the average Joe doesn’t know exists let alone understands. To check out a scene from last night’s 24 click here. Last night the plugs for Cisco were kind of obscene-but it did get me interested in the technology. WebExprovides technology for everything from electronic signatures to web meeting and video conferencing capabilities; Cisco calls them virtual collaboration tools. BTW Connectzone.com sells Cisco cables if you are in need of one.

Product Placement 101

Am I the only person

Are you heading to Las Vegas for the big Interop Conference and Expo in May? If so, stop by Booth 2636 May 19-21 and meet some of the Connectzone team. We’d love to share some of the exciting ways IT organizations are using our products and services. Plus we’ll give you a chance to see our recent additions of data racks and cabinets that will make your life easier. Interop is always a great show with over 400 exhibitors showing off all kinds of IT solutions. If you’re going and looking for a free Expo Pass, here’s a priority code you can use: CMXXNL03 Be sure to stop by Booth 2636. We’re looking forward to meeting you! Connectzone Marketing Team

No, I have not drunk any strange Kool-Aid lately; I am both an optimistic and realistic. I am adaptable enough that when life hands me lemons-I WILL find a way to make lemonade. Recall the blog about Jemma “failure is not an option” and “gentlemen I believe this will be our finest hour”. Regarding “Commit and Providence will Move” and “I refuse to allow outside influences determine my level of success”.

The current economic crisis has given me some astounding, unbelievable gifts. Gifts like time and reflection and I don’t mean the kind of reflection Narcissus enjoyed. Let me explain.

As a business owner, when economic times are good, how much time to you spend wondering what your bank merchant card fees are? Tell the truth now, if you aren’t personally checking on the fees, do you know

I was watching 24 the other night and Blowfish Encryption caught my attention. I started wondering to myself if that was even a real thing. You know like how doctors in shows like Grey’s Anatomy and ER do fake CPR? Turns out Blowfish is a real thing, so here is my version of “Blowfish for Dummies”. To make a computer do anything, you would have to write a program, basically give it a task. An algorithm (aka cipher) tells the program how to do the task. So here is an easy example. I am going to wash my car-that is my program. There are lots of ways to get my car washed: 1. Go to the car wash. 2. Do it with a hose in my driveway. 3. Pay a neighbor kid to do it for me. The way I choose to get my car clean is the algorithm or a cipher. In cryptography, Blowfish is a keyed

“Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative and creation, there is one elementary truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then providence moves as well. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one’s favor all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamed would have come his way. Whatever you do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. Begin it now.”

This quote is most often attributed to Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Goethe lived from August 1749 until March 1832. He is quite an interesting fellow who studied and influenced numerous things from philosophy, eroticism, law, poetry, drama,

From The movie Wall Street Bud Fox: “How much is enough? “ Gordon Gekko: It’s not a question of enough, pal. It’s a zero sum game, somebody wins, somebody loses. Money itself isn’t lost or made, it’s simply transferred from one perception to another.” This quote applies to this article in two ways. First it begs the question how much technology is really necessary to run a business or your life for that matter? Second is the zero sum game where someone (insert your company name here) wins and someone (insert your competitor’s name here) loses. At least everyone hopes it works out that way. I have been pretty old school in my thinking. I only learned how to IM last week. Didn’t see the purpose. Why not use technology I already know, like email or cell phone. Then I don’t have to learn anything new. Frankly I am not the smartest or coolest crayon in the box and like most humans I don’t like change

Search engine optimization (SEO) is a very popular thing right now. Small businesses are depending on search engine listings to either grow their business or to even get business at all. As a web developer, I get a lot of questions about SEO and how we (Rain Networks) can help people get listed on Google and Yahoo! Q: Can you get my website listed at the top of Google’s list of search results? A: Yes and no. We design websites with search engines in mind. We make sure that if Google visits your website, they will be able to get the information they need. We do not, however, guarantee that your website will be listed at the top of the search results. Search engine results are determined by the search engines themselves. We can only give them what they want and hope they put you at the top of the list. Q: What does Google use to determine your ranking on search results? A: They use tons of factors (some of which we have no control over). Probably the most

Why Is USB 3.0 Needed?

The short Answer is Speed & Power, let me explain.

USB is 10 times faster than USB 2.0 & 100 time faster than USB 1.1 & While using less power; which for portable devices like an Ipod power is more important than speed.

For Small Files less than 1Gb, USB 2.0 is fine, although as I get older I realize more and more time is the 1 commodity I am always short on.

USB 3.0 SPEED

USB potential Communications Speeds

·         USB 1.1 Communication

What the heck is a Microsoft Tag-you might be asking yourself? Well it is something pretty new and innovative from Microsoft and it looks like this:

 

Now if you have the application for your cell phone (you can get it here for free) you can just aim your cell with the Tag application open at the image above and it will add the information to your telephone. Above is a real tag I made (making a tag is free too). And believe me-if I can do it anyone can.

Now I have your interest let’s do something fun. I want you to go to the