Genius Tech Blog

Here’s are just a few of the projects that the Your Computer Genius Team has knocked out recently:

Network Administration

• OpenVPN Installations
• LG CU720 1.4 Setup
• iPhone Setup, and Custom Applications Config
• HP Hardware Recovery
• Custom Power Supply Fabrication
• Advanced Long Range High Intensity WiFi Installation

Internet Engineering

• Advanced PHP Configuration
• PHP Server (intranet) Security
• HTTPS (public) Webserver Security

Desktop Support

• Outlook Configuration
• Dolphin 7850 Configuration
• Windows Vista Config
• Windows XP Professional Cleanup

Anything there sound like it matches your current needs?

Give us a ring at 503.457.4242!

In 2009, companies looking to cut IT costs will benefit from the low cost of virtualization, revitalizing older systems through remote desktop or terminal servers, and the outsourcing of tech support.

Virtualization

The big news in ‘08 was that the big players made their entry-level bare-metal virtualization software available for free. For the small company that does not require the sophistication of the entire virtualization infrastructure, this is a perfect opportunity to reap the benefits of virtualization — call YCG to help you start your server consolidation today.

Remote Desktop

With all the server hardware you save by effectively using virtualization, you can devote a machine or two to remote desktop. With the server doing all the heavy lifting, client machines can be reduced in computing power and sophistication. Suddenly, 2 to 8-year-old hardware becomes relevant again. YCG can help you create custom boot patterns — with or without client hard drives — that instantly connect your new ‘thin clients’ to their home servers.

Outsource Tech Support

Still have in-house IT guys? Get with the game and start our phones a-ringing. After the competent experts at YCG get you squared away, your servers will be safe and secure.

2009 will be an exciting year for computing. The Apple iPhone and the Blackberry will continue to go head-to-head for the business mobile computing environment, all hardware’s prices will fall, especially as consumers and businesses demand lower prices, Netbooks will come increasingly into style, and desktops will continue to fade.

Your Computer Genius can help you in all these departments. Contact us now for a strategic consulting session.

Today marks the second day in a row I’ve worked from the same place — the YCG Northwestern Headquarters. Above you can see the lovely scene that greeted us as we cruised into Vancouver, B.C. this last weekend for an extended series of face-to-face client meetings.

Being on the road constantly has lead us here at Your Computer Genius to perfect the Digital Road Warrior’s arsenal, or rather, to make the most of the available technology, while striving to keep costs down, equipment fresh, and the backpack light.

The current mobile setup I use is as follows:

• Macbook Air — 3lbs
• Verizon USB720 — $59.99 Monthly Access
• Vector 75-watt Power Inverter — For 12-volt access

This worked great all the way to Canada and back!

As Christmas approaches, remember the advances that have been made in NetBooks! These may not run the latest games, but they’re great for email, messaging, web browsing, word processing and more!

The things I don’t like about the Macbook Air:

• Edges on inside (wrist-rest area) should be beveled
• Screen should tilt back further
• Battery life is poor

The things I love about the Macbook Air:

• Slim Profile
• Light Weight

Things I could never go back from:

• Back-lit Keyboard
• Auto-sensing Display Brightness
• Multi-touch Trackpad

As the resident and go-to tech genius consortium for a wide range of businesses and individuals, we get asked this question a lot.

The best hardware platforms and factory hardware / software setups are being made by Apple in California.

The ideal system for the small business or home user is the iMac.

If portability is required, then the ideal system is the MacBook.

Users may run Apple’s OS X, Microsoft’s Windows XP, and any of a number of flavors of Linux on these systems. These operating systems may be also be configured to each be available on a particular machine.

There are several further considerations:

• If the primary concern is budget, then we still recommend scanning the Dell Outlet for their cheapest offering.
• Apple does not offer a Tablet computer at this time, however there is at least one company that professionally remixes MacBooks into a tablet version.
• We don’t recommend running Windows Vista on ANY hardware platform at this time.

Links:

Apple Computer

Dell Outlet

Linux on a Mac

Linksys NAS200

Presenting the Linksys NAS200. Finally, NAS manufacturers are starting to take notice of what their business and soho end users want: cheap RAIDed network storage. 

Unfortunately, there is still one component largely ignored by manufactures: Wireless-N support. Many models (excepting this one) are now supporting gigabit ethernet, which is a terrific step in the right direction. But for true standalone, plug-and-play integration, end users should be able to eschew the wires, and take advantage of the three fold speed increase (over 10/100 ethernet) that MIMO 802.11n offers. 

Another component useful for the small business or home user would be integrated power protection. Not everyone uses UPS systems for their auxiliary data storage, though they should. Few non-enterprise end users have power conditioning units or proper power protection at all. However, few network storage vendors provide built-in power management.

A simple low-capacity, self-charging battery and a simple safe shutdown procedure would be right at home in the heart of every NAS, be it soho or enterprise bound.

(The link above saves you $24 on the Linksys NAS200, valid 2/12/08-2/22/08).

Submitted by Your Computer Genius on Fri, 2007/09/21 – 6:35pm.

Simply put, Apple’s line of iMacs are the best choice for desktop consumers.

Apple recently has begun making what is universally considered far-and-away the best meld of hardware and software, from boot to shutdown. Apple’s engineers have been doing amazing things with software that works not only on the new Macs but also on all Intel-based machines, including those running windows.

For example, Bonjour is a zero-configuration networking protocol that literally connects your shared printers (among other things) in milliseconds.

There really are no negatives to this one. IMacs come standard with WiFi, Bluetooth, USB 2.0, DVD-Burners, and the whole host of Mac OS X Software (built-in PDF manipulation, the journaling file system). The open source remote desktop software built for OS X, CoRD, works far better than Microsoft’s own client, either on the Mac or PC.

Apple has long been criticized for being more expensive, pound for pound of raw power. But years of paying attention to the details make purchasing an iMac (or Mac Mini, or MacBook) worth every cent.

Of course, you can run Windows natively on these (or in a Virtual Machine) but why would you? Mac and PC formats for every file have been completely compatible and 100% interchangeable for years.

Apple is making the best computers out there these days, and of these, the iMac is the #1, top-flight recommendation for desktop consumers, businesses, and power users.

Submitted by Your Computer Genius on Wed, 2007/09/19 – 6:43pm.

Dell has released a new line of laptops named “VOSTRO.”

These are exciting because they herald in a new era of hardware/software suppliers’ accountability to their customers.

New computers are routinely flooded with a bevy of ad-supported and other gimmicky software before leaving the depots. Dell has changed all that with the VOSTRO. As part of the machine-building process, Dell allows customers to modify the nitty-gritty details of the software that they are receiving.

It lets the choice of precisely what is installed fall to the customer, which in the case of small companies, may equate to hundreds of dollars of IT time which would be otherwise spent mindlessly clicking “uninstall.”

Linkage: Dell’s New VOSTRO Line of Laptops