A new internet browser has hit the scene of an already crowded stage. It goes by the name of Rockmelt, and it is a change from the regular browser scheme. What Rockmelt does is use your Facebook ID to log onto the browser, anywhere in the world, and allow you to surf the net faster and easier. Behind the stage of internet browsers is the maker of Netscape. Has everyone forgot about this guy? Well he is back, and it sounds like better than ever.
The future is here. Rockmelt is here to reinvent the web. The primary purpose of Rockmelt is making the browser able to keep up with your friends, consume information, and search faster. It works on Windows and Mac’s right now for desktops and laptops. A Beta version is being released today, you can download it at rockmelt.com. If you go to the site, you will see an icon asking if you would like to be ‘Invited’ to use Rockmelt. Wow, it looks like this new browser is V.I.P. status, and you get on the list until they are? ready to let you in.
What is cool is that the CEO of Netscape, Marc Andreeson who helped start the Netscape Communications Corp., is fighting back against the same web browsers that put him out of business. He is doing that by funding these two men who founded Rockmelt, Eric Vishria and Tim Howes, and they are looking to change the way we use the internet.
In an interview with them on YouTube, they gave a sneak peak at the features of Rockmelt and what the catalyst is for the change. Instead of just an ordinary web browser like Chrome or Firefox where you click on a search link, wait for it to load, and then go back to the search page, Rockmelt turns the internet into a magazine enabling you to ‘turn the page’ so to speak. This sounds like a new era in the Internet age. Everything is on the internet, and it seems like everyone is on Facebook, so by integrating these two into one browser, Rockmelt can open the door to new ways to game, commerce, or just socialize.
The test of the browser was actually performed through Google’s web browser Chromium, but it can be used through Firefox or Internet Explorer. One requirement to be able to use the features of Rockmelt is having a Facebook account. If you have an account, and you get invited, then you are able to look at your friends to see who is doing what on a side-panel. On the other side-panel to the right is your favorite sites that you visit the most, and in between is the ‘magazine’ style search engine and a faster way to surf.
Netscape is back in action by sneaking in the back door with a whole new way to browse the web. Do not be surprised to see this type of browser become the main stream of using the internet.? Be sure to check out YouTube’s video of Rockmelt, as well as sign up to get into this new and exciting way to use the internet.
The world of Wi-Fi has come a long way since its inception 11 years ago. Today there are over 700 million users with 1 billion devices hooked up to it increasing at a rate of 8 million new devices a year. Stores everywhere offer the easy use of Wi-Fi with 750,00o hot spots around the globe; getting plugged in and surfing the net on your phone, laptop, iPod, and iPad makes business, communication, and life better.
Life keeps on getting better with the new concrete technology of Wi-Fi Direct.
Wi-Fi Direct offers peer-to-peer(P2P) connections between your devices without a traditional Wi-Fi access point or network. In other words, you can connect right to a friends portable game system like PSP and play a game real-time as long as you are within 200 yards of each other. Or you can send a picture from your camera that has Wi-Fi Direct to a digital picture frame or printer, instantaneously.
This is perfect for a businessman or a salesman who has a laptop or smartphone with Wi-Fi Direct enabled to publish a presentation right to the customer’s office without any wires or physical connections. How easy is that!
A little history of Wi-Fi:
The first ever wireless Internet network showed up at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh six years before it spread all over the world in 1999. Most colleges now how access to wireless networks.
The name Wi-Fi stands for Wireless Fidelity, like Hi-Fi or High Fidelity audio equipment, and does not mean anything at all. It is just a little catchier than the actual name: “IEEE 802.11b Direct Sequence”. It was coined by a company who worked for the W-Fi Alliance. People see the name Wi-Fi everywhere and it has become the standard for internet connectivity because of its interoperability. That means that two or more systems can exchange information, and with the use of Wi-Fi it is done simply over wireless networks.
What about security?
Wi-Fi Direct is so new that the drawbacks and glitches are yet to be discovered, a trial and error technology, but the advantages are vast. The makers behind the new technology say that Direct is saturated in security protocol and is protected enough to stop attacks. Others disagree, because any device can become and access point. You will just have to have faith since it is so new and coming out into the world. We shall see what happens in the future with this technology.
This is a technology that has unlimited possibilities for business, pleasure, and everything in between when it comes to access and communication. Imagine, no more will you have to suffer the music of Starbucks just to get to your email, or put up with limited access because of a weak connection.
Today Microsoft Office is on over a billion PC?s around the world. If you work in business or any company, chances are pretty good that email is involved, and Office is perfect for organization and ease of use.
Chris Capossela , who is the Senior Vice President of the Microsoft Office Division, has this to say on a new product that might interest users of Microsoft Office, and businessman who either own a small business or work in one.
?This is just the beginning; Office 365 allows us to take the Office suite and all the servers that go along with it, and move those to the Cloud with a world class productivity service. That really will define the next generation of productivity,? said? Capossela.
It looks like the world of computers and internet is improving for the better. Major factors involved include ease of use, how fast it is, and results. Microsoft Office 365 delivers every day of the year, hence the name.
?No other online service can provide the rich productivity capabilities of Office 365, the ease of use and depth of services, combined with the communication and collaboration of Exchange Online, SharePoint online, and Lync Online, deliver incredible benefits for organizations of all sizes,? said Betsy Webb, who is the General Manager for the Microsoft Office Division.
Small businesses that do not have formal IT staff but have big business needs for communication and collaboration will find a home here. Office 365 provides services for small businesses who want to get up and running in minutes.
You can share your work right with others with the broadcast capabilities of Powerpoint. Make a presentation on your laptop at the office and have that sent to the people who cannot make the meeting.
Sharepoint Online ?allows every employee of your company to have their own website, a sort of Facebook that allows each employee and employer to find each other and connect in ways they could not before.
Certain abilities like PC to PC communication are great for small businesses. Employees are able to work across distances with audio and video conversations, Microsoft Office 365 creates an easy living world in your business.
Here is a look at the specifics.
Microsoft Exchange Online is designed for organizations who want to get the benefits of cloud-based email without sacrificing the business-class capabilities that Exchange Server has been providing for decades.?Built on the same technology as Exchange Server 2010, Exchange Online provides organizations with the latest capabilities including built-in archiving, optional Conversation View, and MailTips, along with powerful web-based tools for managing online deployments.? With Exchange Online, Microsoft handles the ongoing maintenance, patches, and upgrades of the Exchange infrastructure while providing IT administrators the control and flexibility they require.
With SharePoint Online the services are there for you to make life easier. Manage and share personal documents and insights with colleagues using ?MySites?, a great feature like Facebook. Keep teams in sync with shared document libraries, task lists and calendars with Team Sites. SharePoint allows you to stay up to date on company news, events and business updates with Intranet Sites. Another good feature is the ability share documents and insights securely with partners and customers using Extranet Sites.
The last feature is called Lync Online. It is a next-generation cloud communications service that connects people in new ways, anytime, from anywhere. Lync Online provides intuitive communications capabilities across presence, instant messaging, audio/video calling and a rich online meeting experience including PC-audio, video and web conferencing. Transform your interactions with colleagues, customers and partners from today's hit-and-miss communication to a more collaborative, engaging, and effective experience.
All in all, if you have a small business and already use Office 2007, the upgrade to Cloud could mean increases in productivity and results. Personally I have not checked out this Cloud business, as it is only in Beta form right now. It looks promising, with the future of communication happening today, I would check it out.
If you?re the administrator of a shared computer on which you have multiple users, you very well could be someone who wants that computer used for a specific purpose, wanting to limit access to a select few applications. This is especially true of businesses where lapses in productivity could be a concern. You could be a manager looking to have your network administrator to craft a means of increasing the productivity of employees, or you might be a parent who?s mindful of the impact your children?s computer use is having on their studies.
For whatever the reason, Windows 7 allows you to decide just which applications users of that shared system can open.
This feature is not available for users of Windows 7 Home versions.
First, you want to click on the Start button and enter ?gpedit.msc? in the search box. Press Enter.
Then, you?ll want to go to User Configuration Administrative Templates System. Once there, look under ?Setting,? where you will then double-click on ?Run only specified Windows applications.?
You” have to set that to ?Enabled.? Then, in the Options section, click on the ?Show? button.
Doing so will pull up a ?Show Contents? window in which you can enter only those applications you want users to have access to. Once you?ve completed the list, click ?OK.? Close out of the Local Group Policy editor.
With that done, you have now set restrictions on which applications users of your computer can avail themselves of. Should someone try to use one that isn?t included on your list of allowed applications, they will see the following message:
If you?re someone who monitors which applications are being used on your computer, this a great feature that will assist you in that regard.
Though many us will be traveling over the holidays, we?re still bound by our responsibilities at work, with wireless access keeping us connected to the office wherever we find ourselves. Even if you?re not obligated to work during your vacation, you might still be one of millions who?re hopelessly addicted to the internet, needing access on the fly.
If you?re looking for free WiFi access while traveling, PC World has compiled a wonderfully informative list of nationwide businesses offering WiFi access, distinguishing those that charge from the establishments offering such access for free.
As someone who requires internet access at all times, for both personal and business matters, it?s nice to have this resource as the holiday season approaches.
If you?re similarly dependent?on immediate WiFi access, you can find their WiFi Guide for Travelers here.
Announced a couple of weeks ago, Google has recently rolled out with Google Public DNS, which is a said to increase the speed at which you browse the internet. Completely free, Google?s service replaces your Internet Service Provider?s DNS with theirs.
If you?re someone that feels uneasy when messing with the settings associated with your router and internet connection, you might be interested in an extremely easy-to-use application that gives you an opportunity to test Google?s Public DNS and determine whether its benefit outweighs whatever hassles you might fear from switching over to it.
It?s called the Google DNS Helper, and its purpose is to allow users a chance to test out multiple public DNS servers to determine which ones introduce a noticeable improvement over the speed of your current DNS server.
Using it is simple, with just two options for users to worry about, saving them the stress of having to wrangle with their network settings. With just one click, this application switches you over to Google Public DNS, saving your current DNS settings before doing so. You?re now able to browse the web with your new DNS settings, having only to click the other button if you ever want to return to your original configuration.
If you?re interested in trying out Google?s DNS solution, this is a convenient ? and, more important, safe ? way of doing so if you?re someone who?s wary of tinkering with your router and network.
