Label the Cable
Ok, you’ve got a computer connected to the company network. Usually that means that you have a CAT-5 network cable running from your machine to the wall which then runs back to the central server located somewhere else in the office. Is that cable labeled? Does the wall jack have a number on it? No, well that’s no big deal, right? Wrong.
Now think with me. Let’s say, hypothetically, you’ve got 25 computers. 5 printers, a file share server, a firewall server, a network switch that transfers all the cables to a central server for DHCP, oh, and maybe a wireless router. What have you got? You’ve got a server room with a hundred cables and nothing labeled. And now say one of those computers loses its connection because the network cable shorted out. You’ve got a problem. And now you have hours of work in front of you. Tedious, dirty, time-consuming work.
I’m sure you never meant for it to get that bad. I mean, it all starts one cable at a time. That’s why when we come in and rock your technology one of the things we’ll do is outline your network structure, figure out your paths, and you guessed it - label your cables.
One Design, One Million Devices
There once was a time when you created one website design and you optimized it for a single screen size (800x600). In fact, it wasn’t too long ago when you’d see that notice at the bottom of a web page - “This site has been optimized for a resolution of 800x600, please adjust your screen if necessary”. Gradually this changed as monitors grew in size.
Next we had the invention of cell phones with Internet capabilities. Now you’ve got to create a text based site specific for those old, non-color cell phone screens. Next the screens brought in color. Still not too much to worry about. And then it happened. The iPhone. The game changer. All of a sudden you had a massive shift in understanding regarding mobile browsing. And websites had to change. And it continues to explode. Now days we have screens ranging from 320x240 (or smaller) up to 3600x1200 (and bigger - come by our office if you want to see).
Initially website designers would try to develop a unique site for each size screen. But now with the plethora of devices on the market - this is simply impossible and a bad attempt to bridge the gap. Introducing “Responsive Web Design”. What we incorporate and what is growing in popularity (although still on the very edge of technology) is a new technique that dynamically and fluidly changes its layout depending on the size of the screen viewing the site. No more having multiple sites to have to upkeep and maintain. One design built with the intelligence to know the optimal layout for the screen being used.
Want to see an example? We recently developed a site for a friend of ours - check out www.rockyourtechnology.com from any of your devices and see how the layout updates automatically to give you the optimal viewing experience.
Free Advice
Everyone these days works with computers. Either directly or indirectly. This means the computer is something we are all familiar with, comfortable with (for the most part) and have at least a little knowledge about. This means that there can be times when a problem with a computer, a network, or a website can arise and you think you can fix it yourself. We hear about it and see it all the time. In fact, we hear about it so much because often we are the first call after they’ve spent some time looking at it. Can we give advice, just a little help so that they can fix it themselves. That used to be a hard thing for me to handle. I run a business. A business of technical support, computers, networks, and website design and development. Our business has to make money to pay for the salaries of the employees and their families. And now I have someone asking for free advice, give away the exact thing that we are trying to sell.
I say it used to be a hard thing because it’s not anymore. If you’ve got a question, I’ve got an answer. I will be happy to help you. I’ll troubleshoot your problems. I’ll offer my advice and I’ll take the time to help educate you. Because I have come to realize that by showing you what we are capable of. And by showing you that we do indeed know what we are talking about when it comes to IT. When a problem comes up that you can’t (or don’t want to) handle - you’ll call us. We’re building relationships. We’re making friends. And we’re trusting business to take care of itself. So, have a question? Give us a call, we’ll do everything we can to help you.
Which Social Network Should I Use
This day and age there are dozens of social media companies and services available. How do you possibly choose which one to spend time and energy on if you're looking to promote a business? I don't think that I have all the answers to that question, but perhaps my thoughts will help you come to your own conclusions as far as what will work best for your business.
Even though there are dozens of services I typically think that there are far fewer that you would really want to spend serious energy and time working on building an online presence. The largest social media outlets are without a doubt Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. I would highly recommend that you look at these three services as separate and distinct services and not choose just one to focus on.
Facebook has grown to the largest social media service available with over 500 million active users. At this size Facebook simply demands that you invest the time in their site as you market your business. However, keep in mind that the majority of people using Facebook are using it to connect with friends and family. This means as you seek to build a business presence you need to keep that central thought in mind and craft your content to appeal to that idea.
Twitter, on the other hand, offers a very different central thought. Twitter focuses on short newsy type of items. This means it provides a great way for you to communicate short, timely and interesting news items or thoughts to your potential clients. Plus Twitter gives you the opportunity to listen and receive feedback from your users. This makes Twitter a great two-way street for communicating with the individuals you wish to establish a business relationship with. Just as with Facebook, Twitter requires that for true interaction and focused messaging you need to be friends or followers with your potential clients. Don't neglect the use of hashtags and other search relevant keywords when posting your news messages as this will help your potential clients find you.
Lastly, LinkedIn is considered the most business of the social media outlets. LinkedIn should be thought of as a tool to broaden your peer-to-peer relations, and gain leads for your business not directly from the community but indirectly as referrals from your other contacts in your LinkedIn circle. Tip for LinkedIn? Join groups. Be sure to get involved with groups on LinkedIn that tie in to your field of interest or service and become involved with the other like-minded business owners.
And that's only three of many more. I would recommend focusing on these three as they hold most of the traffic (at least in the United States). Once you have a good handle on these services then you can begin exploring other areas of online social media.
Google Instant Search Manipulates Users
As people get to use the new Google Instant Search some trends and patterns are beginning to emerge. Something that I've noticed starting to occur is that Google is directing what people search for. Now, Google said as much when they were announcing this new search when they mentioned that they were trying to predict what users were looking for and lead them directly to it. That sounds innocent and nice and extremely helpful as it would save time. But as I've had some time to actually use Instant Search I've started to notice that Google is trying to show me what they want to show me. I don't like that. Sure, I understand trying to make things quicker for me to find what I'm looking for...but Google doesn't always know what I'm looking for - sometimes I don't know what I'm looking for. As a result the items that Google is returning to me can almost be considered manipulation by Google to put certain items or advertisements in front of my eyes. This can lead, in my opinion, to dangerous grounds.Let's take a look at a sample query to demonstrate my point. Imagine you're looking for some information on Facebook's privacy policy, a rather hot topic that's been in the news lately. Starting a search on Google Instant for Facebook and even through the start of the word 'privacy' you still see nothing negative on the Facebook debacle. Now, let's take that one step further and assume that Google decides that they would like to partner with Facebook (I told you it was just an example). Google could filter the negative discussions about Facebook past the first page of the results and as a result you might never see them. With Google Instant Search and the method they use to complete my searches for me I am left looking at the results that Google want me to see. And I am led one step further away from the true answer to my questions.
Google Instant Search makes for a very uncomfortable situation where I can be directed to exactly what Google wants me to view by pushing results past the first page and leaving me with a much harder search to find what I was truly looking for. I know that it can be argued that Google has always had this power, but I would respond that while it may always have been the case the recent "upgrades" magnify a problem that could easily become a very real issue.
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