Peruvian Government Agency Improves Employee Collaboration with Open Source Solutions from Red Hat, Alfresco and Zimbra

The Ministry of Housing, Construction and Sanitation of Peru Implemented Zimbra Collaboration Suite on Red Hat Enterprise Linux to Achieve Greater Scalability, Security and Productivity

FAST FACTS

Company: Ministerio de Vivienda: Peru’s Ministry of Housing, Construction, and Sanitation

Industry: Government

Partner: Software Libre Andino

Geography: Peru

Business Challenge: Needed to replace the existing client/server e-mail and collaboration platform to achieve improved scalability, security, productivity, and to reduce costs

Software: Red Hat Enterprise Linux, Zimbra Collaboration Suite, Alfresco Zimlet, Red Hat Consulting

Hardware: Dell Quad Core Server, 3.0 Ghz, 8GB ram, 1.5 Tb. Fully redundant

Migration Path: From a client/server system running on Novell SUSE Linux Enterprise to Zimbra Collaboration Suite, a Web-based email technology, running on Red Hat Enterprise Linux and utilizing Alfresco Zimlet

Benefits: Improved communication and collaboration among users and provided a single integrated calendar and email solution; increased access to e-mail, agendas, and documents independently from physical equipment; reduced IT administration and support costs by standardizing on Red Hat Enterprise Linux

“The high level of know-how and expertise of Red Hat’s consultants, coupled with Red Hat’s local presence, were decisive in making the decision to secure consulting rather than performing these tasks internally.”
– Jaime Honores Coronado, managing director of the General Department of Statistics and Information Systems, Ministerio de Vivienda.

Download the case study PDF

BACKGROUND
Ministerio de Vivienda, Peru’s Ministry of Housing, Construction, and Sanitation, is a government agency whose goal is to promote and improve the development of housing, water, and sanitation services throughout Peru by facilitating access to adequate housing and basic services, facilitating the management, growth, preservation, maintenance, and protection of population centers.

BUSINESS CHALLENGE
Building community in Peru is a key objective for the Ministry of Housing, Construction, and Sanitation. And technology—in the form of email, calendaring, messaging, and collaboration solutions—has become an essential tool in achieving that objective. The Ministry realized it was outgrowing its communications infrastructure, and the IT team began planning for the task of replacing its aging client/server email and calendar systems.

The Ministry’s aging and limited email communications platform was based on SUSE Enterprise Linux with Postfix and Horde for Web customers. Users relied on different versions of Microsoft Outlook to check their email, resulting in challenges due to the platform age and configuration. The platform also caused the need to add an exclusive server allocated to this service. The Ministry’s main problem consisted of the lack of scalability and security, and limited flexibility in management and constrained the user interface.

SOLUTION
In early 2009, the Ministry made the decision to evaluate solutions to replace its expensive proprietary software with lower cost, open source alternatives for a Web-based email solution with integrated email, calendar, and messaging.

The Ministry worked with Software Libre Andino, a Red Hat and Zimbra partner in Peru, in the evaluation process to replace its outdated systems.

“We needed a quick-to-deploy and easy-to-manage solution. We assessed several proposals from various vendors, among them, SUSE Linux and Microsoft Windows-based solutions, but we chose Red Hat Enterprise Linux, Zimbra Collaboration Suite, and Alfresco, for the cost savings, simplified administration, reliability, and quick implementation,” said Jaime Honores Coronado, managing director of the General Department of Statistics and Information Systems, Ministerio de Vivienda.

The entire project consisted of Red Hat Enterprise Linux with Zimbra Collaboration Suite, including the migration of each account, installation, configuration, start-up, technical, and end-user training. Email accounts were configured with a 900 MB per user quota.

With Zimbra Collaboration Suite, Red Hat Enterprise Linux serves as the primary development and deployment platform for the open source email platform. Zimbra Collaboration Suite integrates email, contacts, shared calendar, voice over IP (VoIP), and online document authoring into a single application with a rich browser-based interface, and is compatible with all standard email clients, and integrates easily with third-party applications.

The Ministry was able to deploy the Alfresco Zimlet, a tool created by Zimbra community members to allow a simple way for employees to store email attachments on the Alfresco server, and in turn select documents from the Alfresco server and attach them to a Zimbra email. This tool created by the open source community makes it easy for government agencies or companies to invest in multiple open source products to meet their needs.

Although the Ministry’s technical staff had minimal experience with a web-based email technology, Red Hat Consulting facilitated a faster implementation and provided the technical staff with the knowledge and tools to effectively manage the new platform.

“The high level of know-how and expertise of Red Hat’s consultants, coupled with Red Hat’s local presence, were decisive in making the decision to secure consulting rather than performing these tasks internally. Red Hat, through partner Software Libre Andino, contributed to service deployment, technical, and end-user training, and the migration of old e-mail accounts, allowing our team to quickly become experts,” said Coronado.

BENEFITS
The Zimbra Collaboration Suite e-mail platform based on Red Hat Enterprise Linux immediately improved the productivity and coordination of the Ministry’s employees by enhancing collaboration and sharing of work agendas.

“We have achieved a larger physical distribution of our users who are now capable of accessing their e-mail accounts wherever they are. Our investment project coordinators can perform Web queries of their local e-mail, manage their work agendas, and refer to the document management system, all in one single platform,” said Coronado.

During the evaluation, the Ministry weighed Microsoft Exchange against Zimbra Collaboration Suite, and determined that the latter would account for 30 percent savings compared with the former. Zimbra’s own studies show similar TCO savings.

Saving the government money is definitely one reason for the switch to Zimbra, but another important factor in its decision to deploy open source solutions is that open source platforms allow users to easily integrate and build new solutions.

The Ministry’s future plans contemplate expanding the use of the solution by integrating it with other applications and platforms. Engineer Honores Coronado said, “We hope to continue our commitment to open source solutions and trust in Red Hat as the ideal partner for our projects.”

“The Zimbra and Red Hat solution provides a cost-effective platform that allows for greater efficiency and a unified email and collaboration platform,” said Coronado. “And we also benefited from significant cost savings with Red Hat Enterprise Linux.”

Businesses to Reach For the Skies With Cloud Computing

While we still have a ways to go when it comes to cloud computing, there are a lot of potentially, Computer, Hardware, massive benefits that it can afford businesses today. Its implications in company productivity and possibly, longevity, simply cannot be, Computer, Hardware, overlooked.Cloud Computing BasicsCloud computing operates on the premise that if there are computers switched on but being unused for the majority of the time, all this underutilized power can be accessed so that people can distribute computing jobs across users to get more things done.Today, cloud computing enables users to access computers and servers through the Internet to assist you with tasks that might otherwise be too huge for a single desktop to accomplish. This means that you no longer have to worry about the capacity of your computer hardware to handle data as these can be shared. You now have some sort of virtual workspace and virtual resources that you can take advantage of.AdvantagesOne of the components of cloud computing is software as a service or SaaS. SaaS allows you to pay for a service that gives you access to applications that you can operate through your browser, as opposed to paying one time for each software that you will be needing, Computer, Hardware, .There are a number of advantages to SaaS, foremost of which is that, Computer, Hardware, since it is available through the Internet, your data is also accessible from any location that has Internet access. And since the application isn’t restricted to a single desktop, any staff member can also access the software. Not only does this increase productivity,,, Computer, Hardware, Computer, Hardware, it also has savings implications and diminishes the hazards associated with storing applications in a physical hardware. Should there be problems with your equipment, your information, Computer, Hardware, isn’t compromised as it doesn’t physically exist within that equipment.This lessens the need for a dedicated IT team as the SaaS provider will be doing all the management, troubleshooting and maintenance for your organization. There is no need to worry about backing up your files, installing or re-installing software and so on.The implications on software developers and service providers are also significant. Cloud computing could pave the way for cutting edge innovations that were previously not possible or extremely difficult to execute because of hardware inadequacies. Because of these possibilities also, more new players can start providing cloud computing services.Adopting cloud computing in business will certainly expose employees to different types of technology and this can contribute significantly to the improvement of skill sets – something that will be of great import if you are to effectively compete with your rivals.ChallengesNaturally, there still some challenges that need to be addressed, Computer, Hardware, with cloud computing which is why many companies are not so keen on adopting it for their operations. Security is a major issue and justifiably so. All your business information will essentially be housed in the cloud and the potential of unauthorized access poses huge risks, Computer, Hardware, . There are also management issues associated with the cloud. Since it will be managed, Computer, Hardware, by third party vendors, companies, Computer, Hardware, fear they may not be able to exercise control over valuable resources. GP

Dell versus My Local Computer Store

The Computer Café: My Local Computer Store

My computer died last week and luckily because I use Carbonite my data was safe and secure. 

When I told one of my clients that I needed to replace my computer he asked me if I was going to get the latest and greatest and I responded with a resounding no.  My approach has always been to have an average computer because that’s what most of my clients have, and I’ve always felt it allows me to relate to their software predicaments better.

The first thing I did was to call and get a quote from Craig Rabe and Justin at the Computer Café in Arlington, Massachusetts.  I’ve known Craig for years and I wanted to give him the business.  I also called Dell and got a quote and was surprised that the price difference was almost $250.00.  I emailed Craig and told him of my moral and business dilemma; I wanted to give him the business but the difference was substantial.

Sometimes you have to look at the cost and not just the price when you make a purchase.

Because I’ve known Craig for years he gave me a $100 discount right away (I’ve also referred business to him over the years and vice versa).  In addition, he offered to transfer all my old data from my two old hard drives to the new computer.  I can’t even begin to tell you how much time that saved me.

Dell told me the delivery time would be 5 to 10 business days; the Computer Café had my computer in three business days.  Dell had a $35.00 delivery charge; all I had to do was drive about two miles from home to pickup my computer from Craig and Justin.

Craig was still about $115 more expensive, but I knew he was local and just a phone call away and he was providing me a service (transferring my data) that would save me a great deal of time.  After I got my computer, I called Ted at the store and he spent about 15 minutes advising me on some things that I had questions about with the new system.

When you purchase your next computer, consider the local guy or gal down the street, because the price difference isn’t always what it seems.   And you have the opportunity to support your local economy.  Sorry Dell.

Moblin v2.0 en su version final

Intel ha anunciado la esperada versión final de su novedoso y optimizado sistema operativo para netbooks con plataforma Atom. Sin duda alguna, es una grata noticia para los poseedores de uno, y es que con dicho sistema operativo se consigue mayor velocidad de arranque, mayor autonomía y un sinfín de ventajas gracias a estar basado en Linux.

Lo más interesante es que estamos ante un sistema operativo abierto, que cualquier ensamblador podría instalar de manera gratuita y ofrece una gran funcionalidad en estos pequeños dispositivos. El primer fabricante en anunciar un netbook con Moblin ha sido Dell con una versión del Dell Mini 10v, 299$ aunque también ha ofrecido una imagen del sisitema para que cualqueir usuario de Dell Mini 10v pueda disfrutar de Moblin v2.0.

//

Una de las mejoras frente a la versión beta ya existente es que se ha integrado un nuevo y sencillo sisitema de control e instalación de software a modo de tienda de aplicaciones, gratuitas y de código abierto.

vINQulos
Moblin.org
Descarga Moblin v2.0 final

Fuente: theinquirer

Hey Dude, Got a Dell?

So… I got my Dell Mini-12 a week ago. It is kind of sad that your own netbook is better than desktop. I suppose it just show what my value actually is. I means I lost interest in PC gaming after Call of Duty came out, and back then my computer could handle that.

Anyway, I am quite satisfied with the Mini-12. I was able to bring it wherever i want it. It has a reasonable battery life as well. The webcam is not bad, but I will stick with my Canon for video-blogging, once I get around to doing that kind of thing.

I know I am behind since now it is all about the Dell Mini-10 and everything, however I just wanted something ultralight and just to do work processing and watch a few digital movies; nothing more than that. If I really wanted to watch a DVD or play a video game, that is why I have my Xbox 360, Nintendo 64 and a SNES.

So I loaded up all of my documents from my old computer to the netbook. I haven’t really been this happy since maybe– two years ago? I means that when I hauled my laptops everywhere with me before they started breaking down due to their inability to withstand the impact.

Have fun,

Dave

Tech Titans Holding $260 Billion In Cash

As the economic slump is fading off, tech titans have amassed cash for possible takeovers. Here is an opionion further explaining this from 24/7 Wall Street Blog.

“The economy is obviously getting better, so long as you are not one of the unemployed or about to lose your job.  Now with more than a 50% rally from the March lows and a Dow Jones Industrial Average challenging the 10,000 level, suddenly everyone wants to put on their investment banker hats again and look for buyers and buyout candidates after deals are announced.  This week’s Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) deal for Perot Systems Corp. (NASDAQ: PER) was a $3.9 billion acquisition versus $12.7 billion in cash and equivalents held at the end of the quarter.  The Oracle Corp. (NASDAQ: ORCL) deal for Sun Microsystems Inc. (NASDAQ: JAVA) is valued at $7.4 billion, or $5.6 billion net of Sun’s cash and debt.  We went back through our list from September 2, 2009 where we noted that outside of the financials  in the 20 largest US companies had a cash hoard of $335 billion that could be used for mergers and acquisitions, and that is not accounting for lines of credit, stock or debt that could be sold, and other means of financing a deal.  While nowhere near all of the cash will ever be used, many companies could pay big dividends before any tax changes.

So we wanted to look through the technology sector and after we looked through the top 100 markets caps in our 24/7 Wall St. Real-Time 500 we added a few new additions in the tech sector that still had over $5 billion in cash.  Out if the $335 billion from those in the top twenty, we broke out Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT), International Business Machines (NYSE: IBM), Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL), Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG), Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO), Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC), Oracle Corp. (NASDAQ: ORCL).  Even after a huge rally, $335 billion and then some could go a very long way for strategic and bolt-on acquisitions as a positioning strategy for the next decade.  Now, going further down the list of the top 100 companies with $5 billion or more in cash from tech companies alone adds in Hewlett-Packard Company (NYSE: HPQ), QUALCOMM Inc. (NASDAQ: QCOM), EMC Corporation (NYSE: EMC), and Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO). When we tally up all the cash, there is over $260 billion available from these few tech companies that could be deployed for mergers, acquisitions, or the good old dividends.  Again, that is before tallying up credit lines, factoring, debt sales, and other financing methods.

Hewlett-Packard Company (NYSE: HPQ) had almost $25 billion in cash and long-term investments.  Now that it has migrated away from just selling PCs and printers, we think that there will be a rather long lull before H-P tries to match its big buyout of EDS even if Dell is tip-toeing into IT-services and consulting with Perot.  But in the end, what we think may not matter.  Nearly $25 billion in cash when you know you will be profitable ahead leaves a lot of room to go out make purchases.

QUALCOMM Inc. (NASDAQ: QCOM) was the 29th largest company as of Wednesday with a $74.12 billion market cap. If you tally up its cash, short-term and long-term investments, it is sitting on almost $15 billion in cash and equivalents as of last quarter.  After all the lawsuits that the Jacobs team are settled, it might consider a way to deploy capital to get around future patent cases.  If only it was possible, although anything is possible.”

Read the full article here.

Insider Trading Lesson 1: No Call Options

You guys are so stupid.  The first place the SEC looks is at the call option activity whenever there’s a high profile merger or takeover.  Anything unusual is gonna be flagged.

From DealBook:

The Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday charged two men with running an $8.6 million insider-trading scheme connected to Dell’s $3.9 billion agreement to buy Perot Systems.

One of the individuals charged, Reza Saleh, 53, is an employee of a firm affiliated with Perot Systems and is the one accused of masterminding the scheme. Unsurprisingly, it revolved around the purchase of call options.

Almost every insider trading perp I’ve read about over the last few years has been busted because they bought the calls.  Once an investigator determines that options trading is outside of your normal scope of activity, you’re toast.  Especially if you’re trading in a size that’s completely disproportionate compared to what you usually do.  All of these records are out there, they will get them, and then they’ve got you, they just need to connect the dots and figure out how you could’ve been informed of the deal.

That’s a piece of cake.

But the trail of crumbs that leads to the cake is in the options market, plain and simple.

Oh yeah, I thought this was pretty cool…Zero Hedge picked up on the unusual activity last week:

The lawsuit by the S.E.C. follows reports of a spike in options trading volumes following the companies’ deal announcement on Monday. Zero Hedge, in particular, highlighted a big spike in purchases of Perot Systems call options last week.

Who says bloggers, even anonymous ones, are no good?

Nice pick up for both Zero Hedge and the SEC.  Cart these little dirtbags away.

Sources:

Perot Systems Employee Charged With Insider Trading (DealBook)

Dear SEC – Obvious Perot Frontrunning (ZeroHedge)

Dell compra da Perot Systems por US$ 3,9 bi

A Dell informou nesta segunda-feira (21) que irá comprar a empresa de serviços de tecnologia da informação Perot Systems, em uma transação em dinheiro avaliada em cerca de US$ 3,9 bilhões.

A Dell, que revelou a intenção de ampliar aquisições, afirmou que lançará uma oferta para comprar todas as ações ordinárias classe A da Perot Systems por US$ 30 a ação em dinheiro. O valor representa um prêmio de cerca de 67,5% frente ao preço de fechamento de sexta-feira, de US$ 17,91, na Bolsa de Nova York.

Os papéis da Perot Systems saltaram para US$ 29,70 no pregão eletrônico desta segunda-feira depois que o acordo foi anunciado.

A Dell, que informou que a aquisição ajudará a fornecer uma ampla variação de serviços aos clientes e que abre as portas para a venda de seus computadores aos clientes da Perot, espera que o acordo aumente o lucro no ano fiscal de 2012.

A Perot Systems, fundada em 1988 por Ross Perot, que concorreu duas vezes à presidência dos Estados Unidos, deve se tornar a unidade de serviços da Dell. A divisão será dirigida por Peter Altabef, atual presidente-executivo da Perot Systems.

Reuters

Dell to buy Perot Systems for $3.9 billion

From: www.eleconomista.es

Nice to see things are moving in the industry!

By Franklin Paul and Gabriel Madway

NEW YORK/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – DELL (DELL.NQDELL

16,010 -4,07% -0,68

Dell Inc plans to buy Perot Systems Corp for about $3.9 billion, paying a steep 67.5 percent premium to expand its technology services business and compete with Hewlett-Packard Co and IBM.

Perot Systems, a computer services provider founded in 1988 by former U.S. presidential candidate Ross Perot, would be the largest ever acquisition by Dell and comes after extended speculation about its M&A strategy.

Dell, which lags far behind HP and IBM in the services arena, is looking to buy a company with a strong focus on serving healthcare and federal government customers. It expects the deal to add to earnings in fiscal 2012, but some analysts thought the price tag may have been too high.

Dell said it would pay $30 per share for Perot Systems. Its Friday’s closing price was $17.91 on the New York Stock Exchange.

J.P. Morgan analyst Mark Moskowitz said the price is 1.4 times Perot Systems’ sales, compared to HP’s purchase of EDS for 0.6 times sales last year. That would make the acquisition a little expensive, although it was good for Dell to lessen its dependence on personal computers, he said.

“We do see the building block as being compelling, but the purchase price seems relatively rich,” Moskowitz wrote in a research note.

Perot shares jumped 65 percent to close at $29.56 while Dell shares fell 4.1 percent to $16.01.

The deal comes as large technology companies expand into higher margin IT services to secure stable and recurring revenues as computer hardware becomes cheaper.

Dell is the world’s No. 2 maker of PCs, with roughly 60 percent of its revenue coming from that market. The company has been trying to diversify its range of offerings, and services currently comprise only around one-tenth of sales.

HP made a splashy foray into the services segment with last year’s $13.2 billion purchase of EDS, founded by Ross Perot in 1962. HP is the world’s No. 1 PC maker and No. 2 IT services player, behind IBM.

Kaufman Bros analyst Shaw Wu said Dell is finally taking a step to address some of its weaknesses, but it remains to be seen how much impact the deal will have as Dell’s combined services offering would still be much smaller than its rivals.

“This still doesn’t have quite the scale to compete … but it’s also not so outrageous it will be difficult to integrate,” Wu said.

FOCUSED ON HEALTHCARE, GOVERNMENT

Perot specializes in providing business processes and technology consulting services, with a strong client base among healthcare, government and other commercial segments. More than a third of its 23,000 employees are based in India.

Perot Systems estimates it is the largest provider of IT services to hospitals, operating in roughly 1,000 around the world. Around half its sales come in the healthcare sector, with another quarter in government services.

Perot Systems is expected to become Dell’s services unit. It will be run by Peter Altabef, the current chief executive of Perot Systems.

Forrester analyst Paul Roehrig said Dell’s services offering has traditionally been tied to hardware support, but the company has been trying to shift into more managed services, which the Perot deal should help facilitate.

“It’s a pretty solid deal. Dell needed more firepower in the services space … they get some great customers in some attractive verticals.”

On a combined basis, the two companies have posted services revenue of roughly $8 billion over the past four quarters.

Dell said the deal may open the door to the sale of Dell PCs to Perot’s clients, but emphasized that the main target was the expansion in IT services.

“This acquisition makes great sense because of the obvious ways our businesses complement each other and enable us to grow profitably over time,” Dell Chief Executive Michael Dell told analysts on a conference call.

The two companies spend a combined $4 billion in the areas they plan to integrate, and Dell hopes to achieve cost savings of about 6 to 8 percent, or $300 million over two years.

Dell currently has about $12 billion in cash and short-term investments, and Michael Dell said the company continues to look at acquisitions. Besides services, Dell has expressed interest in areas such as software.

The Perot family owns roughly 30 million shares of Perot Systems, or a 25 percent stake. Ross Perot Jr, Perot Systems’ chairman, will be considered for appointment to the Dell board.

(Additional reporting by Ritsuko Ando in New York; Editing by Phil Berlowitz, Gary Hill)

Dell buys IT services firm for $3.9B



Dell Inc. took a large step outside the personal computer business on Monday by buying IT services company Perot Systems Corp. for about $3.9 billion US.

The computer seller based in Round Rock, Texas, offered $30 per share in cash for every one of Texas-based Perot’s 121 million common shares, a 68 per cent premium over Perot’s closing share price Friday.

The deal provides “compelling opportunities for improved efficiencies,” CEO Michael Dell said in a conference call.

Dell’s deal is seen as a challenge share to IBM and Hewlett-Packard.(Mark Lennihan/Associated Press)

The move is the biggest purchase ever aimed at competing with International Business Machines Corp. and Hewlett-Packard Co. in computer services. Companies hire computer services firms to manage their IT systems externally with the aim of saving money.

“This was a move designed to try to catch up with its competitors,” said Shaw Wu, an analyst at Kaufman Brothers LP in San Francisco.

Perot shares shot up 66 per cent in premarket trading Monday in reaction to the news.

Dell said Perot, founded by former presidential candidate H. Ross Perot, will expand the company’s IT services offerings for businesses and widen the pool of potential customers for its computers.

Perot’s son, H. Ross Perot Jr., is chair of the company, and expected to join Dell’s board once the deal closes, which is expected to be in the upcoming November-January quarter.

Analysts have been expecting an acquisition from Dell, which hired IBM Corp.’s former mergers and acquisitions chief earlier this year and has raised almost $1 billion in debt since March.

The company’s shares fell 79 cents, or 4.7 per cent, to $15.90 in premarket trading.

With files from Bloomberg.com

Top Day Trader Alerts (DPTR, AMGN, PER, DELL, LEN, POT, MOS)

These are this Monday’s top day trader and active trader alert stocks in the pre-market.  We have more details on each for volume and price moves at VSInvestor.com:

Delta Petroleum Corporation (NASDAQ: DPTR) is getting whacked and battered today on poor well results.  It was a very bad weekend as shares are down 35%.

Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ: AMGN) is up over 2% and actually close to 52-week highs on positive study data.

Perot Systems Corp. (NYSE: PER) is up huge by 65% or more, but traders are selling as this is a huge premium and above what many would have expected.  Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) is going to be accused of overpaying.

Lennar Corp. (NYSE: LEN) is down 4% on somewhat active volume after posting wider losses.

Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan (NYSE: POT) is down almost 5% and not as much as it could have been… Lower guidance is hurting shares, look at Mosaic Co. (NYSE: MOS) on this one as well.

You can join our open email distribution list which goes out several times per week for top day trader alerts, analyst upgrades and downgrades, IPO’s, key secondary offerings, guru investor data on Buffett and others, mergers, and more.  We also have an affiliate offering a top 10 trading lessons sign-up.

JON C. OGG

NetBook

I’ve seen a lot of topics on the internet (specially Slashdot.org) about netbooks and the constant and obvious arguments about Linux vs Windows (XP/Vista/7) on them. I won’t get into the licensing practices of Microsoft and why they are trying to restrict the netbooks down to 1GB of RAM. In all honesty, I don’t care, I just won’t buy a netbook version with Windows on it or those restrictions. So, as it would happen, my wife’s laptop screen burned out (JUST passed the warranty date of course).

Instead of paying the $600 for a new screen and repairs, I just decided to get her a new Dell XPS system. Thankfully it happened when all the back to school sales were going on and I got a good deal. Part of that deal was $200 off of a $300 netbook. So, for $100 I said why not? Luckily I got a Dell Mini 10v which had the upgradeable RAM module; so for another $34 I upgraded the RAM from 1GB -> 2GB. I tried giving Ubuntu its due when setting up a development environment and eclipse, but it was just too much of a pain in the butt. It took me less time to find a way to load Windows 7 on it with a USB device (tried using an SD Card, but I couldn’t get it to work).

Purpled pages?

Its been almost an year of going back and forth, of logging into my old blog and quickly logging out before I start to realise that rusty writing skills have undergone the literary rigor-mortis. ‘Don’t you blog anymore?’s have been addressed with quick and uncomfortable ‘don’t have the time’s and ‘hmm’s..excuses, always earnest, though mostly lame. If you have the time to scroll down and quickly run past the inflammed bit of lament completely in support of weakness, you will see some weaker attempts at reviving the fortnighly tradition of pouring my heart out to Mrs. WordPress.

Well, the gin in the gin-soaked girl has long evaporated and what’s left over is a thoroughly relieved woman towelling away the remnants of the beverage that almost defined her identity. So long, gin!

Nothing phenomenally philosophical, purpled pages result from black letters typed out of the key board of a very new Dell Studio which happens to be purple..

Nothing more and definitely nothing less.

Twitterville Book Launch

Just got back from the Vancouver launch of “Twitterville”, authored by Shel Israel. For those who are not familiar with Shel, he has also written “Naked Conversations”, that one co-authored with Robert Scoble (@scobleizer).

Shel Israel & Ferg Devins

A good chunk of the Vancouver Twitter community turned out for the launch at Canvas Lounge. Some of the people I came across were @jaypiddy, @hummingbird604, @CathyBrowne (who’s actually mentioned in the book!), @raincoaster, @cognoscento, @johnbiehler, @tinybites and @bluelimemedia, among many others.

Shel graced us with an entertaining and informative presentation about the book. Here are some of the points, along with a few pictures for good measure:

• People, communications and conversations are changing. Whereas prior to social media conversations took place from the “top down” (i.e. – from the upper ladders of corporations down to end consumers), the advent and adoption of social media have reversed that.
• Shel’s perspective is that Twitter has a small-town feeling, where conversations start out similarly to two neighbours chatting across one fence. At first, the chat may be superficial, but then a deeper rapport is created. Conversations are one-on-one. Twitterville tells stories that were relayed to Shel through Twitter.
• Wondering how to stand out in the social media crowd? “Outgenerous” your competition. By giving more (advice, that is), people get to know that you’re the person to go for insight in your field… which increases your reputation.
• Social media gives companies a chance to humanize their brands (as told by @MolsonFerg – Ferg Devins – head of public affairs in Canada for Molson Coors and one of the case studies in Twitterville)
• Wondering if anyone can make money off Twitter? Just look at the example of @CrowdSPRING. According to Shel, CrowdSpring’s business model is basically to tweet RFPs. The company makes a 15% revenue based on the value of each proposal that is approved.
• Yes, Twitter can be used in more “traditional” fields. Just look at how doctors at Henry Ford Hospital “tweetcasted” a live, robotic surgery – one tweet at a time. time. Results from tweets kept on arriving even after the surgery was over: because the type of surgery performed is elective, the increased exposure created more inquiries from private clients. More students were interested in practicing at Henry Ford. More innovative doctors were keen to bringing their skills to the hospital.

  Shel Israel

  Shel Israel explained that his attraction to Twitter is that it is one tool which allows people to act more like in real-life. Hence why it’s probably so popular.

Other observations, these from the question & answer period:

• Instead of monitoring what everyone is saying about its brand, Dell only looks at conversations coming from those with slightly positive or slightly negative perceptions. They ignore what comes from consumers who have pretty much made up their minds that Dell sucks. Instead, they focus on consumers who they have a chance to transform into advocates. To do so, they use a mix of measurement tools that include Radian6 as well as… Google (who would’ve thought?)!
• Another member of the audience (I’m so sorry I didn’t catch his name. All I know is that he sounded slightly British) brought up a couple of very valid points: to measure your influence on Twitter, don’t look at you number of followers. Instead, examine how relevant your followers are to your message. Number of RTs is also a great index to measure the value of what you’re communicating.

Cathy Browne. She is in Twitterville!

Ok. It’s late at night, so this post is going out as is. Hope you get some good value from it!

About: Laptop batteries

A number of questions:

• Why is it that different operating systems suck vastly different amounts of power, even if the tasks you’re doing are exactly the same?
• It would seem that Windows 7 is now following the Mac OS method of updating the predicted battery percentage more often compared to XP, can anyone confirm?
• Why is it that some manufacturers (Apple, Acer) can squeeze a 7-8 hour battery life into the same sized laptop as other manufacturers who only get 2.5 hours (Dell, Samsung)?
• Finally, why the hell do two very similar Taiwanese computer companies have very similar names. Damn you Asus and Acer!
• Finally, finally, just a heads up to Danny, Acer are apparently the second largest computer manufacturer behind HP, don’t feel bad, they’re bound to produce a few dud laptops then.

Delaying Your Social Media Marketing: Lose Audience, Consumers, Trust

Social media marketing has become a bridge to consumers with companies all over the world. Target uses Facebook to “crowdsource” ideas for where they should donate their charitable contributions. Dell crowdsources their audience on Ideastorm.com to generate ideas for their products and services while providing a voice to their consumers. Starbucks, this summer, provided a free pastry day giveaway on Twitter which generated 6 figure returns, a mountain of publicity, and thousands of new followers on Twitter.

If some of the biggest corporations on the planet are benefiting and thriving through their utilization of social media marketing, why is it so often difficult for smaller companies to catch on and join? Why do we hear the objections and questions to validity of social media when these massive companies are adopting and thriving within social media?

Engagingtimes.com’s “4 Key Stats on Social Media Engagement” is a quick and powerful argument for adoption of social media

4 Reasons to Adopt Social Media Marketing

1.  3 out of 4 US online adults: In Forresters’ Josh Bernoff’s “The Growth of Social Technology Adoption” he states: “Three in four US online adults now use social tools to connect with each other compared with just 56% in 2007.”

2.  2 out of 3 of the global internet users visit social networks: (Nielsen) the takeaway: “social networks are becoming a melting pot of interpersonal connections, and deeper levels of engagement call for more advanced analysis and technology.” Adoption is increasing

3. Social media vs. email: (Nielsen) In an eye opening finding “Visiting social (media) sites is now the 4th most popular online activity- ahead of personal email” Social networking is instant communication with real time engagement and discussion-something email will never emulate

4. Social networking accounting for 10% of all internet time: (Nielsen) time people spend on social networks is “growing at 3 times the overall internet rate of growth.”

Conclusion: This is not a warning it is a fact

Like it or not customers and future potential customers are flocking to and spending more time on social networks than ever. This is not a trend but a paradigm shift in the way we communicate, market, sell, trust, gain access, build relationships, and engage with our audiences. For those companies unwilling to adopt social media marketing now, a later move to social networks will be met with a longer harder climb to relevancy with their audiences. This is not a warning it’s a fact.

Finally some competition for the Macbook Air?

Well is sure does sound like it with the announcement of Dell’s new 9.99mm laptop which is almost half the size of Apple’s Air which is 19.3mm and packs up to a 2.12 Ghz Intel core 2 due processor. Dell (DELL) which is currently being traded at 16.60 looks to have gotten a boost from this announcement. While Dell currently has a version of this computer already out, this one will hopefully be prices much more in range for the standard consumer looking for a nice travel laptop that is still a standard size versus the smaller netbooks. AMD has also launched a similar device which will run a dual core processor and integrated graphics card, and they too have seen some gains in their stock price. Hopefully this will give Apple a run for there money in this space or we may even see other computer makers coming out with similar competitive products. While there are more mobile laptops on the market, these three big plays are a large part of the market and will help to drive stock based on sales.

Companies Involves:

Advanced Micro Devices: AMD

Dell: DELL

Apple: AAPL

The 100 Most Valuable Brands Of 2009?

Several consulting firms post annual figures for the world’s most valuable brands. The two best know are probably the Interbrand and BrandZ surveys. They are notabley different, up until now at least. BrandZ includes a number of large brands from Asia. Interbrand does not.

24/7 Wall St. has put together a list of the most valuable brands of 2009 by looking at valuation calculations from a number of sources. Then a base valuation was taken from the 2008 Interbrand data to fix values for this year and changes from last.

Most methods take into account the future earnings of a brand for its parent company. This is fundamentally a guess particularly during a turbulent period in the global economy. Interbrand’s rule is that a brand most get at least a third of its revenue from outside its country-of-origin. That is arbitrary, particularly as it apply to brands in China.

24/7 Wall St. has made the assumption that the value of most brands have been hurt log-term by the deep recession.  Forward earnings estimates for many of the firms on this list show that. Those brands which post value improvements show much more modest increases than they would be in a stable economy.

Looking at the Interbrand list from last year, it is fair to ask why firms like Nissan, Wal-Mart (WMT) and Red Bull are not present.

Because the brands on this list are taken from names on the Interbrand survey, we have not made a calculation about which companies may be new to their list in 2009 or which may drop off.

Public firms which are part of this ranking include (KO)(IBM)(MSFT)(GOOG)(GE)(NOK)(TM)(INTC)(MCD)(DIS)(HPQ)(AXP)(C)(HMC)(ORCL)(AAPL)(SNE)(PEP)(HBC)(NKE)(UPS)(FDX)(SAP)(DELL)(JPM)(GS)(KL)(EBAY)(SI)(F)(AIG)(AMZN)(CAT)(AVP)(RIMM)(GPS)(TIF)(BP)(SBUX)(JNJ)(MAR)(V)

The 100: 

Coke                                                           $64.7 billion           plus 3%

IBM                                                             $62.5 billion           plus 6%

Microsoft                                                  $54.3 billion           minus 8%

GE                                                                $47.8 billion           minus 10%

McDonald’s                                              $33.5 billion           plus 8%

Nokia                                                          $33.o billion           minus 8%

Intel                                                            $30.3 billion           minus 3%

Toyota                                                       $30.0 billion           minus 12%

Disney                                                        $29.3 billion            flat

Google                                                       $27.4 billion            plus 7%

Hewlett-Packard                                    $25.1 billion            plus 7%   

Gillette                                                       $24.3 billion            plus 7%

Cisco                                                           $22.4 billion            plus 5%

Marlboro                                                  $20.8 billion            minus 3%

Mercedes                                                  $20.5 billion            minus 20%

Louis Vuitton                                          $19.7 billion            minus 9%

BMW                                                            $19.6 billion             minus 16%

Samsung                                                    $18.4 billion             plus 4%

American Express                                 $18.0 billion             minus 18%

Apple                                                          $16.4 billion              plus 20%

Honda                                                         $15.8 billion              minus 17%

Oracle                                                         $15.0 billion              plus 9%

Nescafe                                                      $14.9 billion               plus 14%

Pepsi                                                           $13.8 billion               plus 4%

H&M                                                            $13.8 billion                flat

SAP                                                              $12.7 billion                plus 3%

Budweiser                                                 $12.3 billion                plus 8%

HSBC                                                            $12.1 billion                minus 8%

Nike                                                              $12.1 billion               minus 5%

IKEA                                                            $12.0 billion               plus 10%

Canon                                                          $11.3 billion                plus 4%

Sony                                                             $11.2 billion                minus 18%

Goldman Sachs                                        $11.o billion                plus 14%

Kellogg’s                                                      $10.8 billion               plus 11%

Nintendo                                                     $10.7 billion               plus 22%

UPS                                                                $10.6 billion                minus 16%

Dell                                                                  $9.8 billion                 minus 16%

JPMorgan                                                     $9.3 billion                 minus 14%

Citi                                                                   $9.2 billion                 minus 54%

Thomson Reuters                                      $8.7 billion                 plus 5%

eBay                                                                $8.5 billion                  plus 6%

Philips                                                            $8.1 billion                   minus 3%

Accenture                                                    $7.9 billion                  flat

Gucci                                                              $7.8 billion                  minus 6%

L’Oreal                                                           $7.7 billion                  plus 2%

Siemens                                                         $7.5 billion                  minus 5%

VW                                                                   $7.5 billion                  plus 7%

Blackberry                                                    $7.5 billion                  plus 57%

Merrill Lynch                                              $7.4 billion                  minus 35%

Amazon                                                          $7.4 billion                 plus 15%

Morgan Stanley                                           $7.0 billion                 minus 20%

Colgate                                                            $6.9 billion                  plus 8%

Heinz                                                               $6.8 billion                   plus 3%

Nestle                                                              $6.6 billion                   plus 17%

Wrigley                                                           $6.4 billion                   plus 5%

Ford                                                                 $6.4 billion                   minus 19%

MTV                                                                 $6.1 billion                    minus 15%

AXA                                                                  $6.1 billion                    minus 13%

Zara                                                                  $6.1 billion                    plus 2%

Chanel                                                             $6.0 billion                    minus 7%

Xerox                                                               $5.8 billion                   minus 9%

Danone                                                            $5.7 billion                   plus 6%

KFC                                                                    $5.4 billion                   minus 4%

Harley-Davidson                                         $5.2 billion                  minus 32%

Avon                                                                 $5.1 billion                   minus 4%

Hyundai                                                          $5.1 billion                    plus 7%

Kleenex                                                           $5.0 billion                   plus 8%

Adidas                                                             $4.8 billion                    minus 8%

Audi                                                                 $4.8 billion                    minus 12%

Pizza Hut                                                         $4.7 billion                   plus 14%

Caterpillar                                                      $4.6 billion                   minus 13%

Rolex                                                                $4.5 billion                   minus 10%

Porsche                                                           $4.4 billion                    minus 12%

GAP                                                                    $4.2 billion                   minus 5%

UBS                                                                    $4.2 billion                    minus 52%

Panasonic                                                        $3.9 billion                   minus 9%

Johnson & Johnson                                    $3.9 billion                    plus 7%

Smirnoff                                                           $3.8 billion                    plus 5%

Cartier                                                              $3.8 billion                    minus 10%

Duracell                                                           $3.8 billion                    plus 4%

Visa                                                                    $3.7 billion                   plus 12%

Moet & Chandon                                           $3.6 billion                    minus 9%

Allianz                                                               $3.6 billion                    minus 11%

Hermes                                                             $3.6 billion                    minus 21%

Tiffany                                                               $3.6 billion                    minus 15%

AIG                                                                     $3.5 billion                    minus 50%

Yahoo!                                                               $3.4 billion                    minus 38%

Hennessy                                                          $3.3 billion                    minus 5%

Starbucks                                                          $3.2 billion                    minus 17%

BP                                                                         $3.2 billion                    minus 17%

Nivea                                                                  $3.2 billion                     minus 7%

Marriott                                                             $3.1 billion                     minus 11%

Fedex                                                                  $3.1 billion                     minus 9%

Prada                                                                  $3.0 billion                     minus 16%

Giorgio Armani                                              $3.0 billion                     minus 14%

Shell                                                                    $3.0 billion                     minus 13%

Lexus                                                                  $2.9 billion                     minus 19%

Motorola                                                           $2.9 billion                      minus 22%

Ferrari                                                                $2.6 billion                     minus 20%

ING                                                                      $2.3 billion                      minus 39%

 

Douglas A. McIntyre

Новият Adamo XPS ще бъде 13-инчов

След като Dell ни “показаха” дебелия 9.99 инча наследник на първия Adamo, сега за него има окуражаваща информация – той ще бъде 13-инчов, твърди Fudzilla. Според тях, спекулациите за нов Adamo с Atom процесор са неверни. И наистина – логика има. Колкото и красив да го направят, от Dell биха допуснали грешка да пуснат на пазара супер скъп нетбук, който не може да впечатли и с представяне (освен това, хората са свикнали нетбуците да са и евтини).

До момента може спокойно да се каже, че той ще бъде CULV-базиран, което ще рече супер ниска консумация на енергия. За останалото изглежда ще почакаме. 

[Via http://pcstorebg.wordpress.com]

Piazza Affari rinnova i massimi dell'anno

Finanzaonline.com – 30.7.09/17:51L’entusiamo di Wall Street, anche sulle parole del presidente Usa Barack Obama, che ha prospettato l’imminente fine della fase recessiva dell’economia, han spinto ulteriormente verso l’alto le Borse europee – Piazza Affari compresa – che già si muovevano con convinzione in territorio positivo.

Così, a Milano le contrattazioni si sono chiuse non soltanto con gli indici sui massimi di giornata ma anche sui nuovi picchi del 2009: il Ftse Mib ha guadagnato il 2,65% a 20.818,6 punti mentre il Ftse Italia all-share ha preso il 2,48% a 21.446,44 punti.

Prima di utilizzare anche parzialmente i contenuti

di questo sito, vogliate cortesemente consultare il .

Fonte:

http://www.finanzaonline.com/notizie/news.php?id={3B912BC2-6916-4B44-A89A-977615425AC4}

[Via http://reaload.wordpress.com]

Dell Inspiron 14z

Hace poco hablamos del Dell Inspiron 11z, un equipo con características inusuales en el mercado actual. Con el mismo espíritu ultraligero, pero especificaciones diferentes y un mayor tamaño de pantalla encontramos el Dell Inspiron 14z. Un portátil que con probabilidad gozará de una mayor aceptación entre el público.

El nombre le viene de las dimensiones de su monitor HD de 14 pulgadas y tecnología WLED. Ofrece una resolución de 1366 x 768 píxeles. Aunque permite al usuario elegir entre diferentes configuraciones, todas tienen en común un procesador Intel Core 2 Duo. Admite hasta 6 Gb de memoria RAM de tipo DDR3 y la máxima capacidad que alcanza su disco duro es de 500 Gb a 7200 rpm. Se puede escoger como tarjeta aceleradora de gráficos una Intel GMA X4500 HD o bien una ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4330.

En cuanto a conexiones inalámbricas, existen las opciones de Bluetooth con EDR, Dell Wireless 802.11 g y WiFi Link 802.11 a/g/draft-N. Incluye tres puertos USB 2.0, un puerto Ethernet, un conector VGA, una entrada HDMI y una salida de audio jack. También cuenta con un lector de tarjetas 7 en 1 y un lector de DVD con el que aprovechar su capacidad para reproducir en alta definición. Viene con Windows Vista Home Premium como sistema operativo.

Mide 340 x 26,3 x 242 milímetros, lo que hace de él un equipo muy delgado. El peso oscila en función de si la batería es de cuatro celdas (5 horas de autonomía), seis celdas (8 horas y 25 minutos) o nueve celdas (11 horas). Dell sólo especifica el peso en el caso de las cuatro celdas, que es de 2 kilogramos.

El precio del modelo con configuración básica es de 650 dólares, unos 452 euros al cambio. De momento, sólo se encuentra a la venta en Estados Unidos.

+info | Dell

Vía | TusEquipos

[Via http://itsinfocomunicacion.wordpress.com]

Morgan Stanley's Key Technology Upgrades & Downgrades (IBM, DELL, CTXS, ADSK, NVLS, TXN, STM, PMCS, QLGC, LRCX, XLNX)

Morgan Stanley has made several key downgrades in technology, as well as a few lesser upgrades.  Both IBM (NYSE: IBM) and Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) were downgraded to Equal-Weight from Overweight.  Also cut to underweight were Citrix Systems (NASDAQ: CTXS) and Autodesk (NASDAQ: ADSK).  Novellus Systems (NASDAQ: NVLS) and Texas Instruments (NYSE: TXN) were downgraded to Equal-Weight from Overweight; and STMicroelectronics (NYSE: STM) was cut to Underweight.

There were actually a few Morgan Stanley upgrades in the broader call as well.  PMC-Sierra (NASDAQ: PMCS), QLogic (NASDAQ: QLGC), Lam Research (NASDAQ: LRCX) and Xilinx (NASDAQ: XLNX) were all raised to Overweight.

JON C. OGG

[Via http://247wallst.com]