Episode 36 – Profit From the Service Platform

Today we are going to talk with a representative of an online service platform and ask him how service technicians can best use them to earn more revenue.

TechPodcasts Promo Tag :10
Intro 1:18
Billboard 2:43

News and Comment segment 4:31
OnForce officially surpassed one million completed work orders through its online platform.

Newegg filed for a $175 million dollar initial public offering with the Securities and Exchange Commission September 27th. Newegg IPO Form S-1

Sponsor: Try GotoAssist Express free for 30 days! For this special offer, visit www.GotoAssist.com/techpodcast.

Belkin released a surge protector that automatically switches off devices to conserve power. http://www.belkin.com/conserve/.

Microsoft released a new Microsoft Security Essentials security suite September 29th.
Microsoft Security Essentials can be downloaded free at http://www.microsoft.com/security_essentials/.

Commercial Break 1:00
Get Great Web Hosting at GoDaddy.com and save 10%! Listen for the discount code in the show. GoDaddy.com 1:00

Intro to Topic 2:03
today we will talk with Eric Castro, Director of Channel Management for ServiceLive and ask him how service technicians can best use service platforms to earn more for their businesses.
Join ServiceLive FREE!.

Interview with Eric Castro 29:36

Wrap up and Close :46

Comments, questions or suggestions? Send them in to comments@theforcefield.net. Feedback on this topic will be read by the host and included in future episodes of the show. Visit us at http://www.theforcefield.net !

©2009 Savoia Computer. All rights reserved.

Episode 36 – Profit From the Service Platform

Today we are going to talk with a representative of an online service platform and ask him how service technicians can best use them to earn more revenue.

TechPodcasts Promo Tag :10
Intro 1:18
Billboard 2:43

News and Comment segment 4:31
OnForce officially surpassed one million completed work orders through its online platform.

Newegg filed for a $175 million dollar initial public offering with the Securities and Exchange Commission September 27th. Newegg IPO Form S-1

Sponsor: Try GotoAssist Express free for 30 days! For this special offer, visit www.GotoAssist.com/techpodcast.

Belkin released a surge protector that automatically switches off devices to conserve power. http://www.belkin.com/conserve/.

Microsoft released a new Microsoft Security Essentials security suite September 29th. Microsoft Security Essentials can be downloaded free at http://www.microsoft.com/security_essentials/.

Commercial Break 1:00
Get Great Web Hosting at GoDaddy.com and save 10%! Listen for the discount code in the show. GoDaddy.com 1:00

Intro to Topic 2:03
today we will talk with Eric Castro, Director of Channel Management for ServiceLive and ask him how service technicians can best use service platforms to earn more for their businesses. Join ServiceLive FREE!.

Interview with Eric Castro 29:36

Wrap up and Close :46

Comments, questions or suggestions? Send them in to comments@theforcefield.net. Feedback on this topic will be read by the host and included in future episodes of the show. Visit us at http://www.theforcefield.net !

©2009 Savoia Computer. All rights reserved.

 

http://media.techpodcasts.com/theforcefield/media.libsyn.com/media/theforcefield/The_Force_Field_36.mp3

Research: Consumers Receive False Sense of Security

n a recent research experiment conducted by a team of security engineers, found that most leading security software failed to detect 70% of survelliance software on a test machine.

Ottawa, Ontario (PRWEB) September 23, 2009 — The research labs at SpyReveal recently conducted an experiment and downloaded 10 of the most popular surveillance software from download directories and tested it against major anti-spyware applications.

The results were astonishing! McAfee AntiVirus and Norton Internet Security detected 30% of the surveillance software. This was followed by Spyware Doctor, SpySweeper and AVG detecting only 20%. While some anti-spyware applications failed to detect any surveillance software at all. SpyReveal successfully detected 100% of the surveillance software that was installed on the test machine and is the premiere solution dedicated to this specific threat with over 8 years experience.

Computer users are receiving a false sense of security when deploying anti-spyware applications. With the explosion in online banking and transactions, the proliferation of identity theft is greater than ever. Many users install an anti-spyware solution with the expectation to be safe from identity theft. Unfortunately, they are still at an extremely high risk for identity theft and data logging.

Surveillance software is designed to silently record computer activity and stealthily send it back to the intruder. These programs include chat loggers, email recorders, commercial keyloggers, password recorders, and screenshot recorders. Surveillance software can be obtained by anyone with a web browser, and can be placed into anyone's computer via greeting cards, email attachments, or physical access to the PC.

"In the past year the available amount of surveillance software on the market has risen 115%. More and more stories are being published of hackers who have obtained credit card records by using surveillance software", said Mr. Hankinson, SpyReveal's co-founder. "Yet, we still see major players in the security industry continue to fail at detecting this specific type of problem."

It is important for users to purchase security solutions that are designed for a dedicated purpose to receive the highest degree of protection, but without being too narrow. Anti-Spyware, anti-malware and anti-virus products do not detect most commercial surveillance software.

"Consumers should not rely on a single solution for security. Each has a specific purpose," said Mr. Hankinson. "We want consumers to realize that even though their anti-spyware software says 'Nothing Found', that any surveillance software could still be present, recording their credit cards or business intellectual property," he added.

My Laptop Terminator: Rise of the Netbooks

Last month I headed out to Washington, D.C. for a family trip. As expected, I wanted to be able to check routes, access my e-mail and keep tabs on The Force Field web portal. Naturally I planned to bring along a laptop, however the battery wasn’t working well and I didn’t want to cart around something I had to keep plugged in everywhere to use. I was not inclined to keep tabs on another piece of luggage, either. I wanted something with mobility like a cell phone but with the ability to run multiple applications simultaneously like a laptop.

The solution was a new netbook.

I purchased an Acer Aspire One KAV60 netbook with an Atom N270 processor, 1GB of memory (upgradeable to 2GB) and a 160GB hard drive. This fit the bill perfectly. It was small and lightweight, yet allowed me to do everything I needed and then some. The best part was the price. It was below $300.

Now, granted, it didn’t include an optical drive, so I couldn’t run anything from a CD or DVD. In fact, my wife was a little skeptical of it at first because she couldn’t play DVD movies. However, with access to the Internet, we didn’t need one and it wasn’t missed. Every application I needed to install was available for download on the Internet. Anything else I needed could be loaded from a USB thumb drive or an SD card, which could be easily inserted in the multi-card slot embedded in the base of the unit. As for watching movies? Hulu and Netflix took care of that.

If I needed real computing power on the road, all I needed to do was log into my computer at home using GoToMyPC from Citrix and I could access all my serious applications and multitask from there. All I really needed was access to the Internet. With a choice of ethernet or wi-fi in the system, we were set. No worries.

It was then that I understood the full and historical implication of this: the Rise of the Netbooks was upon us.

I am not always distracted by the possible ramifications of new technologies and don’t automatically assume one will change the future of an entire industry. But it does happen, and often enough within the last twenty years to make me more watchful of anything new that comes along.

Take the Super 8 movie camera, for instance. Before the mid ’70s 8mm motion picture film was the way we recorded our family events. When video came along, it changed everything. Music was sold and distributed on vinyl records and audio tapes until the introduction of the Compact Disc. Now the CD is taking a back seat to iPods and mp3 files. Needless to say the iPod alone has had a tumultuous effect on the entire recording industry.

Since its initial introduction to the computer marketplace the laptop has been the de facto standard for computing mobility around the world. However, as given in the previous examples, every technology has its end of dominance or end of life. The laptop, as with anything else, is not immune to such obsolescence.

When I returned home from our trip with our netbook, I went up to my office and looked at my laptop, sitting on the table. It looked big, bulky and old. I’ve turned it on a few times since, mostly to download updates for applications and the operating system. Once or twice I used it to surf the Internet. Then I would turn it off, open the netbook and watch a movie online.

Now that I’ve turned the netbook over to my wife as a replacement for her old desktop, I need to buy one for me. Unless something changes, my laptop toting days are over. It’s another netbook for me.

There’s no doubt netbooks have a place in the computer market. They fill an important gap between desktops and full featured portables. In fact, for what I use a laptop these days, which is primarily for web-based work, the netbook has generally replaced it altogether. I considered purchasing a new laptop but I really don’t want to lug it around. The netbook does what I need a laptop to do on the road and I can slip it into a bag or case with my other gear easily, eliminating the need for a separate laptop bag.

As netbooks increase in popularity and performance, could they ultimately replace laptops for general use? If so, how will it effect the portable repair industry? Will it create a niche market for netbook repair or will they be so cheap that few netbook users will opt to repair them and simply toss them for new ones?

The rise of the netbook could be the beginning of a new era in the PC marketplace. The question is, will it offer new opportunities for techs or will it be the beginning of the end for the laptop repair provider? Which ever way it goes, stay alert, watch closely and be ready. The Rise of the Netbooks has begun.

The Computer Forensics Show

Imagine the ability to view anything that ever appeared on almost any computer. The computer forensics show is the "don't miss" event of the year for all Llitigation, Accounting and IT Professionals.

(PRWEB) August 31, 2009 — Imagine the ability to view anything that ever appeared on almost any computer.

The computer forensics show is the "don't miss" event of the year for all Llitigation, Accounting and IT Professionals.

"Like it or not, every computer is a potential crime scene," says Frank Manley, Show Director of The Computer Forensics Show, which will take over the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA on October 5 & 6, 2009. The special two-day event will include exhibits of the latest developments in the IT security marketplace, as well as a full conference schedule of top-flight guest speakers, discussion groups and training sessions. "Computer forensics is definitely one of the fastest growing segments of the industry," says Manley.

Computer forensics pertains to the legal evidence found on computers and digital storage media (it was a computer forensics expert who discovered that Bernie Madoff never made a trade). Increasingly, computers are being used as evidence in a wide spectrum of cases, from the millions of instances of identity and credit theft to employee and intra-company disputes. Computer forensics has become vitally important to IT security professionals, lawyers and accountants, and even the average consumer surfing the Internet — in short, to anyone who depends on the safe and efficient storage and retrieval of data.

Today's business environment is undeniably complex, due to strict regulatory and compliance requirements, closer scrutiny and the pervasive threat of litigation. IT security is vital to any individual, company or law practice dealing with sensitive information created and stored digitally. For some companies, it is not a question if one of their computers will be used as evidence in a legal matter; it is a question of when. A sophisticated computer forensics strategy can literally save a company millions in litigations costs and, in some instances, their hard-earned reputation.

Every day brings changes to the IT security marketplace, and the Computer Forensics Show is specifically geared to showcasing the latest technological advances and trends. The show will feature exhibits as well as a comprehensive and engaging conference program with the involvement of leading edge companies: Kroll Ontrack Inc., McAfee Corporation, SanDisk Corporation, Symantec Corporation, Deloitte Financial Advisory Services LLP, Clearwell Systems Inc., HB Gary Inc., Guidance Software Inc. and EMC Corporation.

Conference events will focus in-depth on topics of interest to legal, risk management, and accounting professionals, as well as the IT sector, and feature five conference tracks including two legal tracks (emerging technologies in litigation and practice issues, records management, reporting and privacy, etc.); forensic accounting, which is the number one growth field in accounting; and two IT security tracks, which will provide practical advice for companies just beginning to encounter security issues to those with more advanced concerns.

For more information regarding this exciting and important event, contact (203) 661-4312 or info@computerforensicshow.com or visit www.computerforensicshow.com When registering, please enter discount code VIP50 for a 50% discount on either a full conference or one-day pass. The conference pass includes an exhibit hall pass; you can also register for a free exhibit hall pass at www.computerforensicshow.com by October 1, 2009.