Episodes Archives - Page 6 of 8 - The Force Field Podcast

Episode 21 – The Business of Malware Part 1

August 15, 2008June 17, 2008 by Rick

This week we are going to talk to Chris Bequeath and find out how he went into the malware removal business, learn about the different types of badware out there today and how we can offer malware removal solutions to our customers at a reasonable cost and still earn a profit. Part 1 of a three part series.

TechPodcasts Promo Tag :10
Intro 1:19

Billboard 4:09
Recently I was invited to attended The Virus Hunters Workshop, an all day event sponsored by Kaspersky Labs. The Virus Hunters Workshop will also be hosted in Reston, VA and Boston, MA. Registration is closed for Reston but if you are in the Boston area you may be able to register for that event scheduled for June 24 and 25, 2008. You can register at www.virus-hunters.com.

News and Comment segment 4:10
Firefox 3.0, the next incarnation of the popular and powerful web browser from The Mozilla Foundation, is scheduled for official release Tuesday, June 17, 2008. The Force Field will participate in Firefox Download Day 2008 with a launch party. A page and forum will be available at TheForceField.net to download and discuss the new browser at the time of launch.

iPods and other mobile media devices are becoming a growing threat to IT security, according to a recent survey by Credant Technologies. The survey report, called “iPods – What You Don’t Secure Could Hurt You, polled 323 IT professionals about the potential security impact of mobile media devices in the workplace and found that although it is a concern, many are not prepared to deal with it. The Survey Report is free to professionals who qualify. To download the Survey Report, simply visit http://theforcefield.tradepub.com/free/w_cred06/ or click on the link in the show notes in the RSS feed for this episode.

Computerworld reports that Microsoft recently became a sponsor of The Open Source Census, and organization that tracks installation of open source applications on computers and promotes the adoption of open source software. Perhaps Microsoft really is ready to embrace open source. Time will tell.

Commercial Break 1:00
Alternageek Podcast Promo :30

The Caffination Podcast promo :30

Intro to Interview 2:09
This week we are going to talk to Chris Bequeath, owner of Business Network Solutions and find out how he went into the malware removal business, learn about the different types of badware out there today, some common mistakes made when attempting to remove malware from computers and how we can offer malware removal solutions to our customers at a reasonable cost and still earn a profit in part 1 of a three part series.

Chris Bequeath Interview 22:45

Wrap up and Close :46

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Episode 20 – Technibble

October 31, 2010May 25, 2008 by Rick

This week we will talk with Bryce Whitty, an IT professional who started his own computer business and then created a web site that became a very useful resource for service providers around the world to discuss the IT industry from a business perspective.

TechPodcasts Promo Tag :10
Intro 1:17
Billboard 1:56

News and Comment segment 5:35
The OpenOffice.org Community announced the release of OpenOffice.org 3 beta to the public May 7th. OpenOffice.org 3.0 is the latest release of the open source office suite originally developed by Sun Microsystems and is considered by many to be one of few serious competitors of Microsoft Office.

TheForceField.net has joined forces with TradePub.com to offer you a new and exciting, and professional resource. Now you can subscribe to complimentary Information Technology magazines such as PC World, Mac World, eWeek and others in one convenient location. You can also download white papers, webinars, podcasts, and more across 34 industry sectors. Best of all, it’s free, and you can’t beat free. No credit cards, coupons, or promo codes are required. Subscriptions to these publications are free to professionals who qualify. Visit http://theforcefield.tradepub.com today to browse our selection or go the www.theforcefield.net and click on the menu item labeled Free Publications on the right side bar.

A former security employee for Microsoft issued a fix for computers plagued by the constant reboot issue caused by Windows XP Service Pack 3 May 14th. In a series of posts in blog, Jesper Johanssen, Microsoft Security MVP and former Microsoft employee, discussed the reboot problem and released a script written in Visual Basic to resolve it. You can download the fix from his web site entitled Jesper’s Blog.

Commercial Break 1:00
Alternageek Podcast Promo :30<

The Caffination Podcast promo :30

Intro to Interview 1:44
This week we’re going to talk to Bryce Whitty, learn about the differences and similarities of IT service and support in different parts of the world, learn about his web site Technibble and discuss the current trends in the industry from his perspective.

Bryce Whitty Interview 17:00

Wrap up and Close :46

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Episode 19 – Selling Linux – Part 3

August 14, 2008April 19, 2008 by Rick

This week, we will talk with Larry Kettler, President and CEO of Linspire, Inc. and learn how we can partner with his company to provide open source products and services to our customers. Part 3 of a 3 part series.

TechPodcasts Promo Tag :10
Intro 1:17
Billboard 1:09

News and Comment segment 3:36
Technology news site Neowin.net posted a list of release dates for Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 3 last week. According to the schedule, SP3 is scheduled for release April 21, 2008.

According to an online poll conducted by webcopyplus, a web writing firm based in Vancouver, Canada, over 88 percent of internet users think the quality of content on the web in general is poor. Only .2 percent thought content quality across the web was excellent.

Commercial Break :54
Geekazine Podcast Promo :30

The Mike Tech Show Podcast promo :24

Intro to Interview 2:07
In our last episode we talked with Todd Hughes about the challenges of selling Linux in a Windows world. One lesson we learned was that in order to sell it, we must first know and understand it. To better prepare ourselves for a foray into the Linux marketplace we first need to install and use it ourselves, stake our position in the marketplace and partner with hardware and software vendors who support Linux, who know the business and can help us market open source solutions to our customers.

This week we’re going to talk to Larry Kettler, CEO of Linspire, Inc. We will ask where Linux currently stands in the desktop market, hear about CNR, learn about the Linspire Partner Program and find out how we can use it as system builders and resellers to market and sell open source solutions to our customers as we conclude with part 3 of our three part series on – Selling Linux.

Larry Kettler Interview 18:35

Wrap up and Close :46

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Episode 18 – Selling Linux – Part 2

August 14, 2008March 30, 2008 by Rick

This week, we will continue our discussion with a provider who specializes in Linux based solutions and learn about the challenges of selling Linux, the current state of hardware support for Linux based platforms and the how we can best learn to use Linux ourselves in order to provide open source products and services to our customers. Part 2 of a 3 part series.

TechPodcasts Promo Tag :10
Intro 1:17
Billboard :53

News and Comment segment 5:06
The OpenOffice.org Community announced the release of OpenOffice.org 2.4 yesterday. According to a press release, OpenOffice.org 2.4 is the eleventh and latest release of the 2.x series initially launched in the fall of 2005 and offers some major improvements over previous releases including a few new features and bug repairs to existing components.

PC World published a list of what they consider world’s best free stuff on the web. The article, called 101 Fantastic Freebies, lists 101 online services and software downloads such as BitDefender Online Scanner, Winamp and Microsoft Office Live Workspace. A subscription to PC World is also free to professionals who qualify. if you would like a free subscription to PC World, Mac World and other publications simply go the www.theforcefield.net and click on the menu item labeled Free Publications on the right side bar.

The Force Field is conducting a Trivia Contest during the month of March. If you are a regular listener of The Force Field podcast, you now have the chance to take your knowledge of the show and win prizes! All you have to do is listen to the podcast, log into The Force Field web site at theforcefield.net, click on The Force Field Podcast Trivia Contest link on the right sidebar and answer the ten trivia questions. If you answer all ten questions correctly you will be entered into a drawing to win a 1GB USB flash drive or an Nvidia partnerForce T-shirt! Enter The Force Field podcast Trivia Contest today and win! Contest ends March 31, 2008.

According to a recent study, 70% of Americans between the ages of 18 and 34 prefer to work for employers who allow them to commute via the web. The study was conducted by Citrix Online, the provider of the popular web based service called GoToMeeting. Try GotoMeeting free for 30 days! For this special offer, visit www.gotomeeting.com/techpodcasts.

Microsoft confirmed reports that Windows 7 is scheduled for release in 2010. After the long awaited release of Windows Vista, Microsoft said they planned to schedule a new release every three years. A build of the next version, code named Windows 7, is already in the hands of federal regulators for their review in accordance with the terms of a settlement reached in 2002 with the US Department of Justice in their anti-trust case against Microsoft.

Commercial Break :53
Geekazine Podcast Promo :30

The Mike Tech Show Podcast promo :23

Intro to Interview 1:43
In our last episode we were introduced to Linux as a viable alternative to selling and supporting Windows. We talked with Todd Hughes, a provider who sells and supports only open source solutions and learned how he started his business.

This week we’re going to continue our discussion with Todd and learn more about the business of selling Linux. We will learn about some of the difficult selling points of Linux, the best way to get into the sales and support of Linux based platforms and find out where he thinks Linux and open source marketplace is heading in the next few years as we continue our discussion in part 2 of our three part series on – Selling Linux.

Todd Hughes Interview 16:55

Wrap up and Close :46

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Episode 17 – Selling Linux – Part 1

October 29, 2017March 23, 2008 by Rick

This week, we will talk with a provider who specializes in Linux and Linux based solutions and find out how we can provide open source solutions to our customers as well. Part 1 of a 3 part series.

TechPodcasts Promo Tag :10
Intro 1:17
Billboard 4:26

News and Comment segment 4:57
Intel Corp. announced that it plans to release a six core processor before the end of 2008. The Force Field is conducting a Trivia Contest during the month of March.

If you are a regular listener of The Force Field podcast, you now have the chance to take your knowledge of the show and win prizes! All you have to do is listen to the podcast, log into The Force Field web site at theforcefield.net, click on The Force Field Podcast Trivia Contest link on the right sidebar and answer the ten trivia questions. If you answer all ten questions correctly you will be entered into a drawing to win a 1GB USB flash drive or an Nvidia partnerForce T-shirt! Enter The Force Field podcast Trivia Contest today and win! Contest ends March 31, 2008.

The idea for the Force Field Trivia Contest came from Genoagirl, one of the Administrators of TheForceField.Net. We needed to meet with the other administrators to plan the details of the contest, and a physical meeting was out of the question. So we used GoToMeeting. Try GotoMeeting free for 30 days! For this special offer, visit www.gotomeeting.com/techpodcasts.

Microsoft notified users of its popular Excel spreadsheet program that a patch released Tuesday causes the application to return erroneous results in calculations. The patch was for Microsoft Security Bulletin MS08-014, a vulnerability in Excel that allows remote code execution. The patch was listed as critical and effects Microsoft Office Excel 2000, XP, 2003 and 2007 as well as Microsoft Office 2004 and 2008 for Mac. The bug causes certain calculations performed in Microsoft Excel to return a value of – zero.

Commercial Break :53
Geekazine Podcast Promo :30

The Mike Tech Show Podcast promo :23

Intro to Interview 2:16
Most IT Solution Providers are used to selling and supporting hardware and software in a Microsoft Windows environment and many hold Microsoft certifications or are experienced Windows users themselves. For the vast majority of these professionals, it is a Windows world and those who want to be profitable in the IT industry must know and support Microsoft Windows and other Windows based solutions.

For some of them it is all they know and is considered their only option, but there are a few service providers who carve their niche in the industry by specializing in alternative solutions.

One of those Providers is Todd Hughes. Todd is a Linux guru and writes articles and tutorials on Linux related topics at The Force Field.net. His most recent article is called Selling Open Source. The article touches on selling open source applications to your customers as effective alternatives to commercial programs.

This week we’re going to talk to Todd and find out how he began selling Linux, where the market for Linux is now and how we can sell open source solutions to our customers at great profit in part 1 of our three part series on Selling Linux.

Todd Hughes Interview 12:47

Wrap up and Close :46

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Episode 16 – Bits du Jour

August 15, 2008February 29, 2008 by Rick

This week, we will talk with the president of a company who offers a referral program – with a twist. We will find out how we can profit from advertising software – and possibly other computer related products and services on our site in a commission based format that is seamless, sticky, transparent, and doesn’t compete with our sites.

TechPodcasts Promo Tag :10
Intro 1:18
Billboard 2:36

News and Comment segment 5:11
Toshiba suspended production of HD-DVD players last week and officially announced it would end sales of the format at the end of March.

Wal-Mart plans to sell through existing HD-DVD stock and will place a greater emphasis on selling only standard DVD formats and Blu-Ray during the next 30 days.

The Force Field is conducting a Trivia Contest during the months of February and March. If you are a regular listener of The Force Field podcast, you now have the chance to take your knowledge of the show and win prizes! All you have to do is listen to the podcast, log into The Force Field web site at theforcefield.net, click on The Force Field Podcast Trivia Contest link on the right sidebar and answer the ten trivia questions. If you answer all ten questions correctly you will be entered into a drawing to win a 1GB USB flash drive or an Nvidia partnerForce T-shirt! Enter The Force Field podcast Trivia Contest today and win! Contest ends March 31, 2008.

Small Business Computing.com released announced the winners of the 2008 Small Business Computing Excellence in Technology Awards this month. In the collaboration category, the winner was GoToMeeting. Try GotoMeeting free for 30 days! For this special offer, visit www.gotomeeting.com/techpodcasts.

Microsoft released a list of applications that will not work with Windows Vista Service Pack 1, due for release in March. In an article published on its web site February 22, Microsoft listed a dozen applications that had what it termed “compatibility problems” and would be blocked for “reliability reasons”.

Commercial Break 1:00
Totally Cool Tech Podcast Promo :30

Caffination Podcast promo :30

Intro to Interview 2:08
If you own and operate your own web site as part of your business you are likely searching for a way to maximize the valuable real estate on your site to monetize or otherwise profit from it. One of the most universally accepted practices of generating revenue from your web site is the lease or rent of that space on your pages to advertisers and commission based banner or link referral programs.

Nico Westerdale, president of a company called Iconico, Inc. offers a referral program that is different from all others. It is sticky, transparent and offers generous commissions for every item sold.

This week we’re going to talk to Nico and find out what his referral program is, how it works and how we can use it to both sell software from other vendors – and possibly our own services in a new referral program called Bits du Jour.

Nico Westerdale Interview 13:55

Wrap up and Close :46

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Episode 15 – The One Stop Shop

September 30, 2008February 20, 2008 by Rick

This week we talk to a provider and learn how we can specialize and still be the primary source of products and services for our customers.

TechPodcasts Promo Tag :10
Intro 1:19
Billboard 1:37

News and Comment segment 4:22
SCO announced a plan to use a $100 million cash investment to pull the company out of bankruptcy and go private. For many in the Linux world, this means SCO has risen from the dead for one more fright like the monster in a B horror movie.

When I hold a meeting with our team of administrators on theforcefield.net, we need the ability to share our thoughts, ideas, and plans for The Force Field web portal both audibly and visually in real time. To accomplish this, we use GoToMeeting.Try GotoMeeting free for 30 days! For this special offer, visit www.gotomeeting.com/techpodcasts.

Microsoft announced a bid to buy Yahoo! February 1st. Yahoo! Initially rejected the offer but according to an article in The New York Post their board is now split on it, with some board members in favor of the purchase and Yahoo! CEO Jerry Yang and other board members against it. If the purchase is ultimately approved it would put both companies in a better position to compete with Google.

Commercial Break 1:00
Totally Cool Tech Podcast Promo :30

Caffination Podcast promo :30

Intro to Interview 1:5
If you offer IT solutions you know that it is difficult, if not impossible to have all the answers for all the questions from every one of your customers. Yet it is expected. The question is, do you want to know a lot about a few things or do you want to know a little about everything? Do you want sell and support a few products and services to your customers or offer an entire suite of solutions?

One Provider who does both is Todd Hughes, and he thinks you can too – by networking with your competitors.

This week we’re going to talk to Todd and learn how we can both specialize and diversify our portfolios of products and services to meet the needs of our customers and profit from it all. We will learn how to collaborate with our competitors to be both a specialist and a general service provider and create our niche in the IT industry as The One Stop Shop.

Todd Hughes Interview 18:48

Wrap up and Close :46

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Episode 14 – Insuring Your Business

August 15, 2008January 30, 2008 by Rick

This week we talk to an insurance professional and discuss the need and importance of insuring your IT business.

TechPodcasts Promo Tag :10
Intro 1:20
Billboard 1:05

News and Comment segment 2:44
Cisco unveiled the new Nexus 7000 series switch today. Designed for data centers, the switch is the first of a new series of data center class switching products called the Cisco Nexus family.

Sam’s Club, the wholesale company owned by big-box giant Wal-Mart, launched Sam’s Club Online Services now offers a bundle of online services including design, marketing and website hosting.

Microsoft issued a security bulletin January 8 advising users of an important TCP/IP vulnerability in Windows which allows an attacker to send malicious packets and effectively take control of a compromised system. Last Friday the company updated the bulletin to include Windows Home Server and change the exploit from important to critical.

Commercial Break 1:01
Sponsored by PC-Doctor Service Center 6. 1-866-BUY PCDR. Mention The Force Field podcast for $49 discount. Offer good until January 31, 2008.

Intro to Interview 2:08
When starting a IT business one of the many costs to consider is insurance. Whether you have a home office or a retail store front, you will have liabilities and assets, and they will need to be insured.

There is one insurance company that specializes in covering the computer professional. The company is called TechInsurance and its President, Jim Cochran, focuses specifically on the IT industry to help techs find the coverage they need.

This week we are going to talk to Jim, learn about the different types of insurance available and find out how much insurance we really need or if we really need it at all.

Jim Cochran Interview 25:19

Wrap up and Close :46

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Episode 13 – Tech Dispatch

August 15, 2008January 20, 2008 by Rick

This week we talk with Jeremy Larson and learn how you can manage your calls and techs in the field by using the new web based work order system called TechDispatch.

TechPodcasts Promo Tag :10
Intro 1:24
Billboard :59

News and Comment segment 8:18
The Consumer Electronics Show was held in Las Vegas last week. The Force Field provided video coverage of CES to the public and members of The Force Field from January 7 through the 11. High Definition Video coverage provided by The TechPodcast Network, Geek News Central and Slashdot Review was featured on TheForceField.net throughout the event.The videos were hosted by Todd Cochrane of Geek News Central and Andy McCaskey of Slashdot Review. They were accompanied by a camera crew to provide daily reports from the floor of CES.

Gizmodo, a web site dedicated to the news and reviews of tech gadgets, pulled a prank at CES last week that got a member of their video crew tossed from the show.

The CaffiNation PodCast, a show about Caffeine Culture & Technology News hosted by Paul Muller, will reach two milestones this month. It will be both the 2 year anniversary and the 200th episode of CaffiNation. To celebrate, Paul will conduct a contest for listeners of his podcast.

Bill Gates delivered what may be his last keynote at the opening of CES 2008 last week. During his keynote, Gates claimed that since the initial launch of Microsoft Windows Vista last year, over one hundred million Vista licenses were sold and one hundred million Vista users were surfing the web. On the surface that seems like a huge number and it is, but in a world with an estimated one billion PCs its relevance is not as impressive as he would have us believe. It may also not be accurate.

Ricks Tips 2:54
Using an eyeshadow applicator as a tool.

Commercial Break 1:01
Sponsored by PC Doctor Service Center 6. 1-866-BUY PCDR. Mention The Force Field podcast for $49 discount. Offer good until January 31, 2008.

Intro to Interview 1:37
Recently Jeremy Larson launched a web based application to manage work orders for one of the national contractors he services. Others became interested in using his system and on January 15, 2008 he expanded it to allow Providers everywhere to dispatch work to their techs in the field.

This week we are going to talk to Jeremy and learn about his system, find out how it works and how you can manage your calls and techs in the field by using the new web based work order system called TechDispatch.

Jeremy Larson Interview 11:33

Wrap up and Close :46

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Episode 12 – 2007: The Year In Review

January 19, 2010December 31, 2007 by Rick

This week we take a look back at the year 2007 and list a few events that both changed and shaped the present state of the IT industry.

Techpodcast Promo Tag :10
Intro 2:21

News and Comment segment 2:58
The United States Department of Transportation announced new rules to limit the transport of lithium batteries on commercial aircraft to take effect beginning January 1.

Try GotoMeeting free for 30 days! For this special offer, visit www.gotomeeting.com/techpodcasts.

AOL announced last week that it will end development of Netscape Navigator.

Commercial Break 1:01
Sponsored by PC Doctor Service Center 6. 1-866-BUY PCDR. Mention The Force Field podcast for $49 discount. Offer good until January 31, 2008.

Intro to Review 1:41
Another year is at an end and what a year it was! Full of optimism and hope, pessimism and disappointment and everything in between. The tech world had peaks, plains and potholes all throughout the year and sometimes all at once.

This week we will take a look back at the year 2007 and list a few events that both changed and shaped the present state of the IT industry. You may laugh and you may cry or you may simply roll your eyes. But on one thing you will probably agree. It was a year that was all its own. Now, sit back, relax, and reflect as we take a final look back at 2007 – The Year In Review.

The Year In Review 15:06

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 !

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