Last Flight of the Enterprise

Howdy folks!  I know this post isn't technical at all, and it is a little nostalgic...but growing up in CA, my family was involved with Rockwell and aerospace.  I had family members who worked on the original space shuttle, Enterprise, and so seeing it retired strikes a chord.

The technical innovations that drove the shuttles and their operations over the past 36 years...with high points and low points...show that humanity with a vision can do almost anything it wants to.  I had a chance to see the Enterprise when I was very young, and it was something I haven't forgotten.  I"m very envious of the citizens of New York City today...wish I was there for this.

It's days like this when I really do think about the future of humanity.  We've broken the atmospheric skin of this world, and have only begun to touch the endless void outside of our world...what else will we do in the next 40 years of my life?

Yes, normally Fridays aren't very heavy, but take some time to think about where we are and where we're going...it always gives me focus in my day.

Live Long and Prosper!

Swing Away with Meraki!

Today is a Meraki focus day here at PC Mall (Dragontech), and we're going to be reaching out to each and every one of our clients today about Meraki's products.

Wireless Internet

Security Appliances

Switches

And my favorite...the Free Systems Manager software.  (Want to see what this looks like?  Hit the Contact button and ask me for read access to my network...I'm happy to share! :) )

You can't go wrong with these folks...nothing is perfect, but they're willing to fight and fight and fight to show people how good their products are...and so am I.

The Meraki Story is a great one...and if you have any questions, give me a call!  (541 - 351 - 8845)

Apple Flambé Anyone?

Caught this news article this morning from over at Daily Tech.  (Awesome graphic btw.)  Now, while Kaspersky isn' t the number 1 AV software out there, their opinion should surely matter.  With Apple products now being targeted with viruses and other kinds of malware (malapp?  hmm...I think i should trademark that.) more frequently, Apple is now getting a taste of what Microsoft has been going through for over 10 years.

Think about it, Apple's security notions are technically 10 years behind where Microsoft is.  Now they have a good chance here to catch up and fight a better fight...but it's a STEEP hill to climb.  With FlashFake already driving them and their users nuts, I can see a lot more of these on the horizon...long before they get their security standards up.  With 4 million new & unsuspecting Apple users out there, there's going to be a lot of falls before they can get to the summit of the first hill on this trek.

I'd like to be one of the first to welcome Apple to the real world, where real people are real jerks, and will try to really hurt your users.  While that may sound a little mean, I would like to also state that Apple and its users for years bragged about no viruses and malware...and pride always cometh before a fall.

Apple users...get a copy of Kaspersky's software or  Symantec's software for your computer asap...better safe than sorry.

Managing your systems for...Free!

The word Free is now an ignored word in many ways.  When people overuse it, the true meaning of it falls away into jargon and disbelief.   You hear things like this:

"Oh SURE this is 'free'...I don't believe it.  What's the catch?"

or

"Nothing is ever free my boy, you always pay in the end."

I never said there wasn't a rider to something that's free, but in this case, a single phone call is better than shelling out hundreds of thousands of dollars for a real system to manage your environment.

The Meraki Systems Director is something I've been talking about with my clients for the past few weeks.  Recently, Meraki actually made it free for download, (in my opinion) to show everyone how good the backbone that their products run on, and as a thank you for those of us working hard to show others their goodness.  You can download it right here, but if you're still skeptical of a Free system to manage your desktops, laptops and iOS devices...give me a call.

I want to talk to you about it...heck, I'll even give you read access to my own Meraki network so you can see it for yourselves.  I'd like to hope that my happy clients would join in here to say what they said when they saw how good it is...because the shock & amazement is a good marker on how much something like this is needed.  (Hey, it runs on ANY network...why?  Because it only pushes out agents that report to your dashboard on Meraki's servers...THAT easy.)

If you like it, I would hope you'll contact us to help you purchase some Meraki wireless, Security Appliances, or switches.  They will compliment the System Director nicely, and you'll be really happy for it.

You'll Shoot Your Adobe CS6 Out!

If you're a client of mine, or potential client, or someone who's heard me muttering to myself while waiting for the bus every day, you've heard about Adobe announcing CS6 coming in a few weeks.  While they have us under an NDA for the actual release date, we can tell you that it's coming up quickly.

Most important here is that they want to transition all of their clients to CS6 when it releases.  This will aid in file compatibility, and communication between those using Adobe products.  Not to mention make things easier on Adobe when it comes to having CS3, CS4, CS5, CS5.5 and CS6 users to support...less of the older users to support, the less the strain on their resources.

So, the thing to consider right now is something that Adobe hasn't talked about in the past...the free upgrade.  How do you get it?  Well it's simple...just update your copy of CS from CS2,CS3, CS4, or CS5 to CS5.5 before the release date, and you'll get CS6 as a free upgrade when it releases.  Yup, Free.  In order to help our clients get these upgrades done quickly, we've got the upgrades priced to move...so you've got to contact your reps here to help you.  Don't have a rep?  Hit the contact button and you'll come direct to me, and I'll help you. :)

There is not much time left.  DO NOT WAIT.  Remember, those on your team who use Photoshop, can't live without it. ;)

I hope we hear from all of you on Monday. :)  Have a great weekend!

AutoCAD, APC and all the rest...here on Dragontech Island...

My apologies, I've had the Gilligan's Island theme stuck in my head all weekend for no reason I can understand...so I'm sharing it with all of you.

I had started to write this great and grand post on Friday...putting in pieces here and there throughout the day like I usually do when I'm busy...and as I"m a few seconds from posting at 4:25pm...the power here went out.  Now from all of the rain we had on Friday morning, that was to be expected.  (For those of you not from Los Angeles, even an inch of rain here is like getting 5 feet of snow in a couple hours...it's usually a disaster.)  So as we left for the day minutes later, I was thinking about those of you who have had similar experiences with power over the years.  While this was an isolated incident and we were back up and running in minutes...I wonder about those folks who need help going over their power situation and fixing it.  Our partnership with APC and other "power partners" can work to your advantage...whether it's an assessment by one of the manufacturers, or by our own team here at PC Mall...we can help you identify what your issues are and help you fix them.

Secondly, AutoCAD and all of the versions of that software are now available from us here at PC Mall.  Our partnership with Autodesk is stronger than ever, and the 2013 version of their AutoCAD software is now available.  If you utilize Autodesk, you should give us a call...we can help you sort through upgrading and making sure that you're completely current on their software.

There you have it...happy late Friday/early Monday. :)

What the...? (part 1: managed services)

One of the most often given responses to my statements about PC Mall and what we can do is... "Wait, I didn't know you could do that!"  Why?  Well, people hear PC Mall and think that we're a place to buy computers while stopping at Sbarro to get a slice of pizza.  Those who talk to us on a regular basis come to understand that not only are we a place to get progressively priced equipment and software, but that we're a company that did $2 billion in business last year, and a large chunk of which was Services.

From installation to consultative to professional and managed, we act as a savior to so many companies nationwide every day.  Stepping in to solve problems that would take them weeks and more manpower $$ than it would to pay someone to do it for them.  Would you rather spend $50,000 in equipment and personnel time to fix a data closet, or spend $10k and have it done in 3 days by professionals?  That's what we do.

Now primary to what we do are managed services.  What are managed services, you ask?  Well, this little article here covers them pretty well.   Give us a call so we can talk about what we can do to help you!

Come on, you want to wear a mask and cape!

All IT personnel are unsung heroes.  I know you are, and you know you are.  The average member of your organization may forget how much they CANNOT DO without the work that you do.  This is a nice little article from the folks over at ZDNet that remembers the hard work from all IT personnel. :)

Happy Good Friday and Easter!

It wouldn't be a holiday without a Dragontech Team JibJab!

Seriously, folks this is the time of year when the giants of our industry...HP & Dell...throw up their hand and start practically giving hardware away.  Ergo, this is the time to buy if you're looking for ANY kind of Hardware.

Most of you lucky folks who work with me directly will see this email today...but here's an advance on it right here at Dragontech...courtesy from my good friends at HP!

Elite L2201x - LED monitor - 21.5" HP Elite L2201x - LED monitor - 21.5" - 1920 x 1080 - MVA - 250 cd/m2 - 5000:1 - 16 ms - DisplayPort - silver, jack black - Smart Buy Sku #8799506 Price $189.99  (Thinner than an iPod!)  Note: not on website currently but available.	Compaq 6200 Pro - Core i3 2120 3.3 GHz HP Compaq 6200 Pro - SFF - 1 x Core i3 2120 / 3.3 GHz - RAM 4 GB - HDD 1 x 250 GB - DVD±RW (±R DL) / DVD-RAM - HD Graphics 2000 - Gigabit Ethernet - Windows 7 Pro 64-bit - Monitor : none - Smart Buy Sku #8917697 Price $615.00
Compaq Elite 8200 - Core i5 2400 3.1 GHz HP Compaq Elite 8200 - CMT - 1 x Core i5 2400 / 3.1 GHz - RAM 4 GB - HDD 1 x 500 GB - DVD±RW (±R DL) / DVD-RAM - HD Graphics 2000 - Gigabit Ethernet - Windows 7 Pro 64-bit - Intel vPro Technology - Monitor : none - Smart Buy Sku #8917739 Price $709.00	Workstation z400 - Xeon W3550 3.06 GHz HP Workstation z400 - CMT - 1 x Xeon W3550 / 3.06 GHz - RAM 6 GB - HDD 1 x 500 GB - DVD±RW (±R DL) / DVD-RAM - no graphics - Gigabit Ethernet - Windows 7 Pro 64-bit - Monitor : none - Smart Buy Sku #8209041 Price $1,267.00
ProBook 4530s - 15.6" - Core i3 2330M - Windows 7 Pro 64-bit - 4 GB RAM - 500 GB HDD HP ProBook 4530s - Core i3 2330M / 2.2 GHz - Windows 7 Pro 64-bit - 4 GB RAM - 500 GB HDD - DVD SuperMulti DL - 15.6" HD anti-glare wide 1366 x 768 / HD - Intel HD Graphics 3000 - Smart Buy Sku #8901497 Price $549.00	EliteBook 8460p - 14" - Core i5 2410M - Windows 7 Pro 64-bit - 4 GB RAM - 320 GB HDD HP EliteBook 8460p - Core i5 2410M / 2.3 GHz - Windows 7 Pro 64-bit - 4 GB RAM - 320 GB HDD - DVD SuperMulti DL - 14" HD anti-glare wide 1366 x 768 / HD - Intel HD Graphics 3000 - platinum - Smart Buy89813279 Sku #8320736 Price $799.99
Smart Buy Folio 13 Intel Core i5-2467M 1.60GHz Notebook PC - 4GB RAM, 128GB SSD, 13.3" LED-backlit HD, Gigabit Ethernet, 802.11b/g/n, Bluetooth, Webcam, 6-cell Li-Ion Intel Core i5-2467M 1.60GHz, 4GB 1333MHz DDR3 SDRAM, 128GB Solid State Drive, 13.3" LED-backlit HD Display, Intel HD 3000 Graphics, 1.3 MP HP TrueVision HD Webcam, Gigabit Ethernet, Centrino 802.11b/g/n, Bluetooth, Microsoft Windows 7 Professional 64-bit Sku #8981379 Price $949.00	EliteBook Mobile Workstation 8560w - 15.6" - Core i5 2540M - Windows 7 Pro 64-bit - 4 GB RAM - 500 GB HDD HP EliteBook Mobile Workstation 8560w - Core i5 2540M / 2.6 GHz - Windows 7 Pro 64-bit - 4 GB RAM - 500 GB HDD - DVD SuperMulti DL - 15.6" HD+ WVA anti-glare wide 1600 x 900 / HD+ - AMD FirePro M5950 - Smart Buy Sku #8784405 Price $1,207.00

In the end...Have a Happy (Hoppy?) Easter and we'll see you all next week! :)

BIOS Password Problem?

I have one of my brilliant techs out there send me a Basic BIOS password crack

He says it works 9.9 times out of ten!

This is a password hack but it clears the BIOS such that the next time you start the PC, the CMOS does not ask for any password. Now if you are able to bring the DOS prompt up, then you will be able to change the BIOS setting to the default. To clear the CMOS do the following:

Get DOS prompt and type:
DEBUG hit enter
-o 70 2e hit enter
-o 71 ff hit enter
-q hit enter
exit hit enter