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Hill
Associates Telecom Newsletter
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Hello!
I hope this newsletter finds you enjoying your spring—warmer weather, birds singing, and flowers blooming. As I look out my window, I see gray skies, scattered piles of snow, and mud—lots and lots of mud. Sound cheery?
However, we in Vermont are optimistic that spring will come! I was actually reminded of spring and the aroma of flowers as I read this month’s newsletter. It’s really a potpourri of articles, covering a range of topics—from security to mobile television to the perils of home networking. (This particular video segment is amazing—be sure to click through.) I would also like to draw your attention to the end of the newsletter, which announces the opening of our Hill Associates Store. We have an exciting new product, available for sale online now, at a great price. Take a moment to check it out.
Enjoy!
Paul
President & CEO |
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| In
the News
Ten weird MP3 players
Most of you probably have MP3 players of some kind—an iPod or a generic model. (One of our associates admits
to having not one, not two, but THREE!) PC Magazine recently published a slide show on
ten (shall we say, unique) MP3 players to hit the market. Two of them include a
PEZ dispenser and a box of Altoids!
When it comes to security, few companies make the grade
So your customers are worried about network security? They should be. Relatively few companies are getting it right. And that includes Uncle Sam. For 2006, the federal government earned a C-minus for its computer and network security efforts, with the Department of Defense leading the pack. That’s a slight improvement over the 2005 grade of D-plus, but still nothing to write home about. Some agencies that we would expect more from actually dropped their score. NASA went from a B-minus in 2005 to a D-minus in 2006. The Washington Post has the story.
Ah, the Internet. What’s next?
First there were bulletin boards. These evolved to electronic bulletin boards and message boards. Now we have blogs and a new Internet craze. Twitter is one of several players introducing what is essentially a combination of a blog, an instant message (IM), and a text message. Twitter allows users to post short, real-time messages about what they are doing at any given moment and have that message seen by all of their Twitter friends. Sound stupid? Apparently not. It is becoming quite the rage, and there are even some valid business and personal applications, such as coordination of a trade show or a group vacation. Read a review of Twitter here.
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| Industry
Analysis
Top ten disrupters of 2006
It is always fascinating when technology and business combine. Over the past several years, there has been
much discussion about disruptive innovation. Now Forbes magazine has published its list of disrupters for 2006, and yes, technology disrupters are included. Technology disruptors were also included as topics at the World Economic Forum in January. Check out Hill Associates’ blog
post and tHAWT
on the topic as well.
The latest in mobile TV
We’ve seen the spread of email. We’ve lived through the growth of the World Wide Web. Then telephony and voice services joined the Internet. With the launch of YouTube, video became a staple of the Internet. But Joost raises the bar even further: it brings Television to the Internet. That’s right, TV to your computer! Brought to you by the creators of KaZaa and Skype, Joost is forging agreements
with major content providers and looks to be the next “big thing” on the Internet. Is this the television of the future? Do not get too excited just yet. Read another perspective on mobile TV here
and listen to our tHAWT
on the subject.
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| Tech
Talk
Hasta la Vista baby, but just for now
Why has Dell decided to start offering XP on its popular Dimension and Inspiron lines again for small businesses? During the first three months of 2007, we could only buy these products with Vista. Could it be that most folks do not want Vista and were going elsewhere to get a new PC with XP? Check the feedback at Dell’s IdeaStorm site about Vista and XP, and you will get an idea as to why. Been there. Done that. The
horror of home networking.
David Pogue, Technical
Columnist for the New York Times, spent about five days testing the latest 802.11n routers (the successors to the current Wi-Fi “g” series routers). Most of us are probably familiar with Wi-Fi, and the perils of home networking. This article
goes out to anyone who has ever tried to set up a home network.
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| Hill Associates News
The Hill Associates Store is open
Understanding technology topics has never been so easy, convenient, or interactive. Hill Associates has officially launched the new version of its e-learning series known as ExperTech. The new series, ExperTech 2.0, includes titles on a variety of telecommunications topics, from the most basic overviews to more detailed examinations of technology areas. Titles can be purchased individually on CD or accessed online. Corporate licenses for AICC- or SCORM-compliant LMS systems are also available for individual titles or a variety of package options.
The feedback about the new series has been excellent! Jared Querengasser, Lead Technician at Strategic Telecommunications, had this to say about ExperTech 2.0:
“The ExperTech CD was phenomenal! The slides are well presented, and the instructor explains things so simply that anyone can grasp the concepts being explained. Our experience with Hill Associates thus far has been excellent. We are beginning to see that when it comes to our training needs, we don’t need to look elsewhere.”
Visit www.hill-store.com
to purchase CDs, or call us at 802.655.0940.
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