Mike Molenda, Senior Technical Consultant at RSA Corp, lists ways to check if you are indeed addicted to the internet.

Mike Molenda, Senior Technical Consultant at RSA Corp, shares some tips on what basic, but high-level, aspects to consider when trying to keep your computer safe.

Episode #16 – Holly Gunn, Marketing Manager at RSA Corp, reminds businesses of the importance of social media, not just for finding prospects, but for building your brand, driving website traffic, and establishing and nurturing business relationships.

Episode #14 – Stephen Sweeney, COO at RSA Corp, explains how Green IT, the recent major technology trend, saves businesses money by conserving their resources and making them more efficient.

The decision whether or not (or when) to upgrade is complex and dependent on many factors. Upgrading operating systems can create a competitive advantage, increase productivity and reduce administrative overhead. Alternatively, upgrading can cause compatibility issues with core applications, reduce productivity and significantly impact budgets and the bottom line. Due to mixed reviews of Vista, many businesses have chosen to delay upgrading to the controversial operating system and are waiting for Microsoft to either fix it or produce something better. The immediate positive reviews of the recently released Windows 7 beta are encouraging, but should you bet your business on it?

Windows 7 is looming on the horizon. It’s hard to believe, but Windows XP first arrived in 2001. XP is a good OS and a significant improvement over Windows 2000 in many business-relevant ways. This was especially evident with the release of service pack 2 and its improved networking and security capabilities.

Businesses have been riding the XP train for eight years, despite Vista being available for some time now. Hesitation exists because upgrading can be a headache, and there’s the often-stated mindset that you should never opt for the first release of a Microsoft OS. Whatever the reason, many businesses wait until Microsoft has “worked the bugs out.” I‘ve often heard the belief that the best way to adopt new OS releases from Microsoft is to let someone else do its beta testing.

Like it or not, the XP train is reaching the end of the track. Support officially ended for XP in April 2009, with extended support until 2014. That means no more updates and no more free support from Microsoft duration. It also means you cannot buy a new PC installed with XP, and the legal ability to downgrade from Vista to XP will no longer be an option. So one way or another, decision makers are going to face a choice of operating systems that will not include XP.

It is not all bad news though.

I’ve been using Windows 7 both in beta and release candidate for several months on both my home PC and my corporate laptop. I use my laptop as both a desktop replacement at the office and as a mobile workstation for multiple client-site use.

How 7 Works and Plays in the Enterprise and in Multi-Client and Remote Use

1. Simpler and faster networking – Network browsing is fast and efficient, unlike Vista where long lags can occur when clicking on a network drive. Wireless configuration and reconnecting to existing networks is more streamlined and easier to achieve.

2. User account control – In Vista, UAC was unmanageable, whereas 7 is unobtrusive. I eventually ended up turning it off in Vista, which did nothing for security.

3. Faster boot times – In all but a few cases where a user was using a stripped-down version of XP on a fast computer, 7 still boots faster. Unlike XP, which seems to get slower over time, my laptop still boots as fast as it did the day I installed 7. I’ve experienced this on platforms ranging from an older Pentium M 1.6 and a more current Centrino Dual Core.

4. Faster and easier install – I’ve smoothly installed 7 on eight different devices. No muss, no fuss, no drama. My greatest fear of driver availability on my production laptop has been laid to rest. When Microsoft released Vista, it introduced new driver architecture primarily for the graphics and sound subsystems. The difficulty of finding drivers early in an OS release is legendary. With 7, I’ve only encountered a handful of devices, mostly older printers, for which I have failed or had to search to find drivers. Where 7 drivers were not available, typically Vista drivers worked. Only one device has failed to work properly – an older Tektronix Phaser printer. Windows 7 included drivers are extensive. What’s more impressive about the availability of drivers is that I installed the 64-bit version instead of the more common 32-bit.

5. Blue Screens – Lots of blues with Vista, not one in 7. Your results may vary, but consider I currently have three different VPN clients and a host of diagnostic applications on my machine that do interesting things to the IP stack of my laptop.

Points in Favor of Windows 7 for the Enterprise

• Ability to remove Internet Explorer 8 and use other browsers exclusively
• Improved network browsing and searching speed and capabilities
• Improved troubleshooting and remote support capabilities
• Improved file browser over both XP and especially over Vista

Included apps (Paint, Notepad, Calculator) are greatly improved in both function and look and feel. Windows 7 is vastly better than Vista and has proven itself robust and usable for both home and business. If you have the opportunity thru purchasing new equipment or reloading an existing machine, pick up a copy of 7 when it hits the market (October 22, 2009) and give it a try.

If you’ve had a chance to work with Windows 7 beta..what are your thoughts?

Scrum has been around for nearly 20 years but has recently gained ground as a front-runner in the agile methodology practice group. Due to its approach to project requirements and fast iterative development cycles, Scrum will gain even more popularity as businesses are adopting lean processes, streamlining controls and cutting out waste. It brings a faster, more complete development modules and project owner involvement to ensure that current and future business goals are met.

Scrum is a value-driven management agile methodology that focuses on delivering small incremental batches of requirements within some given time frame and budget. One goal is to realize business value (ROI) on deliverables as soon as possible so businesses can make more informed decisions for future Scrums.

Scrum vs. Traditional Development Methods

Scrum methodology concentrates on incremental release cycles of useable deliverables. Requirements are placed on a product backlog list, which are then detailed into the Scrum backlog and pulled into a release for work. Project owners have full control over the backlog list and the priority of the work that is schedule to be done in each release. The release dates and budget for each Scrum iteration or sprint remain fixed, while the requirement (scope) remains flexible.

“Flexible scope” is a scary phrase for any project manager. In reality, when a project begins with high-level requirements and scope, the result is often different from the start. Throughout the project, the requirements are revised, changed and sometimes even removed.

With the Scrum methodology, both the cost and time for each iteration are fixed, ensuring budget and schedule control, while the project owner controls requirements (scope).

The process starts out with a backlog of requirements that the project owner prioritizes. Then, the project team decides how many requirements can be placed in a Scrum sprint. Requirements are further detailed and placed on the Scrum backlog. This is a just-in-time process for feeding into the Scrum sprint. It’s recommended that sprints run 1-3 weeks, depending on the needs of the project. The point is to keep them small, delivering working product frequently.

This allows for ROI to be recognized sooner than with traditional methods. Waterfall methods do not make ROI apparent until closer to the project end, which in some cases can be years. This makes Scrum a fiscally advantageous methodology for long-term projects.

Waterfall methods often result in systems that no longer provide the expected value because they’re out of date by the time of delivery or are in a never-ending mode of change. Scrum value-driven management helps to avoid these issues by quickly delivering high-priority requirements (as denoted by the product owner), which allows the product owner to revaluate the benefits of each requirement and adjust as needed.

Would faster delivery and ROI be factors in making a decision on a project methodology?

With the flood of people flocking to Twitter these days, it can be daunting to try and figure out who’s worth following and who isn’t. Here is my list of 25 Houston business tweeple that inspire, bring laughter, have influence and are just plain cool (in no particular order).

1. @astro_mike – Mike Massimino
NASA astronaut, mission specialist for STS-125

2. @drrbradley – Dr. Richard Bradley
Emergency physician with the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston.

3. @BillWhiteforTX – Mayor Bill White
Son of San Antonio schoolteachers. Husband, father. Successful businessman. Mayor of Houston, winner in Profile in Courage Award. Candidate for U.S. Senate.

4. @baldheretic – Jay Lee
Helpline columnist for the Houston Chronicle, creator and host of Technology Bytes. Folk musician and shameless shutterbug.

5. @marc1919 – Marc Nathan
Web 2.0 Angel Investor & Technology Startup Incubator. Houston Technology Center.

6. @waterdesign – Heather Loftiss
Branding Goddess, designer lady, mom, wife/business partner, incoming AAF-H Branding Czar, gardener and photographer. Isn’t that enough?

7. @growth_coach – Jared Polak
I’m passionate about helping my community achieve success and balance in their lives

8. @Bukowsky – Jeff Flowers
To Build a Better World, You Must Start in Your Own Community.Web Developer. Graphic Designer. Social Media Guru.

9. @TheMoleskin – Kelsey Ruger
Senior-level software architect, web and UI designer. Passionate about creative thinking, training and employee development. VP at Pop Labs

10. @Jaseone – Jason Bainbridge
Geek, wanna be photographer, cyclist, beer & coffee lover! IT guy.

11.@JennTex – Jennifer Texada
Communications Program Manager at M. D. Anderson focusing on Social Media and stuff like that.

12. @she_eats – Katharine Shilcutt
Web editor for the Houston Press. Lover of food and beer. Probably of you, too.

13. @ericaogrady – Erica O’Grady
CXO Peanut Butter Media

14. @CoffeeGroundz – JR Cohen
I am a strong cup of coffee and by night I am a Belgium beer. We are your local cheers! #SupportLocal #GrowTogether

15. @lmayes – Laura Mayes
Who doesn’t want to write in 140 characters? Also wrote the upcoming book Kirtsy Takes a Bow (October 2009) And I helped found Kirtsy.com. Hooray! Etc.

16. @gracerodriguez – Grace Rodriguez
Ayn brand | social media consultant . community builder . creative . writer . speaker . activist . advocate | into : art . film . music . design . strategery

17. @imelda – Imelda
Wife, mom, computer geek from houston, texas who loves to take photos!

18. @TheBloggess – Jenny
Good Mom/Bad Mom blogger for Houston Chronicle

19. @Freebies4Mom – Heather
I blog at Freebies4Mom.com to help everyone save money with freebies, coupons, giveaways, sweepstakes, and money-saving tips

20. @Cosmopolitician – Monica Danna
Event planner + PR gal + social media maniac + houston fanatic + design lover + dance freak

21. @dsilverman – Dwight Silverman
Techblogger, computer columnist, blog editor @ Houston Chronicle | chron.com. Co-host of Technology Bytes radio show. Computer book author.

22. @MistyKhan – Misty Khan
Mommy, wife, family girl. Outlook, sales, & marketing consultant. entrepreneur, runner, wine lover, dog lover. Jewish Conservative #TCOT

23. @eschipul – Ed Schipul
Some guy from Houston who does web stuff with a bunch of other web people. Schipul Web Marketing.

24. @EstherSteinfeld – Blinds.com PR
PR gal, NotAllCEOsAreJerks.com Founder, Correspondent for The Business Makers Show, lover of Interior Design, buttermilk biscuits, cockapoos, & dance

25. @alangham – Arthur Langham
Programmer, Ironman finisher, Desert Storm veteran, font snob, and grammar nazi.

**Those of us tweeting from RSA Corp
@RSABoss – CEO
@scsweeney – COO
@Jrockross – Managed Services Manager
@scottgondesen – Client Relations Director
@HollystarPR – Marketing Manager

I couldn’t possibly include everyone that’s wonderful, so…who are your favs?

Companies continually seek new ways to go green with efficiencies, recycling and building improvements. How can IT help make business more eco-friendly? For companies with applications running on multiple servers, virtualization is a great way to maximize computing resources, reduce power consumption and eliminate server room expansion.

Virtualizing your server environment allows you to consolidate multiple server instances onto one piece of hardware, allowing for better utilization of computing resources and reduced energy for cooling and power.

In a business climate where IT is forced to do more with less, virtualization reduces maintenance and administration of hardware while increasing flexibility in continuity and disaster recovery. A virtualized server environment allows IT to work on issues without interrupting key operations. With more and more telecommuters and employees working on weekends, IT has less time to fix issues without affecting productivity.

After consolidating resources, donate or resell hardware to learning and training facilities in your area.

On Tuesday Apple held the iPhone 3.0 event. The event announced the roadmap for the 3.0 firmware for the iPhone, iPod touch and whatever comes next (maybe a netbook or tablet?) With more than 100 new features, this release is definitely the biggest yet. That’s right; it’s bigger than the 2.0 release, which announced Exchange ActiveSync.

Even with the release of more than 100 new features, the focus of the event was really for the developers. Apple finally launched the push notification service, which coders have been clamoring for since they hinted at it a year ago. Apparently, there were some scaling issues, but the service is ready to go.

Apple decided the push service was the path to pursue because the phone doesn’t allow apps to run in the background. The idea behind that thought is…background apps affect battery life and phone performance. Push notifications allow you to close a chat program mid-conversation but still receive updates. Then, it allows you to reply when ready even though the app is not running.

I was lucky enough to get my hands on a beta copy of the iPhone 3.0 firmware update the day it was released. Early adoption rules! After doing some breathing exercises and removing the grin on my face that went from one ear to the other, I got a chance to play with the new firmware Apple will release in June to bring the iPhone back to the forefront of mobile technology.

It’s strange to run an Apple beta release. It feels sort of the way an out of body experience might feel. It’s very alien to run Apple hardware that has glaring issues. Nonetheless, Apple was able to add hundreds of new features without compromising the useability of the device.

Highlights

Cut, Copy and Paste
Finally! You can now cut, copy and paste between applications. If you want to text someone a URL from Safari, now you can.

Spotlight
Like OS X, the entire phone is indexed so you can search across almost everything. If you enter a search term, such as “Jack,” your phone searches the iPod and returns your My Morning Jacket tunes, Jack Black’s contact info, emails, notes…anything with Jack in it.

Landscape
Finally, you can type emails on a big, touchscreen keyboard. The way the Lord intended! SMS and notes too.

MMS
Not really a big deal to me, but apparently MMS matters to someone…

It’s kind of funny that a handful of times I’ve thought to myself, “You know this phone is great, but I wish it did [insert feature here].” It seems like everything I’ve thought of, so did they.

This definitely puts the iPhone back out in front in the smartphone race. This includes the Palm Pre, especially with rumors of possible Palm Pre production issues and the patent suit pending by Apple over multi-touch. It was seen as the iPhone’s only real threat (even though it may seal Palm’s fate Palm Pre: Chronicle of a Death Foretold).

It’s only a matter of time before you’ll be able to edit Word and Excel documents, making it a real corporate contender.

For a complete feature list and more than everything you wanted to know about the 3.0 release, check the excellent coverage at Gizmodo: iPhone 3.0 OS Guide: Everything You Need to Know.

Another entry from the why didn’t we think of that before? department is Microsoft’s quiet addition of the “Fix it” button to a handful of Knowledge Base (KB) articles.

According to Microsoft, this is the first step in improving Windows Error Reporting, which is the annoying box that pops up either after an application crashes or Windows itself implodes.

The vision is…when you send the error report to Microsoft, you may get a suggestion for a one-click fix it. So far, Microsoft says that more than 75,000 customers have tried it out since December 2008, and 95 percent said it solved their problem.

I have two thoughts about Fix it.

I love the idea, in principle, but where was this when I was running Windows 98?

On the other hand, Microsoft KB articles can be difficult to understand. Often an article can describe an issue extremely similar to yours, but meant for a different operating system or software version. In desperation, inexperienced users might run the fix and end up causing more problems in the end.

Also, some KB articles involve editing the registry. If the Fix it button changes my registry and my PC becomes a paper weight, how can I fix that? Hopefully there has been some type of discussion at Microsoft regarding this subject.

Maybe that’s why it’s been a quiet deployment, sort of a live beta. Use with caution!

Now if they could just click a button and fix Vista, oh wait Windows 7 is coming….