Tanpola Articles Directory

When properly conceived, architected, and executed - RIAs can engage your users, build your brand, and drive your technology ROI.

RIAs, or Rich Internet Applications, are applications which move traditional desktop functionality onto the web. A great example of this is Gmail, the Google email client which is entirely web-based. Instead of accessing a desktop client such as Outlook, you log into a web site and get a similar experience.
At the heart of an RIA is the user experience (UX). The traditional web paradigm was to present static pages of text with a series of links or buttons. Users would click on things and wait for a new page to load while their transaction was taking place somewhere behind a web server.

This paradigm still holds for web navigation, but for interaction with a single web application, page-loads are a no-go. Technologies like Ajax, Adobe Flex, and Microsoft Silverlight can build the user interface in the browser, handle user interactions, and allow for communication with the server without reloading the page.

Ideally, users will experience near instantaneous interaction (like with most desktop software). In fact research has shown that web users are growing less patient, and expect a greater perception of performance with the web sites they use.
If you are doing business on the web, it is in your best interest to evaluate how RIA technology can help you keep your competitive edge. Your customers will be expecting it.

With RIA technology properly applied your business can:
-Create a more engaging experience for your customers - building a larger and more active customer base
-Add stickiness to your site - keeping customers from going to your competition
-Build your brand - adding bankable value to your most important asset
-Use and re-use web services - getting a higher return on your technology investment
-Add new features to your web site - turning your site into larger profit center

This is not to say that you should try to build your own version of Gmail. A prudent way to begin is to look at the way your users interact (or want to interact) with your web site. Find ways to add that perception of instantaneous action. You can iteratively add functionality to your web site while keeping a sharp eye on usability.

Let’s say, for example, that you have an ecommerce web site where people can check their orders. They navigate to an orders page where they are shown a list of order numbers and dates that are hyperlinked to an order details page. What if clicking on that link dropped open a box underneath that order that contained the detail info? The user doesn’t have to navigate away, and can check each order from that one page. This is one small example of the interactivity and user experience that RIA technology can provide.

John Moore is a Web 2.0 expert who creates Rich Internet Applications. He has created the web’s first RIA community at http://www.riaspot.com.

Securing the world’s largest temporary network takes a variety of vendors working together.

For three days, InteropNet is one of the largest hacking targets on the planet. Attacks and threats come from both inside and outside the network. While the external attacks are certainly more malicious in intent, most of the internal ones ended up being due to misconfiguration or just plain misunderstanding.

To understand the problems associated with this type of setup, please view the following:
1.Video streaming devices flooded the network with millions of multicast packets per second. EM7 noticed a big bump in latency on that network segment at the same time that the Enterasys Dragon IDS caught the flood of packets. Both tools could tell the origin of the packets and traced them back to misconfigured video multicast devices. In this case Not Malicious, but the result was still degradation to that network segment until the problem was fixed.

2.One vendor at the show purposely scanned all other devices on the show network to model them in their product demos. They didn’t ask anyone’s permission (or at least they didn’t ask ours). They purposely used multiple community strings to see if any would work. Personally I don’t think they meant it to be malicious, but as a monitoring tool in this space, they should have known that doing all that scanning would actually degrade network and other vendors’ device performance. I wonder if this is the vendor that was telling people that it does this at every show, and this is the first time it’s been caught.

Connect the Vendors
Enterasys took care of external attacks by identifying them and asking Qwest to block them. But it’s with the internal “devices behaving badly”, that the real fun began. It took a combination of vendors to identify, confirm and track down the offenders on the network.

First Enterasys Dragon IDS alerted on suspicious behaviors. Dragon identified what IP, MAC address or port on a switch was having the issue - which information was cross-checked against vendor registry info in EM7 to track down offenders to a booth, a room or a wireless access point in the facility. Splunk was also used to look at logs and verify the source of bad behavior.

For tracking down wireless misbehavior, Aruba Networks had a cool tool that took the info from Dragon and EM7 and used it to literally triangulate the location (down to a laptop).

Before the show started, we tested our security process by sending people out with laptops and finding them, gps-style, whether they were walking around or hiding under a desk.

Overall, I think the real-life multi-vendor network security solutions I’ve described here are great examples of why interoperability is so important and why InteropNet was such a great experience.

Louis DiMeglio is in charge of all pre and post-sale customer engineering engagements at ScienceLogic (http://www.sciencelogic.com). Louis has nearly fifteen years of experience in IT and over seven in IT and Network Management.

When buying network supplies, one must take into consideration the quality of the products and its longevity. These are a very important element to computing and keeping your IT system running. In the event of your supplies depleting after a prolonged amount of usage, you should always have a backup plan with your networking systems. Networking supplies can include things like connectors, LAN testers, crimp tools, data/server racks, LAN cables, RJ45 adaptors, fibre optic leads and patch panels. All of these items can wear away and lose its optimum functionality after a long period.

Finding the best quality network supplies can take plenty of time; this can very often confuse people as to deciding which suppliers to approach. Many suppliers online say they offer the best quality and reasonably priced products. The best thing to do is to approach the suppliers that have a good reputation for the supplies and have proven track record of selling good quality products. To do this you can research on the internet, read up forum posts from people who have had direct contact with these suppliers and compare prices from the selected suppliers.

Always look for a guarantee or warranty, as unpredictable situations will arise and it is best to be prepared to take back your products if it is necessary. If you do not have a guarantee for your product, you can always approach your suppliers and discuss a possible exchange or discount on your next purchase order. You want these products to be tried, tested and trusted. Often buying network supplies will mean that you will not know how well they function after a long period, as different supplies have a different functionality.

Some of the network supplies may take up plenty of floor space; if this is an issue then some of the accessories such as the essential server racks and cabinets, are good to save floor space and prevent cables from being stretched across the room. This continues to be a mounting problem for many people; therefore, extra accessories such as cable clips and ties are good to maintain a neat and tidy system. Patch leads are also good for keeping things looking presentable and are also very popular as they are affordable to buy off the internet.

Using the network supplies is good for making sure that you have access to your IT system as and when you need it. Many people find that this is a necessary tool for offices and in their daily working life. You can take a glimpse at how each of these network supplies work, through looking at specific supplier websites and reading up on the various product reviews. This will ensure you make the right choice on the product you want, however, if you really are stuck for what to get, then you should approach someone with more experience or speak to someone directly at the suppliers.

Anna Stenning is an expert on network supplies as she has had to pre order many products for the computer systems at work. For more information visit http://www.comms-express.com/

The saying that all publicity is good publicity is not strictly true. If a celebrity constantly has bad press, this will eventually have a negative effect on their reputation and the way they are perceived by the public. Everybody is allowed to make mistakes and most people understand that any mistake a celebrity makes will be magnified tenfold through the press. This does put a certain responsibility on them to behave in a certain way and many of them do but with the spotlight of the world’s paparazzi constantly on them, impeccable behaviour is bound to slip occasionally. And why shouldn’t they? They are only human after all.

However, when one of us minions slips up and has a drunken brawl in the street no-one takes a great deal of notice and we can still turn up to work the next day and earn the same amount of money - albeit a little sheepishly. It’s a little different for those who people expect to see setting an example and continuous bad press can have disastrous effects on a career.

So, what can they do to counteract it? Given that a vast majority of the population will read the news online, particularly the people that matter, the celebrity’s agents can contact a search engine optimization company and enlist their help for reputation protection. Online reports can be managed in such a way as to stop the bad news showing up first when a Google search is carried out on that particular person.

The mainstream users of search engines will rarely read past the first page and this is why search engine optimisation is such big business - everyone wants to be on page one for their key terms in order to generate the maximum amount of business from their website. So, in order to minimise the ill effects of bad publicity, high profile people will use search engine optimisation for reputation protection.

A thorough understanding of search engines and the way they work is crucial to managing an online reputation effectively. Software is available to try and cover it but each individual will need bespoke handling and software simply doesn’t cover it. Software is useful for tracking the bad publicity but cannot do anything about where it appears in a search engine.

The saying that bad news travels fast is true. So, thanks to all the social networking sites and blogs that are now online, any bad news is quickly replicated and finds its way to the top of the search engine. Search engines love blogs because they are mostly text based and the information is relatively fresh most of the time so will spider them regularly.

A search engine optimisation company worth its money will show tact and discretion in counteracting the bad news with good news. The news will be optimised into a fashion that understands how search engines work and works within these boundaries. It’s never going to be possible to take the bad news out but if you counteract it with enough good news that is search engine friendly then you can at least push the bad news back a page or two. As we have already established, most people only look at the first page of a search engine which means the chances of them seeing the bad news will be limited.

SEO expert Catherine Harvey looks at the way search engine optimisation can protect a reputation. To find out more please visit http://www.highposition.net/

Information Technology, also known as IT, has become a widely-used and all-encompassing term for computer systems that are designed to store, analyze, organize and acquire useful information. When used correctly, IT can be a very useful tool in the business world. The trick is to find IT that makes business simpler rather than more complicated. The following article outlines several criteria you should look for in IT products and the companies that sell those products. If they meet these standards, you will have a much better chance of being satisfied with your investment.

Business Savvy Professionals
Many IT businesses are experts in their field, but completely inexperienced in business. Unless you have the time to earn your own degree in IT you need them to be experts in their field and products, but additional business expertise is helpful because it allows them to evaluate your business needs. Unless they understand what you do, how you do it and why you do it, matching up the best IT solutions with your needs will be a difficult task. With the right business knowledge, an IT company can create a customized IT system to meet your needs.

Simple Technology
Bells and whistles can be cool on a car or a T.V., but IT systems are designed for efficiency; not show. The easier it is to use your system, the easier it will be to train new employees and incorporate the technology into your daily business activity. Keep it simple and you will avoid a lot of headaches.

Excellent Customer Support
Good customer support with IT systems goes beyond installing the system and teaching you how to use it. If your business is going to depend on that technology, you need to be able to depend on the IT company that sold it to you for continual service. With so many complex programs being designed every year, occasional bugs are bound to crop up every once in awhile. If a bug knocks out your IT, you will need repairs and other service as fast as possible to get on track again. Checking outside sources is usually the most reliable way to judge a company’s customer service. These sources can be anything from customer referrals and testimonials to consumer reports on their products.

You might not understand how to build IT systems yourself after reading this article, but at least you have some guidelines to follow as you shop for the right technology.

The Revere Group (http://www.reveregroup.com/services/enterprise-platforms.aspx) specializes in IT solutions. If you are interested in their services, they have several offices across the country and an extensive website. The author, Art Gib, is a freelance writer.

For organizations looking to simplify their IT operations, outsourcing can be a tremendous help. Having one provider, one network, one point of contact, and one level of expected quality can be a tremendous boon to the organization’s productivity and bottom line.

Why Outsource?
Outsourcing allows your organization to focus your existing IT staff on core, strategic initiatives. It also allows you to tap into the select specialized skills of external resources that would not be cost justified for you to build internally. The ability to work with outsourcing partners that have deep technical know-how reduces risks, increases your IT department’s contribution, and greatly improves organizational security and control.

By selecting the right partner, your organization can:

-Ensure IT reliability and continuity.

-Make IT costs predictable.

-Experience significant cost savings by not having to chase the latest technological trends or operate second and third shifts.

-Concentrate scarce resources on mission-critical projects, focus on strategic planning while reducing management burden, and increase customer satisfaction by providing extra services - all can be done when your staff is freed up through outsourcing.

-Leverage the provider’s relationships with other technical product and service providers.

The Questions
The key to receiving the full benefits of outsourcing is singularly dependent on selecting the right service provider. First and foremost, you are looking for a firm that will treat you as a partner and has the flexibility to put a support solution in place that is customized for your organization.

Beyond this critical factor, there are 10 key questions to ask a prospective service provider. They are:

1. Does your firm background check, criminal check, drug screen, IQ test, and technical test all your candidates?

2. Does your firm provide only a proven (have previously worked successfully in another area of the business) people for its full-time on-site positions?

3. Does your firm provide trained backups in instances where the full-time person is unavailable due to illness, emergency, or other?

4. Does your firm provide technical support to your full-time on-site personnel so they don’t spend hours working on a specific problem?

5. Will your firm save me tens of thousands of dollars per year on IT projects by being able to provide only the requisite subject matter expertise to your on-site teams?

6. Does your firm to have the ability to provide 24 X 7 X 365 network monitoring and management as well as after hours response?

7. Does your firm have significant numbers of additional technical personnel that can be brought in for projects, subject matter expertise, or emergency?

8. Does your firm have a vast network of manufacturer and industry contacts that can be leveraged when necessary?

9. Does your firm have the ability to provide product procurement, warranty, and parts logistics services?

10. Does your firm have dedicated Service Delivery managers that oversee your solution, the SLA’s, and your full-time on-site personnel?

If you’re not satisfied with the answers, keep looking. The right partner is out there.

George Louris is the Director of Support Services for Custom Computer Specialists, Inc. (http://www.customonline.com), a Long Island, NY-based technology solutions provider that specializes in reducing IT complexity and the true cost of IT for clients.Reach him at glouris@customonline.com.

Designing a website, though quite simple to some, requires the designers and the planners to combine thoughts of what message you are trying to project. Below are a few rules that I suggest for a good quality web development plan.

1.Navigation
The single most important part of the website where more people falter is the navigation factor. The ease of navigation in your website can set you apart from your competition. The idea is simple, the easier it is for the user to browse through your website, the more pages he or she is going to end up reading and this could result in more profits for you depending upon your business model. The idea is to carefully plan your entire website before you start to actually design it. I do this with a paper and pencil. Thinking through about the various pages and the way they would be interlinked helps a lot to an easy navigational system on your website. Search engines love html(text) navigational systems; as it gives them an easier path to follow on your website.

2.Readability
You must have at some point of time encountered a website that had a, what I call eye-unfriendly color scheme. Some website owners think this will attract visitors where it does the exact opposite. Most of the times you would end up closing the eye unfriendly website without even bothering to see what the content is. So, it is again very important to make designs that don’t hurt the eye. Your website represents who you and your company are. You need to choose the colors carefully keeping in mind that the entire website must have readable text and your message must be clear within each page.

3.Screen Real Estate
The golden rule is the “Content is the King” rule. If you give a good deal of your real estate to your content you are attracting more people. You should plan how you will divide the space amongst your content, advertisement, graphics and navigation menus. Compare your layout from other new websites that have attracted you. An easy layout makes it easier for your web page to be read, don”t bunch up a lot of text in one area as visitors wont even read it. Make your body paragraphs short and to the point. Your message will be read lot more in small sections rather than one big huge text block.

4.Quick Loading Web Pages
How quickly your page loads is a very key parameter for the users to like or dislike your website. We have all clicked off a website when it does not load instantly, the web is to big to wait for some websites to load, I personally think next and press the back button. I am proudly guilty of this action myself. So make sure you have limited flash and smaller images on your website. Huge flash or images will up your load time drastically. So keep it simple!

5.Compatibility
Any discussion on a good website design will not be complete without the mention of the websites compatibilities. A good designer will always test the website in multiple browsers and in multiple resolutions. It is good to plan a layout which is compatible on all the browsers and looks alright on various resolutions and nowadays also the hand held devices. Planners may however also want to consider a target group of audience and then plan the best possible layout for them and have alternatives for the others. Make sure everyone can see your website efficiently!

World class, affordable provider of web development and website design, GlobalWebsiteCreations Alberta, Canada offers their clients cutting edge technology.

Creatively yours, Todd Herman

Senior Vice President
http://www.GlobalWebsiteCreations.com

President
http://www.GlobalWebsiteCreating.com

This is in large part due to the streamlining the buying process. A decade ago, commercial websites were not interactive and consisted of little more than an electronic version of a magazine ad. Such mail order purchasing is a cumbersome process and that is why internet commerce was minimal in the early days. Today, the way in which people can buy online is much easier. That is why they buy in such volumes. Yet, there are still those who employ a website design module that is ten years out of date. So, let’s take a look at the website design methods that are much easier for people to make purchases.

First and foremost, the website designers must make it apparent that the website is a commercial venture. Poor web development, for example, may be loaded with lots of cool graphics and interesting text but the actual items that are for sale are presented in a peripheral manner as opposed to the focus of the site. Needless to say, such website development is very weak and will not facilitate any profits.

Solid website design, however, will clearly identity the products or services that are offered. The description will be clear and properly illustrated. If you are selling boxing gloves, for example, you would need to provide a photo of the gloves; the manufacturer should be identified; the different weights of the various gloves; the different colors the gloves come available in; and, of course, the price of the gloves. In short, the potential customer knows EXACTLY what he is buying. If a person is provided with proper information then the person will be less likely to dismiss the purchase.

Now, here is the absolutely MOST CRITICAL aspect of commercial website design. The website positively must have reliable shopping cart software installed. Without such software the ability to make a purchase is made much more difficult. The first time a customer buys from your site all they will need to do is plug in vital purchasing information such as credit card info, mailing address, etc. This info can then be saved on the cart’s memory so the next time a visitor wants to make a purchase they can do so with one click. Such ease of use makes customers much more likely to buy.

Ultimately, that is the goal of streamlining website design for commercial sites. You want to make it as easy as possible for customers to purchase. When the process is easy then the ability to sell more items becomes much easier.

As a world class provider of web development and website design, GlobalWebsiteCreations of Alberta, Canada offers new cutting edge technology.

Creatively yours, Todd Herman

Senior Vice President
http://www.GlobalWebsiteCreations.com

President
http://www.GlobalWebsiteCreating.com

Let us have a look at the ergonomic key boards, monitors, chairs, pointers, and all other devices comprising your computer workstation for you to stay healthy even though you have to use your computer for prolonged hours. Some examples of this are vertical sitting posture, traction posture, declined sitting posture, and reclined sitting posture.

This article gives you various tips for selection and arrangement of various components of your computer workstation. These include monitors, keyboards, pointer/mouse, wrist/palm supports, document holders, desks, chairs, and even your telephones. We have taken account of different inputs for users who would like to know more about their workstation components to help them carry out their work more professionally, contentedly, and safely.

There are different pointing devices like mouse, touch pads, trackballs, fingertip joysticks, and pucks. We have taken efforts in bringing you information regarding pointer placement, pointer size, shape, and settings that would be of much help to users suffering from shoulder and neck discomforts. We have also discussed how the wrist/palm rests should be used to get full comfort while working for long hours.

For those users working more with printed materials, document holders give them more ease and comfort. Risk factors like awkward postures of the head and neck, fatigue, headaches and eyestrain can be reduced by proper placement of these holders.

This article brings to your notice the kind of desks that you should use for the best comfort and the leg space beneath them. Make sure that when you do buy a desk for your computing needs, you must ensure that the desk is build for computer users. Do not just buy a tea table and try to make it your computer table. It does not work like that. Doing this will only strain your body further. The clearance space under the work surface should have adequate legroom for the user while seated in comfortable postures.

While talking about a safe and productive computer workstation, the picture of a well-designed and appropriated-adjusted chair comes to our mind naturally. Being an inevitable part of a good workstation, chair offers essential support to the back, legs, buttocks, and arms, along with reducing exposures to awkward postures, contact stress, and forceful exertions. Keeping these in mind, we have included a long detailed list of chair ergonomics and its accessories like backrest, seat, armrest and base.

So, take note and be safe while using your computer!

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More than what the name connotes, computers have much to do with our lives today. You get in touch with your friends, make a purchase from a department store, you access your bank account, you make an opinion poll, you listen to your favorite music, you play chess online, you reserve your flight tickets, all with this odd assembly of electronic gadgets.

You often tend to think how clever you have been in manipulating the electrons into doing what you want them to do for you. Do not be too sure. The flip side of technology is that you get so addicted to the convenience of technology that you fail to see what hazards they bring. Do not ignore these hazards as they can be very detrimental to your own health. Always adhere to best practices and regulations.

This deals extensively with various things that can go wrong while someone spends their time on computers. The potential hazards that are hidden in the application of computers and their recommended preventive measures are discussed. In the event of you already suffering with any of the ailment mentioned, there are corrective actions recommended, which will reduce or eradicate them for you. You do not have to spend a single cent for this. Here, you do not lose anything. Besides, you gain much.

Have you felt eyes burning while having to sit for a long time in front of the monitor? Have you felt that unmistakable stiffness in your neck? Does your fingers and wrist ache and sprain when trying to flex them backwards? If you are, then know that you are being used by your computer!

A healthy mind is in a healthy body
This saying is true even for computer users. While working on the computer, your body is at rest and gets typically no physical workouts. But for fingers, your body is in a state of inaction and lethargy. You even forget to blink your eyelids sometimes! This results in the degeneration of muscles that are toned only if they get enough exercise.

Muscles sag, joints get stiff, fat deposits are added and you are susceptible to a number of small and big ailments. This is how computer users tend to go out of shape and gain weight easily. So, do remember to adhere to the advice and tips given above in order to say fit and healthy even after extremely long hours at your computer.

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