CrossLoop Unveils Helper Marketplace

Back in 2006, I informed you about a new piece of software called Crossloop. As you may recall, they specialize in connecting two computers together for remote management. For example, I could easily connect with my brother in Texas if he needed me to assist with installing software on his computer.

But what happens if my bother needs help and I'm too busy helping my sister, my parents, my brother-in-law, and my uncle? Don't laugh, it could happen!

Earlier this week, they added an interesting component to their business model called the "Helper Marketplace". The idea is that you can connect with other "tech savvy" individuals who are experienced and can help you solve a computer problem. So, when my brother runs into an issue, he can search for a "geek" to log onto his computer and assist him.

As a "techie", I have the option to register with them and get paid for assisting others. I might make a little money and you get your computer fixed... it's a win-win for everyone.

From a business perspective, I'm impressed by CrossLoop's innovation in this area. When I first wrote about them they barely had a concept, and as of today they have served 30 million desktop sharing minutes and received some excellent recognition - CNet's Download.com recognized them one of The 10 Best Downloads for 2007, Walt Mossberg of The Wall Street Journal recommended them and InformationWeek recognized them as one of the Top Tech Sites for 2008. That's fantastic for a little start-up with a big idea.

Ask CWS: How do Domain Pointers Work?

Website owners commonly use more than one address to route traffic to a single website. This practice is called domain pointing. Although the concept is relatively simple, there are actually several separate systems involved, so it's helpful to understand what's happening when you set up or change a pointer.

DNS (Domain Name Service)

Anytime you ask your computer to access a website, it has to map the friendly address you typed in (for example, http://www.cws.net/) to an IP address, which works much like a phone number -- it's uniquely tied to the server that will ultimately handle your request. That DNS query is a lot like looking up a person's phone number based on their name in a phone book, but the computer also needs to know where to find the information in the first place.

When you register a domain, you give the registrar (Network Solutions, for example) two or more name servers that will provide this information. Usually these are provided by the same company that hosts your website.

Web Server

Once a name server gives the requesting computer an IP address, it can connect to the server that holds the website. Often a single IP address can be used for many different sites, so the server software acts like a switchboard operator, examining each request and sending it to the right place. When multiple addresses are pointed at a single site, it must be configured to accept traffic for each one.

Setting up or changing a domain pointer requires that, for each address:

1. The registrar has the correct name servers listed.
2. The name servers report the correct IP address.
3. The Web server accepts and correctly handles the incoming traffic.

People set up domain pointers for many reasons -- most commonly to accommodate misspellings or variations on a company name. Sophisticated marketers might use a particular domain exclusively with different advertising channels and monitor the performance of each.

However, there is a danger to watch out for. Search engines like Google may consider each domain as a separate website, and if there are too many with perceived "duplicate" content, they may not rank as well in search results. It's often better to choose one address as the primary, and redirect traffic from the others to it.

Registering alternate domains can be a valuable tool in your Web marketing efforts, but it's important to make sure all the moving parts are covered. Drop us a line at support (at) cws (dot) net if we can help.

Launch: Venture Computer Systems

CWS is pleased to announce the launch of a new website for Venture Computer Systems, southeast Minnesota's premier source for IT solutions and support. Venture has been a trusted partner of CWS and many other regional businesses for a number of years.

Venture decided that it was time to make a better online presentation of their business case: all the reasons it makes sense to rely on a highly qualified staff of experts. The website was also given a more contemporary design and a structure that's easy to maintain.

Venture Computer Systems has an impressively broad range of products to meet your technology needs, so be sure to see what they have to offer. You may be surprised at the variety of high-quality goods and services that are available right here in Rochester!

R.I.P. Floppy: 1971-2007

If you still have your resume safely stored away on a floppy disk, you may want to think about converting it soon. In the very near future, you won't be able to purcahse a floppy disk, let alone a floppy drive.

The time has come to bid farewell to one of the PC's more stalwart friends - the floppy disk. Computing superstore PC World said it will no longer sell the storage devices, affectionately known as floppies, once existing stock runs out.

New storage systems, coupled with a need to store more than the 1.44 megabytes of data held by a standard floppy, have led to its demise.

Only a tiny percentage of PCs currently sold still have floppy disk drives.

"The floppy disk looks increasingly quaint and simply isn't able to compete," said Bryan Magrath, commercial director of PC World.

Iconic status

It is not the first time the death-knell for the floppy has been sounded. The first nail in the coffin came in 1998, when the iMac was revealed without a floppy disk drive.

Then in 2003, Dell banished disk drives from its higher spec machines.

In 1998, an estimated 2 billion floppy disks were sold, according to the Recording Media Industries Association of Japan.

Since then global demand has fallen by around two-thirds to an estimated 700 million by 2006.

Only 2% of PCs and laptops currently sold by PC World still have built-in floppy disk drives and by the summer it will phase even these out.

It is with mixed feelings that the computer store has decided call time on the floppy.

"The sound of a computer's floppy disk drive will be as closely associated with 20th Century computing as the sound of a computer dialling into the internet," said Mr Magrath.

But with computer users increasingly using the internet or USB memory sticks - some of which store 2,000 times the capacity of the floppy disk - to transfer data, it is becoming redundant.

It is a far cry from its halcyon days in the 1980s and 1990s, when floppies provided essential back-up as well as playing a crucial role in transferring data and distributing software.

Shrinking disk

The first floppy disk was introduced in 1971 by IBM and heralded as a revolutionary device.

The brainchild of a group of Californian engineers led by Alan Shugart, it replaced old-fashioned punch-cards.

An eight-inch plastic disk coated with magnetic iron oxide, the nickname "floppy" came from its flexibility.

In 1976 the disk shrank to five-and-a-quarter inches - developed again by Alan Shugart, this time for Wang Laboratories.

By 1981, Sony shrank it some more - this time to three-and-a-half inches - the standard used to this day.

By the early 1990s, the growing complexity of software meant that many programs were distributed on sets of floppies. But the end of the decade saw software distribution swap to CD-ROM.

Vista icon

Alternative backup formats, new storage such as the CD-RW and the arrival of mass internet access, consigned the floppy disk to the dusty corner of peoples' desks and, eventually, the bin.

For those in the industry, there is little to mourn in the loss of floppy disks.

"You can get so much more information on other forms of storage. Technology moves on," said Bryan Glick, editor of Computing.co.uk.

But, he said, its demise, could prove problematic for those who have stored precious data on disk.

"There will be shops where they can get the data transferred but it they still have the original data they would be advised to invest in a portable hard drive or put it online," he said.

Interestingly, software giant Microsoft seems to be keeping the flame alight for the floppy.

Its newly-released operating system Vista still pays homage to it by continuing to use a floppy disk as the icon for saving a document in Microsoft Word 2007.

Source: BBC News

Hey Doc, Don't Kill Me

According to Time Magazine, sloppy handwriting kills over 7,000 people annually. Even worse, 1.5 million people are injured by the mistakes made while quickly scribbling abbreviations and dosage information on prescriptions.

I'm sorry, but this is unacceptable to me.

There have been so many advances in technology that this type of behavior should not be tolerated anymore, in any part of our country. After some quick research, I was able to verify that our very own Mayo Clinic has been using an electronic prescription system which "types out" orders for several years now. I would be interested to know if Olmsted Medical Center has a similar policy.

The article goes on to discuss a new free web-based service which will allow doctors to write electronic prescriptions for free:

The National e-prescribing Patient Safety Initiative (NEPSI) will offer doctors access to eRx Now, a Web-based tool that physicians can use to write prescriptions electronically, check for potentially harmful drug interactions and ensure that pharmacies provide appropriate medications and dosages. "Thousands of people are dying, and we've been talking about this problem for ages," says Glen Tullman, CEO of Allscripts, a Chicago-based health care technology company, that initiated the project. "This is crazy. We have the technology today to prevent these errors, so why aren't we doing it?"

I agree 100%. In the most technologically advanced country in the world, nobody should have to die (or be prescribed Viagra for a migraine) because Dr. Scribbly never learned to write.