USB flash drives can be used for more than just a sneakernet

Do you remember the old days when we used floppies to transfer data from computer to computer? Now we are using USB flash drives for that purpose. Oh but that little memory stick you are carrying can be much more than that old fashioned sneakernet.
(Post from Search Engine Optimizician.)

Sneakernet

Sneakernet is a tongue-in-cheek term used to describe the transfer of electronic information, especially computer files, by physically carrying removable media such as magnetic tape, floppy disks, compact discs, USB flash drives, or external hard drives from one computer to another.

Sneaker refers to the shoes of the person carrying the media. This is usually in lieu of transferring the information over a computer network. This mode of data transport is often used as an academic example to illustrate the trade-off between latency and bandwidth.

Here are 10 things you can do with a USB flash drive you may have not thought of

1. Run portable applications
   You can install portable applications on your USB flash drive.
   OpenOffice can be run as a portable application
2. Boot an operating system
   You can boot both Windows or Linux from a USB flash drive
3. Connect to a wireless network
   Using the Wireless Network Setup Wizard in Windows XP to save wireless network configuration information to a USB flash drive. Then you can use your drive to easily connect another computer or a WCN-compatible device, such as a router or printer, to your wireless network.
4. Create a password reset disk
   You can use a password reset disk to reset your password and quickly get back into your user account. In Windows Vista, you can use USB flash drive rather than a floppy disk as a password reset disk.
5. Boost performance
   Windows Vista will allow you to use a USB flash drive to speed up your system with the ReadyBoost technology.
6. Manage it
   Windows XP will actually allow you to manage the use of your USB flash drive with the USB Flash Drive Manager.
7. Use it as an MP3 player
   Just copy your MP3 files to your USB flash drive, plug it into your computer. Well it’s not really a player but a place for your playlists to reside.
8. Password-protect it
   With the Rohos Mini Drive you can safeguard data on your USB flash drive.
9. Run a Web site from it
   With Server2Go, you can easily run a Web server that supports Apache, PHP, MySQL, and Perl right from a USB flash drive.
10. Lock your PC
    Predator (a freeware utility) will allow you to turn a USB flash drive into a key you can use to lock and unlock your computer.

This post was inspired by “10 cool things you can do with a USB flash drive“ by Greg Shultz.

Late,
Gary Pool

Boot Your Windows or Linux computer from a USB Flash Drive is a post stolen from the Search Engine Optimizician

History, Current State & Future of the Corporate Internet Strategist Role – Gregory Miller

Gregory Miller
Managing Director
Network Tool & Die Company

(Post from Search Engine Optimizician.)

Brief Internet History

• 1968 – DARPA
• 1970 – First 5 nodes
• 1974 – TCP specification by Vint Cerf
• 1984 – On January 1, the internet with its 1000 hosts converted en masse to the TCIP protocol

The internet is a network of networks

The United States is not the biggest user of the internet.

October 31st the internet may be blown apart world wide into segments.

Caida.org has gorgeous mapping of the internet.

Heavy Traffic

• annual global IP traffic will exceed two-thirds of a zettabyte in 4 years
• global IP traffic will quintuple from 2008 to 2013
• in 2013 the internet will be nearly 4x larger in 2009 that = ~10 billion DVDs crossing the internet every 30 days
• globally mobile data traffic will double every year through 2013 increasing 66x between 2008 & 2013
• an “exaflood” is coming
• what is an exabyte? a tower of big books that is 200 million miles high
• in the US by 2015 – 1 Zettabyte

exabyte unit
2^60 = 1,152,921,504,606,846,976 bytes = 1024 petabytes or roughly 10^18 bytes.

zettabyte unit
2^70 = 1,180,591,620,717,411,303,424 bytes = 1024 exabytes.

The “Internet Strategist”

The Role

An expert i designing, developing. and directing long range plans to leverage the Internet as a principal instrument of business continuity

Examining all aspects and impacts… from the Board Room to the Mail Room

• digital commerce is only one perspective
• the view extends far beyond web site management
• the “iStrategist” must have a 360 degree view

Reporting…

• generally into executive management
• 40% report into the CIO or CTO
• 34.8% do not report into the executive management arena

On the internet we are building the Sears skyscraper equivalent with very little if any engineering.

Domain Expertise

• technology, operations, law & policy
• need not be expert in every area essential core competencies required
• generally more technically oriented
• business development & strategic planning capacity
• evangelist & innovator; clearly a thought leader

“Technology”

• inter-networking, architecture, protocols, & services
• emerging technologies
• skynet

“Operations”

• marketing sales & service/support
• logistics, manufacturing, & supply chain

“Law & Policy”

• security, privacy, digital commerce regulation
• internet governance

A lawyer is simply a “tool”.

Source of Internet Strategists

3 Areas

• network & systems or web admin
• digital of database marketing eCommerce CRM
• business development & strategic planning

Emergence of the Pure “iStrategist”

• past 3 years a new breed has appeared strategic planning or business development

generally 4+ years experience in technology

• truly tripartite background from training & experience (i.e. engineer with an MBA/JD)

Internet Strategy Examples

• Automotive: Warranty cost containment – BMW
• Healthcare: Pain management Meds compliance – ReliefInsite
• Active Lifestyle: Reflex (see also: Nike) Autonomic Physical training – Reflex

The Product wants to become a website!
Greg once again gives us a TDF reference. (Astana jumping to bring back Cadel Evans in unison.)
What do you do to build a sustainable relationship with your customers / clients?
How can your web site help?

What is Required of a True Strategist?

Competency in Inter-networking & Internet

• architecture, protocols, services
• evolution and development & processes thereof
• security & privacy
• internet governance

Competency in Digital Commerce

• digital marketing
• trans. management (order, process, settlement, fulfillment)
• customer intelligence

Competency in Digital Supply Chain

Partner & Vendor services

• logistics (e.g., EDI… )
• manufacturing

Operations

• Communications (e.g., VoIP, SMS, Mail, etc.)
• Customer service & support

The Internet is working at a holistic level for the company.

TLD discussion

You’d give up court resolution
Non-profits get the nod in all matters
Digital Strategists discovered the flaws

Watch out for ICON!

Late,
Gary Pool

Build a Sustainable Relationship with Your Customers and/or Clients is a post stolen from the Search Engine Optimizician

Day One Portland to San Diego, Portland to Crescent City with a stop at the Dutch Bros Mother Ship.

As we were getting ready to go last week our biggest worry was the weather, it had been showing on the route we were going to take.

Today was fantastic the Lord gave us such fantastic weather to travel. We couldn’t even have dreamed up any better weather than we had today.

Add California to your page

As you can see from the video I need work on my camera skills. You will see my skills advance as I actually learn the intricacies of this new camera.

We pulled into Crescent City California just before dusk. We are staying at a Best Western in a nice room with high speed wireless.

Tomorrow we will continue south on Hwy 101 and spend some time in the redwoods.

late,
gary pool

Portland to Crescent City | Dutch Bros Mother Ship is a post stolen from the Search Engine Optimizician

Turning Lamp – won in the “futuristic” category, starts up with a simple pull of a cord as if one were turning on a lamp. Each time you pull, the box changes into a different mode, from Pee Cee to music player to video player.

It still looks an awful lot like the Mac Mini to me!

PHOTOS: Pee Cees THAT BARELY RESEMBLE A Pee Cee

If you thought the iMac only vaguely resembled a legitimate personal computer, wait until you get a load of the winners of the PC Design Contest 2007. From the obscure input devices of the Egg PC to the pull cord-activated Turing Lamp to the Tron-inspired B-Membrain, these radical revisions to collective CPU and peripheral device designs are equal parts science fiction and fashion accessory, only without all the Steve Jobs-style marketing hype. Just call them the anti-iMacs.

Results are in for the PC Design Contest 2007, co-sponsored by Intel Korea and Samsung.
The designs that won were announced last week. Six designs won out of 644 entries.

late,
Gary

Pee Cees that look like Macs – at least not like Pee Cees! is a post stolen from the Search Engine Optimizician