Instant messaging or IM has been around almost around almost as long as people have been using computers linked across networks. But what we are going to talk about more specifically in this article is the modern incantation of Instant Messaging, which really started to ramp up in the 1990’s with Mirabilis’s ICQ application. It was really at that time that people started to embrace the chat phenomenon over the Internet, outside of the realm of more public chats like IRC (Internet Relay Chat).

Today every major company has their own instant messenger application and many businesses have started implementing them as a tool to facilitate communications inside their business and to provide support to their clients.

Examples of Common Instant Messengers

• MSN Messenger – Microsoft
• GTalk – Google Talk
• AIM – AOL Instant Messenger
• Yahoo Messenger
• Skype
• ICQ
• Facebook Chat – Facebook (web based)

Common Features

Most programs contain the same standard features which often include:

• Instant Messaging between two or more people
• File Transfer between two users
• Voice Chat
• Video Chat
• Ability to leave messages if other user is offline

One Difficulty with Instant Messengers

One problem I regularly face is that all your friends and family will use different programs as their Instant Messenger client. Generally speaking the programs are not compatible with each other and if you want to talk to someone who uses a different client you need to install it also.

This isn’t too much of an issue if you implement a company wide standard, but for personal use it can be a tad frustrating. The best work around I have come up with is using a third party application that can link all your instant messaging programs together. Personally I use Pidgin. Yes you still need to have accounts with each service, but at least you can communicate from within one program instead of half a dozen.

Mobility – Smart Phones and Tablets

It seems the wave of the future is not in standard desktop applications and computers, but in easy mobile integration. Instant Messaging has for the most part fully integrated in to the Smart Phone and Tablet world. IM+ is a great example of tool that brings all your instant messenger clients in to one program that easily runs on your mobile devices.

In the past few years a phenomenon has hit the Internet and it’s called “Social Networking,” but for many people it is a pretty generic term that needs a little bit of explaining.  This article is a very quick introduction to the term which cites a few website examples which have become todays “Social Media” Giants.

A social network is probably best described as a group of individuals who are linked together by some common interest.  Social networking websites cater to these people by providing them with a medium to interact with each other easily and effeciently.

Without a doubt the largest and most widley used Social Network is Facebook.  Facebook took the idea of allowing you to link to all your friends, family, and coworkers on a platform that allowed you to easily communicate with them and see what they are doing.

Since the emergence of Facebook there has been numerous with community based websites which have allowed groups to interact.  Notably Twitter and Facebook are the most wide spread, however websites like MySpace and Linkedin (Business Networking) are also very popular.  Other countries have their own networks like StudiVZ in Germany or Hyves in The Netherlands but regardless of where you use it, social networks seem to be on the up swing.

Social Networking and Social Media websites are now apart of your culture.  I’m pretty sure it’s not going anywhere, considering even my Dear Mother… Has a Facebook account.

Twitter is a free social networking website that uses short messages called “tweets” for people to communicate back and forth in a public and open forum.  These short messages or “tweets” are text messages of up to 140 characters, which includes spaces and punctuation.  Generally messages are publicly available to anyone to read, but can be sent privately between members.

What is “Following” on Twitter?

Following in the twitter world means that you are subscribed to another users message stream.  So if you were to go to the KDTS Twitter Feed, you can openly read the messages I have sent out, but you aren’t subscribed to my messages.  When you follow someone it means their messages will automatically be sent in to your message stream.

How can I send and receive tweets?

There is a multitude of ways to interact with the twitter service the most popular ones are:

• Twitter.com Website
• A Program on your Smart Phone (Internet enabled Phone)
• Text Messages (SMS) on your Mobile Phone
• Other Services Like HootSuite.com (My Favourite)

How much does Twitter cost?

Twitter is a Free service, however it’s important to be aware that using twitter on your Phone might cost additional data usage fees or text message fees.  It’s a good idea to talk to your mobile phone provider and ensure you have a data or text message plan before you start.

How do you keep track of all the messages?

When I first started using Twitter I felt a little bit overwhelmed, I started to follow all my friends, my favourite companies, TV and movie starts, but I quickly became unable to read and process all the information that constantly flowed down my screen.

I think most people feel the same way and it’s important from the start to implement “Lists” which allow you to separate those people you follow into groups.  If you create one group for Friends and Family, another for your favourite businesses, and another for Hollywood Gossip, you should be able to reasonably manage the information streaming your way.  You won’t miss “important” tweets from your family, and you won’t be constantly inundated with every all at once.

Sometimes it’s nice to just sit and watch the messages fly-by, and join in the conversation when something peaks your interest, but not sorting it will probably leave you unhappy and disillusioned about the usefulness of Twitter.

Should I Twitter for my Business?

Twitter is an interesting tool and some people swear that it’s great for marketing, others don’t.  In my opinion, it’s a great way to interact with your customers and by posting relevant and useful information, can be an excellent way to gain readership and loyalty — hopefully which convert in to sales or leads.

I think it’s also a great way to give consumers insight in to your business and staff, it makes people understand the personal element to your company and express your corporate culture for the world to see.

It’s important to also understand the demographics of who uses twitter.  In 2009 a study by Quancast said 27 Million people in the US used Twitter.  63% of those were less than 35 years old and 60% of those users were Caucasian.  Another study by Sysomos in 2009 stated 53% of twitter users were female and that 5% of accounts accounted for 75% of all activity.

If you do decide to join the world of Twitter, I think it’s important to ensure that you are posting regularly 2-3 times a day.  Make sure you create interesting tweets, and engage your customers.  For people in the restaurant industry I think it could be extremely valuable, but it’s just another tool in the toolbox.  Give it a try and see if it works for you.

How to get a Website Online: an Introduction

If you are a small business or organization and are looking to create your first web presence, there is a lot of things you need to know and understand.  This article will attempt to give you a very basic introduction to help you understand the general concepts of getting your website from the idea stage, to actually on the web.

The General Concept

1. Website Idea
2. Register Domain
3. Purchase Web Hosting
4. Develop Website
5. Upload to Web Host
6. Sweet, You’re Online, now what?

Step 1:  Website Idea and Name

The first step when developing a website is of course, coming up with an idea or concept.  What will your website be about, what will you call it, what function will it serve?  It’s important to have a good idea about the nature of your site before you proceed, because it will help plot the course of it’s development.  The more clear picture you have, the better.

Step 2: Register a Domain

A domain is your home on the Internet, it is the website’s name followed by .com .ca .org etc.  In our case our domain is “kdts.ca”  It’s important to try and have a catchy and unique name, because when you go to register it, you will be required to do a search to ensure that it isn’t already owned and in use.

There is also a lot of TLD’s (Top Level Domains) out there and selecting the one that is correct for you is very important.  TLD’s are the .com .ca .org .edu .gov part of your name.  Many people like to have a top level domain that indicates where they are located, for instance we are KDTS.CA — implying that we are based in Canada.

When you register a domain you do so for a set period of time, normally between 1 and 10 years.  People most commonly register a new site for 3-5 years on their first go.

To register a domain you must go through a company called a “Domain Registrar”, this is a company who registers your domain on your behalf and then gives you access to administer some functions of the domain.  Probably the most common registrar to date is GoDaddy.com.  I would caution you to be careful during your checkout process, they like to imply there is many things you need to purchase, extra things to buy, but generally speaking you don’t need them.  It’s also important to understand that it is not necessary to do your web hosting with the same person you register your domain.

Step 3: Purchase Web Hosting

Web Hosting is the actual storage space on the Internet that you pay to put your website on.  It’s like buying a physical store location.  There are a few considerations when you purchase Web Hosting, but here are a few on the main concerns:

• How much does it cost?
• Is the company reliable?
• Where is the Server Located?
• How much storage Space (How Many MB or GB) do you get?
• How much bandwidth (Network Speed) do you get?
• How much data transfer (GB/Month) do you get?
• How many Databases do you get?
• Does it include Email Hosting? (How many addresses etc?)
• How easy is it to use?  Does it support WordPress or Other applications you require?

Web hosting varies immensely and so does the quality of hosts out there.  There is a lot of budget hosting providers out there and it’s important to be careful of who you go with.  Lots of the cheap providers put so many websites on one single server that your website loads extremely slowly and this dramatically affects your users experience.

Generally speaking if you have 500MB of storage space and 10GB of Monthly traffic you probably won’t come within your limit, most hosts provide at least two free databases.  Email service through your web host is an option, I personally feel there are better solutions, such as Google Apps — but I will discuss that in a different article.

Step 4: Develop Website

Developing a website can be a liberating and wonderful experience, it can also be like running in to a wall over and over until your nose is flat all you want to do is drink yourself to sleep.  Which is why finding a developer who understands you is so important.  The unfortunate part of web development is how incredibly difficult it is to make the ideas and visions in your head, expressed in a way that your developer can make a site which will make you happy.

When you are coming up with your website layout and concept, try to draw out pictures, ideas and things that will help you explain your vision to the developer.  A good developer will probably have some sort of check-list or questionnaire to assist you in this process.

Normally when you get a website developed, you are required to provide the writing and text on the website – sometimes you may wish to outsource that to a content writer, but this is not normally included in the price of your website, make sure you discuss it before hand with your developer.

If you want specialized photographs and graphics, it’s also your responsibility to provide those graphics, unless your developer has included it as part of the website package.  A website developer is not responsible for making your company logo, but often can help give valuable input on it, and Stock Photography which can be used to build your website.

Finding a developer can be difficult, there are so many individuals out there who are self-professed web designers, but have little real world experience.  Often they charge really low rates (200-350$) to produce a website, but the quality of their work is often lacking – it’s also important to be aware of scammers who want your money to get started, then don’t finish the project.  Try to find someone in your physical area, so you can have a face to face meeting to see if it’s someone you want to do business with.

If you are looking to get a professional looking website that has 10 or so pages, you should be looking to spend about $750-$1500 depending on the complexity and quality of the website.  You will often hear people state lower pricing, but it’s my experience that the quality of work is somewhat proportional to cost of the site.  If you are looking to develop a full eCommerce Solution with a large store and database, you should expect to pay between 2-10K depending on the scope of the job.

My final piece of advise is to make sure your website is build on an open source frame work like WordPress.  If your developer wants to make some proprietary custom made solution, then you are going to be dealing with that person for the rest of your life.  If you get a site on a common development platform, it gives you the freedom to move to another developer who should be able to “take over” your website without too much problem.  Additionally, if the platform is well designed, you can save yourself money by doing very basic website modifications yourself, instead of calling your designer for every little change!

Step 5: Upload to Web Host

After your website has been created by your developer, it’s time to go live.  Your developer will upload it to your web host and suddenly your new website will be magically online and ready to be viewed by the world!

Step 6: Sweet, You’re Online — Now what?

Congratulations you are online and rolling… waiting for the money to roll in and the phone to ring off the hook!  But wait, nothings happening. #@$#!

Just because you put a website online doesn’t mean anyone is going to view it.  In fact it takes time for people to find your website.  You need to market your website, get the word out, get listed in Search engines and so many other tasks.

Welcome to the world of Search Engine Optimization or SEO — The process of making your website perform better than all the others…

Here are a few Quick Tips:

• Submit your Website to DMOZ
• Submit your Website to Google
• Write interesting content that people will be interested in reading
• Advertise on Google AdWords or a Similar Service
• Learn About SEO and How to Improve Your Site Rankings

One of the most important things you can do to protect your information is to make reliable backups of your computers information.  For all my home-based customers, friends and family, I always recommend Acronis True Image Home for the simple reason that it just works well.

What makes Acronis True Image Home the Best?

Most programs that backup your information, do just that, backup only your information.  But Acronis is special because it actually takes a snapshot of your entire computer as an image which can later be restored, either on whole, or just specific files from within.

What do you mean by an “image”?

When people say the term “backup” what they really mean is “make a copy”, most programs backup individual files and folders, like your photos or documents.  But Acronis backs up your whole computer, it freezes your computer for a moment in time like a photograph, and you can restore your whole computer back to that exact moment in time in the event of an emergency.  The great thing about it is when your computer has issues, viruses, etc, as long as you had an “image” or “backup” from before the problems started, then you can easily rebuild your computer back to a working state.  If your computer has hardware problems, you can restore only the specific files you require to a new computer!

Who is this program for?

The ideal candidate for Acronis True Image is a person with a single computer, either business or residential.  It’s not meant for a business network environment, it’s designed to backup a single computer.

How do I implement this program?

When you are doing computer backups it’s important to remember a couple of things.  Chiefly, that you do not want to backup your information on to the same computer that you are backing up.  The problem of course that if the computer fails, you have lost your backup too.

I recommend purchasing a 500 GB or 1 TB USB Drive (They are about $60-120) so you will have somewhere to save your backups.  It’s also a great idea to put your backup in a FireSafe when you aren’t using it, and just do your backup weekly.  Then in the event of Fire, Flood or Theft, there is a good chance you will not have lost any information.

Where can I purchase this software?

I haven’t seen Acronis software in a Retail outlet before, but you can purcahse their software online from the Acronis Website: Acronis True Image Home, USB Drives, as I mentioned above can be sourced affordably from most computer retailers and are often on sale.

One problem that is often had by business people that do lots of meetings or have an excessively dynamic work environment is the inability to keep an up to date backup of their information.  The problem is due to the fact they are working all over the place, off of USB drive or different Internet Terminals.  But there is an application which can efficiently help you organize your information and maintain a backup.

This is a free software application made by Microsoft called SyncToy, and at the time of this article, the latest software version available is v2.1.

How Does SyncToy Work

The best way to use this application in my opinion, is to install it on your primary office or home computer.  When you install the program and launch it for the first time it will as you to create a new “folder pair” these “pairings” are basically an exact duplicate copy of the original folder.  The key is to have one copy of your information on your primary computer, then have additional “pairs” (copies of your information) at different locations.

I use SyncToy to keep my NAS (Network Attached Storage) and USB Drive up to date with my primary working data.  The great thing is that if you edit a file in one of the cloned pairs, the next time it sync’s it will update your main files at the central location.

Why do I like SyncToy?

SyncToy is a very simple application to use.  Once it is setup, it is a one-click-sync tool and most of all, it’s free.

Is SyncToy The Best Backup Solution?

SyncToy is a great tool for backing up files, but it isn’t a tool that backs up your entire computer system.  SyncToy in my opinion is the best solution for creating an updated copy of your data on a USB Drive.  For my true data backup, I prefer to use a DropBox Solution or a Desktop Software like Acronis True Image Home.

What is Skype?

At it’s core, Skype is a chat and phone software application. It allows users to use their computers to make calls, both voice and video, over the Internet, from computer to computer or from computer to telephone.

What type of things can Skype do?

• Calling:  Computer to Computer (With or without video)
• Calling:  Computer to Telephone
• Chatting:  Computer to Computer Messaging (Non-Voice)
• Text Messaging:  Computer to Mobile Phone
• Transfer Files:  Computer to Computer
• Features:  Voicemail:  When someone calls you on Skype
• Features:  Call Forwarding:  Computer to Telephone

Why would I use Skype over my Telephone?

The biggest reason for making calls with Skype is to save money.  If you are calling from computer to computer, the call is entirely free.  If you are calling from computer to a telephone, the rates are often much lower than your local telephone company could provide.  Skype offers a variety of different calling plans or a simple pre-paid account.

What do I need to run Skype?

• Internet Connection of Decent Quality and Speed
• Computer or Laptop or Skype Enabled Devices

Is there any problems with Skype?

Skype has been running for a number of years now and is generally considered to be a reliable company.  Call quality can sometimes be an issue if you have a slow computer or your internet connection is slow.

What do I need to get started with Skype?

Assuming that you already have a computer and Internet connection, you need to download and install the Skype Software.  This software is pretty straight forward to install and will prompt you to create an account once it is installed correctly.  The only part to the puzzle which many people don’t have, is a headset and microphone.  You can do Skype through your speakers, but you might find considerable echo, I strongly recommend getting a decent set of head phones that have the microphone built in.

Alternatively, there are companies out there who make stand alone devices that run Skype.  My personal favourite is the Belkin Skype Deskphone.  The nice thing about this is it removes the computer from the whole process.  You simply plug your Belkin Deskphone in to the computer network, login to your account, and then dial your numbers — just like a normal telephone.

How I use Skype

I personally don’t often use Skype on the computer itself.  I like my Belkin Skype Deskphone for making my out-going calls.  For incoming calls I call forward incoming phone calls to my mobile phone.  The great thing about doing this is my friends can call my “computer” but it gets redirected directly to my telephone.  In order for this to work, you do either need a Skype credit (money in your account) or an unlimited calling plan.  It makes it easy for friends to call me free over the computer, but the freedom for me to take calls on my mobile phone wherever I am.

I also use Skype while I’m traveling or when I am somewhere without a telephone.  I’ve had a couple of times where I was working in basements with poor cell reception but Skype worked fine because I had a network connection.  Hotels often charge ridiculous rates for outbound calling and Skype is an easy way to make calls home or keep in touch without spending a fortune.

Reading the news this morning I was pleased to see a news release from the Ministry of Citizens’ Services regarding “Protecting Privacy and Environment, One Gizmo at a time.”

The press release talks about the electronic recycling programs offered in British Columbia, such as the Encorp Return-it Electronics Centres. I certainly support recycling computer hardware, but the thing I really like about this press release is that it points out the necessity to destroy information off your electronic devices before they are sent out for disposal.

VICTORIA – Over the holidays, many people get new electronic gear. But did you know the B.C. Government can help you get rid of your old gadgets, while keeping your private information safe at the same time?

“A challenge people face when disposing of old computers or smart phones is they don’t know how to safely erase the data stored on these devices,” said Mary McNeil, Minister of Citizens’ Services. “Through our electronics recycling drop-off points and a specialized shredder, we can help you do both.”

In 2007, Asset Investment Recovery partnered with Encorp Pacific to be a Return-It Electronics drop-off location. Since then, the three locations have kept more than 1.5 million kilograms of electronics out of the landfill.

The two warehouses in Surrey and Victoria recycle items such as computers, monitors, laptops, printers, fax machines, stereo equipment and televisions at no cost to the public. “The Shredder breaks sensitive electronic equipment down into fine pieces that are almost entirely recyclable, which protects the environment while protecting your privacy,” said Environment Minister Murray Coell. “Since the Shredder was introduced in 2007, we have kept more than 80,000 kilograms of computer drives, cellphones and other hand-held devices out of the landfill.”

The Shredder is a large machine that chews up data devices such as hard drives, cellphones and CD ROMs and spits them out in pieces about the size of a coin. Through these two programs, each device brought into the warehouse is 100 per cent recycled, from plastics to metals to batteries. All personal information is safely disposed of and the pieces are fully recycled.

Our Commitment to the Environment

In 2010 KDTS enacted its own environmental sustainability policy and we have made it one of our core policies to help our customer both run their networks in an efficiently, but also help them to dispose of their electronic waste in an eco-friendly manner.

Return-it Centres Shredding Rates:

• Hard Drives: $2.50/ea
• Handheld Devices: $1.50/ea (mobile phones, Palm Pilots, MP3 Players etc)
• Flexible media: $0.75/KG (2.2lbs) (CD ROM, DVD, Floppy Disk, Tape Data, Flash Drives)

We hope that Santa was good to you all over Christmas and you are all ramped up for some New Years celebrations!

Over the Holiday’s we have been updating our website and adding lots of great new features and graphics.  Additionally, we’ve setup our Facebook Page and have really started to ramp up our newsletter.

We’re wishing all of our wonderful clients the happiest of new years this 2011 and wish them all the propersous and successful years!

Happy Holidays everyone and Happy New Year!

-The KDTS Team

It’s happened, the Google Chrome Webstore is officially open and you can now purchase and download both free and paid applications. Amusingly, it looks suspiciously like the iTunes store I so regularly frequent – I wonder if there will be an Angry Birds Chrome Edition!

But it all honesty Chrome is a fabulous web browser and has been making leaps and bounds in market share in the last year. Recently they released Version 8 of the browser to facilitate the impending opening of the webstore and I’m keen to look through all the browser extensions and tools available – which in my opinion has been its biggest downfall to date, the lack of plugins and tools.

Funny how they opened it just before Christmas, but I don’t think it’s really the gifting type site. We’ll see if they start to add “send as gift” with a little Christmas bow on it in the coming weeks!