IT Roadblog

tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26567463685305288202011-12-30T21:10:46.077+02:00IT RoadblogBy Patrick GibsonPatrick Gibsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04192698119597581020noreply@blogger.comBlogger141100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2656746368530528820.post-75112917418051981522008-11-04T00:03:00.006+02:002008-11-04T21:14:47.131+02:00Bush/Cheney - Regime change imminent

Let's take a deep breathe and hope the polls are right and that come tomorrow, Barack Obama and the Democrats have swept the Republicans (along with Bush/Cheney Regime) out of power.After the fiasco and incompetence of the last 8 years, the world deserves so much better. How a so called “sophisticated” nation such as the USA could have voted for this regime twice, beggars belief.My only

Patrick Gibsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04192698119597581020noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2656746368530528820.post-10539320674678720502008-09-18T16:50:00.033+02:002008-11-03T13:10:16.982+02:00Opinion from the trenches - Or what does it take to be an entrepreneur, successful or otherwise?

After starting and running Precision Networks for the last 3 years, I often find myself reflecting on what it takes to be an entrepreneur (successful or otherwise). And how my experiences over the last 3 years have changed my outlook, compared to when I first started out. Here are my ramblings for what they’re worth….What is an entrepreneur?In my opinion, entrepreneurs come across as 3 types:The

Patrick Gibsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04192698119597581020noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2656746368530528820.post-10608818006477685792008-05-01T10:48:00.009+02:002008-05-01T14:56:45.975+02:00Telkom, You're Fired!

I know that it is often fashionable to criticize Telkom, but my recent experience dealing with them, beggars belief.Our company offices are moving location and I needed to cancel the phone connection at the old office and get a new line installed at the new offices. Having been through this process before, I knew that one needs to send a signed fax to Telkom requesting this change, which I did.

Patrick Gibsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04192698119597581020noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2656746368530528820.post-42663511129353846022007-07-18T03:27:00.000+02:002007-07-18T19:02:10.282+02:00From Rolls Royce to Trabant. What to do when your laptop/desktop goes slow?

So you made an investment a few years ago on a decent laptop/desktop and were in seventh heaven as your machine purred beneath your fingertips and mouse clicks. But that was then and this is now, and your former "pride n joy" is operating at the speed of a Trabant and you’re not sure why?The reality is that just like cars, PCs/laptops need servicing from time to time. Despite starting of

Patrick Gibsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04192698119597581020noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2656746368530528820.post-1252055588362165172007-07-18T01:55:00.000+02:002007-07-18T13:56:34.524+02:00Where was Eskom during the Live Earth concert?

With all the power capacity problems that we have and are experiencing with Eskom, I was amazed that they did not take any advantage of the "Life Earth" concert message. Why not or did I miss it :)?Surly this was a great opportunity to “ride on the back” of this concert and spread the message to South African power consumers to be more conservative and aware with their power usages.Seems like a

Patrick Gibsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04192698119597581020noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2656746368530528820.post-4658726521672945212007-06-19T11:22:00.000+02:002007-06-19T11:48:00.992+02:00We have about 50 years and then we’re fcuked…

…unless we start doing something about the environment now! This is the harsh message according to Al Gore’s movie called “An Inconvenient Truth”. A must see for all of us in my opinion!What is most scary about this movie is that it makes one realize that the world is going to be a very unfriendly place to live in if we don’t stop the current rate of environmental destruction.But despite

Patrick Gibsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04192698119597581020noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2656746368530528820.post-47292289256678926692007-05-31T03:14:00.000+02:002007-05-31T15:23:08.945+02:00Web 2.0. Fantastic video explanation!

I think the following video on YouTube offers a fantastic visual explanation for Web 2.0.See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLlGopyXT_gHas to be watched using a decent internet connection at the right time of the day otherwise the video is stilted, which diminishes the powerful explanation.

Patrick Gibsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04192698119597581020noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2656746368530528820.post-1464167982149892402007-05-15T10:16:00.000+02:002007-05-16T13:47:16.357+02:00To Vista or not to Vista, what is a company to do?

Don’t do it! At least not yet, unless you are a company that loves experimenting with new technology or because Vista has some or other feature that you need and which is not available in another “reasonably stable” operating system such as Windows XP.Of course, despite its short life, there are those out there who love Vista and those who hate it. My stance is neither, more a neutral “wait and

Patrick Gibsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04192698119597581020noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2656746368530528820.post-67412555902640362042007-05-09T00:32:00.000+02:002007-05-10T20:50:56.659+02:00What is IT?

Despite Precision Networks being a networking and IT company, I hate the term “IT”!For me IT is a nondescript term used for anyone who works with technology of any kind. From the “pimply faced youths” who can just about start up a PC, to extremely skilled software/hardware professionals, all are lumped together as working “in IT”. In fact there is no reason why such diverse technological skills

Patrick Gibsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04192698119597581020noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2656746368530528820.post-73601266013714763552007-04-25T02:20:00.000+02:002007-05-14T15:01:32.996+02:00Fighting the Spam plague

One of the downsides of using email is being bombarded by spam. Personally I don’t mind receiving the occasional unsolicited email from company XYZ advertising products ABC, but when one is forced to wade through variants of the same email advertising the same dodgy stock, questionable pharmaceuticals, lottery scams etc, then it becomes extremely annoying, especially when these emails are

Patrick Gibsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04192698119597581020noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2656746368530528820.post-83464925194133880472007-04-17T04:18:00.000+02:002007-04-29T20:34:19.824+02:00Speeding up your Internet surfing

So you've finally had enough of battling with that dodgy old dial-up connection and are now contemplating going broadband. Or your current broadband connection is not meeting your needs and/or is too expensive and it's time for a change.The choice you need to make is between Iburst, HSDPA (Vodacom and MTN) or ADSL from Telkom, which can be quite a daunting decision for the technically

Patrick Gibsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04192698119597581020noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2656746368530528820.post-62366980729992736392007-04-14T11:51:00.001+02:002008-11-11T08:30:59.967+02:00Roads, Cars, People. What have these got to do with your company's IT?

An analogy we like to use to illustrate the importance of companies having the right IT, is to compare the roads, cars and people on a country’s transport network to an organisation's IT.The roads represent the network infrastructure. The cars represent the applications that all the staff use. Finally the people represent the users of a company’s computer systems. But just like a country needs

Patrick Gibsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04192698119597581020noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2656746368530528820.post-27292999351616342002007-04-14T03:20:00.000+02:002007-04-17T15:30:12.290+02:00SNO near yet so far?

Neotel, the much anticipated SNO (Second National Operator to Telkom), promises to "introduce a variety of voice and data services (including high speed internet and broadband) for consumers in South Africa, with the first of these services targeted for availability on a trial basis around mid 2007".Forgive my skepticism but since my return to South Africa in early 2004, the launch of the SNO has

Patrick Gibsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04192698119597581020noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2656746368530528820.post-2931815078652179742007-04-08T08:28:00.000+02:002007-07-17T20:02:08.822+02:00How to choose the right laptop?

I am often asked how one goes about choosing the right laptop. Obviously because of the technological understanding required as well as the plethora of brands out there, it can be very confusing and daunting.So here is some brief advice on how to go about it:Firstly decide what you are going to use the laptop for. For example, if it is just to be used for internet, email access and documents then

Patrick Gibsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04192698119597581020noreply@blogger.com0