Bring Your Own Device *

With all the recent additions in technology gadgets, one more abbreviation has come up – BYOD – which stands for “bring your own device”. It simply refers to the use of personal mobile communication tools at work.

As we have seen recently with the popularization of smartphones and tablets, our technology behavior is changing: People are carrying their portable devices everywhere. As a result, an issue of multiple and/or overlapping devices has arisen at large companies, which often provide their employees with their own technology. Therefore, users must now become accustomed to a mix of devices in order to accomplish their duties.

Some people complain that it would be better if they could choose what kind of device they work with in the office. It can be confusing and time-consuming, for example, to remember the set-up for two different operating systems. Wouldn’t it be better for us to choose which operating system we are more comfortable and familiar with? In this way, professionals would have greater freedom and flexibility to use the hardware and software that best meets their day-to-day needs.

Luckily, some companies are recognizing the value of giving their employees more technology freedom. It is getting more and more common for people to bring their own laptop, Mac or PC, to work. Individuals are using operating systems such as Windows, Linux or Mac OSX on laptops, netbooks, and tablets depending on their personal preference, and all of these are mixing together in the corporate environment.

Unfortunately, despite some companies’ efforts to permit greater technology freedom among their employees, it is not always simple. For example, with a mixing of operating systems and devices, how does the company manage technical support, or ensure security for the information stored on those devices? With this new BYOD trend becoming more common, there is no way to avoid many questions and challenges. It’s time for companies to deal with this issue.

When we talk about what should be allowed or denied regarding technology in a company’s policies of usage, there is an important point to consider, which is the legal regulations. As an employee has access to his personal device anywhere and anytime, who is in control of the company’s proprietary information? How does a company control an employee when he is not in the office if he has access to the company’s information whenever he wants? If an employee is up late at night at home checking his personal emails, and he decides to answer a business email, should this constitute overtime work? What about if he answers a text message from work on the weekend or during the week on his lunch hour?

For starters, it would be wise for companies to begin to think about these issues and setting the appropriate policies of usage so employees are clear on what is expected of them. Companies also need to concern themselves with the information stored on the mobile devices. For example, a company could be developing a product that is not ready for marketing but for some reason information or images of the product are accidentally spread over the Internet. Thus, companies should consider having employees sign confidential disclosure agreements to avoid information leaks.

Additionally, companies need a policy for loss, damage, theft or breakdown of personal equipment. If an employee is making daily use of his personal mobile devices for his company, then the company must assume the responsibility to immediately replace or repair the device if it is stolen or damaged; otherwise their competitors can take advantage of this loss. Also, if a loss or theft happens, how should this be treated? Does the company have the right to investigate the equipment and check for the minimum use of information security, illegal software, piracy or unauthorized and inappropriate content? Even if an employee’s personal devices are working fine, if he is using them for company projects, does the company have the right to access those devices for security purposes?

Initially, BYOD sounds very complex and hard to manage, but it is already happening and thus will require more and more attention in business. The sooner a company is prepared for BYOD issues, knowing the ways to manage and control the scenario, the faster and more safely the issues will be addressed.

One policy currently being used by companies to address BYOD issues is called Mobile Device Management, which allows companies to focus on mobile devices allied with network administrators to apply security policies according to the characteristics of each type of access for smartphones and tablets.

In conclusion, there are many questions and issues raised by BYOD. According to specialists in technology, the place to begin is with the process of education. There must be the creation and formalization of usage policy, plus training, acquisition, and installation of technologies required to manage the processes such as Mobile Device Management. The challenge is to provide convenience and productivity for employees and to keep their equipment and personal devices secure. As companies rely more and more on technology to do business, addressing this issue will be a key to success.

* Article published on Curitiba in English. 

Mobile Lives of College Students

Look at how smartphones are changing the students' life according to the study from OnlineDregree.org!
The info-graphic below says everything.

Information consumption on smartphones:

Smartphone use throughout the day:

Brazilians are increasingly connected to the internet

ComScore, a company that specializes in measuring the digital world, recently released its annual report some insights on key digital trends in Brazil and its implications for the coming months.

The digital media reached a new level in Brazil in 2011, driven by activities such as social networking, search, video, and online shopping, showing consumers increasingly turning to the web and spending more time with digital content.

Here are some of the trends that were measured by ComScore:

- Brazil is now the 7th largest internet market in the world, with an audience of 46.3 million visitors aged 15 or more who access the Internet from your home computer or work. The number of users increased by 16% over the previous year.

- Brazilians spent an average of 26.7 hours online in December 2011, an increase of 10% over the previous year (equivalent to more than 2 hours). The portals were online activity that generated the most engagement, with 39.2% of total minutes in December 2011, followed by social networking, with 23% - an increase of 6.3 percentage points in the year.

- In December 2011, the Brazilians viewed more than 4.7 billion videos online, an increase of 74% over 2010. Growth was driven by a 19% increase in unique visitors and 46% in videos per visitor, and watch videos has established itself as one of the most important online activities.

- 6.9 billion online searches were made in Brazil in December 2011, an increase of 37% over the previous year. The searches peaked in October and November, spurred by the search shopping season.

- The Brazilian digital advertising market continues to grow. In December 2011, 62.9 billion impressions were published online in Brazil, reaching 50.8 million Internet users.

- Phones and tablets continue to change the digital landscape, accounting for 1.5% of all digital traffic in Brazil in December 2011. Of this total activity, over 42% of pageviews originated in tablets.

90 Years of Radio in Brazil *

This September marked the 90^th anniversary of the first radio transmission in Brazil. It occurred on September 7, 1922 in Rio de Janeiro, with President Epitácio Pessoa celebrating the centennial of the Independence of Brazil. Amid the festive mood of the event, the president’s speech opened the exhibition through a 500-watt transmitter, supplied by the American company Westinghouse and installed on top of Corcovado. Only 80 receivers scattered in the capital and others cities such as Niterói and Petrópolis followed the experimental transmission, which also played classical music, including the opera The Guarani from Carlos Gomes.

Behind the initiative was the scientist and educator, Edgar Roquette Pinto, considered the father of Brazilian broadcasting. With his efforts, more receivers were installed in Rio de Janeiro in the following years. Other stations began to appear not only with informative programming, but taking the first steps to broadcasting Brazilian music. With technological developments in the 1930s, radio talk shows were created, which made the radio a popular vehicle. In the 1950s, radio began broadcasting sports, such as the 1958 World Cup. In 1953, there were already more than 500 radio stations in the country and almost half a million receivers.

However, 1950 saw the first transmission of a TV signal in Brazil. With the popularization of television, many experts believed the radio wouldn’t survive. TV provided much more entertainment with both voice and a black/white images. However, in the 1950s the TV was a new invention and it wasn’t affordable for all Brazilians. Thus the popularity of the radio continued to grow, culminating in the first transmissions on FM in 1970, which provided double the capacity of the electromagnetic spectrum (compared to AM) and brought much better sound quality. Later, another important step was taken with the arrival of satellites that allowed for the formation of national networks, and with them, the economic feasibility of various stations of small and medium sizes across the country, which gave shape to the new process of national integration launched by radio and later adopted by television.

So much for a short summary of radio’s history — what about the future? Everything being written by technology experts points to the radio of the future being linked with the Internet. As with the invention of TV, the spread of the Internet worldwide has prompted some pessimists to argue for the final blow to both AM and FM radio. Some think radio will simply cease to exist, even with the availability of digital broadcasts. However, it is still too soon to “put the nail in the coffin.” Digital radio combined with the Internet has opened up a new world for radio because distance is no longer an obstacle. We can now capture favorite radio stations from around the world without interference problems or noise. Even poor sound quality is bypassed with high-quality stream-of-data over the Internet. Many cellphones already include FM radios, even tuning stations via traditional analog signals. There are predictions that the future of radio will involve the use of wireless technologies, today most widely used in computers and peripherals such as WiFi. Imagine a radio from the past like a Walkman, but with access to any wireless router connecting to the Internet, inside your home. You wouldn’t need a computer to listen to the radio; instead with your small portable radio you could tune in any station in the world, of which there are currently over 20,000!

Even though the radio today through the Internet is far ahead of its past capabilities, it still is anchored to a computer platform or a smartphone. Luckily, one more revolution is about to happen for us Brazilians. The government is in the process of choosing a technology standard for a digital radio system. The process is being conducted by the government with great discretion. Digital radio will bring many benefits, such as improved sound quality — AM radio with FM quality and FM radio with CD quality — and more options for the listener, like digital panels with additional information such as news and weather forecasts. The digitization of radio and its partnership with new media will offer more efficient use of the radio spectrum, interactivity, lower power consumption, possibilities for new business models, and greater participation in the advertising market.

With so many new possibilities on the horizon thanks to the newest technology, one thing we can safely say — the radio will never go away. No matter which technology will be employed, the radio will still play your favorite songs, introduce new singers, and tell you which areas of your city to avoid at rush hour because of heavy traffic.

* Article published on Curitiba in English. 

The 10 oldest Internet domains

Since the Internet arrived in Brazil on 1995 at that time with dial-up connections, and nowadays with the broadband and the mobile 3G connections, Brazilians have been using a lot the services and also changed its behaviors due to the World Wide Web (aka www).

But do you know which are the oldest Internet domains?

1. symbolics.com - on March 15th, 1985 the computer manufacturer Symbolics Inc. registered the first domain ".com" on the internet. The company already doesn't exist anymore, but the page is still up and celebrating. The website brings several mentions about the 25 years of the first domain .com on the Internet. on 1997, the symbolics.com recorded impressive (for the time) 1 million hits.

2. bbn.com - this domain has been registered on April 24th, 1985 and belongs to a technology company from the United States.

3. think.com - the domain dates back on May 24th, 1985 but the website is not up anymore. Actually when you try to access, you will be redirected automatically to the website ThinkQuest, from Oracle.

4. mmc.com - this domain has been registered on July 11th, 1985. Today gathers information from universities that have initials with these acronyms.

5. dec.com - it has been registered on September 30th, 1985 and today belongs to the group Hewlett-Packard, the HP.

6. northrop.com - the domain has been registered on November 7th, 1985. The website was bought by the global security company Northrop Grumman.

7. xerox.com - among the largest technology companies, the Xerox was the fastest on registering the domain on January 9th, 1986.

8. sri.com - this research institute nonprofit existed for over 60 years but only registered their domain on January 17, 1986.

9. hp.com - although it has acquired the domain dec.com shortly after its registration, HP decided to register its own address on March 3, 1986 to avoid problems in the future.

10. bellcore.com - registered on March 5th, 1986, now belongs to the technology company Telcordia Mobile Broadband.

Life Without Paper *

Since paper was first invented by the Egyptians, called papyrus, and later reinvented as the paper we use today by the Chinese, we have been consuming more and more paper every day.

Do you know how many trees are required to produce paper? It’s hard to believe, but twelve trees are needed to produce one ton of paper, and that doesn’t include the many necessary chemicals. Additionally, only 37 percent of the paper produced is recycled.

Trees are not the only precious resource being used to produce paper — 540,000 liters of water, on average, are needed for the production of one ton of paper. There is also the fuel consumption in transporting the trees and paper.

According to experts, 44 kilos of paper are consumed annually by every Brazilian, nearly one tree per inhabitant. In the United States, per capita consumption is 200 kilos of paper per year.

In your office or at home, you’ve already had the experience of wasting time looking for a piece of paper, like a receipt or invoice lost in the midst of many other papers. Perhaps you wished you had a search engine for your documents like you do on your computer when looking for a file or folder.

When computers first entered our lives more than 20 years ago, the idea of having electronic communication was born. Soon the Internet and email brought electronic communication into reality; however, after 20 years, we are far from eliminating the need for paper.

The arguments for getting rid of paper are even stronger today than in the past. By eliminating paper in cabinets, a company can create more space and reduce storage costs outside the workplace. Through the exchange of electronic information with suppliers and customers, a business can make information quickly accessible anywhere, ensuring privacy and security with the use of encryption, passwords and other security measures.

On the other hand, when trying to cut down on paper consumption, companies must consider the cost of computer equipment and software programs, as well what to do with the paper already in the office. Trying to eliminate paper in an office is not easy, as there are decisions on how and when to convert to electronic documents; what kind of paper or document to be considered; what to do with the documents still coming from suppliers and customers; providing training to the employees involved in adapting to a new system; and the most important, maintaining a normal work flow during this transition.

An additional hurdle faced by companies wishing to eliminate paper is the fact that no matter what they do, a person or company never can be completely paperless, at least not yet. Some documents, such as signed and sealed legal contracts, or paper records for audits for income taxes must remain in their original form for legal reasons, particularly those involving financial services to ensure regulatory compliance.

There is still no precise study on the statistics of paper consumption in the business world in Brazil. However, experts point out that in today’s digital world, a great deal of paper is being wasted from the lack of experience dealing with new technology. For example, 45 percent of office documents that are scanned end up being printed anyway. Part of the problem is many people still feel more comfortable having a document on physical media; they suffer from the syndrome whereby they need to touch it to believe it’s real. Because of fire, deterioration, water damage or loss, paper files also disappear, so paper documents are hardly one hundred percent safe either.

Our government agencies are at the forefront in the process of this revolution to move away from paper, as they are enormous consumers of paper and can also set standards for companies and consumers. The abandonment of the physical forms of Income Tax statements and returns; initiatives for electronic invoices; and digitizing legal proceedings in the new electronic environment are obvious examples of our government today moving away from paper.

To continue our efforts to use less paper, it is time for everyone - companies and individuals and the government - to invest in more computer equipment and software programs, employee training, and awareness campaigns. For example, you can start reducing the paper you use at home by asking your bank account manager to stop sending your account balance in hard copy every month to your home. Many banks already offer this solution, and instead you will receive a protected email with your current account statement or even your credit card invoice.

Another step for individuals is to stop using an appointment book to schedule events. Instead, try using a calendar on your computer or mobile phone. Even simple cellphones (aka dumb cellphones) have this feature, and as a bonus you can set reminders for appointments with an alarm so you won’t forget. With smartphones you can go even further: your personal appointment calendar can be synchronized with the Internet. Additionally, there are many applications available that can take a picture of a document and transform it into a scanned document and generate an image in pdf format ready to be sent by email, or to be stored on your computer or on the cloud, making it much easier to retrieve

As a last resort, if you really need to use paper, try to make notepads with scratch paper that can be reused. And when printing is absolutely necessary, use both sides of the sheet. There is no question that with a simple change of attitude and a few easy adjustments, many trees will be preserved.

* Article published on Curitiba in English.

Put Your Computer In A Cloud *

Brazil now has almost 80 million Internet users, an explosion of growth thanks to many factors including tax incentives given by the government to purchase computers, as well as the rise of other gadgets such as smartphones and tablets. Thus, there is a constant exchange of information through many different sources, which often leaves users in the position of having many files to store. The files might be text documents, spreadsheets, presentations, pdf documents, music, etc. It doesn’t take long before the size of the information being stored exceeds the capacity of the smartphone or tablet. Therefore, the latest questions we are hearing from technology users are, Where is the most suitable place to store all my files? Also, what is the a simplest way to share my files with friends and colleagues? Do I need to worry about backups for all my files? If I lose a file, can I get it back?

If we look back on the 1990’s, computers had very limited space for storage because the technology was still young and also storage space was an expensive part of the computer. The storage space on a computer, known as the hard disk or hard drive, is a fixed part of the computer and not easy to detach because the operating system is installed on it. As a solution, in the 2000s, computer companies created portable storage devices such as the pen drive, also known as a USB flash drive or thumb drive. A pen drive is a storage memory device about the size of a cigarette lighter and thus easy to carry around. It soon became the preferred device for carrying personal files and backing up.

However, pen drives were limited to a single copy of the files and were smaller in storage size than a typical computer’s hard drive. Also, they were only available when you had one with you. However, recently a new Internet service has arrived to take the place of pen drives. This service is called the “cloud” and offers faster and greater access. It is a new way to store personal files. The concept is to store your files on the Internet with a synchronized copy on your computer (desktop or laptop, PC or Mac), on smartphones and on tablets. Even if those devices are not available to you at the moment, with a simple Internet connection you are able to access any of your stored files from anywhere.

In essence, we are talking about an Internet-based service that is emerging and could become your new hard disk. It is quickly becoming popular because of the proliferation of mobile devices and the need to have larger personal files available anywhere, anytime.

Regarding the different types of Internet storage cloud services already available, the most popular are the DropBox from DropBox; the iCloud from Apple; SkyDrive from Microsoft; and most recently the Drive from Google. Of course there are many others with different services, however, those mentioned are the most popular because of their features, ease of use, and openness to many platforms.

Cloud services such as these include some very interesting features, such as “free” backups. Once you place a master copy of your file on the cloud, several others copies can be distributed to multiple locations. If you lose your computer or portable device, or it breaks, once it’s fixed or you get a new one, the cloud synchronization service will do the rest for you. Another interesting feature offered by Internet cloud service is you can share files with anyone simply by granting them permission to a specific file or folder. Then an email with the link will be sent to the other user for access. Also, depending on the cloud service provider, you can share and also edit a file online in collaboration with other users without the need to download, edit, and then upload the file again.

You might be thinking that there is not enough space for all the files on your hard disk to be placed on a cloud service provider. It’s true, depending on the provider, the default size of storage might not be adequate. Cloud services start with 2 GB (gigabyte) of storage and go up to 25GB for free. However, you can purchase more space, as much space as you need, with very reasonable prices compared to other storage devices. In this way you will have everything in a safe and protected place and never have to worry about your own storage devices breaking or getting lost. We have seen in the past decade great progress in increased storage capacity both inside and outside the computer, but once files are moving in larger quantities and more quickly to the Internet via online services, it will be obvious what a great leap forward we are making to alter the way we store information using cloud storage.

* Article published on Curitiba in English.

The Internet And Small Companies *

Certainly you have already had an experience like this: You are looking for a product, service or company you need, and the first place you look is the Internet. Using the Internet is convenient, plus there’s the possibility of finding detailed information such as comparing prices from different companies for the same product. However, as you begin your search on the Internet, you realize that only large and well-known companies are represented on the Internet. Small companies like the ones in your neighborhood don’t even have their phone number published, much less their products or services available through the Internet.

A recent study published in Brazil by the Internet Management Committee (CGI) called “Information Technology and Communication,” analyzed small businesses on the Internet. CGI focused their research on companies having at least 10 employees. The study examined the period from 2007 and 2010 and concluded that small businesses in Brazil still are not investing in the Internet as a way to promote their products or services. Their lack of reliance on the Internet is all the more surprising since during the past few years Internet connections have vastly improved in Brazil. We have migrated from the dial-up connection to ADSL, and even more important, businesses have been adopting local networks (also known as LAN) in order to connect more computers. Some companies and even home users now have gone beyond this and adopted wireless connections.

Nevertheless, with these vast improvements in Internet service thanks to new technology, the study shows that small businesses are not doing enough to take advantage of the power of the Internet as a way to boost revenue. More than 60 percent of these companies don’t even have a web page to present their products or services. More than 80 percent don’t have any type of simple customer service, such as an e-mail address where the customer can establish contact with the business.

Some small companies still maintain they don’t need the Internet to promote their business. They have Internet access inside the company only for their employees to use e-mail or search engines. Companies also complain they don’t have the expertise to employ this technology to expand their business, and they are also concerned about the security of information, theirs and their customers, such as with Internet identity theft.

If we look around, it is obvious that many traditional and small companies have found a way to move to the Internet. In some cases, the Internet has allowed small companies to grow into big companies and even trade shares on the stock exchange. New business lines were created specifically for the Internet, while the traditional ones had to adapt, and they are achieving great success.

So what prevents a small company from utilizing the tools of the Internet to expand its business? At the beginning, it seems to many of them like a waste of money with no return in the short-term. However, these companies are forgetting about consumers like you and me who today have high-speed Internet connections at home or in our offices, and we are likely to go to the Internet to look for something we need. When we are looking at our search results, don’t small companies want to be included?

This reluctance to change among small businesses is something we saw in Brazil some years ago — it looks like the paradigm for the adoption of credit cards as a way of payment. In the past, small businesses did not accept credit cards, but now all of them provide this service because they eventually realized how it would increase their business. As a result, today more than 80 percent of consumers’ purchases are paid for with credit cards.

In summary, the Internet is infinite so there is always adequate space for all kinds of products and services, big or small companies, suppliers and competitors. Moreover, there are several ways to develop a presence on the Internet, such as simple web pages, blogs, social networks, collective purchase websites, etc. The first step toward this new business model is not such a difficult challenge, so if you are a small business and considering it, a little research will reveal many ways to enter the Internet business arena. Sebrae, a public service organization that is well-known for offering assistance to small companies can definitely help you and guide your first steps. All of us consumers hope to see you here!

* Article published on Curitiba in English.

The 15 tech habits that everyone should avoid (part 2)

Getting back on the 15 tech habits we should avoid, let's get started by the 8th topic.
If you missed the part 1, here you can take a look.

8. Leave the laptop in the car: Thieves have plenty of time to study how to approach on you, or the simplest case when they see an easy opportunity right in front of them. If something attracts their attention in the car, or more, if they see you carrying a backpack or suitcase and moving to the trunk of the car, it will be easy to them to break the window, in seconds take your laptop and your information became legend. So if you really need to leave in the car, try to put under the seat, in discrete location, but better than this, take with you.

9. Not having a "disposable" e-mail: Dont give your main email to anyone or questionable websites when filling the form. You can easily start receiving tons of spam e-mails with this simple attitude!! So take advantage of the free emails such as Gmail or Yahoo and preserve your main inbox.

10. Keep all your e-mails: If you are the one who keeps all received email in the inbox in a chronological order ... congratulations!! But sorry to say that, it will be pretty hard to find something when you most need. Try to use folders and tags in order to classify by category such as work, personal, important ones, etc. Also delete the ones you wont use anymore.

11. Not learn the shot-cuts of the keyboard: Still there are many people that dont know how to use the Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V. Those are the most common ones, and there are lots of those that makes easier your life. No need to learn all combinations, but it can help you save a lot of time with a simple Ctrl+S, for example.

12. Install too many things: You install a few messenger, other tool bars, and some programs. When you initiate your computer and after everything is loaded, you notice your computer slow. This is because programs usually let many logs and other stuff behind, making your computer keep loaded all this things. So when you want to install new stuff, think twice if you really need it. Of course, there are some software that can clean up your computer, or another way is format and re-install everything ... but this takes lots of your time in order to do it and can give you possibly a cost.

13. Store files anywhere: This is one of the most common problems people complain when working with computer ... "I swear I have saved the file but I dont know where!!". I bet this already happened to you. So in order to avoid this kind of boredom, try to organize your files using folders splitting by subject or category. Once you need to look for it, you have an idea where it might be. Act as you do with other stuff such as, the newspaper and magazines, the monthly bills, the photo albums, etc.

14. Use the same password for everything: You first think that if you put the same password for everything you need, it is easier to remember, because it is just one. However, imagine if one of those places you created the password they don't store encrypted and worse, this information is stolen somehow. The thief can have your name and password and can access your e-mail, social networks, perhaps bank account, whatever. Better have a set of different passwords for different purposes and with critical levels, not only that, keep it safe, not have written anywhere or shared with other people.

15. Lock the cellphone: Not all cellphones have this feature to put a code/password to unlock. However, if your cellphone have, consider using this feature. This is because if you loose or leave anywhere nearby to bad intentioned people (why not say thief), he can easily steal some important information stored on your cellphone for many purposes, such as make calls, get your contacts for spam, perhaps your e-mails access and some others. If you have this feature, why not take advantage of this tiny thing that can protect you.

Well, surely there are many other important hints that can protect yourself of headaches. But following some of those ones, you can make your productivity even better, possibly not right away but in the long run.

Ultrabooks: Going Beyond Tablets *

Yes, here is one more new technology term! Ultrabooks are the newest evolution of laptops. They were created by Intel, and now big companies like Acer, LG, HP and Asus are investing in the concept. In order to qualify as an Ultrabook, the model must conform to the following: It must be less than 21 mm thick, and most important, it must cost less than US$1,000. (Unfortunately, we already know the price will be higher in Brazil due to the high import taxes here.) According to the manufacturers, it is essential for Ultrabooks to reach a mass audience, and they expect them to become a dominant product in 2013.

The first models released are equipped with Intel Sandy Bridge processors that measure only 32 nanometers. However, with the continued development of technology, it’s expected newer models will be equipped with processors of only 22 nanometers. A nanometer is the unit of measure for the transistor in the processor, and the smaller they get, the greater the possibility of putting more transistors on a single processor, as this increases the performance of the computer. Just to give you an idea of how small these processors are, the flu virus is 100 nanometers in size!

Here are a few more details related to this new concept: Ultrabooks are super thin, use lightweight batteries that last longer - at least five hours - and have a quick start-up, only about seven seconds. Also, the traditional laptop hard drives have been replaced by SSDs, also known as flash memories. Because of this, the Ultrabooks will be strong competitors for netbooks and tablets, since some of them come up with touch screens.

Now you are no doubt wondering: Which is more better to own - the Ultrabook or a tablet? In the previous technology article, we discussed tablets and their features and purpose. A tablet can be seen as a consumer of content - designed to be easy to use, very intuitive, and mobile anywhere, any time.

On the other hand, the Ultrabook is designed as a producer of content - much more powerful than tablets, with the same features as laptops. Additionally, Ultrabooks combine some of the best features of tablets, such as the ease of mobility due to their reduced size and weight.

It is interesting to note that Ultrabook technology isn’t really so new. Perhaps you’ve heard of the Apple MacbookAir, a laptop with the same features as Ultrabooks, released by Apple some years ago. The difference now is that Ultrabooks will be produced by several companies, allowing for the possibility of greater popularity and cheaper prices.

In a nutshell, you can begin thinking which kind of user you are - sometimes a consumer and other times a producer? The good news is you will now have the opportunity to buy the most suitable equipment for your needs, and thus you will take advantage of the best of what technology has to offer.

* Article published on Curitiba in English.

The 15 tech habits that everyone should avoid (part 1)

Everyone has flaws in the technology world - who never used the word "password" as password one day?!?
But now let's dig deeper to seek the really bad habits that can cause permanent damage to your computer, your pocket and your mood.

Lets talk about the the 15 worst habits in the world of technology, which should be avoided at all costs:

1. Not use security software: many people still dont have the habit to have any firewall or antivirus at least on the computer as a way to protect your computer from invasion or any trying of information theft. A simple click in one unknown (or known) email sender can put your computer in high risk such as have installed any spy or key logger  program to capture everything you do. Please, you have to have something to protect, there are many free or payed options for purpose.

2. Not have any backup of your computer: many people have "good" excuses why they still dont have backup. But any piece of your computer like hard disks eventually fail, and according to Murphy's Law, this will hapen when you most need, whatever it is, a worksheet, a document, or a college project.

3. Not have any off-site backup: Picture this, a thief breaks down your home and steals your laptop! ... you might be thinking, "no problem, I have a backup on my pen-drive or external hard disk". But to get worse, the thief takes all of these too. Well, this can happen, so try to store your data in multiple locations, why not on the internet (on the cloud), there are many websites with tons of gigabytes available for free. Try to make this a routine to update, otherwise if one day you need a file, you will not get surprised with very old version of those data.

4. Answer to a SPAM: Do you know why spammers still keep sending emails to your inbox? It is because there are enough users still answering those with a simple gesture of clicking on the link "remove your email", and thus confirming to the spammer that you exists with a valid email and it is a potential customer. Of course there are a few (very few) advertising emails that work seriously with this option.

5. Walk around with the laptop turned on: This no problem in moving the laptop from the kitchen to the living room meanwhile the laptop is turned on. The problem is whey you close the lid and put into the backpack at the office and go home for fifteen or thirty minutes by bus, subway or car. A hard disk in operation can be damaged even by a small impact (such as a bump on a bus), and computers can easily overheat if left indoors. Turn off your computer before transporting it.

6. Print out everything: You can have all your receipts and personal documents in digital copy with free programs such as PDF Creator and print everything in .pdf format. So that you can store on your computer for easy search, instead of printing out everything, and when you most need you cannot find anymore the only copy you had about the monthly rental fee.

7. Use the laptop on bed: You can use your laptop in bed whenever you want. The problem is when you leave it on standing on its beautiful goose down comforter. Quilts, blankets, pillows and cushions can block the vents of the computer, causing overheating and damage to components. Instead, use a notebook table or a coffee table to keep the machine in a comfortable position and ensure a good flow of air.

To not make this post so extensive, it will be divided in two parts in order to make it easier to read and better comprehension. So see you on part two.

Tablets: The Post-PC Device Or Just One More Fad? *

No doubt you have already heard about these new gadgets that have become so popular so quickly. You might be wondering, What do they do, and Should I buy one?

Tablets have many functions, such as “surfing” the Internet, checking e-mail, playing games, watching videos and movies, reading e-books (electronic books) and other activities you can already do on an ordinary computer. The difference with the tablet is that it is much lighter and thinner than an ordinary computer. It is even lighter than a notebook or netbook computer, allowing you to carry it easily anywhere, and without needing any Internet connection cables. Also, tablets have a long battery life.

Most tablet users report their greatest pleasure comes in the feature of the touch screen. For those of you who own smartphones, you will be familiar with how touch screens work. Companies like Apple were able to adapt the smartphone touch screen to produce small touch screen computers like the iPad. The general term for these touch screen computer devices is tablets.

Another interesting feature of tablets is their increased storage capacity compared to the older technology. On a tablet, imagine that you can have simultaneously more than 4,000 e-books stored, not to mention magazines and newspapers from all over the world. With a few touches, you can have thousands of other issues available, ready to be downloaded free or cheaply onto your tablet.

With the appearance and now widespread use of the tablet, many of our daily habits have changed, such as the reading of e-books and the way we navigate the Internet. Regarding this new technology, specialists are divided on predicting the future. Some technology experts believe the sales of tablets will continue growing until they completely replace PCs and notebooks. Other experts believe tablets will lose popularity over time, just as sales of netbooks are already beginning to decline.

Whatever the future of tablets, if you are thinking of purchasing one, you will need to have a clear idea what kind of services tablets offer, as well as what your tablet’s primary purpose will be for you. Do you want a tablet mostly to read e-books? Or is Internet capability through WiFi or 3G integration with e-mail your most important need?

With many tablet models available on the market, there should be one that fits your requirements. Here are some samples: Among the top-selling tablets, we have the Apple iPad and Amazon Kindle. The Apple focuses on multimedia, working as an entertainment center, but it also includes a feature to read e-books. The Amazon Kindle meanwhile is very focused on e-books through integration with the website Amazon.com as its main source of books. The Kindle features a specific technology called e-ink (electronic ink) that makes it easier to read the screen particularly in daylight environments. Of course, there are many other brands with different features, and many of them less expensive than the Apple or Kindle.

The reality is that with the creation of new technology, people are getting many more options and are being provided with the opportunity to be connected all the time. Consequently, we are all much closer to the information and entertainment worlds, whether by computers, smartphones, or now by tablets. Although tablets are a brand-new technology, we can already see what they have sparked. So don’t worry, one day soon you will probably consider owning one of these devices.

* Article published on Curitiba in English.