All I want for Christmas ...

As the holidays are fast approaching, I thought I would take the opportunity to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy and Prosperous New Year!
For a bit of Christmas fun all the team decided to come up with our Top five Christmas presents. As you would imagine there is a technology theme that runs through our list, all we need now is someone to buy them for us!

1. Apple iPhone 3G
2. Dell XPS M1130 Laptop
3. Canon 5d Mk2 Camera
4. Apple iPod touch
5. HTC P6500

Best Wishes for Christmas and the New Year!

Be part of the experience...

This week sees my return from TechEd 2008 IT Professionals in Barcelona. As sad as I was to leave sunny spain, I had a brilliant week with 5000 other delegates from 74 countries. The insight and knowledge I gained from the sessions is invaluable; with a first look at Windows 7, a better understanding of Windows Vista and Office 2007 (including how these technologies were deployed within Microsoft), an insight into the way in which the IT industry as a whole is heading within the next 10years and how to keep up with a rapidly changing industry, a look at security solutions from Microsoft, and the counter technologies that the solutions are combatting.

And I could go on, as you can see the list is huge! I plan to delve further into these areas in the coming weeks, so stay tuned...

Merseyside Business Fair

Last Week Paul, (who escaped having his photo taken) Peter and myself hosted a stall at the Merseyside Business Fair.

The venue; St Georges Hall, Liverpool was fantastic!

Thank you to all who came to see us, and we hope to be out and about again soon with exclusive offers, valuable and advice and of course some freebies!

I'll keep you posted!

Microsoft Tech Ed 2008

I’m currently counting down the days until Microsoft Tech Ed 2008. A week in Barcelona with 5,000 other IT Professionals, it doesn’t get much better than that! Well, actually it does. It’s recently been confirmed that the attendees will be among the first to get a look at Microsoft’s next operating system release Windows 7!
Expect some exciting posts in the next few weeks…

Technologies to Change Your Business...

Yesterday Jordi and I attended an event in London hosted by Microsoft. “Technologies to Change Your Business” featured key speaker and youtube star Steve Ballmer (CEO Microsoft). Steve (or the guy who’s taken over from Bill Gates, as he’s more commonly known) gave a really interesting presentation, with insight into the way in which Microsoft are developing their latest range of technologies, with virtualization and the aptly described cloud computing being major themes.

Without being totally geeky, the way in which the future of IT is heading means that it will soon be common practice to access every piece of kit you have whether it be a home PC, office desktop or mobile device from one central location. Microsoft have created Live Mesh, which does just that, and also allows for file and folder sharing, synchronization of devices, and a live desktop which will revolutionise remote desktop connections.

And that’s just picking up on a small piece of the pie. The next couple of weeks hold a lot of hidden promise, according to Steve Ballmer…

The Best Things in Life are FREE...

This month has seen Obsidian hit the airwaves across Cheshire with an exclusive web hosting offer. Cheshire FM listeners can benefit from a years free webhosting courtesy of Obsidian Internet.
For a sneaky listen of our Radio announcement just visit our website…

AND, this is not the only opportunity for a freebie. On the 11th November we will be hosting a stand at the Merseyside Business Fair at St Georges Hall, Liverpool. Come along to benefit from loads of give away goodies, and for a lucky few a years free web hosting. Plus, if all this wasn’t enough, myself and other members of the Obsidian Team will be on hand to answer questions, demo products and packages, and generally have a good chin wag. It’s free to attend, so there’s no excuse not to drop by and say hello!

That Would Never Happen to Me...

Currently data theft is on the up. Undoubtedly, you will have heard stories recently of laptops containing government information left on trains or loss of memory sticks containing vital data. Although we are all guilty of making the “…how could anyone be so careless” comment, the truth is it’s an easy mistake to make.

So the answer? Well there is a mobile solution that goes by the name of Sprite Terminator. Although this is not a remote controlled impish being that retrieves your Mobile when it’s lost or stolen, in essence it does the same thing.

This piece of software can be installed onto your hand held device. Along with other features this allows you to; locate your phone using GPS, completely wipe the phone via a SMS message and lock all functionality to the device via a SMS.

So if it ever did happen to you, at least you’ve got your vital information secure, your data protected, and your device becomes useless to anyone who finds it.

Arriving in Style

The most recent addition to the Team is the Obsidian Van. You may be lucky enough to spot the unique Obsidian style of transport, accompanied by one of our engineers in and around the Chester area, so keep your eyes peeled!

A Hard Days Night

Last week I ventured over the water to the Hard Days Night Hotel in Liverpool for the i-start Network Event. It was aimed at digital media businesses, budding entrepreneurs and graduates.

The fact that I was let loose on my own and got to visit a Beatles themed hotel would have been enough for me, but I met some really interesting people, and gathered some useful information on finding the money to innovate from a talk by ICDC (International Centre for Digital Content).

Research and Development goes hand in hand with innovation and is absolutely key to keeping up with such a fast paced industry. It's always great to experience digital innovation so close to home.

Microsoft "Go Green" with Windows Vista

For my first ever blog post I thought I would pick up on an article that I recently wrote for Obsidian’s newsletter; Network News (available on request of course!)
With a greener approach to life and business being the bandwagon that everyone seems to be jumping on at the moment, here’s a fact that will stop climate change in its tracks.

Did you know:
For every 10 PCs that switch to Windows Vista it is the equivalent of taking a vehicle off the road in terms of greenhouse gases?

Makes you think really. Don’t get me wrong we’re not expecting solar powered PCs or wine fuelled cars to take off anytime soon, but it’s a nice touch given the current state of play. And for those of you who are more concerned about Windows Vista as an Operating System, and not a tool to save the planet, there’s good news for you too!
Windows Vista boasts; stronger security, faster searching, increased mobility, and better safeguard of data, all in comparison to it’s predecessor Windows XP which Microsoft stopped selling in June 08.
I am no mind reader, but I know many of you will be thinking so what? Vista has been around for ages, why now? Well, Microsoft have just released Vista’s first service pack, meaning that any post launch problems experienced by the eager beavers have been ironed out. So to satisfy the opportunist in us all, now is the ideal time to upgrade.

Welcome to the Obsidian Blog

Welcome to the new Obsidian blog.

The team here will endeavour to put a new post discussing relevant and interesting topics approximately once a week.

Stay tuned!