The Great Geek Manual

When it comes to running a business, there are a number of IT options that you’ll have to consider. Not every business should be run exactly the same way when it comes to developing a server usage plan or how the computer systems are used. Dell Server virtualization is one method that many companies are opting for. With this process, multiple operating systems and processes are performed on the same physical server. Why would a company want to use this method instead of simply going with multiple servers?

It Saves Money

Perhaps the most obvious reason you’re considering using server virtualization is that it can save you quite a bit of money. Instead of having to invest in multiple servers for your business, you may be able to get by with fewer. One server could host a number of different operating systems and be used on many different computer modules. This means that you will have to buy fewer servers in the beginning stages of your business. You’ll also be able to save money on electricity costs because you won’t have so many different servers running at all hours of the day and night. Although server costs have dropped dramatically in recent years, virtualizing your server means not having to invest as much in the equipment for your business.

It Saves Space

Another big advantage of using this type of virtualization is that it can save space. Depending on where your business is located, space may come at a premium. Instead of having to devote a large room to holding all of your servers, you may be able to fit them into a utility closet or another small room. That means that you can rent less space and save even more money on a monthly basis.

It Allows for Different Operating Systems

A big benefit of using this strategy is that you can implement different operating systems on the same server. Instead of having to install Windows or Linux on the entire server, you could use a different operating system for each section of the server. This allows every employee or department to have the operating system that they want or need.

It Requires Less Maintenance

When you have fewer servers stored about, you also have less maintenance to engage in. When there are multiple servers to deal with, you may have to perform regular maintenance on them more often. This will take up more of the limited time that your IT staff has to deal with these problems. If you’re outsourcing your IT work, this will result in fewer billable hours, which again helps you save money.

Other Concerns

Using virtual servers has the potential to change the landscape of your IT configuration. However, it is not always appropriate for every business. If you do not use applications that require a lot of resources from your server, it can work well. Check with your IT professional to make sure that creating a virtual server is in your best interest before moving forward.

How Gaming Is Changing the Classroom:

By the time she’s 21 years old, a student will play nearly 10,000 hours of video games. But can kids play their way to learning? An increasing number of educators are recognizing that students aren’t responding to old-school lectures, and they’re looking to engage the gamer generation by bringing gaming into the classroom.

Since 2009, an entire school, New York City’s Quest to Learn, has used gaming-based learning principles to help students achieve. Instead of sitting kids in front of a screen all day, the school uses a gaming curriculum centered on systems-thinking. It helps students learn history and math by adopting the behaviors and habits of, for example, real historians or mathematicians. To top it all off, the students are also learning how to design their own games.

Via: GOOD

iPhones vs. the Police:

But things are different nowadays. Smart phones have cameras, and almost everyone has a smart phone. A court is therefore less likely to be ignorant of what actually occurred between the policeman and me. The policeman and I may have videotaped it. Bystanders might have, too. I am reminded of the utopia dreamed of by the eighteenth-century anarchist William Godwin, who hoped that someday everyone in the world would become so sincere and so expressive that all sides of every story would be fully narrated, and there would no longer be any need to deceive. Everyone would be his own narrator, and in the world that this sincerity revealed, perfect knowledge would include perfect forgiveness.

Japanese manufacturer NSK is developing a robot guide dog that can see and navigate its visually impaired owner through obstacles, including stairs, using a Microsoft Kinect controller.

This video introduces the concepts behind Microsoft .NET Gadgeteer, a new open-source toolkit for building small electronic devices using the .NET Micro Framework. Starter Kits and modules are already available.

At Maker Faire 2010 New York, the .NET Micro Framework team and Microsoft Research (Cambridge) showed off their new device: the .NET Gadgeteer. It’s like LEGO for electronics.

In this video, Colin Miller explains some of the details on the board. The board itself has a multitude of connectors, and each is labeled with a letter. A sensor is then used to tell the end user which port to plug into, and all of this allows Collin to create a basic camera using only about three lines of code!

Colin did misspeak, however. He referred to the Device Solutions board as the Embedded Fusion board. That was the old name.

Tutorials

• Become a Good Programmer in Six Really Hard Steps

Tech News

• Appeals Court Reinstates $675,000 File Sharing Verdict
• Europe’s Odd Anti-Piracy Stance: Send Money to the US!
• Senate Judiciary Committee Passes Amendment to Prohibit Prosecutions for Terms-of-Service Violations… Faking Your Name On Facebook Won’t Be a Felony
• Tougher online privacy rules for preteens proposed.
• Sunday, the German Pirate Party is expected to be voted into Parliament in Berlin.

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Utilities and Resources

• Codecademy – a free website that provides interactive lessons on coding for web development. Founders Ryan Bubinski and Zach Sims have started the site with eight Javascript lessons, and plan to expand the coursework to other languages.
• Flipping Book Reader – a PDF Reader with an interactive interface where you can flip pages like in a real book. It provides a number of stylish and unique features such as the option to switch to a two page view, book shelf for all accessed documents, a thumbnail view of the table of contents, a customizable interface and the utility to scroll page up/down using the mouse pointer.
• NotiPage – a freeware app that alerts you when selected webpages are updated. Very useful for following forum threads and fix sites that don’t offer RSS.
• ShareMyPlaylists – a web service that makes it easy to share your Spotify playlists on Facebook and Twitter as well as with the ShareMyPlaylists community. It gives you access to a large library of user created playlists that you can browse in your browser but play in Spotify.
• ZenOK – a new cloud storage service that is offering 21GB of storage. It supports file compression, automatic versioning, and file encryption

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Utilities and Resources

• Color Scheme Designer 3 – allows a user to create harmonious color schemes using their choice of one of six customizable combinations from the color wheel. There is an option to show what a given scheme would look like to users with various types of colorblindness. The resulting scheme can be exported in several formats including HTML+CSS and Photoshop ACO, and a given scheme can even be shared as a link.
• Fresh WebSuction – a utility for downloading entire websites. Includes a comprehensive list of features to download website on your system.
• HotkeyP – a portable application to create macro commands and assign hotkey combinations in order to perform almost any kind of task, such as, open files, run applications, shut down, log off or restart your PC, change windows opacity, simulate mouse actions and so on.
• Watch2gether – a web service that makes it more fun to watch YouTube videos with friends. Instead of sharing links to the video, it lets you create a private session where you can watch them together.

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