Virtualization is the act of taking a physical IT component, like a server or a desktop, and storing it in a virtual environment for access through an online interface. This is the interface through which users access applications or data storage clients. When you access information through the cloud, you?re basically accessing the virtual server where your data is stored through a software like Microsoft OneDrive or Google Drive. Therefore, you can think of the cloud as a computer that?s hosted off-site and (hopefully) maintained by trained IT professionals. The main benefit of using cloud-based storage, especially that which is stored off-site, is that your business isn?t responsible for the upkeep and maintenance of the hardware used to store your data. Of course, if you have an internal IT department, the option for a self-hosted cloud is available, but if you want to get the best return on investment for your cloud, you?re better off letting a managed service provider host and maintain your cloud solution. Here?s where most business owners get held up on cloud adoption; they don?t know what their business needs, and get hung up on the details of implementing a cloud. The issue at hand here is that the cloud has so many variants that businesses don?t really know what they want or need from the cloud. While it?s recommended that you communicate with an IT professional to figure out your cloud strategy, you can make the decision easier by asking yourself a few key questions. To make things simple, ask yourself how much control you want over your data, and whether you want to take care of your own technology solutions. If you want to maximize control over your data, a private cloud is the right choice for your business. If you?d rather get started quickly without focusing too much on customization and IT maintenance, the public cloud is a better option. What type of cloud solution you?ll implement is, more or less, largely dependant on these two factors. A hybrid cloud solution is good middle ground for a small business that wants to maximize control while maintaining a hands-off approach to management. Either way, the cloud you?ll implement will undoubtedly need to reflect your business?s specific needs. Worse yet, talking about the ?cloud? inevitably leads people to discuss cloud computing, rather than the actual act of virtualization. The fact remains that cloud computing is only a small part of virtualization. Instead of limiting your business?s scope to just cloud computing, you should consider the other savings that can come from virtualizing your networks, servers, and desktops. Doing so allows you to simplify your IT infrastructure and remove unnecessary costs. Since your technology will be handled by trained IT professionals, you can remain confident that it?s being maintained properly. For all of your business?s cloud computing and virtualization needs, you only need to make one phone call. To learn more about how the cloud and virtualization can improve your business model, contact White Mountain IT Services at (603) 889-0800.

Wall Street, BC (Before Computers)Even before the advent of the computer, Wall Street was well known for utilizing technology. The ticker tape is a shining example; a fascinating device which gave a real-time and continuous printout on the performance of the market. When combined with a nearby telephone, these two technologies gave the average Joe the ability to buy and sell securities on a whim. This helped pave the way for near-instantaneous trading, which was largely responsible for the dynamic growth experienced by the stock market during the twentieth century. Make Way for the ComputersLater, the quotation board was adopted, retiring the iconic ticker tape machines. In the 1980s, modern computing tactics took front and center, thanks to the introduction of the Quotron. With this technology, brokerage houses gained the power to instantaneously manage large hedge funds by quickly reacting to market fluctuations. The Internet Changes EverythingWhen the Internet revolution hit, using computers connected over a network wasn?t something new to Wall Street. In fact, as early as the 1970s brokerages had been using Electronic Communications Networks (ECNs) to make their own computer systems more efficient. However, before computer networking could significantly change the operations of a behemoth institution like Wall Street, significant capital first needed to be invested in order to build the infrastructure–a longtime task that was actually funded by significant technology investments being poured into the stock market. With the rise of the Internet came online brokerages such as ETrade and Ameritrade. However, the major influence of such online tools which gave individual players unparalleled control over their investments is only part of the story. In 1994, two economists, William Christie and Paul Schultz, published a paper titled, ?Why do NASDAQ Market Makers Avoid Odd-Eighth Quotes?? where they outlined a deliberate anomaly where market makers were manipulating the spread (the difference between the buy and sell prices of NASDAQ securities) to secure these individuals a higher profit margin. You may recall this event leading to a full-scale investigation and subsequent rule changes by the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) to protect the smaller investors that made use of these online trading services. Eventually, even the traditional brokerages such as Charles Schwab and TD Waterhouse offered online trading that could be accessed by anyone. Like with every good bubble, the crazy market growth fueled by Internet technologies (with frenzied spending seen particularly in 1999 and 2000) eventually popped. It took a few long years for the EU and US markets to rebound from the pop of the dot com bubble, but confidence in the markets was eventually restored, thanks to a realization that the Internet was much more than a fad and could be effectively utilized by companies to boost their sales base. Online Trading at High SpeedNo longer faced with the limitations of dial-up modems, today?s Internet speeds make it possible for investors to execute trades in incredibly short intervals–millions of times faster than what can be made by human decision making. This has led to the phenomena of quantitative trading, which uses complex algorithms to do trades so fast that a half a cent here and a half a cent there can lead to millions of dollars changing hands over millions of trades. However, this technological development helped contribute to another major dip in the market, […]

Of course, we?re not talking about the colored eggs hidden in the yard every spring. No, we?re referring to the fun surprises Google has added to their search engine. By entering a specific search query into Google.com, you?ll encounter a Google Easter egg. Over the years, Google?s hidden a few dozen Easter eggs. Here?s how to access White Mountain IT Services?s 10 favorite eggs! Type ?Atari breakout? and click ImagesThis will turn all of the searchable images into a playable game of the classic video game Super Breakout. Be sure to turn on your speakers to enjoy the nostalgic sound effects. Type ?Askew?This clever Easter egg will tilt your search results just enough to be noticeable. Don?t worry, after you leave the page your screen will be back to normal. Type ?Festivus??Festivus for the rest of us!? Festivus is a made up holiday originating from the television show Seinfeld. By searching for ?Festivus,? you?ll find out exactly what the holiday is all about, while being treated to a traditional Festivus pole located on the left side of your screen. Type ?Google in 1998?Computer users with fond memories of the 90s will appreciate this one. This Easter egg will provide you with a fascinating glimpse of what Google looked like–almost 20 years ago! Type ?Zerg rush?Players of the popular video game StarCraft and ?n00bs? alike will appreciate this egg. Essentially, this search causes Google?s letters to attack the search results, and the only way you can stop them is to frantically click each one until they disappear. However, characteristic of the game?s Zerg rush, doing so will only cause more Zerg-like letters to appear, until you?re overwhelmed and your precious search results are destroyed. Also, notice the handy-dandy score counter on the right side. Type ?flip a coin,? or ?roll a die?Google will display an animated die or coin that will provide a random result with each search. If you don?t have an actual coin or die on you, this is a great alternative. Type ?[actor?s name] Bacon Number?The Bacon number here relates to the classic game ?Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon,? not the sweet meat. In the game, you?re supposed to figure out how many films separate an actor from another movie with Kevin Bacon in it. Although, we think that automating the game like this kind of takes the fun out of it. Type ?fun facts?Feeling curious? This egg will provide you with a random fact card. As a bonus, this is an easy way to play a game of trivia with your friends. Type ?The answer to the ultimate question of life the universe and everything? (no punctuation)Fans of The Hitchhiker?s Guide to the Galaxy will of course know the answer to this. Type ?Google Pacman?In yet another nod to video games, Google made a playable game of Pac-Man as a doodle in 2010 to celebrate the game?s 30th anniversary–a doodle responsible for costing the US economy $120 million in lost productivity, or 5 million wasted work hours, upon its release. Thankfully, Google decided to keep the game up. Good news for bored office workers, not so much for the economy. These are our top 10 favorite Google Easter eggs, there are actually many more to be found. Can you think of one or two eggs that we didn?t go over? […]

Budget ConstraintsThe first is the fact that Windows 10 is (still) a free upgrade, unlike upgrading to Windows 7 or 8.1 from Windows XP. At the time, businesses were fretting over the impossible strains that they would be placing on their budget all at once. The other issue associated with Windows XP was that hardware running Windows XP was also old and out of date in the first place. Upgrading multiple workstations is another major cost that organizations dragged their heels with, and many paid the price once the end of support date finally arrived. In comparison, Windows 10 is a free upgrade for users of Windows 7 and 8.1, which many businesses upgraded to following Windows XP?s end of support. Keep in mind that Microsoft is only offering free upgrades to Windows 10 until July 29th, 2016 – one full year following its release to the public. Now is as good a time as ever to upgrade, especially considering the fact that, at the present moment, it costs your business nothing (well, almost nothing) to invest in Windows 10. Legacy ApplicationsWhen moving applications and internal software solutions over from Windows XP, organizations had to perform extensive research and dedicate resources to guarantee application compatibility with more modern operating systems. This process could take quite a bit of time, which was something that XP users didn?t have much of. Thanks to Windows XP?s end of life forcing users to upgrade, most of the heavy lifting for application compatibility has already been done. This means that, in theory, a Windows 7 or 8.1 upgrade to Windows 10 will be much easier to perform than an XP-to-Windows 7 upgrade. This doesn?t mean that you should upgrade without first taking a moment to consider compatibility again, though. It?s important to discuss the migration process with trusted technology professionals, and to thoroughly test compatibility in a controlled environment before committing wholeheartedly to a migration procedure. Windows 10 is now on over 300 million active devices. Does this figure include your business?s workstations and mobile devices? If not, your business should consider doing so before Windows 10?s free upgrade deadline arrives. The latest technology solutions can be an immense boon for your business, and one which sets your organization apart from similar businesses in your chosen service area. To learn more about migration, contact White Mountain IT Services at (603) 889-0800.

Granted, this technology is still relatively new, so it hasn?t yet developed to the point where it can cure every form of blindness, but it?s certainly a step in the right direction. In particular, the Argus device is designed to help patients suffering from retinitis pigmentosa. This is a hereditary condition causing light-sensitive cells in the retina to depreciate to the point where the victim will eventually be unable to see anything but the brightest of lights. Though this device cannot perfectly give back a person?s sight (at this time, it can only provide black and white images), it can at least restore some functions of the retina, which greatly improves the patient?s ability to see. The Argus is able to achieve this by sitting directly on the retina and receiving images wirelessly from a special camera mounted on a pair of retrofitted glasses. The device will then convert these images into electromagnetic pulses and send them to the human brain via the optic nerve, much like how a normal retina works. To achieve this connection to the optic nerve and retina, electronic equipment must first be implanted into the human body. This procedure perhaps presents the designers of the Argus with their greatest challenge, due to the body not being a very hospitable place for electronics. The body?s salt content causes electronics to corrode over time. This means that the designers must make the device small enough to not be obtrusive, yet sturdy enough to withstand these conditions. The first version of the Argus only had 16 electrodes, which provided the patient with limited sight. The newest versions of Argus come equipped with 60 electrodes, vastly improving sight capabilities. Eventually, Second Sight wishes its product to be able to provide color vision to its patients. What does this device look like in action? Watch this video. Looking to the future, this implant technology can be developed to treat many different kinds of blindness, such as optic nerve damage, diabetic retinopathies, glaucoma, and more. However, it may still be some time until we see this day, due to this technology having to directly connect to the brain. The advancements of technology are something to be optimistic about. When you look at devices like the Argus, it feels like it?s only a matter of time before technology is able to solve the worst of our problems. Agree? Disagree? Share your thoughts with us in the comments.