Home Office Highway, Mobile, Road Warrior, Telework

The Cloud: Your Stuff — Bound in Chains?

Jeff Zbar — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 13:33:02 +0000

You can learn a lot — and be scared to death — by reading book reviews.

I was in my home office flipping through Newsweek’s 50 Books to Read Right Now looking for books to take on the road trip.

I came across No. 4 on the list: The Big Switch: Rewiring the World, from Edison to GoogleThe Big Switch: Rewiring The World, From Edison to Google, by Nicholas Carr. This bestseller is touted as “the best read so far about the significance of the shift to cloud computing” by Financial Times.

Fair enough. Then The New Humanist chimed in: “Carr may take a somewhat apocalyptic view of the vast technological and social issues which a move to utility computing will raise, not least those of privacy, ownership and access, but he makes a compelling case for its desirability in a world where the network is pervasive. Whether we go gently into this world is, of course, up to us, but with the insight offered here we will at least be prepared to understand the consequences of our choices earlier in the process rather than later. ”

Truth be told, we all live in the cloud. Teleworkers who log on from home. Road warriors who access the corporate server via a customer’s conference room. Home officers who open the HP at some Starbucks to check Gmail or Google Docs. Moms on AOL. Dads checking their fantasy league stats. Bloggers blogging, tweeps tweeting, friends Facebooking.

We all live in the cloud.

I like being able to access my stuff from any Internet-connected device or location. I like being able to blog from the beach, or tweet from a fishing boat. I like the inherent security of knowing stuff “out there” is backed up better than it may be on my PC in the home office.

When I travel, my stuff is available. When I open the laptop and work from the bedroom, my stuff is there.

We live — and increasingly work — in the cloud. It’s pervasive.

But is it pernicious? Do government agencies have access to our stuff? Are people snooping Wi-fi hotspots and sniffing for valuable data being sent across the ether? Is Google destined to become an Agent of the Institution, an organization who’s praise will turn to fear as it grows bigger and more everpresent (and this week, Google announced it will launch an operating system to rival Windows and Mac OS).

“While technological innovation is largely the creation of idealistic geniuses spurred on by utopian visions, Carr points out, it is rapidly co-opted by the incumbent in power and turned to other purposes,” writes the San Francisco Chronicle. “Technology may be the ultimate tool or even the ultimate psychedelic, but do we really want to become utterly dependent on something about which we have essentially no say? And as for those utopian visions, do we really share them? ”

Praiseworthy or pernicious? As you enter your user ID and password into a network whose connections are unknown, you decide.

In the meantime, read on to learn more about Carr’s Switch…

“A hundred years ago, companies stopped generating their own power with steam engines and dynamos and plugged into the newly built electric grid. The cheap power pumped out by electric utilities didn’t just change how businesses operate. It set off a chain reaction of economic and social transformations that brought the modern world into existence. Today, a similar revolution is under way. Hooked up to the Internet’s global computing grid, massive information-processing plants have begun pumping data and software code into our homes and businesses. This time, it’s computing that’s turning into a utility.

“The shift is already remaking the computer industry, bringing new competitors like Google and Salesforce.com to the fore and threatening stalwarts like Microsoft and Dell. But the effects will reach much further. Cheap, utility-supplied computing will ultimately change society as profoundly as cheap electricity did. We can already see the early effects — in the shift of control over media from institutions to individuals, in debates over the value of privacy, in the export of the jobs of knowledge workers, even in the growing concentration of wealth. As information utilities expand, the changes will only broaden, and their pace will only accelerate.

“Nicholas Carr is the ideal guide to explain this historic upheaval. Writing in a lucid, engaging style, he weaves together history, economics and technology to describe how and why computers are changing — and what it means for all of us. From the software business to the newspaper business, from job creation to community formation, from national defense to personal identity, The Big Switch provides a panoramic view of the new world being conjured from the circuits of the “World Wide Computer.”

Acclaim for The Big Switch:

“Future Shock for the Web-apps era … Compulsively readable - for nontechies, too.” - Fast Company

“Magisterial … Draws an elegant and illuminating parallel between the late-19th-century electrification of America and today’s computing world. ” - Salon

“Quick, clear read on an important theme … Scary? No doubt. But as we prepare for the World Wide Computer, it’s not a bad idea to consider its dark side. ” - Business Week

“Mr. Carr’s provocations are destined to influence CEOs and the boards and investors that support them as companies grapple with the constant change of the digital age.” - The Wall Street Journal

“… widely considered to be the most influential book so far on the cloud computing movement.” - The Christian Science Monitor

“Lucid and accessible … [Carr's] account is one of high journalism, rather than of a social or computer scientist. His book should be read by anyone interested in the shift from the world wide web and its implications for industry, work and our information environment.” - Times Higher Education

“‘Information is born free, but everywhere is found in chains.’ So Nicholas Carr – in his latest and characteristically stimulating challenge to conventional thinking about technology – might have paraphrased Rousseau.”

-Democracy

“Nick Carr has written a meditation on the loss of the old when confronted by the new, the loss of the incumbents’ advantage when history shifts under them, the loss of data control to third parties, and the loss of sovereignty to institutions and other actors we can’t control.”

-Public CIO

“The Big Switch … will almost certainly influence a large audience. Carr persuasively argues that we’re moving from the era of the personal computer to an age of utility computing - by which he means the expansion of grid computing, the distribution of computing and storage over the Internet, until it accounts for the bulk of what the human race does digitally. And he nicely marshals his historical analogies, detailing how electricity delivered over a grid supplanted the various power sources used during most of the 19th century … I also suspect he’s right to suggest that in a decade or so, many things we now believe permanent will have disappeared.”

-Technology Review

“Considered and erudite.”

-The Telegraph

“Carr stimulates, provokes and entertains superbly.”

-Information Age

“Carr created a huge rift in the business community with his first book, Does IT Matter?, challenging the conventional wisdom that information technology provides a competitive advantage. Here he examines the future of the Internet, which he says may one day completely replace the desktop PC as all computing services are delivered over the Net as a utility, the Internet morphing into one giant ‘World Wide Computer.’ … Carr warns that the downside of the World Wide Computer may mean further concentration of wealth for the few, and the loss of jobs, privacy, and the depth of our culture.”

-Booklist (starred review)

“Highly interesting. Carr presents a persuasive historical analogy that computer utilities will replace in-house computer facilities as electrical utilities replaced in-house generators. . . . The Big Switch impressively discusses the positive and negative aspects of the coming ‘World Wide Computer.’ ”

-Thomas P. Hughes, Emeritus Mellon Professor of the History and Sociology of Science, University of Pennsylvania, and author of Human-Built World and American Genesis

“Nick Carr gets it right. There’s a big switch coming. Personal computers are over; instead our lives will soon center around one planetary World Wide Computer. Carr lays out scores of reasons why he, and we, should dread this inevitable future. But even for those of us who can’t wait for its arrival, this profile of the emerging machine by a very competent reporter is the kind of evidence every future-oriented person should read.”

-Kevin Kelly, author of Out of Control and New Rules for the New Economy

“Carr’s analysis of the recent past is clear and insightful as he examines common computing tools that are embedded in the Internet instead of stored on a hard drive, including Google and YouTube.”

-Publishers Weekly

“A leading technological rabble-rouser prognosticates a world beyond Web 2.0. [Carr's] broader sociological observations are punctuated by a pair of ominously prescient chapters about privacy issues and cyberterrorism.”

-Kirkus Reviews

“An enjoyable and thought-provoking read.”

-GigaOm

“The Big Switch explains the future of computing in terms so simple I can understand them.”

-Ed Cone, Greensboro News-Record

No Summer Staycation Here as Home Office Vocation Hits the Road

Jeff Zbar — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 10:39:13 +0000

‘Home Office Highway’ RV Road Show Reveals Latest Digital Lifestyle, ‘Location Independence’ Technology

Coral Springs, FL (July 8, 2009) – Want to hit the road – but don’t think you can leave the job behind? Then take it along for the ride.

This summer, the “anywhere” office comes to life as Home Office Highway ’09 reveals the technology, tools and strategies that make taking a vacation a guilt-free and productive adventure.

The two-week road show and social media event will bring “location independence” to the open road in a recreational vehicle equipped with the latest small office technology. Hosted and produced by technology, telework and home office columnist expert Jeff Zbar, the tour will take his family throughout the American South, visiting small towns and popular tourist destinations – and revealing just how productive a traveling family can be.“In today’s economy, many entrepreneurs and employees feel it’s the wrong time to take a break,” said Zbar, who will chronicle the adventure each day in blogs and videologues at Home Office Highway.com. The trip will culminate in a presentation at Orlando’s Disney Entrepreneur Center.

“Especially in today’s economic climate, people need a release. With ‘cloud’ computing, simple-to-use technology and the belief that work is a thing, not a place, people will discover that if you can’t escape work, maybe you take a little work with you on your escape.”

The centerpiece of the tour will be a 25-foot RV equipped with technology needed to create a fully functional office. Notebook and netbook computers will connect effortlessly to the Internet via mobile broadband services. The family will access “cloud” computing applications – banking, work, email, the Web – simply and efficiently. Smartphones from partner Verizon Wireless will be synched to office data – ensuring no appointment, contact or event is missed. Along the way, viewers will learn how to roll out an office – and then pack it away so work and family remain balanced along the way.

TOUR LOGISTICS: Home Office Highway departs South Florida on July 20, and returns in early August. To follow the tour or download a free guide to the tour and remote work strategies, visit www.homeofficehighway.com, or www.chiefhomeofficer.com, or follow the tour on Twitter at @homeofficehiway.

For interviews or more information, contact Alan T. Brown with Fish Consulting in Hollywood, Florida at 954-893-9151 / abrown@fish-consulting.com

Remote Home Office & Telework Tools: A Road Warrior Pre-Departure Check

Jeff Zbar — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 12:19:58 +0000

Jeff @ work at the dinette home office

Cloud computing, Location Independence, the Anywhere Office…

Whatever it’s known by, remote work done beyond the traditional and home office liberates millions of workers every year. Already, countless teleworkers are untethered to work. And more agile remote work strategies and policies ould free even more to explore boundless opportunities – if they knew and used the tools needed to explore this New Way to Work.

Home Office Highway explores those tools and strategies. Over the next month, we’ll write about trip preparation and lessons learned, the tools we’ll use and the applications we’ll log on to from the road.

Travel with us as we reveal how the right technology, client expectations, and family ground rules can help you work wisely from the road. So hit the highway in your RV, a minivan or the family sedan, or set up shop in a beachfront cottage or timeshare.

For many businesses, the ability to work remotely creates a key disaster recovery / business continuity solution.

Remember: “Work is not a place. It’s a thing.” It’s a big country out there. Don’t let a thing like work get in the way of exploring up close and personal.

Online Back-Up: Remote Control & Security - Even for Road Warriors

Jeff Zbar — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 10:57:05 +0000

Online Backup Keeps Home Office & Telework Data Accessible on the Road — and Safe From the Storm

By David Friend, CEO, Carbonite, Inc.

‘Tis the season — for hurricanes and summer travel.

It always amazes me how so many business owners completely neglect the safety of the data on their computers. Or will travel without access to their documents.

Consider this: during hurricane Katrina, more than 35,000 businesses had their computers ruined. According to U.S. Dept. of Labor Statistics, 40 percent of all businesses that have data disasters never reopen. Some 25 percent of the rest fail within two years.

In short, when you lose all your home office’s or small business records and files, you’re cooked.

And if you’re traveling and don’t have access to your data, files and records, it might as well be locked in a vault somewhere.

It’s likely that more than two-thirds of small businesses do back up their data regularly, but it’s almost always to external hard drives, DVDs or tapes. Unfortunately, these are usually stored nearby. So if the computer gets flooded, so do the backups.

And they’re inaccessible from any remote location.

That’s why it’s so important to back up online where your data gets stored in a completely different part of the country (hopefully somewhere well away from the hurricane belt).

For that reason, online backup is the right solution for small businesses. It’s less expensive than local solutions and gets your data far, far away.

How does online backup work?

A small downloaded program encrypts and compresses your files for privacy. It then transmits them over the Internet to the vendor’s data center. Any time you change a file or create a new file, the online backup software immediately detects it and starts backing it up.

The nice thing about online backup is that it just works in the background. Right now I’m sitting in Boston’s airport, and my online backup is backing up this story as I’m writing it. I never have to remember to do a backup.

If your computer gets swamped this season, or hit by a tornado, an earthquake, or some other natural disaster makes it impossible for you to get to your office, you can get — or get to — all your files back with a few clicks.

If you’re travelling, you can access them from any computer. That means no more dragging your computer with you on trips.

Companies like Mozy.com, eVault.com, Connected.com and my company Carbonite.com offer an invaluable solution. Prices vary. But from around $55 per year, you get unlimited online backup – less than half the price of an external hard drive. Today, we have almost 30 billion files backed up - with more than 100 million new files added every day. More importantly, we’ve restored over 2 billion files.

If you haven’t already, give online back up a try. Most vendors have free trials.

And you’ll sleep a lot better when that storm’s approaching.

David Friend is chairman and CEO of Carbonite Inc., a leading provider of online backup services. He is a serial entrepreneur who has founded five other successful companies. A Yale graduate and trustee for Berklee College of Music and Brookings Institution, Friend taught at MIT and has been featured in Boston Globe, Wall Street Journal, Fortune and Forbes.

Home Office & Small Businesses Mixed on Hittin’ the Road

Jeff Zbar — Wed, 27 May 2009 21:08:14 +0000

Hittin’ the road? Many home-based entrepreneurs and small business owners aren’t so sure.

Despite continued economic challenges, the percentage of small business owners planning a summer vacation of at least a week remains similar to last year (56% this year, vs. 59% in 2008), notes the American Express OPEN Small Business Monitor, a semi-annual survey of business owners.

Then again, some entrepreneurs are showing signs that they’ve had enough of the dour predictions and office: Fewer business owners are feeling guilty about taking time off compared to last year (22% vs. 28% in 2008).

What’s most striking about their vacation plans compared to last year is the fact that more business owners are opting to take a less expensive vacation in today’s uncertain economy (32% vs. 20% in 2008). Four of 10 business owners will not take a vacation at all because they can’t afford it.

(The American Express OPEN Small Business Monitor, released each spring and fall, is based on a nationally representative sample of 727 small business owners/managers of companies with fewer than 100 employees. The anonymous survey was conducted via telephone by Echo Research from February 24- March 9, 2009. The poll has a margin of error of +3.6%).

Hittin’ the Road? Pack Your Mobile Home Office Well

Jeff Zbar — Sat, 23 May 2009 21:52:57 +0000

What’s in your pack? A tablet PC, walkie-talkie radio, flash drive, broadband wireless card, five-plug, surge protected power strip. That’s what in mine…

When we recently took a family cruise, I made sure to pack my backpack with all the essentials needed to create a home office from the road.

Along side my HP tablet PC were my broadband wireless aircard (essentially useless hundreds of miles out to sea), my Ativa Memory Stick card reader, a USB flash drive, and a Monster five-plug, surge protected power strip. You never know when you’ll have to plug the laptop, camera charger and some other device into one single outlet.

I also carry a stretch of ethernet cable, and a clutch of adapters.

Here’s what some other people had in their backpacks and laptop bags. Wireless Road Warrior found size essential. Webworker Daily had a review of the stash in one laptop case (read the comments for some more good ideas). Here’s some more threads on the topic.

Need a Hotspot in the Mobile Home Office? Create Your Own

Jeff Zbar — Fri, 08 May 2009 16:23:26 +0000

Hey bud. Can you spare some wi-fi?

It’s the lament of any connected family, home office worker or teleworker who hits the road: Dad has a broadband wireless card for HIS laptop, leaving Mom and the kids disconnected with their iTouches or Nintendo DSis, and eagerly awaiting the call, “Who’s next…?”

No longer. Verizon Wireless will introduce its Novatel Wireless MiFi 2200 Intelligent Mobile Hotspot on May 17. The device enables customers to create a personal Wi-Fi cloud capable of sharing high-speed Internet connectivity of Verizon’s 3G Mobile Broadband network with up to five Wi-Fi-enabled devices such as notebooks, netbooks, cameras, gaming devices or portable media/MP3 players.

Small enough to fit in a pocket (size: 3.5” x 2.3” x 0.4” and 2+ ounces), its streamlined form factor combines integrated internal CDMA and Wi-Fi antennas, and advanced security and authentication technologies.

And its rechargeable battery provides up to four hours active use with one device connected through Wi-Fi. It also has some 40 hours of standby time on a single charge.

The timing seems perfect for a fast growing sector. Wi-fi mobile phones are projected to grow more than 30% among business, consumer and student users. The cost: $99.99 (with a two-year agreement and after a $50 mail-in rebate).

“It gives customers the flexibility to transform their Wi-Fi-enabled consumer electronics into Mobile Broadband devices and to choose how and when they need to be connected at a price point that will match most budgets,” says Mike Lanman, vice president and chief marketing officer for Verizon Wireless.

Shared wi-fi is a great concept. At least the kids aren’t asking, “Hey dad, can I have the car keys, please…”

Price plans vary: $39.99 monthly access for 250 MB monthly allowance and 10 cents per megabyte overage; or $59.99 monthly access for 5 GB monthly allowance and 5 cents per megabyte overage. Customers also can use the MiFi 2200 with Verizon Wireless’ Mobile Broadband DayPass for $15 for 24-hour access when the device is purchased at full retail price without a monthly service plan.

Stylish Digs: Concept Mobile Office for Road Warriors, Teleworkers

Jeff Zbar — Mon, 04 May 2009 12:30:00 +0000

What defines your perfect mobile office?

I was reading Trend Spotter this week and came across Nissan ’s (not so) new mobile office concept vehicle. Except that it cannot sleep a soul, it’s a pretty cool active workplace.

Unveiled at the 2007 Tokyo Motor Show, the NV200 sports a well-hidden, full mobile office in the rear. Though its target apparently is “ocean photographers,” I could see this as a little giddyup run-about for Home Office Highway’ers and active teleworkers.

Sure, the rear pod can stash all the “necessary equipment a professional ocean photographer needs as well as equipment for organizing and editing photographs and images while on assignment including diving gear and an underwater sea scooter.”

But what about for a general home officer? Laptop? Sure. Broadband aircard? Absolutely. Ruck sack and hiking boots? Don’t see why not…

OK, so it lacks windows and a view (open the back hatch and just look outside). And it sports a pretty sterile interior (sometimes you need sterility and a tame environment to stay focused).

But as Trend Spotter noted, “The interior is created to combine efficiency and a human touch, mentally refreshing its occupants when traveling to or from a job site.”

Even if the job site IS the open road…

Hey Road Warrior: How Industrious Is Your Cottage Home Office?

Jeff Zbar — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 22:13:25 +0000

Your industrious cottage can make remote work workable by Nancy Doniger for the New York Times.

The New York Times had a piece on the tools needed to make a second home or vacation getaway an industrious place. I lent a few insights.

For home office workers (entrepreneurs or teleworkers alike), top tips included:

- Wireless broadband. Internet is central to any effective home office or remote workplace.

- A computer. Netbooks and small laptops allow people to take their work anywhere — without dragging a luggable in tow.

- Cloud with Web-apps. “The cloud is the concept of working in an untethered environment, so all your documents are out there,” writer Billie Cohen quoted me as saying. Click here to learn more…

CallPod Powers Road Warrior Tools

Jeff Zbar — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 19:01:57 +0000

BlackBerry? Check. MP3 player? Check. Camera? Check.

Forty-two linear feet of wires, cables and cords attached to transformers to recharge all these devices? Uh… OK. No more.

Home officers and road warriors are entangled in lengths of wire — unless you use something to master the morass. Enter CallPod, and various products designed to keep the juice flowing…

Fueltank

Fueltank™ can simultaneously charge two small electronic devices NO OUTLETS NECESSARY. It contains a rechargeable lithium ion battery which has more than 7 times the capacity of a standard mobile phone. The Fueltank utilizes device-specific adapters - the same ones used for Chargepod® - so you can customize your Fueltank™ to meet the exact needs of you and your family. Proprietary voltage regulator technology senses the amount of power required to charge your devices. An LED fuel capacity indicators displays when the charging indicator button is pressed. www.callpod.com/products/fueltank

Chargepod (the original All-in-One Charger)The Chargepod (new price starts at $39.95) is a versatile 6-in-1 Charger that simultaneously charges popular portable devices including Blackberrys, iPods/iPhones, Palm Treos, in addition to hundreds of other cell phones, PDAs and portable gaming devices. Devices can be charged at home, in the car or while traveling.

www.callpod.com/products/chargepod

The Drone, a plug and play VoIP and Bluetooth stereo USB adapter for PC’s and Mac computers. The Drone, which was created from die-cast zinc and high impact polycarbonate for strength and durability, seamlessly switches between Bluetooth headsets and headphones and can connect to any PC or Mac computer via USB port. It has an operating range of 100 meters. Its combined features surpass any other Bluetooth USB adapter ever created. The Drone is perfect for use with Skype and other VoIP users using a Bluetooth headset that don’t like to be tethered to their laptop, Mac or PC. The Drone allows users to roam around at home or at the office freely up to 100 meters away. www.callpod.com/products/drone

Dragon V2Dragon V2 (DV2) headset for Bluetooth mobile phones, PDAs VOIP products and computers. The DV2 gives users the powerful combination of unparalleled range and superior sound quality. Talk on your mobile phone without wires using the Dragon® Bluetooth® headset. With a 328+ ft (100m) range, you can roam around your office or home without having to carry your phone. Dragon can also connect with your PC for Skype® calls simultaneously, allowing you to switch between your PC and mobile phone with a press of a button. With advanced dual-mic noise suppression™, the callers on the other end will enjoy crystal clear voice even if you are at an airport, noisy restaurant or car. The Dragon V2 with all Bluetooth-enabled mobile phones, computers and PDAs. www.callpod.com/products/dragon

Keeper (iPhone App)
Currently information entered into the iPhone is not secure and remains unsecure when synced and transferred to the user’s PC or Mac, where is can be easily stolen. By adding military-grade encryption (128-bit AES), Keeper secures the user’s information on both the iPhone and computer. Keeper is the most secure password storage system application available for the iPhone and other mobile devices.

Keeper Highlights

* Military-Grade Encryption (128-bit AES)

* Import/Export/Backup your data

* Share data between your PC/Mac, multiple iPhones

* Real-time Search

* Self Destruct Mode

* Keeper is stable, secure, fast and extremely easy to use