Musato Technologies Blog

Windows 10 S

Published June 23, 2017 | By Gideon E. M

Windows 10 S

What is Windows 10 S and how is it different from regular Windows 10?

Microsoft launched Windows 10 S, a brand new version of its ubiquitous operating system that will come with many new PCs in the near future. But what is it, how much does it cost and how is it different to Windows 10 Home or Pro?

What is it?

Windows 10 S is a fully fledged version of Windows 10 designed for low-cost computers as well as education-oriented PCs and even some premium computers, such as the new Microsoft Surface Laptop.

What does the ‘S’ stand for?

According to Microsoft, the “S” doesn’t stand for anything in particular, but the company says Windows 10 S is streamlined for simplicity, security, and speed. Windows 10 S will boot 15 seconds faster than a comparable machine running Windows 10 Pro with the same profile and apps installed, and it will run as fast on day 1,000 as it does on day one, Microsoft says. Continue reading →

Posted in Microsoft, Operating Systems, Windows 10 S | Tagged Microsoft, OS, Windows 10 S

Customer Relationships

Published June 22, 2017 | By Gideon E. M

Customer Relationships

8 Ways to Enhance Your Customer Relationships

Relationships are the foundation of every small business’ success. But as your business grows, it can become harder to sustain strong relationships with your customers.-Customer Relationships Management Systems

How can you serve your 100th customer with the same degree of personal attention you gave your first customer?

The answer is customer relationship management (CRM) solutions. CRM software can help you capture more information about customers, use what you’ve learned to provide better service, and quickly take advantage of sales opportunities. Here are some suggestions for finding the right CRM tool for your business.

1. Gather available customer information

You may not realize just how much data your business collects on your customers—from purchasing history, job title, and budget to personal details like alma mater and how many children they have. How can you put all that data to use? Look for a CRM tool like Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online that allows you to organize it all in one place. Continue reading →

Posted in Customer Relationships | Tagged CRM, Customer Relationships

URL Padding

Published June 21, 2017 | By Gideon E. M

The Mobile Phishing Threat You’ll See Very Soon: URL Padding

The fact that hackers are increasingly targeting mobile devices isn’t exactly a secret. And really, it’s not surprising either. After all, most of us are practically glued to our smartphones throughout the day.-URL Padding

An SMS arrived? Better read it straight away.

New email? Let me at it.

Screenshot of URL in a mobile browser.

Somebody, I don’t care about updating their Facebook status? Great, let’s see what they’re up to.

The increased attack volume we’re seeing directed at mobile devices is really nothing more than recognition on the part of threat actors that mobile devices account for an increasingly large proportion of web traffic… but aren’t nearly as well protected as PCs and laptops.

So with all that in mind, it shouldn’t be terribly surprising that we have a new mobile phishing threat to tell you about.

URL Padding

If you’re a regular reader of our blog, you may remember that back in March we published a post on the use of top level domains (TLDs) for phishing sites. In that post, we highlighted the use of generic (i.e., non-geographic) TLDs such as .support and .cloud to create URLs that appear to be authentic. For example:

review-helpteam.support

contact-us.site

summary-account.review Continue reading →

Posted in IT Services | Tagged Mobile Phishing, Phishing

Windows Server feature updates

Microsoft is moving Windows Server to the same semi-annual feature-update schedule as Windows client and Office 365 ProPlus are now on. Here’s how this will work.

As it has committed to do with Windows 10 and its Office 365 Pro Plus suite, Microsoft is set to deliver two new feature updates for Windows Server per year, starting this winter/fall (Northern Hemisphere)

The move to consolidate rollout schedules isn’t surprising, given Windows client and Server Engineering are both under Windows and Devices chief Terry Myerson. As Windows Client and Server are built in tandem, it makes sense for the client and server to be on the same release schedule.

In April, Microsoft announced that the Office 365 ProPlus suite and Windows client would be on the same feature release schedule, starting this September. There will be two new feature releases per year for both products. Microsoft will deliver this Fall the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update and a new version of Office Pro Plus, officials said. Continue reading →

Published June 21, 2017 | By Gideon E. M

The latest in quantum computing

D-Wave’s new and improved quantum computer is dubbed the 2000Q, representing the number of qubits in its quantum processor.- quantum computing

Quantum computer maker D-Wave Systems has released a new quantum processor, the 2000Q, which has double the number of qubits of its previous 1000Q system.

The 2000Q is the Canadian company’s fourth quantum computer system, aimed at solving certain optimization problems through a process called quantum annealing.

Quantum computers differ from conventional computers in that quantum bits, or qubits, can achieve superposition, or a state that is both 1 and 0 simultaneously, boosting the quantum processing unit’s (QPU’s) problem-solving powers. Continue reading →

Published June 20, 2017 | By Gideon E. M

The world’s first national technology ambassador

The world’s first national technology ambassador is heading to Silicon Valley. COPENHAGEN – The top firms in California’s Silicon Valley carry more weight on the global stage than many countries, which makes building diplomatic relations with them increasingly important, the world’s first national technology ambassador said.

Chosen to fill what his country’s foreign ministry has dubbed the first “techplomacy” posting on the U.S. West Coast, Denmark’s Casper Klynge will be tasked with building direct ties between his country and the likes of Facebook, Apple and Alphabet’s Google.

“We are to continue doing traditional diplomacy with countries and organizations, but we also have to start looking into what relation you can have with these big tech companies,” Klynge told Reuters in an interview. Continue reading →

Published June 19, 2017 | By Gideon E. M

Free and low-cost web analytics tools

Published June 19, 2017 | By Gideon E. M

Free and low-cost web analytics tools

Now that you are online and your company has a great website, what comes next? If you really want to maximize the impact of your website and make sure it was worth your investment, you need to track and analyze your online efforts using the web analytics.-web analytics tools

How these tools help you?

Web analytics software and social media monitoring tools help you avoid getting lost in data. The key is to set clear goals, isolate which metrics matter to your company and find the tools that will present that information to you simply.

For instance, web analytics applications can help you:

target your marketing initiatives
track the success of your search engine optimization efforts
understand your website visitor experience
learn what keywords bring in the best prospects
improve your sales conversion and
identify trends and improve website usability to maximize your website’s return on investment.
Related topics

Continue reading →

Posted in SEO, Website, Website Design in Durban, Wireless Technologies | Tagged Online Presence, Search Engine Optimisation, SEO, Web Analytics

Hard Disk Drives and Solid State Drives

Published June 18, 2017 | By Gideon E. M

Hard Disk Drives and Solid State Drives

SSD versus HDD: What’s the Difference?

The Choice Is Yours

Until recently, PC buyers had very little choice about what kind of storage to get in a laptop or desktop. If you bought an ultraportable, you likely had a solid-state drive (SSD) as the primary drive (C: on Windows, Macintosh HD on a Mac). Every other desktop or laptop form factor had a hard disk drive (HDD). Now, you can configure most systems with either an HDD or an SSD, or in some cases both. But how do you choose? We explain the differences between SSDs and HDDs (or hard drives), and walk you through the advantages and disadvantage of both to help you decide.-Hard Disk Drives and Solid State Drives

HDD and SSD Explained

The traditional spinning hard drive is the basic nonvolatile storage on a computer. That is, information on it doesn’t “go away” when you turn off the system, as is the case with data stored in RAM. A hard drive is essentially a metal platter with a magnetic coating that stores your data, whether weather reports from the last century, a high-definition copy of the original Star Wars trilogy, or your digital music collection. A read/write head on an arm accesses the data while the platters are spinning. Continue reading →

Posted in Computer Storage | Tagged Computer Storage, Hard Disk drives, HDD, Solid State Drives, SSD

The modern guide to staying safe online

Keeping safe and productive online requires smart decision-making and just the right preventive measures to fit the level of risk you can live with.- Staying safe online

The internet can be a scary place. Threats come in many forms, lurking in practically any corner. Worse, yesterday’s prevailing advice for staying safe online — avoid dodgy websites, don’t traffic in stolen or illegal goods, interact only with people you know — no longer holds. Phishing emails from supposed family members, spyware piggybacking on legitimate apps, well-known sites hijacked with malicious code — digital safety clearly needs new rules to meet today’s evolving threatscape.

Considering how much of our digital lives occurs online — communications, financial transactions, entertainment, work, education, to name a few — adopting even a few safe browsing practices can lead to broad benefits. And this includes how we deal with email messages as well, given how popular email is as a delivery mechanism for online attacks using exploit kits and malware.

Here, we provide a strategic guide for staying safe online, outlining what you can do to protect your data and privacy on the web, while remaining productive. Continue reading →

Published June 17, 2017 | By Gideon E. M

Internet freedom across Africa

Published June 17, 2017 | By Gideon E. M

Internet freedom across Africa: The thorny issue

Human beings are a very odd species. They don’t regard themselves as just another group of the myriad creatures that share this spinning orb we call Earth. No – they are a super-species, reinforced by the notion that they have “rights”. No other species has rights (other than those “granted” by humans).
After millions of years of evolution, we have arrived at the point where the development of technology ensures the supremacy of humans to the detriment of most other species. Even so, Nature still applies the “survival of the fittest” rule, so the supremacy is not universally beneficial. This means humans have a quality of life that ranges from luxurious to pitiful. Some humans use technology to oppress, others become oppressed through being denied access to technology.

How do rights fit into this scenario? Why are rights necessary? They are there to protect individuals and communities from the actions of others that would be detrimental to the continued existence of said individuals and communities. Which presumes that some members of the species will behave in such detrimental fashion. So, humans need to be protected from themselves. As I said, an odd species. Continue reading →

Posted in IT Services | Tagged Africa, Internet, IT Services