44 Billion??

Microsoft is offering an ‘unsolicited’ bid to buy Yahoo for 44 Billion Dollars, as reported on CNet today.  The offering comes out to about $30 per share… not bad for share holders who’s stock was just worth $15 yesterday on the stock exchange. 

I have to admit I am only a little surprised by this.  Our recent SharePoint training  gave me a better knowledge of Microsoft’s wanting to be THE player in ’searching’.  Additionally we all know the major search competitor is Google, and how else for MS to better position themselves to compete but to keep acquiring their competition. I thought it was just a matter of time before they would buy someone.  The catch I never thought it would be someone as well known as Yahoo.

Granted the deal isn’t done, this is just an offer, and Yahoo hasn’t agreed.  This will be an interesting story to follow.

XM and Sirius Merge?

Satellite Radio may soon never be the same, the two competitors are making plans to operate as one company.   Serius’ shareholders oked the purchase of XM for $5 Billion.  Will this help or hurt the satellite radio industry?

Tivo Lifetime is Back?

I received my normal Tivo e-newsletter yesterday and I noticed something intriguing… They are offering Tivo Lifetime Contracts on their smaller HD Tivo.  For $689 you can have a Tivo, Lifetime Service and a network adapter.  The catch, this program is aimed at existing customers ‘giving’ the HD… so you have to have an active Tivo contract to be eligible.

$299 for the box, $100.00 for the wireless adapter and $299.99 for the Lifetime Service

So  if you have a Tivo HD for more than 3 years you start breaking even… 

New SonicWall SSL VPN Firmware

Well SonicWall continues to impress me… Since we have implemented multiple SonicWall appliances my approval rating of SonicWall has sky rocketed.  15 months ago, I don’t think you could have convinced me to trust SonicWall, why exactly I don’t know but I thought of them as an inferior vendor to the rest of their markets… (Firewalls, SSL-VPN, Email Security)

But have to admit my opinion was unwarranted primarily by my lack of knowledge of what SonicWall brought to the table.

Well you ask what has changed my mind… well more things than I can write about in one post so I’ll just share the latest love and joy SonicWall has tossed our way.

A little history:We provide remote access to our network with SonicWall’s SSL-VPN 2000, which is proving to be a solid appliance and provides two interfaces for our users to gain network access… the first, the NetExtender which is a locally installed application that gives VPN access to our network via the SSL VPN 2000 appliance.  (We have elected to only use the NetExtender for laptops that the church owns).  For everyone else we are in the process of deploying the SSL VPN web portal.  This gives access to OWA, two terminal servers and our TimeClock web application.

Ok.. So that is what you expect from a SSL VPN product right… So what is new? 

• Until Oct 27th there wasn’t any Linux or Mac NetExtender support… well now there is a NetExtender client for both operating systems in addition to the pre-existing Windows application.  Not to mention this little beni is free with your support contract.
• A subscription service called SonicWall Virtual Assist: Virtual Assist as I understand it will give you similar remote support tools to the likes of WebEx, Gotomeeting.com or other remote support applications.  The supporting technician(connected behind the SSLVPN appliance or NetExtender) can send email invitations to those needing support or connect to a client requesting support in the queue.  And the cool part is list price is below $1000.00, I already have an email into our trusted SonicWall vendor to find out the discounted Non-Profit pricing.
  SonicWall’s description: SSL VPN 2.5 allows a technician to remotely diagnose and fix issues an off-site computer may be experiencing. The technician can remotely take control of the machine through secure control of mouse and keyboard to repair the problem while the customer is watching. This feature allows IT to support users off-site as if they were physically there. Requirements: Virtual Assist can only take remote control of Windows based operating systems. The technician needs to be behind the SonicWall SSL VPN appliance or running NetExtender in order to utilize the Virtual Assist feature.

So I say, if you haven’t given SonicWall a good lately, you should… If you have a SonicWall SSL VPN download the new firmware and check it out.

Goog411

I have recently been using Goog411 (800-GOOG-411) from my mobile phone rather than traditional 411 service…  Why? Its free (not counting the use of airtime).  You can either have the information sent via SMS to your handset or they will connect you to the merchant at no cost. 

I have had great success with the voice recognition, and have only gotten one dead number when I used the service… A lot better than 800-Free-411 where the voice recognition often can’t figure out the name I am trying to look-up.

But the question is, how are they making it free?  800-Free-411 has you listen to several silly advertisements, but not Goog411…

I decided to look at the privacy policy to see exactly what  info they might be selling to make money… I think the list is acceptable for free 411 service, what say you? 

No Cash from You…

It seems that Apple, Inc. is always inventing new products that will separate their customers from their money but their new strategy is interesting… They are telling their customers, that good old hard cash isn’t good enough for the iPhone.  Who would have thought that Apple was too good for your green backs….

Foxnews.com reports:   “Apple, Inc. no longer accepts cash for iPhone purchases, and now limits sales of the cell phone to two per person in a move to stop people from reselling them.”

This latest info is only on the heels that our fruit friendly company is making $18 per month per iPhone sold from their partner AT&T.

It seems like seeking to control the industry isn’t enough for Apple… now they have to control their customers buying power and the ability of their customers to resell their products… Where is the capitalistic ideal in that??  The IPhone is good enough for Apple to sell to their customers, but not good enough to sell again on Ebay.