Blog
Website refresh
As you have no doubt noticed we have given our website a makeover. Over the last 6 months we have been developing our small business website design and hosting services and the lessons we learned with this site have gone into the making of our premium-template based offering. In time we will be be adding a gallery of our work but in the meantime why not talk to us today and see how we can give your site a new look for...
read moreVPS pricing: 123-reg taxes linux users
In my inbox today dropped an email from 123-rg.co.uk, who we buy DNS services from, announcing their new VPS services. Following the link the services looked very good, 1Gb RAM and unmetered bandwidth from £9.99pm. Things started to go downhill at the OS selection stage – only Centos or Ubuntu were offered as alternatives to Windows and things got even stranger with pricing – a like for like VPS with Linux was 50% more expensive than one with Windows. Very strange given the zero license costs of the Linux platform, so can...
read moreWikipedia goes dark: Raising attention for SOPA and PIPA
With today’s blackout of Wikipedia, the rest of the world will get a glimpse into the hottest topic of online debate Stateside. The 2 anti-piracy bills, SOPA and PIPA run the risk of being misused where mere allegations of copyright infringement could result in an entire site being blocked. For the large community contribution-based sites such as Youtube and Wikipedia this is a major concern. Venture Capitalists have stated they would have to stop funding internet startups if these bills pass as the risk of killing a fledgling...
read moreLinux Mint now the most popular desktop linux
As reported on the Slashgear website, Linux Mint is now the most popular desktop distribution. Mint is Myfreedom’s Linux desktop and laptop weapon of choice, too, with Debian meeting all our server needs. Mint’s success is all the more remarkable considering the small size of the project and the fact it is funded by sponsors and individual donations – this is no Red Hat. The latest version, Linux Mint 12 “Lisa”, is now available on the Linux Mint...
read moreThe importance of community in open source
I found I was looking back at myself today when I had a nose at www.opensource.com, with my mugshot on the homepage in their “contributor spotlight” slot. Whilst it was nice to be recognised for the time I spend reading and commenting on the excellent articles and discusion there, it got me thinking about the community’s role in Open Source. I think it serves as a fantastic example of how open source software and open culture works: I have invested my time in reading, rating and commenting on the content published and now...
read moreAlfred in Kenya’s Kiva loan fully repaid
Well done Alfred in paying off his loan. Alfred is a 28 year old watch repairer and needed a loan for spares and stock to sell. We will be using the repaid loan to reinvest for another entrepreneur. Best of luck in the future, Alfred! Why not lend $25 today and help out on www.kiva.org?
read moreNew office search begins
Following the news that our current premises is to be sold for development we have started to look at alternative options. Whilst we are not under any pressure to move just yet, as the planning process will take a while, we have decided to get an idea of the current market. We looked at two premises today; one was rather uninspiring but the other had some potential. It will be interesting to see what the rate card looks like. Whilst there is an element of hassle assessing premises and conducting a move, it also provides an exciting...
read moreWarning: Infected plugins uploaded to wordpress.org
This week it was discovered that unauthorised software uploads were made to the WordPress.org plugins repository and 3 compromised plugins were discovered. Anyone with a wordpress.org account should have been notified (although I have not been yet) to change their password. They are also advising anyone who uses AddThis, WPtouch, or W3 Total Cache plugins and there’s a possibility they could have updated in the past day, to replace with the clean versions. We use wordpress extensively through our businesses and all instances have been...
read moreOpen Source gains ground in the enterprise
As an SMB, we are big fans of Open Source software and it seems that the big boys are paying more attention now, too. As this post describes, usage is increasing year on year. Whilst the City runs huge parallel processing farms on Linux and most of the stock exchanges have also ditched proprietary software, many large firms are still ignorant of the benefits of open operating systems and tools. One thing that cannot be overlooked is the university leavers of today, fully immersed in social media and open source, will be the IT leaders...
read moreOur latest Kiva Loan: Monique from Rwanda
Our lending group has just made it’s 18th loan, to Monique from Rwanda. Monique is 22 years old. She has two children, ages 4 and 2 years; they are not yet in school. She owns a store in which she sells cooking oil, Irish potatoes, and kerosene. She has been running this business for 2 years. This helps her provide all the requirements of her family easily. She is requesting a loan to buy more cooking oil and Irish potatoes in order to increase her profits. See below for more information on our loans, or better still, join our lending...
read moreVisiting Business Startup Show
Today we are visiting the Business Startup Show At London’s Excel Centre. Interesting to watch fellow entrepreneurs pitching their business ideas looking at what others are doing in promoting themselves. Hopefully we can take some lessons away that will benefit our business.
read moreOffice fire and a real reminder about disaster recovery
Today there was a fire at the business centre in Ascot where our office is located. Thankfully no one was hurt and it was dealt with promptly by the Fire Brigade, but incidents like this server as a constant reminder of business risk. A third of all data losses are the result of a disaster and 93% of businesses that suffer a major data loss fold within a year. A little thought can go a long way in ensuring your business can cope. During discussion with another tenant after being evacuated he admitted he diligently takes backups to an...
read moreHelping to spread the word with a listing on UK Small Business Directory
Helping to spread the word with a listing on UK Small Business Directory today. Check them out by clicking the button below. Here’s hoping for a flood of activity !
read morePolice review reminds us to keep looking to the future
“The bureaucracy is expanding to meet the needs of the expanding bureaucracy” -Unknown This week’s announcement by The Home Secretary of an efficiency drive in cutting administration overhead aims to reduce 251m hours of effort a year. It seems today’s Police force is hamstrung by administration and drowning in paperwork. As I listened to Therasa May describe the problem it reminded me of the classic problem of “admin bloat” Like many large organizations, the Police forces have clearly suffered with lack...
read moreHome Office Printer Review: Samsung Laser ML1865W
In today’s modern workplace, the ability to work flexibly from the home office is an essential. One area usually overlooked is printing and we were no different, struggling with home inkjets. We recently decided to replace these with small-footprint lasers and the ML1865 from Samsung fit the bill perfectly. The Samsung Laser ML1865W measures 34x34x17cm in use and comes with both wireless and USB interface. The USB connection is required for the initial wireless setup. This printer is no slouch and prints at 18PPM. Print...
read moreMac Skype Client vulnerability: No cause for concern
Don’t panic, Skype tells users: Currently a story is doing the rounds that Mac owners running the Skype communications client are at risk of system compromise from specially crafted messages. Given that the default for Skype is to not accept messages from unknown sources, Skype have been playing down this threat and plan to fix in next week’s planned update. There was a hotfix made available last month and concerned users should upgrade (click Skype –> Check for updates) More details...
read moreNew stock of second user HP DL360 servers
We have a new batch of HP DL360 G3 & G4 1u servers available. Specs include both single and dual CPU models up to 3.6Ghz. Complete with Integrated Lights-Out management, the DL360 offers features and concentrated computing power in a 1U package. This system has been fully tested and the disks have completed an exhaustive Secure Data Erase process to ensure they are in good working order and ready for use. Finally we test using a Linux server operating system and ship with a 30 day warranty for peace of mind. Contact us to...
read moreWEEE advisory board closure date confirmed
The WEEE Advisory Board (WAB), earmarked for closure as part of the UK’s public sector cuts, will close its doors on 1st October, CRN reports. The closure was announced in July by Vince Cable with a target closure within a year. The WAB will hand over responsibility to the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS).
read moreBecoming more social, welcome again!
Now the site has bedded in and is running smoothly, we have added the ability to leave comments and share to popular social sites within our blog and news articles. In addition we have linked the site to popular services such as Facebook, Digg and Twitter. We hope these changes will make it easier for visitors to engage with us and we are looking forward to some interesting conversations in the future.
read moreAutomated windows and application deployment
I have previously written that, despite being a small business, we try and emulate a corporate IT department where it makes sense to do so. One area large corporates typically excel is desktop and application deployment and it is this subject I wanted to see how we can improve to solve a pressing business need. Myfreedom Logistics sells second user IT equipment and some PC’s are supplied as a complete ready to go system, with the OS and a suite of applications included. For low volumes building by hand is feasible, but as the...
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