Appearance isn't everything, but—let's face it—looks do matter. Especially when it comes to software that's supposed to help you create something visually appealing. That's why I had such a hard time warming up to Poster, an $18 application designed to help you create and print posters, banners, signs, and more. It's not that Poster is ugly, exactly, though the graphics that bombard you when your first launch the program could be described as garish. You're welcomed to the application with an oversized, 3D font that might have been state of the art in 1984. And you're presented with even larger and often more colorful graphics and text pointing out various features of Poster (the opening screen changes each time you open the program). Luckily, all of these images and text disappear when you select the button at the bottom of the screen to start the program. What's unfortunate, though, is that Poster's interface remains the 1980s-style design when you're using the program. From the grim, gray background, to the wizard that guides you through the process of designing your poster and the icons used to edit, save, and print, everything about Poster simply seems ated. Poster is easy enough to use, though, even for a graphic design newbies. To get started, you choose the size of your poster; standard size posters can be printed on your own printer, while custom sized files can be saved as a PDF for printing on a capable commercial printer. (The free trial version lets you print 10 standard sized posters, but does not allow you to create anything larger or save your files as a PDF.) You also choose the orientation of the paper and a template. You can start with a blank page, or a template that incorporates photos and/or columns of text.
trend represent a new frontier of concerns. Kaspersky intends to simplify the process for all of the above issues. Its new Endpoint Security for Business merges all of these functions into one product so that small and midsize business IT managers can see and control every aspect of security from one console. at an analyst event last week in New York. Part of the problem, particularly for SMBs, is that there are too many moving parts involved. “Complexity is the enemy of security,” said chief product officer Petr Merkulov.
I was pleasantly surprised when I started using Poster Designer. With its sleek interface and intuitive features, this application impressed me from the start. Poster Designer ($30 for personal use, $50 for business use; free demo with watermarking) isn't perfect, as it lacks some of the more refined features and elegance of Microsoft's pricier Publisher, but it's easy to use and, sometimes, a bit more fun. , is designed to allow ordinary people (read: those without any design expertise) to create posters, banners, and signs easily. And it succeeds: when you launch the application, it presents you with a selection of templates that allow you to create a range of posters, from wanted signs to motivational posters and kid-friendly signs. Poster Designer makes it easy to create a sign or a funny, mock-motivational poster in just a few minutes. (The free demo version allows you to create as many posters as you'd like, but places a watermark on any that you print.) If you want to create something of your own design, you can eschew the templates in favor of a blank canvas. Poster Designer's neat and attractive interface makes it easy to insert text, images, shapes, backgrounds, and more. Poster Designer is much more visually appealing and easier to use than rival product Poster, an $18 application. But fine-tuning your design in certain ways can be a challenge. For example, when I tried to change the size of some, but not all, of the text in a text field, Poster Designer wouldn't allow it. And it continually pushed some of my text off the screen, rather than wrapping it to the next line automatically, as Microsoft Publisher would have done.
challenges are daunting and the costs higher than they originally thought they would be, according to the Cloud Survey report published today by consultancy KPMG International. The study indicates that one-half of the 650 respondents said their organizations already make use of the cloud for business processes. Two of the main reasons given for moving to cloud-based services were to make it easier to enter new markets and drives process transformation. But one-third said the cost of moving to the cloud were higher than expected, mainly because they belatedly discovered that it involved more changes in their existing business and IT architectures than they'd originally recognized. The problems they encountered included failure to address changes that were needed in business-process redesign, IT management capabilities, systems integration, infrastructure and various IT "configurations" involved in the transition process, the report notes. Many indicated their misconceptions about what adopting cloud-based services would mean arose due to vendor "hype" and confusion. For one-quarter of the companies that participated in the survey, the security-related challenges were seen as "extensive" and in general an area where business executives and IT needed to work more closely together to create a cloud-security strategy. However, according to the report, regulation itself did not appear to be a major hindrance to cloud adoption in many cases.
A faulty antivirus update issued by Kaspersky Lab on Monday left many of its home and business customers unable to access any websites on their computers. Systems administrators using Kaspersky Endpoint Security (KES) on their corporate networks on Kaspersky's support forum on Monday afternoon, Eastern Time. The reports kept piling up until late in the evening. "I have ~12,000 machines running KES8 and my help desk started getting calls about an hour ago saying users were having problems accessing various web sites," one user named bradb21 reported. Other users confirmed the problem and attempted to troubleshoot it themselves. Some reported success after disabling the Web protection component or turning off the product's monitoring for port 80, 443 and other Web proxy ports.
It's official: that's earth-shaking. This morning, I spoke to several analysts to get a feel for what Dell's privatization could mean for me, you, and the PC ecosystem as a whole. Hint: Microsoft's involvement isn't as portentous as it seems at first glance. Simply put, Dell's in the midst of a complex restructuring, realigning its focus to become more of —think IBM if IBM hadn't sold off its PC business. The wisdom of that transition won't be fully known for years to come, but in the short term, Dell isn't likely to generate the constantly increasing profits demanded by public stockholders. So the company's going private. "Dell wants the opportunity to finish its 'remake' without being bothered by the public markets," Stephen Baker, NPD's vice president of industry analysis, told PCWorld. "The market won't let go of the fact that it sees sales declines in PCs. Dell has to go back and build out its enterprise, cloud, and software services, and that's going to take some time and money. In the short term, that [restructuring] is not going to turn the overall trend of the company around, and it's kind of tough to do all that with the Wall Street guys breathing down your neck."
Sony has started shipping two new Vaio Ultrabooks with large screens starting at $699 as the company expands its lineup of thin and light laptops. The Vaio T Series 14 and 15 Ultrabooks have Intel's Core processors based on the Ivy Bridge microarchitecture. The Ultrabooks have Microsoft's Windows 8 operating system. The laptops are targeted at students and professionals, Sony said in a statement. A unique feature of the laptops is the ability to combine hard drives with low-capacity 24GB solid-state drives, which can be used to store operating systems. SSDs are typically faster than hard drives and can help laptops boot and perform faster. The T Series 15 Ultrabook is priced starting at $799 and has a 15-inch touchscreen that can display images at a 1920-by-1080-pixel resolution. The laptop weighs 2.35 kilograms with an internal battery.
that the ThinkPad Helix “rip and flip” hybrid won’t be available until March or April. Lenovo said during CES that the Helix would be available in late February. “a drool-worthy road warrior’s dream system” that represents “the likely future of mobile PCs.” The Helix also appears to be highly anticipated by some consumers who are already growing impatient waiting for the device to hit stores. “It’s February. Where is the Helix??” asked Birmingham, Alabama, resident David Coley on Facebook, sparking Lenovo’s confirmation that the device will be delayed. Others in the Facebook thread expressed disappointment the Helix wouldn’t be coming out as quickly as planned. Four-in-one The Helix is a Windows 8 convertible clamshell Ultrabook that detaches from its keyboard base to become a tablet. You can also fold the display over the keyboard into what Lenovo calls tablet+ mode, similar to previous generation tablet PCs. The Helix also features stand mode where you can twist the base around 180 degrees to see the device’s high-definition display without the keyboard getting in the way. The Helix’s tablet and base each have separate batteries, allowing for up to 10 hours of battery life in clamshell and tablet+ mode, the company claims. Lenovo’s ThinkPad Helix features an 11.6-inch display with 1920-by-1080 resolution, 10-point multitouch, up to 8GB RAM, Intel Core i5 or i7 processor, rear- and front-facing cameras, built-in stylus, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, and cellular data options. The Helix also has a USB 2.0 port, two USB 3.0 ports and a mini DisplayPort. When attached to the base, the Helix weighs 3.75 pounds and is expected to have a starting price around $1,500.