How iPhone 4S is Helping Apple Close in on Android

Interesting post ( if yore reading this in Q1 2012 !) on smartphones sales Q4 2011, showing Android OS prominence giving way following the launch of the IPhone 4sS .
Read the full article here : How iPhone 4S is Helping Apple Close in on Android

Junior Software Developer Vacancy

Software Developer...

We are looking for a junior developer to join our small but expanding team based in Mid Devon - due to remote location own transport is essential!

We are looking for someone with .NET & C#, if you have knowledge or experience with WPF this would an advantage. Experience with contemporary web languages and an understanding of web life cycles also useful.

We are looking for a reliable, flexible and highly competent team member who wants to work on innovative web, software , touch and interactive projects. Our solutions often involve hardware or virtual installs, so we're looking for a candidate who is familiar and has a genuine interest in Windows and Linux platforms.

Commercial experience is desirable but not essential, however at interview we would expect the candidate to show their code portfolio (doesn't have to be finished!) and we may ask you to partake in a practical code buddy session.


Job Details...

Type: Full time.

Salary: £18- 22K

Location: Bow possibly relocating to Okehampton.

Start: February 2012.

To apply ...

Please email your CV, introduction and contact info to charlotte@bowitsolutions.co.uk with SOFTWARE DEVELOPER POSITION as the subject. We will acknowledge all applications received and if you are invited to interview we will be in touch by the 31st of January 2012.

Tesco virtual supermarket in a subway station

Tesco virtual supermarket in a subway station (I originally saw this on DNA's advertising blog). Is it an amazing use of tech and time saving solutions or another clog in the wheel to automate everything we do in life? One things for sure its great that show of innovation and consumer market research I guess it only works on empty platforms with long waits between trains! I like to have a go though, who wouldn't!

Explay '11 - a round up

Back at the beginning of November we were really pleased to take part in Explay 2011, the South West's very own interactive game conference. Held at an awesome venue - the National Marine Aquarium on Plymouth harbour front, the 3 day event brought together game developers, digital artists, tech, audio & media agencies.

When signing up for the event there was something for everyone;

Did the 2 day game jam appeal to you? if so off you went to design & build in a 2 day heads down frenzy.

If you wanted to pick and mix your topics - you got yourself a day ticket and based yourself in the auditorium.

or

If like us, you were keen to get up close and personal with the speakers and lock yourself in the 'Explay House' you bought the gold ticket and set off on a development journey with 15 other boot campers....

The aim, well that depends on who you were and what you were looking for, check out the awesome live drawing above produced during the event by Nat Al-Tahhan (Nat pretty much captured every theme) but to point them out in the antithesis to Nat's work- a list- the topics covered were....

• Strategy & Focus
• Growth & Marketing
• Pitching & Pricing
• Product versus Service
• IP & Copyright

However one of the key successes of Explay '11 in our opinion was, rather than following a nicely typed agenda, the Explay folks took these topics, shook them in a bag with a load of key industry players, then emptied them out across the three days. The result was loads of real case studies and hot advice in 2 hour chunks followed by informal small huddle networking with the pro's over coffee & carbs. It was a really refreshing way to learn, explore, quiz and soundboard ideas.

We took loads of notes but a few lightbulbs we'd like to share with you are:

Investment options: play yourself forward 5 years which one would you choose looking back.

Kids prefer gaming to television (so true I see it everyday just hadn't realised it!)

 Games are the new marketing.

Keep it simple (the mass market don't like to feel stupid)

 Keep it fun (fun sells)


Explay '11 was inspirational, and the best bit is there's more to come this wasn't an experience to file on the 'Done' shelf. The Explay bootcampers meet again in February 2012 to share progress, ideas and ....urm probably eat more carbs!

Thanks to everyone involved in the event but special shouts out to iNet creative industries, Designed in Devon, Remode Studios, Mutant Labs & Nat Al-Tahhan

IT Security - not sexy, but essential

Most of us understand what a firewall is for.  Fewer perhaps understand what it does and probably fewer again understand how.

A traditional firewall inspects the traffic into (and out of) your network and decides whether or not to allow it based on essentially where it wants to go.  Technically - it looks at packet headers and approves data destined for particular ports.

Ordinarily, web traffic - that is HTTP and HTTPS - uses ports 80 and 443, email out - SMTP - port 25, email in - POP3 and IMAP - ports 110 and 143.

If your organisation is hosting any of these services - has its own website or in-house mail server for example - these standard ports would need to be open for day-to-day operation - the firewall would allow the traffic though.

More sophisticated firewalls are available and they don't cost the earth. These "next generation" firewalls look inside the data packets and categorise the payload. This gives a much clearer indication of the traffic's intent.

To make an analogy: you see an advert for an event, you buy a ticket. This gains you entry. Would you expect to be frisked?  I think so - so a security guard checks you and your bag.  Nothing suspicious so in you go.

A traditional firewall only looks at your ticket, sees that you have the correct ticket and lets you in. What about the bottle of wine you smuggled through in your bag? Or worse?

A recent nasty worm still proliferating wildly is called "Micorosft:Win32/Morto.A" (catchy). It sneaks through on port 3389 exploiting weak usernames and passwords. Port 3389 is traditionally the Terminal Services port and a huge number of organisations have this port open for user-level or admin-level Remote Desktop. Once in, it snoops around looking for other machines that have port 3389 open. Remote desktop has been a one-click option ever since XP ... that's a lot of machines.

A traditional firewall couldn't stop this attack because it won't be looking for it. Traffic to port 3389 is allowed => it's through.

To inspect a payload but not affect the flow of data is a tough job and requires significant processing power, which is why next generation firewalls are only recently becoming feasible on an SMB's budget. A good firewall will check all data on all ports - including encrypted streams. Watch out for false claims! A really good firewall will show you what's happening in real time and make it very easy for you to create rules based on what's taking place on your network, right now.

A good next generation firewall can also increase your business's productivity. No, really. It can categorise at a supremely low level to allow you to - for example - allow Facebook for business purposes but not personal.

If anything in this post confuses, worries or excites you - please get in touch. Leave a comment, DM me, call the office on 01363 881406 or leave a message.

UKHorserider - Targeted Adspace for County specific pages

This website runs on community spirit - it lists every (well you can never be 100 % sure so lets say 'almost' every) Livery Yard, Riding Stable, Equestrian Centre and Disabled Riding facility in the UK. It allows the website visitors to search for them by postcode, town or county so whether you've just moved to an area or are on holiday, you can look up at places to ride near you.

But it gets better, you can get a feel for those riding centres by reading the reviews that previous riders have left about the place. And then you can add your tuppence, leaving your review of your experience after you've ridden there - this in turn goes on helping the riding community share and discover great places to ride!

This site is hugely popular with the riding community receiving over 30,000 visits a month- why not see what it's all about!

So, this is a great website for the riding community but that doesn't help UK Horserider with the websites hosting and maintenance costs so what we've developed with them is a 2 way low cost advertising stream:-

• Riding centres can enhance their listing by adding upto 5 photos and a description
• Equestrian retailers can advertise either nationwide or in a specific area.

Due to the scale of listings and number of advertising slots available UK Horserider are able to keep their advertising package costs low which in turn helps the advertiser and the take up rate.

For retailers UKHorserider can add and manage equestrian specific adverts either on UK wide or county specific pages within the website. With over 100 counties and regional areas throughout the UK and up to 3 advertising spaces per page this gives UK Horserider a sustainable advertising income stream, and for their advertisers mean that they can offer very reasonable advertising packages from as little as £50 for 6 months.

So if you run an equestrian business or own one of the stables listed why not take advantage of the low cost advertising packages available by contacting Becky Spencer on info@ukhorseridderguide.co.uk

If you own a website which wants to look at boosting its income stream through advertising revenue why not give us a call to see how we might be able to help.

ukhoreriderguide.co.uk

Another fantastic Year! Whoop, whoop..

The unofficial in-house review of accounts show our turn over grew by 57% 2010-2011 with a net profit of 26 %.

Well done to the team for ending the year in such a strong style!