Business Solutions & Software Group Blog

Around this time each year, there’s a tradition of people telling stories that have been passed down for years. We wanted to participate this year, so we’ve decided to reimagine a true holiday classic: Die Hard.

Let’s consider how the action may have played out differently if the movie’s events were to take place today…

The Federal Communications Commission has begun to target social media companies in what seems to be part of an overtly political act by the White House ahead of November’s elections. Today, we will take a look at Section 230, how it currently gives social media power that some politicians are uncomfortable with, and what they plan to do about it.

More than three-and-a-half billion people are active social media users, making it one of the best inventions of the 21st century. Recently, however, Twitter, one of the most used social media platforms in the world, got into some hot water when it labeled a tweet from President Donald Trump as having “potentially misleading information”. He then responded by signing an executive order condemning this action as a method of censorship. Let’s briefly unpack this issue.

‘Twas the night before Christmas, and with all the work done,
The office was closing for some holiday fun;
Their coats buttoned up, they had all saved their files,
Everyone’s face creased in a big, toothy smile.

Memes are some of the most popular--and important--ways people communicate. Today, we will go over what makes the Internet meme special and we’ll show you some of our favorite IT memes.

2.4 billion users actively use Facebook. That’s a lot of information that passes by the Facebook servers each day. One problem that Facebook has had over the past several years is dealing with personal data privacy. With it becoming a larger concern for individuals and businesses, alike, and we thought we would take a look at the Facebook privacy settings to see how you can better control your individual privacy.

With the use of computers and mobile devices becoming persistent in the culture, there have been some myths conjured up by people that have become just as incessant. These lead to people getting the wrong idea about situations with their IT; and, ultimately believe things that are going wrong, when nothing can be further from the truth. Today, we’ve picked five such scenarios we feel need to be debunked.

How would you feel if a video of you appeared online, saying things that you never actually said? While you may not be the one targeted by this kind of action, this situation is very real, thanks to a relatively recent development in machine learning and artificial intelligence. Known as “deepfakes,” these videos have made it crucial to examine media from a place of skepticism.

Advances in technology are changing the way people look at the world. One, seemingly simple way technology changes society is through the access to products. Companies like Amazon and eBay have changed retail forever with their use of the Internet, and today, most businesses prioritize their Internet-facing marketing efforts to find new customers. One industry that has popped up from the use of technology is app-based food delivery. Today, we will take a look at the food delivery industry.

Movies and television shows are a big part of our culture. When hackers are portrayed on the silver (or small) screen, there are some major dramatic elements added to their performances to keep the audience from dismissing key pieces of plot. Today, we will look at hacker portrayals, and what Hollywood gets right, and what it gets completely wrong.

Admit it, technology is changing the way you “consume” media. Who of us hasn’t binged a show on a streaming media service while simultaneously looking up the backstory of every character on the show? Today, people want to consume content the way they want, when they want, and for as long as they want; and technology has a lot to do with it.

Science fiction is filled with incredible technology, especially in terms of how the characters communicate. This is especially true in the epic space opera Star Wars. Fortunately for viewers like you and me, some of the communication devices and technologies used a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, may not be so far off.

Have you ever heard of the term “bias?” It has a negative connotation to it, but it’s not necessarily a bad thing. A bias can predispose you to a skewed consideration or thought when met with what is known to be a seemingly neutral stimuli. In some cases, they can cause more harm than good, which is why it’s a good thing to take another look at how you approach certain situations. Researchers have discovered several trends about why we hold certain biases, as well as how we can overcome them.

Another eleventh-hour spending bill passed through the U.S. Congress and was signed into law on March 23, 2018. This time, however, there was a certain earmark that may work to erode individual privacy protection around the globe. The new law, called the Clarifying Lawful Overseas Use of Data (or CLOUD) Act, amends the Stored Communications Act of 1986 and gives unelected American officials extensive powers over global digital privacy rights.

As a business owner, you should know that you shouldn’t abuse the software licenses that your business relies on to function, or use pirated software to fulfill that need. While there are many people do such things, the response from software companies in an attempt to stop such activities has created a system that can award those who exploit it.

Information is one of the most valuable assets available to businesses, but to be fair, there’s an awful lot of falsified information found on the Internet. Due to the increased focus on data acquisition and dissemination, false information is more harmful and easy to manipulate than ever before. The thing about this is that “fake news” is actually reliant on technology to work.

Everyone makes mistakes. This is especially true when it comes to the technology that is used by your organization every single day. For this week’s tip, here are some things to avoid when using your computer.

If you spend more than ten minutes with anyone from the technology industry, you may notice that they have a rather colorful vocabulary. It’s not too vulgar or anything, but it is chock-full of buzzwords that you may not fully understand. Here are some of the most frequently used words in the IT industry.

Of the many technology companies in the public eye, IBM is one of the oldest and perhaps the most recognizable--but do you know the story behind Big Blue? It’s a history of innovation and revolution in computing that stretches back over 100 years, to when it was created by uniting three existing companies.

Watson, IBM’s famous question-answering supercomputer, has held many jobs over the years. After dominating the competition on the quiz show Jeopardy! In 2011, Watson moved on to help companies like Macy’s and Geico answer customer questions and improve their mobile apps. More impressively, Watson has even helped doctors diagnose cancer. Now, Watson is tackling a new occupation: Tax Professional.