IG Web Media Blogspot

The other day I was drooling in my local Apple shop(not a pretty site) at the cool iMac creations and deciding whether or not to invest in one. I've been bought up on PC's and worked with every version of DOS and Windows and feel like it's in my dna. The dilemma has been decided by stumbling across a skin that makes your XP OS look and behave like Mac OSX. Here you have the best of both worlds.

Go to http://osx.portraitofakite.com/ click to enter site and then put in a username. Select the Download link at the top of the page followed by FlyakiteOSX and choose a download source. During installation, tick the boxes to create a System Restore point and install all available components to get the full OSX experience.

I love the Dock at the bottom with its smooth animation plus the transparency effects.
The solution is certainly cheaper than investing in new hardware and software alike.
Have a go and see what you think.

A recent survey (not another beepin** survey) has just named Cambridge, my home city as one of the most tech-savvy towns in the UK. The 'Great British e-test' by Enhance Media found that London, Canterbury and Cambridge are the most e-literate towns with Twickenham, Bournemouth and Torquay the least. It found that people working in the IT sector were the most savvy (no surprise there then!) and that students were the least, plus it showed that 97 per cent of respondents used email, 67 per cent social-networking and 29 per cent had created their own blog.

Check out and see how web savvy you are by taking the test at the How E R U website.

Here's a quick one I spotted for all the didgy camera fans especially! There are currently very few digital cameras that can connect direct to a wireless network and allow fast upload of pix to albums and sites. An SD card which makes any didgy snapper compatible with wireless networks is going to be a winner. Check out Eye-Fi which reckons that the cost will be around £50 and that UK suppliers will be announced shortly! Watch this space...

That's just typical! I've just invested in an HD TV, after years waiting for the prices to tumble and my piggy bank to have sufficient funds, only to read recently that a new technology known as Super Hi-Vision is threatening to make high-def TV sets obselete. The BBC along with other Japanese broadcasters are currently testing the technology. 2012 appears to be the big target and as the new technology boasts a resolution of 7,680 x 4,320 (33 times better than the best HDTV!) it will suit big displays.

Initial testing has shown that sitting to close to the screen can cause motion sickness, plus recording the massive amounts of data means that about 20 mins of footage can be recorded at a time. I'm sure that these problems will be resolved so watch this space! Don't you just love technology.....

There's a lot of web and IT chat at the moment about Cloud Computing, which is billing itself as a new concept, that means you leave your expensive software on the shelf and carry-out all your tasks online.

Definition: A Cloud is basically a publicly accessed network, namely the internet.

If you've had a look at or currently use Google Docs then you have already seen the light or should I say 'silver lining'. You can perform tasks similar to Word and Excel without having to download anything to your PC. Along with Google Docs there are additional applications like Calendar, Photos and Reader.

The main advantages are the saving on buying expensive software plus the freedom to work anywhere you want, knowing that your files are easily accessible. No corrupted software installations to worry about. Let's face it most of us only use 20% of software, 80% of the time!

The 'flip-side' is that if you are stuck without Internet access you're stuffed! If the Internet connection is poor then work will be slow and frustrating plus there is undoubtedly going to be a compatibility issue between the myriad of document versions. In addition you will have to pay for some storage once your free allowance is used up.

Like all these concepts I can see it working for some people and companies but not others. I currently fall into the 'others' camp as the offline use out ways the online. As technology improves and connection speeds get faster, I could be persuaded in time!

The joy of storing your content online means that you can access it from anywhere. Get along to ADrive and get yourself 50GB of free storage. It's probably not enough to backup your entire hard drive but it should be ample for all your key personal data. Give it a go!

I'm pleased to announce that one of my clients, Innova Systems has just picked up another prestigious award.

At the SolidWorks World Conference held January 20-23 in San Diego, California, Innova Systems were awarded the exclusive “President’s Club” award in recognition for their achievements in Sales and Technical Support.

Jeff Ray, SolidWorks CEO, presented Innova Systems Managing Director Mark Bradford with their 2nd consecutive “SolidWorks President’s Club” award.

This honour is awarded annually to SolidWorks resellers who demonstrate continued success and growth in their business. Innova Systems were the only UK Reseller to be recognised for the award and were the only Reseller in Europe to obtain growth targets for license sales of SolidWorks, COSMOS and PDM Works Enterprise products.

If you use or are thinking about getting into 3D CAD CAM software then don't forget to talk to Innova Systems for the latest version of SolidWorks!