Locality Switch

Why is is that the majority of radio specific software sucks? Also, why is is proprietary and closed-source? How is it that nothing has been done to fix this problem?

I say the majority of radio software sucks, because generally the interface of such software is clumsy, un-intuitive and generally not easy to work with. Sure, it may get the job done, but the learning curve is steep, and it can take too long to get the job done.

The rest of the world has beautiful web-based software, much of which is open-source/free. Why can’t our own industry have the same?

I suppose the reason we don’t have beautiful open source software for our industry is because there is too much money to be made. Why make something free, if you can make good money out of it? If someone made a beautiful-but-functional traffic/scheduling package, and open-sourced it, the whole industry of propriety software for radio could be wiped out. I’m serious!!

Well, when I say wiped out, I don’t mean gone completly, I just mean very very consolidated. A bit like the current market of Content Management Systems – are you aware of a single closed source CMS which is really popular? No? I didn’t think so.

A common misconception about open-source software is that you can’t make money out of it. This is just totally and utterly false. The real money in open source is in support. You have the software 100% free, and then develop a whole business around support, and training. You attract people to the system because it is free, but then you can charge for helping the less tech savvy people get your system running. You could even provide a hosted solution.

I am currently aware of one project which is currently developing a modular web-based system, as well as a desktop audio playout system to compliment it. The project is called Bentokit. However, they haven’t released any software yet. I’ve been in touch with the developers to see if I can help out, and so far I’m still waiting for them to send through some code so I can take a look and see what I can do to help.

The Bentokit project looks like it will specifically target community radio, but if what they have is decent, I hope it can start to reach the wider radio industry. However, as of yet, not many people know what’s happening with the project, so it’s a waiting game. With their website still saying “Downloads are slated for release around February 2009″, I don’t think they know when it will be ready for release, either.

Will Bentokit succeed in getting into community radio stations when it releases? Will it penetrate the market of radio software? I hope so.

If they don’t do it, I hope someone will. Hey, if someone dosen’t hurry up and get something released soon, I’ll do it myself. I desperatly want something like this to happen, so I’ll do whatever is necessary to get it happening – yes, that is a threat!

Yesterday I briefly outlined the benefits of using an Active Directory, and explained some advantages of the features such as Group Policy and DFS Replication.

This is all very well and good, but by now I’m sure you’re wondering how you can get started with all of this. You have two options:

1. Hire someone with knowledge on the platform (like me!)
2. Start learning it all yourself

Option one is for anyone who really wants a top class network without too much hassle. I would recommend this option if you don’t want to spend hours upon hours of learning Windows Server, practicing, throwing it away and starting again, etc. It is the sensible option.

Option two is for people like me who love to learn something new, and can really commit themselves to learning all there is to learn about Windows Server. It’s not for the faint hearted, nor for those who don’t have the time. I also must say that you don’t want to learn about Windows Server if you don’t have any knowledge of computer networking concepts, etc.

How do you start learning Windows Server?

The first thing to do would to download the evaluation copy of Windows Server 2008, and install it on a spare PC, or a virtual machine. Have a play and fiddle around. It can be run for up to 120 days, and after that you can reinstall to keep playing with it.

Then, you really need to start going through a set of structured lessons which covers the platform, concepts, technologies, jargon, and so on. There’s heaps of people who will sell you video lessons on the subject matter. However, I suggest you take a look at the offerings from Train Signals. Train Signal offer an eight video set on Windows Server 2008, which takes you through all the basics, and then some of the more advanced stuff. It is all downloadable, and costs nothing!

After you have completed their series, you will then have the knowledge to go through all of the other roles in Windows Server, and learn it yourself, with the aid of the internet.

If you want other some website to read with articles on Windows Server, I suggest you look at Windows Networking, Windows IT Pro and Techrepublic. They’re all usually a great read.

I wish you well with your quest to learn about Windows Server. Remember, don’t apply anything to a real live network until you are confident you know what you are doing. If in doubt, consult someone with some experience in the matter.

In computers, centralised management is great. Centralised management of all your users and computers can save you both time and sanity. If you’re running more than a few computers, then you really need to start thinking about ways to centralise everything. You need a directory.

A directory is where details are stored about objects. One example of an object could be a user. Another could be a computer. You get the picture?

Each operating system has a different flavour of directory. On Mac, you have Open Directory (through OS X Server). On Linux, there is Samba. Windows has Active Directory. Each one of these really shares a common protocol, which is LDAP (Lightweight Directory Access Protocol).

Thing is, a directory by itself is very boring – all it does is store objects. How dull.

A directory gets exciting when you add in extra features which make managing these objects much more easier. Today I’m going to explain the advantages of using Active Directory technologies. I’m focusing on AD rather than other platforms because it is what I am farmiliar with, and I know how well it can work and how much potential it has to make your life easier.

Starting from the top: Active Directory is a directory service built into the Windows Server platform (e.g. Windows Server 2008). It is the fundamental way Windows server-client networks are structured – if at work you log on to a domain, then you are really logging on to an Active Directory (99% of the time).

A domain allows anyone to logon to any computer, and have all their settings and preferences come with them. This is one of the key advantages to installing an Active Directory network. If you have more than a few computers on your network, you should seriously be considering an Active Directory.

Active Directory is great because it has extra functinality designed specifically to manage Windows clients. Such functionality includes Group Policy, NTFS domain security, Windows Server Update Services, software deployment and Domain File Services. Each one plays a very specific role, and all of them can be useful to you.

Group Policy would have to be my favourite management tools. In a nutshell, it allows you to configure settings (policies) to groups of people. Want to define one set of settings for every Internet Explorer browser in the building? Group Policy can do that. Want to define a common desktop background? Group Policy can do that. Want to have a set of mapped drives for just your office staff? Group policy can do that.

Group Policy is great for security because you control every aspect of every computer. I would go so far to say there are no limits to the power of Group Policy – if a certain restriction isn’t built into Group Policy, you can write it yourself!

Active Directory also allows you to deploy software to groups of computers. Have you just bought a site licence for some office-productivity package, and need to install it on 15 computers? Set it up on your Active Directory, and the software will install automatically on the next restart of each computer.

Another great thing about Active Directory is that you can setup distributed file storage between multiple servers, using Domain File Services Replication (DFS Replication). This is great if you have more than one server, because you can set up it to automatically sync files so if one server goes down, the other one will take over. This is awesome in radio, because you don’t have to go off air of one computer crashes!

Six hundred words about Active Directory, and I haven’t scratched the surface! All of this is great, if you know how to install and configure it all properly. That’s why I’ve decided to share some tips with you tomorrow about how to start learning about the Windows Server platform. Then, next week I hope to share with you some tips on how to get all of this software really cheap, assuming that you are a non-profit organisation, of course.

Make sure you check back tomorrow!

Web-based software is magic. It all runs on a server in the sky, and we don’t generally have to worry about it. No upgrades, so patches to install, and no need to worry about installing it on every machine. It’s computer bliss.

One of my favourite developers of web-based software is 37signals, who have made products such as Basecamp, Backpack, Writeboard and Highrise.

My favourite product of theirs would have to be Highrise, which is a really easy to use Customer Relationship Management (CRM) solution. I’ve recommended it to our community station, and they have started using it for managing sponsorship deals. There’s a few different plans you can subscribe to, but we have the free version.

I want to take the time to describe how we use it to keep track of sponsorships. Previously, our tracking of sponsorships was all contained within a few different people’s heads, and in our inboxes. It was fine with limited sponsors, but once we got more than a few, it became hard to track payments, renewals, etc.

Introducing Highrise.

As Highrise is a CRM, it’s important to understand the concept. In a nutshell, a CRM will track all of your customers, your dealings with them, upcoming tasks, etc. It keeps track of business for you.

For our sponsorship tracking, we have all of the contact details of our customers contained within the system. Then, we have ‘notes’ added to each one, which describe our dealings with them. Notes, by the way, are just small snippets of text which we can attach to a company. Here’s a few samples:

• Called Rob about upgrading his sponsorship package – is excited about the possibilities. Have to email new sponsorship agreement to him
• Julie sent through the cheque for $220.00, which will give XYZ Builders 3 spots per day until 27/8/09
• Acme Warehouse is changing new management – previous management has passed on their details so we can try and establish a relationship

As you can see, notes are used to keep the whole team up to date with our dealings with individual companies.

The next aspect of Highrise we use is Tasks.

We absolutely exploit this feature (in a good way!) – we currently have twenty two tasks set for the next few months. Tasks are simple. Here’s a few examples:

• Renewal Letter – Jul 23, 6pm (Re: Julie from XYZ Builders)
• Sponsorship Finishes – Aug 29, 8pm – (Re: Acme Warehouse)
• Thank-you letter – Aug 30, 2pm – (Re: Council involvement in OB)

The beauty of Tasks is that the appropriate person gets an email reminder when an item is due, so we never miss a beat. There is no excuse to miss some important task which is time critical.

Of course, the information we receive from Highrise is only as good as the information we put in. The computer can’t read our minds – that is one feature that 37signals has failed to implement.

We love Highrise. The software is simplistic, but gets the job done really well. Hats off to 37signals for producing such a marvelous bit of software – you really have helped us a great deal as a community radio station.

When was the last time that you filled out a contact details form before downloading evaluation software? How many times has the company actually rung you about it? It’s a rare occurrence, but for Symantec it seems to be common practice.

About a month and a half ago, I was evaluating all the managed anti-malware solutions out there, with the goal of seeing which would suit 2CCR. I went through the solutions of Mcafee, AVG, Symantec, and Trend-Micro and tried them all out. All of them asked for my contact details, as I was trying out enterprise software.

Only one company has called me: Symantec. They have been great from the word “go”. All my questions I had were answered by their staff, and their customer service reps called me on my mobile on more than one occassion. Symantec have rised above the competition, and set them apart from the rest.

Regrettably, their software wasn’t quite right for us. I would have loved to go with their products, thanks to the customer service, but I couldn’t quite justify it. Their software we tried was aimed at slighty larger networks. In the end, we chose AVG 8.5 Network Edition because that worked better in our small-ish network. However, the next time I go and design a network (and I’m sure I’ll do that plenty of times in my life) Symantec will be first on the list of products to consider for network security.

Fantastic job, Symantec!!