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September 2007
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Welcome to this month's edition of Studio 2 Online's newsletter; and what a month it's been. So sit back, relax and let us entertain you! |
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Studio 2 Online have a New
Home. As most
of you will know by now – we have moved! We have lovely
offices in The Crescent on King Street. A beautiful grade 2 listed
building built in, you guessed it, a Crescent shape and with our new home
comes a new telephone number: 0116 275 8456
We also have a new internet connection
that is bigger, better and faster than the last which means our
development servers will run faster, allowing us to complete work faster
than ever!
We plan to hold our Winter Client Forum
in our new offices next month and we are really excited about introducing
you all to our new home. Welcome Kevin & Matt. Studio 2 Online would like to
officially welcome Kevin Ward and Matt Strickland to the S2O
family.
Kevin joins our development team, who
are so happy to have another member on board to fill out their new office
space and to offer his help and advice on new and existing
projects. Kevin brings with him 10 years of development experience
and still boasts his third prize win in the local drawing competition when
he was 7!
Matt joins the team as account manager
who will help to bring in new projects and of course help Chris to manage
existing clients and projects. Matt brings to the table a wealth of
experience from the recruitment industry and has a strong sales
background…and remember that fairy liquid advert with the cubs around the
camp fire, Matt was one of those cubs!
You can meet the new additions to the
team at the Client Forum in November.
Studio 2 Online are still recruiting
and are looking for that perfect person to fit into our ever expanding
family. If you are interested in joining our team, please see: www.studio2online.co.uk for full details and
application forms – and remember, it could be you! Wear it Pink. In support of the Breast Cancer Campaign running the entire month of October, Studio 2 Online will be participating in the 2007 Wear it Pink day on October 26th. Each person will wear something pink on the day and donate £2 to the charity to help raise awareness and funds; last year wear it pink raised over £3million to help the continuing research to help find a cure for breast cancer and although Studio 2 Online are a team of 12, we hope that our involvement in the campaign will encourage others to join in the fun and raise money for a superb cause. So Friday 26th October,
encourage everyone in your place of work to wear pink – be that a tie,
socks, a pin, a cowboy hat or a feather boa. Call 0800 1073104 or
visit www.wearitpink.co.uk for a donation and
support pack and wear it pink – we will be! The
decision by an EU court to uphold a landmark antitrust ruling against
Microsoft is likely to influence other cases in the software industry. A
competition lawyer said he expects the principles of the case to be
"rolled-out more actively" across the EU.
The decision is seen as a key
victory for the European competition regulator, and a serious blow for the
US software giant, in the long-running competition dispute.
The European Court of First
Instance rejected Microsoft's appeal against a record €497million fine
imposed by the European Commission three years ago. The court upheld an
earlier 2004 ruling that Microsoft had abused its dominant market
position, using its dominant 95% market share of the personal computer
operating systems market to freeze out rivals.
The court upheld the earlier ruling
that the software group had broken competition rules in two
ways.
The first type of conduct found to
constitute an abuse was Microsoft's refusal to supply rival companies with
"interoperability information" – crucial information about the Windows
operating system.
By way of remedy the Commission
requires Microsoft to disclose the "specifications of its client/server
and server/server communication protocols to any undertaking wishing to
develop and distribute work group server operating systems."
The second breach was that by
bundling its Windows Media Player with the Windows PC operating system,
this undermined competition from other media player
providers.
By way of remedy here, the
Commission requires Microsoft "to offer for sale a version of Windows
without Window Media Player."
The court's statement said: "The
Court of First Instance essentially upholds the Commission's decision
finding that Microsoft abused its dominant position."
The court also upheld the fine
imposed on Microsoft for anti-competitive practices in the 2004 decision.
The court ruled that the Commission was justified in "assessing the
gravity and duration of the infringement and did not err in setting the
fine."
The latest ruling – which comes
after a nine year legal battle - was made by the 13-judge Grand Chamber of
the Court if First Instance in Luxembourg. The importance of the ruling
was underlined by it being broadcast live on television – a first for such
a decision.
"We can expect to see the
principles of the case now being rolled-out more actively in national
courts and by national competition authorities within the EU. The case
clearly has implications for the software industry, where the commercial
practices of a number of large companies are already under review, such as
Intel, Rambus and Apple.
Article
courtesy of OUTLAW.com
Studio 2 Online are exhibiting
at the above exhibition at the Walkers Stadium, October
3rd and invite you all along to say
hello.
The event showcases what Leicester has
to offer and boasts that it will be the event to find the answer to some,
if not all of your problems – so come along and have a coffee with us and
see what else Leicester has to offer and attend one or more of the free
seminars on the day:
10.30 - 11.30 'How to win
business by being an expert' - Alastair Campbell - Ideal Marketing
Company
11.30 - 11.45 Planning
your financial future
12.30 Networking Lunch £15.00
per head
1.30 To be
confirmed
2.30 Supporting your Export
Potential - Steve Morrison - UK Trade &
Investment We are on stand GH44 in the Great Hall on the first floor within the City grounds. Come along, have coffee with us and experience the delights that Leicester has to offer. For further information on the event or to register see: www.hi2events.co.uk Case Study - Comfort Solutions. Comfort Solutions are the
creation of Jo and Sue who pride themselves on their excellent customer
service and attention to their core philosophy to provide a first class
on-line shopping experience.
Their mattress and bedding products
are designed to make your life comfortable and they really do! A
complete online comfy shopping experience that offer a 110% money back
guarantee. Have a look today and start living in comfort:
www.mattress-solutions.co.uk
What’s your Favourite film?
I have so many, one for each different
mood, but among the old faithfuls are:
The Lost Boys, Happy Gilmore, Shawshank
Redemption, The Life of Brian, What Women Want and Cry Baby.
What is a passion of
yours/hobbies?
I love to run, I don’t get to do it as
often as I like and I don’t think I could get by without at least one
session at Bikram Yoga – it really does make all the difference to have
that 90 minutes with yourself and a whole lotta sweat! I recently
discovered the Nintendo Wii which is the most addictive console I’ve ever
played!
Who are you inspired by?
My family and friends, I am surrounded
by strong women and some womenly men that inspire, encourage and entertain
me!
Pet Peave?
People who don’t use their indicators,
sat navs and people that don’t cover their mouths when they cough! – it’s
just bad manners!
Songs on your MP3?
I’ve recently broken my MP3 player by
sitting on my bag! But before the break I had a bit of The Pigeon
Detectives, Moloko, Amy Winehouse, Aretha Franklin, The Zutons, John
Legend, Mark Ronson, Jimi Hendrix, Jamie says, Pendulum and Nina Simone on
there and I’ve recently downloaded The Best of 80’s Rock, which I can’t
wait to put in the car – rock on!
Last thing that made you laugh out load - keep it
clean!
Well none of it was clean, (I work in
an office full of boys!), so I’ll have to say that I was walking my dog
the other night and as I was trying to wrestle him home from the
park, I got tangled in the dog lead and fell flat on my face! I
haven't told anyone about it, but I did laugh out loud!
What are your aspirations?
To live a long and happy life,
surrounded by good company, good food & wine– oh and have a successful
veggie patch this time next year – horticulture is the way forward!
If you were a superhero, who would you
be?
Spiderwoman – although I hate spiders,
there’s no cooler superhero than Spiderman and I’m a chick, so I’d be
Spiderwoman!
Sasha's Web Advice.
“Computer security experts estimate that tens of millions of personal computers are infected with malicious software like the one that attacked Locklear's machine. Such programs, generally classified as malware, attack companies along with consumers. Some are keyloggers, recording every key stroke that the user
enters -- sending valuable bank account information, passwords and credit
card numbers to hackers.
In July, hackers used keylogging software to gather passwords to
databases at the U.S. Department of Transportation, consulting firm Booz
Allen, Hewlett-Packard Co and satellite network company Hughes Network
Systems, according to British Internet security software maker Prevx Inc.
And other malware programs turn PCs into "zombies," literally giving hackers full control over the machine. The zombies can be instructed to act as servers, sending out tens of thousands of spam emails promoting counterfeit medications, luxury watches or penny stocks without the PC owner ever knowing about it.” We have covered internet security in past issues but here’s my advice on staying safe online: ·
install up-to-date security software – such
as:Firewalls (Zonealarm is a popular choice)
·
Run an anti spyware scan on
your PC at least once a week – these can be found free of charge online
·
Never open an attachment if you
don’t know what it is or comes from an unknown
source.
·
Never give banking/credit card
details – your bank and card issuer will have and know your
details.
·
Install popup blockers and
don’t switch them off.
·
Avoid clicking weblinks if you
don’t know the company
By following these few easy steps you should be eliminating most security the chance of your PC becoming infected. Of course security is a contentious issue and as long as there is the internet, there will be hackers using it to their advantage – don’t worry, stay safe and surf carefully! That’s all
for this month folks, hope I’ve given you some handy hints – please feel
free to email me your questions about web related stuff at: sasha@studio2online.co.uk and I will
pick the most popular questions and answer as many as I can
month.
Case Study -
DigiEye. 5 years later the firm work with some
of the biggest high street names such as Next, Marks & Spencer and
International brand NIKE.
The pioneering and innovative DigiEye
system is a complete non-contact colour imaging solution. For more
information visit: www.digieye.co.uk |
Back to Top
Coffee
Break.
This month we catch up with the marketing department – Mechelle
has been with the company for one whole year now and hopes for many more
crazy, fun filled, adventurous years!
This month I’d like to focus on security
online. I read an article on the Reuters website this week
that really made me re-analyse the way I use my PC, particularly at
home. Here’s an excerpt:
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Studio 2 Online Ltd, The Crescent, King Street, Leicester,
LE1 6RX Tel: 0116 275 8456 Fax: 0116 293 8090 Web: www.studio2online.co.uk |
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