PEER 1 Hosting

A Productivity Suite Fit For a Dev Boss

Wednesday, August 3rd, 2011 | by Richard Sedlak |

Once upon a time in an office back before I entered the workforce, there were people who helped you type, copy and file who were worth their weight in gold or even twice that. Most office workers today can attest that the administrative assistant has become the executive assistant, and is reserved for only the highest level executive. Throughout this transition we’ve all learned to type and do some of the functions of a great administrative assistant just to survive.

Today there are technological solutions to make sure that we gather and file our notes, do transcription, remind us of our appointments and countless other little things that are important to our success and efficiency that we were probably never taught in school.

I’m always looking for new ways to improve my “office” game so that I can become more efficient. If you’re thinking that I’m a bit of a nerd then you’re right but then again you’re probably wondering how you might cut some time out of your day, stay focused, be seen as super-effective and spend more time on your personal interests.

Here are a few of the products that I use.

Livescribe Pen

For note taking, I use the Livescribe pen. This is one of my favorite gadgets as it easily converts my analog notes into a digital medium by simply using the pen and the associated “dot” paper. The pen will also record audio and index the recording to what is written at the same time. This feature would be great for students but at work I don’t use that function for a bunch of reasons. Once the pen is synchronized with my computer, the notes can be uploaded to Evernote and transcribed to text using the MyScript transcription software. I bought my pen for about $99 at a Best Buy and the notebooks were about $20 for a package of 4.

Evernote

For notes storage in the cloud, indexing and sharing, I use Evernote which I was introduced to in the Apple App store. The application is free for just about every computing platform out there including my Mac, iPad and iPhone as well as the web. I use the premium service for $5 per month because it gives me additional features such as more storage, additional file type integration and advanced collaboration with my colleagues. Combining Evernote with my Livescribe pen has greatly improved my efficiency. I often collect up all the materials as an Evernote note (or a series of notes) and use the application to focus my work. The end result can simply be shared directly from the Evernote application either through e-mail, URL, Facebook or Twitter. In fact, this blog entry was drafted in Evernote.

The Hit List

For getting things done, I use an application called The Hit List from The Potion Factory. The application is a great “to do” list manager that includes the ability to tag items, sync with iCal, record time for work done on an item and store your lists in their cloud-based storage solution. The application is $49.95 and available in the Apple App Store. The iPhone app is $9.95 and the cloud storage is $19.99 for the year. There’s no iPad app for this system yet which is the biggest negative that I found thus far.

Things

Before using The Hit List, I was (and still am a) huge fan of Things from Cultured Code. Things has a Mac application, iPhone app and iPad app. It doesn’t synchronize through the Internet into a cloud. You must synchronize through the local wireless network. This isn’t a problem at home but in most office environments there could be more security challenges. I was able to synchronize in the PEER 1 Hosting / ServerBeach offices but I was constantly connecting and disconnecting to the WiFi to stay organized. The iPad application is beautiful and the Mac application is very nice and innovative. Things will cost you $49.99 for the Mac application, $19.99 for the iPad app and $9.99 for the iPhone app.

MindManager

When work requires brainstorming or a lot of organizing to write a long memo to the staff, I turn to MindManager from MindJet . MindManager provides mind mapping which is a concept that I was introduced to years ago and I now wonder how I ever got anything done before someone imparted that sage wisdom upon me. MindManager is available for both the Mac and Windows platforms. The software supports all kinds of features such as linking different file types into a mind map and the ability to write notes into a mind map node. The final product can be assigned outline level numbering and then exported to a variety of formats including MS-Word, RTF, PDF, PowerPoint, etc. I own both Mac and Windows licenses for this software. I have always been more impressed with the Windows version because it has quite a few features that make it awesome including the ability to break up a MS-Word document into a mind map. You’ll pay $349 for the Windows version whereas the Mac version is currently $249. There’s an iPhone app for $6.99 and an iPad app for $8.99 but I haven’t tried them yet (App Store here I come).

Hardware

As for the other hardware that I use, I’m sure that you figured out that I’m a big fan of my Macbook Pro, iPad and iPhone. I do occasionally toss in a small Nikon digital camera into my backpack to photograph whiteboards at important meetings, although my iPhone is usually sufficient and the iPhone Evernote app helps me upload documentation faster, but sometimes I just want that 10 megapixel quality. I also use a FlipVideo camera for capturing video of small demonstrations and other video-worthy events. Of course, this is another area that my iPhone is valuable, but I’m a gadget geek and enjoy my toys.

As my wife will begrudgingly tell you, I will keep upgrading and switching toys just because I found something cool or can manage to squeeze out another 5 minutes of productivity. What’s most important is that you find a process to manage all the information you create, receive and process so that you can be comfortable with your work game. I just might be in it for the sheer geek fun. I hope there’s a 12-step program for that.

Richard Sedlak is based in San Antonio, Texas and is the director of development at PEER 1 Hosting. Follow him on Twitter @P1DEVBoss.

A Day in the Life of a NOC Jock

Wednesday, July 27th, 2011 | by Serra Boten |

No Comments

Guest Author Ben Kennedy is a former PEER 1 Hosting NOC Jock. Presently he works as a Network Engineer and prefers Iron Maiden over Motorhead.

The following is documentation of a day in the life of a fictional character named Kevin. Kevin is a NOC Jock – one of the eyes in the sky, watching over our FastFiber network – 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

The day begins early for our hero. He enters the front doors of Harbour Centre a few minutes early. Its 7am on the west coast and on the other side of the glass the sky hints of rain to come. Inside the NOC (Network Operations Center) a different kind of storm is already raging. The board is flashing red and blasting angry error sounds as a unicast storm rips through a switch in Toronto. Coffee will have to wait a few minutes…

It’s 8am and reinforcements – the rest of the day shift – arrive. But as with all things, the more hands on deck, the more work follows. It’s time for network rounds. Keeping ever vigilant, Kevin begins his trek through the data centre. While walking past an AC unit on one of the lower floors, something feels amiss. Above all the background noise, hundreds of fans and hard drives spinning inside the servers who live in the data center, Kevin tries to focus his acute hearing. He’s trying to pick out something that doesn’t sound right. He detects a faint squeal amid the whirring and swishing. The squeal of a rogue fan belt at work, he guesses.

Continuing on with the rounds, Kevin mentally notes to report the fan belt problem to the data center manager – a man who is rumored, among other things, to be able to detect fluctuations in temperature down to a quarter of a degree. He is exactly the type of person that Kevin wants on his team.

On his way back to the NOC, our protagonist feels a vibration in his pocket. His mobile is telling him there’s trouble brewing in the network. He flies back in the NOC in a heartbeat and immediately finds himself being briefed on the situation by his fellow warrior.

“We’ve got a CPU spike on a switch in New York, I need cache flows stat!” barks the other NOC Jock.

The NOC Jocks quickly detect that the CPU spike is being caused by a denial of service (DDOS) attack to one of nodes on the network. In a matter of minutes they track down and block the source of the attack, and soon after a college student from a small school in Colorado has lost all privileges to the computer labs. The smell of victory is sweet – no wait. That’s the smell of coffee, glorious coffee, touted by the NOC manager, who’s popped in to see how things are going.

He takes his usual seat on the filing cabinet and gets a run down on what’s happened during the night and early morning. After providing some helpful hints and advice, the leader of the NOC retires to his office next door to start reading e-mail. This reminds Kevin about another beast he has yet to slay today – his inbox. Only 119 unread e-mails since yesterday – looks like it might be a quiet day after all.

The phone rings. It’s one of the client relations managers from downstairs. A colocation customer has just moved in, but apparently the cabinet still needs to be patched. Of course, this is the first Kevin has heard of this, but there’s no time to figure out who dropped which ball at what point – the important thing is to get the customer live as soon as possible.

Kevin goes through a mental checklist as he heads back into the data center with a purposeful stride. Proper cable? Check. Cable strippers? Check. Wire cutters? Check. RJ45 ends? Check. Hands of a world class knitter? Check. Minutes later a smiling customer gives the thumbs up when everything’s up and running. Another job well done.

A few hours go by and soon Kevin’s 12 hour shift is half over. The calls have been the usual today: a client in LA with a faulty hard drive that needed replacing; another in Montreal with weird connection problems. All problems are handled in an efficient professional manner as the now three-man team in the NOC work in perfect harmony ridding the network of all things undesirable.

Another call comes in. A customer is having troubles getting to a client of theirs in Europe.

“Strange” Kevin says to himself. “It’s almost like someone is stealing….. Oh no. I’m calling an engineer.”

With those four words the other members of the NOC know that something serious is happening. The Network Engineers are the hired guns, the cavalry, and Houdini rolled into one. You don’t call them to discuss whether they think Iron Maiden is better than Motor head (which they are). You call them to discuss business. The engineer answers the phone in a no nonsense voice.

“What’s up?” inquires the engineer.

“We’ve got a possible IP high jacking in San Jose right now” replies Kevin. The engineer asks all the right questions to get the information he needs and in the background Kevin hears the tapping of fingers on a keyboard. In his mind, Kevin imagines the traffic being directed by those keystrokes. Almost like new invisible highways being paved at the speed of light over mountains and across oceans. The daydream ends in moments when the engineer lets him know that everything has been fixed. Another rebel peering router brought to justice by the hands of an engineer.

Time flows by, calls come in, traceroutes are analyzed, pings are echoed, excel sheets are filled out, and sandwiches are eaten. By the time the clock hand strikes 4pm Kevin and the other NOC Jocks have been overlooking the network map for hours. All three of them sit analyzing that precious map of the world as though it holds the lost secrets once kept by the ancient druids.

Finally, twelve hours have passed. Now it is time to pass on all the information to his nighttime counterpart. He spends the next ten minutes passing on all his tales of wonder and amazement. The NOCturnal jock’s eyes go wide as the stories unfold. He sits and listens to tales of upstreams being tamed, latency getting butchered, bandwidth being plundered, and problematic ACs giving up their rapscallion ways. The forces of good have prevailed and the Internets is safe for another day.

Thirty minutes later Kevin joins his faithful companions in their favorite tavern. Engineers, Jocks, and managers alike all share stories and a few pints. Later on while walking out of his favorite establishment, Kevin looks back at the Harbour Centre. The tall seductress looms in the night looking down upon him. The eye in the sky, watching over the city, mountains, but most importantly – the network. He says good night and promises to return soon. He knows he’ll be back and ready for the battle again tomorrow, but for now it is time for bed.

SysAdmin Appreciation Day July 29, 2011

Tuesday, July 26th, 2011 | by Serra Boten |

1 Comment

This Friday, don’t forget to give a high five to the System Administrators in your life. These are the brave men and women who wrangle technology for you, so you can concentrate on getting things done.

From our friends at the ServerBeach Blog;

Being a Systems Administrator can be thankless work. They’re the ones who keep your data flowing, networks pinging and computers booting round the clock, and the cruel hallmark of a great Sysadmin is this:

If they’re doing a good job, you don’t even know they’re doing it.

In honour of SysAdmin appreciation day, we’ll be sharing a couple of “Day in the Life Of” stories over the next couple days, written by some of our very own most fearless network administrators. While they’re not quite BOFH material (I don’t think his commitment to customer service is quite up to par for us) – we hope you enjoy them.

Have you ever deployed a corporate firewall before getting out of bed or performed an exorcism on a possessed printer? Send us your craziest SysAdmin stories – we’ll share them here and thank you with some exciting PEER 1 Hosting gear!

Reaching New Heights

Tuesday, July 19th, 2011 | by Audrey Plaskacz |

1 Comment

Guest author Ben Young is General Counsel for PEER 1 Hosting. A lover of the outdoors, Ben spends his weekends taking advantage of British Columbia’s hiking trails . . . none quite as ambitious as the one he recently conquered.

Like all of us, I’ve had some challenges in my life. None of them compares to the epic hike I went on last weekend.

I started planning the 48-kilometer (30 mile) hike about nine months ago because I wanted to see how far I could push myself physically. When you work in an office, it’s easy to forget what you’re capable of physically. As I was planning, the hike evolved into a fundraiser for a worthy non-profit organization, Burnaby Counseling Group.

The hike would take me (and the others I’d somehow convinced to join in) along British Columbia’s Baden-Powell Centennial Trail from Horseshoe Bay to Deep Cove. We would be climbing 8,000 feet and descending another 8,300 feet in the process. None of us had ever dared to try such an ambitiously long hike.

Sooner than I imagined, hiking day arrived. On Sunday morning at 5:04 am, our group of four began the trek. The first four hours were the most physically challenging because of the major elevation gain. After that, it became less about the physical and more mental. Don’t get me wrong – it was still a tough hike – but as we hiked, it became harder and harder to believe in ourselves, to have confidence that we’d finish such an ambitious, grueling journey.

We hiked through every type of Pacific Northwest terrain you could imagine, taking in lakes, mountains, rock slides, panoramic views, lush coastal forests, bike trails, and crossing a suspension bridge. We even trudged through snow for two hours.

As I was struggling along, something Lance Armstrong said kept popping into my mind, somehow convincing my feet to keep going beneath me. “Pain is temporary,” he said. “It may last a minute, or an hour, or a day, or a year, but eventually it will subside and something else will take its place. If I quit, however, it lasts forever.”

We definitely wanted to, but we didn’t quit. In the end, it was our support for each other that drove us across the finish line, a mere 16 hours and 44 minutes after we began the journey.

The thrill of crossing that line put everything in perspective for me. It sounds trivial but when you’ve gone through something with a group, when you’ve persevered together to achieve something you weren’t sure you could do, it means so much more than just completing a physically demanding hike. It means you’re a champion.

Ben is already looking forward to unleashing his inner Lance Armstrong on the Baden Powell trail next year. You can see what Ben and his PEERS are up to by following us on twitter @peer1careers.

PEER Possibilities – A PEER 1 Hosting Manifesto

Tuesday, July 12th, 2011 | by Serra Boten |

No Comments

We’re here to enable you to focus on the possibilities of the Internet. We’ll take care of the problems, so you don’t have to.

Innovation Requires Preparation

Thursday, July 7th, 2011 | by Brian Daffern |

No Comments

A century ago, Thomas Edison thought deeply about what drives invention or, as we call it today, innovation. One of his famous sayings—”Genius is 1 percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration”—stresses that innovation originates not in great ideas, but in the hard work of trial and error. Edison’s inventions, like the light bulb and the phonograph, emerged through thousands of attempts, refining the process step by step.

Like Edison, you need to build innovation systematically into your leadership style to foster it in your organization. Like many apparently spontaneous workplace triumphs, good innovation is the result of well-planned project management or, more specifically, “process management.” You often don’t know precisely where you will end up, so you lead from behind, giving your team frequent feedback, encouraging them to stay positive and keep moving, testing, and refining their ideas as they gradually develop an outcome.

Nico, a leader in Indonesia and a natural innovator himself, found generating innovation in others more difficult. A forthright person, the more he demanded new ideas and products from his staff, the less they produced, and the less happy he was with their work. Nico gradually learned to spot when team members needed guidance and support, rather than just being left alone. Realizing that the creative freedom he delighted in was daunting, even paralyzing, to those who were less dynamic, he introduced a more structured approach to research and development. Before a new project, Nico would sit down with team members and think through the project’s aims, as well as challenges or problems they might encounter along the way. He also helped his team stay on top of their game by setting up their work so that they could stay grounded and rested.

If it were simple and easy, it probably wouldn’t be innovative.

The quality of leadership can make all the difference to innovation and creativity in organizations. To lead in the spirit of Edison, try the following process-oriented techniques to encourage innovative thinking:

Encourage your team to embrace mistakes. Mistakes can actually aid the process of discovery and innovation if you accept them and learn from them. Mistakes provide the feedback for course corrections you need on your zigzag path to success. If it were simple and easy, it probably wouldn’t be innovative.

Promote “messy thinking.” Allow your team to explore more than one path to solving problems. That freedom can open up productive lines of inquiry.

Invite contrary opinions. If someone is critical of your approach, don’t automatically defend it. Consider inviting that person into the process. Microsoft did just that when it invited its most virulent blogger to join the organization!

Consider using “skunkworks.” Sometimes a small group working outside the usual rules and management structure can get results quickly. The work might take place away from the office, or even in secret. Freeing your team from their normal constraints may help them move more confidently in a new direction.

Be a cheerleader as well as a coach. Your staff members need support and enthusiasm as well as advice about how to deal with obstacles and challenging situations. Many times staff get discouraged when they hit what seem like dead ends. Keep them moving and positive.

Good innovation requires a focus on the process, not just specific outcomes or timelines. Keep the general needs of our internal and external customers in mind, but allow the process of exploration to lead to unexpected places. When you empower your employees to try new ideas and make mistakes along the way, you allow innovation to thrive in your organization.

Up Your Productivity by Leaving Your Desk

Tuesday, July 5th, 2011 | by Audrey Plaskacz |

No Comments

Dot, Brenton and Jag take a break to shoot some hoops (Gastown, Vancouver)

It’s 2:37pm. You’ve been plugging away at your desk since 8:00 this morning, but for some reason things just aren’t getting crossed off your list as quickly as you want them to (or need them to, for that matter). With every tick of the clock, your eyelids seem to get heavier and your brain seems to get mushier. What do you do?

a)     Drink some more java. 17 cups of coffee in one day are good for the heart, right?
b)     Reach for a donut. Wasn’t the glazed flavor developed as a remedy for glazed-over eyes?
c)      Crawl under your desk for a short snooze fest.
d)     Leave your desk and go for a quick sweat session.

As unlikely as it might sound, the best solution is actually option D. Hard to believe when there are so many more intuitive benefits of exercise out there. Weight management? That’s a given. Decreased risk of heart disease? Makes sense. Improved sleep patterns? I’ll say!

But increased energy levels? I thought it took energy to exercise, not the other way around?

Well believe it or not, but exercise actually increases energy levels, reduces fatigue and improves productivity at work. And you don’t even have to go through the entire Jane Fonda series every morning to get the benefits. Even 30 cumulative minutes of moderate activity a day can do the trick, meaning 15 minutes of brisk walking here 15 minutes of bike riding there.

Physical activity delivers oxygen and nutrients to your tissues and helps your entire cardiovascular system work more efficiently. Doesn’t sound like much, but when your heart and lungs work more efficiently, you’ll have more energy to spend on other things. On top of that, exercise improves mental sharpness and time management skills, allowing you to make the most out of your workdays.

So next time the clock hits 2:37pm, try challenging your colleague to a pushup contest or power walk around the block. Your entire body will thank you for it.

Enter The Code Project’s HTML5 / CSS3 Design Competition (and Win an iPad)

Monday, June 27th, 2011 | by Serra Boten |

No Comments

Calling all design gurus! Our friends over at The Code Project have a little contest going, and first place takes home a shiny new iPad 2.

The Challenge?

Dazzle us with your mastery of HTML5 and CSS3. Show off the future of the web, freed from the shackles of square boxes and 1990′s thinking. Your choice is to teach us how to do it with the clearest, simplest, and most enjoyable tutorial possible, or just show us what it can do by blowing our collective minds. Animation, the canvas, transitions, local storage, drag and drop, sockets – or all of it mixed up in a bucket. Go crazy!

Contest ends July 5th, so get your design hat on and show us what you can do!

Full Contest Info Here

A Journey Like No Other

Friday, June 24th, 2011 | by Brian Daffern |

No Comments

Last week, one of our PEERS embarked on a two month, two wheeled adventure. PEER 1 Hosting Product Engineer Brian Beaudoin is currently riding his bike from Atlanta, Georgia all the way to Maine, New England.

This trip is no last-minute vacation – he has been planning it for decades. “When I was a child, I wanted to travel the world by bicycle,” Brian explained. “In my dreams I would pedal through the most beautiful areas I could imagine.”

Although his childhood dream is now a reality, Brian admits there are a few things – or people – he will miss while he’s out on the road. “I’m looking forward to seeing everyone at PEER 1 again in August,” he said with a smile.

Brian will get to see a few familiar faces during his journey. Our datacenter in Herndon, VA has offered him a place to rest along the way. “I’m looking forward to stopping by,” said Brian, confessing that he hopes for a warm shower and some home-cooked food.

I’ve worked with Brian for a few years, and although I gave him a hard time about all the gear he had to pack, I’m incredibly proud of him for what he’s about to do.

To say I’m in awe would be an understatement.

We will miss having him around the office for the next few months, but know he will have the time of his life out on the road.

Brian Daffern is the director of Product Development at PEER 1 Hosting. He fell off his bike a few decades ago but has recently been inspired to give it another try.

Go Canucks Go!

Friday, June 10th, 2011 | by Serra Boten |

No Comments

We might be located all over North America, but the PEER 1 Hosting story started in Vancouver, and we love our home team, the Vancouver Canucks! Today is game five of the Stanley Cup finals and I have a sneaking suspicion the office will be all but empty before the puck drops at 5pm PST. Oh, and you might want to take a closer look at some of those jerseys… Go Canucks!

A Productivity Suite Fit For a Dev Boss

A Day in the Life of a NOC Jock

SysAdmin Appreciation Day July 29, 2011

Reaching New Heights

PEER Possibilities – A PEER 1 Hosting Manifesto

Innovation Requires Preparation

Up Your Productivity by Leaving Your Desk

Enter The Code Project’s HTML5 / CSS3 Design Competition (and Win an iPad)

A Journey Like No Other

Go Canucks Go!

Map of the
Internet 2011

Sign up for our Newsletter

Map of theInternet 2011

Sign up for our Newsletter

Map of the
Internet 2011