Plug n’ Play realities - Think twice before you buy components
April 20, 2007 Posted by Jeff in : Opinion, Tips , add a commentNot all plug n’ play devices are created equally. When choosing cards and components for your PC, make sure the drivers are easily installed or better yet, native to your Windows OS.
Case in point: I had to install a network card for one of my customers at their site. They had this off-brand card, brand new in box. I followed the instructions telling me to install the driver first, then turn off the PC, install the card and boot back up. Of course that didn’t work. I tried reinstalling the driver while the board was in; that almost worked but the card would not enable. It just stayed disabled. I am now thinking, this is bull honky - it was supposed to be a 5 minute stop-in.
I Survived the Web 2.0 Expo
April 19, 2007 Posted by Tara in : Humor, News, Opinion, Reviews , 3 comments
I arrived at Moscone West in San Francisco early on Monday so that I could get an amazing seat for my first session of the Web 2.0 Expo 2007. As soon as I got there, I headed to the check-in desk to pick up my badge. There, I was given my first indicator of how this experience was going to be. All the badges were color-coded - mine was yellow, meaning that I only paid $100 for access to a few sessions, the keynote speaker - Jeff Bezos! - and the Expo hall at large. Translation: All people in possession of yellow badges are the lowest form of life at the Web 2.0 Expo. One of the many rude staff members handed me my scarlet letter, I mean badge, with a grunt as I watched all of the blue and gray badge people get bags of free goodies and information while I am excluded.
Dejected, I traveled upstairs to get to that coveted “good seat” (or shall I say seat period, since those who did not get seats were forced to sprawl on the floor). I reached my destination - “Jump Start Your Startup,” which should have been named “Listen to Dan Roberts from Sun Microsystems drone on and on about Sun products that are too costly to deploy and have nothing to do with my startup.” It only took me about 3.5 minutes to realize I was going to get zero out of this session. I got up and headed over to “The Wonderful World of Wikis: Case Studies, Benefits, Dos and Don’ts†presented by Ken Lui (InfoGation, Holographix, HNC Software, Virage, and IPivot.) This session was really informative. Ken talked about the benefits of Wiki compared to Forums and Blogs and laid out some cost effective solutions for companies that wanted to use Wiki as part of their websites or for their intranet systems.
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Why You Might Want to Wait to Upgrade to Windows Vista
April 16, 2007 Posted by Beth in : Microsoft, Opinion , 3 commentsI’m not a clueless computer user; actually, I’m a technology trainer, mostly with Microsoft Office software. But I’m also not a tech geek. My husband would laugh till he cried if I tried to claim I was. So you can guess that I haven’t yet explored all the ins and outs of Windows Vista, which is installed on my work-provided Dell Latitude D620 notebook computer. But lately I have been using it just enough to be finding reasons I dislike it.
This article isn’t written from a OS geek or tech support person’s point of view – I’m sure there are lots of great reasons they have for liking or disliking Vista. These are reasons from a reasonably savvy but typical end-user’s viewpoint. (more…)
Peripheral or Coffee Rest?
April 12, 2007 Posted by Tara in : Humor, Opinion , 2 commentsMy family had a friend move to a foreign country about a year a half ago. As a going away present she gave us the Logitech QuickCam Messenger. I guess the goal was to keep in touch? To make a long story short: the webcam is still sitting in its box collecting dust in our office. Being the entreprenuer that I am, I decided to try and sell the device on Craigslist. I figured it would be an easy way to make 30 bucks out of something we didn’t even spend money on. Not so much. It turns out that in a year and a half the camera is only worth about 17 dollars (via pricegrabber.com), Logitech doesn’t even sell the product on its own website any more AND the closest up to date model is $30. I started to think, what happens to out dated models of products that have never been used? (more…)
Corporate Espionage via iPod, Keeping it Confidential
April 8, 2007 Posted by Jeff in : Opinion, Tips , add a commentIt always amazes me how clueless the average corporate management is about the safety of their proprietary data. Little do they know that anyone with an iPod, a smart phone, or even a thumb drive can walk out the door with all of the corporate and sensitive personnel files
Security policies built into Windows Server OS fall far short of what is really needed in today’s environment of tiny high capacity data devices. One iPod plugged into a user’s workstation can suck in almost 40 gigs of any type of files, and go completely unnoticed and undetected, in someone’s pocket, and right out the front door. It’s rather unnerving as a network administrator. As more devices hook to a PC, and more people have laptops, it’s very difficult to manage and maintain control of data and documents.There are however, some software and hardware solutions that go beyond the limited Windows security.. (more…)
Some things are better left un-computerized (At-A-Glance Technology)
March 22, 2007 Posted by Jeff in : Opinion , 2 commentsAs an I.T. manager who has worked on some pretty big networks, I find that perhaps some things might be better left un-computerized. There’s a whole science I would like to call “At-a-Glance” technology. To better illustrate At-a-Glance technology, picture an instruction manual, on-screen versus printed and bound. It’s difficult to make notations in the on-screen version. (Plus if you have to share your monitor with others, they may not appreciate the black sharpie scribbles all over the screen). On the other hand, if you have the same manual printed and bound, it’s quite easy to jot down helpful notations next to the paragraphs. That in a nutshell is at-a-glance technology.
Blow up your TiVo
September 21, 2006 Posted by Bryan in : Opinion , 5 commentsNo one under 60 should own a TiVo. Maybe 70 for that matter.
As my wife and I sat and watched our third, hour-long episode of “The Revolution” in a row last night I thought those exact words to myself.
This thought was followed by, “What are we doing? It’s a beautiful 75 degrees outside; we should be out there getting exercise and being active or something. At a minimum we should be inside being productive.”
Then it hit me. TiVo was running my life.
Before I had TiVo I would watch maybe an average of two 30-minute shows everyday (not counting waiting room TVs, stadium Jumbotrons, and the like…). Now I watch an average of around five or six 30-minute shows every night. This has been going on since I met my current wife nearly 4 years ago (she and the TiVo were a package deal).
I sat down and did the math.
