Monthly Archive for March, 2007

Retirees find Wii not just for the grandkids

Published on March 29, 2007 in Computer News. 0 Comments

From Reuters (via CNN):

Until two weeks ago, Ruth Ebert never had the slightest interest in the video games favored by her one and only granddaughter.

“I’m 82 years old, so I missed that part of our culture. Soap operas, yes. Video games, no,” chirped Ebert, who recently started playing a tennis game on Nintendo Co. Ltd.’s new Wii video game console at the Virginia retirement community she calls home.

“It was funny, because normally I would not be someone who would do that,” said Ebert, who picked up the console’s motion-sensing Wiimote and challenged the machine to a match.

“I played tennis, if you can call it that, as a high school student. I had such fun doing it,” she said.

Unbiased product reports, available at ProductWiki

Published on March 29, 2007 in Recommended Web Sites. 0 Comments

I read about this on Download Squad…

Want to get a total unbiased report on a new product you are thinking about purchasing? ProductWiki can help.

ProductWiki is a product information site that is based off of a collaborative wiki format. The website is entirely maintained by visitors and users who share information or review consumer products from around the world.

I’ve browsed the site briefly, and it appears to have thousands of reviews in various categories. If you are looking at buying something, it would probably be worthwhile to browse ProductWiki before making your purchase.

Allway Sync

Published on March 29, 2007 in Software Tips. 0 Comments

The Toolbox section of the April 2007 TechNet Magazine highlights a tool called Allway Sync.

No matter what kind of IT job you have, chances are you spend a lot of time moving files and directories from one place to another—whether from your desktop to a USB key or from server to server over the network. Often, it’s important to keep those directories synchronized to ensure you aren’t creating unnecessary duplicates and that you’re working with the latest version of the files. Sometimes you may need to synchronize files and directories across many machines, as when deploying static XML or HTML files across a set of Web servers. Allway Sync from Usov Lab is a helpful tool for handling these kinds of tasks.

Photographic Surprises in Spring – Digital Photography Tip of the Week

Published on March 28, 2007 in Digital Photography Tips & Info. 0 Comments

Today’s photography tip is a short one.  As Winter is turning to Spring (at least in the Northern Hemisphere where I am) there are many changes occurring around.  The days are getting longer, birds are migrating, flowers are begging to sprout.

In the coming weeks, the first early wildflowers will begin to arrive, some already have. This is a great time of year to get out around your community, into local parks and nature areas and look for new growth and new life.

With a close and watchful eye you will find many wonderful photographic surprises awaiting you.

Until next time, happy shooting.

E-mail users want more control of inboxes: survey

Published on March 28, 2007 in Computer News. 0 Comments

From Reuters:

Bombarded by spam, e-mail users are eager for tools like a “report fraud” button that would help weed out unwanted messages that litter inboxes, according to a survey by the Email Sender and Provider Coalition released on Tuesday.

More than 80 percent of e-mailers already use tools such as “report spam” and the “unsubscribe” button to manage their in-boxes, the survey found.

Web traffic shows Shutdown Day organizers shot down

Published on March 28, 2007 in Computer News. 3 Comments

From the Niagara Falls Review:

The world was asked to shut down its computers Saturday. The world apparently didn’t listen.

At least that’s what can be gathered from stats offered on the official Shutdown Day website, which showed no noticeable decline in global Internet traffic.

Even so, the Montreal-based site says 86 per cent of people who responded indicated they could go without a computer for one day.

It’s interesting… I had forgotten about Shutdown Day, and when I did a search on Google News, there were lots of articles leading up to Saturday, but none about the results. This is the only one I’ve seen.

How to surf anonymously without a trace

Published on March 27, 2007 in Internet Tips. 0 Comments

From ComputerWorld:

The punchline to an old cartoon is “On the Internet, nobody knows you’re a dog,” but these days, that’s no longer true.

It’s easier than ever for the government, Web sites and private businesses to track exactly what you do online, know where you’ve visited, and build up comprehensive profiles about your likes, dislikes and private habits.

And with the federal government increasingly demanding online records from sites such as Google and others, your online privacy is even more endangered.

But you don’t need to be a victim. There are things you can do to keep your surfing habits anonymous and protect your online privacy. So read on to find out how to keep your privacy to yourself when you use the Internet, without spending a penny.

Sexy Machines — Yeah Baby!

Published on March 27, 2007 in Computer News. 0 Comments

From ComputerWorld:

Automaker BMW schooled Hewlett-Packard Co. in IT system design. Sun Microsystems Inc.’s co-founder and chief architect designs server boxes largely based on the stereo systems of his youth and wants his company to be more like Apple Inc. when it comes design innovation.

So, if you think it’s all for technology’s sake and there’s no fluff when it comes to enterprise-class IT, think again. Vendors know that when it comes to big-ticket sales, basic psychology still applies.

You might even be surprised where the ideas for those LED-lit, honeycomb-vented, stylized aluminum boxes came from and just how much impact those slick designs have on your decision to fork out thousands of dollars on even the most expensive mainframes, servers and PCs. Even those flashy exterior lights on your hard disk drives have a measure of psychology behind them because manufacturers know certain bright colors evoke succinct messages in the mind of a techie.

100,000 free phone systems up for grabs

Published on March 22, 2007 in Computer News, Hardware Tips and Recommended Web Sites. 1 Comment

This is from a press release I received from 3CX:

3CX a developer of a software-based IP PBX for Windows, today announced that it will give away 100,000 free phone systems. Companies are encouraged to take advantage of this offer to experience first handedly the benefits of an IP PBX when compared with traditional proprietary hardware PBX.

3CX Phone System is a complete software-based office phone system that replaces a traditional hardware PBX. It liberates companies from cumbersome phone wiring and solves the management headaches associated with proprietary PBXs. Since 3CX Phone System is based on the open SIP standard it works with any SIP-based VOIP provider, VOIP gateway or phone. The product integrates easily with most business networks because it runs on Windows – no Linux experience required.

“IP PBX technology includes advanced communication features but also provides a significant dose of worry-free scalability and robustness that all enterprises seek. Our free phone system offer allows companies to familiarize themselves with the technology and to see for themselves that upgrading to an IP PBX, should be the obvious choice for any company,” said Nick Galea, CEO 3CX.

Read the rest of the press release here.

Computer error rocks Alaska’s fund

Published on March 22, 2007 in Computer News. 0 Comments

From BusinessWeek:

Perhaps you know that sinking feeling when a single keystroke accidentally destroy hours of work. Now imagine wiping out a disc drive containing an account worth $38 billion.

That may be how a computer technician at the Alaska Department of Revenue feels after deleting applicant information for an oil-funded sales account — one of state residents’ biggest perks.

While reformatting the disk drive during a routine maintenance check, the technician mistakenly reformatted the back up drive as well and, suddenly, all the data disappeared.