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I have an unhealthy love of computers, software, and Web 2.0 apps. I probably need an intervention, but please wait until I finish catching up on my RSS feeds...
- Interests
- Is there life beyond computers?
- PC Specs
- Mac OS X Linux openSUSE 11.0 Windows XP & Vista
100 Posted Topics
 | When it comes to enterprise computer technology, everything seems to be happening in the cloud these days. Offsite storage was one of the first iterations of cloud computing and is continuing to gain traction as a smart way for companies to safely retain data. You're probably familiar with the typical …  |
| | As President Obama's economic stimulus package winds its way through the politico, people in the tech sector wait with bated breath to find out what it will mean for the IT industry. Of particular interest is the section of the bill that details how the administration plans to go about …  |
| | In case my recent post about the [URL="http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry3011.html"]stress levels of IT workers[/URL] made you want to start looking for a new job, the least I can do is offer you some tips. Here are three things you need to do right now: [B]Get a sense of the market[/B] - Make …  |
| | You can tell a lot about a company by the way they treat the employees lowest on its pay scale. Pay cuts and, yes, even layoffs are inevitable in today's economic climate. The decisions are painful, but they're often necessary and unavoidable. They aren't, however, a license to be callous …  |
| | Although Mozilla's Firefox and Google's Chrome browsers get a lot of attention in the media, Apple's Safari browser is not too shabby in comparison. The one thing it unfortunately lacks is robust security. Given that so much computer activity revolves around the browser these days, security is the last place … |
| | Ordinarily I tend to agree with many of the things PCWorld's John C. Dvorak has to say, but a [URL="http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2343209,00.asp?kc=PCRSS03079TX1K0000584"]column he wrote this week[/URL] has left me scratching my head. He asserts that the email system is fundamentally flawed and has pronounced it "dead." Email? Dead? What? Dvorak gives readers … |
| | When sysadmin [URL="http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/07/23/sf_admin_stays_jailed/"]Terry Childs went off the rails[/URL] in San Francisco a few weeks ago and deliberately locked down the majority of the city's network, no one should really have been surprised. As most IT professionals will tell you, it was bound to happen sooner or later. [URL="http://www.infoworld.com/article/08/08/18/34FE-it-under-pressure_1.html"]InfoWorld[/URL] took a …  |
| | I'm probably a disgrace to my gender for saying this but I think the new study showing women in IT face "significant barriers to advancement" is a bit overblown. According to [URL="http://anitaborg.org/news/archive/new-research-reveals-significant-barriers-to-advancement-for-mid-level-technical-women/"] research conducted by the Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology[/URL], the situation is so bad that nearly … |
| | The [URL="http://openid.net/"]OpenID[/URL] authentication method allows visitors to participating Web sites to log in with a single digital identity and avoid having to remember [I]yet another[/I] login / password combination. Many businesses are implementing this method on consumer-facing Web sites in order to lower the barrier to user registration and participation …  |
| | The folks over at Gmail have been busy rolling out all sorts of new features in the last few months but the one they dropped on users today is by far my favorite -- [URL="http://gmailblog.blogspot.com/2009/03/new-in-labs-undo-send.html"]Undo Send[/URL]. I don't know a single person who hasn't had the gut-wrenching experience of typing … |
 | Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of tarballs, I will fear no virus; for my distro is with me; its root and source code shall comfort me... |
| | You already know how important it is to archive business email in case you need it later for reference, audits, or litigation, but storing all those archived bits and bytes is a real headache. Shoving them all on disks or a dedicated hard drive isn't practical or secure, and searching … |
| | One of the most time-consuming (and boring) after-effects of attending an industry conference is the deluge of business cards you bring home. Despite your best intentions to cull them and put important contact information in your database, let's be honest, it rarely happens. It's a pretty safe bet that the …  |
| | There's an interesting article over at [URL="http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/161270/social_networks_risks_for_business_security.html"]PCWorld[/URL] this week suggesting that social networking Web sites are putting businesses at risk for security breaches. Author Howard Price says now that it's possible to link personal accounts like Twitter and Facebook to accounts at career-oriented sites like LinkedIn, a single status message … |
| | I was one of the lucky ones who was able to get in on the phone management service [URL="http://www.grandcentral.com/"]Grand Central[/URL] when it was still in beta. [URL="http://googlevoiceblog.blogspot.com/"]Google announced[/URL] late last night that its relaunching the service as Google Voice and is available to current customers as a private beta. I, … |
| | When things go wrong in the server room or the network operations center (NOC), employees are usually eager to point the finger somewhere else before it can be pointed at them. While absolving oneself of wrongdoing is reflexive human behavior, it shouldn't override dealing with the problem at hand. Unfortunately, … |
| | As geeks everywhere engage in endless battles over which operating system is best, [URL="http://www.likewise.com/index.php"]Likewise Software[/URL] has come along with an idea I can really get behind. The identity management software vendor has cooked up with an ingenious plan to encourage a cease-fire among IT pros and donate some cold, hard … |
| | According to recent research from InStat, smartphone users typically download five software applications at a time. Reports from market research firm Net Applications indicate 66% of those who access the Web use an iPhone, while the rest use Java, Windows, or Android-based phones. As the number of smartphones grow, so …  |
| | [URL="http://skype.com/welcomeback/"]Skype[/URL] is an excellent VoIP phone service for telecommuters or company employees who travel a lot. You can make and receive calls from your computer for free, and get a personalized phone number, voicemail, and other upgrades for a small fee. Skype announced a new fee-based feature this week, voice-to-text … |
| | Everyone is talking about how open source technology is the answer to budget cuts and belt tightening in the workplace. There's no denying its use is on the rise and, in fact, the Linux server market is predicted to extend into the tens of billions over the next few years. … |
| | Oh, the poor beleaguered BlackBerry Storm. It just can't catch a break. Mobile phone company Orange delayed its launch in the UK last year because of undisclosed "[URL="http://mobiletechaddicts.com/2008/10/09/orange-internal-statement-on-blackberry-bold-quality-issues/"]software issues[/URL]." The Bold's much anticipated arrival in the U.S. [URL="http://www.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2008/11/the_blackberry_5.html;jsessionid=QK2ZU3QQNUR2QQSNDLRSKHSCJUNN2JVN"]got bumped back[/URL] nearly six months. Now sales of one of Research In … |
| | Few things are more cringe-inducing than admitting to your boss that you lost your company-issued laptop. No matter how careful you are about securing your computer, sometimes all it takes is a second for it to vanish in a crowded airport or bus. To increase the chances of getting your … |
| | As part of my [URL="http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry4037.html"]ongoing quest[/URL] to [URL="http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry4007.html"]bring you information[/URL] on getting -- or keeping -- a job in the tech sector, I want to point you to a [URL="http://www.palamida.com/blogs/eight-open-source-projects-for-highly-effective-job-hunting"]great blog post[/URL] by the folks at the application security company [URL="http://www.palamida.com/"]Palamida[/URL]. They've assembled a list of eight open source tools …  |
| | If you've been following this blog for any length of time, you know I focus a lot on employment -- or lack thereof -- in the tech sector. I'm always on the lookout for ways IT professionals can get additional skills or enhance the ones they have, so I feel …  |
| | Unless you were unplugged and on living on a Himalayan mountaintop last week, you no doubt heard about the Great Facebook Flap of 2009. If not, then be sure to read [URL="http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry4008.html"]Ron Miller's excellent recap[/URL] at TechTreasures. ComputerWorld's Frank Hayes posted a great article this morning that takes a look … |
| | As layoffs mount in every industry across the nation, there's no shortage of advice on how to avoid or cope with them. Suggestions range from taking some time off to catch your breath to jumping right back on the in the saddle after your last paycheck clears. It's difficult to … |
| | BlackBerry smartphones get love from Google and iPhone gets love from, well, everybody. Most companies that develop mobile apps worry about these two user bases before any other, leaving other mobile phone users out in the cold. According to an announcement out of the [URL="http://reviews.cnet.com/gsma-world-congress/"]GSMA Mobile World Congress[/URL] in Barcelona, … |
| | Jaspersoft CEO Brian Gentile made an [URL="http://openbookonbi.blogspot.com/"]interesting observation on his blog[/URL] last week about what enterprise information systems need to do in order to appeal to younger workers. He says that because the up-and-coming workforce is so completely comfortable with technology, their expectations will be higher than past generations and … |
| | As my colleague [URL="http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry3927.html"]Davey Winder pointed out earlier today[/URL], Google has launched yet another cool tool, [URL="http://www.google.com/latitude/intro.html"]Latitude[/URL]. For the most part, its usefulness doesn't extend much beyond social gadflies, but I can think of at least one practical implication for the workplace. Google Latitude is an opt-in location tracking service … |
| | From angry customers to irate CIOs, service outages are an IT nightmare to be avoided at all costs. It's impossible to prevent them entirely, so post-mortem assessment is critical to understanding how to minimize their impact in the future. While not strictly a service "outage," [URL="http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry3900.html"]Google's search engine mishap[/URL] last … |
| | Early this morning, people using the Google search engine got a strange surprise. Nearly every result for every search was marked with the alert message, "This site may harm your computer." If you clicked on a search result, instead of being directed to a Web site, you were automatically taken … |
| | [URL="http://briefcase.yahoo.com/bc//home"]Yahoo![/URL] announced this week plans to shut down its free online storage service, Briefcase. Users have until March 30th to find a replacement service before their files become inaccessible. There are loads of free online options to choose from, but here are three of my favorites: [URL="http://www.idrive.com/"]IDrive[/URL] -- This service … |
| | You make some great points, Ron. I think it would be a really interesting idea if this happened. I guess my overriding thought when I was reading this post was that this idea would never fly from a marketing standpoint. Although MSFT gives a nod to open source ([url]http://www.microsoft.com/opensource/default.aspx)[/url], they … |
| | When Google launched Gmail's IMAP capabilities last year, it thrust the ubiquitous Web-based mail service into the limelight as a true contender for enterprise use. Even though it's tightly integrated with [URL="http://www.google.com/apps/intl/en/business/index.html"]Google Apps[/URL], a powerful suite of business tools, many people still shunned Gmail citing about a lack of offline … |
| | If your company has an online presence, it's tempting to dismiss offhand comments from disgruntled customers who claim they plan to smear your name on the Internet. I mean, one negative comment online cant amount to much, right? That's not necessarily true. [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PageRank"]Google PageRank[/URL] is the current gold standard that … |
| | Even if your marketing team says you don't need a company blog (though you probably do), consider setting up a Web site status blog for your visitors or customers. A status blog is a basic, no-frills site that contains updates and posts concerning a Web site's uptime (and downtime). It's … |
| | In the run-up to Inauguration Day, just about has been everyone speculating on what changes our newly-elected president will bring to the table. Naturally, we talk a lot around DaniWeb about how Obama's plans will affect the tech sector. As long as everyone else is making predictions and suggestions, I …  |
| | A reader at Slashdot [URL="http://ask.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/01/13/222229"]posed an interesting question[/URL] this week. His (or her?) company has instituted a new scheduling policy known as "9/80." It compresses 80 hours of work into only nine days, instead of the more traditional 10. In exchange for working longer days, employees get every other Friday … |
| | A group of over 30 organizations including the Department of Homeland Security, Microsoft, and Symantec collaborated recently on a security project designed to identify the [URL="http://www.sans.org/top25errors//?cat=top25"]top 25 coding errors[/URL] programmers make when building Web sites. Since many of the mistakes can leave sites vulnerable to to cyber crime, it's a … |
| | India-based IT company [URL="http://www.satyam.com/"]Satyam[/URL] is facing scandal after its chairman, Ramalingam Raju, admitted he falsified approximately $1 billion of profit in the last several years. The incident, which some are calling India's Enron, may end up costing hundreds of IT workers in Australia their jobs and undermining confidence in one … |
| | A new [URL="http://www.e-janco.com/Salary.htm"]study[/URL] by Janco Associates, Inc. is full of gloom-and-doom about the state of employment in the IT industry. A year-long survey of U.S. and Canadian businesses indicates a combination of job outsourcing, layoffs, and other cost-cutting measures have led to the worst job market IT professionals have seen … |
| | Under new a new law adopted in the UK, the British police are now permitted to access data stored on home computers without benefit of a search warrant. Worse yet, officers are allowed to hack into computers remotely without notifying its owner. Even though officials say these methods would only … |
| | Apparently the stinging failure of Windows Vista is a distant memory for Microsoft because they've cooked up yet another hair-brained idea to draw in customers: pay-as-you-go computing. [URL="http://news.cnet.com/8301-1001_3-10129438-92.html?tag=newsEditorsPicksArea.0"]Cnet has the details[/URL] today of a patent application filed by the company and I'm having trouble believing it's not Bill Gates' attempt … |
| | Even though we still have the playoffs and Super Bowl to look forward to, fans of American football are ([I]really, really[/I]) disappointed that the regular season ended yesterday. Since there's not much else to do but kill time until the 2009 season starts nine long months from now, let's have … |
| | Wired Magazine reports this month on [URL="http://www.maennerspielplatz.de/"]Männerspielplatz[/URL], a playground of sorts that's designed specifically with men in mind. Located in Germany, guys come to try their hand at things many have only dreamed of: riding dirtbikes through mud, driving a backhoe, or operating jackhammers on mounds of concrete. Wired author … |
| | There's a disturbing trend afoot -- particularly if you're a writer -- and it involves the print magazines sys admins and IT managers have relied on for years. Simply put, they're disappearing faster than beer at a frat party. Although no one can be sure exactly why, there's little doubt … |
| | Quick, what segment of your IT setup uses the most electricity: your servers and network technology or the assorted PCs scattered around the cube farm? If you said the stuff in the server room, you're wrong. According to recent [URL="http://blogs.zdnet.com/green/?p=1599"]data released by Forrester Research[/URL], desktop computers, printers, and monitors account … |
| | An IT expert within the Bush administration was killed in a plane crash over the weekend when his single-engine airplane went down just short of the Akron, Ohio, airport where he was trying to land. Michael Connell has made headlines recently for his alleged part in the rigging of both … |
| | I've been noticing a trend in recent weeks among large companies, small businesses, and consulting firms and I must say, it warms my heart. It seems that people are more interested in giving to the less fortunate this year than exchanging wacky Secret Santa gifts or having indulgent holiday parties. … |
| | If you're a tech worker that's been recently laid-off, [URL="http://www.alleyinsider.com/2008/12/seeking-laid-off-tech-workers"]Silicon Alley Insider wants to talk to you[/URL]. Beware, though, what they're asking isn't for the faint of heart. The Web site is planning to chronicle the follies and foibles of five people searching for new jobs in the tech sector. … |
The End.