Ever since we were young, we were always taught that smaller is better (note: the following post does not apply to the state of Texas). This mentality was thrust upon us through Micro Machines, My Little Pony, Polly Pocket, GameBoy, and Spud Webb.
These days, it’s no different. Gone are the days of briefcase portability. And by “portability” I mean you’d need one of those Home Depot back braces to carry this around.
In the words of Matchbox Twenty, “Let’s see how far we’ve come.” In terms of portability and laptops, The MacBook Air is the latest offering from Apple and it’s been turning heads everywhere because of its sleek design and the fact that it’s thinner than my girl Nicky Hilton. If you haven’t heard of the MacBook Air, you’ll be amazed by their commercial.
While Apple definitely boasts the thinnest laptop, it isn’t the only company going small and thin; the Lenovo X300 is right behind with their Windows-based laptop and each one has its pros and cons.
But what is the cost that comes with something so small? One airline traveler was recently stopped by TSA officials when they didn’t believe his new gadget was legit. After all, they didn’t see how a laptop could function without a traditional hard drive and without any ports in the back. As he was pulled aside and heavily questioned, the traveler missed his flight.
In the coming months, you may also hear about the Asus Eee PC, which can run either Linux or Windows XP. While it doesn’t offer nearly as much as Apple or Lenovo’s lightweight laptops in terms of hardware, it comes at just a fraction of the cost of its competition.
Also, don’t be surprised when you start hearing about the Picotux 100, dubbed the world’s smallest Linux computer, only slightly larger than an RJ45 connector.
At this rate, we’re just a few years away from the Zoolander cell phone.
When I was in college, my best friend and I decided it would be useful to share our computer and email passwords with each other. It came in handy whenever I needed him to check my email and check my grades online. Little did I know that the password I thought was so clever, “blink182,” was (and still is) one of the most frequently used passwords. Since many computer systems require at least eight characters and a combination of letters and numbers, I thought it was a perfect password. After all, it was 1998, Dammit was one of the hottest songs out, and “hands” doesn’t have any numbers in it. Yeah, I was a big Jewel fan, too.
Note to self to make myself feel better…Blink 182 got even better after Travis Barker joined them.
What’s funny is that whenever I’m working on a client’s computer and I get prompted for a password, there’s about a 25% chance I can guess what it is within five tries. I never thought to try my own, though. Fortunately, I had that password nearly ten years ago and identity theft, malicious hacks, and intrusive attacks were not nearly as rampant as they are today.
In fact, a group of researchers from Princeton recently published a paper showing how a computer could be hacked with just a spray duster and a screwdriver. Why does this sound so familiar? Oh yeah.
Note that both of these methods require physical access to the PC, which is not the most common forms of attacks. Most attacks occur through the network where they can go undetected. Therefore, in addition to physically protecting your computer, there are steps everyone should take to protect themselves from network attacks. Obviously, purchasing a firewall is a huge plus but the easiest and most effective thing you can do to protect yourself is by protecting your computers and accounts with strong passwords. Here’s a helpful Microsoft article on creating strong passwords so you can minimize your chances of getting hacked.
And if you’re worried about forgetting your complex password or you’re stuck on using band names from the 90’s, you’re better off leaving your password blank. Windows computers require a password to be accessed remotely, thus making blank password a better solution than simple passwords.
It seems that lawsuits are being handed out left and right these days. Between Best Buy, Comcast, Microsoft, Britney Spears, and Roger Clemens, lawyers everywhere are rejoicing more than Billy Madison on nudey magazine day.
As if Best Buy hasn’t experienced enough grief lately regarding its Geek Squad technicians getting caught stealing porn from its customers, the consumer electronics retailer is now being sued by a Washington, D.C., woman for $54 million after her laptop went missing. The $54 million seems astronomical for a laptop that was originally purchased for only $1100, but the plaintiff is quick to admit that the number was intended to bring attention to her case and expose Best Buy’s carelessness in not informing her in a timely manner that her laptop, containing her personal data, tax information, and irreplaceable photos, had disappeared. In a time where everyone is concerned about identity theft, Best Buy’s negligence theoretically could put the woman’s identity in danger. Speaking of IDs, if you need a fake one, leave your love ones at home.
Meanwhile, Comcast is facing its own legal issues, after allegations of internet traffic discrimination were brought to the table. Very rarely do you hear about discrimination suits not involving people, but the internet services provider is now facing a class action lawsuit for prioritizing their customer’s internet traffic, giving precedence to web surfing and curbing peer-to-peer file sharing applications.
The suit claims that consumers were mislead into purchasing certain products were only powerful enough to run the Vista Home Basic edition which doesn’t contain some of the feature that are highly touted with Vista’s marketing. Unless consumers did their research and understood what each version offered, they didn’t know any better. They were put at the same disadvantage as someone who doesn’t speak Spanish.
Facing a shrinking market share of PC and server sales, Dell has recently revealed plans to revamp their customer support by adding two higher-level support packages: ProSupport for IT professionals and ProSupport for End Users. This ProSupport offering will give Dell customers an improved support experience by providing them with 24x7 access to expert technicians, the ability to expedite replacement parts and labor, and support for select third party software and hardware vendors, to name a few.
I’ve had to call Dell numerous times in the past, for clients, myself, family, and friends. Whenever I call for a client, I get Dell’s Business or Enterprise level support and I almost always get a knowledgeable technician that sees my issue through resolution. When calling for myself, family, or friends, I get the Dell Home technicians and it is complete night and day. Their solutions are always the same, no matter what the problem is. Fan’s broken? Video card shot?
Step 1: Format your hard drive, reinstall Windows, and call us back. Step 2: You’re still having the same problem and now all your documents, music, and pictures are gone because you formatted your hard drive? Okay, we’ll send the replacement part.
Dell Home isn’t alone though. A good number of hardware and software vendors have this same lackadaisical “read-from-a-script” support. Take Microsoft for example. If you’re calling afterhours for an emergency, get ready to fork over $515. For what? This.
Dell and Microsoft are just two of a large number of companies that outsource their call centers to India. Even NBC’s help desk is located overseas. When a writer on Late Night with Conan O’Brien had a problem with his computer, he called Tech Support and documented the escapade. Before you comment, I know it’s fake, but it’s still funny.
As long as there are computers, users will always have problems. It’s what keeps technicians and engineers employed. Sure it gets frustrating sometimes when end users don’t give you the complete story and preface their stories with “I didn’t do anything” or “it just happened” but that’s what separates good support from bad support. A good support tech will decrypt the user’s stories and find out what really happened, on their way to fixing the issue and making the user’s day.
And remember, computer operators and substance abusers are the only people that are referred to as users. Coincidence?
Yesterday was Valentine’s Day and you could feel the love everywhere. Even Gary Coleman got in on the action, secretly getting married the other day and, no, he didn’t marry David Hasselhoff.
So with all this love in the air, why were there also so many breakups? I’m talking about breakups in the tech industry. Could this be the second coming of the Valentine’s Day Massacre? You decide.
Starbucks vs. T-Mobile After years of partnering with T-Mobile to bring Wi-Fi inhouse for its customers, Starbucks is cutting ties with the mobile network operator in favor of a new partnership with AT&T. This translates into cheaper Wi-Fi (first two hours are free for Starbucks card holders) that helps Starbucks compete with the smaller coffee shops that lure customers in by providing them with free internet access. It also helps AT&T take advantage of Starbucks’s presence and deliver a huge blow to T-Mobile, one of their biggest competitors. Starbucks wins and AT&T wins, but T-Mobile gets kicked to the curb, hurt worse than O.J. Simpson’s girlfriend after her “fall.”
Microsoft vs. Yahoo Microsoft’s recent attempt to acquire Yahoo was rejected by the Internet services company, after Yahoo’s board of directors decided the proposal substantially undervalued the search engine’s worth. This dealt a huge blow to Microsoft’s strategic hopes of gaining significant leverage in order to compete with one of its biggest rivals, Google. With Yahoo already way behind in its own rivalry with Google, was it really smart for them to turn down this partnership? Maybe I don’t understand all the regulations and financials behind the rejection, but I think Yahoo is crazier than Celine Dion talking about her upcoming tour.
Dell vs. AMD Dell has decided to stop using AMD processors in many of their computers, causing some concern at the AMD camp that they could lose traction with Intel, the leading brand in processors. While Dell claims they adjust their product offerings constantly and are “committed to the AMD product line,” it’s causing a stir on the Internet. Dell will continue primarily using AMD processor for their business, government and educational offerings, but will turn to Intel for the majority of its home and home office products. While the consumer base makes up only 20% of Dell’s sales, one can’t help but wonder how this will affect AMD’s sales in the long run.
Polaroid vs. its roots The instant film photography pioneer is closing its doors to the technology that put them on the map, turning its focus onto flat-panel TVs and digital photography. It’s kind of sad whenever a long standing company like this gets run out by newer technologies, especially when their name becomes synonymous with the products they sell, like Xerox and Kleenex. I feel almost as bad for them as I do for Jodee Berry.
Don’t let all these breakups and bad blood going around this week bring you down. To make sure you go into the weekend with a smile on your face, I leave you with yet another picture of the Hoff. Happy Valentine's Day.
I recently found out that, after twelve years, they’re making a sequel to Duke Nukem 3D, cleverly titled Duke Nukem Forever, for Xbox and PlayStation 3. I remember playing the original when I was much younger and spending countless hours in front of my computer playing with my friend through a dial-up connection. Obviously I was pretty cool back in the day, almost as cool as this woman.
Fortunately for me, I’ve outgrown that phase and have my sights set on bigger and better things. I'm talking about Mario Kart for Nintendo Wii, expected to be released in six months.
Why my sudden interest in video games? My brother bought my dad a Wii about a year ago so that he could play Tiger Woods Golf on it, but he never did. So, I decided to steal it and I’ve since been on an all-out hunt for games. Spending almost an hour in Best Buy, I settled on these three gems.
Just kidding. As terrible as those games look, I don’t think it gets any worse than this.
Speaking of Shaquille O’Neal, I couldn’t be happier about the trade that just sent him to the Suns, possibly setting up another Lakers-Suns playoff matchup. Why? Because Kobe Bryant is #21 on the mancrush list. The only reason he is so low is because of the whole rape scandal. And speaking of rapists, has anyone seen anyone that resembles this sketch? Wait a second….
A news reporter reporting on himself is almost as weird as a sign warning you about itself:
Only two more days until the Superbowl. Though not everyone will be interested in the game itself, everyone will undoubtedly be curious about the commercials and the halftime show. We can only hope this year’s halftime show is better than these past debacles:
So, in the spirit of one of the biggest gambling weekends of the year, I thought I’d put up some lines on the Superbowl in relation to some of GURU’s staff. For example, if you had to take the over/under on how many slots Jeremy Shockey moves up on my mancrush list when I see him on the sidelines in his street clothes, would you say more or less than six slots. He’s currently #12.
One of the saddest moments of my life.
On to the lines. Bets are now being accepted for the following over/under scenarios:
Number of players on the current Patriots roster that Nick Zarzycki drafts for his fantasy football team next year: +/- 4.
Number of Clay Aiken songs Jenn Adams downloads from iTunes during the game: +/- 2.
Jenn wishes she was Rueben right now.
Number of times Ethan Smith cleans his rims during the halftime show: +/- 1.
Number of times a Macbook Air commercial runs before Sasha Strickland goes online and orders one: +/- 2.
That's not an apple logo, it's Sasha's drool.
Number of quarters Jeremy Tucker watches before he gets bored and starts playing online poker: +/- 2.
Number of times Jorge Diaz gets up to change Micah’s diaper during the game: +/- ½.
When Micah understands this, Jorge will be one happy father.
Number of players Sakita Withers knows on either team, despite winning the GURU Fantasy Football League last year: +/-2.
Number of times Ahmad Mando will claim that the Eagles are better than the Giants: +/- 8.
I guess the McNabbs travel in covered wagons. Mrs. McNabb will die of dysentery.
Number of times a hobo breaks into Scott Burlington’s house during the Superbowl: +/- ½.
Number of times Viral Mehta changes the channel to One Tree Hill: +/- 3.
I really wish I had a picture of Viral that I could photoshop into there.
Total number of yards Paul Locander would get if he was selected to do the Punt/Pass/Kick Challenge: +/- 26.
Number of those yards acquired through the Pass portion: +/- 12.
I recently ordered a Verizon phone line for my townhouse which required a technician coming over to activate the line. My conversation with the customer service rep went something like this:
“Are you available between 8AM and 5PM on the 17th?” “No, but I’m off on the 18th.” “That’s available.” “Is there a window when the technician will be coming?” “Between 8AM and 5PM, sir.” “Are you serious? Can he call me when he’s on his way?” “No, sir. We don't do that.” “Cool.”
So I spent my comp day last week waking up early and waiting for Verizon to come. And of course, no technician ever showed up. At that point I basically decided, “Screw Verizon. As much as I hate Comcast, I’ll stick with them.” Well, five days later, I found a note on my door that said a technician came on the 22nd and activated my service and “no inside wire/jack work was required.” So, basically, they did the work four days late and I didn’t even need to be home? Needless to say, Verizon is now on top of my “ish list.” I have quite a few lists, including my infamous “man crush list,” headed by The Rock and Jeremy Shockey, but that’s a whole other topic.
Meanwhile, one of Verizon’s biggest competitors, AT&T, is my cell phone provider. Two weeks ago, one of my clients and I were purchasing three Blackberries and were talking it up with the sales rep. He was so approachable and friendly that we jokingly asked if he could hook us up with a discount on our personal lines because my client's boyfriend got a 7% discount through his company. He laughed and said, “I can do better than that.” Well, we both received our latest cell phone bills a few days ago, complete with a 15% discount. If anyone asks, I’m a U.S. Export-Import Bank Employee (whatever that is) and she used to be in the Navy. That's how you do customer service.
So, in light of Verizon ruining my comp day and with Duke playing Maryland this weekend (Go Terps!), here’s a few other items from my “ish list."
People who wear bluetooth earpieces.
People who can’t drive or park.
Personal trainers and people who do stupid exercises.
People who ride their bikes on the road when there’s a sidewalk.
Yesterday, one of my clients had an issue with scanned images not saving to the correct location within a particular software package. Without hesitation, the software vendor immediately said there was something wrong with the scanner and that the scanner was telling it to save somewhere else. I don’t think I really need to go into how that statement doesn’t make any sense. I've come to understand how software companies function throughout my years in IT. Basically, software companies never like to admit that their products have glitches. So, I decided to google strange software bugs and this is what I found.
Wait, so is this bad?
The software must really have some issues.
Error error?
Thanks for helping to steer us in the right direction.
I feel like no matter what I click, my hard drive is getting wiped.
Grab your kids and run!
So anyway, it's been a busy month thus far, as people are getting back into the swing of things after the New Year. Because of my hard work, I was awarded a comp day. So while you all are working, I'm at home watching Rob & Big on MTV and this is what you're missing.
In case you're not a Rob & Big fan, here's the origin of the net gun.
The weekend is almost here which means two things: the GURU Holiday Party (belated, we know) and the NFL playoffs. Special shoutout to Sakita Withers for scheduling our party when the Jaguars play the Patriots. As the reigning 2007 GURU Fantasy Football champion (see results below), I like to think I’m the in-house football expert. In my picks last weekend, I was 4-0. Of course, my predictions weren’t documented anywhere, so you’ll just have to take my word for it. Due to my swami-like football knowledge, I decided to put together an unofficial GURU guide to this weekend’s matchups. And by “unofficial”, I mean, if you bet on my predictions and lose, GURU will not be held accountable.
Seattle at Green Bay (Saturday, 4:30 PM). “We want the ball and we’re going to score.” If there’s one thing I know about trash talking in sports, it’s that whenever you guarantee something, the opposite is going to happen. That statement by Seahawks quarterback, Matt Hasselbeck, upon winning the overtime coin toss in the 2004 playoffs against Green Bay, proved to be the dagger in their playoff run, as one of his passes was picked off and run back for a touchdown. Three years later, Hasselbeck attempts to get the monkey off his back as he faces the Packers once again. If the Seahawks lose, Brett Favre is going to retire before Hasselbeck gets another shot and Green Bay will be hurling Donald Trump-to-Rosie O’Donnell-type insults to Hasselbeck for the rest of his career.
Unfortunately for Hasselbeck, this is Favre’s year and he’s going to take the Packers to the Super Bowl, where they’ll eventually lose to whoever comes out of the AFC. Pick: Green Bay.
Jacksonville at New England (Saturday, 8:00 PM) – I hate everything in Boston except for two things: clam chowder and Randy Moss. I’ve been a Vikings fan my entire life and Moss has been my favorite player since 1998. He’s the biggest playmaker in the league and he draws the attention of every defender. As much as I hate New England, this game isn’t going to be close. The Jaguars are going to be embarrassed more than this Polish man that went to a brothel and saw his wife working there. Pick: New England.
San Diego at Indianapolis (Sunday, 1:00PM) – Watching Colts backup quarterback Jim Sorgi play the last regular season game was like when you go to a basketball game and they pick someone out of the crowd to shoot a half-court shot at halftime. You root for them but it's unbearable to watch. Speaking of half-court shots....
Fortunately for the Colts, Peyton Manning has had a week off and is undoubtedly antsy to play and defend his Superbowl title. Pick: Indianapolis.
NY Giants at Dallas (Sunday, 4:30PM) – This is my upset special for two reasons. In my other fantasy football league, I had Eli Manning starting at QB for me. There were at least two weeks where he gave me negative points, including the championship game. I overcame his terrible performances, week after week, and still won the league. Well, my fantasy football team was like the real life Giants. Eli’s terrible, but the team will find a way to win. Eli is like Jan Brady. The older sibling gets all the attention and you feel bad for him for two minutes before you remember how terrible he is. The only difference between Eli and Jan is that when Jan threw a football, it actually hit her target.
Fortunately for Eli, his Dallas counterpart, Tony Romo, is under the public eye and he’s got the dark cloud of Jessica Simpson looming over his head. Her movie, Blonde Ambition, which was shown in eight Texas theaters, grossed $1,190 opening weekend. That’s not a typo; that’s how much Texans hate her right now. And that will be nothing compared to what she’ll experience if the Cowboys lose. If they lose, Dallas fans will hate Jessica Simpson more than Homer hates Ned Flanders, more than Marcy hates Al Bundy, and more than Uncle Jesse hates Kimmy Gibbler.
That’s a lot of pressure for Romo and experience tells us that he does not hold up well under pressure. In last year’s playoffs, he fumbled the snap on a game-winning field goal attempt that ended their playoff run. Put your money on Jan Brady. Pick: New York.
GURU 2007 Fantasy Football Results 1st place: Jeff Hsii 2nd place: Paul Locander 3rd place: Sakita Withers and Rich Bird 4th place: Nick Zarzycki 5th place: Chris Meagher 6th place: Jorge Diaz 7th place: Jeremy Tucker 8th place: Jeff Biehl 9th place: Ahmad Mando and Paul Xu 10th place: Prashant Wilson
Happy New Year! It’s colder than a polar bear’s toenail in D.C. and it seems everywhere else in the U.S. is experiencing the cold front. Snow is accumulating in the north and the only thing lower than the temperatures in the south are Franz Leger’s droopy pants. In England, some baby hedgehogs are too weak to hibernate because the drop in temperatures is causing a shortage in food.
So the holidays are over and there’s a good chance you got an iPhone as a gift. Now you’re almost as cool as Lindsay Lohan.
With your new toy, you can now talk on the phone, listen to music, check your email, browse the Internet, and watch YouTube videos whenever you want. But with music videos on YouTube like this, are you sure you want Rod Stewart, Bryan Adams, and Sting at the palm of your hands?
Well there’s a few things you should know about the iPhone before you think it’s going to replace BlackBerrys and Microsoft-operated smartphones. I’m sorry to break it to you but the iPhone, at least the first generation of them, is not going to be welcome by network administrators. Being the first generation, it obviously has its kinks that will no doubt be worked out by the second release. The iPhone also works exclusively with AT&T’s network in the U.S., which limits the number of potential consumers. Companies often have their phones under the same plan and expect corporate discounts when purchasing devices in bulk but AT&T won’t sell the iPhone to business accounts, only individual consumers.
Not only does the iPhone come with a hefty price tag (though there was a $200 drop before the holidays), but the iPhone is essentially one piece; it lacks a removable battery so, if the battery dies, so does the device. Although, the support tools that they provide are pretty foolproof.
There are also a number of security reasons why IT won’t support the iPhone. It doesn’t support securing data through file or disk encryption and it can’t be remotely wiped like a BlackBerry. This poses an issue when an employee loses an iPhone and it contains thousands of corporate, confidential email.
And lastly, when put to the blender test, it doesn’t hold up very well.
Not only that, but if you’re going overseas, you may want to leave your new toy at home. I don’t know of many companies that will reimburse you for a $2,000 phone bill.
Jeff Hsii has served as a Network Engineer and IT Consultant for GURU since 2005 and is the Team Lead for Team Polaris. He is the main contributor to the GURU blog and writes several columns each week.
