Tech News

A Pigeon is faster than the Internet

photo credit: Bu Yousef

I count this as sort of a misleading article, but it is fun none the less. A homing pigeon with a 4GB flash drive took off from a location 80 miles away from its destination. A download of the same amount of data was started at the destination at the same time the pigeon was released. The bird landed with the 4GB of information in just over 2 hours. The computer had only downloaded 5% of the 4GB file in the same 2 hours.

4 GB is a lot of data (1000 songs, or 3000 photos, or a 2 hour movie), but it does wound pretty pathetic that a pigeon can move that information faster than a high speed Internet connection. However, the story also illustrates how Continue reading →

System Engineer fed up with Windows vulnerabilities

Interesting article from a ZDNet author, Christopher Dawson, who also works full-time as a school district computer engineer. Despite locking down Windows computers with security software, tweaking firewalls, and making sure all Windows updates are up to snuff, threats still sneak into their computers. I understand the frustration he exhibits in the article regarding the time and effort spent fighting these threats…especially knowing how much more trouble free a Linux computer or Apple computer can be. Worth the read:

Give me one good reason not to just move them all to Linux | Education IT | ZDNet.com.

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1
Sep 09

Should government have right to cut off Internet service?

Senate Bill 773 provides for protecting the country’s tech infrastructure by declaring a cybersecurity emergency. This emergency would authorize the government to shut down Internet access to key non-governmental computers and networks. If passed, the bill would create a whole new government agency that trains and certifies cyber-security professionals to help manage and carry out the rules set forth in this proposed law.

Click the link below to read a complete news store from CNET and get links to other news stories on the subject.

Bill would give president emergency control of Internet | Politics and Law – CNET News.

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1
Sep 09

Google Strikes Deal with Sony

The Financial Times reported that Google and Sony agreed on a deal that will result in Google’s Chrome browser (barely a year old) being installed on new Sony computers sold in the United States. Google hopes to add more similar deals with other manufacturers.

FT.com / Technology – Sony to distribute Google browser.

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25
Aug 09

Wikipedia to start reviewing article changes

Wikipedia started in 2001 as an online encyclopedia that anyone can edit. It drew a lot of attention then for its ambitious goal of gathering all information in the world and making it searchable and accessible. Today, it continues to draw millions of visitors per month and boasts more than 3 million articles, 75,000 contributors and has articles in 260 languages.

This week, Wikipedia made the news by making some changes to their article editing process. It used to be all one had to do was to create an account on the site and you could then make edits to any article that you had information to contribute. There has always been oversite and editing, but starting soon, many Continue reading →

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20
Aug 09

Yet another reason to ditch Microsoft Office for web based apps

photo credit: thoth92

This news story has flown mostly under the radar of most computer users for weeks. In a nutshell, it’s a patent infringement suit brought upon Microsoft by a Canadian company called i4i. The suit alleges that Microsoft knowingly used proprietary technologies in Microsoft Word 2003 and 2007. Last week, a judge in Texas, ruled in favor of i4i and ordered Microsoft to remove Microsoft Word from being sold and fined them nearly $300 million. Microsoft, of course, immediately filed an appeal that will draw the case out even longer.

While the appeal is being considered, Microsoft Word can still be purchased, but for how long? This case builds yet another argument for home and business computer users to consider using online based business applications like Zoho.com or Google Docs. If you want desktop software, look to OpenOffice.org.

Read more on the suit between i4i and Microsoft in the article below:

NewsFactor Network | Appeal Seeks To Keep Microsoft Word on Store Shelves.

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14
Aug 09

Bresnan cable has nearly 18 hour outage

photo credit: Chad The Great

Our local cable Internet profider, Bresnan, had a complete system failure that affected Internet and VoIP service that started around 7:00pm yesterday, and continued through much of the day today. In fact, it affected customers in Montana, Idaho, Utah, Wyoming and here in Colorado.

I received so many phone calls about Internet outage, that I changed my voicemail to include special instructions for Bresnan users. As of early this morning when I left for work (more than 12 hours after the outage ocurred), nothing was posted on the Bresnan web site about the outage.

This type of problem presents a great opportunity for me to remind you about my Troubleshooting Your High Speed Internet Connection article. Please review it, print it, and pass it on to all your Internet buddies who use any broadband (high speed) Internet service no matter where they live.

My friend and colleague, Adam Cochran, wrote and article and produced a video on his site, TalkingDigital, that demonstrates how to fully reset a cable modem and router. Check it out by clicking here.

Most folks should be online by now, but these two articles are invaluable to high speed users who run into Internet issues…keep them handy.

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4
Aug 09

Nikon to release camera with built-in projector

Wow, a digital camera with a built-in projector capable of producing a 40″ image to show off your pictures and video without having to huddle around the camera and hope everyone applied deodorant and brushed their teeth.

Read the whole story in this Endgadget.com article:

Nikon Coolpix S1000pj projector-cam beams into reality along with friends.

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1
Aug 09

Microsoft and Yahoo ink 10 year deal

yahoo-msftdeal The biggest tech headlines this week belonged to the long awaited deal between Yahoo and Microsoft. It wasn’t a buy out/takeover like Microsoft attempted a few times the past couple of years, but a business deal this time. Yahoo agrees to use Microsoft’s search technology instead of their own and they will share ad revenues from the search related ads generated on Yahoo pages. The deal is for 10 years.