You've probably heard the story about Gizmodo getting its greedy little mitts on an iPhone prototype. The phone was left in a bar by an Apple employee (not sure if he's still employed), picked up by a patron and sold to the Giz for a cool five grand. The site then posted all the details, creating a firestorm far hotter than deserved.
Apple has never liked to have its news leaked before it is good and ready and isn't afraid to threaten journalists with high-priced Apple lawyers.
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Posted by Doug Barney on 04/30/20108 comments
With Microsoft's Vail hitting beta, one reader discusses his thoughts on Home Server:
I tested WHS RC on a 1 GHz PIII machine, purchased and installed the WHS OEM version when it was released and have been running backups on occasions ever since. WHS works well. Each service pack has installed without glitches using a wide variety of disk drives, both internal and USB external.
I don't presently use any of the file-sharing features.
WHS has one glaring unmet requirement -- off-site copy. My current WHS machine is not 64-bit capable so an upgrade to Vail will be big decision. Without wizards or other procedurized means for off-site copy backups, I am hard pressed to see improvements that warrant new WHS hardware and software. I am not an expert in the new Vail WHS version but I have observed any references to the off-site copy requirement. I am keenly interested in whatever future direction guidance Microsoft may be giving in regard to the off-site copy requirement.
-Eric
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Posted by Doug Barney on 04/30/20101 comments
You may be wondering why an IT newsletter such as this is talking about Vail, the new rev of Windows Home Server. Well, IT folks have home machines too, and more than a few of you have raved to me recently about Windows Home Server.
Small shops with small budgets can't always afford high-end backup and data synchronization solutions. For users you really want to keep happy (like the CEO), Home Server may just do the trick, making sure files are always available and protected.
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Posted by Doug Barney on 04/28/20103 comments
Microsoft has been taking it on the chin for security holes for most of its corporate life. Now it's time to fight back. In the latest Microsoft Security Intelligence Report, Microsoft says that ISVs are the ones that need to improve their game. The facts seem to back these assertions. Last year, less than half of all attacks went after Windows XP third-party packages. Vista and Windows 7 attacks were based on third parties 75 percent of the time.
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Posted by Doug Barney on 04/28/20103 comments
There are two major things stopping folks from moving to Win 7 (beside a Mac or Linux fetish) -- lack of budget or fear of application incompatibilities.
Microsoft can't help you with the first, but a Microsoft partner can with the second through a free service that tests to see if your apps will run on Windows 7 Professional (not sure why it doesn't check for all Win 7 versions).
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Posted by Doug Barney on 04/28/20103 comments
In response to Doug's warning of the McAfee/XP crash problem, one reader discusses his overall thoughts on XP's reliability:
I have been running XP since it came out, and since Service Pack 1, I have exactly one crash. It was caused by a bad driver for a junky USB device. This has been only one fifth the number of crashes on my Windows 7 machine. Are you sure your check isn't issued in Redmond? We actually had the McAfee issue all over our state because we use the enterprise approach for our network. We did not see the never-ending reboot cycle, but we do not scan on boot either.
OK, I am done ranting, but I hate sound bite oversimplifications. I prefer to know exactly what happened and why. I know that doesn't play to your least common denominator crowd, but it is how we in the trenches get things done. At least you can get me going once a day. Thanks for the effort.
-Anonymous
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Posted by Doug Barney on 04/28/20104 comments
With the news of computer pioneer Ed Robers passing away last week, Doug wants to know some of your tech heroes:
Ken Olsen -- Digital Equipment Corporation. With a $60,000 loan, Grace Hopper as an adviser and the notion of time-sharing computers in his mind, he built DEC into a $13 billion corporation. Even at its peak he would land at a table in the cafe and eat lunch with whoever was at the table. He never behaved as though he was better than anybody else.
More than 10 years after it was broke up and sold off I still miss that company.
An old timer still going at it.
-Tim
I'm sure many people will rightfully cite Donald Knuth ("The Art of Computer Programming"), Brian Kernighan and Ken Thompson (Unix), Dennis Ritchie ("C"), Bill Gates & Paul Allen (Microsoft, MS-BASIC), C. Wayne Ratliff (dBase), Mitchell Kapor (Lotus 1-2-3), Charles Petzold (Windows Programming), and even Steve Wozniak & Steve Jobs (Apple) as their heroes.
I'd like to throw in Anders Hejlsberg as my hero for authoring one of the most influential programs of all time: Turbo Pascal. Until then, the only programming environment most people had access to was some version of BASIC or hand coding assembly language programs. Other environments were available (COBOL, FORTRAN, C, Pascal) but at the cost of hundreds or thousands of dollars putting them out of the reach of most hobbyists.
The introduction of Turbo Pascal was significant not just because of its technical prowess and speed but also because of its price point -- less than a $100. Not only did this expose many developers -- both hobbyist and professional -- to a great language and tool set at little expense, but it also opened the door to other lower cost development tools and inspired the creation of such cousins as Turbo C, QuickC, QuickBASIC and MASM that helped forge a cottage industry of software houses that lead to where we are today.
Without Turbo Pascal who's to say how long it would've taken to get here, if ever, and to make so many of us nerds rich? So my hat's off to Anders Hejlsberg. Thank you!
-Erik
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Posted by Doug Barney on 04/26/20100 comments
If you subscribe to MSDN or TechNet Plus, you can be one of the first to get your hot little hands on SharePoint 2010 -- and you can choose your poison today -- either 32 or 64 bits. And if you are new to TechNet Plus, you can get 25 percent off SharePoint.
Software Assurance customers can get their mitts on the new SharePoint tomorrow.
Do you use MSDN or TechNet? Do you read the magazines? Share your opinions with us at [email protected].
Posted by Doug Barney on 04/26/20100 comments
If you've been jonesin' for the latest and greatest version of SQL Server, you have only a week or two to wait, depending on your circumstance. As with SharePoint 2010, MSDN and TechNet Plus customers get first dibs and can download R2 on May 3. General release is a full 10 days later.
Microsoft won't be content with you just upgrading to R2. The company also wants you to buy Office 2010 and SharePoint 2010, stitch them all together and build an intuitive Business Intelligence system.
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Posted by Doug Barney on 04/26/20100 comments
I am astounded at the latest Google news. I already knew I hated Street View -- where Google vans take pictures of our homes, shops and neighborhoods. This is a huge invasion of privacy, in my opinion, and Street View has even been used by thieves to stake out houses.
Now, come to find out, Google is also recording if we have a WiFi hotspot, and if so takes down our MAC address.
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Posted by Doug Barney on 04/26/201025 comments
Virtualization Review magazine was born in two Framingham, MA-area restaurants -- Legal Seafood and Minado, an insanely great Japanese buffet.
Entrepreneurs are forever coming through Framingham (which ironically where half of the Redmond Media Group is based). These folks have to predict the future; otherwise they would blow their and their investors' money.
So selfishly I'd always ask what market they'd launch media in if they were me. Nine out of ten said virtualization. I mentioned this to my boss, Henry Allain, and before I knew it we were in full magazine and Web site launch mode.
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Posted by Doug Barney on 04/23/20100 comments
Security software, such as antivirus, is supposed to prevent infection and keep our machines up and running -- just like a good tune-up on the family Caravan.
But an antivirus update from McAfee has the opposite effect. It made XP-based machines crash more than XP itself (I've had a million XP machines and it is the NASCAR of operating systems)!
This glitch only impacts VirusScan Enterprise customers and concerns its new virus definition "DAT 5958" which mistakenly believes that a key Windows file is itself a virus (given my XP reboot problems over the years, DAT 5958 may just be right!).
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Posted by Doug Barney on 04/23/201012 comments