2004 August

Over the weekend I found myself coming to the conclusion that using a standard POP account was becoming a real pain. Since I retrieve my e-mail on my cell, laptop, and my main desktop PC, I had to have my settings poised to delete my mail only after it had been deleted from one of […]

It’s an important thing if you’re an employer. Having a computer around certainly helps, but where do you turn when it’s time to set things up? Employees expect the boss to be able to keep track of the business AND the employees’ perks. Woe be unto you if you miss handing out so much as […]

Welcome to Just Ask Matt! - The IT industry’s answer to the help column, only slightly more medicated. Today, Ron writes:
Matt, I am trying to get away from AOL. I am sick of them but I am afraid that I will lose my AOL address book. How can I get the information off of AOL […]

Over the past few months I have received a fair number of e-mails asking me to cover the instructions on implementing an unattended XP install. I, for one, can understand why this is such a hot topic. Nothing is cooler than being able to install an OS without having to stand there answering all of […]

As it relates to keeping up with technology’s ever changing pace, I find myself consistently facing an upstream battle as I try and keep up with the continuous flow of new IT news. Well I’ve added another arrow in my IT news quiver, to go along with RSS, electronic newsletters, etc…, and it’s a web […]

In my previous

article I talked about the importance of social networking when looking for
a job. A handful of new Web sites have appeared in the past few years to make the
task easier - by linking you with the contacts you need to get hired.
Don’t mistake these sites with the popular
Friendster or
tribe.net; both are designed more […]

“Hitachi Data Systems Corp. is expected to roll out a high-end storage array that runs long-promised data pooling and replication software that will let users support multi-vendor storage systems from one interface.
Universal Storage Platform, dubbed Lightning 3, is set to be unveiled at an event in New York. The company declined to comment on its […]

“A distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack on your corporate Web site can be a terrifying thing. First traffic levels start rising, then your network gets clogged. Before long your servers stop coping, and within a few minutes your customers find your Web site is unreachable. As far as the Internet is concerned, your company […]

After the September 11th attacks and events since, New York area firms are taking security risks seriously as the Republican National Convention gets underway today in New York. According to a story published in eWeek, firms have implemented extensive disaster recovery schemes involving redundancy and remote offsite data backups, among others.
Apparently, million-dollar-an-hour downtime isn’t […]

“If your business deals with British conglomerate Imperial Chemical Industries‘ data, you’ll have to submit to regular third-party scans of your networks and be prepared to promptly fix any exploitable flaws.
And don’t try to pull one over on Paul Simmonds, ICI’s global information security director.
“We have a very simple rule: If you have a new […]

“An updated version of the Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer that brings support for Windows XP Service Pack 2 is now available for download from Microsoft’s site.
The Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer (MBSA) is a free tool offering a GUI or command-line interface for scanning networks to identify common security misconfigurations in Microsoft products. Version 1.2 is […]

“The Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2) Network Installation Package has been available for just over a week at the time of this writing. Reading through the discussion thread stemming from TechRepublic’s initial request for first-hand accounts of the deployment of this rather large pack leaves a decidedly mixed impression.

“Rob Sherman has never liked Microsoft’s monthly patching cycle. Whether a fix is available or not, he wants to be told about security holes immediately so he knows what to watch for.

In a recent interview with News.com, Bill Gates goes on the record about the Longhorn changes announced today, and covered earlier today here at Lockergnome.
The interview provides concrete details that while things have changed, they may have changed for the better with full backwards support for both Indigo and Avalon, and an extension of WinFS […]

As I noted earlier, word on the street was that changes were coming to Longhorn. Those changes have now been announced.
Joe Wilcox has a great take on the whole issue.
Largely the changes fall into 3 groups: Microsoft is committing to 2006 availability. Not just a release to manufacturing. Second, certain features will be made available […]

“…Microsoft and Pearson Vue is lending some financial support to certification candidates in indirect ways. One is a “second-shot” program, which gives exam candidates a second, free opportunity to try to pass an exam (CertCities.com has more about the free retake promotion at http://certcities.com/editorial/news/story.asp?EditorialsID=674). The companies are also providing discounts of up to 25 percent […]

According to “word on the street” source Microsoft Watch, Microsoft may be trimming key components of the Longhorn Operating System, it’s next generation version of Windows, in order to meet a late 2006 release date.
While the news won’t be official until later today, inside sources are indicating the new OS will be more evolutionary than […]

Not too long ago I was given an old Apple Mac running OS 7. At the time I thought it was the best thing I could be given, since it cost me nothing, short of gas money to pick it up. Two weeks later, this machine is still sitting on my counter, gathering dust with […]

Welcome to Just Ask Matt! - The IT industry’s answer to the help column, only slightly more medicated. Today, Jeremy writes:
I just built myself a new computer (AMD 2500+, MSI K7N2 Delta Mobo, 1 GB RAM, ATI 9200 video card, etc.) and lately it has started gaining minutes. I will re-sync the time with […]

Like it or not, it is going to happen. Eventually there will come a time when your antivirus software will be able to tell you what the system is infected with, yet it is unable to do diddley to remove it. Now rather than getting medieval on its butt, many viruses and worms have specially […]