Technology Bytes

Just some obligatory vacation highlights –

If you’ve ever made a mark in a dictionary when you learned a new word, then you have Dr. Samual Johnson to thank. He completed the first compendium of the English language in 1755, having done much of his work near the pub called Ye Old Cheshire Cheese. I had a couple of pints there and sat in his seat, which was just a few down from where Charles Dickens often sat.

This next observation was a little disconcerting. On the return flight from London Gatwick to Houston IAH, the Local Time was off in the cabin due to the Daylight Saving Time change. The pilot announced that the error was due to the cabin entertainment system software not being updated for the new DST times. I would assume that the software in the cockpit reflected the correct times, but the crew were dodgy about answering any questions relating to the Y2K7 bug.

And another important date…

This Sunday is April first, meaning that you’ll want to be wary of sites such as slashdot.org and thinkgeek.com. April Fools web hoaxes have been popular since before the creation of the web, with some notable figures going all out. “On March 31, 1989 thousands of motorists driving on the highway outside London looked up in the air to see a glowing flying saucer descending on their city. Many of them pulled to the side of the road to watch the bizarre craft float through the air. The saucer finally landed in a field
on the outskirts of London where local residents immediately called the police to warn them of an alien invasion. Soon the police arrived on the scene, and one brave officer approached the craft with his truncheon extended before him. When a door in the craft popped open, and a small, silver-suited figure emerged, the policeman ran in the opposite direction. The saucer turned out to be a hot-air balloon that had been specially built to look like a UFO by Richard Branson, the 36-year-old chairman of Virgin Records. The
stunt combined his passion for ballooning with his love of pranks. His plan was to land the craft in London’s Hyde Park on April 1. Unfortunately, the wind blew him off course, and he was forced to land a day early in the wrong location.”

That’s it for your April Fools 411 and that’s that for BarretTime.

I have spoken before in my personal blog on the topic of hot-linking images.

As a photographer and as a person who hosts and posts a lot of images, I get people directly linking to my server all the time on Myspace, Friendster, Facebook and so on. There’s my image, plain as day. No credit for my work, no thank you Jay Lee for this awesome picture!, no nuthin! And to make matters worse, they’re pulling it directly from my server.

The John McCain team discovered that this is a huge no-no and they discovered it in a way that we here at Technology Bytes can truly appreciate.

Apparently John McCain has his own Myspace page which utilizes a template created by Mike Davidson over at Newsvine.com.

The McCain team ripped the template without crediting Davidson and, to add insult to injury, hot-linked to one of his images.

Davidson retaliated.

By simply changing the picture on his own server, Davidson was able to give Senator McCain and new political outlook.

You can read Davidson’s own account on his blog, but be warned. As of this morning the story was “slashdotted” so his site is responding a little slowly.

*Screen capture of McCain’s Myspace hack created by Mike Davidson

One of the readers of my Helpline column sent me this email which describes a novel solution to an age old problem:

14 year old computer “geniuses” and the problems they cause

I have a 14 year old son who believes he is a computer whiz. He is constantly downloading programs from the Internet and tinkering around with system files and hardware. As a result, the computer he uses is always loaded down with viruses and malware. The other day I caught him swapping .dll files in the Windows system directory (he said the versions he needed weren’t there and he was replacing them with files that came from who knows where). Needless to say, his tinkering really messes up this system.

Unfortunately, my wife uses this computer too and she is pulling her hair out. I finally reformatted the hard drive and reinstalled Windows (I’m still using 2000), but within an hour, he was at it again, undoing all my work with downloaded junk. At this point, my wife was ready to go buy another computer for herself; kicking my son off the system is not an option, since there are times when he needs the computer for schoolwork.

I made it clear to all concerned that we weren’t buying another computer. After a bit of pondering, I came up with what looks to be a solution that will keep everyone happy. I pulled out the system disks and started
reformatting again. But this time, I created two equal partitions on the hard drive, then installed W2K on both. I knew you could set up a dual boot system with two different operating systems, but I wasn’t sure you could do
it with the same OS. Just like a dual OS installation, you get a choice of two OSs on bootup, but in this case, they are both Win 2K. I configured one for my wife and the other for my son. Now, he can mess up his partition to his heart’s content while my wife’s partition remains clean and green. I know other people with teenagers who have the same kinds of problems; maybe this is a simple alternative to a second or third computer.

Mark K. Davis

This is a solution that will also work with XP and Vista. And since the operating systems are not running simultaneously, I don’t believe you will need two license keys.

My Tech Buzz column is up at houstonist.com. Check it out for local Houston tech stories ranging from online dating, corporate buyouts, tablet PC’s, chasing Cylons and spoofing caller ID’s. Houstonist Tech Buzz is published every Sunday. –groovehouse

We do get a lot of calls from small business owners so I know this will be of interest to some of our listeners

Houston based Ergos Technology is looking to make one small business a very happy camper.

They are sponsoring a contest, the winner of which will receive a $35,000 technology makeover.

The X-treme Technology Makeover will include:

Microsoft Small Business Server Premium
Microsoft Office Professional
Dell Power Edge 2900 Server
Dell Color Laser printer
Symantec Antivirus and Backup Exec Software
SonicWALL Firewall
Palm® Treo™ Smartphones with Windows Mobile Messaging
Implementation & Consulting by ERGOS
Toshiba phone system – implementation by DataVox
Applications must be completed and received no later than April 11th, 2007.

Full contest rules are here

You can fill out your application here.

From Steve Winter, CEO:

The winner will be chosen from a panel comprised of members from some of our sponsors including the Houston Technology Center and the Greater Houston Partnership. We want this to be an unbiased decision. We are looking for the company with the most compelling story. We want to choose a company where an upgrade or new infrastructure will have the most impact on their business and on their employees. There are a myriad of issues that can affect a companies’ productivity that don’t allow them to effectively compete in the marketplace. We want to help a company that has a good business plan or idea and just needs the technology to make it go. This could be for a non-profit or for-profit company in Houston.”

“This contest is a great way to give back to the community. There are thousands of small businesses in Houston and we hope to make an impact with one of these companies. It is also a good way for our sponsors to help give back to a community in which they may not be based. All of our sponsors were very excited about this. It is also obviously a great way for ERGOS to gain recognition in the marketplace and a fun way to do it.

Additional sponsors include Microsoft, Dell, DataVox, Symantec, Houston Technology Center, the Greater Houston Partnership, the Galleria Chamber of Commerce, Palm and SonicWALL.”

Jay Lee’s Chronicle Helpline column for the week is online here

Geek humor meets political commentary

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