Technology Bytes

Here at Technology Bytes one of the more common questions that we keep getting, both on the phone and in our e-mail, concerns transferring data from one computer to another. The scenario is usually along the lines of needing to move files from an old computer to a new one.

Certainly, if your somewhat computer savvy and have a home network you can configure things so that you can move files back and forth, but it’s a rather involved process and takes some time, effort and knowledge to setup.

What if there was an easier, simpler way?

Enter The Tornado™!

A simple and elegant device, The Tornado is a USB to USB connector. Plug one end into the USB port of one computer and plug the other end into the USB of the other computer. Without having to install anything, a program window will pop up on both computers which gives you an easy to use, File Manager/Windows Explorer style interface that will let you easily and quickly transfer files between the two PC’s by simply dragging them and dropping them into the appropriate folder of either computer.

The Tornado has a 25MB/s transfer rate and is compatible with Windows 98SE*, ME, 2000, XP, and Vista.

Sorry, no Mac support.

* Windows 98SE operating system does not support the auto loading of drivers. To load the necessary 98 driver, click here or come back after you purchase your device and download the driver for free.

The Houston ITEC show is happening next week at Reliant Park. On May 16th
and 17th, Houston’s biggest technology expo comes to town, this year
foucsing it’s sights on small and midsize businesses. This year’s show is
actually made of six seperate conferences with 24 sessions covering
technical topics such as networking, wireless technology, security and mobility
along side more ordinary topics like podcast production, blogging for
business and IT infrastructure.

Head over to www.goitec.com for details and registration.

That’s it for this week, but two reminders for the weeks to come.
First, the Houston Linux Users Group will be holding a Data Backup Seminar
at the HAL-PC Saturday, May 26th from 2:00 to 4:00 in the afternoon.
www.hlg.org for more info. And secondly, our own Dwight Silverman will be
talking at the Houston Area Apple Users Group, aka Haag, Saturday May
19th. The event goes from nine am to two pm, though I suspect Dwight will
only be speaking “oficially” at the eleven o’clock hour.
This will be taking place at the Rice University Media
Center. Hit www.haaug.org for more info.

That’s it for your technology fun raiser and that’s that for BarretTime.

Ann hams it up with the crew of Technology Bytes

Behold phliKtid’s might lemon!

If you’re sporting any mac hardware running OS ten, you might want to fire
up the Software Update Utility to download and install the QuickTime
update that became available today. QuickTime 7.1.6 includes numerous bug
fixes, including a critical security issue with QuickTime for Java. The
download is a little over 45 megs, so if you’re not on a broadband
connection, you’ll want to kick this one off before bedtime.

This Friday is the first Friday of the month, meaning that it is once
again time for the Technology Bytes Geek Gathering. Jay Lee and crew will
be on hand at our not so new home of Tropioca tea and coffee to drink
drinks, pick at the occasional pizza and weigh in on all things techy.
Free WiFi is available for fast fact checking and the Tropioca staff will
be on hand to deliver all the balls you could possibly want. 2808 Milam
at Drew is where you want to be starting around 7:00 this Friday.

After the geek gathering, I’ll be heading down the street to catch Junkie
XL, who has been working under the moniker of JXL on a large number of
console and PC games here in the US since leaving his home in The
Netherlands in 2002. In addition to his remixes that have found their way
into the mass media, such as his remix of Elvis Presley’s A Little Less
Conversation that found itself in an ad for the 2002 World Cup, his video
game credits include the theme music for The Sims 2: NightLife and the
entire soundtrack for the XBox game Forza Motorsport. His song “Today”
was featured as one of Burnout Legends’ EA Trax. There are also 2 tracks
remixed by Junkie XL found on the Need for Speed: Carbon soundtrack. His
works was also included in the videogame Test Drive 5. JXL is responsible
for the SSX Blur original soundtrack, Blur being Electronic Arts’
snowboarding game for the Wii. He’ll be at 6400 Richmond this Friday
night doing live remixing of whatever he feels like playing. My Cylon
girlfriend will be opening up the show around 10:30, with Junkie going on
sometime after midnight. You can hit www.junkiexl.com for details.
That’s junkie with an IE.

The Houston Linux Users Group is having the first of their two monthly
meetings this Saturday form two to four at the Hal-PC headquarters near
610 and San Felipe. While the information on this Saturday’s presentation
is a little sparse, the meeting scheduled for the fourth Saturday of the
month will be a data backup seminar. More information will follow in the
next couple of weeks, but for now, put May 26th on your calendar and hit
www.hlug.org for details.

That’s it for your Friday Night Geek Goings-On and that’s that for
BarretTime.

Whether in the form of People, Camps, Casts, or Cast-ready devices, pods have entered out geek vernacular in a big way over the last two years. If you’re all about all things pod, you might want to consider heading out Peter’s way to attend Podcamp San Antonio on May 19th. This free event is an unconference where everyone is the speaker as well as the audience. Podcasters will get together with bloggers, vloggers, and new media folk who are all interested in getting their message out. Hit podcampsanantonio.com to register as either a presenter or registrant. And if you’re without a place to stay in San Antopnio, hit up Peter soon, as his San Antonio house is sure to fill up fast.

This weekend is also the last weekend of iFest. If the weather holds, the Houston International Festival might be the one day you go out into the big blue room. Taking place both Saturday and Sunday in downtown Houston, this year’s celebration centers around China. No word as of yet as to whether or not the WiFi routers serving the area will be filtering content. For more info you can hit www.ifest.org.

This next one is a little bit in the future, but I think that it warrants a mention. Our own Dwight Silverman will be speaking at next Month’s Houston Area Apple Users Group about his own experience making the move from his windows centric worldview to the adult onset apple syndrome that he is now fully in the throes of. That takes place at the Rice University Media Center on Saturday, May 19th. I’ll have more information for you as the date approaches, but if you absolutely can’t wait, you can hit www.haaug.org.

And getting back to this weekend, if you’d rather spend your Saturday indoors with a group of linux geeks, you’re in luck. The Houston Linux Users Group will be meeting this Saturday from two to four in the afternoon at the HAL-PC Headquarters. Hit www.hlug.org for details and directions.

And to end on a slightly odd note, a new game for the Nintendo’s DS is coming out called Doki Doki Majo Saiban. From the kotaku.com site:

“Plot elements for SNK’s witch-toucher Doki Doki Majo Saiban have surfaced over at Famitsu. The game stars naughty Akuji Nishimura, who is commanded by an Angel Lulu to search for [witches] lurking in his junior high school. When the search is narrowed down, the suspected junior high school witch is examined with the touch pen.

How do you know if the little girl is a witch? Usually, there’s a “witch’s crest” hidden somewhere on her body which can appear in “Witch Check Mode.” The goal: Make her heart beat quickly. Players use the stylus to touch the girl, whose expression will change depending on how her heart beats. The background with change as well. However! Rush things, and the girl does not respond. Players must take it slow with the touching — these witches are flowers, or something.”

Odd fare for Nintendo, but not really that odd for Japan in general. Whether your weirded out by this or think that it’s kinda cool, one thing is certain. A new gaming genre has been born: “touch-a-girl-to-see-if-she’s-a-witch”. Game on.

That’s it for your touch and tell presentation and that’s that for BarretTime.

My latest Tech Buzz post is up at Houstonist! Check it out, there are blurbs covering Jay’s HelpLine column, Dwight’s TechBlog, local meetings and classes as well as other tech related Houston stories!

The KPFT website is not showing any audio archives after Monday. Until the April 18th show is up on their server, we can’t set up the podcast.

I will update as there is news.