January 27, 2012

Remembering J. D. Salinger

J. D. Salinger, January 1, 1919 - January 27, 2010

J. D. Salinger passed away January 27, 2010; he was 91. The famously-secretive author rose to prominence in the 1950′s for The Catcher in the Rye, a book that has resonated with every generation of youth since. He is more celebrated in literary circles for his shorter stories, many of which centered on the Glass and Caulfield families and explored deeper religious and philosophical territory than his sole novel.

Drobo Adding 4K Drive Support – What About Everyone Else?

Drobo is adding support for 4K-sector “Advanced Format” drives across their product line, but others do not seem as responsive.

Does Apple’s iPad Support Exchange?

Exchange ActiveSync support was conspicuously absent in the Apple iPad introduction

Apple introduced their “magical” iPad today, demonstrating impressive updates to iWork but focusing on home and consumer applications. The company never mentioned business applications beyond Keynote presentations, leaving a question as to whether they support Exchange ActiveSync like the iPhone family.

Two Stupidly Cool Terminal Fonts

Two stupidly-cool fonts in action: My normal DEC VT220-like terminal and a super-tiny Tom Thumb session showing Hamlet. All of Hamlet.

Two stupidly-cool fonts in action: My normal DEC VT220-like terminal and a super-large terminal with super-tiny Tom Thumb displaying Hamlet. All of Hamlet. No kidding.

What I’ve Learned From Vendor Blogging

Everyone is a vendor - what are you selling?

Concluding my series on vendor bloggers, I present my own experiences wearing multiple hats and trying to remain credible.

Vendor Non-Blogs

Biased content isn't just found on blogs - it's much more likely to be found in other areas like Twitter and discussion forums. Is Astroturf on the move?

Biased content isn’t just found on blogs – it’s much more likely to be found in other areas like Twitter and discussion forums. When does discussion become Astroturf?

The Spectrum of Vendor Blogs

Not all bloggers are equally vendor-focused - it's a spectrum

There is a spectrum of vendor-oriented blogging in various IT infrastructure areas: Some are more or less open about where they work, some focus on common technology, and others work in marketing. Bloggers are wise to keep these in mind as they move to new companies!

Vendor Bloggers 1: Why Does It Matter?

Are you a vendor blogger or an independent? Can you straddle the line and be both?

What does it mean for the community when independent bloggers go to work for vendors? The Internet has changed the old game of leveraging publications for PR. Can you still trust what you read?

Ramdisks: Back From the Brink of Extinction

System RAM is not typically used for storage anymore

Using system memory for storage is something of a lost art these days. But many of today’s I/O intensive tasks can still benefit from the untouchable quickness provided by a ramdisk. Happily, most operating systems are still capable of creating and using ramdisks.

Microsoft and Intel Push One Million iSCSI IOPS

Microsoft and Intel demand "One Million IOPS!"

In March, Microsoft and Intel demonstrated that the combination of Windows Server 2008 R2 and the Xeon 5500 could saturate a 10 GbE, pushing data throughput to wire speed. Today, they showed that this same combination can deliver an astonishing million I/O operations per second, too.