Yes, the iPad Supports Microsoft Exchange
Posted by Stephen in Apple on 12. Mar, 2010 | View Comments
When Apple announced the iPad, I was puzzled that Microsoft Exchange email support was not listed. Happily, Apple updated the iPad site and Microsoft Exchange support is now included.
Apple QuickTime and Front Row Keyboard Shortcuts
Posted by Stephen in Apple on 03. Mar, 2010 | View Comments
One of my favorite features of Apple’s Mac OS X is the clean and simple media players bundled within. But I often find myself wanting to watch a movie without my remote in hand, and was distressed to see that Apple implemented entirely different keyboard shortcuts for the transport controls in QuickTime 7, QuickTime X, and Front Row.
Innocence, Fairness, and Technology Benchmarks
Posted by Stephen in Enterprise storage, Gestalt IT, Virtual Storage on 26. Feb, 2010 | View Comments
HP recently commissioned Tolley Group to benchmark their BladeSystem c7000 against the Cisco UCS 5100. The short report focuses on two results, and reads like so many competitive benchmarks in the IT industry: Tolley focuses on metrics that highlight the strength of HP’s solution and the weaknesses of Cisco’s. What’s the real value of pinpoint maximum-performance benchmarks like this?
5 Tips To Avoid Violating NDAs
Posted by Stephen in Personal on 22. Feb, 2010 | View Comments
I really dislike non-disclosure agreements, but NDAs are a fact of life in the IT industry. Even folks like me that actively avoid NDAs sometimes have to sign the paperwork to gain access to people or information, and employers regularly require such an agreement as a condition of employment. I suspect most folks try to respect and uphold the agreements they do sign, but this doesn’t stop slip-ups. So let me take a few minutes of your time to pass along my top-10 tips to avoid violating NDAs!
Microsoft’s Overlooked Innovation
Posted by Stephen in Computer history, Personal on 15. Feb, 2010 | View Comments
It’s fun to bash Microsoft. It’s easy, too, with Apple solidly conquering the high end of the PC and mobile markets and Google’s command of the Internet. But how fair are these articles skewering Microsoft, such as “Microsoft’s chronic lack of innovation” published today at Techworld? I suggest that Microsoft innovates as well as, if not better than, any other massive company. But no one innovates like an outsider.
Google’s Evil Buzz Is Building
Posted by Stephen in Apple, Computer history, Personal, Virtual Storage on 12. Feb, 2010 | View Comments
Although “don’t be evil” isn’t Google’s official corporate motto, the company and its admirers have embraced the concept implicitly and explicitly. But pride goeth before a fall, and the buzz around Google isn’t just about their new social networking feature: Cynicism and disillusionment with Google is growing.
Extreme Tiered Storage: Flash, Disk, and Cloud
Posted by Stephen in Enterprise storage, Gestalt IT, Personal, Virtual Storage on 03. Feb, 2010 | View Comments
In this video, I present the shortcomings of traditional tiered storage and propose a solution: Although merely using different disk types will never deliver the goods, adding flash and cloud to an integrated, automated solution will be truly revolutionary. I look forward to the day when all of today’s buzz-worthy technologies (flash, cloud, thin provisioning, automated tiering, post-RAID) are mixed together to form a really revolutionary storage system.
iPhone Review: Aliph Jawbone ICON BlueTooth Headset
Posted by Stephen in Apple, Personal on 01. Feb, 2010 | View Comments
With my Cardo Scala abandoned in a New York taxi and my Motorola H800 falling apart, I decided it was time to pick up a new BlueTooth headset. As luck would have it, I decided to buy on the very day that Aliph released their next-generation Jawbone headset, the ICON.
CommVault Gives Cloud Storage A Seat At The Adult Table
Posted by Stephen in Enterprise storage, Virtual Storage on 01. Feb, 2010 | View Comments
Only mature technologies are taken seriously and granted equal status when enterprise architectures are defined. That’s why I’m pleased to see today’s announcement that CommVault has completely integrated API-driven public cloud storage with Simpana, their impressive data protection and archiving suite. Now there are three equal backup targets: Tape, disk, and cloud.
Remembering J. D. Salinger
Posted by Stephen in Personal on 28. Jan, 2010 | View Comments
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.
