February 23 and 24 is Gestalt IT Virtualization Field Day 2. This is significant in many ways, but is especially poignant for me because I will not be there. For the first time, the “geekherd’s crook†at Tech Field Day will be wielded by someone other than me, though I remain as involved as ever behind the scenes.
Sony 55-210 OSS Tele-Zoom Lens: Hands-On Review
Although certainly not the fastest lens (optically or workflow-wise) the SEL55210 is a screaming bargain at $399. The lens is light and compact enough to bring along “just in caseâ€, something that can’t be said of many, SLR tele-zoom lenses. Once it finally focuses, image quality is excellent and the built-in Optical SteadyShot makes it usable even in low light conditions.
The Four Horsemen of Storage System Performance: Get Smart
The Four Horsemen of storage system performance cannot be denied, but they do offer a clear path forward. Storage systems must improve in many different areas, from spindles and drives to caching and I/O bottlenecks. But above all else, storage systems must become smarter in order to become faster, and this requires greater insight into the true nature of the data stream being stored. All storage performance developments, from the laptop to the enterprise, boiled down to adaptations to the demands of the Four Horsemen.
Preview: Two Thunderbolt Video Input and Output Devices from Blackmagic Design: Intensity Shuttle and Intensity Extreme
I was thrilled to see the announcement by Blackmagic Design of two Thunderbolt versions of their respected Intensity video input/output box. But which is the better choice, the Intensity Shuttle or Intensity Extreme?
Teaching Science with Wi-Fi (Thanks, Ruckus and MetaGeek!)
As a parent, especially a techie one, you never know when a teachable moment is going to appear. Last night, I mentioned that I was testing a new Ruckus access point and enthused about how fast it was. My 12-year-old asked, “why is it so fast?†This led to a wonderful discussion about radio waves, congestion and propagation, and spectrum licensing. Yeah, I’m that kind of dad.