January 2007
You are currently browsing the articles from datapoohbah.com written in the month of January 2007.
PC World has declared that once it’s current supplies run out, it will no longer carry the Floppy Disk.
news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6314251.stm
Wow, I can’t really remember the last time I used one of our ‘Universal Boot Floppies’, I refuse to touch Win98 (any edition), and backing up anything from NT/2000 or newer to floppy was just stupid anyway.
Long live BART PE for installs 
Written by datapoohbah on January 30th, 2007 with no comments.
Read more articles on Commentary and IT and Miscellaneous.
In case you hadn’t noticed Cisco revamped their logo recently.
From the Old:
To the New:
Apparently someone has from Fisher Price has been added to the marketing team.
Written by datapoohbah on January 19th, 2007 with no comments.
Read more articles on IT and Miscellaneous and The Truth Hurts.
Getting over the IT addiction
Fixing computers, however, was not fun. Heres how it usually went:1. Decode the symptoms from the users terrible use of computer terms. I pity anyone who performs this step over the phone.
2. Fight with hordes of spyware apps, viruses, and shortcomings in Windows to restore the computer to a clean, usable state.
3. Talk to the angry user 3 months later when the system is back to an unusable state, and convince them that this is not my fault and I am not obligated to come fix it for free. Or, if Im lucky, the customer will be nice and Ill just have to feel guilty accepting their money again to fix the same problem.
4. Go to step 1.
Boy does THAT ever hit close to home.
And that is why the unofficial motto of datapoohbah:Â No, we won’t fix your computer!
Read the whole thing, you have to be in IT to understand why it’s depressing, but trust me. It is.
Written by CmdrChalupa on January 18th, 2007 with no comments.
Read more articles on IT and The Truth Hurts.
Nearly a month has past since I last posted about the possibility of switching .
Since that time I’ve been lugging two laptops back and forth to work. I can’t make the switch and make it stick. There’s simply too much missing on the OS X front, at least for me from a network admin perspective.
Yes I use BOTH computers daily. Unfortunately, my job requires Windows. I simply use far too many things to not use Windows. After all the network I manage is primarily Windows based.
All that’s missing from making the complete switch for me is Applications and compatibility. This wonderful MacBook Pro is just an accessory, another tool in my arsenal.
Doing everything by Remote Desktop is fine in a pinch but when you need SQL admin tools they just don’t exist.
I’m still struggling to find good tools for simply tasks like updating this blog.
There are tools out there, don’t get me wrong, but they are all missing something or aren’t good enough for me to cough up the shareware fee.
I’m using Office 2004 (the 3 year old) Office platform because that’s the latest. Using the Windows equivalent is simply a better experience. Entourage is very nice, but I need better/full Exchange compatibility and interoperability. While mail and the Calendar functions certainly do work (using Exchange OWA as the connection method, Tasks don’t sync and there are some issues.
I’m not a graphic designer, and I’m plenty happy with Photoshop CS on Windows. People that bitch about the mouse not being as good just need to buy a better mouse.
If I were a ‘consultant’ again and could dictate what platform I used, I could use this Mac. But I’m not. The systems that are paramount to the organization that I work with dictate the platform that I have to use as my primary environment.
I simply don’t have access to the tools I use the most and haven’t found good OS X counterparts yet.
For as many screwed up thing as there are about Windows, and there are plenty, there are similar annoyances with the Mac. Give me another button on this track-pad, give me standard PC keyboard layout. These things just shouldn’t be different. We’ve progressed past the one button mouse, and so should the track-pad.
Can’t we all just get along? ☺
Written by datapoohbah on January 13th, 2007 with 2 comments.
Read more articles on Apple and Commentary and IT and The Truth Hurts.
Just when you think you’ve seen it all, or heard it all…
I’ve been hearing advertisements on the radio for “Presto“, email without email, thing. The email printer for those who want to get email but that have computer phobia or something.
It’s just like WebTV only without the Web or TV part. IT’s basically this HP printer that you buy for $149.00 and plug it into your phone line.
People (your normal computer and email savvy family members) send you email and it prints it there for you.
No you can’t reply to them, you just get to read the email. All of this for a mere $9.95 per month. It’s like a one-way color fax machine! Why didn’t I think of this?
I’m sorry, computers just aren’t that hard. If my mother-in-law can do it anyone can and there are plenty of FREE email services out there.
Would the guy who funded this please email me? I want some of your money and I’m sure I can give you a much better return than this dumb idea.
CNN Money said; “Wouldn’t it be great if you could send email to your parents and not have to teach them how to use a computer?” Ah, no. No, no and hell no. If they can’t comprehend a basic computer with simple web access and web mail then no, I don’t want to have a one-way email conversation with my parents. It would only encourage them to pick up the phone and call me. Who wants that?
Written by datapoohbah on January 12th, 2007 with no comments.
Read more articles on Gadgets and The Truth Hurts.
As things go in life, if it seems too good to be true it usually is.
So David Pogue, the un-official Mac/Apple homer (aka iPogue) spent some quality time with the iPhone and wrote about it again here.
Now that the Keynote hype, and the ‘Demo-Ware’ magic has worn off, Pogue points out a few things:
Yes, typing is difficult (bleh)
Web Speed wasn’t great. Originally I had *thought* they were doing the web stuff in the prezo on-net, but being that it was wireless, then I’m really not all that impressed with the speed. If it was that _slow_ over wifi, then it’s going to completely suck on Edge.
Granted, this is a pre-release with demo/debug software so let’s hope it’s not that slow. I once hoped that Outlook 2007 would be faster once out of beta too. Boy was I wrong.
Other questions that everyone is asking were answered in a follow-up comment by Pogue:
ANSWERS TO ALL YOUR QUESTIONS:
Guys, if it hasn’t been said, then the answer is no.
Can it run Mac OS X programs? No.
Can it open Word/Excel docs? No. (Yes to PDF, though.)
Can it be used with anything but Cingular? No.
Does it run Palm apps? No.
Does it connect to iChat? No.
Does it have games? No.
Is it ambidextrous? No.
Does it have GPS, voice recognition, 3G? No.
Flash or Java? No.
Music over Bluetooth? No.
Can you change the battery? No.
Etc.
It is STILL the coolest piece of electronics to come along in years.
DP — Posted by david Pogue
So, no you can’t add stuff to it. (That’s bad, though everyone in the handheld community is expecting an SDK to be announced at WWDC). It would not surprise me in the least though if Apple kept the iPhone as a closed platform just like the iPod. Since there wasn’t a mention at the Keynote, we’ll assume for now that it is closed.
No Word or Excel viewing compatibility? That’s a big WTF? Even if some bastardized version of Doc’s To-Go was included, that would help.
Cingular blows we all know this and it’s a recurring theme. I understand the need to support GSM though.
Of course it won’t run Palm apps. Duh.
Ambidextrous? If you can’t use it with one hand, being ambidextrous is moot.
If it supports Safari, why not Flash? Java?
Ugh. It’s still an amazing device, but then again, so was the Newton. 
Written by datapoohbah on January 11th, 2007 with 1 comment.
Read more articles on Commentary and Gadgets and IT and The Truth Hurts.
« Older articles
No newer articles
