Tech Broiler

July 1st, 2009

PC OEMs: Please Cut the Crap!

Posted by Jason Perlow @ 11:09 am

Categories: Desktop, Microsoft, Personal Technology, Software Infrastructure

Tags: Costco, PC, Microsoft Windows Vista, Laptop Computer, Notebooks, Microsoft Windows Vista (Longhorn), Processors, Hardware, Notebooks & Tablets, Operating Systems

Buying a new PC from one of the Tier 1 OEMs can often be a frustrating exercise in crapware removal.

My Tuesday morning started like this. Phone rings. 9AM.

Hey Jason, uh, it’s Christine. Javi just booted up the laptop at the store this morning and nothing is working. Can you stop on by?

Me: Sure!

I knew, of course, that this probably involved my entire day being completely shot to hell.

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June 30th, 2009

Sun xVM VirtualBox 3.0: Virtual Developer's Delight

Posted by Jason Perlow @ 3:44 pm

Categories: Enterprise Computing, Free operating systems, General, Open Source, Server, Software Infrastructure, Virtualization

Tags: Innotek VirtualBox, Developer, Operating System, Sun Microsystems Inc., OpenGL 2.0, Desktop Virtualization, Microsoft Windows, Linux, Operating Systems, Hardware

Windows 7 Ultimate RC 64-Bit Edition virtualized on Fedora 11, 64-Bit using Sun xVM VirtualBox 3.0

With little fanfare, Sun Microsystems released version 3.0 of xVM VirtualBox, the Open Source and multi-platform desktop virtualization tool for Unix, Linux, Windows and Mac. The new release represents a culmination of hundreds of bugfixes and significant performance enhancements, including the ability for the product to permit guest OSes to use up to 32 virtual CPUs each. Under previous versions of the product, only one CPU core per guest OS was permitted.

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June 26th, 2009

Frugal Friday: Residential Broadband Woes, Jacko, Windows 7 vs Snow Leopard pricing, Red Hat, Virtualization, Cleversafe

Posted by Jason Perlow @ 7:19 pm

Categories: Business, Enterprise Computing, Free operating systems, Hardware Infrastructure, Linux, Networking, Open Source, Podcast, Server, Software Infrastructure, Virtualization, Web Technology

Tags: Cable Modem, Red Hat Inc., Broadband, Microsoft Windows 7, Cable, Microsoft Windows, Broadband Internet, Cloud Computing, Storage Management, Virtualization

Frugal Networker Ken Hess and I discuss my 22-hour cable modem downtime ordeal, Micheal Jackson, Windows 7 and Snow Leopard upgrades, Red Hat’s stellar business performance and RHEL clones, Virtualization, and talk with Chris Gladwin, CEO of Cleversafe about their Dispersed Storage technology.

Click Here to Listen to the June 26, 2009 Frugal Friday Podcast.

June 26th, 2009

The Harsh Reality of Suburban Broadband, Part Deux

Posted by Jason Perlow @ 1:39 pm

Categories: Hardware Infrastructure, Networking, Personal Technology, Server, Web Technology

Tags: Cablevision Systems Corp., Broadband, Mike, Cable Guy, Modems, Cable, Network Technology, Broadband Internet, Telecommunications, Hardware

Goddamit! Why have I been offline for so long?

As I explained in a previous article last summer about my broadband situation, my employer, like many large technology services companies, has elected to classify my work situation as “Home-Based”, in that when I am not at a customer site, I’m working from home. So for connectivity to corporate email, our Intranet and Instant Messaging system, my link to the mother ship is entirely dependent on the reliability of my connectivity through Optimum Online, Cablevision’s cable broadband service.

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June 26th, 2009

CLEAR: Your data will be properly disposed of

Posted by Jason Perlow @ 12:13 pm

Categories: Business, Security, Server, Software Infrastructure

Tags: Clear, E-mail, Security, Online Communications, Jason Perlow

The defunct CLEAR service is attempting to re-assure its former customers that their biometric data will not be divulged or misused.

The defunct registered traveler service CLEAR (see previous post) has recently sent out the following communication to its former subscribers, assuring them that their personal biometric data will not be misused:

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June 24th, 2009

My Experience with Dell's Namastechnical Support

Posted by Jason Perlow @ 3:14 pm

Categories: Business, Desktop, General, Hardware Infrastructure, Personal Technology

Tags: Hard Drive, Dell Computer Corp., Disk, PC, CD, Indian, Web Site Development, Microsoft Windows 7, Desktops, Internet

Despite my dislike for all things outsourced, my first experience with DELL’s call center in India was a largely positive one.

So this week, during a particularly intense session of software testing, the 500GB hard drive on my DELL Precision 530 decided to kick the bucket. Windows 7 RC and various flavors of Linux refused to install on it, none of the diagnostic utilities and recovery disks and tools I had at my disposal could resurrect it or even reformat it, and the unit started to make a nasty clicking noise. Conclusion: This is hard drive is not “resting”, this hard drive is pining for the fjords, this is an ex-hard drive, et cetera.

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June 22nd, 2009

CLEAR Airport Verified Identity Pass calls it Quits (UPDATED)

Posted by Jason Perlow @ 8:08 pm

Categories: Business, General, Security

Tags: Clear, Identity, Security, Jason Perlow

In a brief email sent to customers at 10:45PM EST, Verified Identity Pass notified its 250,000 customers that the CLEAR service was no more (click on photo to enlarge)

Well I can’t say that it was unexpected, but it’s definitely a bummer.

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June 22nd, 2009

ABC's "Impact": Oh No, Not Again!

Posted by Jason Perlow @ 10:56 am

Categories: Science

Tags: Earth, ABC Inc., Brown Dwarf, Moon, Government, Vertical Industries, Jason Perlow

How much more of the “Apocalyptic meteoroid-comet-asteroid-moon gonna hit the Earth/need to save us with a daring suicide mission involving nuclear weapons or a secret government project” genre can we possibly take?

Ah yes, Father’s Day. Going over to see the relatives for some pleasant conversation and outdoor grilling (well, maybe if you weren’t on the East Coast of the United States this last weekend), the unfolding terror and the continuing destabilization of the political situation in Iran, and a new Science Fiction miniseries about a desperate plan to save Earth from the moon which has been dislodged from its regular orbit by a chance collision with a piece of Brown Dwarf matter. Yay!

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June 21st, 2009

Boycott Bacardi: Your Summer Rum Buying Guide

Posted by Jason Perlow @ 12:21 pm

Categories: Business, General

Tags: Bacardi Ltd., Serrales, White Variety, Junkanu, Barrilito, Barbancourt, Gender And Diversity, Food & Beverage, Human Resources, Manufacturing

Bacardi’s misogynistic Israeli Internet advertising campaign will only get them scores of disdain from American consumers. What the hell was Bacardi thinking?

I had to see it to believe it. Bermuda-headquartered Bacardi, the world’s largest spirits distiller, decided to launch a English and Hebrew language Internet ad campaign for Bacardi Breezers in Israel and on FaceBook (see cached link, original site seems to have been pulled) with online agency McCann Digital.

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June 19th, 2009

Frugal Friday: Angry Mac Bastards, iPhone 3G S Mania, Fedora 11, ProxMox, Mono, Presidio Networked Solutions

Posted by Jason Perlow @ 5:11 pm

Categories: Apple, Business, Enterprise Computing, Free operating systems, Hardware Infrastructure, Open Source, Personal Technology, Server, VMWare, Virtualization, iPhone

Tags: Apple iPhone, Mono, Apple Macintosh, Fedora Project, Apple iPhone 3G, .Net, Development Tools, Open Source, Podcasts, Software Development

Frugal Networker Ken Hess and I discuss how I incurred the wrath of the Angry Mac Bastards (see 1:05:50 mark in AMB podcast, explicit language) The iPhone 3G S launch, Red Hat’s Fedora 11 release, ProxMox virtualization, the never-ending Mono debates, and interview Dave Hart, CTO of Presidio Networked Solutions.

Click Here to listen to the Frugal Friday Podcast