October 29th, 2009

My Top Scary Technology Trends

Posted by Jason Perlow @ 7:44 pm

Categories: Business, General, Hardware Infrastructure, Networking, Personal Technology, Security, Server, Software Infrastructure, Web Technology

Tags: Digital Media, Phone, Mobile, Information Technology, Smart Phone, E-books, E-mail, Smart Phones, Cellular Phones, Handhelds

Yes, it’s that spooky time of year again, and our “fearless” editors have asked upon the ZDNet contributors to come up with “Scary Tech”, the technologies that are so frightening, they’ll make you evacuate from multiple “interfaces”.

Halloween. All Hallows Eve. Dia de los Muertos. Whatever you call it in your culture, Halloween is a day that for many people evokes images of ghouls, the undead, vampires, witches, werewolves, ghosts and goblins — creatures of fantasy that are meant to scare young children. Although I’ve often been emotionally compared to a child, none of these things frighten me.

However, there are some things, at least in the world of technology, that really do scare the living crap out of me. While there isn’t one particular item that makes me turn completely ice cold with fear this Halloween, there are a number of trends that definitely have been keeping me up at night lately.

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October 20th, 2009

EvriChart: A Linux Success Story

Posted by Jason Perlow @ 6:53 pm

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

Tags: Desktop, Hospital, Imaging, Health Care, Server, Computer, Linux, Microsoft Windows, Document Management, Operating Systems

Tony Maro, CIO of EvriChart, a hospital records management and archiving business, successfully migrated his company’s Windows-based line of business document management extranet application and his employees’ 40-odd Windows-based desktops to a 100 percent Linux-based server and desktop infrastructure.

Jason Perlow interviews Tony Maro, CIO of EvriChart, Inc.

I had the pleasure of speaking to Tony Maro, who is CIO and an owning partner in EvriChart, a medical records management company based out of White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia.

EvriChart had some unique requirements which included replacing a Windows-based line-of-business application for document management that would not scale with the continuing growth of their business. By migrating to a Linux/Open Source-based Web application, it paved the way for full desktop Linux adoption at his company. I asked Tony to summarize his experience so that I could share it with you in the hopes that you might gain some valuable insight from the process he had to go through.

Next –>

October 12th, 2009

In the aftermath of the T-Mobile Chernobyl

Posted by Jason Perlow @ 9:37 pm

Categories: Business, Enterprise Computing, Hardware Infrastructure, Microsoft, Server, Web Technology

Tags: Termination, T-Mobile, Workforce Management, Storage, Human Resources, Hardware, Jason Perlow

T-Mobile’s Sidekick/Danger Inc. meltdown has far-reaching implications for wireless carrier data integrity responsibilities way beyond any immediate remediation the company may need to offer its customers.

Yesterday, T-Mobile notified all of its Sidekick device customers that a failure which occurred on Microsoft’s Danger, Inc. subsidiary’s Hitachi-based storage systems caused a catastrophic data loss at a central data center which affected approximately 800,000 of their subscribers worldwide.

This data loss included all contacts, digital photos, calendar entries and to-do lists that were stored by each customer because much of the device’s core functionality was entirely dependent on online, cloud-based services.

As a consolation, T-Mobile has generously offered its customers either an early termination escape from their contracts at zero penalty, or a $20 credit on a T-Mobile G1 android phone.

Really, T-Mobile? REALLY? ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME?

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October 9th, 2009

Frugal Friday: The Software of Stallman, Psystar/Apple, Parallels

Posted by Jason Perlow @ 7:37 pm

Categories: Apple, Desktop, Enterprise Computing, Free operating systems, General, Hardware Infrastructure, Linux, Open Source, Podcast, Server, Software Infrastructure, Virtualization

Tags: Software, Apple Inc., Psystar, Podcasts, Tools & Techniques, Cloud Computing, Storage Management, Virtualization, Utility Computing, Internet

Frugal Networker Ken Hess and I discuss Ken’s interview with Richard Stallman, Psystar’s newly announced OEM Licensing program for Mac Cloning, the greater implications of hardware and software vendor tie-in, and talk with Jamison Moore of Parallels, the virtualization company.

Click Here to listen to the October 9, 2009 Frugal Friday Podcast.

Disclaimer: The postings and opinions expressed in this podcast are my own and don’t necessarily represent IBM’s positions, strategies or opinions.

September 25th, 2009

Frugal Friday: Twitter, Social Networking, Open Source and Women, RMS vs. MDI, Oracle, CentOS

Posted by Jason Perlow @ 6:47 pm

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

Tags: Oracle Corp., Women, Network, Twitter Inc., Microsoft Windows Rights Management Services, Gender And Diversity, Linux, Social Networking, Open Source, Digital Rights Management (DRM)

Frugal Networker Ken Hess and I discuss the recent $100M VC investment in Twitter, the perils of Social Networking, the lack of sensitivity towards women in the Linux and Open Source community, Richard M. Stallman vs. Miguel de Icaza, Larry Ellison and his plans for the new Oracle and talk with Karanbir Singh, Project Lead for CentOS, the RHEL-compatible Community Enterprise Operating System Linux distribution.

Click to Listen to the September 25, 2009 Frugal Friday Podcast.

September 22nd, 2009

Watch Out for That Meteor, Stallman.

Posted by Jason Perlow @ 10:12 pm

Categories: Business, Desktop, Enterprise Computing, Free operating systems, General, Linux, Microsoft, Open Source, Server, Software Infrastructure

Tags: Mono, Ubuntu, Free Software Foundation, Microsoft Corp., Richard Stallman, Miguel De Icaza, Mono Framework, Genie, Linux, Open Source

Richard M. Stallman (RMS) the founder of the Free Software Foundation, has labeled prominent Open Source software developer Miguel De Icaza a “Traitor” for  joining the Board of Directors of Microsoft’s CodePlex Foundation as well as for his creation of the Microsoft .NET-compatible Mono software development framework. While RMS’s hatred of all things proprietary has fueled the FSF’s and GNU’s mission to create Free software alternatives for what seems like eons, the overwhelming desire for interoperability between open and proprietary systems makes this narrow-minded Cretaceous world view ripe for extinction. (Artwork by Spidermonkey)

As I have said in previous columns, I live as a citizen of two distinct worlds with diametrically opposing software development ideologies — the world of Microsoft, Windows and 3rd-party vendor developed proprietary software and systems, and that of Open Source and Free Software.

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September 21st, 2009

Frugal Tech Show with Centrify CEO Tom Kemp

Posted by Jason Perlow @ 5:30 pm

Categories: Business, Enterprise Computing, Linux, Microsoft, Networking, Security, Server

Tags: Centrify, CEO, Microsoft Windows Active Directory, Authentication/Encryption, Directory Services, Security Administration, Enterprise Software, Software, Security, Jason Perlow

Frugal Networker Ken Hess and I talk with Tom Kemp, CEO of Centrify, the Active Directory and Identity Management open systems integration software company.

Click Here to Listen to the Frugal Tech Show Podcast.

September 11th, 2009

Frugal Friday: Barbecue! Apple 2009 iPod refresh, CodePlex Foundation, Microsoft Best Buy Shenanigans, Schooner Information Technology

Posted by Jason Perlow @ 7:28 pm

Categories: Apple, Business, Enterprise Computing, Hardware Infrastructure, Microsoft, Networking, Personal Technology, Podcast, Server, Software Infrastructure, Web Technology

Tags: Best Buy Co. Inc., Apple Inc., Microsoft Corp., Schooner Information Technology, Microsoft Windows 7, Podcasts, Marketing Research, Internet, Marketing, Jason Perlow

Frugal Networker Ken Hess and I talk about the joys of Carolina and Texas Barbecue, the Fall 2009 Apple iPod launch event, the new Microsoft-created CodePlex Foundation, the recent exposure of Microsoft’s Best Buy 2009 retail marketing plans for Windows 7 and speak with Dr. John Busch, Co-Founder of Schooner Information Technology, the memcached and MySQL acceleration appliance company.

Click Here to Listen to the September 11, 2009 Frugal Friday Podcast

September 4th, 2009

Frugal Friday: Media Outrageousness, Snow Leopard Woes, Mac Virtualization, VMWorld 2009, EU kiboshes Oracle/Sun, Brocade

Posted by Jason Perlow @ 7:15 pm

Categories: Apple, Business, Enterprise Computing, Hardware Infrastructure, Networking, Podcast, Server, Software Infrastructure, VMWare, Virtualization

Tags: Apple Macintosh, Oracle Corp., Sun Microsystems Inc., Brocade Communications Systems Inc., Media, European Union, Cloud Computing, Virtualization, Storage Management, Server Virtualization

Frugal Networker Ken Hess and I discuss the new “outrageous” trend in media and blogging, problems with the Mac OS X Snow Leopard 10.6 upgrade, Mac Server virtualization, the European Union temporarily halting the Oracle/Sun Merger, reduced attendance at VMWorld 2009, and talk with Harry Petty, Vice President of Marketing for Brocade, the Ethernet/LAN and SAN switching solutions company.

Click Here to Listen to the September 4, 2009 Frugal Friday Podcast

September 4th, 2009

VMFS-3, How Do I Despise Thee

Posted by Jason Perlow @ 2:09 pm

Categories: Business, Enterprise Computing, Hardware Infrastructure, Linux, Microsoft, Networking, Server, Software Infrastructure, VMWare, Virtualization

Tags: Network, File System, VMware Inc., VMWare ESX, Virtualization, Ip storage, Linux, Hardware, Operating Systems, Software

The VMWare Cluster Locking File System, version 3 (VMFS-3) Is one of the core technologies used in VMWare ESX/vSphere 4 virtual infrastructure environments. Unfortunately, it’s also a completely proprietary black box that makes interoperability nearly impossible.

One of the perils of being a practicing systems integration expert versus someone who strictly writes about or reports on technology is that when it comes to taking care of paying customers versus attending trade shows, my customers come first. So while I would love to attend every industry trade show that would allow me to network with other industry peers and touch base with the companies that I write about, it’s not always possible.

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