Archive for April, 2008

HP: Bad motherboards, broken support, and the black arts

Wednesday, April 30th, 2008

(This post originally appeared in Infoworld's Notes From the Field blog.) by Robert X. Cringely Things have been kind of quiet lately on the Hewlett Packard front. There have been no recent spying scandals, no daily kerfuffles over what the CEO is doing, saying, or wearing. Bill Hewlett and David Packard have ...

Smart phones, stupid people

Monday, April 28th, 2008

(This post originally appeared on Infoworld's Notes From the Field blog.) by Robert X. Cringely A Mexican press attache walked off with "six or seven" Blackberries belonging to US officials at a summit between the presidents of Canada, Mexico, and some guy named Bush in New Orleans last week. Press officer Rafael Quintero ...

Geek Week: Microsoft’s XP spin, Yahoo says ‘come on in!’

Friday, April 25th, 2008

(This post originally appeared on Infoworld's Notes From the Field blog.) by Robert X. Cringely Great eXPectations? Microsoft has made a multi-billion-dollar business out of spreading fear, uncertainty, and doubt, but lately it seems to be sharing the FUD about its own products. Take the burning question of ...

How tech firms can save the earth

Wednesday, April 23rd, 2008

(This post originally appeared on Infoworld's Notes From the Field blog.) by Robert X. Cringely Just in case you've suddenly emerged from a coma and hadn't noticed, yesterday was Earth Day here on our planet. And it seems like everybody is putting on their green. Even the US ...

Facebook and the Illusion of Intimacy

Monday, April 21st, 2008

by Dan Tynan When word got out that my wife and I were splitting up, I received several emails from long-time friends who knew us back when we were both skinny--err, dating. “I am a little heartbroken about your current relationship status,” wrote one. “What's with the single status? Are you guys splitsky? ...

Save the whales, save XP

Monday, April 21st, 2008

(This post originally appeared in and/or on Infoworld's Notes from the Field blog.) by Robert X. Cringely The international movement to save endangered operating systems (aka Windows XP) has gained supporters in unlikely quarters. Cringester J. C. reports: Just got a call from my ...

The Really Big Show on My Wall Every Night

Friday, April 18th, 2008

Front-projector TVs can be the least expensive way to get the big picture in high definition--but read this before investing your hard-earned cash in one. (This originally appeared in the May 08 issue of PC World magazine.) by Dan Tynan You can have your plasmas and LCDs, your CRTs and rear-projection DLPs. When ...

You Don’t Know Tech: The InfoWorld news quiz

Friday, April 18th, 2008

This week's quiz features a rich milk chocolate coating surrounding a nuggety cluster of curious business deals, Mac clones, tortured corporate mottoes and -- yes -- an actual reason to use Twitter. Correct answers are worth 10 points, and no, you may not have a candy bar before dinner. Ready? ...

Geek Week: Vista rocks, Gates rolls

Friday, April 18th, 2008

(This post originally appeared on Infoworld's Notes from the Field blog.) by Robert X. Cringely Blunder Road. A Microsoft music video by "Bruce ServicePack and the Vista Street Band" has been causing a few chuckles and a lot of retching across the Net. In the video, a Born in the USA-era Springsteen ...

Voting accidents and other avoidable tragedies

Wednesday, April 16th, 2008

(This post originally appeared on Infoworld's Notes From the Field blog.) by Robert X. Cringely When I was in school I learned that the difference between comedy and tragedy is that one of them ends in death and the other in marriage. (But I could never remember which is which, which may ...

Guerrilla IT: How to stop worrying and learn to love your superusers

Tuesday, April 15th, 2008

Your organization is filled with IT rogues and tech renegades. Here's how best to embrace them (This story first appeared on Infoworld.com.) By Dan Tynan Here's a sobering statistic: Eighty percent of enterprise IT functions are being duplicated by folks outside of the IT department, says Hank Marquis, director of ITSM (IT ...

Windows is falling — run for your lives!

Monday, April 14th, 2008

(This post originally appeared on Infoworld's Notes From the Field blog.) by Robert X. Cringely That creaking sound, the dust, that feeling of vague but imminent doom? It's not an earthquake. Your office isn't falling into a sink hole. It's the warning signs of Windows collapsing. According to a presentation served up last ...

Going Green

Sunday, April 6th, 2008

Global climate crisis? Technology can help. (A slightly different version of this appeared in the April 08 issue of US Airways Magazine.) by Dan Tynan Al Gore I am not. But I do what I can to leave a lighter carbon footprint on the world – recycling religiously, replacing our incandescent bulbs ...

Geek Week: XP’s not sacked, iPhone dev kit hacked

Friday, April 4th, 2008

(This post originally appeared on Infoworld's Notes From the Field blog.) by Robert X. Cringely Full speed behind. It seems the rumors of XP's death have been greatly exaggerated. Microsoft has bowed to overwhelming demand and decided to give XP a reprieve, kinda sorta. Scheduled to get the gas chamber in July, ...

Breaking News: Google Buys Facebook

Tuesday, April 1st, 2008

$25 billion deal combines two Web powerhouses by Dan Tynan In a move that stunned Silicon Valley watchers, Google announced it is purchasing popular social network Facebook in a cash and stock deal valued at $25 billion. Google CEO Eric Schmidt and Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg held a hastily arranged press conference ...

A Miracle in the Valley

Tuesday, April 1st, 2008

Thousands of worshipers flock to view 'holy site' in Los Altos garage by Dan Tynan They came alone or in groups, giddy with excitement or hushed with awe. They brought flowers and ribbons and broken down Powerbooks. They lined the sidewalks of this quiet suburban neighborhood, patiently waiting to see what everyone ...