Technology Info

Setting up a wireless network can be a hassle … ok, it IS a hassle. Once you finally get everything up and running you’re still not done. Wireless security is a must for any network. (ABC’s of securing wireless networks) Despite the unlikely event that someone is tapping into your network, it’s better to be safe, than sorry.

On another front, Microsoft has been developing a forensic USB tool capable of bypassing PC security. Maybe this answers why there are so many bugs in the Windows OS? Hmm. So I encrypt my laptop, passwords all over, biometric security, and Microsoft is selling a USB tool for $99.99 that will undo all of that. *&^%$#@!!

Losing data? How about accidentally deleting data? Take a look at how the Bush government lost incriminatory emails, how convenient. I’m sure they went to great lengths to contact IT specialists, 2nd and third opinions while failing to contact an established data recovery company. What about the backups? Oh I see, accidentally wiped those too huh? (cover-up)

Cut down on energy costs and reduce your electric bill. Simply plug the easy-to-use Power Cost Controller with surge protection into the wall and connect your electronics to the power strip to see how efficient it really is. Large LCD display will count consumption and cost by the kilowatt-hour, same as your local utility. Monitor your electric consumption by hour, day, week, month, even an entire year. Also check the quality of your power by monitoring voltage, line frequency, and power factor. Measures 8-1800W appliances. Now you’ll know how much your computer network or home media center really costs! Replaceable 1.5V battery included. (link)

SHARP To Offer Ultra-thin LCD TV with Wireless HDTV Link by AMIMON

AMIMON’s WHDI Technology Enables High Quality and Robust Wireless Uncompressed HDTV Link to Sharp’s New X-Series LCD TVs

Santa Clara, Calif. and Osaka, Japan - April 30, 2008 - AMIMON Inc., an emerging leader in semiconductor technology for wireless high-definition (HD) video, has partnered with leading LCD TV manufacturer Sharp Corporation to offer a wireless HDTV link for the new X-Series ultra-thin LCD TVs. AMIMON’s WHDI™ technology, capable of delivering uncompressed HD video streams wirelessly, will simplify the installation of Sharp’s ultra-thin LCD TVs by eliminating the need for an audio/video cable between the TV panel and the separate tuner unit. (Gizmodo)

Synology’s new SATA NAS servers offer up to 4TB storage capacity and Synology is claiming they’re the fastest non-PC RAID 5 NAS servers there are. The desktop Disk Station DS508 takes five hot-swappable drives, while the rack-style Rack Station RS408 fits in four drives for up to 3TB RAID 5 capacity. (Gizmodo)
Synology

It appears that Take-Two Interactive, the video game publisher EA has been trying to buy for the last couple of months, has a potentially record-breaking hit on its hands with Grand Theft Auto IV. And EA isn’t pocketing the cash.

While it’s too early to know exactly how many copies of GTA IV sold Tuesday, the game’s launch day, anecdotal evidence suggests it will likely be one of the most successful launches in the entertainment industry’s history–if not the most.

“We are saying that the launch of this game is tracking to be one of the top three best-selling games,” said Chris Olivera, vice president of corporate communications for GameStop, “not of just this year, but the top three games in (our) company’s history.”

The latest title in what was already one of the most blockbuster game franchises of all time, GTA IV hit store shelves Tuesday morning with midnight madness events nationwide. The game had sparked controversy, with some politicians and critics calling for retailers to avoid selling it, but that didn’t seem to dissuade consumers. (link)

Yet another great post from the Consumerist, “7 confessions of an Apple Specialist“. Apple fanboys, you may commence flaming.
Apple care - total waste of money. (yup, thought so. most extended warranties are)
iPod - reset or restore or trash it. Not many solutions when you’re dealing with flash memory or hard drives of that size. There’s always data recovery.
Salepeople - don’t have any gossip for you so stop asking.
Customer satisfaction - Apple takes it very seriously. After all, they want to keep their bragging rights over PC’s and Windows, am I right?

Generally speaking, we leave the Lego posts to Joel, but with him flying off to Costa Rica for the next week, we’re missing our in-house expert on interconnecting, brightly colored plastic bricks.

So you’ll have to take this Lego post without Joel’s superlative ability to illuminate the latest Star Wars Lego set with a profound quote from Sartre. Perpetual Kid is selling a series of iPod Building Block Speakers. They aren’t Legos legally speaking — Lego’s attorneys have fervently fought the good fight against brand dilution for thirty years — and the speakers aren’t powered, which probably means they sound pretty terrible, but at $25 each, they are almost as expensive per brick as real Legos, which should count for something. (link)

Verbatim® Americas, LLC, a global leader in digital storage solutions, announced today the world’s first half-Terabyte 2.5” Portable Hard Disk Drive (HDD) featuring an industry standard 9.5mm Z-height drive. The PDA-sized drive joins Verbatim’s highly rated SmartDisk line of portable HDDs, which currently offer capacities ranging from 120GB to 320GB. Scheduled to begin shipping in Q2 2008, the sleek new HDD will enable Windows® and Mac® users to add up to 500GB of removable capacity to their laptop or desktop systems for less than US$300.00.

The demand for higher-capacity portable storage devices at both the consumer and corporate levels is being driven by the growing number of users who are creating and downloading volumes of digital content.

IDC research shows that the digital universe — information that is either created, captured, or replicated in digital form — will increase from 281 Exabytes in 2007 to nearly 1,800 Exabytes in 2011, or 10 times that produced in 2006. Between 2008 and 2011, the compound annual growth rate is expected to be almost 60 percent. In addition to the higher capacity requirements, today’s more mobile consumers and businesses are becoming more reliant on moving their digital content from one system to another. As a result, IDC sees greater opportunities for smaller devices such 2.5” HDDs. (link)

Overview
USB Flash Drive Duplicator allows one Master USB Flash Drive to be simultaneously duplicated to 60 USB Flash Drives.

IP Multicast Duplication (In development)
IP Multicast duplication is the feature designed for large-volume duplication business which allows one FCD unit to send data to hundreds of other FCD units via IP Multicast protocol.
This feature require all FCD to be connected to Ethernet switch or Hub (link)

Ted Rogers, President and Chief Executive Officer of Rogers Communications Inc. today issued the following statement:
We’re thrilled to announce that we have a deal with Apple to bring the
iPhone to Canada later this year. We can’t tell you any more about it right
now, but stay tuned. (link)