Blog

Source for your notebook?

For a little over a year, Medis Technologies (New York & Isreal) has been live testing disposable fuel cell power sources for portable technologies. The unit, to cost around $20, is expected to power a cell phone for as much as twenty hours of talk time or five to six full battery charges. In fact, the unit will also potentially recharge the device battery even as it powers the device.

The Medis Technologies Fuel Cell Power Pack is roughly the size of the average cell phone (80X55X35mm) and will have available a range of adaptors to interface with many cell phones, PDAs, digital cameras, MP3 Players and other portable devices. Once the Power Pack is activated it should last around four to six weeks but, prior to activation, its shelf life could exceed a full year.

Look out, Energizer Bunny! We have a new player on the board.

Write comment (0 Comments)

Ever Wonder Why You're Constantly Fixing Defective Software?

The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) is one key reason the business technology consumer winds up with so many defective operating systems and software. (Check out the c\net article and my comments HERE). DMCA prohibits anyone other than the copyright holder to by-pass the security code of copyrighted products, even for the purpose of conducting research into, and revealing, defective code.

Consider this: How much does it cost you each and every single year to patch, fix, and "update" operating systems and products on your computers--products you purchased under the belief that they were genuinely ready for release? If you are not keeping track of this dollar amount, I suggest you begin doing so immediately. In terms of invisible IT losses, you are in for a very unpleasant surprise.

Think about this for a moment. No wait: Spend some serious time defining the problem and totaling up your associated costs. Consider how much you lose when technicians have to make themselves thoroughly familiar with a given defect and the patch, repair, update procedure. Consider how much user and technician productivity time is lost by employees while the patch is applied. If the defect opened your company to malicious code, how much did the entire event cost you? How much over a one year period? How about over three years? Five? Is the money piling up?

Before you wander off, you might also want to consider the average life cycle of the typical software product or operating system your company uses. If you are not monitoring the significant hidden costs relating to patch management, your software asset management processes are not complete, nor acurrate. i.e. You're losing big money.

Write comment (0 Comments)

Corel's WordPerfect Stepping Up

Corel has established a beach-head with Lenovo by placing several of its office productivity products--including Corel WordPerfect Office--on many Lenovo systems straight out of the box.

For those of us who view WordPerfect with fond memories, the latest out of the Corel HQ in Ottawa, Canada is friendly news, indeed.

Here's an interesting question: "When was the last time you heard of Corel having to issue half a dozen or more patches or fixes for their products?"

Write comment (0 Comments)

Video test