Pointman’s Page

For those who don’t know Zimbra is a web based email / calendaring client one of the primary alternatives to Microsoft’s Exchange. But in light of Microsoft courting Yahoo! there are some questions as to what will happen to the project which is owned by Yahoo!.
If Microsoft were smart they would latch onto […]

One of my many hats is the Security of our facilities and personnel as well as network and data. As one of my established policies every staffer, in-building business partner and frequent visitor is badged with our corporate identification card. For a long time I blissfully paid my friends at Alarmlink Life Safety Systems to […]

The New York Times is investing in WordPress seems rather odd. But then so does Polaris who builds Victory Motorcycles…

I remember how great a gadget the original Iomega parallel port Zip Drive was. As a matter of fact my first copy of Windows 95 was installed from my Zip Disk as the entire Windows 95 Upgrade CD would fit on one Zip Disk if it was compressed (with the completely unrelated Zip compression utility). […]

Students in Wisconsin, using a telescope in New Mexico owned by a college in Michigan discovered asteroid 2008 AZ28 looking at the pictures on the internet. Does this constitute some sort of cosmic alignment or something?

It has been announced that Sun has acquired MySQL AB. Thankfully it wasn’t Oracle who were making overtures last year and scaring the heck out of a lot of people including myself. Reading how this will effect me as a serious mysql user I’m not overly concerned. And despite several, I mean SEVERAL, missteps […]

Remember than Energy Bill the Democrat controlled House of Representives pass last month that requires the phasing out of traditional incandensent bulbs in favor of more expensive flouresent “energy conserving” bulbs? Yeah well be careful you don’t break one.
I wonder if they’ll have a recycling plan in place before this mandate goes into effect? […]

So who still thinks ethanol is a good idea when we still have huge oil reserves? Who’s willing to go on record saying the third world can starve as long as it prevents anyone from drilling off the coasts or in Alaska? Not much of anyone, but that’s what they think. After all, these […]

The Brits use radar speed cameras more than anyone else to ticket speeders. The problem, as some US states have also found, is the potential for abuse is huge. Catching speeders becomes no longer about safety but about revenue. Once that is realized the shenanigans begin; new and sudden changes of speed limits in obscure […]

It looks like the United States Army may be turning to the Apple Mac to replace PC’s. Breaches and attempted breaches of military networks and computers have been in the news here and there over the past few years and the Army feels that the Mac, which isn’t targeted as heavily by hackers (yet) […]

News of yet another micro-reactor for electric generation, a little smaller than the nuclear batter I last posted but and from Toshiba. I think the reason the alternative energy people are pushing so hard to get ahead of the private sector in replacing oil is nuclear… and they don’t want that because an alternative they […]

While in Vegas last week we shot up a lot of camera memory. Rather than spend money on more memory cards we’d only need for 3 or 4 days I thought to use the kiosk computers found at most any drug store to dump the memory sticks to a CD.
By Tuesday evening I had […]

I firmly believe someone who commits acts of violence is responsible for those actions no matter their “environment” but when we start talking about kids it gets a bit murkier. While gamers and Hollywood deny their “media” does not induce, cause or lead to violence the escalation of youth violence over the past decade warrants […]

Remember in the 90’s when Conservatives were bashing Clinton for allowing satellite technology to be transfered to China? The media kept it as low profile as possible covering it only when the few independent newsies of the day shamed them into it.
Well that bird has come home to roost now that we’re finding […]

A fascinating technology, the nuclear power cell or battery or what ever you wish to call it. But with it’s size and output, if production efficiencies can produce a marketable price such a device could be used in all sorts of situations. Just considering the implications for large data centers is staggering. Let alone […]

Apparently Britons expect to get innovation with no strings. Part of the iPhone deal is it is sold exclusively through one cellular provider. In the EU its illegal to do that but then most of their cell providers are state owned, at least partly, so it becomes more about making sure the state gets a […]

Something we’ve known for years is that all the paper in the world doesn’t mean a person can actually perform the job and a recent study seems to bear out that IT skills triumph certifications in the real world. What certifications do, like degrees, is get you noticed and increase your likelihood of getting an […]

Google bans anti-MoveOn.org ads

If you’ve considered OnStar for your next GM purchase you might want to consider that Cops can turn off your car via the OnStar system. Now this may seem practical especially since some people will be willing to pay for the privilege of living in an increasingly police state. At the same time you have […]

Now this is a raging case of buyers remorse if ever I saw one. Early adopters always pay heavily for the privilege… I’ll bet this woman spent the first few weeks bragging to her friends she had an iPhone and they didn’t, how much is that worth these days? $200 seems cheap all […]

Huh.. I wonder where it went? Many pointed out that anytime someone claims consensus and that the “debate is over” are trying to shut down that debate rather than deal with it. And now we know why….
Of 528 total papers on climate change, only 38 (7%) gave an explicit endorsement of the consensus. If one […]

It’s not a bug, it’s a feature! If you don’t get it that’s ok, nothing to see here… move along… move along…

As an IT Admin it’s not that we won’t tell… its that it makes our job much more difficult when you know. A fair warning to those considering trying some of these tricks, in some corporate enterprises the attempt alone could cost you your job if you’re found out.

It is no surprise to me to read that Workers Rarely Jump Ship Over Pay Alone. Eighty-eight percent left their last employer for reasons other than pay. That is a huge number and completely unsurprising.