We've just had a holiday break here in the UK, and one of the things we did was look at a new house. Of course we had the usual criteria, space, number of bedrooms and for me a pretty good kitchen.
But other considerations come into play now too. The house we looked at was further into the village and therefore potentially further away from the exchange, which might cause problems with the Internet connection that is now of course compulsory. Other considerations like the quality of the electrics (the house is almost 100 years old, you want the electrics and circuit breakers to be somewhat more modern) also form part of the decision process.
We've just had a holiday break here in the UK, and one of the things we did was look at a new house. Of course we had the usual criteria, space, number of bedrooms and for me a pretty good kitchen.
But other considerations come into play now too. The house we looked at was further into the village and therefore potentially further away from the exchange, which might cause problems with the Internet connection that is now of course compulsory. Other considerations like the quality of the electrics (the house is almost 100 years old, you want the electrics and circuit breakers to be somewhat more modern) also form part of the decision process.
I have for many years asked why modern laptops have a PC Card (PCMCIA) and more recently the ExpressCard slots. Years ago, the PC card slot was the only way to add functionality like a WiFi card, and sometimes even basic networking, but today (and for many years) most laptops come stacked with so much built in (networking, modems, Wifi, USB, FireWire, multi-monitor video out) that the inclusion of an expansion slot seems just like a waste of money and space in an environment that has limited space to begin with.
Despite the limited usability of the slot, nearly all laptops continue to come with the ports, even the MacBook Pro includes an ExpressCard/16 slot despite the fact that it has the sort of port connectivity that would make most desktops blush.
I have for many years asked why modern laptops have a PC Card (PCMCIA) and more recently the ExpressCard slots. Years ago, the PC card slot was the only way to add functionality like a WiFi card, and sometimes even basic networking, but today (and for many years) most laptops come stacked with so much built in (networking, modems, Wifi, USB, FireWire, multi-monitor video out) that the inclusion of an expansion slot seems just like a waste of money and space in an environment that has limited space to begin with.
Despite the limited usability of the slot, nearly all laptops continue to come with the ports, even the MacBook Pro includes an ExpressCard/16 slot despite the fact that it has the sort of port connectivity that would make most desktops blush.
As this article describes, April Fools was a bit of a hoot yesterday with many companies getting involved in the process.
My favourite April Fools is actually not an IT one, but from BMW, and follows on in a series of april fools they've had over the last few years. Last year the advert had a phone number which, if you called, you eventually got forwarded through to somebodies real desk phone (and a surprised voice). It certainly scared the life out of us when we called.
As this article describes, April Fools was a bit of a hoot yesterday with many companies getting involved in the process.
My favourite April Fools is actually not an IT one, but from BMW, and follows on in a series of april fools they've had over the last few years. Last year the advert had a phone number which, if you called, you eventually got forwarded through to somebodies real desk phone (and a surprised voice). It certainly scared the life out of us when we called.
I know I keep mentioning this, but it is beginning to get really frustrating. I've had cause to use conferencing services through Skype a number of times over the last couple of weeks. As I've mentioned before, using conference services can be problematic.
I had two experiences, one good, one bad:
Good - I've found that in the Mac OS X client works much better if you use the keypad to dial the numbers - using the mouse just doesn't work (even if you can do it quickly enough for it to register).
Bad - dialing US conference services from the UK through Skype doesn't work when it coms to entering the conference number and/or pin number.
I know I keep mentioning this, but it is beginning to get really frustrating. I've had cause to use conferencing services through Skype a number of times over the last couple of weeks. As I've mentioned before, using conference services can be problematic.
I had two experiences, one good, one bad:
Good - I've found that in the Mac OS X client works much better if you use the keypad to dial the numbers - using the mouse just doesn't work (even if you can do it quickly enough for it to register).
Bad - dialing US conference services from the UK through Skype doesn't work when it coms to entering the conference number and/or pin number.
When you build a new grid one of the elements that will make your grid a success is to build one that scales, because if your grid scales well then it should be able to cope with a wide range of load types and situations.
In this first part of a two-part series on designing a scalable grid I look at the main network architecture of your grid and how you can use these different architectures to suit your grid type.
If you remember, six months ago I started looking at my energy costs at the modest home office and how I could try and reduce them and lower my monthly (expensive) electricity bill. My last quarterly bill came at the beginning of February and the next one is due soon.
Determining how much I could save s not impossible, I could just go look at the meter and work out the numbers for myself, but for companies looking to save electricity their options are somewhat limited.
There's an article here that talks about methods some companies are using to determine how much their computers and data centers are costing them.