Blog

The Desktop is dead…Long live the Desktop

Is the PC dead?

So, during dinner the other night my son pipes up and says, “You should get me a laptop.”

Now, to truly appreciate this statement you need an understanding of the home of a computer geek.  You see, in my house there are currently 4 working desktop PC’s, 2 working laptops, 1 file server and a variety of network enabled devices and gadgets.

Somebody’s been surfing on my Internet!!

So what happens if some uses your Internet connection to do something illegal?  Who is responsible?

There are no easy answers.  According to the folks at LegalMatch.com, the evil doer is usually to blame.  As a matter of fact, connecting to your unprotected WiFi without your knowledge may itself be considered a crime.

Give your colleagues your two cents!

Have you ever needed to gather the opinion or responses from some of your colleagues for an activity, event or other that is going on at work?  If so, then check out the "create poll" feature in Outlook.  It requires that you have an Exchange server to work but what a time saver it can be.

Double up and save time

Save time packing power equipment for your phone or laptop,  but two identical adapters or consider an iGo as your traveling companion.  I have an iGo tip set that I keep in my car and one that I carry with me to charge my laptop, phone, and a variety of accessories such as Bluetooth headset, wireless headphones and more.

Will you have Internet access in July?

A few mouse clicks could mean the difference between staying online and losing Internet connections this summer.  Unbeknownst to many, international hackers ran an online advertising scam to take control of infected computers around the world.  The FBI made the bust and set up a safety net months ago by putting temporary dns servers in place, but these servers are scheduled to shut down on July 9.  Afterwards, infected users won’t be able to connect to the Internet.

Soak IT

Last but not least as we recognize African American technology innovators this month is Lonnie Johnson.  On a hot summer day, we owe Lonnie a big "thank you" for bringing us the Super Soaker.  Lonnie, an aerospace engineer who loved to tinker at home, was working on creating a heat pump that used water to cool down instead of Freon -- the result, the Super Soaker.

Getting into IT

As a young girl, I was fortunate to be encouraged by my father to pursue whatever interested me even if it wasn't a traditional field for a woman.  Not so for Valerie Thomas.  

Valerie Thomas was fascinated by technology as a young child but it wasn't until college that she was finally able to pursue her passion for physics.