AT&T Launching Whole Home DVR

I have been using AT&T for TV and Internet for about a year and the service has been great. I consistantly get 5.7MB down and it is always on. Cable and even DSL often have issues with storms, rain and will bump my VPN off, but not UVerse from AT&T. I have been very happy. But they promised whole house DVR months and months ago. Well it appears that they have finally gotten their act together. SanFran will be the first to get the update with everyone else before year's end! And the upgrades are more then just whole house DVR: Read more

TSA new Laptop Bag Guidelines

So the TSA finally figured out that xrays do in fact see through bags and that its not really necessary to remove your protected laptop and throw it into a bin. But oh it was so entertaining while it lasted. Read more

Setting Up Drupal in 10 minutes - 5.7

This is a step by step setup guide for installing and setting up Drupal 5.7 in under 10 minutes. Now there is always something that comes up along the way that may take longer, but about 10 mintues is all it takes.

I put this together because the Drupal documentation assumes that you already know almost everything before you read it. If you are looking to setup a multisite version of Drupal check out my article: Installing a Multi-Site Drupal System. It allows you to run multiple sites on a sinlge code base of Drupal. Read more

GTD for the Audio Inclined

Okay fine, I will admit that I use my Blackberry while inside of a car and yes sometimes the car is also moving. Reading an address from an email, Looking at Google's mobile Maps or just plan making a phone call are all common tasks, but driving often gives me time to problem solve, think and plan out projects. But right when I have a good idea there is no easy way to capture the information for future actions.

So I set about trying to solve the problem of "how to manage task when you cannot write", and yes the solution came while stuck in traffic. Luckily I remember the idea long enough to write it down later (not while in a moving car). I also hope that this will assist people with disabilities that seek out task management solutions.
Well this problem would restrict me from using my hands but leaves me with speaking. I don't want to carry an adding device (like a recorder) and I already have a cell phone. Voicemail makes sense but I don't want to spam my own mailbox. I need a collection method, an inbox, context based 'folders' and finally a process for retrieving the information. I chose Google's Grand Central phone solution because its free, very easy to use, setting up multiple accounts gives me my 'folders' and it has a web based interface that is accessible from both a desktop and mobile device like my Blackberry Browser. Read more

Stupid Luser or Bad IT?

I just read a pretty good article discussing how IT professionals tend to blame Lusers ('lousy users') rather than face up to badly written software and poor implementation. The article does a great job comparing the IT world to other businesses involved with development: Read more

Looking for RCA's new Small Wonder EZ201 and EZ205?

Engadget just posted an article (Jan '07) on RCA's new Small Wonder EZ201 and the EZ205 . It looks great with mpeg-4 encoding , 1.5-inch, 180 degree swivel LCD display, runs on 2 AA batteries and an SD card slot for memory storage. Oh yeah its only about $129. That's a bar tab for a camcorder. So wow I want more info! Google... Nope... Nada. Read more

Importing Yahoo Contacts into an iPod Address Book

Well I just celebrated my 9th anniversary and since the two of us are rather hard to buy gifts for we simply picked out our own presents this year. Not too romantic but I got exactly what I wanted and she did too!

Besides some other things less techie, she got her first iPod. A nano with 4gb of storage. Now I am not a huge music listener. Sure I like dancing, driving to tunes and even right now as I type this I am watching Austin City Limits on PBS - The Raconteurs performing. But it wasn't until the iPod arrived and I starting setting it up for her that I realized this little tool could become "exactly" what she had been looking for, or rather what I had been wanting her to get... a PIM (personal info manager). I have always used my cellphone device (currently a Blackberry 7130) for contacts, addresses and calendars. Read more

Sony DRM Sends Fair Use with Betamax

DVDs, and many other forms of digital content, use a technology called Digital Rights Management that allow producers to control when and where you watch their protected content.

If a president of over-protection is set, then what at first is just DVD movies and commercial music, could soon become any form of digital information. While it may not happen over night, locking down all content could result in a environment where commercialized content is placed ahead of innovation and open thought. Read more

University of Texas at Dallas Loses 6,000 IDs

The UT Dallas breach is not the first breach of data the University of Texas System has seen even this year. In October, the UT System appointed a chief information security officer to build and oversee a system-wide plan to protect UT's information after some recent exposures. Read more

Virginia Proposal Seeks to Control Webusers

The Washington Post just ran an article that Virgina has a proposed law that would require sex offenders to register their email and IM screen names in an attempt to monitor and control their presence on social networking sites like MySpace.com

From the article: Read more