PortableApps Suite, runs software on a 512MB flash drive

Need to run a bunch of applications but either can't install them on the computer you are using temporarily OR you don't want to install any software.

With a 512MB flash drive you can run portableapps, including Firefox, OpenOffice and a bunch of other applications. Never leave home without it.

http://portableapps.com/

Interested in how this came about... take a look at PortableApps.com from Wikipedia

Reported data leaks reach high in 2007

Reported data leaks reach high in 2007
Published: 2007-12-31
From securityfocus.com

Driven by legislation that requires the disclosure of breaches, companies and government agencies acknowledged this year that information from a record number of accounts was lost.

The exact number of records lost in 2007 is unknown, but two organizations have tracked the size of breaches reported in the media. According to Attrition.org's Data Loss database, more than 163 million records were reported lost or stolen by third parties in 2007.

The Identity Theft Resource Center, which also tracks reported breaches, put the size of reported privacy losses at more than 127 million records for the year. The data lost or stolen included credit-card information, usernames and passwords, e-mail addresses, and full identity information, such as social-security number, name, address, and date of birth.

Complete article.

Traveling with Laptop batteries? Read this change with airlines

Government Puts Restrictions On Lithium Batteries on Flights

By ROBERT DANIEL
December 31, 2007 11:59 a.m.

Flying well-equipped for business and pleasure gets a bit more complicated Tuesday, as the U.S. Transportation Department bars travelers from packing loose lithium batteries in checked luggage.

The move is designed to help minimize the risk that such batteries could overheat and catch fire on board, the agency's Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration said in a statement Friday.

The new rules beginning Jan. 1 say travelers can bring a laptop computer, digital camera, cellphone and other equipment on board or in checked luggage if their lithium batteries are installed in the items.

And fliers can bring spare batteries in carry-on luggage if they're stored in plastic bags or if they're in the original retail packaging. But travelers can bring only as many as two such spare batteries, and each must be packed separately.

Read more from the complete article from the Wall Street Journal online.

Email: Web-based, POP, or IMAP

Nice simple article on web-based email, POP and IMAP...

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Get the Best of Both E-Mail Worlds

By Joseph Moran

December 7, 2007

Most of us with personal e-mail accounts (that is, those not provided by an employer) probably have one of two different account types — either Web-based or POP-based (Post Office Protocol). This week we'll compare the pros and cons of both e-mail types and look at a third method that offers the best features of each.

It's not hard to see why Web-based e-mail accounts are so popular. Aside from the fact that they're often free (at least as long as you can operate within relatively modest storage limits), they provide flexible and convenient access from a browser on almost any Internet-connected machine.

The biggest advantage of Webmail is that it's server- rather than client-based. No matter from which computer you access your mail, you can always get to all your messages, both new and old. But although convenient, Webmail also has a major drawback: You must be online not just to receive new messages, but also to compose new ones or even view old mail.

By contrast, the capability to work with e-mail offline is a distinct advantage of conventional client-based POP e-mail. When you access a POP e-mail account using e-mail software like Microsoft Outlook or Mozilla Thunderbird, you need only to connect to the mail server briefly to download your new mail. This leaves you free to peruse or reply to messages at your leisure, whether or not you have an Internet connection handy. (Of course, you do need to periodically reconnect to the mail server in order to download new incoming messages or send outgoing ones.)

The major downside to the POP approach is that once messages are downloaded to your mail client they're deleted from the server, which leaves the only copy of all of your historical mail tied to a particular piece of software running on a particular computer. This not only makes it critical that you back up your own mailbox, but it effectively precludes accessing your old mail from any other system.

Read on about IMAP and the complete article...

Confused on the versions of Office 2007?

Here's a graphic from Microsoft that shows which software application come bundles in the various flavors of the 8 Microsoft Office 2007 Suites: yikes...

2007 Microsoft Office Suites:

Social Networking for the Socially Minded

Social Networking for the Socially Minded

District Firm Razoo Joins Other Web Site Builders Trying to Reinvent How People Give Money to Charity

By Zachary A. Goldfarb Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, December 17, 2007; Page D01

The office of Razoo on Connecticut Avenue blends two distinct cultures common in Washington.
It has the feeling of an Internet start-up, what with programmers clicking away, big flat screens, an espresso machine and funky green carpet. Yet the photos on the walls from Rwanda and other poor countries and the 11 employees, age 23 to 33, suggest it could just as easily be a nongovernmental organization.

The combination is no mistake. Razoo is a company that has built a Web site to connect people with one another, much like social networking giants MySpace and Facebook, but in support of humanitarian objectives such as preventing homelessness in the United States and helping families who live in a Nicaragua trash dump. Users and causes each have their own pages.

Complete article.

Microsoft Unleashes Hyper-V Hypervisor Earlier Than Expected

Microsoft Unleashes Hyper-V Hypervisor Earlier Than Expected

The virtualization software, formerly called Viridian, is slated to become part of the Windows Server 2008, sometime after Windows Server gets upgraded in February.

By Charles Babcock InformationWeek December 13, 2007 06:35 PM

Microsoft delivered what it called "a holiday surprise" to its customers and business partners Thursday by issuing a beta version of its Hyper-V virtualization hypervisor.

"Delivering the high-quality Hyper-V beta earlier than expected allows our customers and partners to begin evaluating this feature of Windows Server 2008 and provide us with valuable feedback" said Bill Laing, general manager of the Windows Server Division, in a prepared statement.

Hyper-V is slated to become part of the Windows Server 2008, sometime after Windows Server gets upgraded in February. Microsoft has said Hyper-V will be available within six months of the release of Windows Server 2008. The beta software was included in Windows Server 2008, Release Candidate 1 Enterprise, which became available for download.

Dell's First Tablet Laptop

Dell tries tablets with Latitude XT
Posted by Erica Ogg,December 10, 2007 9:01 PM PST

Tablet computing is a very small pond, and it's now home to a very big fish: Dell.
The Round Rock, Texas-based PC maker on Tuesday is introducing the Latitude XT Tablet PC, its first product in the category.

Though it's just one notebook, Dell's entry is sure to cause a stir. It's a modest niche of computing that hasn't really gotten off the ground yet. And the interest of the second-largest PC maker in the world can't help but have an impact on the market.

"It puts the product in limelight," said Richard Shim, PC industry analyst with IDC. "It has potential to bring down pricing on key components that are being priced at a premium."

Currently tablet PCs comprise just 2.4 percent of the worldwide notebook market, according to IDC. That's about 2.5 million units shipped total. But as Dell joins other high-profile tablet makers like Hewlett-Packard, Toshiba, Gateway, and others, the category is expected to grow to 12.3 million units and 6.3 percent of the notebook market by 2011, IDC said. And as volumes go up, prices are sure to go down.

T-Mobile Outage, Flooding in Washington State

T-Mobile Struggles With Flooding

Bothell, Washington data center swamped

Tuesday Dec 04 2007

by Karl

Severe flooding in the Pacific Northwest has swamped a T-Mobile data center in Bothell, Washington, impacting customer support, activiations, and some website functions. Several users have written in directing our attention to stories at both the Boy Genius Report and Data Center Knowledge.

An employee posts his account:

The report is correct - The main data center is flooded right now, so we only have email and our coverage/outage map. No accounts can be accessed due to the systems being out, so this can and will affect short codes such as 646, 225, the website and just about every system. It started around 7:30pm EST and was still happening when I left around 2:00 am EST. They were hoping to at least get read only systems online in the next few hours, so that we can at least do a little for the customers. Hopefully it will be back soon - Any techies have a clue how long it takes to dry out servers and get them back online - That should give a better idea on timelines.Calling T-Mobile's customer care line (1-800-937-8997) results in a recorded message telling you that the company can't access your account information.

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FYI: My own personal Blackberry service on T-Mobile has been out since 5pm Monday evening. It's now 5pm Tuesday evening and I'm getting a dribble of intermittent emails.

Terrible to hear about the awful flooding and weather. Interesting that there isn't better redundancy for a worldwide mobile company. A little perplexing... they must be losing millions and millions since people can't pay their bills, can't setup new phones, make service changes, purchases, etc... major bummer for t-mobile!