Saturday Tube Testing

I used to think I was a modern, emancipated woman. That my choices were my own, and I was striking out into new territory with my career. Now not only is that concept dated,  I am also realizing with age that I am, much more than I used to believe, a product of my upbringing. Was it inescapable?

A trip to the hardware store every Saturday to test vacuum tubes was part of the rhythm of my life.  My parents had four kids,so my dad didn’t do much without a kid or four. I don’t remember which equipment we owned that had such a voracious appetite for tubes; chances are whatever it was my dad probably built it. For years we went nearly every weekend. Now I realize that was the watering hole for the HAM Operators and Popular Electronics enthusiasts, but as a child I thought it was just a Saturday errand, like the grocery store and the (you kids stay in the car!) liquor store.

I remember him building a Heathkit* meter, and for years I didn’t watch TV without holding a big mirror and suffering bouts of vertical roll as my dad lived happily behind the set he built. (more…)

Backup & Recovery – Do one so you won’t need the other

Bright Star Bonnie McBride www.dancinglightartworks.com

A lovely artistic couple recently asked why the size of the backup file is so much smaller than the size of all the stuff in the machine. They logically surmised that much of it is compressed. But it’s a little trickier than that.

There are program files and data files, and “backup” means different things for each. Their natures also determine how you can move these files around your machine.

Program files Install; I think of them as plants, their roots sinking into the operating system and going every which way. They cannot be deleted; cut off the top and the root system remains; you must gently pull them out  by uninstalling.  Data files are more like the decorative stones here. They can easily be picked up, moved – as can the data files for documents, music, spreadsheets, photos.

And that takes us right back to the differing size of all computer files versus backup files – Backup files contain data and program settings but not the programs themselves.

The Cost of Spam?

If you’ve ever wondered if anyone ever tried to determine how much it costs us to deal with spam, the answer is oh, yeah. Explore what Google thinks it costs you by using their Postini services Return On Investment calculator found here: Spam Costs Calculator

Using their calculator, dealing with as few as 15 spam messages a day will cost you one full 8-hour day of productivity in a year. Multiply that per employee and spam filters become your friend.

Your keyboard is gross

Since it is not just flu season but swine flu, er I mean H1N1 season, thought I’d remind everyone that keyboards have often tested heavier in bacterial contamination than toilet seats.


I bring this up not to bring you down, but to encourage you to keep a pack of disinfectanl wipes handy and use them to wipe down your keyboard periodically. Always make sure your machine is off first, and don’t press too hard or rub hard on the keys if you plan on reading them later. If you’re not squeamish you can read about one of the studies here.  (more…)

12,000 laptops lost weekly in US airports

Dell released a study that blew my mind. Over 12,000 laptops are lost in US airports each week! Dude, seriously. The study breaks it down: which airports, where in the airport, if the laptops get reclaimed…Dell commissioned the report from Ponemon Institute Look for >”Airport Insecurity, The Case of lost laptops” from June 2008.

Their study included 106 major US airports in 46 states. Of the 12,255 estimated laptops lost each week, only 33% are reclaimed. Over 40% of business traveller respondents didn’t have their data backed up, and 65% admit they didn’t protect or secure the data on their laptop.

That’s scary for a number of reasons when you consider what is on your laptop: client info, confidential business plans, intellectual property, employee info, financial data. Some of this information is protected by law and people whose information is compromised have to be notified. California even has a law that compels this if you do business with anyone in California.

So, next time you fly, double-check that you have your laptop after the security station (40% lost there), the departure gate (23%), restroom (9%),food court (7%), and bar (6%). And backup! Just sayin’.