Technophiles
Employer snooping much easier with voice over IP
BY DEBORAH GILJUM
Have you seen or heard of VOIP?
VOIP stands for voice over Internet protocol. You can’t really tell from the title, but what this involves is phones — the latest and greatest in phone technology. As someone whose office recently went to VOIP, I can give you a personal, if somewhat subjective, view of just what this entails in an office setting for the average user.
Pixels aren’t everything—the lens still matters most
BY GREGORY COAN
I was a photographer long before I was a computer geek, and it has been both a blessing and a curse that the two fields have merged. This article is more of a philosophical explanation of digital camera technology rather than a specific product review, in the hopes it can clear up some of the marketing hype that engulfs the industry.
Portable music players: cheap is sometimes easy
BY DEBORAH GILJUM
First, we had the marching band—sounds good, but rather hard to carry. Then we had “boom boxes”—portable, but not very light-weight. Next came the personal tape player—nice. Then came the personal CD player—could life get any better?
Cut the cord: Sony’s wireless solutions for iPods, iPhones
BY GREGORY COAN
I have a real love/hate relationship with technology as it applies to music. Much of this arises from being a musician, which feeds my lofty audio standards. My life is divided. Currently, I am using a battery-powered wireless laptop connected via WiFi to the Internet, and I’m listening to wireless headphones through Bluetooth.
System error: What not to ask the Help Desk
BY DEBORAH GILJUM
Once upon a time, a very long time ago, there were no computers. People survived without them… but frankly, I don’t know how.
Nevertheless, no matter how much you might love computers, you have to admit, there are times when you absolutely hate them—and you’re convinced they hate you, too. When you can’t make them work right, you have to break down and call for help. Don’t feel bad. It’s not that uncommon for a support technician to have a user threaten to toss the computer out the window. It’s probably even happened a time or two.
Report Card: Does Office 2007 make the grade?
BY DEBORAH GILJUM
You may have heard rumors about Office 2007 being completely different.
They’re true.
Even though it’s 2008, many people have not yet upgraded to Office 2007, but that is hardly unusual. For most, Microsoft Office software primarily means Word, Outlook and Excel. Those who once worked in WordPerfect, switched to Microsoft Word and then upgraded to Word 2003 probably have a sinking feeling at the thought of upgrading again to Office 2007. It often seems that as soon as you really master a program, they change it on you.
Roku box rocks Netflix straight to television
BY GREGORY COAN
This week I got to check out a nice addition to Netflix, the Roku set-top home delivery box. Think of it as Netflix movies on-demand without the hassles of DVDs, envelopes, and stopping at a mailbox. The Roku box is the first entry in this arena for Netflix and according to the company there will be other devices coming in the future as well. Keep in mind the Roku box works with Netflix and Netflix only. So what does it add to your Netflix experience and is it worth the $99 price tag?
iPhone: Will 2.0 software attract business set?
BY GREGORY COAN
I never wanted an iPhone. Well wait … I’m an IT Geek, of course I WANTED an iPhone but I wasn’t about to pay three or four hundred dollars for a phone. I already had a Motorola phone with AT&T and a laptop handy most of the time, so it all seemed a bit redundant to me. And I don’t really like talking on the phone.
Memory lapse: Hard drives save lives
Did you know that the first computer was designed to function like the human brain? Loosely speaking, in your brain you have programs (talents/skills), RAM (short-term memory), and a hard drive (long-term memory). You even have a “tree” structure in your head, like a computer, which explains why some things take longer to remember than others—you have to find it in the right subfolder of the right subfolder of the right folder. Now, in a human, they say the memory is the first thing to go. In a computer, however, you can always improve your memory.
Mac Attack: An Apple a day keeps viruses at bay
By Gregory Coan
For an IT guy, I have a pretty easy job. I’m part of a team of four, and I am the main Apple “guru.” While my compatriots spend their days cleaning viruses off staff PC’s and trying to figure out why the Microsoft email system isn’t functioning, I help students and staff produce videos, transform photos, edit artistic sound pieces – in short, I help people get things done.
