A Few More Things You Should Know About Buzz
February 10, 2010 – After spending some time testing out Google’s latest innovation, Buzz, we’ve put together a short list of things you should know before diving in head-first. These compliment Geek Shui Living’s post from this morning, which is considered (by us anyway) a must-read, as well.
What exactly should you know about Buzz?
There are obviously an infinite number of additional “ease of use” details that aren’t covered here. This list is just based on preliminary benchmarking against Twitter and Facebook. If you know of a way to address any of the issues we pointed out or have anything to add that others might find useful, please let us know via a comment or Geek Shui on Twitter. Good luck to all those who choose to embrace the Buzz!
Why Google Buzz May (or May Not) Be for You
February 10, 2010 – Last night, I had the chance to try out the Google Buzz on my iPhone. The odd thing was (and still is) that I don’t have it available in my desktop browser view of my Gmail account. While Google did advise that it would be rolled out gradually, one would think that, if they had it available on their mobile computing platform of choice, it would, by default, also be available in the traditional browser view. That minor issue aside, I took the time to set up my profile via my iPhone and set it up for use.
Read the rest of this Geek Shui Living article on MWD, by clicking on the Google Buzz image below:
Does Your Free Wi-Fi Access Provide Free Access to Sensitive Data, too?
February 8, 2010 – Recently, I took a trip to my local car wash. Yes, that might seem a bit lazy, but what does that have to do with technology? Well, they have a comfortable waiting room and offer free internet use. So, I logged on to one of the PCs to read the latest Google news. As I navigated to and fro, I noticed a user was logged into Google. It definiteley wasn’t me. As an ethical kind of user, I refrained from checking their Gmail for them, or seeing what other kind of Google services they utilize. I did the kind thing and logged them out.
My interest was piqued, though. Had they simply forgotten to log out? So, I clicked “Sign In” again and was met with the same automatically filled-in user name and password (in astericks obviously). Our friend Internet Explorer had remembered both. As an IT guy, I knew why. As a Network Security guy, I knew why it was bad. Luckily for me (I think), the options to view Internet Explorer’s setup were available. A quick check proved IE 7 was configured to not only remember filled in forms, but also user names and passwords. The questioned that remained: “Why?” Had an employee done it out of convenience, or had it been done by a customer? The important part was to change it. I spoke to the manager and informed him of my finding. He said, “Thank you,” but did not seem too concerned.
Microsoft Says the Problem is You(r Laptop)
In a February 8, 2010 post on their Engineering Windows 7 Blog, Microsoft answers recent complaints about battery problems in laptops upgraded from Windows XP or Vista to Windows 7. (Covered in an MWD post from last week.) First and foremost, the post is clear in communicating Microsoft’s efforts in contacting customers in 20 separate instances. According to them, it was determined in each and every instance that the problem is, indeed, the battery. To this end, Microsoft points out that Windows 7 contains a never before seen feature that, in addition to identifying the percentage of charge remaining, also measures battery life. Since it wasn’t included in previous versions, users may be unaccustomed to the notification. In support of their position, the blog post included the following statement:
“To the very best of the collective ecosystem knowledge, Windows 7 is correctly warning batteries that are in fact failing and Windows 7 is neither incorrectly reporting on battery status nor in any way whatsoever causing batteries to reach this state. In every case we have been able to identify the battery being reported on was in fact in need of recommended replacement.” - Microsoft’s Engineering Windows 7 Blog
Read the rest of this Geek Shui Living article on MWD, by clicking the image below:
