C.O.D. Protests The Protect IP Act

Personally, I am sick and tired of the United States government meddling more and more in our lives.  The movie and music industry is using our elected officials like puppets (muppets) and we are sitting idly by and letting it happen.  Well, I signed the petition, and my voice will be heard next election.  G.R.I.P. – Get Rid of Incumbent Politicians.  If we really want to make changes, we have to get those that pander to big business out of office and let them know that we have the power to do it.  After all, they are there to represent Read More…

The tools in my toolbox are just as important as the IT skills I have learned over the years.  After all, what good is the knowledge to accomplish something without the means to do so?  That is why my arsenal of tools in my office is as important to me and my customers as is paint and a canvas to a painter.  When companies like StarTech start offering tools that can accomplish more than one task and do them all well, it not only saves me time, it reduces the amount of "crap" I have all over the place.  StarTech has already impressed me with their S354UFER, let's see if they can keep me tuned in with their SATDOCK22RE.

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My data is extremely important to me; the irreplaceable memories, music, and movies that I keep on my home server are duplicated across multiple drives in a Windows Home Server.  WHS provides me with some peace of mind by implementing a feature like folder duplication, however implementing only that type of protection is not enough.  There are many solutions by many different companies out there to tackle my server backup that claim to be easy and are not, seem to be inexpensive but have hidden costs, or just don't offer enough storage space.  Well, where the other solutions fail, StarTech shines.  Enter the S354UFER. Read More...

iStarUSA is a company that I have become a big fan of over the years.  They manufacture products that are higher than standard quality and pay attention to the people buying and using their products.  iStartUSA has released a 4-Bay trayless RAID box and at first glance, it is sexy.  The need for affordable and easy storage solutions is a quest that many of us have been on; let's see if the v7AGE420-ES can compete. Read More...

It seems that the world is going crazy; everyone wants everyone else's information.  Some companies are going to great lengths to protect their data.  Laptops have gone missing or stolen with tons of important data on them, copy machines have latent images on the hard drives that can contain vital or important private information on them.  So what can be done about all this?  Some companies, including my own, have started encrypting hard drives.  This is nothing new as types of encryption have been around for thousands of years (ever watch an Indiana Jones movie?), but it seems as soon as something makes the news, the purchasing departments or C level staff finally listens to IT.  Read More...

As someone that is expected to fix everyone's computer in my family, there is nothing more than "WOOT!" that can  be said about a product that makes my family obligations easier.  My family isn't exactly the most "in touch" when it comes to computing (you will read an article / rant soon about that) and they make a bunch of dumb mistakes... most of which ends up with them contracting a I.T.D. (Internet Transmitted Disease, a.k.a. VIRUS!). That's when the frenzy starts, the claims that the world is collapsing, the seas are rising, they can't send email!  I must work quickly and efficiently to alleviate their ailments.  With that said, products like the USI-2535 makes my job easier. Read More...

Today I am reviewing the Maxtor Personal Storage 3000LE External USB 2.0 Hard drive. If you need some external, portable type storage this is just one of the solutions. The model I chose is a 40 GB unit it's also available in a 120 GB configuration. It is more expensive than an internal hard drive, but that's not the reason for choosing this product. For portable transfer of large files, it can't be beat. Read More...