Paul Avolio
Power Surges
- October 12, 2010
- Posted by: Paul Avolio
- Category: Information Technology
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Wow have we been busy lately. Not that that is any excuse for not keeping up with our blog ????
Today’s entry is a response to a question from one of our readers.
Calla asks: “What about electrical outages? A friend of mine had a surge protector but the electricity did something weird and she had to get a new computer. What happened there?”
Windows 7 – Part 1
- August 5, 2010
- Posted by: Paul Avolio
- Category: Information Technology
A lot of people have been asking me about Windows 7. How is it? Do you like it? Is it stable? Is it like Vista? This is a quick entry to tell you about some of the feelings and experiences we have had with Windows 7 in our office and with our clients since Windows 7 came out.
Around the world with the iPad!
- July 6, 2010
- Posted by: Paul Avolio
- Category: Information Technology
My good friend Karen just returned from a trip across the pond. She took her 3-day-old iPad with her, leaving her MacBook at home (a very bold move that was not without apprehension for her). She just returned and I asked if she would pen a guest blog entry about her thoughts on traveling with her iPad. Here is what she had to say:
Solid State Drives (SSDs)
- June 23, 2010
- Posted by: Paul Avolio
- Category: Information Technology
The first computer I used was a Texas Instruments TI99/4A. It was a keyboard with a brain that plugged into our little black and white TV and you plugged cartridges into it to do different tasks. These cartridges were “Solid State” devices, meaning they had computer memory chips in them used to hold their data. This was a very fast and stable way of storing data, however as computer programs grew in size it became too expensive to store everything this way. So entered the floppy disk drive (and the cassette drive) and eventually the hard drive into the consumer PC marketplace. This is all still in the early to mid-eighties. Fast forward a few decades and hard drives are still where it’s at for data storage. There is one in almost every new PC purchased. I say almost because there is a new contender on the block looking to get into your computer: the Solid State Drive.
Multiple Monitors
- May 19, 2010
- Posted by: Paul Avolio
- Category: Information Technology
I work at computers all day long. Often I am sitting at other people’s desks fixing their computers, but more often than not I am at my own desk. Whether I am remotely helping a client or working on a project I am always happier when I have more than one monitor. My second monitor is the one thing I wish for when working from home on the weekend or after kids are in bed (I try to not work too much from home, but sometimes emergencies need to be handled). My laptop is great, I love the freedom it gives me, but the lack of a second monitor (or even a larger monitor) is a noticeable slowdown to my productivity.
Wireless in the Workplace
- May 10, 2010
- Posted by: Paul Avolio
- Category: Information Technology
Wireless is one of those double edged swords: it can serve a great function, but if it is not done right it can leave your systems open and vulnerable.
The upside of wireless networking is eliminating one more cable. You also have certain conveniences like working from a conference room without having to hunt for a data cable, working from a coworker’s desk on your own laptop while they work from their computer or even working from the outdoor patio for a bit so you get to see at least a little sunshine during the day. And all of this without having to string cables for people to trip over.
“White box” vs. Name Brand PCs
- May 10, 2010
- Posted by: Paul Avolio
- Category: Information Technology
A question we are often asked is: “Why do you only sell name brand computers? Why don’t you build computers?” While we do occasionally build PCs for select applications (for instance, network video recorders for video surveillance systems we install) in general we have found the practice of building custom PCs for our clients not to be the best option. I will explain my thoughts as to how we came to this decision. The term “white box” is defined by Wikipedia as “a personal computer or server without a registered brand name”. This applies to any custom PC built by either a home hobbyist or a computer sales and support company.
Passwords
- May 10, 2010
- Posted by: Paul Avolio
- Category: Information Technology
Passwords are a necessary evil. They slow us down and get in the way when we want to just “get some work done”. I can’t tell you how many times I have heard from a friend or client “can’t we just not use passwords?”, “why do we need them anyway?”. Why indeed. Passwords provide a method of identifying who you are. As an analogy, imagine that someone walks up to you and starts talking to you. They start off by saying “Hi, I am you friend Mary”. Now if you can see her face and you know her voice you know who Mary is and the rest of the conversation flows easily; you know what information you can and can’t share with Mary. Now pretend that you are blind and that everyone sounds the same. How would you know that was Mary you were talking to? Just from her telling you who it was, what is to stop anyone from just starting off the conversation the same way? You would have no way to confirm that you were talking to Mary.
Welcome
- May 7, 2010
- Posted by: Paul Avolio
- Category: Information Technology
Welcome to the Latitude 34 Technologies’ blog. Here you will find posts about computers and related technology written by the L34 team. We will write about topics that we get frequent questions on as well as bits and pieces of technology that we just think are neat or helpful for people to know about.
