Month: May 2006

Tech news

Where NEC means 'Nother Example (of) Chinese (Piracy)…

Posted on by marcusafre

Hats off to the World Herald Tribune for their expose of how Chinese tech pirates successfully counterfeited the NEC brand, developing their own factories, R&D capabilities, and distribution (and to the Sydney Morning Herald for reprinting the story). It’s a long way from knockoffs of Microsoft Mice or Windows CDs: “The pirates were faking the entire company.”

If you’re heading to China or elsewhere in Asia, better cast a warier eye than usual on NEC-branded products. How much longer will it be before somebody figures out a way to clone a US company?

 

 

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Humor

Before you make that next PowerPoint presentation…

Posted on by marcusafre

…discover how our 16th president (Abraham Lincoln, for those of you in Rio Linda) might have made the Gettysburg Address one to forget if only PowerPoint had been around in 1863. H/T to Mary Katharine Ham, assistant blogger at Hugh Hewitt’s web site.

BTW, in a recent post at Hugh’s blog, MKH admitted to a lack of ‘techie skillz.’ I dunno about that. She’s smart enough to realize, at least, that tech misuse is, perhaps, worse, than tech ignorance.

Have a wonderful weekend!

 

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Books

Upgrading and Repairing Servers…at long last, a reality!

Posted on by marcusafre

 Upgrading and Repairing Servers book cover 

I received my co-author’s copies of Upgrading and Repairing Servers a  few days ago. For those of you who read Upgrading and Repairing PCs, the multi-million copy bestseller from Scott Mueller or have visited Scott’s home on the web, www.upgradingandrepairingpcs.com, you’ve been reading about an upcoming servers book for about three years now. I’m pleased to say it’s now a reality.

If you’ve been frustrated by a lack of information about how to build, configure or maintain a server; how to select the right form factor and processor(s); how to select the best server architecture for a particular task; or how to create the infrastructure needed for a successful server deployment (server rooms, backup, power protection, rack mounts, and so forth), Upgrading and Repairing Servers is the book you’ve been looking for.

Upgrading and Repairing Servers follows the same full-bore, hard-core, chock-full-of-stuff-you-need-to-know-and-more style of Upgrading and Repairing PCs, but with server-specific information at its core. Here are just a few examples of the questions Upgrading and Repairing Servers answers:

What makes registered memory different than ordinary memory?

Why build a server using one of the SSI form factors instead of ATX or BTX?

How do rack-mounted slimline servers stay cool?

What chipsets support AMD and Intel’s dual-core server processor lines?

Which tape backup technologies are large enough for today’s huge SATA and SAS hard disks?

Which vendors are the leaders in providing server-specific motherboards, chassis, and other hardware?

Upgrading and Repairing Servers is now available from major online and retail booksellers such as Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble.com, Bookpool, Books-a-Million, and many others.

If you’d like an autographed copy signed by yours truly, I have some copies available for just $43.00 (includes shipping) each. Email me for more information and payment options.

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Uncategorized

Thanks to B&N, and readers in SW Indiana!

Posted on by marcusafre

Posting’s been light in April, thanks to a combination of going to a book fair in Boonville, wrapping up final corrections on Upgrading and Repairing Networks, 5th Edition, coping with a cranky Windows Vista beta (does ‘beta’ mean ‘crashprone’ in Latin?) for an upcoming book, and coming down with a customized high-temperature version of ‘what everybody’s catching.’

Thankfully, I survived April, and had a wonderful time at Barnes & Noble Evansville’s first annual Author Fest. I sold a few books, talked to a lot of other authors (a big shout-out in particular to Bloomington’s own Quentin Dodd, author of two hiliarious YA sci-fi novels, including Beatnik Rutabagas from Beyond the Stars, and The Princess of Neptune), and showed off my latest book, Upgrading and Repairing Servers (about which I’ll be posting more later).

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