Power to Your Laptop

I want to take a moment to help you become a more powerful user. It won’t take much time and effort, and it will save you a ton of time if the unexpected strikes you down the road. And it is really simple to do and doesn’t require much in the way of technical knowledge.

Last week I lost the power supply to my laptop somewhere between the airport and home. It isn’t a big thing, and compared to losing my laptop ranks low down there on the charts. But it could have been much easier, if all I had to do was take note of something very simple: the power specs of my AC adapter.

You can read more about it here.

Pat Gelsinger from Intel

There are few people in the computer industry that have shaped the evolution of the microprocessor (and related technologies) as much as Pat Gelsinger. More than 25 years ago, he began his career “one step above janitor” as a Technician 2 at Intel, stuffing boards. He eventually rose to the position of the company’s first chief technology officer (CTO), before taking his current posting as executive vice president of the Digital Enterprise Group.

Read the full interview that Wolfgang Gruener and I conducted here.

One Button Wireless Security

Most wireless networks these days operate without any encryption whatsoever. And while security professionals (and the FBI) try to make the point that this is a foolish practice, very few of us take the time to do otherwise.

I can’t tell you the wireless networks that are running in the clear at people’s homes who should know better: IT executives, corporate titans of industry, and computing professionals who are familiar with PKI and hacking tools. Why do so many people forgo encryption? There isn’t any one good reason. Setting up encryption over your wireless network often requires a Computer Science degree, plenty of patience, reading at least two manuals, or just dumb luck.

It could be that since setting up a wireless router has become so easy, and the routers themselves now retail at less than $100, that we have all become complacent. Maybe when you get unencrypted communications working you stop and are so thankful that you router is working at all.

Here’s more information and links to the products.