TechCOW - The Geek Within

We are in the midst of getting people acquainted in the office to answer hundreds of electronic mails every day. This is for technical support requirements on a project that I have been working on and it has come across problems recently. Because aside from the regular users that send their product inquiries; quite a number of these emails are only SPAM. No it is not that thing that you have on your cupboard for a rainy day but it is the junk email that comes from unscrupulous companies that use this medium to sell their wares.

Aside from viral marketing videos there is malicious software that often automatically installs on machines and track activity on them. Too late to learn that some of them are infested with SPYWARE and the quick solution was having the MIS Department format each of their machines just to prevent the other ones uninfected. It was a grueling 72 hours and I lost a lot of time just because some of them did not take necessary precautions. They should have installed Antispyware Software on their machines before we even started operations. With a lot of time loss, it spelled delayed reports and missing important files. If only we had COUNTERSPY ANTISPYWARE by Sunbelt Software installed on their machines before we started processes, things would have been easier because that could have prevented it. It could have also made it difficult for them to install malicious software in the first place. Their backup was not that efficient too so I had to get a global copy of it from another office which had to make me walk a plight of stairs; no thanks to blackouts and broken elevators due to a typhoon last week. I have my work really cut out for me. Help!

It's official! The Apple IPhone has now been overtaken in sales by the fabulous Blackberry Curve. During the release of the first quarter sales figures, the Curve has jumped to 15% in market shares while it sent the Apple IPhone dwindling 10% less this year.

This is probably caused by the major carriers Sprint, AT&T and Verizon higher sales of the unit and people holding their well earned money for the release of the new IPhone in the coming months. There are also huge purchases happening on Verizon because they currently have a buy one take one promo for the Blackberry Curve unit that sent their competitors back to drawing boards as they posted huge gains in subscribers over this first quarter too. They have this packaged and locked on subscription right now and people avail this one rather than going with the IPhone who also did not place on the top 5 smartphones in gross sales this first quarter.

After a few months, IPhone will announce the next generation IPhone that would probably be more faster, have higher storage and more web friendly. They will also be having more improvements on the touch screen technology as they embark on new units come in the latter half of the year. With this in mind, the prices of the older IPhone units will probably be lower in the Philippines too. Maybe by then I'll try and get one if the 2nd generation does not impress me much. I hope someone gives me their phones for free, my Nokia 6280 is ready to retire!

Here I am again back in the business reviewing gadgets and the day's demand only utters one thing... the T-Mobile 3G Sidekick LX. I have been looking for a phone that would suit my needs because my current one, the Nokia 6280 is begging to retire in a few weeks time. With all it's broken back casing that would cost around a thousand bucks to fix, I am considering to find a good replacement for it.

This new one from TMobile boasts of 3G and GPRS capabilities that can literally get you connected with your Facebook or Twitter accounts while on the go. I am into those right now but I would think about the hefty proce that comes along with this one. I don't think local Philippine Mobile companies would be doing much come it's Mayday release because it will be exclusive. If Globe or Smart did get this one, they probably would get this paid on a staggard basis much like the Apple IPhone which they released last year. Roughly around 40 thousand pesos for the initial payment is too much, so if this is going to be more than that I wonder if I could afford it. My card can but it would really be a burden to pay for it after a few months.


This phone has its qwerty keyboard that would probably get me a few weeks to get used to. I am a Nokia user since time in memorial so if this one is going to be my next phone, I hope it comes close to what I need today. I usually don't carry around my laptop computer so WIFI capability is a must. I did not see anything in the specifications that it has one. If that is the case then I won't even consider buying this one. The Nokia E Series has that capability and if this slim phone that can fit on my back pocket could not do that and only depend on 3G HSPDA connections, then it does not pass my requirements. I know the E90 is bulky but if this sidekick is too expensive and did not even think about connecting wirelessly, that is the way I will go.

The camera is weak, the swiveling display is too hard to handle, no wifi capability, headphones are too small spells all about this T-Mobile 3G Sidekick LX. I would think twice to buy one. I'd rather go with an IPhone or the Nokia E90 for connectivity needs. Kumag rates this 2 out of 5.

Before you start wondering what is the way you can tackle spooler problems in your computer and where to turn for help, it is imperative that you have a clear idea of what exactly spooler means, knowing which you can better know what to do when so0me error issue threatens it. Spooler can be simply defined as a program that is used to control spooling that is, putting computer task commands on a queue and dealing with them one by one. Whatever operating system you may be using in your PC, you can be sure that it comes built with one or several spoolers.

A print spooler is a typical example where printing several documents simultaneously, the command is performed by putting the documents in a stack and the task is carried out one by one. An ideal print spooler allows you to change the order of documents that you sent to get printed and also cancel print jobs from the queue of documents. The easiest way to tackle spooler problem is to change the priority assigned to this function.

By default a Windows NT Workstation rates spooler service at 7 that is compatible with the other applications being run in your PC. You can change the priority level to 9 and solve spooler problems. However you are advised to do so only temporarily and only when you need to get some hefty task done quickly that is otherwise getting clogged at default spooler service priority because changing the rating permanently affects performance of other PC functions negatively in the long run.

In technology news, the telecommunications giant AT&T is now cutting off 12,000 jobs in their staff amidst the US Financial Crisis. The said lay offs will take place in December and throughout 2009 together with their plans to cut back on capital spending. AT&T is not the only corporation that did this but since they are the largest one in America, this is big news. Their stocks also are going down 4% trading at only 24 dollars. This would hurt most of their internal investors. If you didn't know, they already signified that they slashed 4,900 jobs also this April and lots of them are in the management positions. They are suffering from the advancements in technology since land line units are obsolete and down 11 percent this year alone.

They will now concentrate on businesses that offer cell phone service and broadband Internet access. AT&T is the sole U.S. wireless carrier for Apple Inc.'s popular iPhone.

I'm trying to look for a camera that would perfectly be MINE this Christmas. I plan to buy myself one because I know it's going to be a long shot if I wait for somebody else to take that chance to give me one that I'd appreciate. Professional DSLR cameras these days are expensive. I know because I've seen some of my friends invest in these ones and I don't want to hear a horror story of my own later on.

A couple of things I read over reviews talk about things to consider in buying a camera. A good place to start when thinking about buying a DSLR is obviously price. DSLRs price range to some quite affordable but lower end to extremely high prices at the professional end. I saw my friend once holding an 80,000 peso camera. I mean you can already buy a second hand car for that right?! O_O We need to set a budget to purchase early on but make sure that we need to consider other costs of owning one including "Lenses". Some offer ‘kit lenses’ but you should consider upgrading in the future because as far as I know there will come a time that we would need a better performing camera and lens. I'll probably end up envying other people's cameras if I take on this hobby seriously. Batteries which all models will come with one but if you are travelling you might need a spare, and you can't order that and bring Motolite with you right?! Memory Cards which some models come with one but most are inadequate in terms of size. My phone even has one at 1 Gig but that's even proving to be too small for large pixel shooting. Camera Bags which some sellers would throw one in but of course we can't expect a high quality ‘free’ bag by Louis Vuitton, they will probably give me one that also has their name on it to some extent that it's like a walking advertisement. DSLR cams are worth protecting - so I know we I need to invest in a good bag. Extended Warranty's would also be nice so if I find something wrong with my camera as a noob then I'd be able to get that back and let them fix it right?

Last would be the BRAND... I'm not brandish but of course there are only a few that professional photographers would trust if it came to crunch time choosing their cameras. I hope I get one before the end of the year.