Tag: Computers

Seagate Hard Drive Dies Firmware Death

I experienced the worst feeling a computer owner can have this week. I had turned on my computer and waited for the usual tones of the Windows Vista startup chimes, but was instead greeted with an error message from the motherboard stating that no startup disc could be found. A quick check through my system showed that the hard drive was powered on, but couldn’t be accessed by the motherboard.

Of course, later that day, I heard about the Seagate firmware bug that’s killing hard drives. Had I gotten word of this prior to the failure, I might have been able to load an update to resolve the issue, but currently my data is locked in the drive without access.

I tried contacting Seagate through their support line, but only ran into a message stating that there was a technical issue with their call system and to look at their website for support. Unfortunately, the support website was down as well.

Honestly, this incident, and the lack of information and support has turned me away from being a steady customer of Seagate drives.

Apple Abandons Macworld Expo

The tech news sites are all abuzz with news that Steve Jobs will not be making the opening keynote address, along with the announcement that Apple will not be taking part in Macworld Expo after this year.

I understand that companies like Apple, Adobe and Belkin would decide to skip the large amount of money that the average convention costs them in terms of marketing dollars, but at the same time, I have to wonder if it’s possible for companies to be losing out in the long run with these short term savings.

5 Excuses For Not Fixing Your Family’s Computer

Thanksgiving is quickly approaching, and for most people that means a grand dinner with the family filled with cheer and good food. Unless, that is, your family knows you’re a computer tech guy, in which it means that you’re going to be hit up for advice and service in the same way your doctor sister and car mechanic brother are.

In light of this, here are 5 handy (if extreme) excuses that you can use to get out of fixing that family computer while the rest of your family enjoys their turkey dinner:

  1. Alien Invasion Excuse – “Oh, I can’t touch that computer. See, I’m saving my skills for when we’re invaded by an extraterrestrial army of alien creatures bent on our destruction, who just happen to run their saucers on an operating system I can easily hack using my Apple MacBook.”
  2. Lawsuit Excuse – “Unfortunately, I’m no longer legally allowed to fix computers. You see, the virus and spyware makers got together and sued me for being too anti-competitive for their business. Turns out the judge who heard the case loves pop-up ads!”
  3. Amnesia Excuse – “I would love to fix your computer, but you see, I was in this tragic blimp accident a few months ago. I came out with a pretty nasty bump on the head, and ever since then, I can’t remember a single thing about fixing computers. The doctors say it’s the darndest thing!”
  4. Cycle of Life Excuse – “Remember when they were trying to explain to Simba in the Lion King that everything has it’s time and place? This is the same thing, except it’s your computer that we’re going to let pass on instead of your lion dad.”
  5. The Bright Side of Life Excuse – “You know how dad is always complaining about all that spam email he keeps getting? Think of not fixing your computer as the best way to stop that problem.”

Of course, most of these excuses are only going to end in pain when you have to deal with your family later.

Spammers Profit Despite Low Response

The BBC has an interesting article on the types of profit that spammers can see in the field.

I often get asked how spammers can make a profit when so many spam emails are obvious scams. The answer comes from the fact that spammers can send out millions of emails with little cost, meaning that even an incredibly small number of people responding can mean they make money.

In fact, the article states that the bad guys are “turning a profit despite only getting one response for every 12.5m e-mails they send.”

Missing Ohio Votes Raises Technology Concern

We all have seen what can happen when a computer crashes and valuable work is lost. Many people swear a few curses towards their PCs, but then resolve themselves to the idea that this is just “one of those things” you have to accept when it comes to dealing with computers.

What if, however, those computers are touch screen voting machines and that lost data are votes in a national election?

This is a question that faces Premier Election Solutions, the company formerly known as Diebold Election Systems, which recently admitted that a programming error in their voting equipment has been responsible for dropping votes in some of the Ohio counties that use the devices.

According to the Columbus Dispatch, the company had originally claimed the issue stemmed from an incompatibility between software on the voting machines and anti-virus software installed to protect them. However, in August, the president of the company sent a letter to Ohio’s Secretary of State confirming that the problem is with a programming error that under the wrong conditions can lose votes when the system memory cards have their contents uploaded.

Because the admission comes just a few months before the November election season, it’s unlikely that the programming error can be corrected in time. This has resulted in guidelines being issued jointly by Premier Election Solutions and Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner to Ohio counties on how to work around the issue in the meantime.

The issues with the touch-screen voting machines raises another issue, though, which is how to handle what is a technical issue using the already understaffed polling station volunteers in Ohio. Equally important is the lack of tech-savvy volunteers willing to man those positions.

This has lead to widespread calls for technically-inclined citizens, especially in Ohio, to reach out to their local Ohio County Board of Elections to help reduce the technology problems that may negatively impact every voter’s right to have their vote count.

This story also serves as a good reminder for all of us to start the discussion in our communities about how much impact technology may play within future elections and how we can help our counties and states overcome those issues.