Tech evangelism and Miso soup like no other
Rich Chuckrey
In IT for 20+ years [if you include a few of his geeky ones in high school where he studied computer programming and repair], Rich brings a wide breadth of technical experience to TechMiso. His current position is Director of IT at Pacific Stars and Stripes in Tokyo, Japan. He's also seen Top Secret Tech Control days in the Air Force and been part of defense contracting around the Pacific Rim. Splash in a few months with Lehman Brothers Japan [now defunct] and there you have his IT experience. Through this experience, he's become familiar with areas of technology that range from Helpdesk to Tier 4 support, procurements and contract negotiations small, medium and large. His IT niche is analysis and problem solving. He also enjoys the clean up of company waste and abuse (especially in government).
Homepage: http://chuckrey.com
Jabber/GTalk: chuckrey@gmail.com
AIM: chuckrey101
Posts by Rich Chuckrey
Is Your Twitter Account Hacked?
Feb 22nd
Over the last 24-48 hours we are [again] seeing a DM phishing attack blowing through Twitter accounts. Are you spamming your Twitter followers with Direct Messages (DM) that contain links leading to phishing websites? Have you received a Twitter DM to a Twitter login page that isn’t the actual Twitter login page?
How would you know?
One quick way is to filter tweets on yourself by using the @’youaccountname’ link to the right on Twitter’s home page. Do you see tweets from you, but in fact not from you? If you answered yes, your Twitter account may likely be compromised.
Smartphone Web Apps: No Network – No Productivity
Feb 21st
Even our gracefully fast cellular internet connections in Japan still present one significant roadblock to accessing data through web-based applications: No network – No productivity.
Can a web-app ever replace a native smartphone app? Not likely without significant enhancements in cellular and Wi-Fi infrastructure.
Take Google Apps for example. We all know that Google is a heavy pusher of their web-based applications. With tools like Gmail, Google Docs, Google Calendar and that OS-killing Chrome, Google in fact does a great job rolling out it’s web app offerings.
Unfortunately though, Google has a hard time pushing the majority of its web apps without a continuously live internet connection.
Adobe Says, “Sorry” For The Bug
Feb 12th
With Adobe’s latest crasher bug going on two years after being discovered, Adobe finally released a statement saying they in fact dropped the ball during software development of Adobe Flash 10.
Did Adobe just ignore a well known and significant flaw in their software and in turn ship a degraded Flash player out to the masses?
Apple’s Magical Tablet – Verbal Confirmation In <48 Hours
Jan 26th
Apple fanboys across the globe are ready to blindly plunk down cash on what’s being billed as a technology game changer. Enter…Apple’s magical tablet.
“Apple is holding a “special event” on Jan. 27 to “come see our latest creation,” with invitations being sent out just seconds ago. 10am PST, at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Theater in San Francisco.” –Gizmodo
We’re already guessing this is a touch-screen type computer that looks and feels like an overgrown iPhone.
Will it be called an iSlate? Are you buying one? Two?
Apple’s announcement coming in less than 48 hours.
Microsoft Forced To Back Down Against i4i In Patent Case
Dec 23rd
Kevin Kutz, Director of Public Affairs at Microsoft, said in a statement today that Microsoft will comply with an injunction just upheld against the software behemoth that would have forced Microsoft Word and Microsoft Office off store shelves by January 2010.
“With respect to Microsoft Word 2007 and Microsoft Office 2007, we have been preparing for this possibility since the District Court issued its injunction in August 2009 and have put the wheels in motion to remove this little-used feature from these products. Therefore, we expect to have copies of Microsoft Word 2007 and Office 2007, with this feature removed, available for U.S. sale and distribution by the injunction date. In addition, the beta versions of Microsoft Word 2010 and Microsoft Office 2010, which are available now for downloading, do not contain the technology covered by the injunction.”
Read the full statement at Microsoft Presspass.
WolframAlpha – Ambitious, But Not Google
Aug 4th
Back in May 2009, Stephen Wolfram launched an ambitious effort that seemed likely to re-carve the landscape of internet search — www.WolframAlpha.com. Stephen’s project provides precise [and sometimes amusing] answers to what seems to be nearly every category under the scientific sun.
With Statistics, Physics, Geography, Medicine and Nutrition to name just a few, WolframAlpha search is unequivocally a stellar scientific tool. Using it though [for everyday search] is like walking into a physics class to find a recipe on how to make meatballs.
Security Clearance
Jul 19th
Security clearances are not your sugar-coated M&Ms handed out on Halloween night to neighborhood kids tricking and treating. The United States government takes painstaking steps to determine a person’s [or an agency's] eligibility to access sensitive information and in turn issues a certificate of qualification.
But what have clearances come to stand for? Are they just a showpiece for employment eligibility or power play? Or worse yet, have clearances become an excuse to act inappropriately.
Chrome OS – Google Gorilla To Eat Microsoft’s Breakfast
Jul 9th
Heads up Balmer, The boys at Google are on the hunt. Larry and Sergey are planning a strategic strike at the heart of Microsoft’s flagship product, Windows.
In a recent announcement on The Official Google Blog, Google says they are ramping up a new hopeful in the OS market — Chrome OS.
If Chrome OS runs with speeds anything like Google Chrome (the browser), then Microsoft is staring up the nose of a 300-pound gorilla.
Winning In A Competitively Staffed IT Environment
Jul 8th
Have you been at a job where you admired a successful IT colleague of yours? Someone you were amazed by? Maybe even blown away by their level of proficiency?
Did that person seem to complete work effortlessly? Were they ultra-productive in the work environment?
Could you accept this person into your personal realm? Or did you feel threatened? Were you ready to develop this new relationship or did you quickly throw up your defenses?
RSS Teasers FAIL To Please
Jul 4th
Nobody likes a tease, right? OK, maybe sometimes and for short periods of time, sure, everyone likes a good tease. Maybe it can be attributed to spicing up ones life. But if you think for a second you can get away with teasing RSS subscribers back to an HTML-laden website, get ready for them never reading your content again.
For those who rely heavily on picking up web content through RSS [like me], there’s little time for websites anymore. My first thought when I see a teaser feed is — feel lucky if that teaser drives even one person back to the main site — and better luck yet if you can ever track and prove that it actually does.
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