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Or why I love Borders and Books.

Listen guys, when you sign up for the rewards clubs for both, they all promise discount coupons.

Both companies send me coupons every week, the difference is that Borders sends me straight 30% coupons for ANYTHING I want, while the Barnes and Noble coupons are for crappy books that they are trying to push.

Barnes and Noble, you want me in your store ? Fine I am telling you, send me a 30% coupon on Monday for any one item line like Borders does. I will be there.

Actually the heck with it, I will just go to Amazon where I don’t need a coupon and get a better price.

Oh, crap my daughters wants her book today, crap, Borders here I come.

sigh

February 2nd, 2010 | Tags: barnes and noble border and books price coupons | Category: General, Technology | Leave a comment

You know if you poke around the internet you can see some interesting things.

Looking at the Apple online store, you can find a 32 gigabyte iTouch for $299 while the same search for a 32 gigabyte iPhone (unlocked) is $699.

Hmm, that seems strange, what to you get for that $400 difference. A camera and a cellular modem inside. So for $50 dollars worth of chips they are fleecing you for $400.

Sounds border line illegal doesn’t it ? As we all know the REAL reason they are charging all the extra money is that they don’t want you to have an unlocked phone, so they rack up the price enormously.

Well, Apple being Apple, they get a free pass.

sigh

January 22nd, 2010 | Tags: iphone apple itouch price | Category: General, Technology | Leave a comment

WTI is pleased to announce a major feature upgrade for our Device Management Utility. The Device Management Utility, or DMU, is a convenient, multi-unit management application, which is included with our TSM, RSM, MPC and AFS-16-1 series products. Three powerful new features have been added to the DMU:

• Centralized Power Switching - Manage Power & Reboot Switching for Multiple WTI Units from a Single Interface
• Centralized A/B Switching - Control A/B Switching at Multiple AFS-16-1 Fallback Switches
• Power Consumption Graphs - Displays Power Consumption by an Individual Unit or Multiple Units

Centralized Power Switching

Centralized Power Switching
 
The DMU’s new centralized power switching capabilities allow you to control power and reboot functions at multiple MPC or RSM-8R4 units via a single, easy-to-use interface. This saves time by eliminating the need to access each unit individually and issue separate power control commands for each rack. Power to switched outlets on connected MPC or RSM-8R4 units can be rebooted, switched On or Off or set to a user-defined default On/Off setting using a single, convenient, web-based menuing system.

Centralized A/B Fallback Switching

Centralized A/B Fallback Switching eliminates the need to access individual fallback switches in each rack, and allows you to control A/B switching throughout your facility from a single, centralized interface.  The updated Device Management Utility allows you to control multiple WTI AFS-16-1 units spread throughout your IT application and invoke A/B/default commands without accessing each AFS-16-1 unit individually.

Power Consumption Graphs

Power Consumption Graphs

The DMU’s new power consumption graphs make it easy to determine how much power is being used throughout your IT facility. The DMU now includes the ability to measure Kilowatt Hours, Average/Maximum Current (in Amps), Average/Maximum Power (in Watts) and then display that information in either line graph or bar graph format. Simple controls allow you to display live power consumption data, or power consumption for a user-specified time period.

The power consumption graph can be used to display data for a single MPC or RSM-8R4 unit, or total power consumption for multiple selected units.  In addition, you can also display power consumption per branch or total power consumed per unit or range of units. Both the line graph format and bar graph format allow you to place the cursor over a selected measurement point and display the power data at that point.

In addition to these convenient new features, the DMU can also manage passwords and user accounts at multiple WTI units, provide direct access to command mode on connected units, back up DMU configuration to a secondary WTI unit and manage and create device groups to simplify the process of addressing many units via a single interface.

Click here to learn how WTI’s Device Management Utility can save you time and money and simplify the process of managing multiple WTI units spread across your network.

January 21st, 2010 | Tags: A/B fallback switch, Console Server, device management, PDU, remote power control | Category: Sales | Leave a comment

Hmmm, sounds stupid doesn’t it ?

There are rumors moving around that Apple is thinking of replacing the Google Search as the default with Microsoft’s Bing. Makes sense, since Google and Apple are squaring off in the mobile space.

Buy how about this for a rumor, Microsoft insisting on bringing Silverlight (Microsoft’s flash want-to-be) natively to the iPhone.

What a coup that would be.

But then again, the chances are better of a Republican winning Ted Kennedy’s old seat in Massachusetts.

har

January 20th, 2010 | Tags: apple, coakley, Google, Microsoft, silverlight | Category: General, Technology | Leave a comment

I hate to single them out, but I also hate being screwed.

I had to get an HDMI cable before a big presentation, its a long story but the large screen display they had did not have a DVI port that was on my computer and the VGA output look horrible on the screen.

Also on my emergency list was a USB to AC power adapter for my Verizon MiFi device. The only store within distance was a Radio Shack.

I figured ok, they will screw me for $30 for the HDMI and I saw the list price for the Apple USB  power adapter was $29 on the Apple Store web site.

I got into Radio Shack (Oops, I mean “The Shack”) and the cheapest HDMI cables they had were $50, they also had the notorious Monster cables for $129!

The sales guy went into his speech that these cables are premium and the superior picture, then I told him about the Consumer Reports articles how the “The Monster” cables and the $4.95 import brand had no noticeable signal loss. He told me Consumer report is biased. Like I had a choice, I had to get them.

They also had the Apple USB to AC converter for $39, ten dollars ABOVE Apple’s outrageous list price.

Listen people at “The Shack”, you want to stay in the game, at least don’t try to screw everyone coming into the store.

BTW, I would have kept the cables is they were reasonable, but I paid the 15% restocking fee and just returned them, I told the guy the picture on the monitor was fuzzy with the HDMI cable, consider it a rental.

sigh

January 14th, 2010 | Tags: apple, monster cables, radio shack, The Shack, USB | Category: General, Technology | Leave a comment

I keep hearing the cry to lower the prices of smart phones, well I have one for you. Lower the prices of their monthly plan.

If you put your money down for an iPhone you are going to pay about $70 a month for a two year plan (yes that comes out to $1680).

Granted it comes with unlimited data on the abysmal AT&T network, but it is usable. If you buy a Blackberry from Verizon it’s mandatory that you get a data plan and if you want to switch phones the “Blackberry data plan” is not the same as the “Android data plan”.

I went into a Verizon store last week, my daughter has an  enV Touch, and my wife who hasn’t had a new phone in years wanted to upgrade her old flip phone. I went in and asked for the month to month price on the phone, because I don’t want to extended my contract 2by two years they told my $409, I told them OK, then they said that this phone has a mandatory $9.99 a month data plan. What ? My daughter’s enV Touch has no such attachment. I was informed it is on all new enV Touch phones from November 2009 and onward.

Crap, ok keep sticking it to me. I walked out.

Another thing I noticed, that when buying a song on Amazon, it was $1.29. wait a minute, I though the music industry only made Apple’s iTunes raise their prices ? Not true says Amazon, the recording industry has a scaled pricing for all the music platforms.

Crap, again, where is my BitTorrent client?

No, that’s illegal, I cant do that.

sigh

Oh, wait, happy birthday Sir Isaac Newton.

January 5th, 2010 | Tags: cell phone, iphone, prices, verizon | Category: General, Technology | Leave a comment

I was looking for one event in the past year for me that stood out in the High Tech events, and one thing that did rise above the rest was a one day trip I took to the Bay Area and I left my laptop behind and only took my Apple iPhone 3G. This may not sound like much, but it was monumental.

Quite few years ago, I abandoned my desktop for a laptop as my main computer, it worked out great (it sounds blasé now but at the time people called my crazy). I would have my Desktop as the spare home base computer and my laptop would go everywhere with me. This year, I have my laptop as my home base computer and my iPhone as my “go everywhere” device. You see  this trend accelerate into the new year. With a quick few gestures I can check my email accounts, scan the social media sites for trends before my laptop would even boot.

On my son’s birthday last week we had a few people over the house for the day. As the evening progressed the older guys started watching the evening news, I thought it was funny, it was the first time all year that I had watched Television to get any kind of news. They were talking about the news hosts for this that and the other thing and I was completely lost. When it comes to the tech industry, when you subscribe to the better Twitter or Facebook feeds you can actually get better trends analysis than by going to the established tech sites. Of course people still think I am nuts.

sigh

December 23rd, 2009 | Tags: apple, Google, Microsoft, news, television, transition | Category: General, Technology | Leave a comment

Remote Power Reboot for Sun Blade 6000

Controlling and managing power to remote devices such as the Sun Blade 6000 used to be a major headache for System Administrators everywhere.

Once upon a time, administrators who needed to reboot or power down a remote network device often had no choice but to travel to a far-away installation site and manually flip a switch;  spending a good portion of their day to accomplish a simple task that could probably be have been performed by an on-site, trained monkey.  That all changed in the late 1990s when WTI introduced our first remote power control products.

Today, there are many different products on the market that allow remote power control, but WTI’s MPC-HD is one of the few switched PDUs that can both deliver and switch high amp power.  MPC-HD Series Switched PDUs are designed to provide secure, remote, high amp power management, allowing power switching and reboot from anywhere on Earth; even when in-band access is unavailable or impractical.

And the MPC-HD does more than just control power and reboot functions; it can also meter energy use by your Sun Blade 6000 and report findings in text or graph format; a very valuable tool for those who need to track power use and energy costs.  Advanced power metering capabilities allow the MPC-HD to measure and report Kilowatt Hours, Kilowatts, Amps, Voltage and Temperature.  When any of these factors exceed threshold values, the MPC-HD can switch or reboot power and promptly send notification.

December 22nd, 2009 | Tags: C19, high amp power control, Sun Blade 6000 | Category: Engineering, Technical | Leave a comment

Last weekend, WTI hosted its annual employee Christmas Party at Dave and Buster’s at the Irvine Spectrum in Irvine, California.

WTI employees and their guests enjoyed a delicious buffet-style dinner, incredible desserts (including one of the thickest, richest cheesecakes that I’ve ever seen), games, contests and plenty of good company and conversation.  The turnout was moderately heavy, and guests quickly filled the available seating as soon as the doors were opened.

Reviving a tradition that was started by long time CEO and innovator, Dave Morrison, the party also featured musical entertainment provided by our “nameless” WTI employee band.  This time however, the band was fronted by CEO Dan Morrison, who lead us through a set of seasonal music and Christmas Carols, including such favorites as “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer”, “Frosty the Snowman” and of course, “Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer.”

After the band performed, employees were given game cards for use in Dave and Buster’s expansive, high tech arcade area.  As the party drew to a close, we all wished each other a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, and then waddled off, still stuffed from the huge meal, either to use up our game cards blasting digital zombies in the arcade or to return home early to our own family Christmas preparations and activities.

Best wishes from WTI for a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

December 19th, 2009 | Category: General | Leave a comment