Recorded: August 28, 2007
Your Hosts: Keith Albright, Rich Niemeier, and Steve Murawski

Show Length: 1:59:32

Steve Murawski joins us again for this regular format show. We hold a lengthy discussion on open WiFi and the legal implications as well as how these cases may affect the innovation and use of WiFi by companies like Fon, etc. We also cover Acer’s purchase of Gateway and the ‘consumerization of IT’. Some technical segments on load balancing and ISP failover on a BSD box, stupid IP address tricks, and a couple utilities to round it up.

Take note of the promos for the Podcamp Philly Un-Conference and plan to attend. We end with our website picks and as usual, we hope you enjoy.
Links mentioned in this show:

• Podcamp Philly
• Wireless Hijaacking in England
• Consumerization of IT
• Citrix Acquires XenSource
• Gunplay Blamed for Internet Slowdown
• WGA Servers Offline
• Acer to Acquire Gateway
• What is a System Administrator
• SlickRun Utility
• Multiple ISP Connections on BSD
• Microsoft Hackers Blog
• Network Time Protocol

Other podcasts mentioned in this show:

The Mike Tech Show

See the full show notes here.

Website Picks:

Steve’s Pick: Hanselman.com

Keith’s 1st Pick: Stupid Waste of Time

Keith’s 2nd Pick: Even More Stupid Waste Of Time (NOTE: NSFW)

Rich’s 1st Pick: Boot-Land.net

Rich’s 2nd Pick: Bootdisk.com

Download Here

Hey everybody. If you’ve listened to Lucky Episode 13, you’ve probably found it has a surprise ending. The surprise being that it has no ending. Listener Doug emailed to alert me to the fact that the conversation just cuts off. Even worse, I can’t blame Rich or Steve for this snafu. The blame is all on me.

In our initial recording session, Audacity stopped recording an hour into the show. We re-recorded the last part of the show and I intended to just stitch them together. I don’t know what happened, I thought at first I accidentally finish-edited and released just the original first half, but after listening, it includes most of our re-recorded conversations.

I will fix the original file and repost the complete file for download.

Thanks again for your patience.

You’ll hear me mention this on Episode 14 as well, but I figured I should put it out on the blog as well.

If you are in the Philadelphia area, there is a Podcamp Philly Un-Conference being held at Drexel University on September 8th & 9th, 2007.  There is a meet-up on Sept. 7th on Passyunk Avenue at the regular cheesesteak joints as well, but the content portion is over the weekend. It’s free and open to everyone who is involved in producing a podcast or even just listens to podcasts and new media.

I am hoping to drag Ted along if he can make it, but was curious if anyone else we know was planning to attend.  Mike Smith from the Mike Tech Show plans to be there as well.

Send me an email at Keith [AT] acoupleofadmins.com if you plan on going and maybe we can meet up for lunch.

Recorded: August 21, 2007
Your Hosts: Keith Albright, Rich Niemeier, and Steve Murawski

Show Length: 1:11:58

Our second ‘Special Topics’ episode. We welcome Steve Murawski to the show and discuss the need for a Code of Ethics for the IT Profession. Is something like this needed in our profession and why? We close with our suggestions for hiring ethical employees.

Here is a brief outline:

• Do we need a Code of Ethics?

-Does this problem stem from the psychology of the IT professional?

-Incidents in news related to IT professionals crossing the line

-Compare with other professions

-Have laws/regulations done part of the job (HIPAA, SOX, SB 1386, etc)

-What is crossing the line? If I am to be the information steward, do I not have the right to view ALL information?

-What about personal information (that does not belong in the workplace)?

• Can it be enforced?

-With no formal sanctioning body in place (e.g. Board Of Medicine, Bar Assn.) how can it be done.

-Has anyone ever been stripped of their certifications? MCSE, CCNA, etc.

• What can a company do to ensure their employees act ethically?

-Is an employee manual enough?

-Sign contractual ethics guarantee?

-How far does loyalty go?

Links mentioned in this show:

Too many to mention. Please see show notes for links.

View the full shownotes here.

Listen Now:

Download Here

Just wanted to post a quick update for anyone looking for Episode 13.  We actually recorded on schedule this past Tuesday, however, after a Skype glitch Audacity stopped recording.  You can thank Rich and Steve for jinxing it by discussing their superstitions surrounding the number 13 in the pre-show banter.  We’re going to try to “recreate the magic” this weekend and I’ll try to get it released as soon as possible.

 On a positive note, we slated to record Episode 14 next Tuesday, so we’re keeping up the pace so far.

 Thanks to everyone supporting the show.

Keith

Recorded: August 14, 2007
Your Hosts: Keith Albright and Rich Niemeier

Show Length: 1:33:58

Sorry it took so long to edit and post. I took a couple vacation days and didn’t get to do the final steps.

Just Rich and I this episode…..unless you count ‘Virtual Ted’. Rich and I cover the usual gamut of news topics; Novell/SCO Unix lawsuit, Google’s 700Mhz Spectrum bid, and a NJ beach town’s plans to be the next technological marvel. Rich uncovers follow-up information about the health-risks of laser printers. We discuss what Apple can do to help with lost/stolen iPods and how to audit USB device usage on your network. We end with our website picks and as usual, we hope you enjoy.
Links mentioned in this show:

• Laser Printer Health Risks
• Ocean City NJ Beach Of The Future
• Guy Gets a BSOD Tattoo
• Google Bids On 700Mhz Spectrum
• Novell Wins SCO Lawsuit
• Stolen iPods
• OLPC Update
• Kixtart Quick Reference Guide
• Audit USB Device Usage
• Wi-Spy Spectrum Analyzer

Other podcasts mentioned in this show:

None

See the full show notes here.

Website Picks:

Keith’s Pick: NPA Lookup Tool

Rich’s Pick: New video site - VBS.TV

Download Here

Recorded: August 7, 2007
Your Hosts: Keith Albright, Rich Niemeier, Ted Miller, and Otto Kopeczky
Show Length: 1:34:52

This marks the first of ‘Special Topics’ episodes. As we discussed in previous shows, we’ve removed the ‘Main Topic’ section of the show and put it out on it’s own as a round-table discussion. If this works, we are hoping to release a new episode each week alternating between the regular show format and these special topic round-tables.

As for this episode, we previously kicked around tidbits on preserving your digital data safely and securely and decided to do an in-depth discussion. We are joined by Otto Kopeczky, a friend of Ted’s, to add some new viewpoints on the matter. We cover the various types of medias, the myths and realities surrounding their longevity as an archival medium, and some best practices to help preserve your digital data.

Here is a brief outline:

Media Deterioration

• Best practices
• Different Types of media (CD, USB, HDD, etc)
• Life Expectancies for each type
• Media variations (eg. CD-R lasts longer than CD-RW)
• Factors: Humidity, temperature, sunlight exposure, pressure

Technical Obsolescence of media

• Not just physical media, data format as well
• JPG vs. BMP, MP3 vs. WMV, etc.
• Open vs. proprietary

Links mentioned in this show:

Please see the show notes for all links and reference materials. Too many to list.

See the full show notes here.

Download Here

I just got back from the Juniper Networks event; The Bourne Ultimatum was awesome.  If you like the series, then you will definitely like this one.  I listened to an interview with Matt Damon on the way to the event and he promised it had more action scenes than the previous two and he wasn’t kidding.

Oh yeah, and there was some talk about firewalls and network products somewhere in there as well.  Actually, the coolest thing was Juniper giving away three SSG5 firewall appliances with wireless.  Your talking about a $500 security appliance.  It was a nice change from the usual MP3/Digital Camera giveaway.  Unfortunately, I did not win one…..oh well, maybe next time.

Thanks to Allan Sumerfield at Juniper for the invite to the event.

Recorded: July 31, 2007
Your Hosts: Keith Albright, Rich Niemeier, and Ted Miller
Show Length: 1:29:40

This week we cover a variety of news and other topics; We have a brief discussion on technology vendor salespeople, Instant Messaging to interview job candidates, and a new fiber-optic cable. Ted informs us of the deadly threat lurking in our laser printers. As usual, we end with our website picks and we hope you enjoy.
NOTE: I think we finally nailed the sound quality. Let us know what you think.
Links mentioned in this show:

• Digital Pictures Backup Device
• Best Buy’s Geek Squad Tech Steals Porn
• Order food At Safeco Field from your Nintendo DS Lite
• Seven Ways Tech Vendors Blow The Sale
• Corning’s New Fiber
• E-Waste
• Using Instant Messaging In The Interview Process
• Cisco Adds CCENT Certification
• Secunia Personal Software Inspector
• Laser Printer Particle Health Risk

Other podcasts mentioned in this show:

Technorama

PaulDotCom Security Weekly

See the full show notes here.

Website Picks:

Keith’s Pick: Youlicit.com
Rich’s Pick: Free Church Music
Ted’s Pick: Etsy.com

Download Here