Doug V - Dr. Blip's PC-Doctor Blog

Introducing Lenovo ThinkVantage Toolbox

nospam@example.com (Doug V) — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 23:55:04 -0400

The October 22nd Win 7 launch also was a first for the Lenovo ThinkVantage Toolbox, a new unified support and messaging application that ships on Think-branded systems. We've been the provider of diagnostics and other system health tools for Think systems since 1997.

Here's a little flash video that summarizes its capabilities.

http://www.pc-doctor.com/ltt_introduction.php

Let us know what you think!

A Note About Circuit City

nospam@example.com (Doug V) — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 16:00:53 -0500

We learned today that Circuit City is reselling PC-Doctor Service Center kits and pieces of kits through its liquidators. Unfortunately, this violates our software license agreement with Circuit City, which expressly prohibits resale. Many of these kits are incomplete and non-functional because of missing hardware or media; complete or not, none of the kits are eligible for support.

Please know that we are attempting to contact Circuit City and its liquidators to ask that they pull any PC-Doctor kit, hardware or media from their stores’ shelves.

It is our sincere hope that you read this message before any purchase of a PC-Doctor kit, hardware or media from Circuit City or its liquidators. If you do, we strongly recommend that you not purchase any PC-Doctor kit, hardware or media from Circuit City or its liquidators for the reasons cited above.

If you already have purchased, our advice is to return to the store, tell the local manager that the software agreement prohibited resale, and ask for a return of your money. We recognize that Circuit City and its liquidators have said all sales are final, but our hope is they will relent since the sale was expressly prohibited in the first place.

Finally, for those who purchased the unauthorized kit, hardware or media but are interested in a complete and up-to-date version of the software, please call Kim Seymour at 775-336-4025. We’re both innocent parties in this situation, but we want you as our customer and are working on a program to help us both.

A Kinder, Softer Gates?

nospam@example.com (Doug V) — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 12:56:00 -0400

From a marketing perspective, I don't get the new Seinfeld/Gates advertisement for Microsoft.

http://www.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUSN0445384020080905?feedType=RSS&feedName=technologyNews&rpc=69

Like the Seinfeld "show about nothing," it's funny. But I don't quite get what they want me to do. Wait? Watch?

There is something that I really do like about the advertisement, though: It illustrates a softer, humorous side of Bill Gates, and an ability to deliver a dead-panned line. It somehow makes the World's Richest Man more approachable and -- heaven's forbid! -- more likable. It continues along a theme that first arose, I think, with the Bill's Last Day video that made its rounds over the web about the time that Gates turned day-to-day control over to Balmer.

So has he really changed? Or is he still the Darth Vader of the of tech industry?

Keep Your Fingers Crossed

nospam@example.com (Doug V) — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 12:09:00 -0400

This coming Wednesday, scientists in England flip the "On" switch of a Large Hadron Collider (LHC), an action that some fear may cause the end of the world. OK, so that sounds like a joke. But it's not.

http://www.tgdaily.com/content/view/39203/113/

Leading astrophysicists say poppycock, and cite as evidence "the creation of high energy particles in Earth's upper atmosphere, those comparable to the ones LHC will produce, from a constant and natural bombardment from the Sun."

Makes one think, though: what if they're wrong.

Is Google the New Evil Empire?

nospam@example.com (Doug V) — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 17:26:01 -0400

Long-time Silicon Valley writer Mike Malone strikes a rather strident, conspiratorial chord in his latest column about Google's new Chrome browser.

http://www.abcnews.go.com/Business/story?id=5727509&page=1

Malone sees the timing of the announcement between the Democrat and Republican conventions -- normally anathema to PR announcements because of the noise volume -- to be suspicious from such a media-savvy company. And he paints Google CEO Eric Schmidt, who once-upon-a-time was Sun's chief scientist as well as CEO of Novell, as somehow obsessed with revenge for the trouncing that Sun received at the hands of Microsoft.

No doubt, Google is at the intersection of many information transactions on the net, and that Chrome helps it touch even more information transactions. But is it evil genius? Is it possible to "do no harm?"

These Recalls Don’t Need to Happen

nospam@example.com (Doug V) — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 17:23:41 -0400

Yet another big recall by a major PC OEM is in the works. More than 400,000 Sony notebooks are being recalled because of the potential for burns. Apparently, overheating and short-circuiting in several Sony VAIO TZ models is caused by “irregularly positioned wires near the notebook’s hinge or possibly a dislodged screw inside the hinge.

See a complete story here: http://www.crn.com/retail/210300556.

That’s a big number of PCs and a multi-million dollar hit to earnings. More maddening, there is little reason for such things to happen. Stress testing with accurate diagnostics such as those from PC-Doctor is very efficacious in bubbling up intermittent problems, and could have helped Sony identify the issue in the design or factory phases.

Users can also call the VAIO TZ customer hotline at 1-888-526-6219 to determine if their notebook is affected.

Not So Cool Cuil

nospam@example.com (Doug V) — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 12:18:00 -0400

The Cuil search engine (www.cuil.com) went live this week after reams of publicity that tout the new site as a Google killer. What a disappointing debut!

I ran an ego search and got eight hits total, seven relevant. Each relevant hit related to my association with PC-Doctor.

I ran the same search on Google. Results: 654 total hits. I stopped counting after five pages of relevant hits. What differed? In addition to my association with PC-Doctor, Google listed my past associations with Microsoft, Sun Micro, Apple, Scientific Solutions and others.
Continue reading "Not So Cool Cuil"

Comments Return to the PC-Doctor Blog

nospam@example.com (Doug V) — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 16:14:27 -0400

Dear readers,

We’re delighted to say that comments for our blog site are now reopened. We hope it was not as frustrating for you as it was for our PC-Doctor authors, who appreciate and look forward to your comments. However, it was one of those instances where the actions of one person had negative consequences for many.

Our technical review of the blog also gave us an opportunity to revamp it in a fashion that we think is much cleaner and easier to read and use. For example, we’ve shortened our list of topics to four that we think are most pertinent: hardware, software, grab bag and hot topics. Let us know if you like it.

As part of the changeover, we now ask that you register (a quick and painless process) before posting comments. And no, it’s not about harvesting your emails – it’s about keeping the site and the content professional without direct moderation.

Other than that, the two Big Rules still apply: no profanity and no slander or libel. Everything else is pretty much fair game.

So, blog on! Share knowledge. Be civil. Have fun.

Cheers,
Doug V

To Our Blog Members:

nospam@example.com (Doug V) — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 12:49:46 -0400

For a few hours last nite, you likely were surprised if you visited our blog. It seems someone thought it would be funny to hijack our site, and redirect traffic to an inappropriate and unrelated site.

Frankly, it's pretty un-funny to us. We want our site to be a place were people like you can find interesting technical and topical information.

If any of you were offended, our apologies.

Psst, Gibson... Guitar Heroes Aren't Really Playing

nospam@example.com (Doug V) — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 08:22:49 -0400

Gibson's suit against Activision for patent infringement would be laughable if it wasn't such a crystal clear example of how the patent process is being abused.

Briefly, Gibson says that Activision stole its patented idea that lets guitar players inject their licks and chops into some larger score as part of a virtual reality program. Back in the mid 90s, I actually had a program on an old Mac that let me do something like this with my old guitar (a Martin, not a Gibson); I don't remember the name of the app, but it was fun even though the pre-mixed music was pretty hokey.

But really; Guitar Heroes as a VR concert? Yes, I've seen folks pretend they are Slash, The Edge, or Keith Richards while in the throes of Guitar Heroes. In fact, I could probably embarrass (but won't) at least one of my PC-Doctor colleagues who does a great Pete Townsend impression.

But here's the point: Not one of them has actually played a power chord or plucked a note. Why? Because the Gibsonesque guitar (that Activision licenses from Gibson, oh by the way) is a game controller, not a musical instrument. At the risk of bursting a few bubbles, the people playing Guitar Hero aren't playing music at all.

Here's hoping that cooler heads will prevail and this patent harassment is stopped sooner rather than later.