This link will take you to the Alpine skiing sites, and there are links for more events, such a bobsled and so forth. There is a neat little YouTube video on the page that shows how they did it with a snowmobile. Cool stuff!

The big and obvious shortcomings of the iPad are:

Number One: It won’t multitask. For a device that is supposed to be web-friendly, this is pretty lame. The stated reason is to preserve battery power; for that big and pretty color screen you need some juice. Of course, as a 1A shortcoming, as on an iPhone, you can’t change the battery.

Number Two: It won’t run Flash. That means it can have a lot of problems with sites like Hulu and YouTube, and maybe running SportsCenter highlights on ESPN.com. This unfortunate situation is a result of an Apple-Adobe fued that still hasn’t been settled. (Adobe is the creator and owner of the Flash programming code.)

Number Three: No USB ports. This is strange, but in keeping with Apple. You can purchase a dongle from them that will adapt to USB. More to buy, and more to carry, which would seem to be the opposite of what the idea is with something as portable as a tablet/slate/pad (or whatever our friends at Apple decide is the hip term).

What remains to be seen is if the Apple iPad is really just a color Kindle. What is usually the case with Apple (and most tech offerings, for that matter) is that the next versions clean up lots of the shortcomings. This was certainly the case with the iPhone. So it must be said that the final story has yet to be written on the iPad.

See Scott Stein’s post here

More Cnet iPad info here

Microsoft Security Essentials is an excellent - and free - anti-virus/anti-spyware program. It works well for what it is intended for, which is primarily home computers. Easy install, simple interface, and updates itself in the background.

I often get asked “what is a good solution for anti-virus and anti-spyware software for my home computer?” and these days, this is my recommendation.

Find it here

SOHO Sun-Comet Battles

(Also…my apologies for the cheesy music..)

(Hat tip to Tom’s Astronomy Blog)

DISCLAIMER (needed!): Of course, the reason I really like this is that near the bottom, author Brad Sugars says to not skimp when buying IT equipment:

Now that we looked at some things you should never pay full price for, is there anything you should ever buy new?

Actually, yes, and that would be your computer and network equipment. It’s rare to find a great “gently used” system to meet your needs, and prices are more than comparable for remarkably fast and versatile new systems with everything you need.

You needn’t worry about the integrity of the hardware or any of the software, and you can customize a new system or network specifically for the demands and capacity of your business.

But there is some pretty good advice in this article about what you can save on in these tight economic times.

Find the Entrepreneur.com article here.

Actually, as of this writing, Wednesday morning, December 23, 8:00AM, it looks like things might be fixed. But if you are seeing some issues with getting mail on your BlackBerry, there are some BB issues right now. This should only affect BlackBerry Internet Service (BIS), meaning if yo have a BB server at your site, running either BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES) or BlackBerry Professional Software (BPS), you should be getting your email just fine and likely saw no issues at all.

Internet browsing on your BlackBerry was definitely affected, though. I saw that yesterday on my trusty BB.

PC World has the story here.

32-bit or 64-bit? Lifehacker.com has a great article on how it all breaks down.

(My default answer: 64-bit! More juice, baby!)

The Lifehacker posts says the following, among other well explained details, in reference to whether you can use your 32-bit apps with your new 64-bit operating system:

Do 32-bit Applications Work on 64-Bit?

The vast majority of your 32-bit applications will continue to work just fine on 64-bit Windows, which includes a compatibility layer called WoW64, which actually switches the processor back and forth between 32-bit and 64-bit modes depending on which thread needs to execute—making 32-bit software run smoothly even in the 64-bit environment.

There are some exceptions to that rule, however: 32-bit device drivers and low-level system applications like Antivirus, shell extensions that plug into Windows, and some media applications simply won’t work without a 64-bit equivalent.

In practice, the vast majority of your favorite applications will either continue to work, or provide a 64-bit version you can use instead—but you should check to make sure.

Very well explained, as is the rest of the post.

In short: with a new computer, there are lots of reasons to go with the 64-bit version of your operating system (especially Windows 7). That being said, there can be compatibility issues with specific applications you regularly use, and you need to check that out first.

Find the article here.

Ars Technica has a link to an article in a science journal that details how folks had stressful lives in the wayyy back - like 1500 years ago.

The team found that the time just before the individuals passed away was a stressful one—not an overly surprising result. But the majority of the individuals had lived through stressful periods in the years leading up to their death, suggesting that stress was a regular part of life in the pre-modern period. Perhaps this can be filed under “the more things change, the more they stay the same.”

So this whole stress thing isn’t some new-fangled 20th - 21st century phenomenon. It’s old news, baby. May just as well enjoy it!

Find the Ars Technica article here

Ninite will auto-magically load up a variety of freeware software applications so you don’t have to mess with it. This is especially handy if you install a new operating system - say, Windows 7.

(I am a big fan of Windows 7 - terrific operating system. See my many posts on this blog for details, and there will be much more to come.)

Ninite is actually a service; go to their site at http://ninite.com/, choose what you want to load, and let it get started. You don’t get all the customization you may prefer, but no matter how you cut it, Ninite saves time. Lots of time.

Ninite

I recently made use of Ninite on a fresh Windows 7 install and found it to be very helpful.

We’ll call Ninite “Recommended”.

Terrapin Networks had our booth there, as usual, and found the Expo to be very well attended - I must say, it was a bit of a surprise to see all the folks who came to the show. The show was a sellout, as it normally is, and that also was somewhat of a pleasant surprise. We made many new friends and were able to catch up with many of our old acquaintances. All in all a very worthwhile event.

Bill O’Brien, the business editor of the Traverse City Record Eagle, stopped by on his rounds and had a chat with Tim Gillen, Terrapin Networks president. His recap of the event, found here, quotes Tim prominently.