The Archives

Archive for April, 2009

Putting Green Back into the Environment and Your Wallet

It’s Earth Day. In observance, here are a couple quick tips on being more environmentally friendly.

1. When an electronic device is plugged in, it is drawing a current of electricity – often called “phantom power” or “vampire power.” You’d be surprised at how quickly that little amount of electricity adds up. So, when the products aren’t in use, unplug them or switch the power off on your power supply.

Announcing Geek Squad Academy Internship

Best Buy and Geek Squad are partnering with the Women’s High Tech Coalition in the first-ever Geek Squad Academy-Women’s High Tech Coalition (WHTC) Internship Program, a paid summer Congressional internship for two female college students. This is truly the outcome of the passion, aspirations and drive of an extremely dedicated group of Geek Squad Agents and Best Buy employees.

Conficker Looks to Cash in On Infections

As we mentioned previously, the Conficker worm made news headlines upon the discovery that the C variant of the worm would start seeking updates to its malicious instructions on April 1st. While the world feared the worst, the day came and went with little visible activity.

However, news is coming in that the worm has been spotted using its ability to pass new instructions from machine to machine in what’s called a “peer-to-peer network”. This allows new orders from the worm’s masters to be sent to a number of infected systems, and have those systems pass those orders on in a big, electronic version of the “telephone” game we played as kids. This helps the worm avoid both detection and avoid getting blocked from getting new orders directly by the good guys.

Laptop M.I.A.: Preventative Precautions

Often, our enthusiasm overwhelms us when purchasing a new laptop or TV. Maybe it’s the fresh smelling aroma of manufactured plastics that encase these glorious devices, or what wondrous things they can help us do. But, that also means you should never let your guard down, as there can be evil lurking around the corner, ready to enjoy your tech just as much as you do.

Laptops, TVs and GPS systems are hot theft items across the country. Here are some tips to help keep you from being the victim. Or, in the chance that your property is stolen, how you might be able to get it back:

What Is Keeping the eBooks from Reaching MP3-Like Success?

eBooks. They are like a Star Trek dream come to life. How many episodes did we see Captain Picard enjoying a classic novel on a PADD before being called to the bridge? It’s awesome that now we have the technology to bring all our reading materials with us in something smaller than an 8.5″x11″ sheet of paper.

But why haven’t eBooks taken off? Amazon has been pushing the Kindle platform aggressively recently, so maybe that will change. But here are a few things to think about when looking at eBooks:

Goodbye Steve

Steve, we’re going to miss you. You have two left feet, but you gave hope to all of us geeks out here. Bravo for taking the risk on Dancing with the Stars. You stood in front of millions and confirmed what many of us knew — geeks can’t dance and that’s okay. You accomplished more than many of us thought was possible. Criticism of your performance was harsh, and you kept going. They’re probably right about your dancing, but when one of the networks launches Technology with the Stars (and one will), nobody will stand a chance against you. We salute you, Steve — thank you for standing up for the geeks.