2007 DST Changes Need Some Attention

The beginning and ending dates for Daylight Savings Time will change this year. The start date will be the second Sunday in March (March 11) instead of the first Sunday of April (April 1). The end date will be the first Sunday of November (Nov 4) instead of the last Sunday of October (Oct 28). Because Windows is aware and adjusts for DST, it will need to be updated to properly handle the change. I have created a document that details the changes and what need to be done. You can locate the document here.

Microsoft is still in the process of testing and releasing patches for the various programs that are affected. I will update this document as new information is available.

It would also be a good idea to check with your other software vendors to see if the change affects their software. This would be mostly applications that use date and time functions like scheduling applications.

I Was Wondering When This Would Happen

This week, at MacWorld, Apple announced the long anticipated iPhone. It's looks like a pretty cool phone, although I think I will stay with my Windows Mobile phone for now. However, there is one slight problem. Cisco released their iPhone a couple of months ago. It turns out that a company that Cisco purchased several years ago launched the iPhone product in the late 90s. Cisco patented the name in 2000. So Cisco is now suing Apple. This blog written by a Cisco legal VP, is Cisco side of the story. Obviously, Apple is aware and must think they have a good chance to beat this. Otherwise a lot of money and marketing will go down the tubes.

Another cool or at least amazing CES product launch is the Hitachi 1 Terabyte hard disk drive. 1 Terabyte is 1000 Gigabytes! Truly amazing! Just think, the first hard drive I worked with was 5 Megabytes. 1 Gigabyte is 1000 Megs, 1 Terabyte is 1000 Gigabytes. And to think that I am constantly telling people to clean up old files! Here is more information on the drive.

Busy IT News Week

This week is one of the busiest IT related news weeks of the year. The Consumer Electronics Show is happening in Las Vegas (I should have gone). CES is where all the major (and not so major) consumer electronics manufacturers show all the new cool stuff that they are working on. Some of the products are available now and some will be available over the coming year. My technology blogs are going crazy with articles about all this new stuff.

So far, the most interesting thing to me is the Microsoft Home Server. Yes, a server for your home. Think about it. How many homes now have more than one computer. The home is now where small businesses were 6 or 7 years ago. Multiple computers mean the need to share stuff and the need to back stuff up, and how about the need to access your stuff when you are away. You can bet there will be a Microsoft Home Server at 87 Barton Street!

Here is a video of an interview with Bill Gates. The interview was run by Robert Scoble, one of the bloggers I follow, and several other industry news people. Very interesting. Gates looks and sounds better than ever. And here is the link to his CES Keynote Address. If you want to see some really cool stuff check it out.

Next year I will be at this thing!