The decision used to be an easy one. Now the tables are turned.

What's a surge protector to do after it can no longer provide surge protection? In a follow-up to a previous blog, APC officially stands behind their documentation that says their NET8 model will not provide unprotected power. Tripp Lite says nothing, leading credence to their own documentation which says that their ISOBAR4ULTRA does provide unprotected power after it fails.

Google is working on a home-entertainment system that will wirelessly stream music to speakers throughout a home -- and Microsoft, more than any company, has the most to lose if Google succeeds. Music is only Google's first target. Next up are television and movies, which Microsoft wants to control in the home as well.

Apple is in accelerated lock-down as it attempts to identify the best possible apps to demonstrate on the iPad 3 the company plans to launch at a special event next month.

Flashback to the 1980s, when alcohol hasn't yet been banned where this pilot fish works, and a development team discovers just how useful it can be in a big project in the data center.

Windows 8 is coming, and now we know that Windows on ARM (WOA) will include four Office 15 apps. In Microsoft's (NASDAQ:MSFT) latest spot of kimono-opening, we gain surprising new insights into the new OS. In IT Blogwatch, bloggers dig into the details. Not to mention: Off and on and off and on and off...

Before you start making changes in the organization steam rolling toward the goal of a private cloud, it's important that you understand where you are today so that you can plot the right trajectory, and as you progress toward your goal, make course corrections as needed.

It's patent-troll time once again, folks. A one-person* company that adds zero economic value is suing a huge laundry list of companies who use the Web. The company claims it invented a common Web page feature, so it should be entitled to licensing fees. What sort of crazy is this? Explanations in today's The Long View...
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Microsoft has lifted the lid on its plans for Windows 8 on ARM devices, and the biggest news is this: The platform will include desktop versions of the upcoming version of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote, codenamed Office 15. That will give Windows tablets a feature no competitors will have.

When you buy a MP3 from iTunes, do you own it? What if you could resell some of the ton of digital music you don't listen to, but that is taking up hard drive space? You can buy and legally resell "used" MP3s on eMarketplace ReDigi, the brainchild of former MIT programmers. Like the RIAA which refuses to change a broken business model, Capitol Records had a copyright infringement cow and objected in court. However a judge handed the first round victory to ReDigi, not Capitol. It's looking good for music lovers.

Google's Android Ice Cream Sandwich release is slowly trickling out to devices around the world -- and today, HTC has promised to send the upgrade to three more of its phones.

Apple is facing international protest against the plight of workers in its supplier factories. Isn't it time the campaign bought the fight for fair working conditions against Apple's competitors, too?

It's been two weeks since this server problem was reported at a remote site, and this pilot fish has made sure he's not on the team dealing with it.

[Updated (yet again) with the non-nerd, shopping 'n' shoes viewpoint] The iPad 3 release date is rumored to be later this month, as new images appear of the casing. This gives new clues as to Apple's (NASDAQ:AAPL) plans for what some are calling iPad HD. In IT Blogwatch, bloggers corral the rumors.

A few days ago a customer came to me with a question; they wanted to know what online services were consuming the most amount of bandwidth on their Internet connection. Easy, I thought, and I proceeded to show them how to report on the top websites consuming bandwidth. The problem was that the top entries in the list were all sites associated with content delivery networks (CDN).