Kickstartnews Revue - Podcast #29 - Show Notes for November 27, 2005

Here's the lineup for show #29:

• Letters to the Editor: We've got two reader and listener e-mails this week - ATI Radeon 9800 Pro driver issues, and an audio question sent in via MP3 from a listener who is having some problems moving Avery DesignPro software and files cross-platform;
• Kickstartnews Confab: Business and the holidays, or rather, what are you doing for your clients this Christmas and holiday season?
• Interview: We've got another great interview lined up - we're talking with Iain Barclay of Electric Pocket Software, the company that develops BugMe! Notepad, the Busker MP3 player, and Ringo among other things.

Here are the rest of the Show Notes . . .

Kickstartnews Revue - Podcast #28 - Show Notes for November 20, 2005

Here's the lineup for show #28:

• Letters to the Editor: We've got five reader and listener e-mails this week - problems restoring a drive with Norton Ghost, a mangled installation of Half Life 2, alternative webradio recording software, a pre-purchase question about the AlphaShield security device, and somebody is looking for help trying to mate a Canon Digital Rebel XT with a Bausch & Lomb spotting scope;
• Kickstartnews Confab: Dealing with irate customers online and offline. Can you be trusted to deal with or are you even capable of dealing with someone who's popping an eyeball;
• Big City Byte: Howard has a message for a couple of people who've been calling on a regular basis about computer problems recently. STOP CALLING! Don't ever ask him to help you again. Ever. He's not doing it. You don't deserve help.

Here are the rest of the Show Notes . . .

Kickstartnews Revue - Podcast #27 - Show Notes for November 13, 2005

Here's the lineup for show #27:

• Letters to the Editor: We've got four reader and listener e-mails this week - a question about exporting data from older Address Book programs, a reader looking for software sources for her brand new Palm Treo 650, someone looking for some good trading card software for team projects, and another reader has some Windows screen saver issues;
• Kickstartnews Confab: Borrowing software from the office and where does the line between licensing and ownership and convenience blur for some people;
• Interview: It's the BOAT. The Business Online and Technology show is our chance to talk to entrepreneur Judi Tyabji-Wilson about smart advice & ideas for small business. This week it's all about the Trials & Tribulations of doing business online. Persistence is everything.

Here are the rest of the Show Notes . . .

Kickstartnews Revue - Podcast #26 - Show Notes for November 6, 2005

Here's the lineup for show #26:

• Letters to the Editor: We've got three reader and listener e-mails this week - a question about software fax servers, somebody else is looking for alternatives to WinFax Pro 10, and an IT specialist who is looking for alternatives to the Micro2000 Universal Diagnostic kit;
• Kickstartnews Confab: Holiday schedules in the office - whether or not to close up shop for more than a couple of days for Thanksgiving or Christmas and New Years;
• Big City Byte: Howard's got a big bone to pick with the sort of software that keeps on giving and giving and giving and giving. It's not really giving and it's not really good.

Here are the rest of the Show Notes . . .

The Digital Lords of Credit Don't Care About You

The lordliness of those in power bugs me the most. I'm not talking about the hard core, dyed in the wool political animals. I'm talking about the private agencies and organizations which collect and disseminate credit information about you and me. The big three—Equifax, TransUnion and Experian and all the ungoverned thousands of small data brokers—are getting more and more closed mouthed about actual and potential data losses. That may not mean much to you at first glance, but realization dawns when you understand that these giant companies that collect, collate and maintain many Petabytes of data, simply aren't the secure fortresses you'd expect them to be.

Recently, CTV's W5 program reported Equifax's refusal to talk about a network intrusion which is alleged to have compromised hundreds of thousands of individual consumer data files. The aggravatingly secretive overlords at Equifax say little and communicate nothing. Unconfirmable reports amount to rumor. More . . .