All Things Gibbs

All Things Gibbs This newsletter is sponsored by Fluke Networks Live Webcast: Get more for your IT dollar Register for this live webcast, "Get Better Results from your IT investments," to learn how to make your IT dollars stretch further. Get real-world advice from industry experts. The live event takes place on Thursday, November 15, at 1:00 p.m. ET. Click here to register now! Network World's All Things Gibbs Newsletter, 10/23/07 All Things Gibbs By Mark Gibbs Gearhead: Still on the DPC trail I don’t believe it! My problem with deferred procedure calls has again vanished and my PC’s CPU utilization has gone back to normal! Over the last few weeks DPCs in my Windows XP system have driven processor utilization from a normal 2% range up to 40%, basically killing the overall system performance. Then, after a few days it fell back to about 2%. I have watched my PC go through this cycle about three times. To read this week's Gearhead, click here. Improve App Performance with Web Acceleration Find out how to improve the delivery of Web applications to geographically dispersed users with Web acceleration tools. Learn, in this webcast, how to shop for these products and the best and worst applications to accelerate. View this Webcast now. Backspin: Software bugs revealed? Probably not A couple of weeks ago I raised the question of the computer industry’s soft underbelly. I cited a few of the dirty secrets industry insiders know but which are hidden from the hoi polloi (for example, the fact that computing is hard and the industry markets a different story), but wondered what others thought. To read this week's Backspin, click here. Gibbsblog: The past 7 days How Stupid Are Hackers? Not as Dumb as Wells Fargo Seems to Think They Are ... I just got an alert from my bank, Wells Fargo (it was a real alert, not a stupid phishing attempt) and in the alert it referred to an account of mine thusly: You've reached your pre-set balance threshold of $x,xxx.xx for Acct. XXX-XXX6666. Sharing Keyboard and Mouse Between Mac and PC In a recent Gearhead I discussed my quest to streamline my physical computer workspace which began with reducing two desks to one and then trying to use a KVM switch to reduce the number of monitors, keyboards, and mice I had. I then realized that what I needed was to share just my keyboard and mouse because have multiple monitors on my desktop would be a) convenient, b) I already have 'em so I might as well use 'em, and c) it would make my office look like mission control (that is, if a mission control ever looks like a multi-screen extravaganza inside an explosion of books, journals, products and all the other detritus that has washed up on the shores of the Gibbs Institute). RE: Goodbye DPCs, hello (simple) groupware Was your flummoxing rise, then fall, of DPC activity due to the installation of a driver that you didn't know about? You're aware, of course, that some Microsoft Update activity will take place whether you asked for it or not. Perhaps Microsoft installed a buggy little something that was supposed to fix a buggy little something else, then retracted it a few days later? Rumor has it that this type of activity is still recorded in the logs, so it should be a straightforward search on the appropriate dates. If Microsoft Update isn't the culprit, then perhaps a Gearhead / SysInternals (ooops, Microsoft) collaboration on researching this type of DPC activity could be arranged? Perhaps the power of two Marks (you and Russinovich) can deflummox us all?

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Contact the author: Mark Gibbs is a consultant, author, journalist, and columnist and now blogger: Check out Gibbsblog. Gibbs not only pens (well, keyboards) this newsletter he also writes the weekly Backspin and Gearhead columns in Network World. We’ll spare you the rest of the bio but if you want to know more, go here This newsletter is sponsored by Fluke Networks Live Webcast: Get more for your IT dollar Register for this live webcast, "Get Better Results from your IT investments," to learn how to make your IT dollars stretch further. Get real-world advice from industry experts. The live event takes place on Thursday, November 15, at 1:00 p.m. ET. Click here to register now! BONUS FEATURE IT PRODUCT RESEARCH AT YOUR FINGERTIPS Get detailed information on thousands of products, conduct side-by-side comparisons and read product test and review results with Network World’s IT Buyer’s Guides. Find the best solution faster than ever with over 100 distinct categories across the security, storage, management, wireless, infrastructure and convergence markets. Click here for details. PRINT SUBSCRIPTIONS AVAILABLE You've got the technology snapshot of your choice delivered to your inbox each day. Extend your knowledge with a print subscription to the Network World newsweekly, Apply here today. International subscribers, click here. SUBSCRIPTION SERVICES To subscribe or unsubscribe to any Network World newsletter, change your e-mail address or contact us, click here. This message was sent to: networking.world@gmail.com. Please use this address when modifying your subscription. Advertising information: Write to Associate Publisher Online Susan Cardoza Network World, Inc., 118 Turnpike Road, Southborough, MA 01772 Copyright Network World, Inc., 2007