Skip Links

Network World

Mark Gibbs

Gearhead

By Mark Gibbs

Comments and suggestions to gearhead@gibbs.com.

Gibbsblog - More Gibbs, only bloggier.

Check out Backspin and Network World on Web Applications for more musings from Gibbs.

Gibbs RSS feed (Gibbs)
How-to RSS feed (How-to articles)

Groundwork Monitor: serious network management
07/16/08
Nagios is a powerful, free, open source network management system, and when it's wrapped up in a virtual appliance it has to be one of the easiest ways to evaluate a serious network management solution
Nagios, lots of network management for nothing
07/08/08
Reader feedback revealed that the Nagios network monitoring and management system is available in a virtual appliance that means that Gibbs just had to take it out for a spin.
An IMAP book and measuring power use
06/30/08
A book on high performance IMAP servers and how much power does dimming a laptop screen save?
WhatsUp Gold: A solid new version with minor flaws
06/25/08
WhatsUp Gold from Ipswitch is a highly capable and cost effective network management solution that could replace far more expensive enterprise management suites for less than the cost of their annual maintenance. A few minor flaws mar an otherwise excellent product.
Reader feedback, erasing stress, and WhatsUp Gold
06/18/08
Gibbs responds to a reader's letter to the Gearhead column on Jott, Twitter, RSS feeds and Goosh; de-stresses with Stress Eraser; and starts reviewing WhatsUp Gold, a network management tool from Ipswitch.
Jawbone revisited and down the Google Docs rat hole
06/11/08
The Aliph Jawbone 2 is even better than the original, and Gibbs solves a data entry problem using Google Documents - it was a quick and dirty solution but it works.
Jott, Twitter, RSS feeds and Goosh
06/04/08
Jott, a speech-to-text service sets appointments, keeps lists and now reads RSS feeds such as Twitter's. And then there's Goosh, a command line for Google. How cool is that!
Photos, networking and tweets
05/28/08
A bit of a potpourri this week: A revised Eye-Fi product line, image manipulation applications, Twitter update, and Friend Feed, which could replace Twitter
Updating Twitter with cURL and Wget
05/21/08
Twitter can be a great way to broadcast corporate status data. Here's how to use command line tools to get the job done.
Eye-Fi links digital cameras to Wi-Fi nets
05/13/08
The Eye-Fi storage card uses clever and sophisticated communications technology to wirelessly transfer images from digital cameras to computers and Internet photo services.
Building with FreeBSD 7 and a rad headset
05/06/08
This week Gibbs adds another highly recommended book to the IT library and reviews a Bluetooth cell phone headset that is outstanding.
Books for the IT library
04/30/08
We review a few IT-related books, including telecom reference tomes, a book on the theory and practice of tagging, and a book on the use of scripting in Second Life.
Problems with virtualization
04/22/08
Virtualization systems aren't quite as compatible with, and transparent to, applications as Gibbs thought they were. Also GrandCentral accounts and disposable telephone numbers.
A cheap VoIP alternative: magicJack
04/15/08
Gibbs looks at magicJack, a good, cheap VoIP service, but support is lacking.
GrandCentral, one call to bind them all
04/08/08
Google's GrandCentral provides free and very powerful call management services.
Wi-Fi analysis tools
04/02/08
This week Gibbs reviews a really good Wi-Fi hot spot locator; looks at an update to Wi-Spy, the Wi-Fi spectrum analyzer that he previously reviewed; and raves about VisiWave, a Wi-Fi site-analysis tool.
Parallels Virtuozzo Containers review, Part 2
03/26/08
Gibbs concludes his review of the Parallels Virtuozzo Containers 4.0, an OS virtualization system
Working with NSIS' screen-saver installer
03/18/08
Wrapping up building an installer with NSIS, figuring out which registry keys to set, finding a small residual probem, and discovering an OS X version of VNC.
An excellent FOSS installer for your tool kit
03/11/08
Trying to build a Flash-based screen saver led Gibbs to an excellent FOSS installer system that you need in your IT tool kit.
Parallels Virtuozzo Containers 4.0, Part 1
03/05/08
Gibbs begins an in-depth look at Parallels Virtuozzo Containers 4.0, an OS virtualization system.
Gmail tips, Firebug, and server rebuilding
02/27/08
This week we discuss some technical details of Gmail addresses, rave about a Firefox add-on called Firebug, and relate the saga of rebuilding a W2K3 server.
XML to CSV solutions
02/21/08
Readers suggest tools for to address the daunting problem of converting XML formatted data to CSV.
Wrapping up the e-comm saga
02/13/08
Our series on e-commerce garnered a lot of feedback from readers and vendors and resellers. Here's a roundup of the responses.
Wrangling XML data to CSV
02/05/08
A quest to build a working e-commerce solution hits a new snag when it turns out you can get order data in XML format but there are not tools to make it useable.
The problem with Network Solutions' e-commerce product
01/31/08
We find some serious problems with Network Solutions' Pro E-commerce service.

Most Read

View more Most Read

Videos

rssRss Feed

Latest News

rssRss Feed
Save The Date!
What They Are Saying

Intel...I guarantee you will never ever see a customer using Wimax the way it was laid out by Intel 6...- Anonymous

Join the Discussion

Partner Content
CA logo

CA Network & Voice Resource Center

Comprehensive Network & Voice Management Visit CA Network & Voice Management Resource Center and get insights into industry best practices, information that helps you to address your challenges.

CA Network & Voice Management Resource Center

whitepaper

Managing Voice Over IP for Successful Convergence

Voice over IP (VoIP) has much to offer in cost savings but some customers have concerns about VoIP call quality compared to the quality of traditional voice services. This white paper will help you learn how to take the right steps so that voice quality is assured.

Managing VoIP for Successful Convergence

whitepaper

The Changing Face of Network Management

Managing your network is serious business. This paper discusses the benefits of integrating configuration change-awareness into your network fault management solution

Download Whitepaper