Smart Tech Tips

If you use microsoft outlook for your email, this might be a question you’ll be asking yourself one day. This little file is a great tool that will fix your currupt outlook database file. There are places on the internet that will charge you for something like this. Microsoft was nice enough to include it with every copy of Office 2007. Unfortunately they don’t tell you where it is.

It is located in :

c:\program files\microsoft office\office 12\scanpst.exe

The fastest way to run this in windows xp is to press ’start’ menu and click on ‘run’ then in the dialog box type in:

c:\Program files\Microsoft Office\Office12\Scanpst.exe

If you’re using Vista, press the windows button and type the above line in the white text area of the start menu.

If this does not work for you or you are missing the Inbox Repair tool, you can download it HERE.

I recently switched to a bluetooth headset full time. Before I had three headset somewhere in my office but I never used them more than a day. The Jawbone has been the only one that has consistently made me feel naked without it when I leave the house. It fits snugly in my ears and after eight hours at work, my ears do not feel like it is going to swell up and fly out of my head. Another feature of the Jawbone line of headsets is the active noise cancellation. There is a piece that stays planted to the side of your face that detects vibrations from you and this technology is used to filter out what is noise and what is your speech. Other than a really windy day, this system lets the person on the other line hear you as clear as you were within earshot. My only complaint is the charger is pretty specialize with its’ magnetic mechanism so having a charger everywhere requires a significant investment. I found this first generation Jawbone on sale over at buy.com. With free shipping it is only 39.99. I don’t think you’re going to find a better price anywhere. I don’t know how long this will last so get it while you can.

http://www.buy.com/prod/jawbone-1-black-bluetooth-headset-new-in-poly-bag/q/loc/111/205014248.html

There are so many cool things from my youth that I wish I still held onto or not broken. Such examples are transformer toys. Today while I was looking around the net for some cool gadgets to write about, I found one such thing. It is a usb thumb drive that transforms into Ravage, a feline that use to turn into a cassette tape from the 80s. How fitting now that it transforms into something that still holds data but more relevant in our age and time. I remember putting him into a cassette player named Soundwave. Now I can stick him into my computer and reveal all of his Cybertron secrets. Too bad it is only 2GB. I’m sure I’ve lost many reader with this post…if I had any.

http://www.bigbadtoystore.com/bbts/product.aspx?product=TAK10927&mode=retail&picture=out

The Palm Pre will be coming to Sprint on June 6th. Rumor has it, it will be $199.99 after 100 mail in rebate and a 2 year service contract. Three main things have perked my interest in this phone.

I also hope it’s not like the Samsung Instinct where it pigeon holes people into a premium contract just to get the phone. I have a touch diamond now for nearly a year and I’ve been pretty satisfied but the prospect of a near iphone device without the high monthly fee may make me renew my contract a year early on the 6th of June!

This is the Public Company accounting Reform and Investor Protection Act of 2002, or SOX in short. This was a reaction to scandals that cost investors billions of dollars.

What this act did was create the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board which oversees the accounting firms and their roles in public companies.

This is all good fun for big companies who have lots of money to throw at this new regulation. For smaller companies, the cost of honoring this assessment is high. Also foreign firms do not have to abide by this rule and is a concern that it drives businesses out of the US.

The one focus I wants to point out is this law has an adverse effect on IPOs; specifically those that are common in silicon valley. Since the enactment, it has been difficult for venture capitalist to get back their investment in upstart by making it harder for them to go public.

I read on the net where technologist are against this act and want it repealed. I would have to agree. This act will not stop corporate fraud. It just creates another hurdle for small businesses or upstarts.