NEW YORK - Verizon technicians are upgrading FiOS with next-generation electronics to dramatically enhance the speeds, and thus the capabilities, of Verizon's all-fiber-optic FiOS broadband, video and voice network. Known as gigabit passive optical network (G-PON) equipment, the new electronics can increase the line-rate bandwidth on the Verizon fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP) network by four times downstream to the customer and eight times upstream back to the network. This provides the capability

Microsoft Mediaroom. I love the name. However, what the name conjures up in my mind isn't what the new name is all about. Here's the full marketing description: Microsoft ® Mediaroom™ enables a new, personalized television experience. Consumers can easily find and discover TV, video, movies, and digital media at the touch of a remote control. Live programming and video-on-demand in standard-definition and high-definition formats, digital video recording, MultiView picture-in-picture, music, and photos

Just when I was about to write off my lowly single cpu Dell Pentium 4 desktop machine, it gets a reprieve. In this case, the reprieve comes from an unexpected source, Windows Vista HDTV recording. As you'll recall, I purchased the HDHomeRun product a little over a month ago. I started using it with MCE 2005, then started testing it with some of the more powerful laptops I have. HDHomeRun has been a joy so far. The laptop comment should get your ears perked up. Even if you don't have a high definition

After two years, my fiber connection is dark. Verizon is switching my account from business to residential so this is one of the steps toward that end. My cable provider has also been canceled and they picked up my television set top boxes. So I am without a cable tv feed or high speed internet access for the first time in over eight years. Insert video of Keith twitching from withdrawals... :) Don't worry, I have backups of course. I have my Verizon sponsored EVDO wireless card for posting witty

It was a sad day. After a couple of years of non stop service, I flattened my Small Business Server (SBS). I feel so naked without the strength of ISA Server guarding the perimeter. I feel depressed that I'm back to pop3 downloads instead of the rich synchronization of Exchange Server and Outlook 2007 . You might be asking why the hell would I flatten a perfectly good server? Well, it's a long story that became the perfect storm. First, the "server" was end of life. It's one thing to rely on a machine

So I missed the date by a few hours, but you can help us bring the internet to it’s knees by downloading Windows Vista Beta 2 today!!! Ok, depending on your connection, maybe not today but hopefully shortly there after. After the download is complete burn the .iso image to DVD and you’ll have a shiny new operating system to test. Go to http://www.microsoft.com/windowsvista/getready/preview.mspx and decide if you want to order the DVD kit or download the bits right now. As you can see,

An unique opportunity to get one-on-one time with our Windows Vista application compatibility experts during the Windows Vista Readiness Applications Compatibility Labs at TechEd 2006. Bring your own Applications to test and troubleshoot and/or try out our self paced labs to test and catch up on the exciting new enhancements and opportunities Windows Vista has to offer – all in a single room. Windows Vista Readiness Labs TechEd06 June 12th – 16th, 2006 Room 108, First Floor Boston Convention

Every so often, something really kewl comes along that you just have to have. The Windows Vista Product Guide is one of those objects of affection. It’s a comprehensive look at the Windows Vista product line and explains the features, the differences between the product versions, screen shots, etc. A word or two of warning is in order. First, the guide is pretty big (313 pages) so the filesize is almost 44meg. Second, you’ll need to install WinFX XML Paper Specifications Document (BETA)

Microsoft has made some recent bets on storage management. That is good news for me for a variety of reasons. First, it offers a glimpse of my HDTV future. What? Yes, you read that correctly. I’ll get to the explanation in a little bit. Second, it means our customers will have a broader range of storage support in Microsoft products. One of the recent acquisitions we made was from String Bean Software. We acquired their WinTarget iSCSI Target software. I don’t know all of the details