TR Out Loud - October 2, 2009

Sonja Thompson: Welcome back to your weekly recap of the hot discussions and members on the TechRepublic forums.

I'm Sonja Thompson, a senior editor for TechRepublic, and this is TROLOV -- or TR Out Loud on Video -- for October 2nd, 2009.

We're kicking off the top discussions of the week with Toni Bowers, TechRepublic's Head Blogs Editor, because one of Toni's posts was really popular -- and it was called, "A forty-hour week? Not in IT." So, Toni, can you tell us about this post and what people are saying about it in the discussion thread?

Toni Bowers: There are kind of two parts to it -- two groups of people who disagree -- some say that it's a matter of poor time management if you work more than 40 hours a week, and then the other faction says that you can't avoid it if you're in IT, that it's not time management. So, I can see both sides of it -- things breaks in IT, and you have to be able to come in at three in the morning and fix things. But then too, I think long hours is kind of a badge of honor to them, and they kind of mismanage the time during the day so they can say, "I worked 70 hours last week." So, it's a combination.

Sonja Thompson: Gotcha. So, Toni, approximately how many hours do you put in a week?

Toni Bowers: About three a week.

Sonja Thompson: Oh my gosh, you're killing me. And me, on the other hand, am like 300.

Toni Bowers: Someone's gotta take up my slack. Thank you.

Sonja Thompson: I think that every manager loves a good workaholic though, so.... Thanks, Toni.

Toni Bowers: You're welcome.

Sonja Thompson: #2: "The 10 biggest moments in IT history." Within this post, Jack Wallen followed the tech timeline to identify what he believes are 10 of the most pivotal events. Take a trip down memory lane and check out his selections, and then chime in the discussion thread with your opinion. What, if anything, did he miss? As always, I'll link to this and the other top discussions of the week in the blog notes.

#3: "5 phrases that diminish the credibility of Linux, Mac, and Windows users," by TR member dcolbert. Of course this post is one of my personal favorites because dcolbert sent it to me as a guest post for the TR Out Loud blog -- plus it's just really funny, no matter where you stand in the OS battlefield. Keep 'em coming, Donovan!

#4: "Online banking: How safe is it?" and this one was written by Michael Kassner in the IT Security blog. If you're already paranoid about monetary transactions online, this post will really get you worked up. According to Michael, cybercriminals are becoming increasingly sophisticated and are using crimeware, which is a class of automated malware, to steal money. Take a look at Michael's solutions and final thoughts concerning this security issue.

And #5: "10 reasons why Windows 7 could fail." It looks like Jack Wallen came through with another post in this week's top five discussions of the week, and Windows bashing is truly one of the things he does best. Seriously, Jack makes some good points here, and he opens up the discussion for the TR community. What's your take on Windows 7?

Each week, I like to give a little shout out to the TR members who have received the most Thumbs Up for posting answers in the Questions forum:

Four people tied for 3rd place: OldER Mycroft, OH Smeg, eternal949, and ---TK--- (2)

Two people tied for 2nd place: shasca and CG IT (3)

And two people tied for 1st place robo_dev and Jacky Howe (5)

And here are the members who have posted the most total comments on the site in the past seven days.

#5: boxfiddler (101)

#4: santeewelding (113)

#3: Palmetto (147)

#2: jck: (158)

And #1: Ms.Vagat (445) = HOLY SPAM BOT!

And speaking of spam, Tammy Cavadias, TR's moderator, is now recovering from her vacation in Las Vegas, so no Spam Busters report again this week. But for some reason, I think Ms. Vagat will still be in there somewhere when she returns.

Hal 9000 sent in some more Garden Club photos. Here's proof that he is a tree Hugging Greenie (check out the solar light), he's had the dog for a while now, but the monster truck came with the house. And here we have Batman fighting for his life in the Fly Paper Trap place around him by the evil Joker. And Santee Claus, not to be confused with santeewelding, might not make it this year, because he's in real trouble with the looming Gobble Guts.

Jamesski sent in some local rodeo pics, and these are actually of 10 to 13 year olds on bucking steers. Definitely some brave kiddos!

Shellbot went to visit Gadgetgirl in Newcastle, and here are some pics to prove it! I know that they had a fantastic time, and there's even a Flip video somewhere that I'm going to try to get my hands on for an upcoming episode of TROLOV. In the meantime, I'm going to hold a contest for the best picture caption. What do you think GG is thinking or saying? Send your captions to trol@techrepublic.com.

Shasca also sent in a "What is it?" photo. No pressure, but he said that this should be easy. Again, send your guesses to trol@techrepublic.com.

Last week's Question of the Week, sent in by NotSoChiGuy, is once again this week s Question of the Week, since we didn't receive very many responses. He said, "We always hear or read about the technologies and firms that people don't trust, and you can see any OS flame thread for details. With this in mind, what are some of the technologies and firms that you do trust, and how was your trust earned?" Please, please, please send your answers to trol@techrepublic.com.

And the TR Pet of the Week is Shadow, sent in by jamesski. Shadow was plum tuckered out, as was jamesski's daughter, and so they both had to take a little afternoon nap.

Many thanks to Hal 9000, jamesski, Shellbot, GG, shasca, and NotSoChiGuy for participating in the show. These folks are eligible for some TR swag -- and all they have to do is send me an e-mail with their mailing address and swag item of choice.

And that's just how easy it is to receive free TR goodies -- send me something for an upcoming episode of TROLOV -- a comment about the show, a Question of the Week, an answer to the Question of the Week, a caption for GG Shellbot photo, a guess for the What is it pic, or your own photo or small original video clip to trol@techrepublic.com.

I'm Sonja Thompson, and this is TR Out Loud.