All week long, these IT professionals are under constant pressure at work, troubleshooting downed networks, fixing dead hardware, patching security holes and updating buggy software.

So what do they do for fun and relaxation after work? They head home and spend hours doing the same thing — for free — by volunteering on tech support Web sites to help home and business users solve perplexing computer problems.

On sites like Protonic.com, Techguy.org, BleepingComputer.com and GeeksToGo.com, anguished computer users post messages seeking answers to problems with hardware and software from volunteers — many of whom are self-taught home computer users. But the group also includes IT pros who work in the corporate trenches every day and then give away their expertise at night and on weekends.

They say they gain far more from the effort than what they put in.

IT after hours [ComputerWorld]

Voice over IP service involves using the Internet to route your land line phone call instead of traditional telephone companies. It was once touted as the future of telecommunications, however clouds are on the horizon. Vonage has legal problems resulting from a patent dispute that if successful is likely to affect all VoIP providers. SunRocket apparently faces other challenges. They were the darling of many “hot deal” forums by offering two years of service for $199, including unlimited US long distance, and many other features. However, as of today calling their 800 customer service line (800) 786-0132 yields the following:

We are no longer taking customer service or sales calls… goodbye

SunRocket purportedly had 200,000 customers. As of this time they still have phone service, but odds are that may not last long (including 911 service).

VoIP companies have been hit hard by cable companies offering ‘bundled services’ and stealing market share. This is sure to hang another cloud over the industry.

The Xbox 360 has come under criticism for its high hardware failure rate. Microsoft has said its around the industry average of 3-5%. However, other unconfirmed sources have put the figure closer to to 30%. Microsoft does acknowledge the consoles had a higher failure rate when first launched.

No matter who’s numbers you accept, you have to give kudos to Microsoft for taking a billion dollar hit to make things right. Effective July 5th, all Xbox 360 warranties have been extended to 3 years. Including repairs already made!

In late 2006, Microsoft extended the warranty of all Xbox 360 consoles to one year, up from 90-days. For gamers who were out of warranty, a replacement or repair would cost about $140.

Much of the malware problem the past year has been rougue malware applications installed by the zlob trojan. There are too many to list. Among the popular ones have been SpyDawn, Virusburst, SpyAxe, SpySheriff, WinFixer and SmitFraud.

The latest in this long line is System Live Protect. Like the others, it looks very much like a legitimate application. Even a Microsoft application in this case. However, it reports greatly exaggerated or false system reports and warnings in an effort to entice the user to purchase a “registered version” that will remove the alleged threats.

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Join Microsoft MVP’s from Geeks to Go and other security sites for a live chat!

We invite you to attend an Q&A with the Microsoft Security MVPs. In this chat the MVP experts will answer your questions regarding online safety issues such as phishing, spyware, rootkits as well as server related topics. If you have questions on how to protect your PC, please bring them to this informative chat.

When: Thursday June 21st
Time: 4pm PST and 7pm EST
Where: TechNet Chat Room :

www.microsoft.com/technet/community/chats/chatroom.aspx

Click here to add to Outlook

Upcoming Technet chats [Microsoft]

An astute Windows user was intrigued by the holographic image on the face of the Windows Vista Business DVD and decided to take a much closer look, discovering in the margin a microscopic photograph of three men. Just who they could be? The user posted a blog entry mentioning the discovery, which was noticed by a few others in the community and has prompted a number of people to contact us in Windows to find out just exactly what is going on.

The real story is interesting, but conspiracy theorists will be disappointed to learn that it is not the result of a deliberate attempt to deceive. The photo displays members of the team who worked on the Windows Vista DVD hologram design. Microsoft’s Anti-Piracy Team designed a counterfeit-resistant digital “watermark” for the non-encoded surface of Windows Vista DVDs. The photo in question is only one of multiple images contained in the hologram design, all of whose inclusion serves to make it more difficult to replicate a Windows Vista DVD. The other images are of old master works of art that are in the public domain. These images are part of numerous other security measures that have been designed into our media, packaging and certificates of authenticity. Hence, even though this image has been reproduced on the Web, there are many other features providing further security.

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Landlord, one of our Geeks in Training has done a mini-review of Eset’s new Smart Security Suite now in beta. Smart Suite adds a firewall and anti-spam function to the NOD32 anti-virus scanner.

I’ve just downloaded the new Eset Smart Security Beta to check it out, and see if Eset continue their tradition of low-memory consuming products. It offers anti-virus protection with the successful NOD32 engine along with a firewall and anti-spam protection. I haven’t checked its detection rates and success, but seeing as it’s based on the excellent NOD32 engine I know what to expect from it.

I’ve got a very good first impression: the interface is much better than it was in the original anti-virus product, which was very confusing and unfriendly. The new interface is uncluttered and better suited to the current Vista look.

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This is a brief 4 page guide to the world of Linux distributions, primarily aimed at individuals who are new to the Linux scene, and who are thinking about taking the plunge and trying Linux for the first time.
Read the Guide

http://folders.live.com (currently offline)

That’s the URL for the soon to be announced Windows Live Folders beta. What’s are Live Folders? According to Microsoft, “Password-protected online file storage. Always available where you need it.”

User will be able to access up to 500 megabytes of free storage (50 mb max per file), with either IE or FireFox, using a Windows Live account. There are three options for allowing access to these folders: private, shared, and public. The 500mb limit is rumored to be changed to unlimited after the beta.

Looks like Microsoft beat Google out of the gate this time! (Google’s gdrive project is similar).

More screencaps after the jump…

Windows Live Folders beta – more info [Live Side]

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A reminder about some major laptop battery recalls over the last year:

• IBM/Lenovo Thinkpad Battery Recall for most 9-cell batteries sold between November 2005 and February 2007, and for batteries manufactured by Sony between February 2005 and September 2006.
• Apple iBook and Powerbook G4 Battery Recall for most batteries sold from October 2003 through August 2006 with specific laptop computer models.
• Dell Latitude, Inspiron, Precision, and XPS Notebook Battery Recall for some batteries sold between April 2004 and July 2006.
• Acer Travelmate Battery Recall purchased between May 2004 and November 2006.
• Toshiba Portege, Qosmio, Satellite, Tecra Battery Recall for specific models.
• HP Mobile Battery Recall for some Pavilion, Presario, and Compaq models.
• Fujitsu Lifebook Battery Recall specific models purchased between June 2005 and October 2006.
• Sony Vaio Battery Recall specific battery models purchased December 2004 through October 2006.
• Gateway Notebook Battery Recall for specific models purchased between September 2005 and October 2006.

The batteries have been identified by the manufacturers as having the potential to catch fire or explode. Although the chances are low, it worth a couple of minutes to click a link above and see if your laptop is affected.