Houstonist Tech Buzz - 041507

Local tech news in a compact, digital format.

"Houston, we have a problem"
It was 37 years ago yesterday, April 14th, that those tragic words transmitted to Mission Control in Houston as Apollo 13 suffered an oxygen tank explosion that damaged critical on board systems and forced the moon mission to be aborted. The crew underwent an intense repair job to save their lives. UK website Apollo Explorer has info on the event as well as an amazing photo collection from not just this Apollo mission, but most of them.

Dwight Silverman Lives Up To His Nickname
Dwight Silverman has a nickname. It's Evil Dwight and it was coined by Kyrie O'Connor who is a Chron blogger. It appears that Evil Dwight is living up to his nickname as he has been getting much grief from the TechBlog readers because it seems that Dwight is embracing his Mac a lot more these days and tossing his PC's friends in the recycle bin. Don't be a hater, Dwight.

HDTV Explained
Click2Houston has an interactive tutorial about HDTV for those not in the know. It shows the differences between regular 4:3 TV and 16:9 HDTV along with a short FAQ on HDTV. Tune in here.

Former Teen Hacker Talks
Mike McGuff has written an informative article over at abc13.com on a former teen hacker who along with friends learned how to disable parental monitoring and control programs on the family computer.

Houston Strategic Forum Business Luncheon
Houston Technology Center's President and CEO, Walter Ulrich will be the guest speaker at the Houston Strategic Forum's business luncheon at La Colombe D'or on Thursday April 19th from 11am to 1:30pm. “Strategic Imperatives for Houston’s Technology Growth” will the topic of discussion and you can find more info on the HTC Website.

HAL-PC Upcoming Classes
The Houston Area League of PC Users is offering a few classes next week. April 17th will be Working With Windows and on April 19th, Getting More From Word - Business Writing. Bear Jones will be the instructor for both classes and you can go to HAL-PC for info on everything they offer.

Running A Marathon...In Space
NewScientistSpace is reporting that astronaut; Sunita Williams will be running the Boston Marathon while orbiting the earth in the International Space Station. Williams qualified for the Boston Marathon after placing in the top 100 women of the Houston Marathon, which she ran on earth. Williams will circle the earth twice in the ISS as she runs on a specialized treadmill designed for running in zero gravity.

That's it for the Tech Buzz. Surf safe and surf smart, Houston. Remember if you have an item you'd like covered, drop us an email or leave a comment.