WHAT IS GOING ON -- HOPE YOU'RE HAVING A GREAT DAY...I'M RICH DEMURO WITH...(More)

WHAT IS GOING ON -- HOPE YOU'RE HAVING A GREAT DAY...I'M RICH DEMURO WITH CNET TV AND THIS IS THE QUEUE -- WEEK IN REVIEW! WE'RE TALKING THE TOP TECH STORIES FOR THE THIRD WEEK OF APRIL, 2007. STARTING ON A SERIOUS NOTE... THE TRAGEDY AT VIRGINIA TECH THIS WEEK HIGHLIGHTING THE IMPORTANCE OF NEW WAYS TO ALERT A TECH SAVVY POPULATION. SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS SENT AN EMERGENCY EMAIL CAMPUS WIDE, BUT IT CAN TAKE HOURS FOR STUDENTS AND FACULTY TO LOG IN... TV AND RADIO DON'T HAVE THE IMMEDIATE REACH THEY USED TO...SO THE SPOTLIGHT NOW BEING SHONE/SHINED ON TEXT MESSAGE ALERTS... THEY GET THE JOB DONE AND DELIVER INFORMATION INSTANTLY TO ANYONE WITH A CELL PHONE -- AND OFTEN GO THROUGH WHEN CALLS DON'T. MORE GOVERNMENTS, SCHOOL DISTRICTS AND UNIVERSITIES SIGNING UP FOR SERVICES PROVIDED BY COMPANIES LIKE RAVE WIRELESS AND E-2-CAMPUS. AND A CRACK IN OUR DEPENDENCE ON ELECTRONICS... MILLIONS OF BLACKBERRY USERS LEFT TWIDDLING THEIR THUMBS FOR HOURS...AS A MASSIVE EMAIL OUTAGE FAILED TO DELIVER THEIR MESSAGES. THE PROBLEMS LASTING HOURS...RESEARCH IN MOTION, THE COMPANY BEHIND THE BLACKBERRY EMAIL SERVICE, DIDN'T GIVE A REASON FOR THE DELAY...BUT SOME SUSPECT THE COMPANY COULD BE GROWING TOO FAST. EMAILS ARE ROUTED THROUGH RIM'S CENTRAL SERVERS -- IF THEY GO OUT...SO DO THE CAPABILITIES OF MILLIONS OF USERS. MOTOROLA'S COMPETITOR GOOD MESSAGING WORKS IN THE SAME WAY...BUT MOBILE EMAIL FROM MICROSOFT AND NOKIA ARE IMMUNE TO THIS TYPE OF CENTRALIZED OUTAGE. ANOTHER ELECTRONIC DELAY HAD TURBOTAX USERS WONDERING IF THEIR RETURNS WOULD MAKE IT TO UNCLE SAM IN TIME... THE COMPANY'S SERVERS WERE OVERWHELMED BY THE NUMBER OF LAST MINUTE TAX FILERS AND BEGAN REJECTING ELECTRONIC RETURNS HOURS BEFORE THE MIDNIGHT DEADLINE. TURBOTAX'S PARENT COMPANY INTUIT SAID THEY WERE PROCESSING 50-60 RETURNS A SECOND AT TIMES. THE COMPANY THEN DREW FIRE FROM CUSTOMERS OVER A COMMENT BY its VICE PRESIDENT THAT THE MORAL OF THE STORY IS DON'T WAIT UNTIL THE LAST MINUTE... THE IRS SAID THEY UNDERSTAND THE SITUATION...AND THE PROCRASTINATORS WOULDN'T BE PENALIZED. GO GO GADGET IPOD CHALLENGER... THE EAGERLY ANTICIPATED SANSA CONNECT BECAME WIDELY AVAILABLE THIS WEEK...THE WI-FI CONNECTED MP3 PLAYER DOESN'T NEED A COMPUTER FOR FRESH TRACKS. CNET EDITORS GIVE IT AN EXCELLENT 8 OUT OF 10...AND OTHER TECH REVIEWERS ARE SINGING SIMILAR PRAISES... THE DEVICE USES THE YAHOO MUSIC SERVICE TO LET YOU RENT AS MUCH MUSIC AS YOU WANT FOR 15 BUCKS A MONTH... OTHER WIRELESS MUSIC DEVICES IMPLEMENT SIMILAR TECHNOLOGY... THERE'S MICROSOFT'S ZUNE, THE MUSIC GREMLIN AND THE FORTHCOMING SLACKER. THE CONNECT A STEP IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION FOR EASY ACCESS TO NEW TUNES WITH BEING TETHERED TO A COMPUTER. FINALLY -- A LITTLE EYE CANDY...MAN ON FIRE! DWAYNE THE ROCK JOHNSON SIGNING ON TO HOST THE 2007 TAURUS "WORLD STUNT" AWARDS... CATEGORIES INCLUDE BEST FIGHT, FIRE, HARDEST HIT AND MORE... THE SHOW AIRS MAY 25TH ON AMC. NOTHING'S BETTER THAN A GOOD ACTION FLICK ON YOUR HDTV... AND THOSE PEOPLE MAKE IT POSSIBLE... THANKS FOR WATCHING THE QUEUE ON CNET TV. I'M RICH DEMURO IN NEW YORK CITY -- DON'T SAY I DIDN'T TELL YOU SO.(Less)