Ask Computer Jim has been host to some of the technology industry’s most high profile companies and celebrities. Tune in regularly and check back often to find out about future guests!

 

Microsoft

Founded in 1975 by Paul Allen and Bill Gates, Microsoft now stands as one of the largest companies in the world. Riding the success of its Windows and Office tools, Microsoft quickly expanded their products and services to cover and compete in a wide variety of areas.

 

Norton (Symantec)

With innovative technology solutions and services, Symantec helps individuals and enterprises protect and manage their digital assets. Symantec provides a wide range of solutions including enterprise and consumer security, data management, application and infrastructure management, security management, storage and service management, and response and managed security services.

 

Seagate

Seagate was founded in 1979 and was the first company to build 5.25-inch hard disc drives for the PC. And while it may have seemed like a minor milestone at the time, today this hard disc drive introduction is regarded as one event that helped fuel the PC revolution. Suddenly, people could access unprecedented amounts of information, which eventually gave rise to the Internet and other developments. And for nearly a quarter of a century, Seagate has been developing the technology and manufacturing the products that helped make it all happen.

 

National Science Foundation

The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent federal agency created by Congress in 1950 “to promote the progress of science; to advance the national health, prosperity, and welfare; to secure the national defense�”

With an annual budget of about $5.5 billion, we are the funding source for approximately 20 percent of all federally supported basic research conducted by America’s colleges and universities. In many fields such as mathematics, computer science and the social sciences, NSF is the major source of federal backing..

 

Mars Lunar Web Master

Since its inception in 1958, NASA has accomplished many great scientific and technological feats in air and space. NASA technology also has been adapted for many nonaerospace uses by the private sector. NASA remains a leading force in scientific research and in stimulating public interest in aerospace exploration, as well as science and technology in general.

Perhaps more importantly, our exploration of space has taught us to view Earth, ourselves, and the universe in a new way. While the tremendous technical and scientific accomplishments of NASA demonstrate vividly that humans can achieve previously inconceivable feats, we also are humbled by the realization that Earth is just a tiny “blue marble” in the cosmos.

 

Stamps.com

Stamps.com is a service that allows you to print official United States Postal Service postage directly from your PC and printer. No special hardware is needed. Once your mail or package is ready to go, simply hand it to your mail carrier. It’s that easy!

 

ASUS

ASUS, a technology-oriented company blessed with one of the world’s top R&D teams, is well known for high-quality and innovative technology. As a leading provider of 3C total solutions, ASUS offers a complete product portfolio to compete in the new millennium.

In 2004, ASUS shipped 40 million motherboards, which means one out of every 4 desktop PCs sold last year is based on ASUS motherboards. If we line them up side by side, the length will be longer than the distance from New York to San Francisco. ASUS’ 2004 revenues reached US$7.7 billion, up 28% from the year before.

 

Comcast

Comcast is a high speed online service that provides instant access to unique broadband content at blazing speeds. Comcast comes to your home through the same lines that already bring you your cable services.

With a cable modem, your connection is always on. Whenever you open your browser you are automatically online. No waiting, no busy signals, no tying up the phone line. And don’t worry, it won’t interfere with your TV, either! You can watch TV, talk on the phone and surf the web all at the same time!.

 

Hewlett-Packard

Stanford University classmates Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard founded HP in 1939. The company’s first product, built in a Palo Alto garage, was an audio oscillator�an electronic test instrument used by sound engineers. One of HP’s first customers was Walt Disney Studios, which purchased eight oscillators to develop and test an innovative sound system for the movie Fantasia.

 

Captain Crunch

A.K.A. John Draper, Captain Crunch became the idol of phreakers. His handle, another element of phreaking culture which would become common among future computer hackers, was derived from his use of a whistle found in Cap’n Crunch cereal which emitted a 2600-cycle tone.

Draper took phreaking to another level. The focus of his work was not attempting to obtain free phone calls, but rather to access and manipulate the computer system which lay behind the phone to place even more complex calls with each new attempt, sending calls around the world, bouncing them off satellites only to ask a passerby at Victoria station how the weather was that morning.

His legendary status has meant that Draper is often the focus of hacking attempts to this day.