Storage: In storage, like networking and hardware, speed turns heads. That holds particularly true for high-performance computing, otherwise known as HPC, which Mario Apicella calls the racing cars of IT. “Whereas finding practical use for a racing car outside of competition is difficult, without HPC systems many companies would fall flat,” he writes in Storage built for HPC speed. To that end, SGI and DataDirect Networks recently announced somewhat complementary solutions in the form of a database accelerator and a storage array. Both, Apicella urges, are worth a look. “After all, there’s nothing wrong with kicking the tires, even if you don’t need a car right now.” Careers: With an eagle eye, perhaps, Nick Corcodilos finds hope in Electronic Engineering Times. “I see light and funding coming down the tunnel,” he explains in this Ask the headhunter post. “While you might come up with 15 reasons why it’s a mirage, I intend to watch these trends carefully.” Within is also a confession of sorts. “Yah, I worry about the tech industry. I’m often just as cynical as many of you are. But, I keep an eye on the hardware.” Gripe Line: Best Buy, CompUSA, Good Guys and GE are all under the gun for dubious wrangling with customers who bought flat-panel TVs along with extended warranties only to find that, in the experience of one reader, “Best Buy says they get to take as long as they want to try to repair it … they did finally agree to come pick it up, but it took them six weeks to fix it.” Ed Foster explains that “a big part of the problem is extended warranties are often serviced by third parties like GE that might have little incentive to keep the customer happy and can also have their own interpretation of what is covered.” Part-by-part extended warranty torture. “Unfortunately, I think what executives of Best Buy, GE, etc. understand is that a lot of their profits depend on customers not ever collecting on pricey extended warranties.”