MICROSOFT PASSPORT

More and more online merchants are signing up to accept payments through Microsoft’s Passport system. It’s an important part of Microsoft’s long-term goal to take over the Internet and collect fees for every online transaction. I signed up. If you...

THE COPYRIGHT POLICE ARE WATCHING

The conventional wisdom has been that the record companies would target services like Napster with threats and lawsuits, but they would never attack individuals – for practical and PR reasons. Forget it. The copyright police are watching. The new services...

CDR BACKUP

As more people get CD recorders, it makes sense to use them for backups. There’s a number of ways to do that, but many of you should consider investing in a backup program that works with CDRs. I’m going to get Veritas Backup Exec Desktop Pro. It backs up...

SATELLITE UPDATE

I’ve had the Pegasus/DirecPC satellite for about ten days. Right after it was installed, the entire two-way DirecPC system went down for about three days, which created a poor first impression. Tech support was easy to reach and helpful, but a bit slow to...

AOL TIME WARNER LIVING DOWN TO EXPECTATIONS

When the AOL TIme Warner merger was being evaluated, one important issue concerned “open access” to the new company’s cable systems. If AOL Time Warner refused to let anyone else use its cable systems to deliver Internet access, then it would be in a...