BRUCEB NEWS
Cortana Daily Briefing & Schrodinger’s Cat
Microsoft Cortana is the Schrodinger’s Cat of personal assistants: it’s both alive and dead simultaneously. To be honest, after opening the door and observing Cortana, you’ll likely decide that the best word is “irrelevant,” which is fine; it means Cortana will keep...
VISTA SP1 & CURMUDGEONS
Walt Mossberg, influential tech columnist for the Wall Street Journal, wrote this article about Windows Vista Service Pack 1. I can't make any sense out of what's in people's...
SECURITY SOFTWARE – OVERVIEW
There are four housekeeping functions that require attention on every computer.1. Antivirus protection2. Adware/spyware protection3. Installation of security-related updates4....
SEARCHES ON WINDOWS HOME SERVER
Windows Home Server includes Windows Desktop Search 3.1 - connecting remotely to the WHS shows it sitting down on the toolbar. It's not obvious why it's there - you'd never do a...
MICROSOFT ONENOTE 2007 REVISITED
I've written before about Microsoft OneNote 2007 but it bears repeating: this is the best program you've never heard of. OneNote collects your notes and lets you find them later....
MORE ONECARE ANNOYANCES
The Windows Live OneCare team continues to find new ways to shoot themselves in the foot. There have already been a number of bugs and annoyances that have been poorly handled....
SECURITY SOFTWARE – SMALL BUSINESSES
I work with small businesses - typically with 1-25 workstations, 1-2 servers, and no onsite IT staff. The business owners know it's important to stay safe and up-to-date, but...
FUN WITH TECHNOLOGY – CHAPTER 84
I wanted to copy a DVD. The copy would go on the airplane and I wouldn't have to worry about damaging or losing the Netflix copy. Simple, eh?DVDs can't be copied without running...
SEARCHING FOR OFFICE 2007 FILES
If you are using Microsoft Office 2007 and Windows Desktop Search 3.1, then you should install a small update to the search program. The "2007 Office System Converter: Microsoft...
PHOTOSHOP TIPS
Adobe Photoshop Elements is one of the best programs available for cataloging and editing photos. It's not the simplest - some people will prefer the simplicity and elegant...
MICROSOFT BIDS FOR YAHOO
Microsoft has made an unsolicited bid to buy Yahoo for $44.6 billion. Yahoo has been struggling to find a place in a world dominated by Google; it just spent a year analyzing its...
SECURITY SOFTWARE – INDIVIDUALS
Windows Live OneCare is the only software that takes responsibility for all four of the important housekeeping functions. When its icon is green, I'm confident that a computer is...
BRUCEB RETURNS
BRUCEB ON VACATION
February 11-15 I'll be available by phone, probably only occasionally most days until late afternoon. I'll be checking e-mail and responding in the evenings. In an emergency,...
WINDOWS VISTA SERVICE PACK 1
Microsoft announced that Windows Vista Service Pack 1 has been released to manufacturing, causing a flurry of excitement in the online press and blogs. The service pack includes...
UPDATE EXHAUSTION
Windows needs to restart your computer to finish installing critical updates. OneCare will restart your computer in 1 hour 56 minutes. There is a new Adobe Flash update ready to...