BRUCEB NEWS
How To Make Windows Less Annoying
This is a collection of default settings in Windows that I change to make computers less annoying. It reduces the number of ads for Microsoft disguised as "tips" and "suggestions," and it softens some of Windows' rough edges. There are tips below in these categories:...
APPLE BATTERY RECALL
Apple has announced a recall of 1.8 million Sony lithium-ion batteries, supplied with some iBook G4 and PowerBook G4 notebooks. Here's an article with details about today's...
VERIZON EVDO BROADBAND
Travellers love Verizon's EVDO service. You can get a reasonably speedy broadband connection for your cell phone/PDA or for your notebook computer, almost anywhere there's cell...
MCAFEE TOTAL PREVENTION
The deterioration of Symantec and McAfee products continues. Seems like every week I solve someone's problem by uninstalling a Norton product. (This week a client's outgoing...
WINDOWS MEDIA CENTER EDITION AND ADOBE PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 4
Personal computing feels sometimes like an arcane science, filled with secrets that are passed along in furtive, whispered conversations. We have too many choices, it's too hard...
SONY FAILS AGAIN
Although Dell is the featured name in the headlines for its notebook battery recall, don't overlook that this is Sony's fault and Sony is paying for the embarrassing cleanup. It...
OPERATING SYSTEM MARKET SHARE
OneStat.com reported yesterday that Windows XP is responsible for almost 87 percent of all Web usage, while all Windows versions combined account for 97 percent of Web usage....
DELL BATTERY RECALL
Dell has announced a recall of 4.1 million notebook batteries because of a production flaw that can result in sudden fires. Six Dell notebooks have exploded or burst into flames,...
AUTO-COMPLETE ADDRESSES IN OUTLOOK
When you type a name into the TO: field in a new e-mail message, Outlook looks it up and completes it automatically, if possible.It doesn't look where you think.The list that...
BLOGGING GROWS AND GROWS
Are you reading blogs? Are you contributing to one? Time to get busy, according to this report on the state of the blogosphere. Technorati is currently tracking 50 million...
CORY DOCTOROW ON DIGITAL RIGHTS MANAGEMENT
Cory Doctorow, one of the chief contributors to popular web site BoingBoing.net, has written a compelling article about digital rights management for Information Week. It's a...
COLOR LASERS FOR SMALL OFFICES
HP's entry level color laser printer is down to three hundred dollars. The cost of printing a monochrome page on a color laser is the same as printing the same page on a...
ERGONOMICS
As we use our computers more every day, I'm seeing more people looking into ergonomic devices, either because they're already suffering from repetitive stress injury or they want...
MCAFEE SUBSCRIPTION SECURITY SERVICE
Windows Live OneCare continues to be one of the most satisfying products in years - the design is elegant and glitches have been few and far between.For that reason, I don't...
WINDOWS DEFENDER UPDATE
Windows Defender is Microsoft's antispyware program - highly recommended for all computers running Windows XP.Windows Live OneCare is supposed to take over operation of Windows...
NET NEUTRALITY
The telcos and cable companies are close to completing their attempt to take over the Internet. Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) almost pushed through legislation that would allow...