BRUCEB NEWS
Understanding Microsoft Business And Personal Accounts
This is the first of several articles about Microsoft accounts. This is familiar ground for long-time readers. I’ve been writing about Microsoft accounts and services for years. These articles will simplify things and help you take advantage of services that you may...
DIGITAL VIDEO
The cost of digital camcorders is coming down and software is flooding onto the market for video editing. The field is still in its early stages; like many new directions for...
SATELLITE BROADBAND
Hughes Electronics has been struggling with Internet access by satellite for years. Although it can be better than dialup in rural areas with no other options, it's been wildly...
“I’M NOT DEAD!”
Monty Python fans will recall the scene in Holy Grail where the wagon trundles by collecting the bodies of people struck down by the plague. A peasant comes out carrying the body...
MORE AOL INSTANT MESSENGER GRIEF
AOL Instant Messenger was updated recently to version 5.5 - and apparently it secretly installs Wild Tangent, a "game content delivery service," along with the IM program. Wild...
VIRUSES EVERYWHERE
Be careful! There seems to be an odd sort of war between two sets of virus writers. Virus-laden e-mail messages are flying everywhere. Don't open ANY e-mail attachments unless...
MP3s AND COPY PROTECTION
The mp3 file format is not free. Manufacturers of software that can create mp3 files pay a royalty to Thomson and Fraunhofer, the companies that license and own the patents...
AOL AND SPAM-BLOCKING
Everybody complains to their ISP about spam, even though it's not really the ISP's problem. They've responded with spam filters and message blocking which occasionally goes awry....
DIGITAL PHOTOS ON THE ROAD
A friend just pointed out a device that fills a need in an elegant way. When you travel with a digital camera, it can be hard to know what to do with the images you accumulate....
SETBACK FOR DVD COPYING
After eight months of deliberation, a San Francisco federal judge ruled that popular DVD-copying software from 321 Studios has to be yanked off the market within seven days....
MORE DVD FORMAT WARS
There continues to be chaos in the world of recordable DVDs. The blur of acronyms has not changed in the last year or two - DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD-Ram and the rest. There is some...
OUTLOOK ADD-INS
Here's an interesting collection of add-ins for Outlook that might solve some issue for you. I don't have any experience with them so I can't vouch for their quality, but they do...
BRUCEB VACATION
Bruce and his loyal staff will be out of town during the week of February 16. Now, now, don't panic - but as always, don't take any unnecessary chances. To be safe, unplug your...
AOL INSTANT MESSENGER ADWARE
There's a new irritant spreading in the AOL Instant Messenger network, pretending to be a web-based game named "Night Raptor" from a service named "BuddyLinks." DON'T CLICK ON...
SBC DSL & FIREWALLS
The software supplied by SBC for its DSL customers makes me angry. I've described some of the reasons on this page - the sole purpose of the software seems to be to ensure that...
SHOULD YOU SHUT THE COMPUTER DOWN AT NIGHT?
A new article addresses the perennial question of whether it's better to leave the computer on all the time, or shut it down at night. In the past that question has focused on...