BRUCEB NEWS
Section 230 Is At The Heart Of Everything
Settle down, this is important. We’re going to talk about Section 230. I understand that you have no idea what that is. For now, take my word for it. I wouldn’t put you through this if it wasn’t a big deal. Section 230 is the key to understanding Facebook and Twitter....
CALIFORNIA BANS FRONT-SEAT COMPUTER USE
A new law effective January 1, 2004 bans the use of laptop computers in the front seat of a car. It applies to a laptop being used by a passenger in the car, but it excludes most...
DAVE BARRY ON 2003
2003: A Dave Odyssey is Dave Barry's annual review of the past year's most important events. "Some other troubling questions from 2003 were: If Californians hated Gray Davis so...
ADOBE READER 6.0.1
Adobe released a minor update to Adobe Reader (formerly "Acrobat Reader"), from version 6.0 to 6.0.1. If you use Reader, you might get a popup notifying you of the upgrade. A...
OUTLOOK 2003 ANTI-SPAM UPDATE
Microsoft Outlook's 2003 has been doing an extraordinary job of filtering my spam - almost no false positives and a 95%+ job of sending spam to the junk folder. My fear, tough,...
REALNETWORKS SUES MICROSOFT
RealNetworks has filed a $1 billion antitrust lawsuit against Microsoft, alleging that Microsoft stifled RealNetworks' attempts to develop a market for its RealPlayer software...
WINDOWS XP – THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN STANDBY AND HIBERNATE
Notebook computers with Windows XP can be set to "hibernate" when the lid is closed. The system memorizes what the computer is doing and saves that information, then turns off...
COMCAST CABLE INTERNET
Comcast claims to be moving forward to roll out Internet service on its cable systems in Sonoma County. If you're in a rural area and you haven't checked out cable or DSL...
DELL PROMOTIONS & MICROSOFT SMALL BUSINESS SERVER
It's a good week to buy a computer at Dell. Computer prices don't change very much from week to week - they just keep going down at a pretty steady rate. Dell's promotions are...
AMERICA ONLINE WOES
The online-advertising market is beginning to rebound, and profits are on the rise at Yahoo and MSN. Meanwhile, things keep getting worse and worse at AOL. Ad sales were down 50%...
MORE URBAN LEGENDS
Time for our annual reminder that most e-mail warnings of bad things are false, ranging from the intentionally harmful to benign urban myths. An e-mail message is circulating...
DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY
Microsoft has put together a rich source of information about digital photography on this page. It includes a fair amount of advertising for Microsoft products and partners, but...
NEW LOOK FOR HOTMAIL
Hotmail got an overhaul yesterday, including a new interface that resembles Microsoft Outlook 2003. Theoretically the junk mail filter keeps improving, grouping and viewing of...
SPAMMERS HAPPY WITH FEDERAL LAW
As you watch Congress and the President congratulate each other over the new federal anti-spam legislation, keep in mind that the spammers are thrilled with the new law. Here's...
MASTER & SLAVE
I'm a fan of politically correct speech. I think it's important to avoid using expressions that perpetuate stereotypes, even if it's reasonably clear that the words are meant...
YAHOO AND PRIVACY
Here's a good description of why Yahoo just sent out millions of notices about its "privacy policy." "One time Pac-Bell (now under SBC name umbrella) users were promised...