BRUCEB NEWS
The Outlook Is Grim For Microsoft Updates
If you're an Outlook user, there's a good chance that the program crashed when you tried to start it yesterday (Wednesday, July 15, 2020). Microsoft uses the word "Outlook" to describe many different things, so let's be precise. This was a problem for people using (1)...
10% OFF DELL ORDERS
Special deal available only thru bruceb consulting, good July 22-26: take ten percent off all Dell Small Business orders. To take advantage of this promotion, Click here here to...
NEW COPY PROTECTION SCHEME
The recording industry has developed a new recording format that is piracy-proof. Here’s an article with more details. Nicknamed the 'Record', the new format takes the form of a...
BILL GATES ON SECURITY Bill Gates sent out a widely circulated e-mail message today about secure computing. It’s interesting reading, even if you’re suspicious of Microsoft’s...
WATCH A COMPANY DESTROY ITSELF
This is fun. Forgent Networks, Inc., is attempting to ambush the digital imaging industry by claiming that it owns the software patent on JPEG compression technology. Forgent...
WHY FREE DOWNLOADS HELP, NOT HURT
Remember Janis Ian, folksinger since the 60s? She wrote an article about file sharing that is being widely circulated (it turned up on CNet today). She draws on common sense and...
MAC OS X UPGRADE
Apple announced an upgrade of OS X, its new operating system, from 10.1 to 10.2. The upgrade will be released in late August. It fixes a bunch of bugs in previous versions, and...
THE REAL MAC OS X STORY
I read press coverage about Apple computers all the time. One of the favorite themes recently has been the wonder of the new Mac operating system, OS X, all new and cool, a real...
CABLE INTERNET PROVIDERS SHUT DOWN BROADBAND USES
A coalition of technology companies – including Intel, Microsoft, Dell, IBM, and Sun Microsystems – filed a complaint with the FCC about “troubling restrictions” imposed by some...
CYBERTERRORISM (NOT)
More interesting reading at The Register: a deeply cynical article bashing the press for repeating stories about alleged threats of cyberterrorism. The government is beating the...
COMPUTER SPEAKERS
I spend a lot of time in my office – more than I spend in the room in the house with the television and stereo. I’ve long believed it’s worthwhile to invest in good speakers for...
MORE FEAR FROM THE RECORDING INDUSTRY
The recording industry continues its relentless quest to be the embodiment of evil in modern times. The latest announcements are aimed at all of us – the folks who would be its...
MICROSOFT RESERVES RIGHT TO HACK YOUR COMPUTER
Here’s one of those things that might be trivial, or it might be enormously significant. There’s no way to be sure – but this is not a time when I have a very high opinion of the...
TOSHIBA POCKET PC e310
I’ve been wrestling with more Palm devices than usual for the last few weeks. (Normally Palms are simple and troublefree, but they’re incredibly annoying when they go crazy and...
MEDIA JUKEBOX
Media Jukebox is the most heavily used program on my computer. If you’ve got more than a handful of mp3 files, it does a better job than any other program of organizing and...
SPAM
Suddenly the flood of unwelcome spam is at the top of everybody’s list. It’s so awful, so overwhelming and gross, that everyone assumes they’re being uniquely singled out. Trust...