BRUCEB NEWS
A Few Nice Things
We can all use some nice things. The illustration above is from Charlie Mackesy's book The Boy, The Mole, The Fox And The Horse, a gentle book about love and friendship and how they build resilience; about hopes and fears; about courage in difficult times. It's a...
TABLET PCs
Bill Gates delivered a speech yesterday where he presented a few more details about the upcoming "Tablet PC" - a flat, lightweight screen to tuck under your arm and use...
NORTON ANTIVIRUS 2002
Generally I'm happy with Norton Antivirus 2002. It installs like a dream, the e-mail scanning works, and it's easy to update. But here's an interesting side-effect. I just set up...
BAILING OUT ON BROADBAND
Prices for DSL and cable are rising, the economy's in the doldrums, and many people have no interest in using a broadband connection to download music, listen to streamed audio,...
MICROSOFT: CONSPIRACY THEORY VS. REALITY
This is a good article by an industry analyst about Microsoft. He examines three announcements that caused pundits to claim that Microsoft was attempting to undermine competitors...
MICROSOFT RESERVES RIGHT TO TURN OFF YOUR MP3s
The recording industry has cozied up to Microsoft's WMA technology, which can contain all of the "digital rights management" tools that will limit your right to listen to music...
MICROSOFT ANTITRUST SETTLEMENT
The settlement talks are creeping along, perhaps heading towards a conclusion. Lots of potholes on that road. But let me suggest something that's occurred to me about the...
YAHOO ESSENTIALS
Microsoft is fond of saying it actually encourages competition by developing programs that can be customized. Yahoo has stepped up and released a clever bit of software that will...
PREPARING FOR WINDOWS XP
Some good advice from TechRepublic. ========================== BEFORE YOU INSTALL WINDOWS XP. . . Today is release day for the Windows XP operating system, which means that...
MORE COPYRIGHT HIJINKS
Those daffy jokesters at the RIAA are in high gear these days. Last week the recording industry attempted to insert provisions in anti-terrorism legislation that would have...
REMOTE CONTROL
I just had a very positive experience with a service that offers an intriguing alternative to PCAnywhere. PCAnywhere has traditionally been the only choice for controlling your...
WINDOWS XP PRODUCT ACTIVATION
I have a lot of problems with the relentless attacks on Microsoft in the media these days, but the one that's most on my mind is the campaign to discredit Windows XP. Microsoft...
WINDOWS XP PROMOTION BEGINS
Microsoft is beginning its $200 million advertising campaign for Windows XP today. There was a calculated decision not to start promoting it early, to avoid a repeat of the...
TERRORIST LEGENDS
The Register has a good article about the various urban legends that have circulated by e-mail since the terrorist attacks. Most of them will be familiar: the doctored photos,...
URBAN LEGENDS AND VIRUS HOAXES
When I get e-mail messages that don't smell right, the web site I check first is the Urban Legends site at About.com. You're likely to find solid information about any e-mail...
MORE CHEAP COMPUTERS
I don't know if I'd buy one of these, but it's a good illustration of how goofy prices are in the computer world these days. Emachines has introduced new systems running Windows...