BRUCEB NEWS
Isaac Asimov Tried To Warn Us
Isaac Asimov published the novella “The Mule” in Astounding Science Fiction magazine in 1945. A few years later it became the second half of Foundation and Empire, the second book of the Foundation trilogy. Asimov’s Foundation books are among the most celebrated…
PRIVACY
One of the pieces of legislation being reviewed to deal with terrorism would permit Internet surveillance without a court order. The scope of that surveillance was debated at a…
PRESS DEMOCRAT AND MICROSOFT-BASHING
The Santa Rosa Press Democrat has somebody working their Business section with an anti-Microsoft grudge. The paper has been more and more bold about printing articles bashing…
AMAZON OPENS TRAVEL STORE
Amazon has added a travel store, appearing as a new tab on Amazon’s home page. It links services from Expedia and Hotwire (a discount agency), presented in an Amazon design…
REAL NETWORKS INTRODUCES NEW MEDIA PLAYER
Real Networks is introducing a new product today that blends RealPlayer and RealJukebox into a single program – and starts a steady flow of money out of your pockets. This…
DVD ON A COMPUTER
So far there have been very few compelling reasons to put a DVD player into a computer. There’s only three things you might do with it: You can watch movies. Your computer…
FUN THINGS TO DO WITH YOUR BROADBAND CONNECTION
You’re probably wondering what to do with all the bandwidth that your cable or DSL line supplies. Well, how about watching a scene from Monty Python And The Holy Grail,…
HAS EVERYTHING CHANGED?
There’s an interesting perspective in this column by Michael Kinsley about whether we should automatically accept the notion that life in America has permanently changed…
CHEAP FLAT PANEL MONITORS
Prices are still dropping all over. Costco has two 17″ flat panel monitors for $599.99, the Princeton LCD17 and the Sylvania L17. That’s awfully tempting if…
MSN WEB-BASED E-MAIL WOES
MSN subscribers are being forced to use web-based e-mail, instead of the standard POP3 e-mail that was previously available. It’s similar to Hotmail, although the default…
NO WINDOWS XP BUSINESS SYSTEMS UNTIL OCT 25
Most of the PC manufacturers have started to take orders for Windows XP systems targeted at home users. Dell is selling home systems from its web site with Windows XP Home…
INTERNET UNDER ATTACK
There’s at least one nasty new worm attacking Windows 2000 Servers today, and as near as I can tell it’s causing problems all over the Internet. Details are hazy, but…
CHRISTMAS IN THE PC INDUSTRY
This is a fairly silly article from The Nation written by a Linux zealot – and my, they do get overwrought about Microsoft. But I think it’s generally right about the…
PRICE CUTS ON PENTIUM III SYSTEMS
If you’re looking for a new computer, you should wait another two weeks and then buy a Windows XP system from Dell. But if your budget simply requires a discount, look for…
DISASTER: MORE ON BIN LADEN
I mentioned a couple of background articles on Osama Bin Laden earlier this week, but here’s what wasn’t covered by those articles – a concise (and scary)…
NEWS JUNKIES
I find I’m spending more and more time at Slate Magazine for news and politics. A particularly valuable daily feature is called “Today’s Papers,” which…