BRUCEB NEWS
Location Tracking: They Know Where You Are
You carry a beacon twenty-four hours a day that broadcasts your location. We are being tracked wherever we go by dozens of companies, mostly unregulated. It is an unparalleled surveillance system, but it wasn't created by sinister forces in an authoritarian...
SATELLITE BLUES
The DirecPC/Pegasus two-way satellite connection has been virtually unusable for a month now. Hughes was stonewalling for most of that time, refusing to acknowledge that there...
AMAZON FINANCIALS
The Los Angeles Times put together an interesting story about whether Amazon.com can survive. "On Monday, Amazon is expected to report its 17th consecutive unprofitable quarter,...
HOTMAIL UPGRADE
Hotmail users will notice that the service has been redesigned. I don't see any important new services, but Microsoft has beefed up the junk mail settings. Everyone will want to...
WESTLAW CITELINK
Lawyers: there's a new version of Westlaw Citelink, a free utility that works with Word and WordPerfect to check case citations, construct a Table of Authorities, and the like....
KICK OUT THE JAMMIES
If you've got kids and a broadband Web connection, you might want to check out Kick Out The Jammies, a new online radio station for kids. The playlist ranges from "Itsy Bitsy...
CODE RED & SIRCAM
The SIRCAM virus may have come your way - I got several copies in my mailbox. The usual precautions apply - don't open file attachments to e-mail, keep your antivirus software up...
FLAT PANEL MONITORS
Lots of people are interested in LCD flat panel monitors now that the prices are dropping. I've gleaned a few things from the coverage I've seen. Prices for 15" LCD monitors have...
MEASURING CONNECTION SPEED
I ran across a handy little utility that lets you measure the true speed of your Internet connection. It puts a little icon down by the clock with a tiny graph, and lets you pop...
DIGITAL COPYRIGHT
Here's an example of the future as envisioned by the megacorporations that are trying to turn copyrights to their advantage. Imagine that you open the cover of your summer...
MP3 FILE ORGANIZATION
Thanks to overwhelming demand, I wrote some notes about how to organize .mp3 files. If your collection is growing, it might help you get started on the housekeeping that's...
NET ADVERTISING
Ready for the Internet to get more annoying? Watch for several changes in advertising on the web. A number of sites have been experimenting with bigger advertisements, taking up...
COPY PROTECTED CDS
A timely news article today after my rant yesterday about the copyright wars. Turns out the record industry has been slipping copy-protected audio CDs into stores for a few...
WINDOWS XP PRODUCT ACTIVATION
Just so you know, the software pirates are hard at work trying to figure out how to break Windows XP Product Activation. The Register reports today on a particularly easy way...
SATELLITE UPDATE
It's been a tough week for the satellite service. Typical of startup services that are still trying to squash bugs. Lots of downtime this week, lots of unplugging the satellite...
NAPSTER ALTERNATIVES
If you're looking for a source of online music now that Napster is gone, here's a good article about the alternatives that have arisen in the last few months. I've gotten the...