BRUCEB NEWS
Chatting With AI: Synthetic Empathy
A lot of people talk to their AI buddies as if they have little friends that live in their phones. It doesn’t come naturally to me. I’ve been using ChatGPT and Gemini as if they are amazing upgrades to Google search. It doesn’t occur to me to open my phone for a…
Windows 10 S Will Be Microsoft’s Next Failure
Microsoft made two big announcements this week at an education-themed press event. They’re related in a couple of ways. One common element is that Microsoft will fail at both of…
You’ll Discover The Best Windows 10 Feature When You Give Away Your Computer
With only a few clicks, you can reset your Windows 10 computer back to its brand-new condition when it was pulled out of the box. It will start up with the Microsoft license…
Windows 10 Tip: How To Check The Health Of Your Laptop Battery
My much-loved Thinkpad X1 Yoga was shipped to Lenovo today. I’ll be a bit twitchy and irritable until it comes back. But I couldn’t ignore the signs of old age any longer. There…
Windows 10 Cloud & Device Independence
On May 2 Microsoft will announce a new generation of Windows for low-cost computers targeted at education. Information has leaked about some parts of that announcement and tech…
Technology Is Boring
Technology in 2017 is just a bit . . . dull. There’s not much going on. You hadn’t really thought about it but now that I mention it, you know it’s true, right? Choose your…
Microsoft Comes Unstuck In Time
Microsoft can’t tell time. On April 3, an odd glitch caused computers all over the world to show the wrong time. Three of my clients called me because all the computers in their…
Twenty-Five Years Of Windows
Windows 3.1 was released on April 6, 1992. Happy 25th birthday! Computers ran MS-DOS 5.0 in 1992. Windows 3.1 was a separate program that ran on MS-DOS by typing WIN at a command…
How To Close A Hijacked Web Browser
If your computer displays a message while you are browsing the Internet claiming that you have been hacked or infected with a virus, it is a lie by criminals. Your computer is…
What To Look For In The Next Major Windows 10 Update
Microsoft will release the next major update for Windows 10 – version 1703, nicknamed “Creators Update” – starting April 11. There’s something important that I want you to watch….
Gazing Into The Abyss: Republicans Are Selling Out Your Privacy
When you think about the future, you may start to suffer from “abyss gaze,” the depression that settles in when you realize that we’re all doomed. Warren Ellis coined the term in…
Windows 10 And The Slow Devices And Printers Window
Here’s a problem without a solution. On some Windows 10 computers, some of the time, opening the Devices and Printers window in Control Panel takes anywhere from 90 seconds to…
Special! Windows 10! Now With More Ads! Unlimited Time Offer!
Desperation is not pretty. Microsoft has successful cloud and enterprise divisions, but it is obviously true that some divisions of Microsoft are in a long-term decline. …
Storing Business Files Online: Dropbox, Google & Box Are Sprinting While Microsoft Falls Behind
Microsoft is losing another race. This one should have been Microsoft’s race to win but it is falling behind for familiar reasons: an inability to keep up with the competition,…
Windows 10 Tip: Drag Icons Into The Notification Area On The Taskbar
Want to see an icon in the notification area on the taskbar? Drag it from the overflow area and drop it where you want it. Want to keep an icon out of sight so it doesn’t take up…
Modern Kaiseki And The Joy Of Cooking
Let me tell you about my dinner last Saturday. It was pretty special. It might give you some ideas about food and passion and family. A few months ago our son Andrew invited us…