BRUCEB NEWS
The Nine Billion Windows Keyboard Shortcuts
There are monks in a Tibetan lamasery working patiently to list all nine billion possible names of God, according to a 1953 story by Arthur C. Clarke. By an extraordinary coincidence, there are nine billion Windows keyboard shortcuts. Good news! You already know some...
COMCAST SPEED INCREASE
Comcast has just about finished rolling out speed increases to its broadband customers nationwide. Most Comcast connections in the Bay Area got the increase in the last couple of...
DRM OUTRAGE
Here's an article asking a reasonable question - how long will it take for consumers to become angry at the limitations and cost of downloaded music encumbered by "digital rights...
FIREFOX AND SECURITY
Firefox is a perfectly nice piece of software, but it's getting more hype than it deserves. It's not the panacea that will keep you safe; it has its own security issues and it...
FILE SHARING HEADED FOR SUPREME COURT
The US Supreme Court will hear arguments on March 29 in MGM v. Grokster, potentially leading to a ruling that could stifle new Internet-based services that have nothing to do...
DESKTOP SEARCH
In the last few months several companies have introduced programs to index your files and your Outlook folders and let you find e-mail messages, contacts, or file attachments as...
OUTLOOK SPAM FILTER UPDATE
If you're using Outlook 2003, Microsoft released updated junk mail definitions a couple of days ago. Visit Microsoft Office Update to install the update. (If you haven't gone to...
TECH SUPPORT HELL
Getting tech support by phone for software and hardware problems has never been easy. It's getting worse than you realized. Here's an article by a smart guy, Charles Cooper,...
BROADBAND DISCOUNTS AND DEVELOPMENTS
There will come a time when high-speed Internet access will be ubiquitous and the growing pains will seem quaint. It can be hard to remember that while we're in the middle of...
STRANGE TALES FROM THE WORLD OF ADWARE/SPYWARE
It's easier when the world is black and white. In that world, all adware/spyware is easy to identify, it's always bad, and the people distributing it should be jailed. And in...
NAPSTER AND THE FUTURE OF ENTERTAINMENT
Napster has been reborn as a subscription service. Here's an article about the new Napster. It might not be quite the right service at the right time but you are seeing a glimpse...
PARENTS’ GUIDE TO COMPUTER SLANG
Remember how stupid those documentaries were that painstakingly explained that "maryjane" and "weed" were slang terms referring to (gasp!) marijuana! Well, Microsoft has put...
FREE SECURITY TOOLS FROM MICROSOFT
Microsoft Antispyware was released a few weeks ago (here's my writeup and links - scroll down to January 11.) Microsoft had a dilemma. If it sold the antispyware program, the...
FLAT-SCREEN GIANT FROM DELL AT DISCOUNT PRICE
Dell has just released a beautiful new flat-panel LCD monitor at a price that will challenge competitors to begin another round of price cuts. The new Dell Ultrasharp 2405FPW has...
GOOGLE MAPS
Google just rolled out Google Maps (on the bruceb favorites page under Travel / Maps). It's a huge step forward from current online favorites like MapQuest. FOLLOWUP: Wow, those...
PHISHING FLAW IN ALTERNATIVE BROWSERS
I like Macs. I think they're fine computers that do some things pretty well. Personally, the much-vaunted Apple design choices leave me cold, so it's hard for me to understand...