BRUCEB NEWS
How To Make Windows Less Annoying
This is a collection of default settings in Windows that I change to make computers less annoying. It reduces the number of ads for Microsoft disguised as "tips" and "suggestions," and it softens some of Windows' rough edges. There are tips below in these categories:...
SHOULD YOU SHUT THE COMPUTER DOWN AT NIGHT?
A new article addresses the perennial question of whether it's better to leave the computer on all the time, or shut it down at night. In the past that question has focused on...
MYDOOM REMOVAL TOOL FROM MICROSOFT
Microsoft released a small, free tool that will remove the MyDoom and MyDoom.B viruses from computers running XP and Windows 2000. According to the company, "the tool...
JUNK MAIL FILTERING
Outlook 2003 continues to do a good job of filtering out spam. There's so much spam coming in to my mailbox that I simply stopped looking in the Junk Mail folder. I just turned...
IMPORTANT WINDOWS UPDATE
Microsoft released an update today that should be installed at your earliest convenience. Go to Windows Update and apply all Critical Updates. (Some of you will see the "Windows...
VIRUS SPAM
You're probably getting confusing messages in your inbox. They're a side-effect of the MyDoom virus, but they're not directly generated by the virus at all. Instead, they're...
VIRUS UPDATE
The "MyDoom" virus is getting lots of headlines. It's the worst virus in history! 100 million infected messages! Large companies brought to their knees! It's the end of the...
MSN TOOLBAR
Microsoft gets irritable when anybody else dominates anything related to technology, so it's no surprise that it is planning an assault on Google. The first bullet was rolled out...
PAPERPORT 9.0
Much to my surprise, I had a good experience with the new version of Paperport today. Many of its prior failings have been cured. Paperport is an inexpensive document manager....
BROADBAND UPDATE
When Comcast turned on Internet service in Sebastopol, it looked like a maneuver to put pressure on its negotiations with the city of Santa Rosa. It must have worked - after long...
AOL INSTANT MESSENGER ANNOYANCES
AOL's new 9.0 software continues to underwhelm me - I have yet to meet a computer that seems happy about having it installed. Too many times I've seen slowdowns and crashes where...
SIGN OF THE TIMES
Kodak announced it will stop selling traditional film cameras in the United States, Canada and Western Europe, a startling sign of how quickly consumers have adopted digital...
ADS, POPUPS & BROWSER HIJACKING
For several months, the most frequent complaint from my clients concerns programs surreptitiously installed on their computers that have hijacked their browser home page, taken...
COMCAST HIGH SPEED INTERNET IN SEBASTOPOL
Comcast turned on its high-speed Internet service in Sebastopol a couple of days ago. I called yesterday afternoon and a rep dropped off the installation kit at 9am this morning....
CURRENCY IMAGE DETECTION
From the "Interesting Things To Know" Department: According to a post on the Adobe forums, the latest version of Adobe Photoshop has the built-in ability to detect that an image...
REALPLAYER 10
Real announced a heap of new products and services today, including enhanced quality audio and video streaming and a new player, RealPlayer 10. They promise that it is less...