BRUCEB NEWS
Security Tip: Are You Available For A Scam?
An email comes in from a co-worker, usually someone higher up than you. It's short, just a few words: "Are you available? I need your help as soon as possible." "Are you available" messages are a scam. Your email response will go to a criminal. The next message will...
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...
GOVERNMENT VIOLATES PRIVACY PLEDGE
Here's a chilling article about a government agency deliberately violating a promise not to publish e-mail addresses of people commenting on a proposed government regulation -...
NEW BRUCEB CELL PHONE NUMBER
Late last year, the cell phone carriers implemented "number portability" in one hundred cities across the country. Sonoma County is number 114 on the list. We won't be able to...
APPLE GRIEF
The Press Democrat's business pages frequently feature fawning coverage of Apple's press releases, while attacking Microsoft at every opportunity. Today it was a long article...