BRUCEB NEWS
Windows Search Is Broken And It’s Bing’s Fault
Microsoft is mucking around with Windows Search. It might be better someday, although it's not like anyone was screaming for changes. But hoo boy, is it obvious that the B team is working on Windows these days! Because Windows Search has been horribly broken for the...
TOP TEN DYING GAME GENRES
If you’re a long-time gamer, you might get a nostalgic kick out of an article over at Gamespy listing ten types of PC and video games that are dead or dying. Number one, of...
REBUILDING SERVERS
When my server crashed, it looked like an easy problem. Seventy-two hours later, my eyes are bleary, my fingers are bleeding – but everything is up and running. In the end,...
CISCO BUYING LINKSYS
Linksys equipment has become ubiquitous in homes and small businesses. Its inexpensive routers and wireless equipment are stacked to the ceiling in any store that sells computer...
SLATE – TODAY’S PAPERS
Every day the online magazine Slate presents a wonderful selection of articles on politics, news, and culture. It’s one of my daily stops. One of its best features is Today’s...
SBC YAHOO DSL
If you get a letter suggesting that you must “upgrade” your SBC DSL to “SBC Yahoo DSL,” burn it. It’s a fraud. Here’s some history to explain why. For a brief moment last year,...
MUSICNET ON AOL
This week sees the debut of another horrible online music service, MusicNet on AOL. After years of failed litigation against file sharing services, with 60 million people using...
PIRATED SYMANTEC SOFTWARE
I get a spam message or two every day offering to sell Symantec software at ridiculously low prices. This article confirms that the software is pirated, which is what you’d...
COREL DEATH WATCH: MICROSOFT BAILS OUT
In October 2000, Microsoft acquired a 24.6% share in Corel for $135 million. It has now signed a deal to sell its shares – for a total of less than $13 million. Microsoft’s cash...
RIAA CERTIFIABLY INSANE
A quick followup to my item on March 1. You’ll recall that the RIAA had placed its heavily attacked web site in the hands of a disabled individual doing his first web hosting...
WIRELESS NOTEBOOKS
Intel, Dell, and a host of others are rolling out notebook computers based on Intel’s Centrino chip set on Wednesday. Intel is also set to launch a massive advertising campaign...
WINDOWS XP STATUS BAR
The status bar is the bar at the bottom of Internet Explorer and Windows Explorer windows. It shows all kinds of interesting things – the number of files in a folder, or the...
THE SEVEN WARNING SIGNS OF BOGUS SCIENCE
Robert L. Park is a physics professor at the University of Maryland, and the author of Voodoo Science: The Road From Foolishness To Fraud. He has written a wonderful short...
BE CAREFUL OUT THERE
Don’t respond to unsolicited e-mail. Don’t click on links that say “Click here to be removed from this mailing list.” And especially – never, ever put passwords or credit card...
CHEAP DELL LAPTOPS
Tomorrow Dell will put two new laptops on its web site: the Inspiron 1100, starting at $899, and the Inspiron 5100, starting at $1,199. Features and price are comparable to...
CYBERTERRORISM AND FUD
More interesting reading: this Slate article casts a jaundiced eye at the “National Strategy To Secure Cyberspace” pushed out by the Bush administration last month. Part of a...