BRUCEB NEWS
Tech Tidbits
As we enter into the twentieth year third month of the global pandemic, technology news has slowed down as much as everything else. There aren't many things to tell you about! Here are a few bits of tech news that have caught my eye in the moments between bouts of...
THE FUTURE OF HOME TECH
There’s exciting stuff being developed that will change the way your home entertainment system works. It will take a couple of years for it all to come to fruition, but the...
FCC TO PERMIT TELECOM, MEDIA CONSOLIDATION
An article in today's Washington Post reviews some of the major decisions the Federal Communications Commission will be making in the next few months, moves that could...
VIRUS HOAXES
CNET has an article reminding people to be cautious about phony virus alerts – e-mail messages insisting that you delete some file, or forward the message, or avoid some other...
MORE ABOUT I HATE SPAM
I Hate Spam from Sunbelt Software is a winner. I’m using it with Outlook 2002. It costs almost nothing ($19.95), it installed easily, and it works like a charm. It blocked 150...
PERSPECTIVE ON SECURITY HOLES
You’ve probably read some of the articles about security holes in various operating systems and programs, each one describing a theoretical possibility that hackers might do...
XO COMMUNICATIONS UPDATE
XO Communications may yet survive. It is on schedule to emerge from bankruptcy proceedings as a going concern, with a manageable debt load and Carl Icahn holding more than 80% of...
KAZAA AND THE LAW
The recording industry has a lawsuit pending in US District Court in Los Angeles against Kazaa, seeking to grind it away to nothing as it did to Napster. Kazaa is currently the...
NEW HORRORS IN POPUP ADS
Although some services are backing away from popup ads - America Online has promised to behave itself better, for example - but there are still some ways for things to get worse....
I HATE SPAM
The onslaught of spam continues to be everyone’s number one complaint. Recently I’ve been hearing very nice things about a program named I Hate Spam, from Sunbelt Software. It’s...
WINDOWS MESSENGER vs. MSN MESSENGER
Microsoft has completely mucked up the marketing of its Passport service and its instant messenger products. I follow this industry pretty closely, but I’ve frequently been...
NIGERIAN FRAUDSTER BAITING
With the raging popularity of the Nigerian e-mail scam (see my writeup and links on October 24), a new sport has sprung up – Nigerian fraudster baiting, leading the scammers on...
FUN WITH GOOGLE
Google has a division named “Google Labs” that occasionally offers a look at its work in progress. Two new toys are online today. Google Viewer turns your search results into a...
MICROSOFT XMAS GOODIES
If you’re running Windows XP and you want to kill a little time, drop by www.microsoft.com/holiday for some Christmas-themed computer toys – screensavers, skins for Media Player,...
THE WIRELESS FUTURE
The story of the moment is the explosive growth of wireless technology. Prices are plummeting on 802.11b technology and the equipment is being gobbled up for use in homes and...
SPAM KING
The Detroit Free Press wrote an article a couple of weeks ago about Alan Ralsky, one of the top five spammers in the world. Some people estimate that 150 major spammers are...