BRUCEB NEWS
Shooting Fish In A Barrel: Microsoft Is Rebranding Office 365
Shared communication is one of the underpinnings of civilization. It sets humans apart from animals. Microsoft is engaged in a long-term effort to prevent us from being able to understand each other. I don't know why. The company doesn't appear to be run by a...
THE END OF FREE E-MAIL
Microsoft and Yahoo are aggressively trying to push people to paid e-mail services by making it harder than ever to rely on free ones. Apple Computer is cutting free e-mail...
THE ALLEGED JPEG PATENT
Here’s more information about Forgent’s claim that it has a patent on the .JPEG file format (see below). It’s not the first time that a company has waited until some technology...
RECORDING INDUSTRY SEEKS IMMUNITY FOR HACKING OUR COMPUTERS
Congress is about to consider an entertainment industry proposal that would authorize copyright holders to disable your PC if you run a file sharing program. Later this week,...
AOL RENEGES ON COMMITMENT TO OPEN UP INSTANT MESSAGING
As a condition of approving the AOL Time Warner merger, the Federal Trade Commission required AOL to open up its AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) network to MSN Messenger, Yahoo...
NEW HP DESKJET PRINTER
Take a sneak peek at the new HP Deskjet 5550, due to hit the stores any day now. I don't have a direct link, but you can get all the info by going to the HP Shopping site. Type...
10% OFF DELL ORDERS
Special deal available only thru bruceb consulting, good July 22-26: take ten percent off all Dell Small Business orders. To take advantage of this promotion, Click here here to...
NEW COPY PROTECTION SCHEME
The recording industry has developed a new recording format that is piracy-proof. Here’s an article with more details. Nicknamed the 'Record', the new format takes the form of a...
BILL GATES ON SECURITY Bill Gates sent out a widely circulated e-mail message today about secure computing. It’s interesting reading, even if you’re suspicious of Microsoft’s...
WATCH A COMPANY DESTROY ITSELF
This is fun. Forgent Networks, Inc., is attempting to ambush the digital imaging industry by claiming that it owns the software patent on JPEG compression technology. Forgent...
WHY FREE DOWNLOADS HELP, NOT HURT
Remember Janis Ian, folksinger since the 60s? She wrote an article about file sharing that is being widely circulated (it turned up on CNet today). She draws on common sense and...
MAC OS X UPGRADE
Apple announced an upgrade of OS X, its new operating system, from 10.1 to 10.2. The upgrade will be released in late August. It fixes a bunch of bugs in previous versions, and...
THE REAL MAC OS X STORY
I read press coverage about Apple computers all the time. One of the favorite themes recently has been the wonder of the new Mac operating system, OS X, all new and cool, a real...
CABLE INTERNET PROVIDERS SHUT DOWN BROADBAND USES
A coalition of technology companies – including Intel, Microsoft, Dell, IBM, and Sun Microsystems – filed a complaint with the FCC about “troubling restrictions” imposed by some...
CYBERTERRORISM (NOT)
More interesting reading at The Register: a deeply cynical article bashing the press for repeating stories about alleged threats of cyberterrorism. The government is beating the...
COMPUTER SPEAKERS
I spend a lot of time in my office – more than I spend in the room in the house with the television and stereo. I’ve long believed it’s worthwhile to invest in good speakers for...