BRUCEB NEWS
Covid-19 Is Straining The Internet
Across the globe, hundreds of millions of people are using their Internet connection more intensely than they did just a few weeks ago. Usage ramped up so quickly that the infrastructure is being stretched past its limits. I don't have any tips. You don't have to do...
XO, STARBAND, AND OTHER BAD NEWS
The extraordinary collapse of the telecommunications industry continues apace. XO Communications has been trying to engineer an infusion of capital from two lenders that would...
CHINA BELIEVES EVERYTHING IT READS
In case you missed this in the paper a couple of days ago, here’s a story that’s absolutely priceless. The Beijing Evening News (circulation: 1.25 million) printed a...
THE END OF FREE E-MAIL
The days of free e-mail are drawing to a close. Yahoo, Lycos, and Hotmail have all started to change their free e-mail accounts to make it more likely that users will pony up a...
CONTROL OF BROADBAND
Salon is doing an extensive series of articles about the consolidation of power and ownership in the media world. This week’s article is particularly interesting. It describes...
KAZAA SHARED FOLDERS
If you’re using Kazaa, Morpheus, AudioGalaxy, or any of the other file sharing programs, make sure you’re not sharing more than you intend. A study released today concluded that...
VERISIGN DOMAIN REGISTRATION SCAM
I got a piece of junk mail that was more slippery than most. Keep an eye out for it. In a plain white envelope was a plain white piece of paper that was formatted to resemble an...
REPLAYTV SPYING ORDER OVERTURNED
A federal court overturned the order entered last month that required Sonicblue to write and install software to monitor what its customers were watching and report that...
MEDIA JUKEBOX VERSION 8
During the last year, not much has changed about the software designed to play .mp3 files. The market leader is MusicMatch Jukebox, which has such a quirky interface that I find...
UMAX PIONEERS NEW PRICE GOUGE
Umax is one of the leading manufacturers of scanners. A week ago, they began charging for driver updates that previously had been available as a free web download. And prices are...
THE FBI, PROUD GUARDIANS OF OUR RIGHTS
Gotta love this story. In 2000, the FBI apparently used Carnivore electronic surveillance in an attempt to collect information on Osama bin Laden's network. Unfortunately they...
ADVERTISING ON TIVOS
A nasty surprise lies ahead for users of personal video recorders. TiVo and Replay market devices that are godsends to serious TV hounds. They connect at night to a program...
RECORDING INDUSTRY MARCHES ON
More developments in the recording industry's relentless war to make sure we can't actually hear any music. Yesterday KaZaA, the Dutch software and products company which founded...
DUNGEON SIEGE
Got a new computer, an Nvidia GeForce 3 or 4 video card, and a bunch of free time? Check out the reviews of Dungeon Siege and see if it looks like you might be tempted. I don't...
REPRIEVE FOR INTERNET RADIO
On May 2, I wrote about an order due to take effect this week requiring Internet streaming radio stations to pay punishingly high royalties for songs - far higher than comparable...
XBOX LIVE AND ONLINE GAMING
The next hot market is online gaming - plenty hot already, but due for a big push in the next eight months. Many people are joining massive online worlds and investing oodles of...