BRUCEB NEWS
Virtual Reality Has No Future And It’s Mark Zuckerberg’s Fault
Luxuriate in the awfulness of the above picture. It's Mark Zuckerberg's avatar in virtual reality, taking a selfie in front of the Eiffel Tower and it's hard to be sure, maybe Sagrada Familia in Barcelona? Meta released the picture to promote the release of its VR...
Windows 10 Tip: How To Make PDFs Open In Acrobat
One of the first things everyone does with a new Windows 10 computer is install basic programs and utilities and set defaults so files open in the right program. This is a quick...
Microsoft Hides Control Panel For Your Own Good
The picture above shows the menu that comes up when you right-click the Start button in Windows 10. Many of you haven’t seen it. It’s full of things that burrow deeply into the...
My Favorite Technology Of 2017: Set Multiple Timers On An Amazon Echo
Now you can say what a timer is for when you set it on an Amazon Echo. “Alexa, set a timer for the pasta for eight minutes.” Then set a second timer: “Alexa, set a timer for the...
What’s The Matter With Office?
The programs in Microsoft’s Office suite should be as solid as a rock. Lately that phrase doesn’t seem to mean what it used to mean. The core Office programs are mature. They’re...
Google Lens Might Be The Future Of Google, The Future Of Mobile, The Future Of Everything
Google announced a number of new products and services at its developer conference last week. One of them, Google Lens, might change the world. It might be the most important...
WeChat, QR Codes, And The Future Of Mobile
China uses smartphones differently than anywhere else in the world. It’s a fascinating story! Understanding WeChat and why QR codes are displayed everywhere in China will give...
Ransomware And Other Scary Monsters
The chances are good that you weren’t affected by the ransomware attack that began Friday and is still in progress around the world. In fact, it’s very likely that it’s not a...
Surface Laptops And Lessons About Desperation
Next month Microsoft will begin selling Surface Laptops, elegant and sexy, Microsoft’s first Surface devices with a traditional clamshell design. You’ll be tempted to buy one,...
Windows 10 S Will Be Microsoft’s Next Failure
Microsoft made two big announcements this week at an education-themed press event. They’re related in a couple of ways. One common element is that Microsoft will fail at both of...
You’ll Discover The Best Windows 10 Feature When You Give Away Your Computer
With only a few clicks, you can reset your Windows 10 computer back to its brand-new condition when it was pulled out of the box. It will start up with the Microsoft license...
Windows 10 Tip: How To Check The Health Of Your Laptop Battery
My much-loved Thinkpad X1 Yoga was shipped to Lenovo today. I’ll be a bit twitchy and irritable until it comes back. But I couldn’t ignore the signs of old age any longer. There...
Windows 10 Cloud & Device Independence
On May 2 Microsoft will announce a new generation of Windows for low-cost computers targeted at education. Information has leaked about some parts of that announcement and tech...
Technology Is Boring
Technology in 2017 is just a bit . . . dull. There’s not much going on. You hadn’t really thought about it but now that I mention it, you know it’s true, right? Choose your...
Microsoft Comes Unstuck In Time
Microsoft can’t tell time. On April 3, an odd glitch caused computers all over the world to show the wrong time. Three of my clients called me because all the computers in their...
Twenty-Five Years Of Windows
Windows 3.1 was released on April 6, 1992. Happy 25th birthday! Computers ran MS-DOS 5.0 in 1992. Windows 3.1 was a separate program that ran on MS-DOS by typing WIN at a command...