Archive for June, 2007
Rethinking the Internet
If you stop to think about it, the pioneering scientists and engineers who contributed to the design of the Internet did a magnificent job. Pause for a minute and consider the technological wonder that allows you to access information in many formats from anywhere and everywhere. The success in handling today’s flood of traffic is [...]
Vista SP1 finally seems to be coming
A lot of people have been wanting to know when the first service pack for Windows Vista would be released. As seems to be typical of the company these days, Microsoft has danced around with contradictory hints and posts keeping everybody in the dark as to whether there would even be a service pack. Now, [...]
Flash drives don’t work like hard drives
USB flash drives are a common accessory for PCs. For most purposes, these handy portable devices can be used in the same way as a hard drive. However, the inner workings are quite different and there are some aspects affecting lifetime and speed that may interest and even surprise the more technically minded reader. Go [...]
Your inkjet printer lies to you
Inkjet printers are supposed to tell you when your ink cartridge is getting low. The problem is that you’ll likely be warned even when plenty of ink remains. I learned long ago to ignore the warnings and have gone on printing with my HP inkjet months after being told I was low on ink. A [...]
Big Google really is watching you
Google has added something called “Street View” to Google Maps. In certain selected areas, you can get a panoramic view of the people and buildings taken at street level. The views are pictures taken from vans by Google employees. So far the views are limited to streets in the San Francisco Bay Area, New York, [...]
Russian crime ring infects thousands of sites
Thousands of legitimate Web sites, mostly in Italy, have been made dangerous by an exploit from Russian sources. The exploit uses vulnerabilities that have patches already available so up-to-date systems should be safe from this IFrame security hole. ZDNet gives some details. Information is also given at ArsTechnica.
Windows XP PowerToys and Add-ins
The useful free Windows PowerToys have been around since Windows 95 and are well known. (The Microsoft developer Raymond Chen gives some history of these nice tools on his blog.) Less known are some other free tools and add-ins that can be downloaded at this Microsoft link. In addition to PowerToys for three versions of [...]
More about Microsoft licensing and Windows OEM software
I have previously posted about the fact that so-called OEM or system builder versions of Windows Vista were the lowest priced. I have also posted about the confusing Microsoft licensing practices. The newsletter Windows Secrets has some more on the licensing mess:
In our last issue, we reported that users of OEM software don’t need to [...]
25 Web sites to watch
New Web sites are constantly appearing. Most are destined for deserved obscurity and oblivion but a few become the next “new thing”. PC World has picked out 25 new sites to keep your eye on. These may or may not be the big hits of the future but PC World says take a look:
To keep [...]
Beware of Web pages bearing gifts
Web pages are full of ads offering all sorts of amazing free stuff like Toshiba laptops and copies of Windows Vista Ultimate. (Incidentally, a lot of these originate from Google AdSense.) Obviously, there’s a catch somewhere and I decided to find out what it is. So I set out to get a free [...]
Mac vs. Windows cost analysis
Microsoft fans often make the claim that using a Mac costs more than using a Windows system. Although this was probably true before Apple switched to Intel chips, my impression is that a new Mac and a new Vista system of similar power are generally going to be more or less comparable in cost. Of [...]