Archive for August, 2007
Weekend reading
Here’s some selections for a little reading over the weekend:
The CD has its 25th anniversary
Dvorak says Dell computers are stodgy
Pittsburgh blogger gets a 300-page iPhone bill
Find people with search engine Pipl
How to copy music from your iPod to your computer
PC Magazine editors cooling toward Vista
Jim Louderback is leaving as Editor-in-chief at PC Magazine to become CEO of Revision3 and has made an interesting choice for the subject of his last column. He’s changed his previous enthusiastic stance concerning Vista. He writes:
Rest assured, you haven’t heard the last of me. I will continue to write a column in PC Magazine. [...]
Washable mouse
If you are the fastidious type or have kids with grimy hands, you may be interested in a new mouse from Belkin. The description:
Our Washable Mouse is water-resistant, so it endures spills, and stays clean and disinfected. Its versatile Scroll Pad lets you scroll vertically and horizontally with one easy touch.
Here’s some comments from Gearlog:
I’m [...]
Help from the Library of Congress
Did you know that the Library of Congress will help the general public get answers to questions? App Scout reports:
The Library of Congress makes it absolutely clear that its primary mission is to serve as a reference tome of information for the U.S. Congress But when it’s not busy digging up documents and historical records [...]
What secret?
Anybody who has programmed knows about getting caught in a loop with no exit. It’s something like a secrecy loop that the government’s secret agency NSA is in. InfoWorld reports on a court hearing about secrecy:
If you’re the U.S. federal government, how can you prove to someone that something should be kept secret if [...]
Using the Windows key-How does “Minimize All” differ from “Show Desktop”?
In a previous post, I listed some of the shortcuts that are available that use the so-called “Windows key”. (That’s the key with the Windows flag logo on it.) Among the shortcuts is one that minimizes all windows, Windows key+M. There is also the shortcut that shows the Desktop, Windows key+D. At first glance [...]
Skype on the fritz
The popular service for using the Internet to make telephone calls is down. Ars Technica reports:
Skype has confirmed it is having software problems on its network, resulting in a lack of connectivity for millions of Skype users. Many users cannot currently authenticate to Skype, rendering all voice, chat, and voicemail services effectively offline. Some users [...]
Google vs. Yahoo search
Our society is full of organizations surveying us about one thing or the other and I often wonder how meaningful the reported numbers really are. For example, a recent University of Michigan American Consumer Satisfaction Index says that Yahoo at 79% satisfaction is very marginally ahead of Google at 78%. Of course, lots of headlines [...]
List of selected Web sites
Every year PC Magazine publishes lists of its favorite Web sites. This year’s Top 100 Classic Web Sites is now out. I would probably include only about one-third of the selections on my own list but then everybody has their own ideas.
Vista Content Protection Policy revisited
Back in January and February, I made three posts (here and references therein) about the discussion of a study by computer researcher Peter Gutmann that made serious allegations about the copyright protection methods employed by Vista. From my own personal experience using Vista, I cannot comment one way or the other on the accuracy [...]
Nokia battery problem
Here’s yet another lithium ion battery problem. Nokia is recalling a bunch of batteries that were made by Matsushita Battery, some of which have exploded. Nokia uses a number of battery types and the faulty battery is the BL-5C. ZDNet reports that the Nokia devices affected are:
Nokia 1100, Nokia 1100c, Nokia 1101, Nokia 1108, Nokia [...]
