Archive for March, 2008
Online help with buying a car
Consumers who are shopping for a car can be armed with a lot more information than they used to be. Thanks to the Internet, the bargaining battle between buyer and dealer is now more of an even match. At the Mossberg Solution, Katherine Boehret gives an overview of Web sites that will help you find [...]
You never know what you’ll find on Google Earth
In its fairly short lifetime, Google Earth has been used for many purposes. Among other things, features of the earth’s surface that were previously unknown are being discovered. For example, a new meteor crater in Australia has been found:
Geologist Arthur Hickman now has a meteor crater named after himself. He discovered Hickman Crater while looking [...]
Why Vista SP1 may not be available to everyone
If you are having trouble getting Windows Vista SP1 to download, you may have a system that falls into one of the eight categories mentioned in this post by Mary Jo Foley.
Quick way to open “Documents and Settings” folder
In Windows XP, the “Documents and Settings” folder contains subfolders for each user account. In turn, these account folders contain a number of important folders with individual files and computer settings. Instead of going through “My Computer” to access this key folder, you can use a shortcut. Open the “Run” line in the “Start” menu, [...]
Vista SP1 available tomorrow
You’ll be able to upgrade to Windows Vista SP1 starting Tuesday. Computerworld reports:
If Microsoft holds to plan, Vista users will see SP1 in Windows Update tomorrow as an optional download, but only if their PCs do not harbor one of the balky drivers. Alternately, users will be able to download a much larger stand-alone installer [...]
All about file systems
One of the more technical aspects of a computer is the file system. Most of the time, average PC users need not be concerned with what file system is on their computer. Sometimes, however, it is something that has to be considered, as when Microsoft started using NTFS instead of the various FAT systems. Thus, [...]
Trend Micro and other sites get hacked
InfoWorld reports:
Security vendor Trend Micro has fallen victim to a widespread Web attack that splashed malicious software onto hundreds of legitimate Web sites in recent days.
A Trend Micro spokesman confirmed that the company’s site had been hacked Thursday, saying that the attack took place earlier in the week. “A portion of our site — some [...]
Microsoft, the advertising agency
Microsoft continued its move into advertising with another purchase of a small company. This time it’s an advertising seller called Rapt. Mary Jo Foley chronicles some of the many Microsoft acquisitions in this area.
Update: Here’s a more accurate description of the type of business that Rapt is involved in:
Microsoft Corp. plans to buy Rapt [...]
Improved Firefox coming soon
Version 3.0 of Firefox is in the late beta stage and should soon be available for consumer use. So far the reviews are very favorable with Firefox being considerably faster and less demanding of memory. It sounds very promising. Unless something unexpected comes up, it seems likely that finished version of Firefox 3.0 will be [...]
TV on the web
(From Sol Libes)
I do not read the Mossberg blog. But I have been watching TV on the web for some time. Here is a sample of some of the TV that is available.
Broadcast TV Programs - Examples
PBS [...]