2007 September

I got an email from a friend this morning who has been reading about the Apple iPhones and the controversy surrounding some iPhones being ‘bricked’. Which made me wonder how many people know what the term ‘bricked’ actually means?
Normally the term is used to describe some type of a software update that makes the hardware [...]

Make sure your system is up to date and that you have the latest protections in place.

AVG anti-virus: 09/29/07
Norton anti-virus: 09/26/07
McAfee anti-virus: 09/26/07
Lavasoft Ad-Aware: 09/27/07
Spybot Search and Destroy: 09/26/07
Microsoft Windows Defender: 09/25/07
Nod32: 09/28/07

Updates as of September 30, 2007 6:00am CDT.
Tags: avg, norton, mcafee, lavasoft, spybot, defender, nod32

Over at C/Net a writer by the name of Don Reisinger has written a scathing article in which he documents why he believes that Microsoft should abandon Vista. Some of what Don says has been batted around the Internet ever since Vista was released such as a high price tag, DRM and lack of Extras [...]

The folks over at Ubuntu have released their beta version 7.10 for testing. On their site they state the following:
The Ubuntu developers are hurrying to bring you the absolute latest and greatest software that the open source and free software communities have to offer. This is the Ubuntu 7.10 beta release, which brings a host [...]

Are you a recent college graduate and looking for some additional programming training? Well many are now heading to India for a six months and then returning to the US. India is now a world model of outsourcing and other countries are standing in line to get their people trained from what may be considered [...]

A few weeks ago I mentioned that the desktop box was boring and it needed to be replaced with a new design. In walks Gateway with their new One ZX190 model. Sleek, slim and a beauty, this new system rivals Apple in style. Gateway describes their new system as:
Never before has the PC world seen [...]

Microsoft is extending the sale of Windows XP for an additional five months in response to customer demands. OEM’s will be able to offer XP to both consumer and business customers until June 30, 2008. Support for XP Starter Edition for emerging markets will be extended until June 30, 2010.
In a statement Microsoft states:
While we’ve [...]

The US Supreme court is going to have to decide on another technology patent case involving Intel, LG and Quanta which is a Taiwanese computer maker. The particulars of the case involve whether once a patent is licensed for use, can this licensing be passed on to a third party? When first ruled upon a [...]

I had previously reported that the Globalisation Institute in a report they made to the European Union last week, had recommended that the lack of choice for a operating system was keeping Microsoft in a monopolistic situation, and that computers should be sold with no operating system. When one thinks about this recommendation, [...]

I m happy to report that SP1 really has improved the performance on my Vista Ultimate system. The performance is not so much about the system operating faster, but that it is now equal to the performance of XP.
Some examples.
Deleting files was slow before SP1 beta. I’m talking pokey slow. No more. It is just [...]

Over at CNN/Money they have an article from Best Buy in which the retail giant estimates that 90% of Americans still don’t understand HDTV. I wonder why? The choices are fairly simple.
First you just have to decide whether you want to purchase a LCD, DLP, CRT, Projector or Plasma HDTV.
Next you just need to decide [...]

I covered the new daylight savings time changes at the beginning of the year, and hopefully you obtained the fixes recommended by Microsoft for your Windows based PC. This is just a reminder that the next phase of daylight saving time change will occur on November 4th, 2007. If you haven’t fix your system, [...]

Some forums are already reporting that some people have found that the packaging for the Halo 3 Limited Edition disks have scratched the disk. Microsoft has already responded with a replacement program which has been posted on their XBox 360 site. According to some sources the replacement program is a freebie. So I checked Microsoft’s [...]

It seems that we have been waiting for CNR [Click-N-Run] to be incorporated into Freespire for well over six months. Well it has finally arrived. CNR is being offered as a freebie by the Linspire folks and will make your installing of free open source software easier than every. CNR contains a repository of thousands [...]

During my career in both teaching computers and also owning my own computer repair business, I have steered cleared from most computer user groups for several reasons. In my opinion, most people join computer user groups not only to sharpen their computer skills, but to try and lure someone to fix their system for free. [...]

Yesterday I posted a small rant about not being able to talk about Microsoft Windows Vista SP1 beta, to which I must apologize, since I misunderstood what the NDA [Non Disclosure Agreement] covered. I contacted my MVP lead who stated that the only part that NDA covered was the information contained in the original message [...]

Vista Service Pack #1 beta has been released for testing. That’s all I can say. You see, the announcement I got from Microsoft and also from my MVP lead specifically stated that I was under an NDA (Non Disclosure Agreement). I was not allowed to discuss the release on the Web nor with any forum.
So [...]

Last week I read a complaint on one of the forums I associate with, being critical as to why Dell pricing is never the same as advertised when you actually add the item to your cart. So this morning when I saw this Dell ad for a Vostro 200 mini advertised at $399.00 I thought [...]

Rumors have been circulating this week that Google is in the process of updating their popular Gmail software and may just provide the ability for Gmail users to work off-line. Known as Gmail version 2, this will be a major update for the three year old Gmail program with some added new features for us [...]

Over at GM they have a concept vehicle called the Chevrolet Volt that GM claims will put them in the lead for gasoline alternative vehicles. If you believe the hype, GM states that in 5 short years they will be the leader in producing such this super efficient vehicles which will run on a variety [...]