IBM to give away 500 patents. Curiouser and curiouser. Why now? And, what patents? IBM makes a great deal of money licensing their patent portfolio - is this meant to stimulate additional licensing? How does this fit in with the open source movement? In other news, IBM just received the go-ahead to sell off their PC unit to a firm that just won a rather large contract to provide PCs in China.
posted on Jan 11, 2005 - View this thread

Cybermohalla --really interesting group project in and around Delhi, bringing young people together via "Compughars" (fully-equipped media centers in their neighborhoods). Located in LNJP Basti (an illegal neighborhood) in Delhi, and Ambedkar Nagar (a resettlement colony) at Dakshinpuri in south Delhi, and cyberspace, and created by ANKUR - Society for Alternatives in Education (an NGO) with Sarai, the New Media & Urban Culture Programme of the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, they've created everything from texts, collages, posters, animations, and publications, to videos, and large-scale installations. Don't miss by lanes --collected excerpts of some of the kids' personal and public diaries (pdfs), and the scratchbook (55-page pdf) and the animated gifs.
posted on Aug 20, 2004 - View this thread

Ain't this grand? Pop Goes the Gmail is a program that sits between the http://gmail.com web server and your email client, converting messages from web format into POP3 format that a program such as Outlook Express or Thunderbird can understand.
posted on Jun 15, 2004 - View this thread

Whizzkid develops Linux application for Windows [...]The significance of the development is that Linux and Windows are able to work in parallel on the same computer or server. To[sic] now, the computer world is divided into systems that operate either with Windows or with Linux. [...]
posted on Apr 12, 2004 - View this thread

Worldbuilder (no relation to the old Mac adventure game toolkit) is an excellent way to start off the week by completely crippling productivity. I've played many games from these guys before, and they're always great. I envy the independent game designer that gets to work with Lego so often. Via GTA.
posted on Mar 22, 2004 - View this thread

PC Problems? Use this handy troubleshooter.
posted on Mar 20, 2004 - View this thread

Hey! A thirteen year-old kid gets suspended for three days for using a DOS command to send a one-word message to all 80 computers on his school's network. Even more charming is that the computer teacher of his school apparently doesn't know much about the computicatin' machines.
posted on Jan 9, 2004 - View this thread

Santa is trapped in a usb mouse.
posted on Dec 23, 2003 - View this thread

Lick Me, I'm A Mackintosh. One columnist's ode/rant re: Apple's design ethos.
posted on Oct 1, 2003 - View this thread

Child Pornographers Using Small Storage Drives. Small drives like this are giving the police quite a bit of trouble. One of the more interesting quotes from the story, "Even if the photos are encrypted, computer forensics specialists can break through most encryption schemes these days anyway."
posted on May 29, 2003 - View this thread

How clean is your computer?
posted on May 25, 2003 - View this thread

Applied Materials to Slash 14% of Its Work Force How many of you work in the Silicon Valley semiconductor business? How do you feel about an industry giant like AMAT having yet another layoff? Or, if you work for one of AMAT's competitors, what does this do to your own sense of job security?
posted on Mar 17, 2003 - View this thread

Baked Apple. "PowerBook G4 cooked at 400 degrees for 20 minutes. The machine still booted, video and all..." [details at MacFixIt; no permalink]
posted on Feb 4, 2003 - View this thread

Do you have problems finding the cheapest flight? Well so do computers.
Carl de Marcken, the man who created the engine behind Orbitz and other travel search engines posits that finding the cheapest fare from one point to another is a NP-Hard problem. Even if you fix the specific route between destinations there can be as many as 10³⁶ combinations.
posted on Dec 9, 2002 - View this thread

The Self-Healing Minefield From the current Village Voice: "Utilizing commercial off-the-shelf computer chips and 'healing' software, the networked minefield detects rude attempts to clear it, deduces which parts of itself have been removed, and signals its remaining munitions to close the hole using best-fit mathematics."

Bonus ubertasteless Flash animation courtesy of DARPA here. Color me fascinated and repulsed in equal measure.
posted on Nov 27, 2002 - View this thread

Who Counts your Votes? This book published back in 1992 is a good launching pad to begin the quest regarding elections and election fraud in America. Joseph Stalin had a saying: ``Those who cast the votes decide nothing. Those who count the votes decide everything.'' When I voted on November 5, I was handed a little card stuck it in to a Diebold voting machine and presto all the votes I submitted were counted correctly right? Well I'm not sure after I read the article Diebold: The face of modern balloting at http://www.bartcop.com/110702otter.htm and some of the articles at http://www.votefraud.org/. Perhaps we Americans have handed a bit to much over to computers and the people who own the companies that make the computers and that write the code. Perhaps to restore faith in our Democracy its time to to go back a simple hand counted system, with observers from multiple parties stationed in the local precincts counting the paper ballots.
posted on Nov 9, 2002 - View this thread

Tired of your office mate's irritatingly cute Hello Kitty USB hub? Balance the forces of cuteness with Hubzilla. (Via Macintouch)
posted on Sep 18, 2002 - View this thread

Nüp2 Incorporated will revolutionize the electronic memory business. Using our patented memory technology and our patent-pending "Topolithographic" manufacturing process, we will develop and produce solid-state electronic memory having gigabytes of storage in a tiny package for just a few dollars per Gigabyte. Hoax? Vaporware? Revolution in data storage? You decide.
posted on Sep 17, 2002 - View this thread

Tired of your black Dell prefab? Enter the world of extreme computing. Mod your CD drives, find amazing custom cases, and add a window. Timid about hacking up your box? Get inspired by browsing a gallery of "pimp rigs".
posted on Aug 13, 2002 - View this thread

A computer aided simulation builds a spiral galaxy from its beginning. In all, 390,000 particles were placed in an arrangement similar to a newborn galaxy. The end result after three months is an event that is believed to take billions of years to occur. (animation)
posted on Aug 7, 2002 - View this thread

Using Internet Explorer, Outlook, or Outlook Express on a PC? There's a new hack in town, ready to exploit cross site scripts like nobody's business. Do yourself a favor and disarm ActiveX on your settings.
posted on Jul 12, 2002 - View this thread

Meet Cyc. This endeavor to produce AI has been going on since 1984. In ’86 it asked if it were human; it later asked “if any other computers were engaged in such a project”. It’s strength lies in a database of assumptions and generalities, in the hopes that it will eventually “generalize as much as possible until further generalization would be false”. Is this going to be the breakthrough, or does it just seem really cool? (yes, via Slashdot)
posted on Jun 8, 2002 - View this thread

Overcome Depression: The New Computer -Cognitive Treatment Overcoming Depression is the world's first self-educative computer program for understanding, dealing with, and preventing depression using a unique dialogue mode that allows you to express yourself freely in your own words and that responds in meaningful every language characteristic of a therapeutic context. So much for the personal therapeutic process. My question is - can this program prescribe meds??!??
posted on May 20, 2002 - View this thread

The Read_Me Festival 1.2 shortlist has been posted, and includes such projects as Carnivore(not the government one, though that was part of the concept), and the DeskSwap screensaver. While this is a "software art" exhibition, it's of particular note that patches or even just instructions for making existing software do things not originally intended are allowable entries. I haven't been through all of them to see if any patches were entered, but it'd be interesting what the publishers might think of these, since it would basically constitute hacking and/or reverse engineering.
posted on Mar 30, 2002 - View this thread

Hi-tech webserver platfrom unveiled! Seriously though, a webserver running on a Commodore 64... what will people think of next?
posted on Mar 7, 2002 - View this thread

Go for the gold! Concord 2002: Site of the upcoming Loebner Prize. Can reigning champion A.L.I.C.E. repeat her triumph? Chat bots from around the globe are scouting out their rivals on the AI competitive circuit and studying their crib notes.
posted on Feb 9, 2002 - View this thread

Free Radio Linux is about to go online, reading the entire Linux kernel over the internet using the Ogg Vorbis codec. Free as in beer.
posted on Feb 3, 2002 - View this thread

Don't let the URL fool you, it's completely work safe, and yet oh so naughty. I wish more sites would do this. It would lead to mass confusion, and last I heard, that's the next big monkey-making trend.
posted on Feb 2, 2002 - View this thread

Convert your pictures to HTML. So cool I nearly wet myself.
Seriously.
posted on Jan 23, 2002 - View this thread

Hackers: Computer Outlaws A TLC show(that I'm 3/4 through) that seems to actually use reliable sources to discuss not just cracker behavior, but also the creative side of hackers, pointing out the developments attributed to some hackers. Now Markoff and Mitnick. Not a bad little show....
posted on Jan 9, 2002 - View this thread

Sign of the Apocalypse: MTV Announces Line of PCs "Equipped With All the College Props" Uh, ...a beer funnel and a Dave Matthews cd? What else can we add to it? Is VH-1 going to do this?
posted on Jan 9, 2002 - View this thread

Detailed 'How-To' on increasing your computers power... I'm working on mine now but just ran out of some supplies amd HAVE TO run to the store... my ol computer is gonna be awesome!!!
posted on Dec 13, 2001 - View this thread

Antivirus Firms Say They Won't Create FBI Loophole. A free knuckle sandwich to the first person to say, "looks like magic lantern has been extinguised!"
posted on Dec 10, 2001 - View this thread

AirSnort. The dangerous app with the unlikely name allows users to snatch data being passed over wireless networks, eventually capturing passwords to the network.
posted on Nov 29, 2001 - View this thread

MIT's Erotic Computation Group. "By developing advanced sexual appliances and techniques, we seek to broaden the range of human amative expression and heighten our potential for sexual gratification." Good to see that at least some people are doing research that will benefit all mankind.
posted on Nov 25, 2001 - View this thread

Java is alive and kicking, and this guy knows what to do with it. Check out his sexy alife experiments (art? science?) and this goofy game. (Warning: his stuff crashed my browser a couple of times, but was worth it. Most applets are available for download.)
posted on Nov 5, 2001 - View this thread

Is it sloppy programming, or do full computer security vulnerability disclosure make it too easy for hackers? Microsoft has a personal interest in minimizing the exploit of their code, but the evil you know is better than the evil you don't. Others have weighed in on this debate in the past, or provided a fair but vague blueprint for the computer security community. Do you think that a middle ground exists?
posted on Oct 18, 2001 - View this thread

Staroffice 6.0b is a great, free alternative to microsoft office for people who can't afford the suite or for those that would rather not use microsoft products. Staroffice has completely integrated XML support and full featured word processing, spreadsheet, presentation, and drawing applications.
posted on Oct 8, 2001 - View this thread

Remember the scary-sounding Hailstorm that was set to prove how evil Microsoft's system is? Well worry no longer, because it's now called .NET My Services. How could something with such a cute, gentle name like that be bad for users?
posted on Sep 25, 2001 - View this thread

Fight back against sneaky scumware like TopText and Surf+, with this Javascript code by Gary Rosenzweig of CleverMedia. The code detects the scumware's presence, pops up a message letting the user know they're carrying a parasite, and then surveys the user to find out if they knew about it. In the first day of operation on his site, he discovered that 3.67% of his visitors had either TopText or Surf+ installed, and more than 90% of these visitors did not know until they were told. (Link to the Javascript code is at the bottom of the article.)
posted on Aug 31, 2001 - View this thread

Brain Cells Used To Make Working Semiconductor "This is the first direct functional interfacing of a living neuronal network with an electronic semiconductor chip," said co-author Dr. Peter Fromherz of the Max Planck Institute for Biochemistry in Munich, Germany, in an interview with Reuters Health. "It is a further step on our road to combine the elements of brains and computers," he added.
posted on Aug 28, 2001 - View this thread

Netscape 6.1???? Have you tried it? Do you like it? Should we get Mikey?
posted on Aug 25, 2001 - View this thread

Yet Another Artist Link , this time i'm showcasing an artist/skinner who not only does great work, but believes in usability (for all those 'hey i've been using winamp for 6 months now, and i still need the buttons plainly labeled' whiners). just kidding folks. check out the wallpapers too while you're there.
posted on Aug 4, 2001 - View this thread

Slate's Mickey Kaus and the Washington Post ask the question: For all the claims of illegal monopolies and unfair advantage, is the tech industry counting on Microsoft and Windows XP's Oct. 25 release to save its bacon?
posted on Jul 30, 2001 - View this thread

There's cars, and then there's Ferrari. There's wine, and then there's Château Margaux. There's home computers, and then there's the Athlon Deathstar (picture). It's the computer for the best of us.
posted on Jul 29, 2001 - View this thread

Features your computer ought to have... probably most of us have seen at least one of these before, but here is a damned funny collection of non-existent computer features that should exist. I especially like the "Fuck It" button :)
posted on Jul 23, 2001 - View this thread

Countless people have had problems with their Apple Airport wireless base stations failing shortly after the one year warranty ran out. Adventurous folks figured out that there was a faulty capacitor in the power supply, got out their soldering irons, and drilled some ventilation holes. Apple is aware of the issue, and is quietly replacing ABSs that fall within a specific serial number range, but only if they have failed. So other folks have to wait until the damn thing dies before it can be replaced. This corporate behavior isn't just limited to Apple. What other vendors are guilty of lack of disclosure for faulty products, and only change their tune after public outcry?
posted on Jul 16, 2001 - View this thread

Dell takes a survey out on AMD processors. Finally, the only thing that keeps me from buying a Dell is their lack of Athlon and Duron machines. Sounds like the negative reviews of the P4 has Dell running towards the competition.
posted on Jul 3, 2001 - View this thread

The real HAL? The Project already has consumed an estimated 500 person years and $50 million in investments.
posted on Jun 21, 2001 - View this thread

Every OS sucks... A nice little ditty (requires either windows media player or flash player).
posted on May 8, 2001 - View this thread

Sweet mother of god don't let this be a double post. This little monster is for "the preservation of the command line culture". A whole lot of distractions in such a small bandwidth. Want streaming video? Try 'starwars'. Want adventure? Type... um... 'adventure'. Remember the good old days?
posted on May 7, 2001 - View this thread

Upgrade your PC. With a shotgun. [via fark]
posted on May 7, 2001 - View this thread

Sometimes conspiracies are real. The real reason the 3d net software is showing up again might best be summed up by a quote from this article: ' "The focus was to get someone to go out and upgrade to a Pentium 4," Benoit said. "We wanted to create new and compelling content that wasn't out there and that would cause people to make a decision to upgrade their processors." '
posted on Apr 10, 2001 - View this thread

The Story of Mel - Almost everyone's seen the Story of Mel on USENET or via email... the story of the guy who wrote programs for a particular ancient drum computer by using the characteristics of the drum to handle memory allocation and time delays. In a footnote on the Jargon File, it seems that his last name is known... An interesting footnote to an interesting and probably true story.
posted on Apr 7, 2001 - View this thread

Article on New Scientist about "software that turns everyday language into computer code".
posted on Apr 5, 2001 - View this thread

Making art out of a Microsoft mouse. Tails of the City is a rather cool project that entails using a Microsoft mouse as the canvas. You can bid on the works if you so desire - but just check out the fine details! [k10k]
posted on Mar 26, 2001 - View this thread

Be very afraid. The only real solution to this is backlash and boycott. Technical solutions to "InTether" are inadequate (especially since every such will be a violation of the DMCA). If content vendors will only sell their material this way, don't buy! (Ultimately, it's going to take an act of Congress to straighten this all out. How about a law making it illegal to prevent "fair use"?)
posted on Mar 13, 2001 - View this thread

This nonsense has to stop: " One of the most heavily guarded secrets in the computer business and the closely related consumer electronics industry is how many products are returned by customers because they are defective or the customer cannot figure out how to use them."
posted on Mar 12, 2001 - View this thread

One million credit card numbers stolen! News at 11! The FBI has gone public with a rather dry account of a huge organized attack on ecommerce sites, exploiting security flaws in NT which Microsoft fixed and offered patches for nearly two years ago.
posted on Mar 9, 2001 - View this thread

Naked Wife Virus Strips Down Computers. The virus arrives as an e-mail titled "Fw: Naked Wife" with a message body that reads: "My wife never look like that! ;-) Best Regards, (sender's name here)" and an attachment called "NakedWife.exe."
posted on Mar 6, 2001 - View this thread

Cyber Soap PC World is trying to sell magazines, but could it also be entertaining?
posted on Feb 26, 2001 - View this thread

GeForce 3 to be available on Macs first. Check out the 3rd video down. Bonus: A look at the new ID 3D engine for Doom. High drool factor.
posted on Feb 22, 2001 - View this thread

Vatican might name Saint Isidore of Seville the patron saint of Internet users and computer programmers. The world keeps getting weirder, doesn't it?
posted on Feb 6, 2001 - View this thread

Can you believe they sell these things online? $1.2 million Sun Enterprise 10000 server or a Sun StorEdge T3 Array, which has a mere 168TB capacity. (yeah that should hold my mp3z)
posted on Jan 24, 2001 - View this thread

Charging for software as a service. As soon as the software vendors get this ironed out the hardware vendors are going to want in too. Soon you'll be paying monthly service fees based on how much you use your computer. (More ranting inside) ->
posted on Jan 10, 2001 - View this thread

Myth III: The Wolf Age Gathering of Developers announced today that Myth III is not only in production but will be sold in November 2001! Anyone else counting the days?
posted on Jan 9, 2001 - View this thread

Make your mouse glow... With a lil' help from Radio Shack you too can create a glowing blue mouse.
posted on Dec 23, 2000 - View this thread

Waah! I want my Barbie PC! (I don't quite understand this; can't someone just put their own decals on their computer? What, exactly was the market here? This one seems to go into the "unbelievably stupid product concept" file.)
posted on Dec 23, 2000 - View this thread

ConceptPC @ Intel - pretty much interesting...response from PCs to iMac-mania?....gimme a MagicBean!! (flash required)
posted on Dec 16, 2000 - View this thread

Lynn Conway is one of the major talents in the history of the development of computers, responsible for major advances without which computers we buy now would be much different. She's also a transsexual, born physically male. While working for IBM she had her sex-change operation, and IBM immediately fired her for it.
posted on Dec 10, 2000 - View this thread

Apple Cubebook?! Sounds like Apple is working their ass off to get new products out to show in January. The Cubebook sounds cool and I am sure there would be pictures if MacOS Rumors wasn't in Apple's back pocket.
posted on Dec 8, 2000 - View this thread

Screen Wars, a decent stab by Stephen Levy from Newsweek/MSNBC at summarizing the changes afoot in desktop OS GUIs. Credit where credit is due for some notable Apple alums; more faith than is justified in .NET.
posted on Dec 5, 2000 - View this thread

180GB HD anyone? It's a bargain at only $2195.
posted on Nov 14, 2000 - View this thread

just another perl poet. program your refrigerator. from /usr/bin/girl
posted on Oct 25, 2000 - View this thread

Damien Barrett launches a new column on Macworld with a novel Holmesian (not Oliver Wendell, but Sherlock) approach. Give the man some feedback in the comments section at the bottom of the column. He also redesigned his web site. Damien's cool.
posted on Oct 4, 2000 - View this thread

Ouch.
posted on Sep 28, 2000 - View this thread

Lord, thank you for this. Mac users our prayers are being answered. No longer will the plagues of type 11 errors and system freezes rule over the people. The writings is on the wall and it is time for us to reign.
posted on Sep 18, 2000 - View this thread

These guys built a case for their computer out of a refrigerator they got at WalMart, and they're cooling the CPU using alcohol at -18 degrees. The lengths to which some people will go to overclock are beyond belief. No word on how fast the mother is, though.
posted on Sep 5, 2000 - View this thread

AT LAST! Someone found a practical use for the new Apple Cube.
posted on Sep 4, 2000 - View this thread

The Background image is a little off, but.... here's a page created entirely on a Commodore 64. Nice to know that everyone's in the web design loop.
posted on Aug 7, 2000 - View this thread

What not to do to a Celeron. (Overclocked just slightly too much.)
posted on Jul 30, 2000 - View this thread

What kind of company sells a dual-CPU machine when the second CPU can't be used? See attached quote.
posted on Jul 25, 2000 - View this thread

Now admit it. You've always wanted to do this.
posted on Jul 25, 2000 - View this thread

Roger Black on Design. MacAddict put up an interview with Roger Black from their August 2000 issue. There are a couple of interesting points as in his take on transitioning from print to web:

"I think that the main thing is pretty much to work as you would in print design. A good designer always focuses on the reader or the customer, the viewer, whatever the end-user is. You just have to do that on the Net the same way you do in print.... I do not believe that the technological hurdles are that big. It doesn't seem to me that big of a deal.... Most of the stuff we do on the Web is not particularly difficult. Almost anybody, particularly anybody under thirty growing up in our society has enough technological culture to work with it. Don't get scared. It’s not that big of a deal."

posted on Jul 20, 2000 - View this thread

The Borg have sent a gift to Earth The much rumored Apple cube seems to be real. Apple Insiders has just posted what looks to be a promotional photo of the new computer. Looks pretty cool. Not sure why there are vents on top but still, I wouldn't mind having one.
posted on Jul 18, 2000 - View this thread

How (not) to improve the ventilation in your computer case.
posted on Jul 17, 2000 - View this thread

"Dear Senator, As a user of the Internet and a fan of music, I am extremely concerned with the issues currently facing the digital music community, particularly those affecting my rights as a consumer to listen to the music that I have purchased. Your hearing has helped the public to understand my concerns."
posted on Jul 14, 2000 - View this thread

Smoking tobacco is bad for computers and other living things.
posted on Jul 7, 2000 - View this thread

The original programmer of the Broderbund/Mattel "spyware" explains that it's actually NOT spyware. This topic was originally discussed on MeFi in this thread.
posted on Jun 17, 2000 - View this thread

Intel nixes iMacs at Harvard exhibit. Obviously, this inspires irrational umbrage in my Mac-lovin' heart, even though I would no doubt have a completely opposite "let's stick it to the man" attitude if Apple did something like this to Intel. [via macintouch]
posted on Jun 9, 2000 - View this thread

And you thought guns were only useful for shooting *people*.
posted on May 30, 2000 - View this thread

Aw crap. You *know* their Linux initiative is going to take the blame for this, right...?
posted on May 18, 2000 - View this thread

Blame MICRO$OFT for the "I love you" virus, ohh, and it has 40 authors to it
posted on May 16, 2000 - View this thread

Voice Recognition - An Optimistic Take. A sunny view of a voice-commanded future. But I'm a little freaked out by their description of "VoiceXML"... someday will we all be saying "Metafilter, CLICK"?
posted on May 16, 2000 - View this thread

Gamers: tired of those doggy framerates? Get the ucfx Woohoo5 34500 AGP graphics card!
[ Courtesy of Hack The Planet. ]
posted on Apr 27, 2000 - View this thread

RedHat Linux security problem uncovered. Today, apparently it was discovered that if you install the Piranha package with RedHat 6.2 (ostensibly part of the default installation, but there's controversy over this), a default password is installed that would give anyone access to the Piranha configuration package; from there, it is apparently trivial to execute any command on the box that you want.
I find it very interesting that the fact that Microsoft had a "backdoor password" in a DLL made huge news (and it turned out to be patently false), yet this has gotten almost no press. I'd like to think otherwise, but I know it's because people hate Microsoft, and thus are eager to deride it... and yet here's proof that even the mighty Linux is susceptible to the same exact problems.
Next time you reach for the keyboard to cry out "nyah nyah!" at the discovery of some problem with Windows, remember this...
posted on Apr 24, 2000 - View this thread

Do security apps like this one actually work? Anyone here with a DSL or ISDN, or other "always on" connections, have any tips on security at home?
posted on Apr 19, 2000 - View this thread

They bagged the kid who was responsible for all those Denial-of-Service attacks a couple of months ago. He's Canadian.

Here's an interesting legal question: could the US extradite him? The crimes were committed in the US, but he was in Canada at the time he did it, since he worked through the Internet. Whose laws apply?

(By the way, I've seen no indication that the US is considering extradition; I was just curious whether they could extradite him.)
posted on Apr 19, 2000 - View this thread

What's old is new again. This sounds suspiciously like "core", which is what computers used when I was in college.
posted on Apr 9, 2000 - View this thread

Microsoft Windows for Linux^TM This site also features Microsoft Linux Certification. It's funny, laugh.
posted on Mar 22, 2000 - View this thread

Japan hit by leap day glitches Looks like y2k wasn't a total bust. I want to know what happens in seven decades, when all the people who implemented a is post-1972, is not post-1972 solution still haven't updated.
posted on Feb 29, 2000 - View this thread

The fact that there's a tool like this available just blows me away. Customize your blue screens of death on windows to any color combo you want...as if that helps anyone out (actually the other apps on that page are pretty useful, I just don't know what good a custom BSOD tool is).
posted on Feb 28, 2000 - View this thread

BeOS 5 will be free for download later this quarter. Smart move. I can't wait to try it out.
posted on Feb 18, 2000 - View this thread

Uncle Sam wants YOU to solve the internet's problems. President Clinton announced yesterday that, due to a complete lack of knowledge about the internet, it will cost $2 billion in 2001 to develop anti-hacker secuity. Plus they intend on subsidizing college costs for computer science majors that agree to work for the government. Hey if he'd give me just one million dollars, I'd be able to pay off my school costs and hunt down hackers personally, like Boba Fett.
posted on Feb 11, 2000 - View this thread

I often forget that there's still a community of visual basic developers out there building all sorts of goofy apps for windows. This site has a whole bunch of useful utilities, including Gribouille, a program that lets you draw all over your desktop, Pubcruncher, an app that kills popup windows, and my favorite: "Nap and Coffee", a fake app that lets you walk away from your computer and make it appear that you're copying large files, scanning for viruses, or setting up a program.
posted on Feb 6, 2000 - View this thread

A wonderful thing happened after the recent merger between eMachines and a company called FreePC. All 25,000 FreePC customers, taking advantage of the company's unique free-internet-and-computer-deal, were allowed to keep their computers with absolutely no strings attached. Real people benefitting from corporate business maneuvers? Gosh.
posted on Feb 4, 2000 - View this thread

This article at zdnet is all about how wireless web devices aren't that handy, and how our lives would suck if wireless web access was everywhere. I heartily disagree. I have a wireless 2Mb LAN connection at work and it's liberating (it's possible to code, listen to shoutcast mp3 streams, and check email outside or down at the coffee house next door). My PCS phone is useful too, I can surf a few important websites when I don't have a laptop around, getting news, weather, and email. Wireless access is certainly a Good Thing, and should make our lives easier, but the article's author is blaming the possible deluge of information on wireless, instead of the user. How would a wireless broadband connection make your life better or worse?
posted on Feb 1, 2000 - View this thread

Last night Kevin Mitnick was on 60 minutes (the gist of the interview is quoted here), and I have to say he came off as an utterly harmless geek. He was an information junkie that enjoyed the challenge of cracking firewalls. He never profited from his activities and the affected companies made up their monetary losses. It's a shame he was forced to waste away in prison instead of offer his security expertise to the affected companies.
posted on Jan 24, 2000 - View this thread

Should Apple change its name? After all, they changed the way we use computers. They changed the way we design. They recently changed their logo. That would certainly be thinking different now, wouldn't it? Personally, I'd like them to change their minds and release a six-slot G4 chassis...
posted on Nov 28, 1999 - View this thread

I'm sorry, but using Java to play back streaming media does not make for a 'playerless' environment. Java is the player, and it needs to be active in order for this product to work. The only true 'playerless' browser environment uses server-push and html meta-refresh.
posted on Nov 20, 1999 - View this thread

Bob Metcalfe on how to be a startup millionaire. I love Bob, ever since he left 3com, he's been a prolific writer on the tech industry. This time he tells how to grow a successful company in 8 easy steps.
posted on Nov 19, 1999 - View this thread

I'd heard about these for a while now but it's good to see actual shots of them. Barbie and Hot Wheels branded PCs are on the way. This is another sign that computers are becoming ingrained into our daily lives, when I was a kid, all I remember wanting was a racecar-shaped bed.
posted on Aug 6, 1999 - View this thread