Beware new AOL free client: Leading Industry watchdog at Harvard labels the free version of AOL 9.0 as badware. Full story here.

Turnabout is fair play ! Microsoft has been trying to minimize the Google monopoly on search function. Now Google is going to do the same for Microsoft's big cash cow, Microsoft Office. Story here.

I love my new MacPro ! The new Mac Pro is a great Workstation PC. It uses 2 high end dual core Xeon Processors, fast SATA Hard Drives, and fast ECC Memory. Since it uses Intel processors, in theory one should be able to run Windows on it. Apple in fact has made that easy with their "BootCamp" software. I created a 32 Gig Partition and formatted it with FAT32 to simplify transferring files between Windows and Mac OS worlds. Software exists to run both OSs simultaneously, but a version that works with the new MacPro hasn't been released yet, so for now, switching requires a simple reboot; and that reboot is relatively fast with this fast machine.

Dump Windows Update and WGA - How to is here.

Microsoft retreats (a little) - Microsoft's WGA spyware no longer checks daily allegedly. Story here.

Microsoft has Installed Spyware on your PC - Brian Livingston, author of many "Windows Secrets" books and normally a mild mannered person, takes Microsoft to task for their WGA beta program, which they secretly have "phone home" - thus it is spyware. Full story here:

This TiVo could live forever: My son bought a lifetime contract (for $250) 3 1/2 years ago when he got a 140060 SA TiVo. Monthly fees would have cost him $543 by now. He was upset when his TiVo "died" last month.

I told him: Let me try and fix it, it's probably just the hard drive", and if he decided to stay with the Comcast DVR he got in the meantime, I could sell it on eBay for him. Frys had 300 Gig Seagates for cheap to use to replace/upgrade his OEM hard drive so I got one.

When I got the unit, I plugged it in, and despite lighting up, nothing to the TV screen, upon opening it up, the Hard Drive wasn't spinning up. I tried a different hard drive, and it too lay dormant. I went to the Weaknees.com site where it confirmed my suspicion that the Power Supply was bad, so I ordered a replacement from them. It came today, and I swapped it in, and voila : TiVo LIVES. Then I restored the 3 1/2 year old OEM 60 Gig HD onto the new 300 Gig HD, which saved all my son's settings and recording (took about 90 minutes). His TiVo now has ~ 370 hours recording time, and still has its Lifetime Subscription. Instructions here.

My son wants it back, telling me his Comcast DVR only recorded 80% of what he told it to.
I own a DirecTv unit with TiVo, so I have no need for it, and it's being shipped now.

It's nice to be able to do things for ones' children.

Can you hear me now? Allegedly a high frequency ringtone has been making the rounds in Great Britain. Teens can hear it, adults can't so the story goes. I'm not aware of any cell phone that has the capability of producing such high frequency sounds, so I'm skeptical. Story here:
Download the ringtone here.

I knew, do you know? Five things you should know before trying to Install
Windows Vista, Beta 2. Story here.

Five other things you should know.

1. GHOST your hard drive before installing Vista.
2. Create a new partition for Vista so you can dual boot.
3. Download your Soundblaster Drivers from Creative Labs.
4. Turn off Energy Savings on your Network Card. Turn off Vista Sidebar.
Configure settings for your Domain/Workgroup.
5. Firefox 1.5.0x works great, use it.

Microsoft is too cheap to buy enough bandwidth from Akamai. Anyone can now download a beta of Windows Vista here. In theory anyway. Try it Thursday morning, June 8, 2006, and you get this message:

Thank you for your interest in Windows Vista Beta 2.

We are currently experiencing a high level of demand and cannot process your request at this time.

Please check back later for availability. We apologize for any inconvenience.

FOLLOWUP: Luckily third parties have mirrored it. You may have more luck downloading it here. Don't forget to get an install code from Microsoft. Thanks to that mirror I downloaded it quickly. Read one opinion of installing Vista in the June 8 posting on a blog here, and here .

Glad I didn't buy an HP Digital camera: Cause they might burst into flame they're being recalled. Story here.

More cut and paste from Press Release disguised as news: Forbes has news (which is 100% wrong) that Microsoft launched its first Macintosh keyboard. Forbes baloney here.
The reason I know it's baloney is this April 16, 2002 Microsoft Press Release announcing that the Microsoft keyboards work with Macintosh.

Writing by committee ? PC World has an interesting list of 25 Worst Tech Products. Problem is they seem to have three separate criteria for inclusion. With some products only meeting one of the criteria.
1. Doesn't work as advertised or not fit for purpose.
2. Way overpriced.
3. Commercial failure.

Interesting discussion topic, however

Surprise, surprise, NOT - Microsoft admits Vista may slip past its' January planned release. Of course you read that here 3 weeks ago.

Free download for MS Office 2007 Beta: Click here.

Worse than SPAM: SPIM: Don't click on unexpected links while using Yahoo Messenger, or you'll be a victim. Story here:

Windows VISTA requirements: Microsoft makes official what one needs in a PC to be able to run VISTA (the new version of Windows, now due out next year). Check it out here.

Industry expert predicts next version of Windows will be LATE: Microsoft claims the public will see Windows Vista in January, others say April if you're lucky.

Add-on for Sony Digital Camera: I got me a Sunshade for the LCD screen on the back of the camera. Found it locally for 20% less than the web price. See it here. Buy it here.

Sony has wonderful digital cameras: I decided to sell off some of my Canon SLRs on eBay and use the proceeds to buy a new digital camera. My current Canon G2 is a great camera, but these days, newest models have higher resolution, smaller form factor, and can take pictures under lower light conditions (i.e. effective ASA of 800 or higher).

A good friend of my son has a Canon S2, and produces remarkable pictures for her website, but the S2 is about to be replaced by the S3, and such cameras are larger and heavier than I wanted, as is a soon to be available Sony H5 . I wanted one of the new under 8 ounce models. The small form factor camera will be great as I go on land excursions from a cruise this summer. A 2 gigabyte memory stick now costs less than a 128 Meg memory card did 4 years ago.

I finally chose a Sony DSC-W100 over similar Canon models, due to a lower cost, 8.1 megapixels instead of 7.1, higher effective ASA, and a good protective shield over their LCD screen on the back of the camera, which I proceeded to further protect with a Belkin PDA screen protector sheet (which Belkin apparently no longer sells). Reviews of Canon models tell of grief with failing LCD screens, and Canon's refusal to cover such under warranty. The Sony comes with Windows software, but none for the Macintosh, so I was pleased to discover that despite not being on the list of supported cameras, Apples' iPhoto software works perfectly with the W100, plug in the camera, turn it on, and "## pictures ready to import" pops up on the computer screen.