Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Another one bites the dust!!

Yet another MSFT product that was designed to compete against Apple bites the dust! The MSFT Kin phone (never heard of it? Don't worry no one else did either) has been declared dead by MSFT.

Unofficial numbers indicate that around 500 Kin phones have been sold!! What?? That's an appalling low number.

Zune, Kin, whatever else, MSFT sucks at hardware and can't compete with Apple!!

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Lemmings

The tech-lemmings of the country are rushing over the cliffs this week in their desire to be the "first" people to get the latest iPhones and Droid phones. They're waiting in line and paying through the noise for the privilege of getting a new toy. I'm sorry, I just don't get it.

I love tech toys but I don't get the passion that iPhone users feel. As much as I've tried to like the iPhone it just isn't my cup of tea. Bless all of you who can't live without one. I can live a long and happy life without ever downloading a single app.

Monday, June 21, 2010

July newsletter

The July issue of our newsletter was emailed earlier this morning. If you didn't get your copy, or know of other readers who might like to get it, please let me know!

Friday, June 18, 2010

More free software

We recently found out about another free software offer. Avira AntiVir for Windows is availaable at www.free-av.com. We haven't had a chance to test it yet but it is recommended by Consumer Reports!

Sunday, June 13, 2010

Let thre batle begin!!

Officially joining the browser-based productivity game, Microsoft late Monday released the browser-based versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote.

The Office Web Apps, as the programs are dubbed, are slimmed down versions of the desktop counterparts, allowing for document viewing, sharing, and lightweight editing. Consumers get free access to the tools, along with 25GB of storage as part of Windows Live, while businesses can also host their own version of the Web Apps using the latest version of Sharepoint. The main catch is that using the browser-based versions require an active Internet connection.

"We'll have more to share next week when Office 2010 is released to consumers, including how Office 2010+SkyDrive+Office Web Apps give you the best productivity experience across the PC, phone, and browser," Microsoft's Jason Moore said in a blog post. "In the meantime, if you live in the US, UK, Canada, or Ireland, you can head over to Office.live.com today to start viewing and editing Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and OneNote documents right in your web browser-and share them with your friends."
Actually, people outside those regions can also use the Web apps, by clicking here, although it may not be in their preferred language.

The launch of the Office Web Apps comes as Google has been making the case that businesses should just skip this version of Office, and add Google Docs in addition to their old version of Office.
Microsoft's Web apps are designed to work on Macs, Windows PCs, and Linux-based computers using Firefox, Internet Explorer, or Safari (though Google's Chrome and other browsers may work as well). The programs have been available in a limited technology preview since last year. The free consumer versions are designed to be ad-supported, though Microsoft has said that for the foreseeable future it expects to show ads that encourage people to buy the full version of Office.

Microsoft has also built the Web apps into a new version of Hotmail and created a labs effort called Docs.com that allows the sharing of Office documents over Facebook.

Monday, June 7, 2010

New iPhone

Well it's finally here. Steve Jobs announced the latest iPhone today at the Apple developers conference. We saw a wonderful clip of the event and thought everyone shouild see it.

Jobs couldn't get the demo to work because of WiFi problems and repeatedly had to ask the audience to turn off their devices!! I'm sorryb but this is just one more indication that thje AT&T network that the iPhone is wedded to just can't handle the load!
http://gizmodo.com/5557458/

Verizon anyone?

Thursday, June 3, 2010

AT&T pricing

AT&Ts decision to stop offering unlimited data plans affects millions of users and may have serious long term repercussions. What will it mean in the long run? Loss of customers, and their money, is the biggest probability, IF competitors can take advantage of this opportinity.

AT&T and Apple both have monopolistic goals. They want to control every aspect of your life and make obscene profits on the way.

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Google goes Winless

Google has announced that they are starting to pull the plug on the juse of MSFT Win operation systems.

A Financial Times report late Monday cited “several Google employees,” who say the shift was accelerated by security concerns following the hacking attack that prompted Google to shut down its China site earlier this year. The report says that new hires are given the option of a Mac or Linux-based PC as their company-issued computer. It also quotes some employees who say that uproar at Google over the phase-out of Windows has been far less than it might have been if the company had pulled the plug on Apple products.

With Google only a few months away from introducing their Chrome OS, I guess this is a logical step. Personally I love Ubuntu 10.04 and see no reason to use MSFT products on most computers for most users.