Good tidings
Things are looking up for the PC industry. Research company IDC has just raised its forecast for worldwide PC shipments to a record high of 152.6m units in 2003, and PC companies are starting to expand into the consumer electronics market....
Schofield column
Guardian Online
Upgrading to a new PC, and feedback on film scanning.
Ask Jack
e-Xmax cards, getting your SMS message displayed to the world, searching Google for numbers (eg US patents, FedEx packages), trivia at the NoRelevance site, another new book about Google -- with an online tutorial, MSN's newsbot, GeoSnapping, and original album cover art.
Web watch
9.12.03
Can Hewlett-Packard topple IBM to claim the title of the world's biggest computer company?
Schofield column
Computer Weekly
Schofield column
Computer Weekly
14.11.03
Don't believe the hype
Gartner has been telling European clients which technologies it thinks are ready for adoption and which ones can wait a few years.
Schofield column
Guardian Online
Choosing a digital camera for copying and other close-up tasks. Printing multiple pictures on a single sheet of paper. Eliminating some of the Google-spammers who are getting their sites too prominently displayed. A browser hi-jacked by Lucky Search, and how to get rid of it. Backchat: a drive to store photos on the move, and more ways to pickup RSS feeds with and without Microsoft Outlook.
Ask Jack
Gartner has been telling European clients which technologies it thinks are ready for adoption and which ones can wait a few years.
Schofield column
Guardian Online
Choosing a digital camera for copying and other close-up tasks. Printing multiple pictures on a single sheet of paper. Eliminating some of the Google-spammers who are getting their sites too prominently displayed. A browser hi-jacked by Lucky Search, and how to get rid of it. Backchat: a drive to store photos on the move, and more ways to pickup RSS feeds with and without Microsoft Outlook.
Ask Jack
7.11.03
The coming software patent crisis
Tim Berners-Lee, the Web's inventor, has joined in the fight to help Microsoft, which lost a software patent case over browser plug-in technologies.
Schofield column
Guardian Online
The Royal College of Art's Secret postcard sale. A launch pad for sites about the US presidential elections. A great collection of police mugshots. Google now lets you define: words. Mooter -- a search engine that clusters results. Brainstorm -- software to help you organize your thoughts.
Web watch
A resistible offer from Top-Sites; one way to keep your digital pictures on a long trip; getting RSS feeds in Microsoft Outlook; and dealing with a PC that dials by itself. Backchat: synchronizing a PC's clock; keyboard shortcuts; and more on movie formats.
Ask Jack
Tim Berners-Lee, the Web's inventor, has joined in the fight to help Microsoft, which lost a software patent case over browser plug-in technologies.
Schofield column
Guardian Online
The Royal College of Art's Secret postcard sale. A launch pad for sites about the US presidential elections. A great collection of police mugshots. Google now lets you define: words. Mooter -- a search engine that clusters results. Brainstorm -- software to help you organize your thoughts.
Web watch
A resistible offer from Top-Sites; one way to keep your digital pictures on a long trip; getting RSS feeds in Microsoft Outlook; and dealing with a PC that dials by itself. Backchat: synchronizing a PC's clock; keyboard shortcuts; and more on movie formats.
Ask Jack
31.10.03
Google fights for top spot
Google is planning to go public, but Yahoo and Microsoft are planning to knock it off its search perch.
Guardian Online
Clash of the Titans
Sony Ericsson P900 v XDA2. Which is best, the phone that includes an organizer or the organizer than includes a phone?
Guardian Online
Portable memory devices: we've moved on from floppies....
Start here
Guardian Online
The keys to productivity: learn some combos, speed up your work, and reduce the risk of RSI.
Schofield column
Guardian Online
Getting your PC to fetch the correct time. Accessing sites that redirect you to a different country -- inlcuding the Microsoft Update site. The Thumbs.db file in Windows XP. Backchat: more on sending video clips and controlling Windows start-up programs.
Ask Jack
The passage of call centre jobs to India is causing alarm in the UK, but IT companies operate in a global market that depends on free trade. And India also represents a huge potential market....
Computer Weekly
Google is planning to go public, but Yahoo and Microsoft are planning to knock it off its search perch.
Guardian Online
Clash of the Titans
Sony Ericsson P900 v XDA2. Which is best, the phone that includes an organizer or the organizer than includes a phone?
Guardian Online
Portable memory devices: we've moved on from floppies....
Start here
Guardian Online
The keys to productivity: learn some combos, speed up your work, and reduce the risk of RSI.
Schofield column
Guardian Online
Getting your PC to fetch the correct time. Accessing sites that redirect you to a different country -- inlcuding the Microsoft Update site. The Thumbs.db file in Windows XP. Backchat: more on sending video clips and controlling Windows start-up programs.
Ask Jack
The passage of call centre jobs to India is causing alarm in the UK, but IT companies operate in a global market that depends on free trade. And India also represents a huge potential market....
Computer Weekly
24.10.03
On the up PC sales are stronger than predicted. Reasons include: the move towards notebook PCs; the battle between Dell and Hewlett-Packard; the fact that PCs bought to avoid Year 2000 problem are slow by today's standards; and the success of Microsoft Windows XP.
Schofield column
Guardian Online
Sending video clips to the grandchildren (or anybody else). What to do when you have lost your web-site address (because you forgot to pay to renew it). The end of support for Windows 98. More ways to access data when you're away.
Ask Jack
Schofield column
Guardian Online
Sending video clips to the grandchildren (or anybody else). What to do when you have lost your web-site address (because you forgot to pay to renew it). The end of support for Windows 98. More ways to access data when you're away.
Ask Jack
17.10.03
US risks losing software business
Andy Grove told the Global Tech Summit in Washington, DC that it was National Depression Screening Day, and "I'm here to be the skunk at your garden party". The software industry could follow the steel and other industries overseas....
Schofield column
Guardian Online
Your installation of Windows is getting clogged up with resource-grabbing apps and parasites or just suffering from bit-rot. Here are some things you can try, up to a complete re-installation.
Ask Jack
Andy Grove told the Global Tech Summit in Washington, DC that it was National Depression Screening Day, and "I'm here to be the skunk at your garden party". The software industry could follow the steel and other industries overseas....
Schofield column
Guardian Online
Your installation of Windows is getting clogged up with resource-grabbing apps and parasites or just suffering from bit-rot. Here are some things you can try, up to a complete re-installation.
Ask Jack
25.9.03
Spam, spam, government legislation and spam...
British governments so often seem to get things wrong that the latest "anti-spam" action should come as no surprise. The quotation marks have been added because if it does have any effect, the new regulation seems more likely to encourage spam.
Schofield column
Guardian Online
Spy software; Make a Difference Day wants your IT input; hurricanes online; the 100 documents that helped shape America (and can we have a UK version); Ikea games, and World Globe for Windows. Plus: Six of the best alternatives to Google.
Web watch
Yes another Microsoft virus -- but it didn't come from Microsoft. Predictive text: word processors that guess what you are writing. Baby steps in home networking. Removing Norton AntiVirus. Backchat: more programs that watch the web for you.
Ask Jack
How their kids will learn
What will schools be like in 2033? Will they change as society changes, and how will society change if we develop computers that are smarter than we are?
The Classroom of the Future
Education Guardian
British governments so often seem to get things wrong that the latest "anti-spam" action should come as no surprise. The quotation marks have been added because if it does have any effect, the new regulation seems more likely to encourage spam.
Schofield column
Guardian Online
Spy software; Make a Difference Day wants your IT input; hurricanes online; the 100 documents that helped shape America (and can we have a UK version); Ikea games, and World Globe for Windows. Plus: Six of the best alternatives to Google.
Web watch
Yes another Microsoft virus -- but it didn't come from Microsoft. Predictive text: word processors that guess what you are writing. Baby steps in home networking. Removing Norton AntiVirus. Backchat: more programs that watch the web for you.
Ask Jack
How their kids will learn
What will schools be like in 2033? Will they change as society changes, and how will society change if we develop computers that are smarter than we are?
The Classroom of the Future
Education Guardian
19.9.03
Sony hopes to create its Dream World in reality by exploiting "synergy" between its hardware, software and content offerings, starting with a music download service....
Schofield column
Guardian Online
Time for Windows users to install some of those patches that Microsoft is putting out regularly. Moving IE mail from a Mac to a PC, hiding Internet Explorer and other Microsoft programs in Windows XP, and services that will watch Web pages for updates.
Ask Jack
Orange unveils its Signature version of the new quad-band Handspring Treo 600 smart phone.
What's New
Buying a PDA
Start here
Schofield column
Guardian Online
Time for Windows users to install some of those patches that Microsoft is putting out regularly. Moving IE mail from a Mac to a PC, hiding Internet Explorer and other Microsoft programs in Windows XP, and services that will watch Web pages for updates.
Ask Jack
Orange unveils its Signature version of the new quad-band Handspring Treo 600 smart phone.
What's New
Buying a PDA
Start here
12.9.03
Costly medicine The cost of dealing with computer viruses and worms, and the threat to the public infrastructure, seems finally to have stirred the forces of law and order -- or at least, the FBI.
Schofield column
Guardian Online
Can't reach a Web site? If you use NTL broadband, it may be a cache problem. AV spam: bouncing SoBig e-mails is not useful. Finding the Ask Jack archive, and the propblem of stopping "windows messenger service" pop-ups revisited. Backchat on Thunderbird and sites that tell you your IP address.
Ask Jack
Yahoo gets into blogging -- but only in South Korea. Privacy and Human Rights: read the sixth annual survey. Pop Idol games and ringtones. Freenet founder gets into search with WhittleBit. The BBC's online courses and styleguide are helpful -- and there are other free styleguides. Getting a free trial print from Canon. Understanding American Pie moves to a new address. Six of the best 9/11 sites.
Web watch
Buying a portable PC
Start here
Schofield column
Guardian Online
Can't reach a Web site? If you use NTL broadband, it may be a cache problem. AV spam: bouncing SoBig e-mails is not useful. Finding the Ask Jack archive, and the propblem of stopping "windows messenger service" pop-ups revisited. Backchat on Thunderbird and sites that tell you your IP address.
Ask Jack
Yahoo gets into blogging -- but only in South Korea. Privacy and Human Rights: read the sixth annual survey. Pop Idol games and ringtones. Freenet founder gets into search with WhittleBit. The BBC's online courses and styleguide are helpful -- and there are other free styleguides. Getting a free trial print from Canon. Understanding American Pie moves to a new address. Six of the best 9/11 sites.
Web watch
Buying a portable PC
Start here
4.9.03
28.8.03
Licence to 'drive' a computer? You don't need one but maybe you should: users who don't know what they are doing can be a danger to others on the Internet. Having said that, Microsoft could improve things by delivering its systems with security defaults etc turned on instead of off.
Schofield column
Guardian Online
Google now includes a rather wonderful calculator function. Brainboost is another attempt at putting natural language processing on the front of a search function. Collect Britain, from the British Library, has started to put documents online in an entertaining form. An online music competition for piano, oboe, violin and trumpet players, to begin with. European blogging site 20six has moved to a new platform. Gamers can now vote in the C&VG Golden Joystick awards. Tiscali Entertainment has started streaming short films. Plus: Six of the best sites for students.
Web watch
Getting better search facilities in Microsoft Windows XP. Can you keep e-mail addresses away from mass-mailing viruses? You don't need to download the Java version of the Opera browser, unless you need Java for other purposes. Proxyconn caching, and better software for iPod users with Windows.
Ask Jack
Schofield column
Guardian Online
Google now includes a rather wonderful calculator function. Brainboost is another attempt at putting natural language processing on the front of a search function. Collect Britain, from the British Library, has started to put documents online in an entertaining form. An online music competition for piano, oboe, violin and trumpet players, to begin with. European blogging site 20six has moved to a new platform. Gamers can now vote in the C&VG Golden Joystick awards. Tiscali Entertainment has started streaming short films. Plus: Six of the best sites for students.
Web watch
Getting better search facilities in Microsoft Windows XP. Can you keep e-mail addresses away from mass-mailing viruses? You don't need to download the Java version of the Opera browser, unless you need Java for other purposes. Proxyconn caching, and better software for iPod users with Windows.
Ask Jack
21.8.03
Let's go Nutch... Some of the net's self-appointed guardians have launched a project to develop an open source search engine. Apparently there's a fear that Google is or could become too powerful. In fact, it faces tough competition from Yahoo, Microsoft and others.
Schofield column
Guardian Online
The Blaster worm, uploading files to a PC from an iPod, spam, and accessing secure Web pages.
Ask Jack
How to beat Blaster
A step-by-step guide to removing the MS Blast worm from your PC.
Guardian Unlimited
New strain, old refrain
The latest version of the SoBig virus may be the precursor to something far more destructive.
Guardian Unlimited
Challenge-response systems could beat spam. They are a terrible idea, but at the moment, it doesn't look as though there is going to be a viable alternative....
Schofield column
Computer Weekly
Schofield column
Guardian Online
The Blaster worm, uploading files to a PC from an iPod, spam, and accessing secure Web pages.
Ask Jack
How to beat Blaster
A step-by-step guide to removing the MS Blast worm from your PC.
Guardian Unlimited
New strain, old refrain
The latest version of the SoBig virus may be the precursor to something far more destructive.
Guardian Unlimited
Challenge-response systems could beat spam. They are a terrible idea, but at the moment, it doesn't look as though there is going to be a viable alternative....
Schofield column
Computer Weekly
7.8.03
Should Linux users pay a licence? What we now call Linux started as a project to clone Unix, through GNU (Gnu's Not Unix). If you wanted to guarantee a non-infringing version, it should have been done as a "clean room" implementation -- but the open development methodology made that impossible.
Schofield column
Guardian Online
The problem of "copy protected" audio CDs, and what to do about them. You can't have Gator without GAIN (Gator Advertiser Information Network). Putting a pinboard online, and a simple UK accounting program for a sole trader. Backchat: old printer cartridges can help the British Red Cross.
Ask Jack
Schofield column
Guardian Online
The problem of "copy protected" audio CDs, and what to do about them. You can't have Gator without GAIN (Gator Advertiser Information Network). Putting a pinboard online, and a simple UK accounting program for a sole trader. Backchat: old printer cartridges can help the British Red Cross.
Ask Jack
31.7.03
Are most commercial websites designed by children? It does look that way, given the number of sites that put a "cool" appearance above usability, accessibility and functionality.
Schofield column
Guardian Online
Home page hi-jackers and other parasites are now running rampant in the Windows/Internet Explorer world. However, there are some free programs you can use to clean up your PC, and some utilities that try to prevent scumware from being installed. The lottery scam: how you can lose $1,500-$3,000. Plus: how to stop spam.
Ask Jack
Schofield column
Guardian Online
Home page hi-jackers and other parasites are now running rampant in the Windows/Internet Explorer world. However, there are some free programs you can use to clean up your PC, and some utilities that try to prevent scumware from being installed. The lottery scam: how you can lose $1,500-$3,000. Plus: how to stop spam.
Ask Jack
25.7.03
Schofield's First Law of Computing Standardisation and ubiquity mean that buying PC-based systems is virtually risk-free, but this does not mean that computers are no longer a threat to your financial health. There is still a huge risk involved in the part of the system that is the most expensive to create and the hardest to replace: your data.
Schofield column
Guardian Online
Advertising on eBay and someone wants to send you too much money in a form that is supposed to be as good as cash? Yes, it is still a scam. How to get the right keyboard set in Windows. Removing temporary files: it's safer if you do a "staged delete". Backchat: disposing of CDs, alternative browsers, software to change files that are marked as read-only, and software for blogging.
Ask Jack
Formula One 2003, the official Formula One game for the PlayStation 2.
Gameswatch
Schofield column
Guardian Online
Advertising on eBay and someone wants to send you too much money in a form that is supposed to be as good as cash? Yes, it is still a scam. How to get the right keyboard set in Windows. Removing temporary files: it's safer if you do a "staged delete". Backchat: disposing of CDs, alternative browsers, software to change files that are marked as read-only, and software for blogging.
Ask Jack
Formula One 2003, the official Formula One game for the PlayStation 2.
Gameswatch
18.7.03
Beware "migmaf", a new Trojan that could make it look as though your Windows PC is distributing spam, or worse.
Guardian Online
Decorators with keyboards I would love to see a few web designers thrown in jail for designing unusable and inaccessible sites. Not much chance of that, but the Royal National Institute of the Blind (RNIB) is backing a number of individuals in taking legal action against various as yet unnamed websites that they say do not comply with the Disability Discrimination Act 1995.
Schofield column
Guardian Online
Black and Asian history sites. Internet shopping day. The Schools Web Directory UK reckons it has found all the state secondary schools with Web sites. Building a database of US government employees. A multimedia visit to the Burarra Gathering of indigenous people in northern Australia. Six of the best: Tour de France.
Web watch
What is the best way to destory a CD? Where would you start blogging? Teporary files left around by Microsoft Word. Can you lock a window in Internet Explorer? (If you can, please tell me how!) Backchat: that XP password, software that will click the mouse for you, and changing file attributes from DOS.
Ask Jack
Guardian Online
Decorators with keyboards I would love to see a few web designers thrown in jail for designing unusable and inaccessible sites. Not much chance of that, but the Royal National Institute of the Blind (RNIB) is backing a number of individuals in taking legal action against various as yet unnamed websites that they say do not comply with the Disability Discrimination Act 1995.
Schofield column
Guardian Online
Black and Asian history sites. Internet shopping day. The Schools Web Directory UK reckons it has found all the state secondary schools with Web sites. Building a database of US government employees. A multimedia visit to the Burarra Gathering of indigenous people in northern Australia. Six of the best: Tour de France.
Web watch
What is the best way to destory a CD? Where would you start blogging? Teporary files left around by Microsoft Word. Can you lock a window in Internet Explorer? (If you can, please tell me how!) Backchat: that XP password, software that will click the mouse for you, and changing file attributes from DOS.
Ask Jack
10.7.03
Browser wars 2.0 Netscape has just released the last version of its eight-year-old web browser to not much acclaim. AOL, which owns Netscape, won't use it and has signed up with Microsoft again -- and last year, AOL also laid off almost all of Netscape's browser programmers. But Firebird and Thunderbird -- the next browser and standalone mail client being developed as open source by the Mozilla project -- are starting to look pretty cool, and you can try them now.
Schofield column
Guardian Online
Peter Leckie wants to keep people out of his notebook PC running Windows, while Alan Fletcher has been locked out by Windows XP and wants to get back in. Backchat: Sente has a free program that will change all those read-only files (copied from CD) to read-write format, while SDP from the Streaming Download Project to record Microsoft streaming formats.
Ask Jack
Schofield column
Guardian Online
Peter Leckie wants to keep people out of his notebook PC running Windows, while Alan Fletcher has been locked out by Windows XP and wants to get back in. Backchat: Sente has a free program that will change all those read-only files (copied from CD) to read-write format, while SDP from the Streaming Download Project to record Microsoft streaming formats.
Ask Jack
3.7.03
Can Michael Dell keep it up? The company has grown from less than $1bn in sales to $35bn in a decade, and now it plans to target consumers and the digital home.
Schofield column
Guardian Online
America's Do Not Call registry is a huge success. Learn online writing, free, at trAce in Nottingham. Get Usenet newsgroups tracked, with email alerts. The Knockoff Project -- fun with album covers. Karl Marx was an immigrant. Google launches Toolbar 2. Barbie doll collectors and the ones Mattel hasn't produced -- Latex Fetish Barbie, Dominatrix Barbie, Neo-Nazi Barbie etc. Six of the best: Katharine Hepburn.
Web watch
Email for kids -- preferably without the porn spam. Is it worth dividing up a Windows XP hard drive? Those 419 West African scams -- if we all replied, would it slow them down? Backchat: readers suggest free or cheap Web space; Messer -- another program for recording Web audio.
Ask Jack
Why has Sun spent the past six years bashing Microsoft when everybody knows which companies are going to eat its business for breakfast: Intel-based hardware suppliers such as Dell, and Linux suppliers such as Red Hat and SuSE.
Schofield column
Computer Weekly
Schofield column
Guardian Online
America's Do Not Call registry is a huge success. Learn online writing, free, at trAce in Nottingham. Get Usenet newsgroups tracked, with email alerts. The Knockoff Project -- fun with album covers. Karl Marx was an immigrant. Google launches Toolbar 2. Barbie doll collectors and the ones Mattel hasn't produced -- Latex Fetish Barbie, Dominatrix Barbie, Neo-Nazi Barbie etc. Six of the best: Katharine Hepburn.
Web watch
Email for kids -- preferably without the porn spam. Is it worth dividing up a Windows XP hard drive? Those 419 West African scams -- if we all replied, would it slow them down? Backchat: readers suggest free or cheap Web space; Messer -- another program for recording Web audio.
Ask Jack
Why has Sun spent the past six years bashing Microsoft when everybody knows which companies are going to eat its business for breakfast: Intel-based hardware suppliers such as Dell, and Linux suppliers such as Red Hat and SuSE.
Schofield column
Computer Weekly
27.6.03
Spambusters Time to get tough on spam -- and that means action at all levels, from changes in software to changes in legislation.
Guardian Online
IT Matters The Harvard Business Review has stirred up a bit of controversy by claiming it doesn't, but it's not to be taken too seriously....
Schofield column
Guardian Online
Broadband choice -- Ethernet or USB? Changes you don't want -- correcting an AutoCorrect entry in Microsoft Word. The search for free Web space. Backchat: recording Internet radio broadcasts, and another free firewall to try.
Ask Jack
Guardian Online
IT Matters The Harvard Business Review has stirred up a bit of controversy by claiming it doesn't, but it's not to be taken too seriously....
Schofield column
Guardian Online
Broadband choice -- Ethernet or USB? Changes you don't want -- correcting an AutoCorrect entry in Microsoft Word. The search for free Web space. Backchat: recording Internet radio broadcasts, and another free firewall to try.
Ask Jack
19.6.03
Tracked and tested -- Wal-Mart pushes RFID tags, and it could well have to power to prompt widespread adoption, as it did with bar codes.
Guardian Online
It's in our hands Handheld computers may not be as popular as they used to be as consumer devices, but they still have a lot of potential in the corporate market.
Schofield column
Guardian Online
The Tour de France -- it's time to start picking your team. Re Jesus -- the Bible in txt format, and other bits of fun. Technorati brings home the bloggers. Web Demographic. Pets with pages on the White House site. "Most unwanted Americans" -- the latest deck of cards. Six on the best: Blockbuster films.
Web watch
A firewall can reveal that you are running software you don't know about, and may prefer to do without. Capturing Internet radio broadcasts. Backchat: extending that phone line using the mains, and more on The Proxomitron.
Ask Jack
Guardian Online
It's in our hands Handheld computers may not be as popular as they used to be as consumer devices, but they still have a lot of potential in the corporate market.
Schofield column
Guardian Online
The Tour de France -- it's time to start picking your team. Re Jesus -- the Bible in txt format, and other bits of fun. Technorati brings home the bloggers. Web Demographic. Pets with pages on the White House site. "Most unwanted Americans" -- the latest deck of cards. Six on the best: Blockbuster films.
Web watch
A firewall can reveal that you are running software you don't know about, and may prefer to do without. Capturing Internet radio broadcasts. Backchat: extending that phone line using the mains, and more on The Proxomitron.
Ask Jack
13.6.03
Palm rescues Handspring ... and gets into the phone business with the Treo Communicator.
Guardian Online
Microsoft is providing a sort of "server stability" by delivering things late, but it is delivering performance and it now has a master plan to create an integrated server system.
Schofield column
Guardian Online
The CD that shattered; connecting a PC wirelessly... without Wi-Fi; Windows Messenger Service pop-up ads revisited; blocking ads and other things with The Proxomitron; livable solutions to the overheating laptop problem; clicking OK when you are not there.
Ask Jack
Guardian Online
Microsoft is providing a sort of "server stability" by delivering things late, but it is delivering performance and it now has a master plan to create an integrated server system.
Schofield column
Guardian Online
The CD that shattered; connecting a PC wirelessly... without Wi-Fi; Windows Messenger Service pop-up ads revisited; blocking ads and other things with The Proxomitron; livable solutions to the overheating laptop problem; clicking OK when you are not there.
Ask Jack
6.6.03
Munich picks Linux. Judge Jackson thought Linux was a joke but Munich plans to install it on about 14,000 desktops. Brave? Not really. It's following a lead given by the German government, and it will have the backing of the world's biggest computer company, IBM.
Guardian Online
Schofield column
The Webby Awards, and World Environment Day. The portal for people with impaired vision, and the Connexion for troubled teens. Who remembers you? This site could help find out. Broad Brother -- the high-speed version of Channel 4's Big Brother. Geek tests: which Matrix character are you, and other quizzes.
Web watch
Hot Tosh: The Satellite that shuts down after half an hour. There may be a tilde (~) file on your Windows desktop -- here's why. The CD-ROM drive stops reading the disc -- try giving it a clean. Removing browser hijackers, including i-lookup. Backchat: more on Polish caracters (but it helps if you read Polish).
Ask Jack
Blogging software is going to become an important business tool. You should be playing with it now, to learn what it can do.
Schofield column
Computer Weekly
Guardian Online
Schofield column
The Webby Awards, and World Environment Day. The portal for people with impaired vision, and the Connexion for troubled teens. Who remembers you? This site could help find out. Broad Brother -- the high-speed version of Channel 4's Big Brother. Geek tests: which Matrix character are you, and other quizzes.
Web watch
Hot Tosh: The Satellite that shuts down after half an hour. There may be a tilde (~) file on your Windows desktop -- here's why. The CD-ROM drive stops reading the disc -- try giving it a clean. Removing browser hijackers, including i-lookup. Backchat: more on Polish caracters (but it helps if you read Polish).
Ask Jack
Blogging software is going to become an important business tool. You should be playing with it now, to learn what it can do.
Schofield column
Computer Weekly
23.5.03
Why we need stupid networks
Guardian Online
Schofield column
All aboard the ARKive, a site for endangered species.
Web watch
The Fizzer virus, driving Windows using MouseKeys, and other problems
Ask Jack
Thursday, May 15, 2003
The Silver Surfer of the Year Award heralds a new push to get the over 50s online.
Guardian Online
Guardian Online
Schofield column
All aboard the ARKive, a site for endangered species.
Web watch
The Fizzer virus, driving Windows using MouseKeys, and other problems
Ask Jack
Thursday, May 15, 2003
The Silver Surfer of the Year Award heralds a new push to get the over 50s online.
Guardian Online
9.5.03
Social software -- is it the next big thing, or something we've had for decades? It was certainly the hot topic at the recent O'Reilly Emerging Technologies conference, highlighted by a terrific keynote from Clay Shirky.
Guardian Online
When computer companies collide: it's a year since Hewlett-Packard took over Compaq to create a computer giant. Computer industry mergers are usually a bad idea, but this one seems to be going better than most.
Guardian Online
Schofield column
Art after Levi's. DNA revisited -- the Linux Pauling story. Where did that band name come from? May weeks: time to celebrate National Breastfeeding Awareness Week and National Vegetarian Week, among others. Six of the best: Revision sites.
Web watch
Why doesn't a "40GB" drive hold 40GB of data? How much space is Windows taking up? And how much is a second-hand PC worth?
Ask Jack
Thursday, May 1, 2003
Drive to put in a good word -- Brewster Kahle thinks big. In a world where most people can't back up their own hard drive, he started keeping an archive of the internet, and created the Wayback Machine. His latest project is even bigger: to provide universal access to all human knowledge. Putting about a million books (soon!) in the back of a van is just the start.
Guardian Online
Molecular machines -- Eric Drexler, who coined the term nanotechnology, spoke at the O'Reilly Emerging Technologies conference in Santa Clara, California, last week.
Guardian Online
Schofield column
You can copy a Web site to CD, but is it legal to send it to a school in Kenya? Blocking those Messenger service pop-up ads in Windows XP. Getting files off the desktop. Software to synchronise a PC with an external hard drive for back-up purposes.
Ask Jack
Guardian Online
When computer companies collide: it's a year since Hewlett-Packard took over Compaq to create a computer giant. Computer industry mergers are usually a bad idea, but this one seems to be going better than most.
Guardian Online
Schofield column
Art after Levi's. DNA revisited -- the Linux Pauling story. Where did that band name come from? May weeks: time to celebrate National Breastfeeding Awareness Week and National Vegetarian Week, among others. Six of the best: Revision sites.
Web watch
Why doesn't a "40GB" drive hold 40GB of data? How much space is Windows taking up? And how much is a second-hand PC worth?
Ask Jack
Thursday, May 1, 2003
Drive to put in a good word -- Brewster Kahle thinks big. In a world where most people can't back up their own hard drive, he started keeping an archive of the internet, and created the Wayback Machine. His latest project is even bigger: to provide universal access to all human knowledge. Putting about a million books (soon!) in the back of a van is just the start.
Guardian Online
Molecular machines -- Eric Drexler, who coined the term nanotechnology, spoke at the O'Reilly Emerging Technologies conference in Santa Clara, California, last week.
Guardian Online
Schofield column
You can copy a Web site to CD, but is it legal to send it to a school in Kenya? Blocking those Messenger service pop-up ads in Windows XP. Getting files off the desktop. Software to synchronise a PC with an external hard drive for back-up purposes.
Ask Jack
24.4.03
You don't have to be clever to crack the computer security of most British companies: all you have to do is stand on Waterloo station handing out cheap pens.
Guardian Online
Schofield column
Sproqit seems to have solved the problem that afflicts almost every serious business user: how do you get access to your Microsoft Outlook data when you are not at your PC?
Guardian Online
Not everyone is interested in the Internet, including 42% of Americans, according to a new study. The Penis Blog. Toolbars for search engines. Online Etch A Sketch. Six of the best: soccer sites
Web watch
How many dead pixels are acceptable on an LCD screen? Putting MS Publisher files on the Web.
Ask Jack
Japanese computer companies (Toshiba, Sony, NEC) are becoming major players while American ones (Packard Bell, Apple, Gateway) are in retreat. The move to notebook PCs and mobile devices plays to the Japanese strengths, so the focus of the industry is shifting towards Japan.....
Computer Weekly
Guardian Online
Schofield column
Sproqit seems to have solved the problem that afflicts almost every serious business user: how do you get access to your Microsoft Outlook data when you are not at your PC?
Guardian Online
Not everyone is interested in the Internet, including 42% of Americans, according to a new study. The Penis Blog. Toolbars for search engines. Online Etch A Sketch. Six of the best: soccer sites
Web watch
How many dead pixels are acceptable on an LCD screen? Putting MS Publisher files on the Web.
Ask Jack
Japanese computer companies (Toshiba, Sony, NEC) are becoming major players while American ones (Packard Bell, Apple, Gateway) are in retreat. The move to notebook PCs and mobile devices plays to the Japanese strengths, so the focus of the industry is shifting towards Japan.....
Computer Weekly
20.4.03
Something old, something new : The last one.
Schofield on Saturday
Guardian Unlimited
Thursday, April 17, 2003
The spreadsheet was the "killer app" for personal computers in business, and it could be killing them.
Guardian Online
Schofield column
Schofield on Saturday
Guardian Unlimited
Thursday, April 17, 2003
The spreadsheet was the "killer app" for personal computers in business, and it could be killing them.
Guardian Online
Schofield column
11.4.03
Wi-Fi for the Wary. Wireless networking has been a huge success, but it would still be a good idea to think carefully before upgrading from 802.11b -- today's standard -- to 802.11a or 11g.
Guardian Online
Schofield column
The Webby Award nominations have been unveiled, so now you can vote. Where to find information about Sars. The BBC's search for Great Books. Optimus Prime goes to war. Terminator 3: the trailer is now online -- and so is the trailer for the next Lara Croft movie. PowerPoint Hamlet wins award. Six of the best: War news
Web watch
One way to make sure you don't overwrite your original file in Microsoft Word when you use it to create a new one. A macro program to save keystrokes. What does 403 mean (accessing Al Jazeera)? Psynchronising a Psion handheld with Novell GroupWise. The wholly bogus printer driver message. Backchat: how to fry a chip.
Ask Jack
Guardian Online
Schofield column
The Webby Award nominations have been unveiled, so now you can vote. Where to find information about Sars. The BBC's search for Great Books. Optimus Prime goes to war. Terminator 3: the trailer is now online -- and so is the trailer for the next Lara Croft movie. PowerPoint Hamlet wins award. Six of the best: War news
Web watch
One way to make sure you don't overwrite your original file in Microsoft Word when you use it to create a new one. A macro program to save keystrokes. What does 403 mean (accessing Al Jazeera)? Psynchronising a Psion handheld with Novell GroupWise. The wholly bogus printer driver message. Backchat: how to fry a chip.
Ask Jack
6.4.03
Beware of first movers How do new technologies enter the market, achieve success, and become widely adopted? It doesn't happen overnight. The Technology Adoption Model is a popular way to describe how new technologies are absorbed -- and it has a lot of implications for IT markets.
Schofield on Saturday
Guardian Unlimited
Thursday, April 3, 2003
Home truths: businesses are falling behind, and most professionals have better computers at home than they do in the office....
Guardian Online
Schofield column
Beware: hoax emails are not coming from Microsoft, but it is easy to check. Putting word processed files on the Web -- software can help, if you have a lot of them. The problem with touchpads on notebook computers, and processors generating heat. Alternatives to Outlook Express. Backchat: another way to remove the games from Windows 2000 and XP.
Ask Jack
Schofield on Saturday
Guardian Unlimited
Thursday, April 3, 2003
Home truths: businesses are falling behind, and most professionals have better computers at home than they do in the office....
Guardian Online
Schofield column
Beware: hoax emails are not coming from Microsoft, but it is easy to check. Putting word processed files on the Web -- software can help, if you have a lot of them. The problem with touchpads on notebook computers, and processors generating heat. Alternatives to Outlook Express. Backchat: another way to remove the games from Windows 2000 and XP.
Ask Jack
30.3.03
Lock-ins that aren't any fun Did you pay too little for your mobile phone? Why are games consoles sold at a loss? And isn't it strange that cheap printers don't cost much more than their ink cartridges? These are all examples of price manipulation that rely on at least some vertical integration and some degree of lock-in. Of course, the companies that provide "good deals" on the initial purchase have to make their money back, and more, on running costs -- mobile phone charges, printer cartridges, games or whatever.
Schofield on Saturday
Guardian Unlimited
Thursday, March 27, 2003
Adam Osborne, who has died aged 64, launched the first successful portable computer, the Osborne 1, though actually it was a mains-powered luggable machine. He also created Osborne Publishing (which continues as part of McGraw-Hill) and launched Paperback Software.
Obituary: Adam Osborne
The Guardian
A look at the Dell Axim X5, Hewlett-Packard iPaq H1910, and Palm-based Sony Clié NZ-90, which includes a 2-megapixel (1600 x 1200 resolution) camera.
Guardian Online: What's new: PDAs
Dealing with Lop, NewDotNet and other PC parasites. Ports on the internet. Removing the games from recent versions of Windows. Backchat: we're still seeking a replacement for MyBBC.
Ask Jack
Schofield on Saturday
Guardian Unlimited
Thursday, March 27, 2003
Adam Osborne, who has died aged 64, launched the first successful portable computer, the Osborne 1, though actually it was a mains-powered luggable machine. He also created Osborne Publishing (which continues as part of McGraw-Hill) and launched Paperback Software.
Obituary: Adam Osborne
The Guardian
A look at the Dell Axim X5, Hewlett-Packard iPaq H1910, and Palm-based Sony Clié NZ-90, which includes a 2-megapixel (1600 x 1200 resolution) camera.
Guardian Online: What's new: PDAs
Dealing with Lop, NewDotNet and other PC parasites. Ports on the internet. Removing the games from recent versions of Windows. Backchat: we're still seeking a replacement for MyBBC.
Ask Jack
23.3.03
The search for standards In the computer industry, everybody believes in standards -- especially if they own one. Users depend on them. But where do they come from? Obviously there isn't a single answer....
Schofield on Saturday
Guardian Unlimited
Thursday, March 20, 2003
The Oscars, and places to vote for the nominees you want to win. The tale of the Raging Cow: the blogging world is being used to promote sugared, flavoured milk drinks. Tara Calishain's Google Hacks book is out now. Wanted: nominations for the UK's Silver Surfer of the Year. Nick Crowe's Axis of Evil ring tones. ZeFrank plays with names (and anything else you type in).
Guardian Online: Web watch
Getting rid of those unwanted porn pictures -- and removing other personal information if you plan to sell an old PC. Converting Web pages into plain text. Looking for a UK-oriented personalised news service. An unofficial site where you can find out which services you can stop in Windows NT and XP. Regret upgrading a program? There's an Oldversion.com Web site where you can sometimes get that old version back. Backchat: making MP3s. Ping with Mac OS 9.
Ask Jack
Schofield on Saturday
Guardian Unlimited
Thursday, March 20, 2003
The Oscars, and places to vote for the nominees you want to win. The tale of the Raging Cow: the blogging world is being used to promote sugared, flavoured milk drinks. Tara Calishain's Google Hacks book is out now. Wanted: nominations for the UK's Silver Surfer of the Year. Nick Crowe's Axis of Evil ring tones. ZeFrank plays with names (and anything else you type in).
Guardian Online: Web watch
Getting rid of those unwanted porn pictures -- and removing other personal information if you plan to sell an old PC. Converting Web pages into plain text. Looking for a UK-oriented personalised news service. An unofficial site where you can find out which services you can stop in Windows NT and XP. Regret upgrading a program? There's an Oldversion.com Web site where you can sometimes get that old version back. Backchat: making MP3s. Ping with Mac OS 9.
Ask Jack
15.3.03
Battle of the browsers When the computer industry was vertically integrated, it exploited "lock in", which discouraged users from defecting to alternative systems. Today's interdependent suppliers are more likely to talk about "buy in" as a way of sustaining thier platforms. In the browser wars, Microsoft used "buy in" to support Internet Explorer and defeat Netscape Navigator.
Schofield on Saturday
Guardian Unlimited
Schofield on Saturday
Guardian Unlimited
14.3.03
Intel launches Centrino -- a new Mobile Pentium chip set that includes Wi-Fi (802.11b) wireless capabilities and delivers much better battery life.
Guardian Online
Which format for music to go, MP3 or WMA? Installing Wi-Fi -- it may be too soon to go for the faster 802.11g version. Is your mail being sent? BCC: copies to yourself and you can check. When the net slows or stops, use ping and trace route to find the hold-up. Backchat -- readers recommend software photo albums that preserve and use EXIF data.
Ask Jack
Portable PCs based on Intel's Centrino chip set should have a much greater appeal in the business market because time is money and purchases should be able to demonstrate a clear return on investment. Whether it is worth making the much bigger step to Centrino-based Tablet PCs is another matter, though Intel and Microsoft will be glad to trouser your money if you do.
Computer Weekly
Monday, March 10, 2003
Obituary: Roger Needham, former head of Cambridge University's Computer Lab, and founder of Microsoft Research in Cambridge.
The Guardian
Guardian Online
Which format for music to go, MP3 or WMA? Installing Wi-Fi -- it may be too soon to go for the faster 802.11g version. Is your mail being sent? BCC: copies to yourself and you can check. When the net slows or stops, use ping and trace route to find the hold-up. Backchat -- readers recommend software photo albums that preserve and use EXIF data.
Ask Jack
Portable PCs based on Intel's Centrino chip set should have a much greater appeal in the business market because time is money and purchases should be able to demonstrate a clear return on investment. Whether it is worth making the much bigger step to Centrino-based Tablet PCs is another matter, though Intel and Microsoft will be glad to trouser your money if you do.
Computer Weekly
Monday, March 10, 2003
Obituary: Roger Needham, former head of Cambridge University's Computer Lab, and founder of Microsoft Research in Cambridge.
The Guardian
9.3.03
Boxed in (Web exclusive)
People often confuse computing and consumer electronics, though they are very different industries and work on different principles. But personal computers are becoming more like consumer electronics devices, and in the future, that could change....
Schofield on Saturday
Guardian Unlimited
Thursday, March 6, 2003
Duct tape, and duck tape, and things you can do with it. Two sites to support the Department of Health's mental health anti-stigma campaign. Lavasoft has launched a new version of Ad-aware. Primal Art -- the exhibition of the forthcoming Sony PlayStation game. Virtual U: an educational simulation game that lets you run an American university. Images from New York collections. Six of the best: F1.
Guardian Online: Web watch
EXIF -- reading and saving the picture data from your digital camera. Potect your privacy on the Web, and visit a site that will audit your PC. Stopping those pop-up ads that arrive via the Windows Messenger service. Symbols for male and female. How to get a window back on screen when you can't grab it with the mouse.
Ask Jack
People often confuse computing and consumer electronics, though they are very different industries and work on different principles. But personal computers are becoming more like consumer electronics devices, and in the future, that could change....
Schofield on Saturday
Guardian Unlimited
Thursday, March 6, 2003
Duct tape, and duck tape, and things you can do with it. Two sites to support the Department of Health's mental health anti-stigma campaign. Lavasoft has launched a new version of Ad-aware. Primal Art -- the exhibition of the forthcoming Sony PlayStation game. Virtual U: an educational simulation game that lets you run an American university. Images from New York collections. Six of the best: F1.
Guardian Online: Web watch
EXIF -- reading and saving the picture data from your digital camera. Potect your privacy on the Web, and visit a site that will audit your PC. Stopping those pop-up ads that arrive via the Windows Messenger service. Symbols for male and female. How to get a window back on screen when you can't grab it with the mouse.
Ask Jack
2.3.03
When innovation is a bad idea (Web exclusive)
Almost everyone pays lip service to the idea that innovation is good, but very often it isn't -- it can be more trouble than it's worth. Sometimes it's actually a "negative benefit", when it involves a variation from market standards, as it did with IBM's launch of the PS/2 range of personal computers in the 1980s.
Schofield on Saturday
Guardian Unlimited
Thursday, February 27, 2003
A spammer in the works -- and how you can greatly reduce the amount of spam that reaches your mailbox.
Guardian Online
Sending large files via a mobile phone is probably not a good idea, but you can compress them first, and split them into parts. The page to visit if your browser has been hi-jacked in favour of Searchex.com. Floppy disks still have their uses. Backchat on Windows NT (2000/XP) software compatibility, premium rate phone numbers, and Pretty Good Privacy (PGP).
Ask Jack
Almost everyone pays lip service to the idea that innovation is good, but very often it isn't -- it can be more trouble than it's worth. Sometimes it's actually a "negative benefit", when it involves a variation from market standards, as it did with IBM's launch of the PS/2 range of personal computers in the 1980s.
Schofield on Saturday
Guardian Unlimited
Thursday, February 27, 2003
A spammer in the works -- and how you can greatly reduce the amount of spam that reaches your mailbox.
Guardian Online
Sending large files via a mobile phone is probably not a good idea, but you can compress them first, and split them into parts. The page to visit if your browser has been hi-jacked in favour of Searchex.com. Floppy disks still have their uses. Backchat on Windows NT (2000/XP) software compatibility, premium rate phone numbers, and Pretty Good Privacy (PGP).
Ask Jack
22.2.03
Integration's what you need (Web exclusive)
Here's another paradox: every year, the computer industry offers more and more power, and more and more capabilities, but does it with fewer and fewer parts. The secret of success is integration, and it is happening at every level of the industry.
Schofield on Saturday
Guardian Unlimited
Here's another paradox: every year, the computer industry offers more and more power, and more and more capabilities, but does it with fewer and fewer parts. The secret of success is integration, and it is happening at every level of the industry.
Schofield on Saturday
Guardian Unlimited
21.2.03
DIY: Build your own PC. What to buy next after Windows 98. Windows XP: product activation and registration are two different things. A porn link that comes from mis-typing the address. AutoCorrect in Microsoft Word. Backchat: AOL parental controls, and the company that got a huge bill for dialling 090 numbers.
Ask Jack
Guardian Online
Ask Jack
Guardian Online
15.2.03
One program to rule them all (Web exclusive)
Here's an interesting paradox. The computer industry is widely acknowledged to be one of the most brutally competitive markets the world has ever seen. So why are most segments of the market dominated by a single supplier? Both old fashioned and new fashioned ecomonics have answers -- economies of scale; network effects. But in the end, the answer often boils down to: "well, it makes life easier".
Schofield on Saturday
Guardian Unlimited
Thursday, February 13, 2003
Wi-Fi is the simplest way of installing a home network and making a broadband Internet connection available to several computers. A new generation of systems that combine Wi-Fi with a broadband adaptor, such as BT's new Voyager 2000, make it even easier.
Guardian Online
St Valentine's Day, and William Gibson's new book, Pattern Recognition. Lana Clarkson, the B-movie queen killed in the Spector case. San Diego is Googletown. Send your complaints about poor service by text message to Grumbletext. Meet Zoe, the AIM (or AOL Instant Messenger) chat-bot. The ice warrior who plans to walk to the pole (not a Dr Who character). Ze's on-screen kaleidoscope. Six of the best: Valentine's Day.
Web watch
Filtering out spam, and tackling spam in AOL mailboxes. What is the best alternative to AOL? Buffering and breaks in streaming media. Backchat: more on typing the musical marks for sharp, natural and flat, and how to see the BCC: list in Outlook Express e-mail you have sent.
Ask Jack
Microsoft needs to find new markets in order to generate growth. The launch of the Xbox games consoles and Smartphone 2002 software are among the recent examples. But it is also starting to get serious about an area it has more or less ignored for 25 years: business software solutions, such as CRM (Customer Relationship Management). Although not ready to take on the heavyweights such as IBM and Siebel, it's a market Microsoft has marked out for "consolidation": ie takeover.
Computer Weekly
Here's an interesting paradox. The computer industry is widely acknowledged to be one of the most brutally competitive markets the world has ever seen. So why are most segments of the market dominated by a single supplier? Both old fashioned and new fashioned ecomonics have answers -- economies of scale; network effects. But in the end, the answer often boils down to: "well, it makes life easier".
Schofield on Saturday
Guardian Unlimited
Thursday, February 13, 2003
Wi-Fi is the simplest way of installing a home network and making a broadband Internet connection available to several computers. A new generation of systems that combine Wi-Fi with a broadband adaptor, such as BT's new Voyager 2000, make it even easier.
Guardian Online
St Valentine's Day, and William Gibson's new book, Pattern Recognition. Lana Clarkson, the B-movie queen killed in the Spector case. San Diego is Googletown. Send your complaints about poor service by text message to Grumbletext. Meet Zoe, the AIM (or AOL Instant Messenger) chat-bot. The ice warrior who plans to walk to the pole (not a Dr Who character). Ze's on-screen kaleidoscope. Six of the best: Valentine's Day.
Web watch
Filtering out spam, and tackling spam in AOL mailboxes. What is the best alternative to AOL? Buffering and breaks in streaming media. Backchat: more on typing the musical marks for sharp, natural and flat, and how to see the BCC: list in Outlook Express e-mail you have sent.
Ask Jack
Microsoft needs to find new markets in order to generate growth. The launch of the Xbox games consoles and Smartphone 2002 software are among the recent examples. But it is also starting to get serious about an area it has more or less ignored for 25 years: business software solutions, such as CRM (Customer Relationship Management). Although not ready to take on the heavyweights such as IBM and Siebel, it's a market Microsoft has marked out for "consolidation": ie takeover.
Computer Weekly
8.2.03
The open road to success (Web exclusive)
Palm's strategy is to avoid Apple's mistake, and turn itself from a vertically-integrated company into one of many supporters of a horizontal platform. Vertical integration is a good way of opening up a new market by offering "the whole product". However, in the long term, no single company can supply everything users of a successful platform will need. They need to get other companies on board to produce a choice of hardware, software and services, and drive down prices. It means switching from the vertical to the horizontal approach. Apple failed to do that when it mattered, but Psion and Palm are among the companies trying to make it work.
Schofield on Saturday
Guardian Unlimited
Palm's strategy is to avoid Apple's mistake, and turn itself from a vertically-integrated company into one of many supporters of a horizontal platform. Vertical integration is a good way of opening up a new market by offering "the whole product". However, in the long term, no single company can supply everything users of a successful platform will need. They need to get other companies on board to produce a choice of hardware, software and services, and drive down prices. It means switching from the vertical to the horizontal approach. Apple failed to do that when it mattered, but Psion and Palm are among the companies trying to make it work.
Schofield on Saturday
Guardian Unlimited
7.2.03
Memory on the cards: a round-up of the main types of memory storage card from CompactFlash to the mini-me RS-MMC cards that are coming soon. These cards are used in all sorts of gadgets from palmtops to cameras to voice recorders and MP3 players, and you may well end up with several incompatible types. Here's what to watch....
Guardian Online
What can you do (in the UK) if you have an e-mail "stalker". How to protect your personal files in Windows. The GuardianUnlimited Web site and access for people with disabilities. How to get a dynamic Web page sent by e-mail. Looking after lithium-ion batteries. Getting flat and sharp on the page with a musical font for Windows and Mac. Backchat: phone drop charges, and running Turnpike software under Windows XP.
Ask Jack
Guardian Online
What can you do (in the UK) if you have an e-mail "stalker". How to protect your personal files in Windows. The GuardianUnlimited Web site and access for people with disabilities. How to get a dynamic Web page sent by e-mail. Looking after lithium-ion batteries. Getting flat and sharp on the page with a musical font for Windows and Mac. Backchat: phone drop charges, and running Turnpike software under Windows XP.
Ask Jack
1.2.03
The joys (and risks) of being horizontal (Web exclusive)
The computer industry has turned through 90 degrees during the past 25 years. In the early days, it made sense for manufacturers to be "vertically integrated," supplying complete systems -- hardware, operating software, applications etc. The problem with that is that it locks users into proprietary and, inevitably, expensive systems. But, particularly after the launch of the IBM PC, the industry has changed to horizontal structure with competition at every level. That competition has expanded the market and driven down prices. However, the problem with chosing "best of breed" parts is that users have to become their own IT managers and system integrators.
Schofield on Saturday
Guardian Unlimited
The computer industry has turned through 90 degrees during the past 25 years. In the early days, it made sense for manufacturers to be "vertically integrated," supplying complete systems -- hardware, operating software, applications etc. The problem with that is that it locks users into proprietary and, inevitably, expensive systems. But, particularly after the launch of the IBM PC, the industry has changed to horizontal structure with competition at every level. That competition has expanded the market and driven down prices. However, the problem with chosing "best of breed" parts is that users have to become their own IT managers and system integrators.
Schofield on Saturday
Guardian Unlimited
31.1.03
The Smoking Gun has what The Who guitarist Pete Townshend wrote about child porn a year ago. Habeas uses a haiku to show e-mail is not spam. The EU is having a Year of People with Disability and IBM is aiming to make Web sites more accessible. Listen to old-time radio at RadioLovers. The Ten Second Film Competition (short enough to enter with many digital still cameras) and This Page Intentionally Left Blank. Plus: Six of the best online photo albums.
Guardian Online Webwatch
If you are getting lots of e-mail from big@boss.com, it's a virus, of course. Opt out: spam from Opt in Marketing. How to control cookies. Sites to help you rip DVDs to CD, free. Is a Wi-Fi system in the lounge a health risk? Back chat: securing e-mail with PGP, and "typo of the week", Simsbury's.
Ask Jack
Guardian Online Webwatch
If you are getting lots of e-mail from big@boss.com, it's a virus, of course. Opt out: spam from Opt in Marketing. How to control cookies. Sites to help you rip DVDs to CD, free. Is a Wi-Fi system in the lounge a health risk? Back chat: securing e-mail with PGP, and "typo of the week", Simsbury's.
Ask Jack
26.1.03
Why VHS was better than Betamax (Web exclusive)
The triumph of VHS is frequently cited as an example of the market choosing inferior technology. This reveals far too simple an understanding of the market and the way consumers buy things.If you look at "the whole product", you can see buyers making rational decisions. However, if you look deeper, it turns out that VHS wasn't inferior technology -- the story is an "urban myth" -- and Betamax actually lost because it didn't do what consumers wanted.
Schofield on Saturday
Guardian Unlimited
The triumph of VHS is frequently cited as an example of the market choosing inferior technology. This reveals far too simple an understanding of the market and the way consumers buy things.If you look at "the whole product", you can see buyers making rational decisions. However, if you look deeper, it turns out that VHS wasn't inferior technology -- the story is an "urban myth" -- and Betamax actually lost because it didn't do what consumers wanted.
Schofield on Saturday
Guardian Unlimited
23.1.03
Ripping a CD in Windows XP while avoiding WMA (Windows Media Audio). Changing Windows File Types to get multimedia files played with the program you prefer. How much power do you need to handle photo-imaging? (As much as you can get, usually!) Backchat: more on typing accents, and more on recycling PCs.
Guardian Online Ask Jack
Guardian Online Ask Jack
17.1.03
Vote for the best of the first decade of the Premier League. Getting the Olympic Games to London. Where to socialise online -- The Sims Online, or There. Feedroom: broadband news on the Web, and an Online Homebase where you could keep jottings. Blo.gs for tracking your favourite blogs. Six of the best: Flight, the first 100 years.
Guardian Online Webwatch
Back after its seasonal holiday, the Ask Jack column points to places where you can recycle an old PC or Mac, and whether it's worth upgrading from Windows 98 to make USB connections. CD: the possible pitfalls of using "packet writing" software (or "drive letter access" software) for backing up data. Getting rid of Lop.com's browser hi-jacker. The solution to switching identities in Outlook Express 6. Backchat: readers suggest different ways to enter accented characters in e-mail applications.
Ask Jack
Clients are putting on weight. Not only did the "thin client"/Network Computer idea flop in the computing industry, things that used to be extremely thin clients -- such as phones and TV sets -- are getting fatter by the day.
Computer Weekly > Technology > Networking
Guardian Online Webwatch
Back after its seasonal holiday, the Ask Jack column points to places where you can recycle an old PC or Mac, and whether it's worth upgrading from Windows 98 to make USB connections. CD: the possible pitfalls of using "packet writing" software (or "drive letter access" software) for backing up data. Getting rid of Lop.com's browser hi-jacker. The solution to switching identities in Outlook Express 6. Backchat: readers suggest different ways to enter accented characters in e-mail applications.
Ask Jack
Clients are putting on weight. Not only did the "thin client"/Network Computer idea flop in the computing industry, things that used to be extremely thin clients -- such as phones and TV sets -- are getting fatter by the day.
Computer Weekly > Technology > Networking
10.1.03
The birth of the "information age" could look like a black hole to our descendants because they won't be able to read out data -- either because the hardware is no longer available, or no-one can read the file formats, or copy protection makes it impossible. The BBC's Domesday discs are a case in point since the hardware needed to read them has already become obsolete. The question is, what to do about it....
Guardian Online
Guardian Online
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