A short hiatus

Posted on January 25, 2010 by msauers

I was out sick all last week so I didn’t feel like posting much of anything. Yesterday I found out the the geniuses at Google have decided to abandon the .5% of their user base that knows what they’re doing and using FTP to publish to their own domain. Guess what? This blog is part of that .5%. So, chances are this blog will be moving to a different URL, probably something like ITART.blogspot.com. So, unless someone else starts posting I don’t think I’ll be doing much here until I get this all figured out in the next week or two. (If you’re interested in the gory details as to why, start with this article from Quick Online Tips and follow the links for even more details.)

Inside Windows 7: The Mark Russinovich Interview

Posted on January 15, 2010 by msauers

Here’s an interesting interview with Mark Russonovich done by Paul Thurrott. Russinovich knows more about how Windows works than most people will ever know. What he talks about is a little on the under-the-hood technical-side but not too much. For example:

Paul Thurrott: So from an upgrade/migration picture, one of the easy complaints for Windows 7 is it doesn’t provide for in-place upgrades from XP. What went into that decision and what are the real issues there?
Mark Russinovich: Well, when you do an in-place upgrade, the test matrix for that is enormous. So, obviously, if we’re going to do an in-place upgrade, the most recent operating system is a higher priority than an older operating system that people are going to be coming from. From an enterprise perspective, it’s really not an issue because people don’t upgrade their systems, they do clean installs. From a consumer perspective, if you look at people running XP systems, they’re probably running older hardware that’s not even in the class of Vista/Windows 7 where it would make sense to do an upgrade.
In addition, if you look at trends in the past, consumers don’t upgrade either-they buy new PCs and get the new version of the operating system. So if you look at the return on investment of supporting the XP to Windows 7 upgrade path, versus the people that would actually benefit from making it easier than it is with the migration tool, it didn’t seem to make sense.

Ubuntu Tweak

Posted on January 14, 2010 by msauers

If you’re looking for a program that will make Ubuntu just a little easier to use when it comes to tweaking settings and installing software (not that it’s all to difficult in the first place) then check out Ubuntu Tweak.

“Ubuntu Tweak is an application to config Ubuntu easier for everyone. It provides many useful desktop and system options that the default desktop environment doesn’t provide. With its help, you will enjoy with the experience of Ubuntu!”

Children face barriers to successful Internet search

Posted on January 13, 2010 by msauers

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E-Book Buyer's Guide to Privacy

Posted on January 11, 2010 by msauers

“A few weeks ago, EFF published its first draft of a Buyer’s Guide to E-Book Privacy, which summarized and commented on the privacy-related policies and behaviors of several e-readers. In that first draft we incorporated the actual language of the privacy policies as much as possible, which unfortunately created some confusion since companies generally use different language to address similar issues. We also did a few other things clumsily.
“Since then, thanks to the feedback and corrections we’ve received, we’ve made some updates and corrections to the guide which we hope will make it more useful. First, we’ve re-written many of the questions and answers to provide more clarity about the behavior of each e-reader. Second, we’ve tried point out where companies’ privacy policies themselves are unclear on particular issues. And finally, we’ve made the whole thing easier to read by changing its visual layout.
“This guide continues to be a work in progress. So, please continue to let us know whether it’s helpful and what additions you’d like to see.”

Unlock Windows 7's "God Mode"

Posted on January 8, 2010 by msauers

It’s not really “God Mode” as much as a single hidden folder that you can create in Windows 7 that contains shortcuts to pretty much anything you can do to control and configure Windows. How do you get this folder?

Create a new folder. (I created mine on the desktop)
Name the folder GodMode.{ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C}

Feel free to use any other text in replacement of “GodMode” just don’t include spaces in the name unless you rename it later.

Everything here can be found either via the Control Panel or by typing it’s name into the start menu but just looking at the options here you might discover something you hadn’t heard of before.

TWiT Live @ CES

Posted on January 7, 2010 by msauers

The 2010 Consumer Electronics Show is going on right now in Las Vegas. (I went once in the late 90s, it’s insane!) You may have noticed many and many blog posts from CES if you read any tech-related feeds. However, if you’re someone more interested in play-by-play commentary head on over to live.twit.tv and watch Leo Laporte and the gang wander the halls and do on the spot interviews and product reviews.

120 years of National Geographic on a USB hard drive

Posted on January 5, 2010 by msauers

Plug this into your USB port and you can view every photo and read every word from the past 120 years of National Geographic. This can be yours for just $199. (The same content on 6 DVDs is just $59.) Finally, you can set rid of all those old issues in your grandma’s attic. Unfortunately, everyone else will probably donate them to the library.