Archive: July 15, 2007 - July 21, 2007
Do You Check Your Skepticism At Your Inbox?
The e-mail arrived yesterday, except I'd read it many times before: a breathless accounting of how Microsoft would pay you THOUSANDS!!!!! of dollars if you forwarded the message enough times, all because it was anxious to promote its Web browser. The note had, in fact, been forwarded numerous times, with...
By Rob Pegoraro | July 20, 2007; 10:06 AM ET | Comments (19)
Narrowing Your Social Networking
Today's column may get me in hot water with my colleagues: Social-networking sites have been a huge help to reporters looking for sources, so advice on keeping your info private from strangers isn't doing my coworkers any favors. (Read after the jump for an anecdote about how we conduct this...
By Rob Pegoraro | July 19, 2007; 10:01 AM ET | Comments (7)
Jerk Company of the Month: SunRocket
My colleague Kim Hart's story today describes the strange demise of SunRocket, the Tysons Corner-based Internet-telephony company. SunRocket's financial troubles were not a surprise, but the speed of its demise was. So was the notice provided to customers: next to none. A friend reported that the only hint he got...
By Rob Pegoraro | July 18, 2007; 8:56 AM ET | Comments (70)
The Start Menu Mess
Here's a fun exercise that can shed some light on just how broken the Windows experience has become. 1: Read Microsoft's instructions to developers on how they're supposed to use the Start menu. (To summarize briefly: Only provide shortcuts to actual programs, not their their readme or help files, settings...
By Rob Pegoraro | July 17, 2007; 9:52 AM ET | Comments (17)
Intel Joins One Laptop Per Child
When I reviewed Intel's Classmate PC last week, I felt obliged to give the One Laptop Per Child initiative a prominent mention in the piece. Even though "OLPC" hasn't shipped its XO laptop yet, it's drawn too much attention to ignore. What I didn't know at the time was that...
By Rob Pegoraro | July 16, 2007; 7:04 AM ET | Comments (4)
