Newsletter Archives

• What’s a “dynamic island?”

  Posted on September 19, 2022 at 02:41 CDT by Will Fastie • Comment in the Forums

  APPLE NEWS

  

  By Will Fastie

  Clever. That’s what it is.

  In the very limited coverage we give to Apple and its products, our focus has been on the evolution of Apple silicon and its application to Mac desktops and laptops. iPhones? Almost never.

  But with iPhone 14, Apple has done something I consider remarkably clever.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (19.38.0, 2022-09-19).

  Apple, AskWoody Plus Newsletter Apple News, AskWoody Plus Newsletter, iPhone, User Interface

• Vivaldi as a Web browser

  Posted on September 12, 2022 at 02:42 CDT by Will Fastie • Comment in the Forums

  SOFTWARE

  

  By Will Fastie

  If you’ve never heard of Vivaldi before, I’m not surprised.

  Although its use is growing, its share of the Web browser market lags behind those of the “brand name” browsers — Chrome, Edge, and Firefox.

  Lance Whitney’s excellent explanation of the features of Vivaldi, in the lead article in this issue, focuses on how the software can be used as an inexpensive replacement for Outlook. This brief article is about using Vivaldi for its native function, Web browsing.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (19.37.0, 2022-09-12).

  AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Software AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Software, Web Browsers

• The worst software in the world

  Posted on July 25, 2022 at 02:42 CDT by Will Fastie • Comment in the Forums

  COMMENTARY

  

  By Will Fastie

  If I were grading the various apps in Microsoft’s Casual Games collection, they’d be lucky to get a D.

  It’s not because the games themselves are bad. It’s because they are all based on the same underlying game engine, one designed with multiple capabilities. The emphasis on the engine has diverted attention away from the games themselves, which have been in general disrepair for some time.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (19.30.0, 2022-07-25).

  AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Commentary AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Games, Microsoft, Software Quality

• Beyond Compare is beyond comparison

  Posted on July 18, 2022 at 02:43 CDT by Will Fastie • Comment in the Forums

  SOFTWARE

  

  By Will Fastie

  A good utility program can greatly improve productivity. A great utility program is often indispensable.

  One capability that has always been essential, especially to developers, is file comparison. Surprisingly, few utilities existed to perform that task. I remember printing core dumps in octal from a machine that had crashed and comparing them, visually, to a dump from another, working machine. And I mean on paper.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (19.29.0, 2022-07-18).

  AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Software, Utilities AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Comparison, Software Review, utilities

• SPECIAL EDITION: Web Presence

  Posted on July 4, 2022 at 02:45 CDT by Will Fastie • Comment in the Forums

  

  ISSUE 19.27 • 2022-07-04

  EDITORIAL

  

  By Will Fastie

  Freedom!

  For our US-based readership, today is a celebration of freedom and liberty. To add our little bit to the festivities, we are “liberating” eight articles previously available only to Plus members. And for Plus members, you’ll now have this entire set in one, ad-free place.

  I’m talking about the “Web Presence” series I wrote for Woody in the second half of 2020. In the series, I tried to provide a comprehensive primer about living on the Web and especially about creating and maintaining your own website, whether for personal or business reasons. The series touches on domains, email, social networks, development, and more.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (19.27.0, 2022-07-04).
  This story also appears in our public Newsletter.

  AskWoody FREE Newsletter, AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Web Presence AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Branding, Domains, Ecommerce, Email, Web Development, Web presence

• Terabyte update 2022

  Posted on June 20, 2022 at 02:45 CDT by Will Fastie • Comment in the Forums

  

  ISSUE 19.25 • 2022-06-20

  HARDWARE

  

  By Will Fastie

  This year, the trend line for storage prices is harder to discern.

  In last year’s installment of this series, I wrote, “There has never been a time when I have been so uncertain about what comes next.”

  I’m glad I made that “prediction,” because I would never have guessed no change in prices. That’s pretty much what we got.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (19.25.0, 2022-06-20).
  This story also appears in our public Newsletter.

  AskWoody FREE Newsletter, AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Hardware AskWoody Plus Newsletter, hardware, HDDs, SSDs, Storage Prices

• The Apple M2 arrives

  Posted on June 13, 2022 at 02:41 CDT by Will Fastie • Comment in the Forums

  APPLE NEWS

  

  By Will Fastie

  This wasn’t quite the shoe everyone hoped would be dropping.

  As you know from previous Apple News installments, our focus has been on developments related to Apple silicon. Our oft-stated reason for this is that, for the first time in decades, Apple devices might be more interesting to our readers, especially the large number who already own an Apple device.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (19.24.0, 2022-06-13).

  Apple, AskWoody Plus Newsletter Apple, Apple M2, Apple News, Apple Silicon, AskWoody Plus Newsletter

• Are Google’s Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) good or evil?

  Posted on May 9, 2022 at 02:44 CDT by Will Fastie • Comment in the Forums

  PUBLIC DEFENDER

  

  By Brian Livingston

  A programming technique that Google says will speed up websites is actually slowing them down, according to major Web publishers and browser makers who are actively blocking it or working around it.

  The technology is called Accelerated Mobile Pages or AMP. The search giant has been working on the technique since at least 2015. But AMP has become a hot potato only recently.

  Last year, publishers and Web developers began realizing that Google was favoring its own AMP systems and silently diverting to itself a large cut of websites’ advertising revenue, according to a lawsuit filed by the attorneys general of 16 US states.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (19.19.0, 2022-05-09).

  AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Public Defender AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Google searches, Online advertising, Public Defender

• A lifetime of achievement

  Posted on May 2, 2022 at 02:45 CDT by Will Fastie • Comment in the Forums

  

  ISSUE 19.18 • 2022-05-02

  EDITORIAL

  

  By Will Fastie

  We are pleased — and excited — to announce the creation of the TameYourTech Crystal award.

  We are even more pleased to present the inaugural award to Fred Langa for his lifetime of achievement in the field of personal computing journalism.

  As a further celebration of Fred’s career, we are happy to bring all our newsletter readers four of Fred’s LangaList columns, previously available only to Plus members.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (19.18.0, 2022-05-02).
  This story also appears in our public Newsletter.

  AskWoody FREE Newsletter, AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Editorial AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Crystal Award, TameYourTech Awards

• Removing MFA

  Posted on April 25, 2022 at 02:45 CDT by Will Fastie • Comment in the Forums

  

  ISSUE 19.17 • 2022-04-25

  Look for our special issue on Monday, May 2!

  MICROSOFT 365

  

  By Will Fastie

  How many times have articles in this newsletter told you that multifactor authentication (MFA) was a good idea and suggested that you turn it on?

  A lot. It’s good advice.

  Just the other day, I turned on Microsoft 365 MFA for one of my clients. It’s too embarrassing for me to describe the mistake I made. Suffice it to say that it was an accident, because I didn’t intend to turn it on.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (19.17.0, 2022-04-25).
  This story also appears in our public Newsletter.

  AskWoody FREE Newsletter, AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Microsoft 365 AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Microsoft 365, Multi-factor Authentication

• The Last Langalist

  Posted on April 11, 2022 at 02:45 CDT by Will Fastie • Comment in the Forums

  

  ISSUE 19.15 • 2022-04-11

  EDITORIAL

  

  By Will Fastie

  Fred’s retiring.

  I don’t know where to start, but people keep telling me I should start from the beginning. For me, that was about 30 years ago, when I visited Fred at CMP in search of an editing job after PC Tech Journal unexpectedly shuttered. We knew each other by reputation, of course, but had never met in person — remarkable because we both endured the same, endless trade shows, and most editors knew one another.

  He didn’t hire me. I forgive him.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (19.15.0, 2022-04-11).
  This story also appears in our public Newsletter.

  AskWoody FREE Newsletter, AskWoody Plus Newsletter, LangaList AskWoody Plus Newsletter, LangaList

• The M1 Ultra debuts

  Posted on March 14, 2022 at 02:42 CDT by Will Fastie • Comment in the Forums

  APPLE NEWS

  

  By Will Fastie

  Keeping to schedule, Apple drops the next shoe in its master plan to get all its products running on its own, proprietary, silicon.

  It’s been about 18 months since Apple announced the original M1 system on a chip (SOC), introduced several products based on it, and laid out its plan to transition to its own silicon in roughly two years.

  At its spring event last week, the company took its next step in that transition and went so far as to tease the last shoe. Perhaps “tease” is the wrong word because the company came right out and said it — the last brick in the wall will be a transition of the insanely expensive Mac Pro to Apple silicon.

  Read the full story in the AskWoody Plus Newsletter 19.11.0 (2022-03-14).

  Apple, AskWoody Plus Newsletter Apple M1, Apple News, Apple Silicon, AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Mac Studio
• « Older Entries

  Newer Entries »