Once upon a time, there was a simple, text-based operating system called DOS. Most people don’t realize, but DOS was the term was for the Apple 2 series of computers.

Then, along came the IBM PC and the “Microsoft DOS” (MS-DOS) disk operating sytem that many of us came to know and love.

One of the really neat features of MS-DOS was really part of its keyboard facilities — IBM had put a “Prnt Scrn” key on the keyboard, and MS-DOS knew what to do with that.

Just press Prnt Scrn, and you got a dump of the monitor screen’s contents to the printer. Oh, by the way, printers in those days were also text handlers. To print an “E,” the program sent the 8-bit value that meant E to the printer, and the built-in smarts on the printer knew how to print the E.

Continue reading Screen-Printing From Your Computer Screen

Google has packaged five of its free software programs into one easy-to-download, easy-to-install package.

Included in the new Google Pack are Google Earth, Picasa, Google Pack Screensaver, Google Desktop and the Google Toolbar.

Google Earth is a cool application that works through your web browser and high-speed (cable or DSL) Internet connection. It’s not suitable for dialup. Google Earth shows you zoomable pictures of the earth, down to the level of being able to spot your house. (I can see my house and the neighbor’s car in his driveway.)

Picasa is Google’s photo organizer. It has an unusual interface that lets you find, edit and share your photos easily.

Continue reading Google’s Free Google Pack Software Package

DesktopLinux.com has a great multi-part article where the author is installing Vista and Linux on the same computer for a showdown.

A Vista vs. Linux Matchup describes the installation, issues and compares Vista Ultimate and SimplyMepis 6.1, which is based on Ubuntu Linux.

So far, the articles in the series are “Part 1: Leveling the Playing Field, ” “Part 2: Dual-booting Vista and Linux” and “Part 3: Hardware Wars.” The series has more to go…

Peter Gutmann has written a very disturbing analysis of Windows Vista Content Protection and has made it available on the web.

The article is available on the University of Auckland’s School of Computer Science web site and appears to be either a term paper or an article for publication.

Rather than get into the politics of DRM (digital rights management, a.k.a. digital restrictions management), the article discusses the Vista content protection specification and its impact on existing audio and video systems.

Hint: you won’t get high-quality output because Vista will downgrade the signal

I especially liked the “Executive Executive Summary,” which said:

The Vista Content Protection specification could very well constitute the longest suicide note in history.