Microsoft High School, Vista Reality Check, Unbox Is Spyware, eBay Seller Tips, and More

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- 2006.09.11

Tech Tracker is a semiweekly digest of links. I've scanned the broad scope of technology news and writing and summarized what I thought was the most interesting or important (or both).

Windows HS: Microsoft Designs a School System

Microsoft designs a school. Maybe they've finally found a product that suits their working model: restarting every hour or so for a new class, easy transmission of colds, flu, and other viruses; and getting the "user" (students, er, learners to accomplish basic tasks without too much frustration and difficulty.

A Reality Check for Vista

In other Microsoft news: Business 2.0 relegates Vista to "also-ran" category, saying the delays and high prices are sufficiently discouraging to keep users from lining up to buy.

Stalling the Net by Default?

More Vista problems: Microsoft's knack for doing their own thing may, once again, cause major headaches on the 'net. This sounds like a problem exponentially worse than creating their own HTML standards.

The Top-Secret Warplanes of Area 51

I'm not sure this is tech - I'm not even sure it's science - but if you're an Area 51 buff you might be interested in this piece from Popular Science.

Top Prize for 'Light' Inventor

You don't know it, but this guy's technology is all around you. See why Shuji Nakamura deserved the Millennium Technology Prize.

My Fight with Amazon Unbox

Amazon's Unbox turns out to be glorified spyware. Let's see what Tuesday's Apple announcements offer us; otherwise, we'll still have to wait for downloadable video.

eBay Sellers Go Back to School: 10 Tips

Do you eBay? Here are some tips to do it better.

Florida County Plans to Vaporize Landfill Trash

Back to the "green scene" - here's an earth-friendly idea if I ever saw one. A power plant is being built in Florida that will use landfill and sewage as fuel and power the nearby town adequately. Good move.

Why the iPod Is Losing Its Cool

Is the iPod losing its cool? The Observer thinks so. Will Tuesday's event show otherwise?

Microsoft vs. Open Source: Who Will Win?

In the Linux vs. Microsoft operating system war, Harvard believes that Linux can't win. See why they claim this.

Recent Tech Tracker articles

Quad-core Mac Pro, carbon-free computing, Lonelygirl15 scam, Microsoft Zune, and more, 09.15. Also students have option to buy lectures online, students spurn free and legal music downloads, the frustration of anonymous surfing, and Apple's FairPlay undergoes antitrust scrutiny.
Microsoft high school, Vista reality check, Unbox is spyware, eBay seller tips, and more, 09.11. Also the top secret warplanes of Area 51, the father of blue LEDs, trash to fuel in Florida, the iPod is losing its cool, and more.
The genes that make us human, home theft via identity theft, danger of a shared calendar, and more, 09.08. Also virtual theft in the online world, Google's eavesdropping software, hacking a voting machine, being green, energy independence, clever use of an Xbox 360, and more.
Toshiba to build Zune, make your own .mac, how soon an email response?, 17 Office killers, and more, 09.01. Also skipping morning classes in favor of the podcast, a Star Trek thesis, and Nokia's new N80 multimedia phone.
More in the Tech Tracker index.

Links for the Day

Mac of the Day: Radius System 100, Mar. 1995 - An all-out system designed for graphics professionals.
List of the Day: SuperMacs is for those using Umax SuperMac clones.
November 24 in LEM history: 98: Microsoft's heavy hand - 00: Looking at the iMac - 04: The best Mac for the holidays - Picking the right replacement for a dead mouse - Better battery for 15" AlBook

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