My verdict is in, I actually like the Surface RT

I cannot tell you why, it's just a cool device.  I will start to love it once the App ecosystem grows.  It is lightweight, durable and has good battery life.  The keyboard cover is a stroke of genius (I'm sure some folks at Apple got fired for not thinking of it first).  I wish it were not priced at $500, cause at that price, the iPad is better, but if were $100-150 less, the tablet war would be on.  Since it integragtes with Windows, you can stream content from your networked computers to it.  It also has a micro memory card slot.  A nice start Microsoft, I'm actually surpised that they did not screw this up....they still have time though.

Question....Why would anyone buy a Chromebook?

I must admit that they look nice, but I cannot figure out one reason why somebody would buy one.  Little to no storage, no optical drive and very little power.  It's a glorified web browser screen.  It seems that your money would be better spent on a decent tablet.  Sure you have a slightly bigger screen and full screen keyboard, but without a WiFi signal, a Chromebook is a brick.  If anyone can give me a compelling reason to buy one, leave a comment.  Everytime I see one, I harken back to the days when Netbooks were the rage, and I'm still trying to figure out a reason to have purchased them.

Surface RT will get 4 1/2 years of support from Microsoft

At least it is 2 1/2 years more than Apple gives it's iPad's.

You might not be thinking about it right now, but if you're a recent owner (or to-be purchaser) of one of Microsoft's new Surface RT tablets with Windows RT baked in, there will come a day when Microsoft will no longer officially support your device.

If you're a previous iPad owner, or know someone who is, this day tends to come sooner than one might expect. For example, Apple's first iPad – released in 2010 – doesn't qualify for iOS 6 and will surely be left out of any future iOS updates to come, all of two years or so after the tablet first hit store shelves.

As for Microsoft's Surface RT tablet, the company plans to extend a (relatively generous) support cycle of no less than four years for the consumer device.

But here's where it gets tricky.

The Surface tablet integrates Microsoft hardware and software within a single device, and these two worlds play differently when it comes to the support that Microsoft offers for each. As a result, the Mainstream Support End Date for the tablet will officially be on April 11, 2017 – just over four years since the official launch of the tablet, but a bit shorter than the conventional five-year support cycle Microsoft typically gives new iterations of the Windows OS.

Google's Alternatice to Siri...

Hey, Siri, you better look behind you. Google on Tuesday upgraded its Google Search app for the iPhone and iPad, giving the feature a voice search functionality that poses a challenge to Apple's Siri.

The app, which is available for free download, opens with a "Try our new voice search" message that sits next to an icon of a microphone. Click on the icon and speak your question into your device.

If the answer to your question is short, Google will tell you the answer aloud. If the answer is more complicated, the user will get a list of possible answers and links on the screen.

"Getting an answer is as simple as tapping on the microphone icon and asking a question like, 'Is United Airlines flight 318 on time?' " wrote Kenneth Bongort, a Google search engineer, in a blog post. "You can get answers to an increasingly wide variety of questions thanks to Knowledge Graph, which gives our search technology an understanding of people, places and things in the real world."

Knowledge Graph, which was introduced this past May, first appeared as an extra column on the Google search results pages. It was designed to help the search engine dig deeper into search requests by asking users to be more specific about what they're searching for.

By combining the technology behind Knowledge Graph and voice recognition, Bongort said Google's search app now can answer questions like, "What does Yankee Stadium look like?" and offer up hundreds of pictures.

Rid yourself of the Windows 8 Password log-in

I'm still torn on my opinions of Windows 8.  It's not as bad as what many reviewers say and there are some pretty neat innovative features.  One of them is Microsoft's attempt to make you log on with a Hotmail/Outlook account or to use a local account.  Both are pains and not needed.  

Fortunately, there's a way to bypass it. Here's how:

1. Boot your PC and enter your password.

2. Press Win-X (by which I mean hold down the Windows key and then tap X).

3. In the pop-up menu that appears, click Command Prompt (Admin).

4. In the command prompt, type control userpasswords2, then press Enter. (If this sounds familiar, it's because the same command works in earlier versions of Windows.)

5. In the User Accounts dialog that appears, uncheck the box marked Users must enter a user name and password to use this computer.

6. Click OK, then confirm the automatic sign-in option by entering your password (twice).

7. Reboot.

Presto! No more password check.

Move over Verizon, AT& T, Sprint and T-Mobile, here comes..Google?

Google (GOOG) has already conquered the software side of smartphones and now the technology giant is reportedly in talks to take over the airwaves. The Wall Street Journal on Thursday reported that Google has held talks with satellite television provider Dish Network (DISH) regarding the possibility of a venture that would see Google launch its own cellular network and compete directly with the likes of Verizon (VZ) and AT&T (T). The Journal says the talks are not in advanced stages and could lead nowhere, though Dish did confirm that it is discussing the launch of a new cellular network using its spectrum with a number of potential partners ”who would like to be in the industry.”

If this happens, maybe I can get cell service that actually works in my house.....