It hasn't even been released yet and we want out start menu back!

As you may know, Windows 8 is due out this coming Friday.  I've been using it for over a month and one of my annoyances is that there is no start menu anymore.  I feel like I am on an Android device trying to figure out where everything I used to know has been moved to.  Not sure why Microsoft chose to make the learning curve for Windows 8 a bit steep, but oh well.  If you are a start menu junkie, I have a fix for you (forgive the pun).  Try Stardock's Start 8.  What it does is simple, brings back the start menu.  It's free in Beta until final release, which then becomes a $5 program.  If that is too much for you, think again, you have no idea of how taxing it is to get used to navigating windows without a start menu.

Office 2013 University is subscription only..

There was a time when as a college student, you got nice discounts on technology and software.  Truth be told that time is still here, it just doesn't exist at Microsoft anymore.  

Microsoft has announced a version of its new Office suite for university students, and one of the most interesting aspects is that it will be sold only through a subscription license.

In other words, it won't be possible to buy Office 365 University by paying a flat, one-time fee for a perpetual license.

Instead, Office 365 University, scheduled for release in the first quarter, will be available for US$79.99 for a four-year subscription, and will give users the right to install the software to up to two Windows or MacOS computers. Whether they buy it in a store or online, users in the U.S. will download the product from Microsoft data centers and receive rolling, automatic software updates in the same manner.

The release underscores Microsoft's belief that the subscription model represents the future not only for businesses but also for its consumer products. While Microsoft has a longer track record of using this model in the enterprise, it is now starting to push it among consumers.

It remains to be seen whether consumers—in this case, university students, faculty and staff—will embrace this model, in which users pay for the right to use the software for a specific time period, usually a year, with the option to renew the license subsequently.

Frustrating....why can't I just keep my copy like the old days?

A free simple way to "Hide" folders on your computer

Came across a cool and free utility called "Wise Folder Hider".  Quite simply, the free utility allows you to pick any folder on your computer and "hide" it, so that it is now visible to others who may be using your computers.  For more information and a tutorial, click on the link on the left under What's new.

More on the "6 Strikes" law coming soon..

I'm a bit stunned that this has not garnered more attention in the tech community, but I guess we are all currently fixated on the Windows Surface and coming iPad min.   Anyway, here we go..  

The Center for Copyright Information has revealed more details about its "six strikes" system, which it calls the Copyright Alert System (CAS). In a blog post published Thursday morning, the program’s head, Jill Lesser, announced that the CAS “will begin in the coming weeks.”

Lesser added that it will use an analysis system called MarkMonitor to identify infringing activity. That system “uses both trained professionals and automated processes to identify illegal downloading of whole movies, TV shows, and musical recordings, and the system is designed to eliminate false positives.” Finally, the CAS has given further details on its review process that will take place at the “mitigation stage” (strikes five through six), which will be administered by the American Arbitration Association.

For more click here for the full article.

Windows 8 Pricing finally revealed..

Microsoft and several online retailers today revealed more Windows 8 pricing information, and began taking pre-orders for the operating system.

The prices were unveiled in a Microsoft blog post and by several online retailers, including Amazon.com and Newegg.com.

Previously, Microsoft had announced a $39.99 price for the online upgrade to Windows 8 Pro, and said that a boxed copy containing a DVD would run $69.99 during a promotion that will end Jan. 31, 2013.

For more information, check out the article at Computerword.

What .41 cents will buy you these days..

Spare change, anyone? That's all it costs to charge your smartphone for a year.

The iPhone 5 requires a mere 41 cents annually to juice up once a day, and the Samsung Galaxy S III just 53 cents (due to a bigger battery), according to new research by Opower Lab.

The team has compiled a lengthy analysis of the pocket-digital revolution's impact on energy use. While a lot of the study is head-spinning, the takeaway is this: the new cell phones are cheap to keep running.

Other gadgets seem like electricity hogs by comparison. iPads, for example, have been found to cost $1.36 a year to keep charged; desktop computers have been found to cost $43.60 per year.

But smartphones are multiplying so quickly that the consumption is adding up. The projected amount of iPhone 5s to be bought in a year will use as much power as 54,000 U.S. households, which is "roughly equivalent to the size of Cedar Rapids – the second largest city in Iowa," per Opower Lab. And all this says nothing of the energy required to process all the data we're accessing with increased frequency on our handheld doo-dads.

Click here for more (way more) details from Opower's report.