Norton Internet Security 2012 – $27.99
Published January 15, 2012 | 
You can also get Norton 360 for $31.99
If you need a new AV program for the new year or need to update the subscription you already have you can get one of these two Norton products for a heavy discount. These are both sold through Symantec so you are buying directly from the vendor and the serial numbers will show up in your MyNortonAccount.com account.
First, go to this page where Norton Internet Security and Norton 360 are being offered at a 50% discount:
Great Deals from Norton:
After you’ve added your item to the cart use the promo code – CSHARESYM20 – to get an additional 20% off the sale price. This should save you an additional $7.
Finally, fill in your payment information and the process will be complete. You will get an email confirmation of the order which will include your product key. You can also log into MyNortonAccount.com to see your serial number and download the program for additional computers.
Considering the renewal price is usually in the $50 to $60 range for these apps it’s a significant savings. You basically get a new version for less than the renewal price. Oh and this license covers up to 3 PCs for 1 year.
Let’s settle down on the fandom
Published September 21, 2011 | Now, before people start calling me an Apple fanboy and Microsoft hater, let’s get a few things straight. I do indeed own an iPad and I love it. I think it’s an insanely useful and convenient device that lets me have a laptop computer in my hands at all times with a 10th of the weight and heat coming off of it. I also have an iPod Touch which I love and think is incredibly cool. Not only is it fantastic for songs, but the range of apps it offers me is almost mind-boggling. It’s a mini computer right there in the palm of my hand. However, there is no Mac desktop in my life (at least not yet), no Macbook Air, or iMac or any other Mac desktop or laptop. In fact, the last Apple products I owned were an Apple IIe and an Apple II+. Yeah, it goes back that far.
I’ve used Microsoft products since the Dos 3.3 days. I used Windows 3.1, WFW 3.11, NT4 and so on. I used Win95 in its beta stages and have seen and worked with just about every beta version of Windows since 95. All my desktop and laptop machines use some version of Windows. I think Microsoft has had a lot of hits and misses with their OSes. I still think NT4 Workstation was one of the best operating systems Microsoft ever made. It was streamlined and very resilient. Apps might crash, but the OS kept going.
Did Apple invent the tablet? Nope. But, neither did Microsoft. Microsoft did indeed have a big splash with Windows XP Tablet Edition in 2003, but it just didn’t take off. The hardware was bulky and the idea of turning the screen around on a full sized laptop just didn’t appeal to too many people. Plus, all those damn screens on the Toshiba’s kept breaking. Eventually the stupid thing wouldn’t lock correctly.
Let’s not forget though that before there was XP Tablet there was in fact the Newton, the device I would consider to be Apple’s first tablet. And quite frankly, a flop. It was a bulky PDA that had handwriting recognition, a stylus and a rudimentary black on yellow screen. It didn’t support color or much of anything else really. It was a tablet though.
Despite that, they both owe their origins to Xerox. So saying Apple or Microsoft is the innovator of the tablet is misleading. They’ve both built upon other’s work.
Do I like the iPad? Hell yes.
Do I like the Microsoft tablet? Oh wait …
Do I like Mac OSX? No.
Do I like Windows 7 or Vista? No.
There are things about Microsoft and Apple I like and dislike. Apple is no golden child I tell you what. If you say Microsoft is guilty of something as far as monopolies go, then Apple is just as guilty. Do I think Microsoft has done some good things? Oh yeah, I like their Server products. Windows 2008, Exchange and SQL are very good. Is Apple flawless? Oh heavens no. The iPad is great, but there is no denying it’s overpriced as hell.
Ironically, Microsoft and Apple both have a lot of work to do to make their desktop OS more accessible and useful. At this point, I don’t like either one. I think Windows on a tablet is a stupid idea. And iOS on a desktop is a pain in the ass to use. Where the hell is the compromise?
Windows 8, you scare me
Published September 21, 2011 | I’ve been reading about the upcoming features of Windows 8 and I have to say I’m far from impressed. Now that Microsoft has been handed their asses in the both the tablet and mobile market, they’ve decided to forego fixing the deficiencies of Windows 7 and are overcompensating by making everything touch enabled and mobile ready. That’s a great idea, but I have no use for such things in my desktop OS. I don’t want those damnable widgets I’ve seen on the Windows 7 phone. That is a horrible UI for a desktop. The only cloud feature I need is something as easy and convenient as Dropbox, except more secure. I don’t want everything tied to Internet Explorer. Is the ability to make an ISO something I need to wait for an entirely new OS for? Why can’t I manipulate ZIP and RAR files natively in Windows? Why do I have to use a file manager tool as antiquated as Explorer? Why can’t Windows support multiple monitors correctly and give me a taskbar that stretches across both and the ability to have applications start on a specific screen?
There are so many gaps in Windows that need to be addressed. Microsoft seems to suffer from the George Lucas syndrome. They’ve decided that making something flashy and shiny is more important than making something with substance. Who cares about the plot, make more explosions!
You know what I love about the iPad, the fact that I don’t have to configure it. I didn’t have to set up the network, I didn’t have to load any drivers, I don’t have to wonder if an app I download is going to work on my device. For a tablet, a closed system is actually beneficial. You know things will work. You don’t have to dig into the innards of the machine to bring out functionality. Windows doesn’t work that way. I’m constantly fighting with drivers and configuration issues. Windows isn’t easy, it’s constantly getting in the way of itself. I can’t count the number of hours I’ve spend searching for registry keys to turn off the functionality Microsoft says I need.
Here’s another thing, how is Windows 7 better than XP or even 2000? As a user that does a ton of writing, plays a few games, works with the Internet for 12+ hours a day, stores dozens of terabytes worth of data and manipulates photos on a weekly basis, how is Windows 7 or 8 or even Vista better than what I’ve had before? Windows 7 is 64-bit which is great, too bad the rest of the apps aren’t. I’m not really getting an advantage there am I, expect for being able to use more than 4GB of memory, which is itself a double-edged sword. If apps were written more efficiently would I really need more than 4GB? If I wasn’t bogged down with hundreds of megs worth of .Net Framework and runtime libraries would I be better off? If Windows and Office didn’t take up dozens of gigs of HD space would I really need terabytes worth of drive space?
The point is, I don’t want to worry about the OS. I don’t even want to know it’s there. I want it to do its job and get the hell out of my way. I don’t want all this stupid bling on the desktop. I don’t want to search for drivers and make sure apps are compatible. I want to forget about the OS. Hell, I want the OS to be invisible. The less I know it’s there the better. If what I’m reading is true, then I want nothing to do with Windows 8.
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