A concept that I knew and applied in years gone by to Windows 95/98 recently came up on a blog I enjoy written by a Tablet PC aficionado, called Tabula PC. In a post discussing different challenges he’s facing at the office, Peter Rysavy mentions his desktop PC at work is approaching “that one year mark of entropy�:

“My work desktop is slowly disintegrating. Outlook had to be reinstalled several times, IE is shaky, and the whole thing is super slow. No, it’s not spyware - it’s just approaching that one year mark of entropy.”

Note that I’m making an assumption here, but I’m guessing that he’s on either Windows XP or at least Windows 2000 at work. Peter, I invite you to confirm that. Anyhow, here’s my question:

Does the once generally agreed upon concept - that after about a year of use Windows needs to be reinstalled from scratch - still hold true in the world of Windows XP? I realize I don’t have the readership to really start this discussion, but hopefully someone will pick up the question and pose it in a forum much larger than this.

I’ve been waiting for an interesting conference to be held in Vancouver, and was glad to see Jeff Sandquist’s post about Northern Voice. Count me in.

Chris sent me this link, and it’s pretty amazing! Use the anonymous login, and play 20 questions with a computer. You’ll be surprised how good it is. AI has come a long way - I’m impressed!

Just look at the image below, and tell me you don’t want one of these. I want one, BAD.

I just became a member of Sony’s “Gamer Advisory Council”. Due to all the scary text in their End User License Agreement, I can’t show a PlayStation logo on this post, so instead I’ll show the entire contents of the EULA, which is interesting in that it’s written in plain English for the most part, with apparently some sense of humour. Cool:

Grand Theft Auto - San Andreas: An interview with an insider, Dan Houser.

I can’t wait.

What would happen if you made it your mission to write down every single thought you had? Ask Lion Kimbro, a video game tester who did exactly that for three months. I don’t know why, but I find the idea of this fascinating. Maybe it’s because in some ways I see it linked to the productivity principles of David Allen, or maybe ’cause it’s just an incredibly geeky thing to do.

From the “Stuff I Swear I Invented First” category, comes the Discovery UV & Ozone Toothbrush Purifier. I’m telling myself it probably won’t sell.

I came across the link to this on All Things Christie, a very cool blog by a fellow Canadian!

Another invention I swear I had was the pillow cooler. Fran acquired one for me for Father’s Day with much difficulty, as apparently they don’t deliver to Canada directly. I swear by the thing - seriously. It kicks some serious pillow-cooling ass. Yes it’s gimmicky. But it works.

I hate having such a bad case of geek lust. Thanks, Chris.

What self-respecting gamer wouldn’t want one of these babies?

A site called Best Tools for the Job has a listing of the best Pocket PC software that is available for free. In the author’s words:

“The best Pocket PC Freeware (and non-free software where there’s no good free alternative) available. I’ve sorted through dozens of programs, weeded out the buggy, useless software and this is what remains. If you’ve just purchased a Pocket PC, this list could save you hours.”

Definitely worth checking out. I’m very impressed with his list.

Also, check out PocketPCThoughts.com - they run a great site with tons of Pocket PC information, and that’s where I first heard about this list.

But this is almost evil: a parent selling her son’s PlayStation 2 on eBay as punishment.