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  • News & article

    Personal data privacy: What are your rights?

    Database, James Hein, Published on 19/05/2010

    » Should you have the right to your own data? Privacy people think we should, and I think we should in many instances, but governments and some providers are no so positive about this.

  • News & article

    If they didn't want it then, why would they want it now?

    Database, James Hein, Published on 08/09/2010

    » A number of companies are now readying their iPad challenger. But why? What has changed in the past 10 years to suggest people who once rejected pen or touchscreen computing will now embrace it?

  • News & article

    Buying and selling digital books

    Database, James Hein, Published on 03/11/2010

    » There was a book fair in Frankfurt recently. For many people, the idea of a book is something you sit with at the park or in bed at night and slowly turn the pages as the story unfolds. If you are a book writer, the idea is that you spend months sending a manuscript to publishers and agents in the hope someone will want to take it on.

  • News & article

    Sorry Redmond, I'm just not feeling it

    Life, James Hein, Published on 09/01/2013

    » My parents bought a new ultrabook and it was my job to set it up for them. Since all new home computers now come with Windows 8 it was a chance to take the PC version of the operating system for a test drive. So far I am not impressed. One of the first things I did was install an aftermarket Start button to keep it closer to their previous Windows experience. There are a number of these available, most of them are free and not only return the Start button but some of the original Windows 7 functionality you may like. Take a look at a few of them and decide what things you want or need to have.

  • News & article

    Paying through the nose

    Life, James Hein, Published on 03/04/2013

    » A report out of Brisbane, Australia highlights an interesting but predictable issue. A specialty food store put a sign in the window stating that they charge A$5 (150 baht) to enter the store, which is refundable if you buy something. If you don't make any purchases then the store is assuming you are comparing prices to goods which you then buy online. Also, in this particular example, the store owner told reporters that about 60 people a week ask for advice then shop elsewhere, so she considers the $5 to be an advisory fee. She also believes that her policy is echoed by other store owners like those in sports, electronics and clothing.

  • News & article

    Microsoft and devices? Time to call it quits?

    Life, James Hein, Published on 07/08/2013

    » Things are starting to slow down in the IT marketplace generally, but specifically with tablets. We'll start off with Microsoft, whose Surface RT devices are just not selling. Total revenue to date is US$853 million (26.5 billion baht); that might sound like a lot, but it's at least a billion dollars less than expected. When you factor in the estimated $900 million in advertising costs, you can see what the problems are. So far the proceeds from sales haven't even covered the launch costs. During the same period, Apple sold 57 million iPads. Taking a retrospective view, Microsoft has never done that well in selling devices, whether they be phones, music players or tablets; so perhaps in future the firm should just stick to software.

  • News & article

    The shape, and size, of things to come

    Life, James Hein, Published on 09/10/2013

    » When someone uses the word smartphone, most people these days probably automatically think of Apple or Samsung. This makes sense because between them they account for over half the world's devices in this category. Apple started the trend and in recent times Samsung has taken over and been leading ever since. Beyond the United States, Australia and Europe, the fastest growing markets are China, India and Brazil, all of which have their own increasingly popular brands. In China, for example, Samsung is the current leader, but numbers two and three are Lenovo and Yulong Coolpad _ I've never heard of the latter either although they released 48 models last year. Apple isn't even fourth with ZTE, Huawei and Xiaomi coming next on the list.

  • News & article

    Spies like us

    Life, James Hein, Published on 20/11/2013

    » Does anyone else find the current rhetoric around countries spying on each other hypocritical? Everyone does it, either officially or unofficially, and every country spies on its neighbours, enemies and even allies in the name of national interest. History shows us that neighbours _ and Thailand is well aware of this _ can turn on you at any time so you have to keep tabs on them. In the past the only way to do this was using human intelligence, reading letters and intercepting telegrams. These days emails are read, phones are tapped and servers are hacked in addition to using regular human intelligence. To pretend otherwise is just plain silly. For the moment the US National Security Agency just happens to have the biggest and fastest computers to do this with.

  • News & article

    #hashtag is now official

    Life, James Hein, Published on 25/06/2014

    » It is as official as it is going to get — Oxford have accepted the word “hashtag” into their dictionary. Normally it would take longer, but due to the widespread use of the word it has been added early. The first use was on Aug 25, 2007, in a Twitter posting. The symbol itself has a longer history when back before the 1960s the # symbol, technically known as the “octothorp”, was used as an indicator for a number. It is also called the hash, hatch, crunch, pound, number and tic-tac-toe sign. Yes, I made up that last one.

  • News & article

    Intellectual theft isn't so expensive

    Life, James Hein, Published on 13/05/2015

    » So which countries are the worst at enforcing intellectual copyright? According to the latest US annual Special 301 Report, the top two are China and India. There are, of course, more in the full priority watch list, including Thailand and Russia. Thailand was singled out for a number of issues, including what is described as "media-box piracy", those being storage devices with the capability of playing HD content preloaded with large quantities of pirated material and sold as a package. This approach is currently growing in popularity in Asia.

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