Showing 1 - 10 of 74
How to create your dream house with a 3D printer
Life, James Hein, Published on 21/08/2012
» It wasn't that long ago when printing something involved at least one sheet of paper and some ink. In recent times this has changed to no sheet of paper, an engineering plan and some exotic printing materials.
Google's backdown doesn't bode well
Life, James Hein, Published on 26/09/2012
» The internet should be free and there are few areas that I believe should be filtered or banned. Freedom of speech and freedom of expression are two of the most important elements of any kind of free system. Services like Google's YouTube should not be selectively filtered just because one ideology says so. People living in southern Thailand are very familiar with this scenario as it has caused many problems there. A case in point is a third-rate movie called The Innocence of Muslims which is being used to justify violence across the world, including in Thailand. The governments of the US, Australia and other _ what would normally be called _"free" societies have demanded a ban on this film. Google initially resisted, but eventually bowed to the pressure and some access was restricted from certain countries, including even India. Free-speech advocates have criticised Google for doing this, and rightly so, because if this continues then all posts are at risk.
Remembering life before the fall
Life, James Hein, Published on 03/10/2012
» If you remember the days of floppy disks or putting something on a CD a while back then you know about the problems of data retention.
Barcoding gets better
Life, James Hein, Published on 10/10/2012
» Everyone has seen a barcode, a little strip of lines that represents a simple alphanumeric code, typically used for keeping track of stock items. There had been no need to improve on this for a long time.
Backtracking Apple allows ad tracking
Life, James Hein, Published on 24/10/2012
» So you have your new iPhone 5 and you love it; good for you! The first time you access iTunes you'll need to provide a payment gateway of some kind. Unlike with Android-based devices, you'll need to give Apple financial access in order to be able to get to the free stuff. My advice, especially if you have children, is to use a debit card with a low ceiling on spending, or something similar, so that when your children use your phone and inadvertently start paying for stuff, your liability will be kept within acceptable limits.
Great e-book reader with built-in light
Life, James Hein, Published on 31/10/2012
» Well it has arrived, my new Paperwhite Kindle. It is small, light, and the text is clear. It is very easy to use with sensible touch areas. The built-in light is great for darker reading areas and the battery technology will allow me to keep it on the whole time and still get a long reading life from the unit. I bought the Wi-Fi version because that is all I need to access my Amazon account. This model does not have any extras like the ability to play music or audio books, so if you need this stick with the earlier models for the time being. For the person who wants to replace their book reading with an electronic device that can be used in the dark then this is perfect and exactly what I want.
A pattern of patent complaints
Life, James Hein, Published on 07/11/2012
» In what should come as no surprise to anyone, moments after Windows 8 was released someone claimed they put boring coloured squares on a screen first. The claimant is SurfCast and they say they did the equivalent of Live Tiles, what Microsoft is calling a coloured square you can click on or touch activate, first. Their patent from 2004 is for a "system and method for simultaneous display of multiple information sources". If for example you look up a screen shot of Xerox's Windows equivalent that appeared before Windows 1.0 you will see what looks a lot like a Windows 8 screen that was designed a long time before the year 2000.
Flexible electronics may bring sci-fi within reach
Life, James Hein, Published on 19/12/2012
» HP is still the biggest seller of PCs, but it's not much of a player in other computer markets such as the portable realm. In terms of total devices shipped, Samsung is now the market leader growing nearly 100% to take top spot with a solid 21.8% of the market. Apple is next on 15.1%. Lenovo is a surprising third at 7%, with HP now down to 4.6 from a previous 7.4%. HP doesn't have a smartphone and its tablet range is sparse so it makes it hard to compete in the smart-connected space. And things won't get much better since the pundits are expecting another 100% jump in smartphone and tablet sales, rising to an overall 70% share of the market. I'm not convinced, though, that tablet sales are going to increase all that much more in what may already be a saturated market; any new entrants will probably get in with the less expensive Chinese products.
Fiddling with photos is now a lot more fun
Life, James Hein, Published on 16/01/2013
» This is definitely the age of the digital camera. What many people don't understand when they take digital snaps, however, is that the results can be a lot better with a bit of processing. In the old days the best way to do that was with Apple software and there are those who will maintain this view until they die. The PC started to come into its own about 20 years ago when Adobe released its first Windows version of Photoshop and about 10 years ago support started for RAW camera images. Then, in 2007, out came Lightroom, a product designed exclusively for the digital camera user.
Household names that just can't keep a secret
Life, James Hein, Published on 06/02/2013
» So which companies do you trust? Every year for the past seven, independent research group the Ponemon Institute has published a report on the Most Trusted Companies for Privacy. This US-based survey asks 100,000 adults to rate the larger organisations out there. This year, AmEx, HP, Amazon and IBM made the top four. Microsoft and eBay also got into the top 20, but Apple and Google didn't _ for the first time in several years. The problem is that people these days no longer trust IT organisations, believing that they have precious little regard for users' privacy. In fact, the prevailing opinion is that these firms collect users' personal info and profit from it, either by using it themselves or by selling the data to others.