Showing 1 - 10 of 16
The dangers of digital addiction
Life, Suwitcha Chaiyong, Published on 14/11/2023
» Eddie* has a choleric temperament which made him difficult for people to deal with. When he was just over two years old, he was given a tablet to play with. After that, he spent a lot of time in front of the screen.
Flip for fun
Life, Komsan Jandamit, Published on 11/10/2023
» The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 has a cool foldable form factor, eight body colour variations to choose from, speed to match the fastest phones, a useful big front screen, and a battery that will last you the whole day and beyond.
Is the new Twitter just like the old?
Life, James Hein, Published on 01/02/2023
» The Twitter situation is complex and somewhat confusing. On the one hand, all kinds of people from The Babylon Bee satirical website to former US president Donald Trump have been allowed back on the platform. The stated aim is to allow freedom of speech to be supported by Twitter once again. On the other hand, you can be banned by linking to a public photo of a public person on a public platform. The rule for the latter appears to only be for friends of Elon Musk. A YouTube channel I enjoy watching, The Quartering, did this after someone else had been banned and was also almost instantly banned himself. This is of course wrong in every respect especially given the individual in question, apparently now hypocritically, is always banging on about freedom of speech. Update, the ban is permanent.
Tech giants, gatekeepers of the cloud
Life, James Hein, Published on 11/05/2022
» AWS, Microsoft and Google collectively made up 65% of global spend on cloud computing in Q1 2022, and their share is increasing year-on-year. At least two of these organisations have shut down users and companies they decided did not align with their ideologies. If you put your data on the cloud, it sits somewhere. In many cases, it's on the servers of these three companies who may or may not decide to cut you off without warning sometime in the future. It is also important to remember these three companies have servers across the globe and if a country decides to remove itself from the pack, it could take a peek at what you are storing there.
2021's best foldable
Life, Komsan Jandamit, Published on 22/09/2021
» If you think the Galaxy Flip 3 -- which I reviewed previously -- was cool, the Galaxy Fold 3 will blow you away and turn heads with what seems to be a 7.6-inch rectangle-ish glass screen that can vertically fold in half to save space and comes with no camera notch. But it's not for everyone.
The economics of happiness
Life, Suwitcha Chaiyong, Published on 06/09/2021
» In order to learn about people, living creatures and more, people come up with questions and try to find answers. The book, The Whys Of Life, written by Prof Nattavudh Powdthavee, raises many interesting questions. Why do people with good looks have high social status, are famous, or usually luckier than others? Why are people afraid of quitting jobs they hate? And how can people be happy in this uncertain world? The author explained the reasons without being judgmental and using reliable research to support his explanations.
Banner year for Zoom, Microsoft Teams subpar
Life, James Hein, Published on 09/12/2020
» 'Zoom records another bumper quarter" is an unsurprising headline. While Covid-19 still has a grip on leaders and businesses, online meetings remain a big choice, but for how long? Over the years I've noticed that management falls into distinct groups when it comes to working from home. Most want to see their workers in the office as much as possible but some do support remote work and work-from-home as long as the work is being completed. For those who have to travel long distances to and from work, it also provides an opportunity for more sleep and less stress. For an eye-opener on the importance of this, I recommend that everyone read Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker for data on the importance of sleep, including its benefits to organisations.
How to be a 'neighbourdude'
Life, Story: Suwitcha Chaiyong, Published on 18/06/2020
» Making friends with a stranger in Beijing, having an appointment with an Indian friend at an unfamiliar venue and cooking takoyaki with a lovely family in Japan are parts of the travelling book Pra Thed Baan Puen (Neighbourdude Country) written by Nath Suppavatee.
Covid computing
Life, James Hein, Published on 06/05/2020
» - Things are quiet on the IT front. Well, that's not necessarily true, as many are trying to come to grips with the whole working-from-home existence. Many, including myself, are spending a lot of time in front of a screen. Instead of getting up and conferring with a colleague at their desk, it is a Skype chat.
Virus exposes the good and bad of tech
Life, James Hein, Published on 22/04/2020
» Google has not been doing so well in the UK. A High Court battle between Foundem and Google, which has been ongoing since 2006, has reached an interesting stage. The issue is ranking algorithms. Readers will remember that I've written about this subject in the past. Foundem had asked the court to approve a review of Google's ranking algorithms by an independent expert. Their claim is that Google demoted Foundem in favour of paid adverts because Foundem is a commercial rival. Google was given the offer to withdraw their evidence that only a Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) engineer could understand and when they refused, a choice was made to let an expert examine an unredacted version of the evidence and comment on it. This puts Google in an interesting place. If they withdraw their redacted evidence, it could indicate they are trying to hide something and if they refuse expert analysis, it could indicate the same thing. Their claim is that if an expert looks at the code, they will lose their competitive advantage. Yes, the judge saw through this one as well. The case is currently on hold amid the current Covid-19 situation.