ndmckinney|net » computers

A Better Visual Keyboard

Nick — Sun, 19 Sep 2010 19:39:09 +0000

One of the things I’ve noticed after 2.5 years of iPhone ownership is that the QWERTY keyboard is not designed for little fingers. While Apple has graciously included an automatic spellcheck program that corrects many typos, many go unchanged because the typo is itself a word. The more I’ve worked with this tiny keyboard, the [...]

OS Nostalgia and Disappointment

Nick — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 08:50:31 +0000

Ten years ago, when I was starting my computer science training, I was a major fan of OpenVMS. OpenVMS, of course, will not run on my laptop, so I needed a solution to run on my standard-issue laptop. Linux was still in its infancy, especially on laptop hardware, so I began to play around with [...]

FCC Inquires About Google Voice App Rejection

Nick — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 00:19:44 +0000

TechCrunch is reporting that the FCC has sent letters of inquiry to Apple, AT&T and Google regarding the rejection of Google Voice related apps from Apple’s app store. In the letters, the FCC is asking both Apple and AT&T about their levels of decision making in approving/rejecting apps. AT&T has maintained that it has no [...]

Pros and Cons of Asymmetric Cryptography

Nick — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 02:01:56 +0000

Quick disclaimer: I love cryptography. I don’t fully understand the math that goes into it, but I love it all the same. Something that has baffled me for quite some time is why we don’t see more cryptography in consumer computing. Passwords, simple authentication tokens, are ubiquitous, even on single-user Windows computers. Real encryption, on [...]

The Network Really is the Computer

Nick — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 12:01:36 +0000

Sun Microsystems, one of the stalwarts of the computing industry, has a simple motto: “the network is the computer.” Yesterday, Google took that motto to an entirely new level with the announcement of it’s Chrome OS. Details on Chrome are sparse (which has not stopped technology writers from writing ad nauseum about all the features [...]

In the Clouds

Nick — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 21:13:43 +0000

Recently, my hosting company, Laughing Squid, established a new cloud hosting service dubbed “Ultra Squid“. Today, for essentially the same cost I’ve been paying, I now get over three times the storage, two and half times the bandwidth, more databases, and tons of email storage space. I’ve been using LS for years and found it [...]

Interview With Dino A. Dai Zovi

Nick — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 18:43:21 +0000

Tom’s Hardware has a great interview with Dino A. Dai Zovi, computer security researcher. The interview does a nice job of covering topics such as OS and browser security, internet fragility, and concepts in computer security. [From Security Threat Analysis: Interview With Dino A. Dai Zovi : Introduction - Review Tom's Hardware]

Monetizing the Crowd

Nick — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 10:30:37 +0000

According to the company's website, while Twitter is exploring a number of business models, it is currently focused on providing the best user experience possible and growing its user base. ... While they will certainly be around for the short-term, their long term survival will depend, in part, on their ability to balance the desire of users to have access to the plethora of free services that the internet has to offer with the pragmatic need for operating capital.

Les différents types de cyberattaques

Nick — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 09:40:35 +0000

A fun infographic from the French newspaper Le Monde describing the different types of computer malware. [From Le Monde.fr : Les différents types de cyberattaques]