ndmckinney|net » Technology

Firefox 4 (Beta 8) First Impressions

Nick — Tue, 28 Dec 2010 16:30:38 +0000

After a couple hours of playing with the latest Firefox on my Mac, I’ve come to a conclusion: Mozilla has Google on the brain. The browser is certainly quick, but I’m not sure I’m going back to it. Safari and Google have stolen my heart. The Good: Loads pages quickly; provides me a way to [...]

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 [...]

Pricing Success But Still and Abject Failure

Nick — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 15:24:41 +0000

Nissan announced today that their first all-electric vehicle, the Leaf, will be priced around $25,000. While it’s certainly adorable and conceptually desirable, the Leaf, along with similar plug-in electrics, will continue to be an automotive failure. Electric cars are best suited for urban environments, where slower speeds and short distances make optimal use of the [...]

Outgrowing Arduino

Nick — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 17:20:16 +0000

For about a year now, I’ve been playing with the Arduino prototyping platform to learn about embedded programming. After a year, however, I think the time has come to say goodbye to the Arduino and program my microcontrollers directly. I do like the concept that Arduino is offering: a simple, low-cost platform that wraps a [...]

The Future of Computing

Nick — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 09:33:50 +0000

Today, Apple released its punchline-inducing “iPad” tablet device. Designed to be something between a smartphone and a laptop, the iPad is perhaps the most hyped device of the last couple years. Whether it will be a game changer is yet to be seen, but it is certainly a shift away from traditional computing for sure. [...]

Windows to Add Mandated Browser “Choice Screen” in March 2010

Nick — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 13:19:38 +0000

The European Commission details the new, compulsory “Choice Screen” browser selection update to Microsoft Windows. From the Press Release: What is the Choice Screen and how can people get it? Microsoft has agreed with the European Commission to offer Microsoft Windows users a Choice Screen giving them an easy choice about which web browser they [...]

Green My Tank

Nick — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 16:56:11 +0000

The Economist is reporting on the US Military’s tactical need for “green power” war machinery. Not to save the environment, but to “unleash us from the tether of fuel.” [From Monitor: Greenery on the march | The Economist]

In Defense of $5,000/MB

Nick — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 10:05:18 +0000

“AT&T is dead.” Well, it’s not dead, but the Wall Street Journal claims that we should be making plans for the funeral. According to the WSJ, AT&T is holding onto an obsolete, monolithic business model that is neither supportive of their customer nor fostering of technological advances. The chief complaint: the extremely high cost of [...]

Microsoft Complies with European Comission for 2 Months

Nick — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 10:04:53 +0000

Longer than anyone thought, but still a poor showing nevertheless. [From Microsoft kills Windows 7E, puts IE back in upcoming OS - Network World]

What Kills Old Technology?

Nick — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 05:07:11 +0000

When I was much, much younger, I was online. Every summer, I would spend a couple weeks with my grandparents. My uncle, a professor of computer science at a nearby college, secured for me a spare computer, a modem, and user account. A handshake later and I was connected to the network. A further authentication [...]

Creating a New Site

Nick — Mon, 18 May 2009 19:05:45 +0000

For some time now, I’ve been contemplating starting a new website. Unlike this site, which is my all-purpose soapbox, this new site would be more focused in its scope. That would not only allow me to create a more focused forum, but it would give me the opportunity to practice other skills, such as marketing [...]

European Commission Imposes €1.06 billion Fine on Intel

Nick — Wed, 13 May 2009 20:27:41 +0000

The European Commission (EC) today imposed a €1.06 billion fine on the Intel Corporation for “abuse of a dominant market position . . . by engaging in illegal anticompetitive practices to exclue competitors from the market for computer chips called x86 central processing units.” The Commission futher ordered Intel “to cease the anticompetitive practices to the extent [...]

Journalist or Blogger?

Nick — Mon, 11 May 2009 22:07:50 +0000

Newspapers are in trouble, so report the newspapers. So does network television, also facing new challenges from both cable television and the internet. This week, NPR’s On the Media posed the question on how to save newspapers. They played excerpts from a recent Senate commerce committee hearing on the future of journalism. After pointing fingers [...]

Filters and Links

Nick — Thu, 07 May 2009 20:47:22 +0000

Wired.com today published an article calling into question the legality of Facebook’s new policy of filtering links to the Pirate Bay. Citing EFF lawyers, the article claims that Facebook is violating the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA, 18 U.S.C. § 2510 et seq.) by filtering these links. While there is little wisdom in doing so, [...]

Odd Health Kicks

Nick — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 12:20:04 +0000

For weeks now, I’ve been hearing the strangest sound coming from one of my neighbor’s apartments. At first, I thought it was a vacuum cleaner or other medium-duty appliance, only to discover the noise coming during the early and late hours of the day. It suddenly occurred to me this morning: what I’m hearing from [...]

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.

The Fatal Shortcoming of Social Media

Nick — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 23:01:28 +0000

Twitter, for example, allows greater access to content that Facebook; my "tweets" are republished on this site without any hassle (as well as on my Facebook page, which recently has changed to look more like Twitter). ... Twitter seems to be better than most at opening up their systems to the outside world; they have a published, well-documented API that allows anyone to write applications to access their servers; the problem here is that you still must access their servers.

France: No exclusive iPhone deals

Nick — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 16:48:12 +0000

A French appellate court has upheld a decision prohibiting Apple and telco provider Orange from entering into a five-year exclusive deal. [From iPhone : la justice confirme la suspension d'exclusivité d'Orange - Economie - Le Monde.fr]

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]