Category Archives: News & Annoyances

What Can You Do with an off-the-Shelf Android Phone?

Posted on 2013 April 30, Tuesday by JamesIsIn

Why not send it into space?  Who wouldn’t want a tiny satellite all their own?  You could do satellite stuff. NASA got busy with this slightly crazy concept and did just that.  They bought three Nexus 1 Android phones, supersized … Continue reading →

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A Little Password Wisdom

Posted on 2013 January 28, Monday by JamesIsIn

I have tried in vain to convince innumerable persons to use real complex passwords.  It’s not easy.  Everyone thinks you have to use something like 8*cfi4*kn0> as your password. Well, you could.  That would be complex.  But there are easier … Continue reading →

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Tablet Schmablet: Unity, Gnome3, Windows 8, and Mountain Lion

Posted on 2012 June 5, Tuesday by JamesIsIn

As you probably are well aware, Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android operating systems have pretty much a) revolutionized and b) utterly dominated the tablet, smart-phone, and mobile arena for some time now.  They have managed to crush Palm (much sadness) … Continue reading →

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Posted in News & Annoyances, OS | 3 Comments

Surveyor of the Foistest

Posted on 2012 April 30, Monday by JamesIsIn

You may recall how annoying I found the alleged update of iTunes called Safari.  You may also have been amused by my railing against the equally alleged update to Windows called Silverlight.  Microsoft has delivered a new alleged update called … Continue reading →

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Sharpening the Social Blades

Posted on 2012 March 10, Saturday by JamesIsIn

Ah, yes; the age of mob-rule is upon us.  Only it’s a kinder gentler mob-rule than those of old.  It’s a mob-rule that merely looks askance at you and scoffs and maybe snorts in contemptuous disbelief.  And yet it’s effective. … Continue reading →

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When I Was a Child, they Taught Me to Share

Posted on 2012 January 20, Friday by JamesIsIn

There are, perhaps famously, two bills in the national legislature right now which are threatening to disrupt everything the Internet has accomplished over the last decade or more in terms of openness, discovery, and innovation.  These bills are SOPA and … Continue reading →

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Steampunk Computer in the Works

Posted on 2011 November 11, Friday by JamesIsIn

Did you ever used to read Marvel’s What If…? comics?  I did.  Fascinating alternate histories in the Marvel universe.  There is a lot of literature out there like that.  I once listened to a story about a time traveler who … Continue reading →

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Good Night Flash Mobile

Posted on 2011 November 9, Wednesday by JamesIsIn

For those of you who have already been working with HTML 5, the announcement that Adobe was throwing in the towel on mobile Flash development probably comes as no great shock.  It’s just a matter of time before HTML 5 … Continue reading →

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Netflix Removes Cranium from Rectum

Posted on 2011 October 10, Monday by JamesIsIn

You may recall that I was particularly critical of the decision by Netflix to move their DVD by-mail service to Qwikster and utterly separate their streaming and by-mail services (see my article).  You may have also noticed that my opinion … Continue reading →

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Spastic Plastics All Over Again

Posted on 2011 October 6, Thursday by JamesIsIn

As part of my (apparently) on-going series on plastics (see this and this post) I have found another TED video discussing those wonderfully manipulable materials.  This one is about a guy who managed to develop a recycling plant and process … Continue reading →

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