As a professional software programmer, I often have to force myself to not get jaded about the rapid advance of technology. I know, I’m going to go into one of those anecdotes you used to have to listen to, as a child, when your crusty grandpappy used to boast about...
Apple recently stepped on some toes — of course, when your company is on the verge of being the world first trillion dollar company, you’re naturally going to make enemies on the way. After all, it’s the nature of business. So what exactly did Apple do, and to whom?...
A funny thing happened to my favorite text editor, Ulysses. It’s my go-to text editor I use these days to write my freelance articles … a slick, no-nonsense and distraction-free text editor that helps you concentrate on one and only one thing, getting your thoughts...
By Mat Bradley-Tschirgi Online security is more important now than ever. In early October 2017, Yahoo disclosed that all 3 billion of their user accounts had data stolen from hackers way back in 2013. The Identity Theft Resource Center reported that in 2015 over 177...
I had lunch recently with a former coworker and colleague, and we got into a discussion about the topic of hackathons. For those unfamiliar with the term, a hackathon is an event where a team of software developers and others, come up with a project idea of their own...
I saw a recent article, about Amazon getting onto the instant messaging app bandwagon. My excitement level was about as high as seeing my monthly utility bills arrive in the mail. Honestly, my first gut reaction when I read this was, WHY? That is, WHY did Amazon feel...
If you haven’t lived under a rock for the past few years, you’ve probably heard about something called “IoT”, short for Internet of Things. Let’s go to a formal definition: “The Internet of Things (IoT) is a system of interrelated computing devices, mechanical and...
Sometimes some of our predictions about the future are way off. If anyone remembers “The Jetsons” from the 1960s, we were all on the brink of driving around in flying cars, talking robots would take care of our children and keep up the housekeeping, and we’d all be...
It may be strange hearing this from someone like me, who works and breathes technology for a living, but technology moves too DAMN FAST. Or maybe I’m getting to be too much of a curmudgeon as I get older? I’m pretty sure it’s a combination of both. There’s an old...
By Mat Bradley-Tschirgi Everyone’s had that moment when you are using an app and then get stuck. You go to the company’s website, and click on the dreaded “Need Help?” link only to find a vague post written for nerds instead of neophytes. You can’t make head or tail...
The way that Hollywood portrays the art of computer hacking is always entertaining. Especially if you come from an actual software development background like myself. In many Hollywood fantasies, a computer hacker is this digital omnipotent wizard in front of a...