Technology
Category archives for Technology
Copy.com (Barracuda) is shutting down
Posted by Greg Laden on February 1, 2016 
Suddenly my computer tells me that copy.com is shutting down as a cloud storage service. That sucks, since I had a few terabytes of free storage with them. I will now have to seek an alternative. What are your experiences with cloud storage, free or otherwise?
What is the best mouse for a Mac, Linux, or Windows?
Posted by Greg Laden on January 16, 2016 
One mouse to rule them all I had previously reviewed the Logitech Ultrathin Touch Mouse, suggesting it as a replacement for the Apple Magic Mouse. Now, I’ve tried it on my Linux machine (don’t know why that took so long). It turns out to work very well, better than most, possibly all, mice I’ve used.…
Command Line Science
Posted by Greg Laden on January 12, 2016 
A worthy Kickstarter science related project is afoot. Face it. Most science is done on the command line. When it is not, we call it “science by spreadsheet” or name it by some other epithet. Much of that is done on Linux or Linux like computers, but that actually includes Macs, and if you must,…
Should You Buy The $50 Kindle Fire Tablet?
Posted by Greg Laden on January 3, 2016 
This is a review of the Kindle Fire with 7″ Display and Special Offers by Amazon. In short, this is a tablet/eReader that a lot of people will want, as long as certain needs are extant and certain expectations understood. I have one, and I’m very happy with it. It would take very little convincing…
Learn Python Using Minecraft
Posted by Greg Laden on January 1, 2016 
Minecraft is a gaming world. Or, if you like, a “sandbox.” This is a three dimensional world in which characters do things, all sorts of things. The context for the world of Minecraft is very open ended. The player builds things, moves things, gets things, does things, in a way that makes any one gamer’s…
Can Christmas Lights Slow Down Wi-Fi Speed?
Posted by Greg Laden on December 3, 2015 
No. Lights of the christmas tree interfering with The Force, not likely. Well, OK, if all the people in the united states gathered into one state, the gravitational effects of all those bodies in one place would be detectable by the ultra sensitive GRACE satellite system. And, any electronic device that is running, including light…
Setting up a Digital Ocean remotely hosted WordPress blog
Posted by Greg Laden on November 18, 2015 
Mike Haubrich and I are developing a science oriented podcasting effort. It will be called “Ikonokast” (all the good names, like “The New York Times” and “Apple” were taken). We decided to enhance the podcast with a WordPress based blog site, perhaps with each page representing one podcast, and containing backup and supplementary information. Here…
We’re gonna need a better tin foil hat (MIT invents X-ray Glasses!)
Posted by Greg Laden on October 28, 2015 
Those zany researchers at MIT are up to their usual shenanigans. They have come up with a device, which they call “our device,” that sees through walls. Here is a video of how it works, complete with background music to make you feel perfectly comfortable with it: Here’s their web site. Here is a LARGE…
Samsung Galaxy S4 Review
Posted by Greg Laden on October 24, 2015 
Samsung Galaxy S4 Looking at just the specs, the Samsung Galaxy S4 looks like a good phone. That’s why we got one! But there are a few things you need to know that may impact your decision. These problems lead me to not recommend this phone. First, the Android Lollipop version that Samsung produces is…
What happened to iDraw? iDraw disappeared!
Posted by Greg Laden on October 23, 2015 Just a quick note in case you had iDraw on your iMac and it iDisappeared. What happened is this. You updated iDraw (or it was updated automatically) and when that happened it turned into “Autodesk Graphic,” probably known on your computer as just ‘Graphic.” That is all, you may now return to your graphing and…