Techwatch

I'm tracking technology, and technology is tracking me

8.6.10

After Long Silence

I started this blog in 2001, partly so I'd have a blog to play with (along with Neil McIntosh, I'd just become the Guardian's first real blogger at Onlineblog), and partly so I'd have accessible links to my own articles. Changes to the Guardian's site meant those links stopped working, and in any case, I was too busy to keep it going....

Things have changed now I've left the staff of the Guardian, though we're still friends, and I'll be maintaining a connection by posting to the eponymous Ask Jack blog.

But in the absence of anywhere else to blog, I've dusted the cobwebs off this old thing, to see if it has any potential. You never know, I might even manage another post before the next six years have passed....

6.2.04

Faster, smaller, cheaper and more profitable
Intel introduced a new range of enhanced high-volume Pentium 4E processors this week, with small but significant benefits. In the long term, buyers will get faster PCs for less money, while Intel could make bigger profits.
Schofield column
Guardian Online


Music downloads and digital rights management: if buying a player, make sure it works with the service(s) you want to use, and vice versa. Apple iPod battery failures? Getting better performance with Windows XP. Backchat: EventSounds.com is back up and running.
Ask Jack

30.1.04

Mobile doubts
I don't hate mobile phones, but I have doubts about the mobile phone industry. It shouldn't be painful trying to use a mobile abroad.....
Schofield column
Guardian Online


Your Amazing Brain; Topix is a good place for news fiends; Microsoft follows he crowd with a popup-blocking toolbar, and Yahoo lauches Yahoo Labs; European Schoolnet events; Net squirrel offers presentations for downloading; Victorian robot times. Six of the best: Social networks.
Web watch


23.1.04

Tagging goes global
VeriSign has been awarded a contract to provide the ONS (Object Naming Service) for RFID tags. It plans to run it on the same servers as the internet's DNS (Domain Name System).
Guardian Online

Is open source being oversold?
Everyone now accepts the benefits of the open source approach, but it also has potential drawbacks.
Schofield column
Guardian Online



Random words in spam; sorting e-mail in Outlook Express; dialler attack; installing a new Windows Startup sound; taking your address book when you leave AOL.
Ask Jack

OnSpeed speeds up your Web browsing, and while it isn't a replacement for broadband, dial-up users could find it worth trying.
Review

16.1.04

Casino rewards total loyalty
Harrah's uses a loyalty card that pays back points and "comps" in exchange for the ability to track your gambling habits.
Guardian Online

"It was not a rational buy."
The Mac was launched 20 years ago, and while the launch advert was brilliant, sales flopped.....
Schofield column
Guardian Online


Phishing warning: an unfixed bug in Microsoft's Internet explorer means you can't trust links in e-mail, and you can't trust the address bar to tell you where you are -- as customers of a large British bank have recently learned. Also, tracking paperwork with bar codes, connecting wirelessly to the garden shed, and finding an upgrade to the antique Schedule+.
Ask Jack

Mars today -- with the first 360 degree panorama; The Saddam Hussein Sourcebook online; making molecules out of balloons; free legal advice in the UK; Microsoft community sites with built-in blogging, and the Goat Game that teaches kids about recycling. Six of the best: Chinese New Year.
Web watch

8.1.04

Delivering the goods
Ten tips to improve your Google searches.
Guardian Online

Happy birthday to GNU
It's 20 years this week since Richard Stallman started to develop a free operating system called GNU (Gnu's Not Unix) though it ended up being called Linux.
Schofield column
Guardian Online


Media on the go
Microsoft boss Bill Gates was expected to show off a portable video/music player during his opening CES keynote last night -- the same as last year.
What's New

Is it worth asking Metronomy for a free PC? Should you buy the Home or Pro version of Windows XP? What happens after Microsoft stops supporting Windows 98 and Windows 98SE on January 16? What can you do when AOL blocks your e-mail?
Ask Jack

19.12.03

Good tidings
Things are looking up for the PC industry. Research company IDC has just raised its forecast for worldwide PC shipments to a record high of 152.6m units in 2003, and PC companies are starting to expand into the consumer electronics market....
Schofield column
Guardian Online


Upgrading to a new PC, and feedback on film scanning.
Ask Jack

e-Xmax cards, getting your SMS message displayed to the world, searching Google for numbers (eg US patents, FedEx packages), trivia at the NoRelevance site, another new book about Google -- with an online tutorial, MSN's newsbot, GeoSnapping, and original album cover art.
Web watch

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