Today in my inbox, which often overflows with notifications about open source software, I received two separate notifications which I plan to combine in one blog post. The first was a list of command line clients for Twitter for use under Linux. My main office machine runs Ubuntu 16.10 (Yakkety Yak), and I date from…
Amazon has filed a patent for a mini-drone that would be easily transportable (perhaps in a bag or attached to your clothing), and would be able to find things. You might have your car marked in some way, and when you get to the parking lot, the drone would fly from your clothing, locate your…
Some time back I wrote a post about grocery shopping in which I said: Grocery shelves are not arranged for your convenience. When I first started shopping for a family, rather than for one, I also noticed how often grocery shopping took me on inconvenient routes. I also notice this when I shop at…
I’ve heard a read a bit about this, and decided to look at it a bit more. You’ll the the Amazon.com link to the left. The difference in price/performance between laptops, tablets, and desktops continues to shrink. You can get excellent performance in a laptop. What I’m telling my clients these days is to give…
New Atlas tells the story of the Curta mechanical calculator, and it’s designer Hertzsark who had to draw designs as a prisoner at Buchenwald. It’s well worth reading.
Back in my earlier days in electronics, as the glaciers receded, the NiCad battery was a new, great, and often expensive thing. We were taught to frequently let the battery drain and then recharge, as the cycle helped condition the battery. I get asked this question frequently regarding modern cell-phone batteries, and I admit my…
This is on sale for just $99.99 on Amazon through October 9. I am not recommending this as something I’ve tested, but the competition is heating up for voice command devices, and Amazon got into it early with the Echo and now this. If you’ve had any luck with things like Siri and Cortana, you…
(Note: Page author Henry Neufeld is compensated for sales made through links on this page.)