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You know how you can instantly tell if a new law or government program is good for consumers? Big corporations hate it. In this case, the whole telecom industry hates the idea that the proposed Biden infrastructure bill is committed to affordable internet access for everyone in America, no matter where they live. Continue Reading →

From a financial perspective, the pandemic has hit the creator class hard. With the usual venues for live performances and exhibitions closed, artists, musicians, singers, actors, and creators of every description have been forced to fend for themselves. But something very new, and kind of amazing, has happened over the past year. The result may be the emergence of a first-time-ever, self-sufficient, profitable creator class. Continue Reading →

What's in a bubble: loyalty or lock-in? That's the question Epic Games is asking in a recent court filing. Epic is arguing that because Apple won't make iMessage available on Android, they are guilty of forcing parents to buy iPhones for their kids instead of Android phones. Continue Reading →

Do you support a favorite artist or creator using Patreon, Cameo, or OnlyFans? Have you purchased an NFT for a new album or to add to your digital art collection? If so, you are in the vanguard of the nascent creator economy. Continue Reading →

What can I say about a well-engineered smartphone line that was doomed to irrelevance because the parent company never understood how to differentiate its products (other than price)? Ever hear anyone say, "I can't wait for the new LG smartphone to come out!" No? I haven't either. Continue Reading →

Data is a lot like pizza, or at least that's what Wide Open West (an ISP with about 800,000 customers) would like you to believe. The company sent an email to its internet users telling them that it was instituting data caps on June 1 because they want everyone to get the amount of pizza they ordered. If this sounds weird or confusing or condescending, I'm not doing it justice. It's way worse than that. Continue Reading →

New York and Florida have both taken official positions regarding vaccine passports. The official NYS Excelsior Pass (a “vaccine passport”) is now available for download. On the other hand, the governor of Florida just issued an executive order prohibiting businesses from requiring customers to show vaccine documentation. But this is more than just a tale of two states. Continue Reading →

Ready to be part of a FLoC? That's Google's acronym for a Federated Learning of Cohorts, a toolset supposedly engineered to help take the "psycho" out of psychographics. Continue Reading →

Microsoft is not joking. Stick a fork in Cortana... it's done! If you are one of the dozens of Cortana users wondering why the Cortana content you created (such as reminders and lists) aren't working on your mobile devices, it's not an April Fools' joke: Microsoft announced last July that it would end support for the Cortana mobile app on March 31, 2021. Continue Reading →

Tomorrow is April Fools' Day, so today (for obvious reasons) is World Backup Day. If you get April Fooled into clicking something you shouldn't have (because it was funny or looked safe) and your computer is transformed into a paperweight, at least your data will be safe. As I always say, "Back up early and often." Continue Reading →