Technology

News / Technology — Comments Off
28
Mar 13

T-Mobile Cutting the Bullshit?

I admittedly have a soft-spot for T-Mobile.  After going through Comcast Metrophone, Sprint, and AT&T (later Cingular), T-Mobile had been the cellular service provider I had used for the longest period of time.  Moving from the near-suburbs of Philadelphia to rural farmland necessitated a change – so we went with two iPhone 5s with Verizon.

I was more than a little excited at the prospect of a cellular carrier dumping both subsidies and contracts.  I think TMO is making the smart move for the future.  Customers who are out of contract or who are likely to buy their own phones are most likely to be higher-profit users.  We’ll see how it works out over time as TMO’s network is fast but thin.

This comparison at the Verge of TMO versus Sprint versus ATT versus Verizon shows how little competition there is between carriers.  The TL;DR is that ATT and Verizon cost exactly the same, to the penny, over 2-years, with TMO being cheaper and Sprint being significantly more expensive.

Government / Politicking / Technology — Comments Off
18
Mar 13

A new GOP? Pardon my skepticism.

The GOP is promising a reboot, heavy on data (with Buzzfeed saying ‘data’ was mentioned almost a hundred times in near 100 pages), in their Growth Opportunity Project.  You can get the document as a PDF here.

The GOP believe that “conservatism can’t fail, it can only be failed” and that all their woes can be solved through better marketing messaging.  Happy talk about apps, the cloud, and big data won’t solve the GOP’s product problem.

The GOP has stubbornly and repeatedly denied reality, choosing to substitute their own.  I find it hard to believe that the GOP will not simply cherry-pick data that complements the political ideology of their funders and activist base as opposed to challenging them with a world that has left them behind (on many social and financial issues).

The highlights or TL;DR are here via TPM.

Technology / Webculture — Comments Off
14
Mar 13

You Bastards Finally Did It (or you will)!

reader we hardly knew yee

Google is finally pulling the plug on Reader.  Here is Google’s official announcement.  I’ve written about Reader previously, here.

gReader’s creator reflects.  There are alternatives (my preferred solution is Feedly as both a mobile app for Android/iOS and Chrome extension).

I wonder if Google realizes the PR hit they are going to take here, as so many journalists and pundits – particularly those with large audiences and/or who cover technology have effectively used Google Reader for years.

Technology / Webculture — Comments Off
13
Jan 13

Remembering Aaron Swartz

It’s weird to see so many people you read – and by read I mean read every day – share in their grief at the loss of a life.

The life of Aaron Swartz.

Continue reading →

Technology / Webculture — Comments Off
12
Dec 12

Hey Man Nice Shot.

Filter

Filters, filters, as far as the eye can see.

This is getting ridiculous.

First came Instagram, then Twitter, and now Flickr.

I initially thought that the filter-before-post concept and the nature of Instagram as an iOS only social network resulted in better composited and processed images due to 1) the self-selection bias of individual users (iOS people being more creative) and 2) a desire by the user to create content that would be appreciated by his or her social network.  I don’t use Instagram enough to know if this is still the case now that its available on Android.

I don’t think Twitter’s photos and filters are going to fly.  People – or at least me – use Twitter differently than Instagram.  But to be fair I don’t really use Twitter either.  I used to really like Flickr but I think that ship has sailed.

 

 

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