50 Killer Apps for your USB
By Daniel Taylor on August 25, 2011
These free apps don't require any installation. With portable applications, all you have to do is plug in your USB and run the program without the hassle of installing the program or leaving traces behind. If you like these portable apps, many of them also have an installer allowing you to install the program on your computer for more speed and accessibility.
Firefox 5 Features
By Daniel Taylor on June 21, 2011
Mozilla just released Firefox 5, the first version following their new rapid release development cycle. Most of the new features in this release are geared towards web standards and other under the hood features. But there are a few notable features.
This new version comes with a major update in support for HTML 5 and MathML. It also has increased support for Canvas and support for CSS animation has also been added. Security has been given a facelift as well with a new feature called "Do Not Track." Checking this new option allows users to automatically tell websites that they wish to opt out of behavioral tracking.
Phi: A Magical Number
By Daniel Taylor on June 19, 2011
Have you ever heard of phi? No, I am not talking about fee-fi-fo-fum from Jack and the Beanstalk. The phi (pronounced fi like "fly") I'm talking about the mathematical constant with properties just as magical as the beans in Jack and the Beanstalk. This constant is referred to by many names including the Golden Ratio, Golden Number, Golden Section, Golden Mean, and Devine Number, but is normally referred to as the Golden ratio because of how the number is derived mathematically.
Qualities of Good Code
By Daniel Taylor on June 14, 2011
Although knowing how to program is obviously the most important quality of being a comptuer scientist, code architecture follows closely behind. The quality of underlying code will have a great impact on the reliability, scalability, security, extensibility, and maintainability of your program. Basically, without good code architecture, you will run into many problems down the road.
Lingodroids
By Daniel Taylor on June 14, 2011
Its one thing for a robot to be programmed to understand Japanese or English or any other language that already exists. But it quite a feat for two robots to develop their own language and be able to communicate with each other like these two have.
Created by Ruth Shultz and her colleagues at the University of Queensland and Queensland University of Technology, each of these Lingodroids have developed a specialized language for the sole purpose of navigating their way around obstacles and recognizing where they are.
How to Choose a Computer
By Daniel Taylor on June 13, 2011
Buying a new computer can be an overwhelming task for anyone. But finding the computer that is right for you doesn't have to be hard. You just have to think about what you want the computer to do. Does it have to be portable? Is it just going to be used for homework? Are you a big gamer? This all factors into what type of computer suits you best.
Tables != Layout
By Daniel Taylor on June 13, 2011
Tables exist in HTML for one reason and one reason only: To display tabular data. That's it. Then border="0" came along and made it possible to make a table to organize data without being able to see the table itself. Which then led to tables being used to lay everything out on all beginner websites and even some professional websites. The time has come for this to stop. Professional websites are now designed in a way that makes the website more flexible and more functional, not to mention the massive increase in the readability of the code. Still on the edge? Let me change that for you.
Ninite - The Universal Installer
By Daniel Taylor on June 13, 2011
Getting a virus and having to reformat your computer wouldn't be so bad if you didn't lose all of your favorite programs. But it happens to everyone. Viruses and malware troll theinternet just waiting for some unexpecting user to come by. Then they attack and there isn't much you can do about it. The virus will ravage your computer until all hope is lost and your only hope of regaining use of your computer is to reformat the computer. And every program you ever installed is gone too.
LESS - CSS Preprocessor
By Daniel Taylor on March 30, 2011
Everyone who calls themselves a web designer has quite a bit of experience with Cascading Style Sheets. CSS is extremely simple, including only rulesets and declarations. The only reason CSS exists is to encapsulate the elements to style and how to style them. For the newcomer, it does everything it is supposed to do, but to an experienced developer managing a dynamic website, CSS is a massive limitation on how easily values can be changed and related to one another.
Photoshop Vs. Illustrator
By Daniel Taylor on March 9, 2011
I have seen dozens of threads on forums across the Internet asking the same thing: "Which one is better, Photoshop or Illustrator?" What are the differences between these two behemoths in image editing? This article is meant to finish this discussion once and for all.
Cincinnati Bell: Consider Yourself Warned
By Daniel Taylor on March 6, 2011
Cincinnati Bell is one of the newcomers on the market trying to use their brains to sucker innocent people out of their money. With their intelligent marketing strategies, carefully chosen words, and "invisible bindings," Cincinnati Bell is one of the smartest businesses I have encountered as far as getting you to buy into their product, but the absolute worst when it comes to keeping you satisfied. But keeping you satisfied is not a priority because the minute you accept a contract with them, you are already locked in and they have you hooked.
Why Linux (Still) Sucks
By Daniel Taylor on March 6, 2011
Over the past few months, there has been a great increase in the amount of interest in open source options and that isn't limited to software. It also applies to operating systems, specifically to Linux. To Linux activists, Linux is a gift from the gods, saving humanity from the evils of Bill Gates and his cursed Windows operating system. But to everyone else, it is just another attempt by less than 1% of the market to dethrone Windows as the most effective end user operating system currently available on the market.
Pirates In Space!
By Daniel Taylor on October 20, 2010
Recently, pirated software as well as the sites that host them have been receiving a lot of criticism for their "lack of morals." The entertainment industry is attempting to stop any and all of the countless torrent sites littering the internet, but to no avail. The most famous (or infamous) and well known website distributing pirated software is The Pirate Bay.
The entertainment industry has been chasing The Pirate Bay for a long time with little to show for their efforts. Although they have won numerous lawsuits opposing what the site is doing, the industry isn't even close to removing the site from existence. The Pirate Bay almost seems impervious to any attempts to get even close.
Self Repairing Solar Panels
By Daniel Taylor on September 6, 2010
With the goal of transferring the world's energy demands to renewable sources quickly becoming more and more essential to the existence of the human race, scientists at MIT are focusing on creating revolutionary, super-efficient solar panels to harness the sun's power. But there is something extraordinary about these solar panels. They have the uncanny ability to repair themselves.
IPv4 Predicted to Stall the Web
By Daniel Taylor on July 26, 2010
For more than three decades, IPv4 has provided a means of linking computers around the world and has been the unsung hero in the history of the internet. Without it, the World Wide Web would not have been possible, changing the course of technological advancement for the past thirty years. At the time of its invention, the number of people making use of the protocol numbered in the hundreds. Nobody ever thought that more than 4 billion addresses would be necessary. The idea that 5 billion people would be carrying around portable devices each having its own IP and able to connect to the internet was absurd. But with the massive expansion of the World Wide Web, the incredible amount of web enabled cell phones, and the explosion of computers around the world, this 4 billion address limit was quickly exceeded. IPv4 has been subject to many security issues and complexity issues which can be solved by the next generation protocol. The protocol that will save the web is IPv6.
World's Cheapest Computer
By Daniel Taylor on July 24, 2010
Apple has already revealed its intentions for a second generation iPad at the same price as the first generation, a princely $499. Now India's ministry for Human Resources Development has unveiled its idea of a revolutionary computer; a touch-screen computing device costing just $35, making it the world's cheapest laptop.
Remember the XO? That's what I thought. The XO was another laptop designed to be groundbreakingly cheap at less than $100. But the laptop had already dug its own grave when it was released at an extremely disappointing $188. Maybe India's laptop will be different. According to a recent press release by India's Press Information Bureau, the price of manufacturing the laptop is expected to dip down ultimately to a mere $10. That almost sounds too good to be true and it just might be.
Best Valedictorian Speech Ever
By Daniel Taylor on June 29, 2010
Last week, Erica Goldson, graduated Coxsackie-Athens High School with the highest achievement possible, valedictorian of the school. Normally, a valedictorian speech is somewhat of a celebration of your award and everyone who helped you get to where you stand now, but not for Erica. This bright student took the liberty of discussing the faults of the school system itself, moving the focus away from her on this magnificent day.
Life After Microsoft
By Daniel Taylor on June 11, 2010
The end of Microsoft is coming from all directions as seen in Software Wars. This tragic end to a historic behemoth will not come quickly, but will be drawn out over a period of many years.
After the revolution headed by Linux, the dominoes began to fall. I am by no means saying Linux is a viable alternative to Windows 7 or that it will be the future of the personal computer. But the simple fact that there is now competition for Microsoft to deal with may just be too much.