In an increasingly user-friendly digital world, the concept of circumventing inconveniences has become a commonplace. Microsoft Word’s Paper Clip bothering you? Turn it off. Hate Windows Firewall? Turn it off (and install something else). But there is something more important and a slightly controversial practice going on. Specifically, to those many who...

For a long, long time, shopping was very easy. Go to the store, look at the product, look at the price tag, maybe try the item, and then purchase it if you saw it fit. Often times, you would be able to demo the product for several days before making a decision to buy it. Take, for instance, a car. Once you’re at the dealership, you could (and still can)...

This is a fact of life: everything evolves. Things get better. That general rule has governed technological growth for tens and hundreds of years now. Consumer computers have become smaller and faster. Even in transportation, moving from point A to point B has gotten less or a nuisance and, in fact, faster. And for that matter, sending messages has evolved from...

An Introduction: Deciphering Problems in an Increasingly Complex World Like any aspiring computer techie, I eagerly look forward to learning of today’s latest and greatest gadgets, how each tiny component in a computer functions, but most importantly how to make it work for our good. For us, it’s easy to comprehend with our unrelenting interest...

For over a decade now (two decades for a select few), common people like you and me have been using a conglomerate inter-networked set of systems that is commonly referred to as internet. We all know that the complex series of networks grew (and keeps growing) today as the opportunities are infinitely bound. It is full of information. It is a medium and a virtue...

Broadband internet. It used to be a premium version of "dial-up" which costs too much for most. But now, it’s everywhere you go, with the spread of wireless internet connection technologies (Wi-Fi) as well as companies entering widespread to cash in on consumer necessity. Today, it is simply a valid assumption to say that a majority of you...

"Do not start the test until you are told to get started…when time is called, put down your pencil and await further instructions. Does anybody have any questions at this point? Ok, you may get started. You will have twenty minutes for this section." For those young readers out there, or anybody with a vague recollection of this mundane chapter...

After a surprising coup by the products of their chief rival, Canadian multimedia and graphics company ATi, multimedia giant nVidia had its sight set on regaining its tenure of almost lone dominance on the emerging graphics card market. With their sheer manufacturing power and brain trust working for it, they were confident that a return to success was a paved...

For over the last decade, software giant Microsoft has been releasing its renowned Windows operating systems to its consumers at a relatively constant rate. With clear market dominance, Microsoft’s Windows operating system line is clearly the consumer’s preferred choice of operating system over the likes of Apple’s Macintosh OS X as well as the...

For quite some time now, individual online companies are increasing the usability of the person to access and "personalize" the internet. We’ve looked at this to a large extent in one of my previous column article, The Internet Age Generation "You": Raising the Ego?. The normal user has more power on the internet to do more and be...

When an intimidating giant and a heroic, yet smaller warrior do battle, all folktales and stories account for the warrior defying the odds to conquer the giant. While I, by no means, am suggesting that the giant is a menacing being, the story seems to hold true in modern-day times. In a very high-stakes battle which put yet another twist in the volatile subject...

Google. Facebook. Second Life. YouTube. MySpace. That is small sample of the vast number of popular Internet resources/sites today. Beyond being immensely popular and being listed as among the most visited websites, what do those services have in common? I couldn’t string together a similarity until after looking through Time Magazine‘s Person of the...

The Tedium of Identifying YourselfIf you’ve ever traveled through airport customs before, you are probably used to being buried in numerous forms questioning your stay in foreign soil. I’ve found these forms to be tremendously tedious — having to fill in name, phone number, date of birth, and so on repetitively. After coming across these many...

For much of this week, tech news sites and reports seem to genuinely care about one topic — Microsoft’s vaunted release of their new-generation operating system, Windows Vista. While the operating system may be a large-scale revamp touting the "new way of computing", I would, instead, argue that there is a more revolutionary concept out...

If any of you have seen the latest news to any degree, I am certain that you all have at least heard of the Apple iPhone unveiled at Apple’s keynote speech. As a quick recap, Apple CEO Steven Jobs addressed the questions and rumors regarding a "new iPod" device by releasing it with entirely new functionalities. "This is a day that I’ve...