Category: Technology

Micro-Nuclear Power Plants, Data Centers, and Small Towns – Oh my!

Business / People / Technology

The vast majority of people are not in the technology business. Sure, they USE technology. Almost everyone has a smartphone, streams movies, pays bills online, uses GPS, sends email, shops online, and drives a car full of computers. But actually understanding how any of those systems work is a completely different thing. The analogy I keep using is a car. Most people know where to put the key (or push the button,) where the gas pedal is, where the brake pedal is, and where to put gas. But …

Microsoft Removed Desktop Office Apps From Its Free Nonprofit Grant – and That is Disappointing

Business / Microsoft / Software / Technology

For years, Microsoft’s nonprofit program gave a wonderful benefit – free Microsoft Office licenses for up to 10 users. For the nonprofits I help, it’s been a huge benefit to give volunteers and employees access to Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and the other Microsoft Office applications. (Although Google Workplace is superior, it’s hard to break people’s old habits of using Microsoft.) Sadly, Microsoft discontinued the license grant for nonprofits to get free licenses for Microsoft Office. Nonprofits can still receive the “Microsoft 365 Business Basic” for free, but …

Google Rail View

Business / Technology

I love Google Maps, and especially Google Street View. I use it a lot. Not just for directions, but to understand places, and especially for looking up history. Where is that building? What was there before? How has it changed? Where was that movie location filmed? Street View is one of those tools that still feels like magic, even though most people take it for granted now. You can drop onto almost any road in the world and look around as if you’re standing there. That can be …

Own Your Online Content – Don’t Trust Platforms

Business / Marketing / Technology / Websites

TLDR: Social platforms should be used to amplify your presence, not define it. When you own your domain and your content, you’re no longer at the mercy of arbitrary censorship. You’re building your brand, and something that can last. For many people / content creators and businesses today, they think “social media” IS the internet. They are mistaken. They think facebook pages replace websites, and instagram profiles are portfolios. LinkedIn acts as resume (now with more spam than ever before.) People and businesses put almost all of their …

WordPress Doesn’t Want Honest Reviews

Business / Reviews / Software / Technology / Websites

WordPress (Automattic) has blocked and banned me before for writing reviews that weren’t positive about a plugin or theme. (Kinda sounds like fascistbook, right?) And now they’ve done it again when my review was very simple and clear – that a plugin doesn’t mention that it’s VERY limited unless you upgrade to their paid version. Of course I support developers making money on the code they write – but bait and switch should have gone out with greasy car salesman and wide ties. So why does WordPress think …

I Know Why Business Want To Go “Passwordless”

Business / Marketing / Technology

It’s painfully obvious why businesses want to go “passwordless” for their websites. And I’m not willing to accept the answer that it’s “less expensive”, or “easier for customers”, or “more efficient”. The real reason is because businesses want (more of) your personal information. There’s an argument to be made for SOME websites to send you txt messages to verify it’s you, but not many. And yes, as a software tester, I understand how easy it is for spammers/scammers to create profiles on websites using fake email accounts, which …

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