Category: Technology

  • Smartphone Battery Life Sucks

    Every time there’s a new iPhone, Apple’s the first to note just how many millimeters they’ve managed to shave off the back. Like many people, it seems they’re self-conscious about their waistline. But when it comes to the diet, it’s muscle being trimmed, not fat. One of the limiting pieces of smartphone technology is the battery. Battery…

  • 3 Ways Sites Know You’re Giving Them Fake Information

    Forms on Web sites are certainly thorough and demanding. They require certain details to seem accurate, and won’t rest until they get it. But how do Web sites know that you’re providing a fake phone number or verify that your credit card is valid before you even submit the form? Phone Numbers Phone numbers are…

  • You Need to Build for the OS, Not Your Brand

    I wanted to make a few notes to those developers who want their apps to have the same brand-overpowering ‘custom’ experience across operating systems. First, you’re creating an experience for a specific operating system. Each OS has their own specific, special interaction model. For example, all three mobile OSes implement the ability to go back…

  • ‘Back’ Is Different For Everyone

    Not every mobile operating system is built equal. It’s not just their look or the size of their app stores. Let’s take a look at something you might not think is different: the ‘back’ button. It’s one of the most fundamental interface components for mobile devices, where space is limited. iOS has a per-app back…

  • Heartbleed / CVE-2014-0160

    Let’s talk about something that affects you. It’s called CVE-2014-0160. You probably know it by Heartbleed. It is a security problem which affects at least 60% of the Web, including Facebook. Here’s how Heartbleed works. While sysadmins panic (which did include me for a short time), here’s what you should do: When you receive communication…

  • User expectations of files and mobile apps

    There has been a fast foray by most business software companies into ultra-mobile computing. Microsoft is finally starting to catch up on non-Windows Phone devices with Office for Android. I say that they’re only starting because I met a critical flaw in their own application. Mobile software has taught users—myself included—that you only need to…

  • Determining file types on Linux and macOS

    Have you ever downloaded a file that didn’t have an extension? (I have…) But here’s a new tool for your toolkit. The file command tries to guess what kind of file you pass to it using some signature features of common file types. Check the man page (man file) in your friendly local terminal emulator…