Windows 8 will mean a brisk business for...

Windows 8 will mean a brisk business for IT folks who will a) uninstall it and install Windows 7 or b) spend lots of billable hours supporting customers who are trying to get simple things done.

GoLocal Tech: Windows 8 is Charming to a Fault

Hakkarainen’s Law of Product Development: Every product evolves until it becomes unusable.

It seems obvious that market research will...

It seems obvious that market research will let you make better use of your marketing funds. Survey respondents, however, generally didn't know about the major research firms that are reporting on digital signage.

Digital Draw - Karl Hakkarainen - Market Research Shows the Way

Better market research leads to increased use of digital media by bank customers.

Mr. Hakkarainen goes to Helsinki

It's been a somewhat quiet summer in Finland, so we have just a couple of news items. Both are brought to us by way of Google Translate because neither story reached the English-speaking press.

Previously, Hakkarainen found himself with unwanted press and political attention for racist, sexist, and a bunch of other *ist remarks. When censured by his party and Parliament, he claimed that he'd been drinking but would stop. This summer, however, he found it inconvenient to stay stopped while on holiday. As a result, he missed a couple of government meetings. Another MP urged Hakkarainen to find a way to sobriety. Juha Väätäisen said that Hakkarainen has clearly shown that he has a problem with alcohol and that complete sobriety is the only option.

Maybe it's related, maybe not. Hakkarainen was, well, we don't need to translate this headline and photo:


Hakkarainen claims that the relationship is platonic.

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This post is one of a series about Teuvo Hakkarainen, the True Finns Party MP from Viitasaari. For the record, my grandfather was born in Viitasaari.

The nine jurors in the Samsung-Apple case...

The nine jurors in the Samsung-Apple case threw a box of rocks into the mobile market. Its billion-and-change judgment against Samsung for violating Apple's patents creates uncertainty about mobile platforms. Markets don't like uncertainty; and neither do security professionals.

The Mobility Hub - Karl Hakkarainen - After Apple's Victory, Microsoft May Gain Ground

Microsoft, which will offer security and stability during the ongoing patent wars, could come out the real winner in the ongoing turf fights between Apple and phonemakers in the Google camp.

With notes from Twitter discussions

With notes from Twitter discussions

GoLocal Tech: Keeping Yourself Safe Online Part 1

Last week, Wired writer Matt Honan published a story that scared the yogurt out of us. His online accounts were hacked and, among other things, he lost all of pictures of his baby daughter.

GoLocal Tech: Keeping Yourself Safe Online

First of a two-part series about online safety:  GoLocal Tech: Keeping Yourself Safe Online. This week, we focus on password management.

Welcome to Babel fish

Fans of the Douglas Adams six-part trilogy Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy will remember the  Babel fish. When inserted in the ear, the Babel fish allowed the recipient to understand any and all languages. Note that understanding the languages does not necessarily lead to understanding the person.

Anyway, we're on our way. Using Google Translate on my phone, I can type a phrase in English and have it return a credible spoken version of the translated phrase.

[caption id="attachment_3838" align="aligncenter" width="350"] Click on the image to hear the translation.[/caption]

 

The secret history of shipping pallets

The secret history of shipping pallets

Tom Vanderbilt's "The Single Most Important Object in the Global Economy," in Slate is an absolutely fascinating look at the role that pallets play in the modern world, starting with their origin in t...

Notes from a three-toed sloth

Dictum est in tres partes.

1. I went to two Barnes and Noble stores on the foolish mission to buy a specific book. IN both cases, I saw many, many Dummies books throughout every business section. I found lots of books that seemed serious about making a career, finding happiness, and riding the latest wave of urgency. I did not find the book I sought.
   I now have a plan. I will not go to B&N unless I don't want to buy a book. My expectations are now in order.


2. We needed a small fire in the fireplace this morning. The temperature was 50^° and in no hurry to rise beyond that point.


3. Get Human helps you reach a human being on the phone. There's no guarantee that the person will be helpful, but you can hope.
   
   FWIW, I spoke to a very helpful Verizon technical support rep last week. I was helping a friend with an Internet problem and we needed Verizon's assistance with the DSL account. We were on hold for about 10 minutes, but the call was worth it.
   

Those Signs Are Watching You

The line between effective marketing and creepy computing is getting more permeable.

Digital Draw - Karl Hakkarainen - Those Signs Are Watching You

Facial recognition in digital displays creates opportunities, and some new dangers.

I wonder if meat is cheaper than ink.

I wonder if meat is cheaper than ink.

3D printed meat development funded | KurzweilAI

Slides prepared by startup Modern Meadow pitch 3D-printed meat as a more environmentally friendly approach to dinner (credit: Modern Meadow) Billionaire

RI Mini Maker Faire 2012 Is A Wrap!

RI Mini Maker Faire 2012 Is A Wrap!

The fourth annual RI Mini Maker Faire happened this past Saturday: a great mix of makers (robots, crafts, music, art, design, electronics, beer), a great space, and a great day came together to giv......

Classic Movies in Miniature Style

Classic Movies in Miniature Style

Senior design project

More on the cost of scientific and medical publications

In addition to all the other issues that keep prices artificially high and out of the reach of even professionals, scientific, technical, and medical manuals impose an additional bit of mocking formality.

The bibliography, the part of a book or article where you check the author's background information, has to be formatted differently according to standard style guides.

The Chicago Manual of Style sez (subscription required):

For a book with two authors, note that only the first-listed name is inverted in the bibliography entry.
2. Geoffrey C. Ward and Ken Burns, The War: An Intimate History, 1941–1945 (New York: Knopf, 2007), 52.
Ward, Geoffrey C., and Ken Burns. The War: An Intimate History, 1941–1945. New York: Knopf, 2007.
...
For a book with four or more authors, list all the authors in the bibliography entry.

The AMA Style Guide, meanwhile, sez something quite different  (subscription required):

Use the author's surname followed by initials without periods. In listed references, the names of all authors should be given 
unless there are more than 6, in which case the names of the first 3 authors are used, followed by “et al.”
 2 authors:
 Doe JF, Roe JP III.

There are other, even more insidious nuances in the style guides. So, if you want to publish your book in a medical journal, you have edit your bibliographic entries one way and use another for other journals. you get to spend hours changing names to or from initials, adding or removing et alii, all in the name of pseudoscientific writing.

GoLocal Tech: Harnessing the power of crowds

In this week's column for GoLocalWorcester, we take a look at crowdsourcing, including a couple of local KickStarter projects: GoLocal Tech: Harnessing the power of crowds

More on education and marketing

Online course and textbook company Kno announced that it is offering a line of K-12 textbooks. The materials are available for the iPad and web browsers. Native Windows and Android apps are in the queue.

Kno has partnered with Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, one of the major textbook publishers in the world. If you browse over to the HMH web site on your iPad (because you want to see how things look), you can find the catalog for each grade and subject area:

If you click Browse, you can see what they have to offer:

Flash doesn't run on an iPad. It also does not run on Android, so that you can't browse the catalog from your Android phone or tablet.

This is not an auspicious beginning for Kno.

Thinking anew about technical documentation...

Thinking anew about technical documentation and apps with neil perlin 

Develop in the Cloud - Karl Hakkarainen - Documentation's New Cloud Models

Cloud-based resources can help to ensure that documentation is complete and current.

Your Unofficial Kindle Fire Manual

Your Unofficial Kindle Fire Manual

Own a Kindle Fire, but not sure what it can and can't do? It's time to download Your Unofficial Kindle Fire Manual, the latest free ebook from the team at

Back-to-School Buying Guide for Grades K - 12

My latest technology column for GoLocalWorcester.

GoLocal Tech: Back-to-School Buying Guide for Grades K - 12

This week, we will look at the computers and related gadgetry you will want to consider for your school-age children.

Finding tunes that pull the brain forward

Finding tunes that pull the brain forward

GetWorkDoneMusic.com

Get in the productivity zone with GetWorkDoneMusic.com