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Author: getwired

Running Windows XP after April? A couple of suggestions for you

Running Windows XP after April? A couple of suggestions for you

Yesterday on Twitter, I said the following: Suggestion… If you have an XP system that you ABSOLUTELY must run after April, I’d remove all JREs, as well as Acrobat Reader and Flash. This was inspired by an inquiry from a customer about Windows XP support that arrived earlier in the day. As a result of that tweet, three things have happened. Many people replied “unplug it from the network!” 1 Several people asked me why I suggested doing these steps. I’ve begun…

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What did I learn from Nest?

What did I learn from Nest?

So today Google announced that they will pay US$3.2B for Nest Labs. Surely the intention here is to have the staff of Nest help Google with home automation, the larger Internet of Things (IoT) direction, and user interfaces. All three of these are, frankly, trouble spots for Google, and if they nurture the Nest team and let them thrive, it’ll be a good addition to Google. Otherwise, they will have wound up paying a premium to buy out a good company…

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Bimodal tablets (Windows and Android). Remember them when they’re gone. Again.

Bimodal tablets (Windows and Android). Remember them when they’re gone. Again.

I hope these rumors are wrong, but for some odd reason, the Web is full of rumors that this year’s CES will bring a glut of bimodal tablets; devices that are designed to run Windows 8.1, but also feature an integrated instance of Android. But why? For years, Microsoft and Intel were seemingly the best of partners. While Microsoft had fleeting dalliances with other processor architectures, they always came back to Intel. There were clear lines in the sand; Intel…

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My predictions for wearables in 2014

My predictions for wearables in 2014

It’s the season for predictions, so I thought I’d offer you my predictions about wearables in 2014. Wearables will continue to be nerd porn in 2014 (in other words, when you say “wearable devices”, most normal people will respond, “what?”) Many wearable devices will be proposed by vendors. Too many of those will actually make it to market. A few of those will be useful. A handful of those will be aesthetically pleasing. A minute number (possibly 0) of those…

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Security and Usability – Yes, you read that right.

Security and Usability – Yes, you read that right.

I want you to think for a second about the key you use most. Whether it’s for your house, your apartment, your car, or your office, just think about it for a moment. Now, this key you’re thinking of is going to have a few basic properties. It consists of metal, has a blade extending out of it that has grooves along one or both sides, and either a single set of teeth cut into the bottom, or two sets…

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Goodbye, Facebook

Goodbye, Facebook

As I posted on Facebook earlier today. Don’t worry, FB, I’m still not using G+ either, as you two rapidly collide into each other. I’m not going to make this complicated, Facebook. It’s not me, it’s you. I liked it when we first met, I thought it was cool how you’d help me find friends, family, co-workers I hadn’t talked to for years, even some people I’ve known since preschool. That was nice, and you didn’t try to grab my…

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Letter from Thomas Jefferson to Eli Whitney Regarding the Cotton Gin

Letter from Thomas Jefferson to Eli Whitney Regarding the Cotton Gin

Jefferson, Thomas Nov. 16. 1793 Germantown Eli Whitney Whitney, Eli TO ELI WHITNEY J. MSS. Germantown, Nov. 16. 1793. Sir, — Your favor of Oct. 15. inclosing a drawing of your cotton gin, was received on the 6th inst. The only requisite of the law now uncomplied with is the forwarding a model, which being received your patent may be made out delivered to your order immediately. As the state of Virginia, of which I am, carries on household manufactures…

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Thomas Jefferson on congressional conflict of interest

Thomas Jefferson on congressional conflict of interest

“I said that the two great complaints were that the national debt was unnecessarily increased, that it had furnished the means of corrupting both branches of the legislature. That he must know everybody knew there was a considerable squadron in both whose votes were devoted to the paper stock-jobbing interest, that the names of a weighty number were known several others suspected on good grounds. That on examining the votes of these men they would be found uniformly for every…

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Siri, Topsy, and the Web – Context is everything

Siri, Topsy, and the Web – Context is everything

Last night, my youngest child and I were talking, and I wound up telling her about the scene from 2001: A Space Odyssey where the HAL 9000 computer, as he is being disassembled, sings the old song Daisy to Dave Bowman. My child loves music, and didn’t see the irony in immediately asking me, “How does the song go?” So I taught her – she hadn’t ever heard it before. At the time I didn’t get the irony in doing that…

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Walter Chrysler on Troubled Companies

Walter Chrysler on Troubled Companies

“The first thing I do when I start to look into the affairs of a failing company is to study the personnel of the organization and the individuality of the men. I am concerned first of all with executives, because if their principles are not right it is useless to look for results from the men. When I have measured up in my own mind the capacity of the executives, I get out into the operation of the plant and…

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