Last week our friends and family welcomed the arrival of a new baby boy. Patrick was born 8/23 at 7:40PM. Amidst all of the excitement and awe my thoughts drifted to musings about what his world will be like when he grows up. I reflected back on my childhood and everything I’ve witnessed, and I can’t help but wonder what my son will experience. I have often thought my grandfather who was born in 1899 arguably lived through the greatest expansion in technology humanity has experienced. He was a child while aviation was in its infancy, and in his later years he became a pilot and saw men walk on the moon. As a young graduate of the Naval Academy he was trained in the use of new technology in the fleet, and for better or worse saw various advancements in warfare. During his childhood the medical profession was relatively primitive, but as a practicing doctor he made use of all kinds of exciting technological advancements such as X-ray and ground-breaking pharmaceuticals like penicillin. An avid hobbyist; my grandfather built shortwave radios and even color TV sets from Heathkit. My grandfather always embraced technology with cautious enthusiasm, and I credit him with nurturing my love of science and technology. Although he never actively used a computer he encouraged my parents to purchase my first computer in 1979.

Taking these memories to heart I contemplate the best way to expose my child to technology and develop a cautious appreciation. Technology is a powerful enabler and yet carries certain risks as well. We’re already seeing dramatic changes in the way people communicate and socialize. Direct interaction is being replaced with various forms of electronic messaging. Technology has become more than a tool, and in many respects is influencing the way we as a species evolve. The world my son will grow up in will be full of exciting developments, and as a new parent I’m excited about that, but I can’t help worrying about it at the same time. Exciting times that call for skeptical adoration.

The public cloud represents a utility model of computing: you pay for what you use, scaling up or down as needed, without having to worry about back-end stuff like installing updates and keeping server racks cool.

But giving up the burdens of management also means giving up the comforts of control. How can you be sure your cloud provider has your best interests at heart? Will they take steps to ensure the safety of your data? (more…)

Creating a snappy email signature, assembling a slide deck for a big sales presentation, or throwing together a flyer at the last minute for a conference or trade show? With the proliferation of desktop publishing apps and cheap image editing software, we’re all graphic designers now. Now that we have all of these great tools at our disposal, it’s on us to learn the basics. Here’s a primer on image file formats, what category they fall in, and where they work best. (more…)

Recent brain research cited in an article from McKinsey Quarterly shows that multitasking works only when the tasks are menial (e.g., chewing gum and walking). When people try to juggle tasks that demand a modicum of creativity and logic, they’re pretty much hopeless. (more…)

Not every bad review posted online merits a response – don’t feed the trolls!* – but in certain cases, it’s a good idea to publicly engage with unsatisfied clients and customers, particularly if you’re at fault and/or if the person issuing the complaint has a big audience. Here’s a quick primer on online damage control: (more…)

Most people think of “the web” and “the Internet” as synonymous, but they’re not the same. The web makes up just one slice of the larger Internet pie, and that slice has been getting smaller and smaller in the last few years as our media-consumption patterns change. (more…)