When Netflix recently announced it would be cracking down on subscription sharing, many cost-conscious TV viewers were left in a tizzy. After all, Netflix had practically encouraged, if not outright endorsed, the sharing of subscriptions in the past. Read more
Over the past few months, we have seen a massive surge in the popularity of “artificial intelligence” tools, with OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Bard platforms dominating the news. Read more
It’s hardly breaking news to conclude that the carefully engineered addictiveness of social media platforms can be dangerous for kids. But how the latest red flag was raised is worth exploring. Read more
Successful Hawaii tech startups are rare. Unfortunately, often promising local startups need to relocate to the mainland to acquire venture capital, talent and customers. Read more
The aftereffects of the pandemic are far too long to list, and largely inappropriate for this space. One relevant phenomenon, however, is the advent of videoconferencing. What have we learned as this technology has matured? Read more
With travel season upon us and many employees who work or check in to work while traveling, it is important to remain vigilant to keep your personal and business information safe. Read more
East Meets West is Hawaii’s largest gathering of tech companies, startups, venture capitalists and investors, founders and entrepreneurs. And after disappearing off the calendar during the pandemic, it’s returning as an in-person conference May 18-19. Read more
The rapid advancement of technology can be overwhelming. Between the endless buzz of social media and the 24-hour news cycle, it’s often hard to keep an even keel. Read more
Many folks, including businesses and government organizations, have a pile of old tech gear lying around. While we won’t go all Marie Kondo here, it’s always interesting in seeing the tech gear to which people hang on, most of which is useless. What can be tossed and what should be kept? Read more
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As more Hawaii consumers transition to fiber-based communication services, the question about how alarm systems may be affected by this transition comes up more frequently. The short answer is no, the transition to fiber-based service does not impact alarm systems. Read more
A makerspace is a magical place where you can walk in with an idea and walk out with it in your hands. Read more
My week began when my neighbor Conrad declared that his bank debit card account had been drained of $5,000. Evidently, persons unknown on the mainland had helped themselves to innumerable Domino’s Pizza and Lyft rides on his dime. (After a great deal of prodding, he sorted this out with the bank.) Read more
With all of the data breaches in the recent past, one characteristic stands out. Very few accounts that are protected by multifactor authentication, or MFA, are hacked. And those that are hacked are usually violated with the aid of social engineering. Read more
A softphone is an app that enables users to make and receive phone calls over the internet using a computer or mobile device, instead of traditional landlines or mobile networks. Read more
I don’t have a favorite child, and I certainly wouldn’t be able to choose a favorite technology, but I will admit to having a lifelong affection for GPS, maps and geolocation apps. Read more
In 2018 I reviewed and purchased an Acer Spin 5 laptop, which I’ve used nearly every day since then. It’s a two-in-one design, which means you can fold it up like a tent and set it on your kitchen table to read the Honolulu Star-Advertiser in the morning, or you can fold it back into a conventional laptop and take it on the road. Read more
By now most folks, and especially regular readers of this column, have heard of password management software. Using a password manager is one of the four pillars of defense against bad actors on the internet, the other three being MFA, endpoint protection and off-site backups. Read more
Recently, we have been noticing an uptick in a scam that targets people who are looking to make a better life for themselves. Read more
Coworking spaces — communal offices and shared desks where groups and individuals can work — could have gone extinct during the pandemic, when spending time with strangers was a bad idea. Read more
One of the most notable consequences of the COVID-19 era has been the popularity of remote work. Whether it’s local people working out of their North Shore homes or Silicon Valley refugees working in Hawaii (or international destinations), digital nomads can work wherever there’s bandwidth. Read more
Although it doesn’t have as cool a name as Alexa, Siri or even Hal, ChatGPT is the latest and most advanced foray into the technology known as artificial intelligence, or AI. What exactly is ChatGPT, what’s it good for and why are some folks scared of it? Read more
