What is Spam?

n the computer universe, spam refers to the unsolicited mass distribution of electronic communication.  Spam is most often associated with email and accounts for over 80% of all email messages.  However, spam was coined before the rise of email and has since spread to nearly every online communication protocol in existence. Origin of Spam There [...]

Ontario high schools SHOULD be teaching grammar

I received an e-mail from a regular reader yesterday who explained that her daughter had just graduated from high school and was about to start university in September – without the English grammar and spelling abilities one might expect — and wondered how she would survive university without those skills. It was also explained to me that she, the mother, had asked [...]

Upgrading to Word Press 2.5 painless

Like so many people, I don’t particularly like change. So, when I was faced with having to upgrade to Word Press 2.5, the latest version, I was a little nervous. Particularly because it was reported to be quite different and I am not a techie by any stretch of the imagination. Well, I can report [...]

Will my New Phone Prevent Brain Damage?

So apparently Mobile phones are ‘more dangerous than smoking.’ Great. [via Under the Radar Media del.icio.us news feed] Guess it was a good idea to upgrade my busted up phone, even tho I had to betray Nokia for the $100 (w/contract) Pantech Duo. This new phone easily encourages me to text message even more. I’m [...]

Social Network Burnout no Match for Serendipity

I never obessessed over MySpace. I’ll admit to having had a lurker account; how else could I check out the seemingly endless stream of grainy cell phone pics snapped in bathroom mirrors across America? And, later we did set up a QuadMag MySpace account where I sometimes check in. But I’ve never personalized a MySpace [...]

Nintendo Wii – A Truly Family-Oriented Game Machine

Shortly after our wedding I asked my wife what she’d like as a wedding gift: a digital SLR or a Nintendo Wii console (this is as romantic as many techies get, after all). To my surprise and eventual delight she chose the Wii. We lucked out by arriving to a Best Buy barely an hour [...]

The Dark Side: Why People ACTUALLY use Facebook

If someone asked “What is Facebook” would you respond – “A social utility that connects you with the people around you” “A human networking site like Myspace, but without the OVERT creep factor” A good way to covertly waste my time at work while appearing from afar to be busy” (at least until your network [...]