Serving Proudly As The Voice Of Valley County Since 1913
Serving Proudly As The Voice Of Valley County Since 1913
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Future technologies are cool, but they're daunting. Physics is cool, but it's vast. So what happens when we combine the two into a revolutionary new way for computers to process vast amounts of data at speeds far beyond the possibility of our current architecture? Enter: Quantum Computing. Don't worry, this is a much easier to grasp concept than the name suggests. First let's skim over how a regular computer works to crunch numbers and solve problems. The computer on your desk works exclusively...
The day has arrived to treat yourself to a new computer. Your old one’s dutifully limped along for half a decade, obediently assisting you with your tax return and playfully withholding the mute button during Zoom calls. That testy spacebar and scheduling-worthy boot up time have become too much though, and you’ve decided to splurge. Faced now with a staggering array of choices, how do you pick a PC partner for your next period of technological matrimony? As it happens, this choice is now even less stressful than it’s ever been. Before we co...
It’s always exciting to me when the benefits of a certain technology are easy to see. Why one laptop might be better than another laptop for example, can be difficult to grasp when all you want to do with it is write emails and order dog food. Features don’t sell technology, benefits do. That immediate wow factor and instant understanding of how something might fit into your life and begin improving it as soon as it’s out of the box. If a technology exists which I’ve never heard anyone lack enthusiasm for, that technology is augmented reality....
Confusion swept the nation last week. People everywhere were forced to resort to primitive, caveman-esque pastimes such as finding patterns in the clouds and watching Hulu. For six seemingly endless hours, society teetered on the brink of collapse as we collectively held our breath for good news. Perhaps this hope brought us together? Healing old wounds as we discovered we all, when it comes down to it, worship the same deity. This is the epic tale of when Facebook was down for maybe half a day...
Unforgettable, that's what you are. Your password, I'll bet, is something you forget all the time though, right? Well you're not alone, as the majority of us have had to hit that shameful "I've forgotten" button at least once when simply trying to pay a bill or place an order. Surely there are better ways of tackling this issue than the standard "familypetname2021" format we're all so accustomed to? The concept of using a word or phrase to ascertain a person's credentials or intent is far from...
We are without question living in the digital age. A whopping 85% of Americans now own smartphones, and 92% of households own a computer of some kind. That’s an amazingly broad scope for a plethora of creativity, information sharing, keeping in touch and cat videos. It also introduces an entirely new kettle of fish for digital missteps and ways to irk the people we spend time around. Most of the time, but not always, we don’t even realize we’re committing these faux pas. However, I’d bet we’re all guilty of at least one. By far and away the...
It's made the news for having celebrity advocates, international uptake and acceptance, and being a hot topic for investments. You can't hold it in your hand, but you can buy a car with it. Undeniably, it's likely to become a big part of how we look at money as part of the larger picture. How does one make sense of this new movement in virtual currency though? Bitcoin, the first and most popular crypto, was created back in 2009 by a gentleman named Satoshi Nakamoto. It became the first...
There you are, going about your business, working away on your spreadsheets or your photos. It's a productive day so far, you've gotten lots done! Suddenly, a popup appears on your screen. This popup claims to have taken control of your files and is demanding money to return them to you! Commiserations, you've just become one of the 304 million people who get infected with ransomware every year. Bummer! So how did we get here? Well computer viruses and malicious programs in general first...
Artificial intelligence. It conjures up images of science fiction movies, killer computers and curiously Austrian Terminators, doesn't it? If we give a machine the ability to think for itself, surely it has the wherewithal to deduce that it simply doesn't need us as fleshly overlords any longer. What possible good could come from this? Well, not so fast... First let's delve into a brief history lesson. A gentleman named John McCarthy coined the term "Artificial Intelligence" in 1955 and defined...
Actions, as we know, have consequences. But what if we never see those consequences? What if something we think is totally harmless was actually further reaching and more of a snowballing disaster than we could have imagined? Enter: the "Share" button. Facebook, which is what we're going to focus on for this article, has been with us since 2004. The venerable "Like" and "Share" buttons have been a feature since 2010, so we've had a little time to make friends with them. Their lineage can be...
While the rain-bearing variety has been in short supply here up until lately, a very different type of cloud thrums away out of sight. It doesn’t keep crops green or reduce our risk of fires, but it does enable us to operate businesses in a modern world and store the photos and documents we couldn’t imagine losing. Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it’s the cloud! Chances are you’ve been using the cloud without even knowing it. If you’ve ever used Facebook or Gmail, congratulations - those are both incredibly famous examples of applications host...
Email etiquette. It’s simple, right? Tap out something relevant, informative or witty on your favorite screen-toting device and fire it over the internet to whomever’s eyes you hope it might reach. Signed, sealed, delivered. Are there really pitfalls to such a well-established method of communicating? Well actually… Email has been with us for a long while, now. The first one was sent way back in 1971 after all. Since that very early test message, we’ve embraced electronic mail to the tune of around 300 billion emails per day. Per day! It’s a...
The Internet of Things, or IoT. This is what we call the ever-growing list of household items which have gained internet connectivity in recent years. The benefits are easy to see, with smart thermostats and dusk-aware lights making our homes generally a more pleasant place to spend time. This does however bring about concerns regarding security and device longevity. Is there anything to that concern? Are we selling our digital souls for the ability to make toast from anywhere in the world? We...
There aren't many pleasant things we can take away from the recent pandemic. The ways in which it tested us were further reaching than we could have imagined. One silver lining to this particularly grey cloud, however, is how employers were forced to handle their workforce. Those who could work from home were suddenly allowed to do so and, as a result, we learned a few things. Chief among the learning opportunities is: dining tables make for terrible workspaces. In June of last year, the percent...
Pet ownership. Of all the things which have come a long way in the last few decades, this might be my favorite. As people, we're able to enjoy all of the wonderful advances which ameliorate our days and make our lives more convenient. What's interesting to me, though, is how we can now employ devices to make owning animals even more delightful, even enriching their lives while we're at it. I have a cat. She's a 15-month-old rescue, and I thoroughly enjoy her company. What's different between her...
The connected world in which we live is great, isn't it? Email in your pocket, books on your tablet, movies just a tap away on your television. But how much is too much when it comes to these marvels? Is there something more to that tired-eyed, slightly rough feeling we get when we've had a long day in front of the computer? For most of us, some amount of time staring at some kind of interactive device is inevitable. Be it through our job, how we keep up with friends and family or as a hobby in... Full story
Unless you've been sleeping, you'll have noticed the world has been a mess over the last eighteen months or so. Bu,t as we make more and more headway in our pursuit of a return to normalcy, why can't I walk into a store and buy a video game console or a tractor? What could they possibly have in common beyond universal appeal to boys of all ages? Chips! But not in your favorite flavor, unfortunately. No the technology industry is still very much playing catch-up when it comes to producing the...
As a technology professional of over 15 years, I can wholeheartedly assure you that your phones, smart devices and televisions are not listening to your conversations. Well, other than when they are. But, where do these sensational stories come from; why is it commonly accepted that ads about trampolines or headphones or sunglasses must be "Facebook listening in?" The answer, it turns out, is a good story. Consider first how far we've come, for a moment. The first iPhone, which preceded even an...