Serving Proudly As The Voice Of Valley County Since 1913
Serving Proudly As The Voice Of Valley County Since 1913
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The internet isn’t short of platforms upon which to share things. Ideas, opinions, news, photos; the web is basically awash with ways to let people know how you’re feeling about something. One, which has carved out its own niche in this sea of options, is Twitter, which challenged us to condense what we had to say into 140 characters. It’s this platform of tweets and retweets which is making headlines recently for having attracted the interest of the famously deep pocketed Elon Musk. Why would anyone wish to shell out the tens of billi...
Free stuff is great! Free, convenient stuff is even better. So with trends shifting in the digital age to a culture filled with “there’s an app for that,” how are creators of those handy little pieces of software making a living? Free doesn’t pay the bills, unfortunately. Well if you’ve ever downloaded a free-to-play game, or something on your smartphone to help measure or plan or count; chances are you’ve run into a popup offering to make your experience better in exchange for a small dollar fee. Please insert 25 cents to continue reading, be...
Thankfully, the days of it being cool to demonize technology in a blanket fashion are coming to an end. Even over the course of my career, things have shifted and people have realized that it’s much more useful as a tool for productivity, learning and even to help us d-estress. Few things bring as much joy as a YouTube video of a talking husky. There is something brewing however which does cast somewhat of a shadow on this progress. It protects our privacy when we communicate with others, enables the secure sharing of files and keeps prying eye...
As someone who’s built their career on technology, its usage and keeping abreast of its trends I can happily confirm one thing: wires suck. I’ll admit they’re great for reliability and speed and traveling great distances and all of that stuff, but the moment one isn’t quite long enough? Total pain in the rear. Making them neat, finding ones with the right connector; wires truly feel like an antiquated technology which should swiftly go the way of the dodo. Happily, a new and emerging wireless standard is upon us, and it promises better range a...
I’ve such mixed emotions about the celebrations surrounding April 1. I thoroughly enjoy a harmless hoax, both taking part in the crafting of one and at times, being the recipient! It can be a great way to bond with friends and coworkers, in the same sort of way it’s inoffensive fun to switch someone’s Coke with Dr. Pepper. My sense of humor only really runs dry when we use the day as an excuse for meanness. Hiding someone’s keys doesn’t make you an endearing prankster because of what day the calendar shows. The technology industry however h...
The dining table has taken on a new role for many of us over the course of the last couple of years. Once a place to gather with family for a meal and conversation, its duty expanded during COVID to include “work from home battle station.” Condiments and cutlery were replaced with laptops and paperwork. With this Spring being touted as the time many businesses start bringing workers back into the office en masse, what does that mean for our working habits and the spaces in our homes we dedicate to them? At its peak, the number of workers perfor...
People around the world have had their eyes fixed on eastern Europe for the past number of weeks, watching the horror unfold as the conflict continues between Russia and Ukraine. But for the first time on this scale, we’re able to see an unfiltered view of what’s really happening. Rather than traditional outlets such as Fox or CNN, social media has become the platform of choice Ukrainian people are relying on to show the world what’s happening at their doorstep. How has this become the norm, then? Does it mean we’re afforded a more imparti...
I’m in no position to speak with conviction about the atrocities currently transpiring in eastern Europe. What I am qualified to speak on however is the technical methods with which a nation might censor or otherwise control what its residents are able to see on the internet. This article will focus on those technical aspects, in an attempt to help spread knowledge about what happens when a public resource is unjustly subjected to regulation by an entity looking to further an agenda. First let’s recap on how the internet works as a whole, as...
It’s still very much “Indoors” season here in Glasgow, with spring still a few weeks away and the bitter cold still lingering. So it’s only natural that we’re spending more time in front of our screens. We’re drawn in a moth-like fashion, subsidizing our limited sunlight time with the artificial, Netflix-flavored variety. How then do we make the best of this time huddled in a trancelike state, fixated on the moving images before us? While seeing is believing, not all screens are actually crated equal. Between televisions, computer monitors an...
The method in which we enjoy the fruits which the internet bears often slips by without so much as a casual thought. You click a thing, a webpage loads, you find what you’re looking for, you close that thing and carry on about your day. This browsing of websites is actually facilitated by a natty piece of software called, unsurprisingly, a browser. Just like we’re blessed with choices for airlines and peanut butter, we’re also able to be choosy with how we experience web pages. But what’s the difference? Aren’t we all just looking at the same...
It’s Valentine’s week! A time for hastily buying chocolates and flowers in an attempt to put material values into how much you like another human being. What happens when you don’t have a sweetie to shower with gifts however? Do you wait patiently for February 15th to enjoy National Singles Day? Happily, we’ve the internet to the rescue. Those of us looking for love have a wide range of apps and websites to help us along! But how did we get here from the personal columns of yesteryear? Grab a pina colada and join me for an escape into the wor...
Remember the days when you’d have to go to the video store to score a movie for the weekend? The walk to the new releases section to discover no remaining copies of that movie you’ve been waiting months for. Picking out maybe your third and fourth choices, because those are better than having to watch whatever is on TV. You settle down with your microwaved popcorn, throw the tape in the VCR only to realize the previous renter was an absolute sociopath and neglected to rewind it. Cue 4 minutes of silence before hooray! It’s movie night! Altho...
The internet is something which we’ve come to treat as somewhat of a given in always being available in some capacity. Any outages are typically brief and only affect a single service, so we’re still able to use our other devices to score our social media fix. There exists however a major component of internet connectivity which remains quite fragile, even in this age of near-global satellite and cellular connectivity. Under our oceans, down there in the deep, murky depths, lay thousands of miles of cable. It dutifully handles around 95% of...
We all love our cellphones. They offer near-limitless freedom in where we choose to communicate, consume media or learn. The cellphone network is one of the triumphs of modern engineering, with 94% of the world’s population having access to a wireless service. The fifth generation of wireless cellular technology, dubbed 5G, has had a rocky start however. This is in spite of 5G being totally revolutionary in its reach and scope to deliver speed, availability and functionality. What does the 5G rollout mean then, and how is it making news by a...
Blockchain, which faithful readers will recall is the use of a decentralized public ledger to store data, has enabled some interesting developments in the world of technology. Cryptocurrency being the most famous example of this, of course. Seeing a continued gain in popularity however is something called NFTs, with some examples of such trading for tens of millions of dollars. But what even is an NFT, and how would you sound well-informed about one when the subject came up at a party? Never fear, party animals. I’ve got your back. NFT s...
If the beard hadn’t made this fact abundantly clear, I’d like to set the record straight: I’m a guy. As a guy and as guy readers of my column will know, there are certain rules we have to follow. Some of these rules pertain to the coolness of things. Noisy things are usually cool, like fireworks and V8s. Things which fly are cool, like helicopters and fighter jets. Flashlights and other things involving LED lights? Super cool. So how about a noisy, LED-laden, noisy thing which also lets a guy use the word “pilot” in a borderline un-ironic...
Hands up who made their New Year’s resolution to take better care of themselves. Now put your hand down. Now back up again. Exercise! You’re welcome. For those of us who have decided to make 2022 the year we put our health first, but perhaps need a little motivation to keep moving; thankfully technology to both pester and reward us toward our goals is readily available and eager to assist. We aren’t quite living in a future where our cars can prevent us from caving in and visiting the drive-through, but we’re pretty close… So what’s av...
This year was a good one for technology. We saw advances in both accessibility and performance driven by the changing shape of our post-pandemic world. The most obvious and journalistically observed of these advances encompasses tech which focussed on making the transition to working from home, either permanently or semi-permanently, more enjoyable and productive. But we also saw things like Apple’s new in-house silicon evolving, new devices from Amazon, Meta and Google for staying connected with loved ones and Samsung’s Galaxy-Z Flip folding-s...
’Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house, not a computer was stirring, not even its mouse. The cables were run all neatly with care, in hopes maybe a new screen would tomorrow appear. The cellphones and tablets hibernating soundly, lay ready for video of good friends and family. And parents and loved ones settle ready to gift, while snowfall outdoors settles nasty in drifts. Then out on the prairie there arose such a clatter, the good townsfolk of Glasgow could not help but gander. Swiftly to their windows the people did r...
It’s cold outside, because we live in Montana and that’s part of the tradeoff for doing so. I distinctly remember the first time the dashboard of my car said -40º, and the disbelief from the non-Glasgow friends I’d sent the photo to. “It must be broken” they said, refusing to accept that life could exist in such conditions. But what actually happens when our favorite electronics are subjected to the bitterness of our winter wonderland? How cold is too cold to snap a quick snow selfie? Rather helpfully, manufacturers will typically make clear...
The weather is changing, you've gifts to wrap, events to plan. This time of year is a busy one for a lot of us, but what's this? A holiday gift from Microsoft? It's time once again to lose your desktop shortcuts, re-learn how to bring up the calculator and be angry that your accounting software doesn't work any more. Yes indeed, let's collectively unwrap a brand new version of the operating system we all love to hate. Merry Christmas, we got you Windows 11. It's so easy to be cynical about...
That sickening sound of your phone hitting the concrete. Most of us have been there, experienced the horrible moment when you reach down to turn over your device to see if you've been lucky enough to avoid a cracked screen this time. You should have bought a case. You should have bought a screen protector. How much will the repair cost this time? Well things are about to get a whole lot easier for those of us cursed with fists of ham. Right to Repair is forthcoming legislation for electronics...
Somehow, it’s that time of year again. The holiday shopping season is upon us and with that comes the challenge of finding meaningful gifts for the ones we care about. With the landscape so vast for bluetooth trinkets and WiFi kitchen appliances, what’s the secret to not having your purchases regifted by June? It’s estimated that this season we’ll drop around $142.5 billion on technology purchases. A record 191.3 million adults plan on purchasing technology or a technology accessory this year to bestow upon those they care about. This is part...
Everyone’s favorite platform to share thoughts, opinions and photos of your kids holding pumpkins has been around for a minute, it’s fair to say. Facebook originally launched in 2004 and opened up to anyone over the age of 13 with an email address in 2006. They recently made news, however, for what’s perhaps our generation’s most controversial rebranding efforts. Facebook is dead, long live Facebook! Or as they’d now like to be addressed: Meta. It’s important to note that corporate rearranging like this isn’t completely unheard of when we ta...
Are you Apple or Android? It's a simple question that's now deeply engrained within the acceptable realms of what we ask new acquaintances. This loyalty extends well beyond simply the manufacturer of your cellphone however, there's a lot which goes into customer retention and it pays dividends for those who master it. How much are we missing out on though by standing indivisibly with our faves? Does it really matter any more which camp we choose? Brand loyalty isn't a new concept by any means. F...
