The Microsoft KIN phones are a little hard to categorize. Built by the team that previously designed the T-Mobile SideKick line before being acquired by Microsoft, the unveiling of the KIN devices in April represented the confirmation of years of rumors about Microsoft producing its own Windows Phone. But this is not like any Windows phone you’ve seen before; instead, the KIN provides its own commendably trailblazing charm.
Looking at the old picture, I had to laugh. I took it in the summer of 1986 in the Texas panhandle, while on vacation with my girlfriend. She was from New England and had as much knowledge of the space between there and California as most of us have of, say, Madagascar. This is not a condition at all unusual in the northeast.
I found Paul McCartney's 2007 album, Memory Almost Full lying around my house. Though I am young and conservative after a fashion — having grown tired of the insipid statism and relentless conventional wisdom that emanates from the generation which gave us the Beatles — I thought this 2007 release would be intriguing. And it was.
We live in a time in which the greatest offenses one can commit include hurting someone’s feelings. A day does not pass that we do not hear of the need for “sensitivity training” for the “unenlightened” transgressors among us.
Updated As the time for Apple's next generation iPhone 4 to be unveiled at the company's WWDC event approached, something curious began to happen. AT&T started moving up existing customers’ eligibility to upgrade by six months or more so that even many of those who bought the iPhone 3GS last year under a carrier subsidy can upgrade again this year. What’s going on?
Early Wednesday, AT&T (NYSE: T) announced a dramatic revision to its data plans for cell phones and other Internet connected devices, most notably affecting the Apple iPhone and newly released iPad WiFi+3G. While some new limits have appeared, the attractive low-end iPad plan remains unchanged with a slight advantage over other devices on the network.
All the time we hear about it: the “race for a cure” or a “walk” for this or that illness. When it is explained why the event is being held, the phrase “raise awareness” is always included. Money is always raised, too; it’s never entirely clear what the money is used for. Perhaps it is used to purchase awareness from those who do not give it away.
The key to teaching anyone anything is having some clue what it's like not knowing. If you can't guide someone across that barrier, you can't actually teach much, because the whole process then relies entirely upon the abilities and inclinations of the learner. The best teachers don't simply put it where you can reach it, but make you want it.
The free software movement, which in many respects means the Linux operating system, is a puzzle to those accustomed to paying for things. Software is expensive stuff — how good can the stuff be if it doesn't cost anything?
Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds was so omnipresent during the 1990s that I’m sure many fans of pop and R&B were sick of him. The soundtracks, the monster hits for every artist from Boyz II Men to Madonna to Toni Braxton to the 1996 Olympic theme song – he owned the music world. So, why did some of his best work ever end up never being released?