Stories by Keir Thomas

5 tips for the new tech support pro

There are two types of tech support professionals. There's the one who, responding to a call for help, brusquely shoves the individual aside, fixes the issue, then leaves without saying a word. Or there's the type who takes time and understands that computers are something the client simply doesn't get.

Written by Keir Thomas13 Nov. 10 01:49

Firefox F1 fights back against RockMelt

The timing might sound suspicious to some observers, but Mozilla has just announced a social networking plugin for Firefox that offers some of the features found in the much-heralded RockMelt social browser, the limited-availability beta of which was announced a few days ago.

Written by Keir Thomas12 Nov. 10 04:38

Future of IT Is Multiplatform and Mobile, Dell Says

Once upon a time it was nice and simple. If you were in charge of corporate IT, you bought Microsoft. Serious quantities of computing power required a different solution, but for everything from mid-level enterprise down to desktops, Microsoft did the job. When it came to smartphones, <a href="http://www.pcworld.com/article/208491/mobile_os_smackdown_windows_phone_7_vs_ios_vs_android.html">Microsoft's products</a> have never been great but always integrated neatly and were favoured by some although not all organizations.

Written by Keir Thomas11 Nov. 10 11:55

What Dell's purchase of cloud company signals

A little-noted announcement earlier this month could have huge implications for cloud take-up in smaller businesses. Dell has snapped up Boomi, a company that describes itself as a "cloud integrator."

Written by Keir Thomas09 Nov. 10 06:43

Why NASA Mars lab turns to cloud computing

The NASA team behind the Spirit and Opportunity Mars rovers--the Jet Propulsion Laboratory--has announced a move to cloud computing.

Written by Keir Thomas05 Nov. 10 06:45

Top 10 Amazon Kindle irritations

I've have a Kindle 3 for a month or two now, and I can confirm that it's a thing of beauty. The ebook revolution might not necessarily start here, but momentum is certainly building.

Written by Keir Thomas03 Nov. 10 05:04

Chrome OS could offend the open source community

The announcement a few days ago of Google's new Chrome OS was simultaneously shocking and expected. It's a typically understated and quietly ambitious move on behalf of Google. It's also proof -- if it were needed -- that Google people are supremely smart. They have their sights firmly set on the future as well as the here and now.

Written by Keir Thomas10 July 09 23:36

Has Ubuntu Reached the End Of the Line?

I admit it. I'm impressed. I might have written a wishy-washy review of the <a href="http://www.pcworld.com/article/162129/ubuntu_904_beta_quick_look.html">beta of Ubuntu 9.04</a>, but now I've had a chance to play with the final release, I like what I'm seeing. I like it a lot. Well done, Ubuntu guys!

Written by Keir Thomas28 April 09 08:54
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