Science writing wasn’t really an early focus in my career for two reasons. First, it’s a small, specialised field and I frankly didn’t have the experience or knowledge. Second, I’d considered myself a computer, phone and application guy since first becoming a freelance writer.
I reviewed the latest mobiles and software. I was fully acquainted with the whole Mac versus PC thing at its height. I gave ratings out of five, knew all the products RRPs and my system was littered with product shots from PR agencies working for the IBMs, Lenovos and Samsungs of the world.
Today my interest is where tech fits into our lives. Sometimes it’s AI agents that appear all but human, sometimes it’s an emerging field like the new Internet of Things paradigm of short lived, disposable sensors.
But my knowledge of science evolved and grew and I’ve been thrilled to join the ranks I’d always admired and envied and write about scientific topics from the whimsical, like when Skylab returned to Earth in remote Western Australia, to the socially urgent, like the way the human brain reacts to sexual assault.
The Macintosh has never had the biggest following, but it’s got the most loyal. There was widespread trepidation among Mac devotees when the UNIX based OSX appeared a few years ago, a world away from OS 8 or 9 that they’d spent five years getting used to. … Continue readingMac OSX Panther
Some radical pundits predicted the end of books, saying we’d download special files to a small handheld computer that displayed the pages of a book and read it like we do on paper. At the time, the technology was in its infancy. … Continue readingA Long Time Coming
Fujitsu’s aptly named Lifebook series of notebooks are living up to their name … they’re consistently among the most stylish, comfortable mobile computers on the market. This time, as well
‘It’s a hard call when you’re advising clients against acronyms and you’ve got one yourself,’ says Allison Hulett, co-director of successful Sydney design studio EKH Design, who’s been trading on a very well regarded acronym themselves for years. … Continue readingWhat’s in a Name?
At Mosman Park’s Tsunami Sushi, one of Perth’s finer purveyors of Japanese cuisine, that most Japanese of communications technologies — the mobile phone — is set to transform business. … Continue readingNow it’s Sushi To Go, via Mobile Message
Western Australia is a funny place. Innovations are coming from several areas and industries that sometimes overshadow the accomplishments of Sydney or Melbourne based practitioners, and not just in areas we think of as distinctly western, like mining. … Continue readingSmooch
A hard drive can go wrong for a whole lot of reasons, and when it does it’s usually cause for the most panic as you’ve potentially lost the only thing on your computer that can’t be replaced — your data. … Continue readingDoing the Hard Yards
While certain software developers (Quark, we’re looking at you) rest on their laurels when it comes to software for the publishing and graphics industry, there are no flies on Adobe. For a multinational software behemoth, they move remarkably fast. … Continue readingAdobe Acrobat 6.0 Professional
After calling their operating systems after predatory felines for this long, there’s been a development that could leave users with a hairball. Mac OS 10.3, dubbed Panther, will hit the shelves towards the end of the year. … Continue readingApple OS Pricing Sting
A potential downfall is having to input a salesperson for each sale. If you run a cash-only business like a store, even setting a salesperson as ‘C’ is an extra step you could do without. You also can’t set the preferences to let you turn off the receipt feature so you’re forced to print one every time. … Continue readingPoint of Sale Systems
