Author: Connor Livingston

Did you know that there are 30 mobile platforms that came and went in the last two decades? Starting with the PenPoint OS by GO Corporation in 1991, there have been a ton that have been born and died shortly after. iOS, Android, Windows, Symbian, Blackberry, and Brew are the only ones left and it’s very possible that there will only be 3 within a couple of years. The November, 2011 study called Clash of the Ecosystems is an exhaustive 60-page report on the subject, while Developer Economics 2012 breaks down the new app economy. This infographic from Vision Mobile comes to use via Seattle Nissan and explores…

The brain is a wonderful creation and the internet is often used to enhance or complement the capacity and recall within our most important organ. Unfortunately, technology has made it possible for us to actually overload our brains through the speed and volume through which we’re able to multitask online. How many tabs are open on your computer right now? How many screens are you using? Is your iPad or smartphone close and do they have other things happening on them at the same time that you’re reading this? We live in a multitasking world where productivity and enjoyment are often gauged by how…

For many, it’s a scary thought. What if the internet simply disappeared tomorrow? What if all of the connections we held and activities we performed online were suddenly not available to us? These are questions that most would not want to answer even if they weren’t actively involved professionally online. Those of us who work online could be devastated. In case you’re one of those who takes the world wide web for granted, here’s an infographic that takes us through the hypothetical scenario. The benefit, of course, is that more kids would go outside to play. Via: OnlineEducation.net…

Klout, the social influence measure that is likely the most used and well-respected, rolled out a series of changes yesterday. They upgraded their iPhone app to include more features and made changes to their +K system. Giving someone a “+K” is like voting for them as an influencer for a particular topic. This helps their Klout score, which ranges from 10-100, and highlights them within that particular topic. Until today, an individual could be influential in up to 20 topics, but Klout expanded it to include all of the topics in which a person holds influence based upon their social media activity…

Not every movie has a happy ending. Not every final death is necessarily sad. Great movies have a way of making a main character’s death in battle something to honor even if it fills us with grief in doing so. Even bad movies can be partially-redeemed in some cases with a good fight to finish off a not-so-perfect character. Here are 7 movie last stands that every geek should be able to appreciate.   Leon the Professional The movie that’s best known for a young, fowl-mouth Natalie Portman takes an under-rated action icon Jean Reno, puts him in an impossible situation, and we see him nearly pull it…

It was probably pretty cool to you the first time you ever tried it on a smartphone or tablet, but the days of being impressed with such things are behind us. Today, if a phone doesn’t automatically adjust orientation when we turn it, the thing has to be broken, right? Remember back, for a moment, to the first few times you saw your iPhone or other device do it. Remember wondering how it worked? The technology behind it is extremely impressive and a lot more complex than we probably know. The technique required to mold the silicon combined with the precision it takes to work with something so small is mind-blowing….

The situation in Syria is serious. Amnesty International has accused the United Nations Security Council of failing to “match the courage” of protestors in the beleaguered Middle Eastern country. It’s newsworthy and the BBC is covering it. Unfortunately, they made the situation comical for Xbox gamers who noted that the logo they used for the UN was actually the United Nations Space Command emblem from HALO. It makes it more humorous that it’s not just posted, it’s featured prominently in the background of the news anchor. News agencies: it’s a good idea to have gamers on staff, even if to keep…

Does your brain hurt right now? Unless you’re an astrophysicist, watching the video below should make your brain hurt if it isn’t already. The universe is an amazing thing, expanding and shifting in ways that make measuring the distances between stars and galaxies extremely complex. It’s not a one-step process – all of the data from different forms of distances measurement must be combined to form a broader picture of how far objects are from the Earth. That’s the gist. The video goes into much more detail but not so much detail that you need to (literally) be a rocket scientist to understand it….

Collecting data is easy. Storing it is even easier. Taking it in massive amounts and understanding the complex relationships that are created from it all is the tough part. Recent advancements and focus points by large companies have given us a much better grasp on what it all means and how it can be used, but there’s definitely room for improvement. This infographic from Wikibon comes to us via Hartford Dodge and shows how big data as an entity and an industry is being “tamed” by technological advancements. As our ability to collect, store, and retrieve it continues to become stronger, the ability…

Patents shift hands almost as often as companies change their lunch menus. Mobile, software, and hardware patents are of particular importance as both deterrents and protection against the litany of lawsuits, frivolous or not, that chase big tech companies on a regular basis. Companies like Apple, Microsoft, and Motorola (who just sold 17,000 patents as part of their deal with Google) stockpile patents, spending lots of money in order to save lots of money. It’s much like insurance – you pay a little now over time to prevent the big hits from coming all at once.. This graphic by Visual.ly attempts…