The Two Certainties in Life: RMail and RSign? As I write this exactly at 10:40 on April 15, I instinctually feel like there’s some important deadline I’m missing, a day where I feel should have already done something. Is it someone’s birthday or an anniversary? Do I need to get an oil change? No, it’s the traditional tax filing deadline in the US. For the second year in a row, April 15 is just another day. Taxes aren’t due until May 17 now, which means us Am [...]

Muons Wobble But They Don’t Fall Down While this year’s news has been dominated by politics and pandemics, there may have been a universe-shattering discovery made in the world of physics—one that may realign the very way we think about forces of nature. ‘Now this isn’t the usual e-sign, e-security chit chat,’ you may think to yourself. Yes, this week on Tech Essentials, we will be dealing with the nature of the universe itself, so say with me “whoa!” in your [...]

Who Really Is the Messenger? There is growing debate about the extent to which content platforms are responsible for the content third parties create and distribute. As I write this, the US Congress is holding a hearing about whether Facebook, Twitter and Google should be held liable for the unsavory posts and other controversial content they distribute. This debate is as old as the hills. The only thing that has changed are the company names and some aspects of the m [...]

Get SMART in 2021 Over the last decade or so, you’ve no doubt heard just about any appliance or electronic device marketed as being ‘smart’. We all know now about smart phones, and there are also refrigerators and dryers that are smart as well. As recently as three years ago, we began to hear about smart cars, headphones and even shoes, making the term ‘smart’ a victim of the same hype we saw in the 90’s with the term, ‘extreme’ (or later ‘Xtreme!’). [...]

Welcome to Tech Essentials’ 2nd installment of our thought exercise on media bias. (This relates to “Tech Essentials” as many are viewing their “news” through online “opinion” blogs). If you recall from last week, we were outlining tactics (mentioned in this article) that leverage bias to get your attention through online media [...]