Consumer Electronics & Product Reviews

If you have an Alexa-enabled device or any Amazon device that is Amazon Sidewalk-capable, you are automatically opted in to sharing up to 80Kbps (capped at 500MB per month) of your WiFi network with Amazon and your neighbors. After I tell you how to opt-out, I'll tell you what it is and why Amazon thinks it's a good idea. If you want to use the service and lend part of your WiFi network to Jeff Bezos, you don't need to do anything. You are opted-in unless you do the following. Continue Reading →

The moment comes when you realize there's real money in your crypto wallet and you start wondering about hackers and ransomware and all kinds of bad stuff. If you've set up a digital wallet, bought some crypto, and collected a few NFTs and you're starting to trade across a range of marketplaces and exchanges, you are starting to experience the exceptional financial freedom the world of DeFi has to offer. Of course, there's a catch… Now, you're also in charge of guarding the treasury. Continue Reading →

As she approached the entrance to the club, she gave the frame of her new prescription AR glasses a gentle squeeze. When she got to the door, it appeared to turn green, indicating recognition that she was over 21 years of age. Then, a message appeared along with a friendly voice asking for the 5 ADA cover charge. She shook her head yes. A moment later, the door opened, which indicated that the transaction had cleared. And so begins a story about life in a trustless, decentralized world − a tale from under the Merkle tree. Continue Reading →

We’re in the middle of a cryptocurrency bubble and an NFT (non-fungible token) craze. For context, the price of a Bitcoin (BTC) is bubbling around $56,000. The price of an Ether (ETH) is just over $1,700. That sounds bubbly, but this column is not about financial advice. I’m going to teach you, step by step, how to build a very small cryptocurrency mining operation so you can get a deeper understanding of the process. Continue Reading →

There's a reason you're getting more robocalls now: due to the pandemic, many international call centers were shut down. At the same time, the government did its best to reduce COVID-19-related phone scams. All that's over now. Robocall volume is back to pre-pandemic levels, and about 60 percent of these calls are scams or unsolicited telemarketing. Continue Reading →

Net Neutrality is a nickname for a set of rules designed to govern your access to the Internet. In the next three minutes I'm going to prove to you why Net Neutrality is important and give you enough facts to argue your own case for or against it. Continue Reading →

As the pandemic enters its second year, we're approaching an inevitable bifurcation of our society: "Presumed Safe" (those who have been vaccinated or exposed to the virus), and "Presumed Unsafe" (those who have not been vaccinated or have not been exposed to the virus). Two distinct groups that are going to test us in ways we've only read about in history books. Continue Reading →

I've had my Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra for a couple of weeks now, and I can tell you without hesitation that "Ultra" is a fitting name for this smartphone. While the S21 line follows the recent industry trend of making affordable flagship phones, the S21 Ultra isn't for people looking for a bargain. It is the very definition of a premium experience and it is priced to match. If you are looking for the very best Android phone available today, look no further. Here's why. Continue Reading →

The speed of information is directly equated to economic success. If you learn something before your competitor does and you have the tools to make the knowledge actionable, you are almost always going to profit from it. So, while it’s true that “knowledge is power,” the true power comes from the speed with which you can create information asymmetry in a transactional environment. This is the goal of our new online innovation briefings. Continue Reading →

Humans that fuse with machines will become telekinetics. They will be able to be in two places at once. They will be able to “feel” physical objects that are half a world away. They will have thousands of times the strength of purely organic humans. They will not be limited to one physical manifestation of their existence. They will have powers usually reserved for mythological superheroes – what will they do with them? Continue Reading →