Tag

Computers

Articles and publications tagged Computers across the Atmosphere.

70articles7publications

Articles

Publications

jiggy's jotsJul 3, 2026

Digital Killed the Video Star

Own your media.

computersdigital

Nora BellJul 2, 2026

I did a speech yesterday

I'm in a public speaking class and yesterday I had to do a "demonstrative" speech. I chose to demonstrate, using some physical analogs since I can't help my class see into the quantum space, how we've generated electricity for the last hundred-twenty-ish years (ignoring photovoltaics, I wanted to touch on them but I only had...

aiopocalypseamd

Spaghetti ThoughtsJun 25, 2026

If I Could Turn Back Time

ComputersPhones

spots of timeJun 20, 2026

1984 - snow white

I have a hazy, potentially false memory of a computer hiding in my dad’s closet before our family workstation arrived. In my mind's eye, I can still picture playing a game featuring a little cursor turtle, though I’ve never been able to find any hard evidence to prove that mystery machine actually existed. What I do know for certain is that sometime right after my fifth birthday in 1984, both the revolutionary new Apple Macintosh and the sleek Apple IIc were sitting side-by-side on the showroom ...

applecomputers

Cory DransfeldtOct 19, 2025

The Tech Coup

From the insider who—according to The New Yorker —offers a “forceful critique...of Big Tech’s steady erosion of democracy,” a detailed account of Big Tech’s power grab and what must be done to stop it Over the past decades, under the cover of “innovation,” technology companies have successfully resisted regulation and have even begun to seize power from governments themselves. Facial recognition firms track citizens for police surveillance. Cryptocurrency has wiped out the personal savings of millions and threatens the stability of the global financial system. Spyware companies sell digital intelligence tools to anyone who can afford them. This new reality—where unregulated technology has become a forceful instrument for autocrats around the world—is terrible news for democracies and citizens. In The Tech Coup , Marietje Schaake offers a behind-the-scenes account of how technology companies crept into nearly every corner of our lives and our governments. She takes us beyond the headlines to high-stakes meetings with human rights defenders, business leaders, computer scientists, and politicians to show how technologies—from social media to artificial intelligence—have gone from being heralded as utopian to undermining the pillars of our democracies. To reverse this existential power imbalance, Schaake outlines game-changing solutions to empower elected officials and citizens alike. Democratic leaders can—and must—resist the influence of corporate lobbying and reinvent themselves as dynamic, flexible guardians of our digital world. Drawing on her experiences in the halls of the European Parliament and among Silicon Valley insiders, Schaake offers a frightening look at our modern tech-obsessed world—and a clear-eyed view of how democracies can build a better future before it is too late.

techpolitics

Tedium: The Dull Side of the InternetJun 29, 2025

Processing Cycles

You may not have to imagine a world where air conditioning uses more energy than computing for much longer. Also: As the Commodore turns.

computershvac

Cory DransfeldtSep 7, 2024

CSS in Depth

To create web designs that delight, entertain, and impress your users, you need to know CSS in depth! Go beyond the basics of CSS and discover web design techniques that range from clever to mind-blowing! This totally revised new edition of CSS in Depth expands your CSS skills with the patterns, layouts, and methods you need to deliver truly beautiful front ends. In CSS in Depth, Second Edition you will learn how to: Create a web page with layout methods Develop essential website components, like dropdown menus and modal dialog boxes Make your website fully responsive across devices Organize your CSS for easy future maintenance Implement designer mockups with attention to detail Use animations to guide user focus Avoid common CSS pitfalls CSS in Depth has given thousands of web developers the tools and the inspiration to make sites that really pop. This second edition is packed with the latest best practices, new CSS language features, and essential advice on how to organize and maintain your CSS codebase.

developmentwebdev

Cory DransfeldtJun 29, 2024

Code Dependent

A riveting story of what it means to be human in a world changed by artificial intelligence, revealing the perils and inequities of our growing reliance on automated decision-making On the surface, a British poet, an UberEats courier in Pittsburgh, an Indian doctor, and a Chinese activist in exile have nothing in common. But they are in fact linked by a profound common experience—unexpected encounters with artificial intelligence. In Code-Dependent, Murgia shows how automated systems are reshaping our lives all over the world, from technology that marks children as future criminals, to an app that is helping to give diagnoses to a remote tribal community. AI has already infiltrated our day-to-day, through language-generating chatbots like ChatGPT and social media. But it’s also affecting us in more insidious ways. It touches everything from our interpersonal relationships, to our kids’ education, work, finances, public services, and even our human rights. By highlighting the voices of ordinary people in places far removed from the cozy enclave of Silicon Valley, Code-Dependent explores the impact of a set of powerful, flawed, and often-exploitative technologies on individuals, communities, and our wider society. Murgia exposes how AI can strip away our collective and individual sense of agency, and shatter our illusion of free will. The ways in which algorithms and their effects are governed over the coming years will profoundly impact us all. Yet we can’t agree on a common path forward. We cannot decide what preferences and morals we want to encode in these entities—or what controls we may want to impose on them. And thus, we are collectively relinquishing our moral authority to machines. In Code-Dependent, Murgia not only sheds light on this chilling phenomenon, but also charts a path of resistance. AI is already changing what it means to be human, in ways large and small, and Murgia reveals what could happen if we fail to reclaim our humanity.

computers

Tedium: The Dull Side of the InternetFeb 17, 2024

The Liaison

How firmware became the layer between our hardware and software experiences. It was only sorta like Halt and Catch Fire.

firmwarehardware

Tedium: The Dull Side of the InternetFeb 9, 2024

The Sneaky Standard

How Intel screwed over a standards body in the midst of giving computer users one of the most resilient technologies around.

intelPCI

Tedium: The Dull Side of the InternetJan 19, 2024

Counterfeit Computing

Discussing the piratical efforts to rip people off by counterfeiting computer hardware. It’s been happening for more than 40 years.

computersapple ii

Tedium: The Dull Side of the InternetAug 22, 2023

Sorry State

SSD prices are insanely low right now—but manufacturers focused on bottom line have built computers designed to prevent consumers from leveraging this trend.

ssdstorage

Tedium: The Dull Side of the InternetJun 28, 2023

The Squeal of Data

The through line between the telegraph and the computer is more direct than you might realize. Its influence can be seen in common technologies, like the modem.

computerscomputer history

Tedium: The Dull Side of the InternetJun 24, 2023

A Splash of Impatience

Discussing the legacy of splash screens, those annoying windows that appear when you’re trying to load up a giant program on your desktop machine.

splash screenloading screen

Tedium: The Dull Side of the InternetJun 10, 2023

Friction, Baby

In a world where technology is trying to make things increasingly easier, make things a little harder on yourself. You’ll get better results.

productivityfriction

Tedium: The Dull Side of the InternetMay 13, 2023

The Artist and the Amiga

Andy Warhol was enamored with the first computer he ever owned—and he didn’t seem all that worried about the risks of disruption.

syndicationandy warhol

Tedium: The Dull Side of the InternetApr 26, 2023

CISC-y RISC-ness

An unusual type of processor from the early 2000s seemed to offer the best of all worlds—and may be the most inventive approach to the CPU ever developed.

transmetarisc

Tedium: The Dull Side of the InternetApr 15, 2023

Socket To Me

Why the processor socket, an important part of most desktop computers, lost its upgrade path as computers became smaller and more integrated.

computersprocessors

Tedium: The Dull Side of the InternetOct 26, 2022

Slot Wars

The battle to replace the standard expansion slot in the IBM PC reflected an effort by two sides of the PC world to gain control. Spoiler: The clone-makers won.

computerspc

Tedium: The Dull Side of the InternetSep 9, 2022

The Execution of All Things

A list of executable file formats that didn’t make it. That said, if you want to load up an Adobe AIR application, we can’t stop you.

executable filesexe

Tedium: The Dull Side of the InternetAug 12, 2022

Camper Van Mainframe

Why the first “portable” computers, produced before integrated circuits, would really stretch the term today. Some portables needed a truck to move.

computerscomputer history

Tedium: The Dull Side of the InternetJul 1, 2022

Plot Point Does Not Compute

On laughably bad uses of computers in mainstream movies and shows, starting with the virus upload in Independence Day.

independence dayid4

Tedium: The Dull Side of the InternetFeb 18, 2022

You Spin Me Right Round, Baby

Before hard drives became the main way for us to back up our stuff, they were a key evolution for the business world. They were also huge and costly.

computer historycomputers

Tedium: The Dull Side of the InternetDec 3, 2021

Booting Up The Cash Register

Computers didn’t immediately lend themselves to retail, but ambitious early computer retailers sold ‘em anyway. Eventually, they got trampled.

computersretail