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I recently read a great article designed to let aspiring developers teach themselves Javascript in 5 months, and in July I decided to give it a shot for myself. The curriculum seems sound, and useful, but completing the curriculum as it is listed would require subscribing to like two different online course providers for 2-3 months, so I’m actively trying to substitute free resources and resources I have already purchased through StackSocial for the classes that are described each month, with the possible option of going back at the end and subscribing for one month to each service and taking all those classes at once.
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I had a great time at WordCamp Kent in June, where I was inspired to do new things with this site and other websites that I run. This WordCamp was quite affordable (just $40) and included plenty of speakers presenting on great WordPress topics, great conversations between sessions and in the hallways with presenters, vendors, and other attendees, and plenty of great food. As an alum of Kent State University, it was also wonderful to be back in Kent, see how some parts of the downtown and the campus has changed and grown since I graduated, and visit some of my old stomping grounds again. Continue reading →

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Surface Pro 3
What would it take for you to buy a new tablet? (Android Authority)
Tablet sales have been going down for some years — but what would it take for you to buy a new one? Here, we discuss the current state of the market.

In a recent Android Authority article, author Scott Adam Gordon asks, “What would it take for you to buy a new tablet?” He concludes that the reason tablet sales are on the decrease is because people don’t buy new tablets for spec bumps… he sees 6 scenarios in which someone might buy a new tablet: Continue reading →

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Which Tech Giant Would You Drop? (nytimes.com)
The Big Five tech companies increasingly dominate our lives. Could you ditch them?

In the linked interactive feature, the New York Times posed the question:

If an evil monarch forced you to choose, in what order would you give up these inescapable giants of tech?

The first is an easy pick for me. Apple, the seller of shiny, overpriced products, powered by a buggy cloud, with a mobile operating system on which things are either dumbed down to 5-year old simplicity or completely impossible. I have owned Apple products in the past, including an iPod Touch I still use occasionally, but in my personal opinion Apple operating systems are inferior to other options and build quality of Apple products is not significantly above that of their competitors to justify the incredible price markup. I hate iTunes with a burning passion and frequently will not purchase music I intend to purchase if it is not available from Amazon or Google Play. Continue reading →