Articles about Practical Nerd – Page 3 of 4

Saving a ThinkPad from drink: How to recover from a tech travel disaster

There are those moments in life that occur, seemingly, in slow motion. That first teenage kiss. A bobbled piece of… Read More

5 steps to prepare your geek child for college

As caps and gowns are returned for deposits while freshmen are readying to be deposited this fall in the college… Read More

The future of news, as viewed from 1993: What we got right, and very wrong

For journalism, the future isn’t what it used to be. Especially when viewed from two decades ago. I recently undertook… Read More

The Geek’s Guide to International Travel

On my recent vacation to Europe, I traveled without folded maps, paper guidebooks and journals, or physical backup copies of my passport,… Read More

Bill Gates at SXSWedu: The future of education is data

If there was a single nerdy subtext that Bill Gates brought to his closing keynote at the SXSWedu conference in… Read More

Paper trumps tech at national library conference

I went looking for the digital future of libraries at the American Library Association’s Midwinter Meeting this week. Conveniently, the… Read More

3 ways digital media is turning us into 2nd graders

We are all regressing. And I have proof from an authoritative source: the state of children’s books. The underlying reasons… Read More

Hey, ‘disrupt’ this! 5 tech terms to banish in 2013

The New Year is a time for us to reflect on the past, make adjustments for the future and —… Read More

America’s unmet tech challenge: the public radio pledge drive

This is my favorite time of the year. Because it’s the only time when there are no public broadcasting pledge… Read More

Here comes another tech bubble — in education

I’m the kind of guy who worries when something gets too popular. I looked askance at novels (especially science fiction)… Read More

Banks behaving badly: Dealing with a divisive digital divide

When a company providing financial services emphasizes digital convenience, you’d think that also applies to its customer service. After all,… Read More

10 questions: ‘Existence’ author David Brin on science fiction, science and geeks

One could successfully argue that modern geek culture wouldn’t exist in its current form without 20th century science fiction and… Read More

The Geek’s Guide to Air Travel

You say you know what it’s like to live like a geek. But do you know how to fly like… Read More

Two GeekWire weeks, three entrepreneurial lessons

Twice in the span of one month I did something I hadn’t done for a decade — worked in a… Read More

Science fiction writers inspired as asteroid miners make fiction fact

It was the very last question at the news conference announcing Planetary Resources’ plans to find mineral-rich asteroids, pull them… Read More

Will a $199 Google tablet hurt or help the Kindle Fire?

Next to politics, perhaps no industry loves speculation more than tech. We may couch it as “analysis” or — if… Read More

7 steps to raise a geek child

It’s inevitable. New babies are coming into the world. I began to notice this when former colleagues were no longer… Read More

Inside Alaska Airlines’ new Boeing Sky Interior

For 17 years, I have qualified to be a sardine. That is to say that — since some time in… Read More

How car dealers embrace, and erode, the web

We may finally be seeing how business, when faced with a technological threat, adapts. Not by changing practices. But by… Read More

Microsoft and education: lead or cheerlead?

In the Seattle area there is a powerhouse co-founded by Bill Gates, dedicated to using advances in technology to change… Read More

When eBooks attack, mass paperbacks die

The mass market paperback is dead. It just doesn’t know it yet. Ailing for months, its demise is now all… Read More

Practical Nerd: Seattle vs. Amsterdam, a tale of two cities and their technology

Amsterdam has a lot that can appeal to a Seattleite. Both cities are of similar size, value walkability and bicycles,… Read More

Practical Nerd: Microsoft toys with itself, again

A favorite tech industry truism is that Microsoft got where it is today by copying others. Now, it’s finally copying… Read More

Practical Nerd: Survival tips for Startup Weekend EDU

I was a first-time mentor at a Startup Weekend recently and, appropriate to my day job, it was focused on… Read More

Practical Nerd: When Amazon can’t be trusted

Recently, I bought a new Android phone. It didn’t come with everything I wanted, so I turned to my default… Read More

Practical Nerd: Irresistible startups, immovable education

I’ve advised a number of startups over the years and have been directly part of at least two. I discovered… Read More

Practical Nerd: The hidden price of “free”

In tech, nothing quite equals the siren lure of “free.” I still recall a friend of mine from Microsoft being… Read More

The Practical Nerd manifesto

What does it mean to be a Practical Nerd? I mean, being a standard-issue nerd is no longer a challenge.… Read More

Practical Nerd: A plea for independence from bad accessory support

Editor’s Note: “Practical Nerd” columnist Frank Catalano spent three hours this Independence Day weekend struggling under the oppression of one… Read More

Practical Nerd: When content is KING-FM

Is there a place for an old linear medium in a bright shiny digital media world? That is the question… Read More