Fire-Wired Blog

This article was first published by dmcityview.com If there is one thing technology is not, it’s cyclical. Once it becomes outmoded, technology is more or less immediately forgotten. Bulky computer monitors, floppy discs and audio cassettes are but a few tech innovations that can only be found in landfills, never to return. Still, the last few years have seen one dead technology claw its way back to prominence, the animated GIF. Way back in 1997, it seemed the Internet was a proverbial wasteland of eternally looping, animated cartoon images. It was practically a prerequisite for every website to be crammed full of flaming skulls, burping Homer Simpsons and flashing neon “under construction” graphics. However unlike audio cassettes and floppy discs, GIFs did not slowly sail into the sunset; they simply dropped off the map. So why are they back with such a vengeance? The beauty of GIFs is how perfectly they encapsulate our five-second attention spans. Whereas YouTube, Facebook and ...

This article was first published by dmcityview.com Road trips are a hard prospect for the tech addicted. With a digital world of friends and information only a few smartphone clicks away, it’s difficult to resist the temptations of distracted driving. Most of us have peaked at a text or checked a Facebook notification behind the wheel, but if you’re currently in the throes of a text-and-driving fixation, know that there is a way out. Just as smokers kick their habit with nicotine gum or e-cigarettes, the easiest way to keep your eyes on the road is to replace one distraction with another. My personal treatment is podcasts. Distracted driving is nothing new. When car stereos were first introduced in the 1930s, many decried drivers fiddling with their radio dials instead of keeping their hands at 10-and-two. Over the years, eight-tracks, cassette tapes, CDs and mp3s all augmented the way drivers enjoy audio on the road, but few have truly replaced the original AM/FM radio establishme...

This article was first published by dmcityview.com In film fanatic circles, much is made of the “Golden Age” of cinema, i.e. the 1930s and 1970s. Films from these periods, such as “Gone With the Wind” and “The Godfather,” respectively, are considered the pinnacle of celluloid expression, and the entire movie industry seemed to be enraptured with artistic meaning and bravura storytelling. As wonderfully nostalgic as that sounds, being a cinephile myself, I personally find no era of film more exciting than the one we are living in right now. Why? Technology has leveled the playing field. For roughly $1,000, the most rudimentary pieces of filmmaking can be had with non-linear video editing and prosumer cinematic cameras. Around the turn of the century, applications such as Media 100, Apple’s Final Cut Pro and Adobe’s Premiere Pro started to proliferate across the independent filmmaking community. These programs allowed amateurs to digitize their footage and manipulate it by dragging a...

This article was first published by dmcityview.com Every few years a technological innovation comes along that is so obvious it’s infuriating that you didn’t come up with it yourself. A few recent examples include eBay, the iPod and YouTube, each of which revolutionized its field and practically changed the world. The beauty of these ingenious tech tools is that virtually no one can see them coming, and as soon as they hit, you know immediately that you need it. Two weeks ago I felt this same impulse with the announcement of Google Chromecast, a key-sized device that allows you to wirelessly stream almost any Web content from any computing device to your TV. Streaming content wirelessly from computing devices to television is nothing new. Apple TV has offered this capability for years. What is new is Chromecast’s ultraportability and price. For only $35, users can basically carry their entire video or audio library in their pocket and stream it to any TV or stereo system that ...

This article was first published by dmcityview.com After years of swimming against the tide, I finally broke down and bought a tablet last week. While I still feel they have little value outside of watching videos and surfing the Web, tablets are an extremely convenient way to share multimedia content and cut back on paper use. Outside of practical concerns, one perk of purchasing a tablet is Flipboard, an application that turns virtually any Web content into personalized magazines. It’s no coincidence that tablets are roughly the size of the average magazine, and reading Internet content on them is extremely easy. Flipboard takes both those virtues and turns the Internet into a bottomless pit of reading material, tailored to the reader’s interests. Plus, like the random magazines that drift into our lives, Flipboard is a great way to discover content that sits in the periphery of our interests. Launched in 2010, Flipboard allows mobile device users to search the Web and subscrib...

This article was first published by dmcityview.com A universal experience in personal computing is the moment when we sit down to do some work only to discover our computer can barely keep up. You don’t know if it’s a virus, too many programs running or old age, but whatever the reason, there is no mistaking when a computer is officially past its prime. While the thrifty user will upgrade his or her antivirus protection or computer memory, many take the nuclear option and replace their misfiring machine wholesale. Ten years ago this scenario meant an easy swap: Replace computer tower “A” with shiny, new computer tower “B.” Today, shoppers have platform options galore, and more often than not, they’re ditching their stationary setup. Compared to 2012 sales, PCs are being overlooked by consumers in record numbers with users opting for more mobile computing options, such as tablets and smartphones. In fact, desktop producing juggernauts such as Hewlett Packard and Dell have seen sal...

15 months ago I left the journalism world, this was a really hard decision. Growing up I routinely watched the nightly news while my mom prepared dinner. I quickly fell in love with the storytelling aspect of a journalists life and the fact they were reporting on something different practically every day. So following my dream to be a rockstar, my life's ambition was to be a reporter.  In route to that dream I carried a videocamera with me practically everyday, worked for a few news radio stations, PA'd at local CBS is San Francisco and eventually became a small town reporter and T.V. Producer. So why did I drop the dream? Two reasons: my mortgage and the hope to one day provide sole support to family, so my wife can be a stay-at-home mom (her dream). While I may be out of the journalism game at the moment, there is a simple way to keep the dream alive; freelancing. Back in February, I applied to the local alternative newspaper, Cityview , for a freelance tech col...