James Farrell

James Farrell is the former editor-in-chief of Chiang Mai CityNews, where he wrote and managed daily news, features, op-eds and blogs on a diverse range of topics. Prior to this, in the same city of Northern Thailand where he lives, he was the longstanding deputy editor of the monthly magazine Citylife. He has written on culture, politics, travel, tech, business, human rights, for local, national, and international news services and magazines. He has a keen interest in the role technology is playing in the transformation of society, culture and politics, especially in developing nations. This is reflected in his not-so-successful first novel.

Latest from James Farrell

Microsoft exec and son die in Canadian boating disaster

A Microsoft UK manager, David Thomas, and his 18 year old son died on October 26th when a whale watching boat, the 65ft Leviathan II, capsized close to Vancouver Island. Three more victims were identified by the British Columbia Coroners Service, and a further 22 people were rescued. Thomas, described by colleagues as a tech ...

The Surface Mini: Microsoft discusses the dream device that never was

“It was like a Moleskine… it was awesome,” Microsoft’s Corporate VP for devices, Panos Panay, told Wired in a recent interview about a device that never became available for public consumption. According to the interview, prior to Panay and his team working towards making the ultimate laptop, which is the recently released Surface Book, the Surface Mini ...

5 alternative tech movies that you may not have seen

Last week there must have been 101 memes featured on your daily scroll down Facebook relating to the date (October 21, 2015) Back to the Future II took us to in 1989. ‘So, this is how we are meant to look in 2015’ was the implied joke in most of those memes. The film, however, made ...

What to expect in Microsoft’s first major Windows 10 update

Microsoft is set to update its new operating system sometime at the beginning of November. The update, codenamed Threshold 2, will be available to users running Windows 10 RTM. For those running Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 you can get the Fall update as an upgrade without the need to install previous updates. It’s reported ...

What the world’s critics are saying about Microsoft’s Surface Book

Microsoft’s dream machine, the Surface Book, has only been out of the gates a couple of weeks but that’s long enough for many of the world’s tech critics to have given the new laptop hybrid a test run. The results are in, and for the most part Microsoft will be pleased with what people have ...

Microsoft just made inking much better in OneNote

Microsoft has announced that it is now partnering with start-up FiftyThree to support new inking features for OneNote. FiftyThree’s Pencil can now be connected to OneNote on iPad for better precision, while ideas scribbled on FiftyThree’s Paper can be shared to OneNote from iPad and iPhone. In a blog post Microsoft said, “Simply pair your ...

Microsoft boss sees massive compensation reduction, as do other execs working for Redmond’s finest

Microsoft’s CEO Satya Nadella has seen his earnings fall in 2015, it’s reported, due mostly to stock awards. While Nadella earned a whopping $84.3 million last year, making him one of the world’s wealthiest tech-ballers on paper, the CEO’s compensation has dropped a massive 78 percent to a measly $18.3 million this year. The reason ...

The Martian is a technically brilliant film but not without some tech oddities (SPOILERS)

Ridley Scott’s film The Martian, based on a 2011 novel (also called The Martian) written by ex-software engineer Andy Weir, deserves all the plaudits it has so far received. It’s beautifully shot, with the vast arid landscapes of the red planet and it’s less than clement Martian dust storms alone making it compelling viewing from start ...

Skype introduces group video chats that anyone can join – even if they don’t have a Skype account

Skype has started to roll-out a new feature in the UK and US that allows users to send out shareable links to people so they might join a conversation – and those people don’t need a Skype account to join in. Similar to Google Hangouts a link can be sent via email, messaging apps or social ...

Windows 10 gets Groovier with App of the Week iHeartRadio intergration

Microsoft’s music app for Windows 10, Groove, just gave listeners a far wider selection of tunes with the integration of iHeartRadio. Groove was created by Microsoft as the place to go in Windows 10 to manage and play songs, but up until now it has not integrated the app with an outside service, such as ...