James Farrell
Latest from James Farrell
Should Microsoft and Xbox have had to apologize for hiring Go Go dancers following public outcry?
Microsoft issued a formal letter of apology (presently down) following widespread criticism of its Xbox team dancing alongside half-naked women at a party hosted for guests at Microsoft’s Game Developers Conference in San Francisco last week. The appearance of dancing girls didn’t go down well with some of the guests. One such guest, Kamina Vincent, ...
Zen and the art of making an iPhone
“He did everything he wanted, and all on his own terms,” said a teary eyed Bob Belleville, a former colleague of Steve Jobs and head of engineering at Apple when the Macintosh 128k was created. Belleville pays much respect to his former boss while being interviewed in the Alex Gibney (Going Clear, Taxi to the ...
Microsoft’s Edge browser finally gets long-awaited extensions
It’s been sometime coming, but extensions for Microsoft’s Edge browser are finally here – for Windows Insiders in the Fast ring at least. Microsoft just announced that Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 14291 will include some, “very cool new things” including Edge extensions. In a separate blog post Microsoft listed the extensions which will include ...
Microsoft announces timeframe for Windows 10 apps coming to Xbox One
Microsoft’s Jason Ronald revealed at the Game Developers Conference (GDC) in San Francisco that this summer Windows 10 apps will be coming to Xbox One, according to reports. The Xbox Store and Windows Store for apps will also be merged. No exact date was given as to how this will unfold, although Business Insider states ...
We know your Android phone isn’t encrypted, so here’s how you encrypt it in a few easy steps
Over the last few weeks due to the Apple vs. FBI case, pervasive media coverage of that case, and consequently a growing concern throughout the world regarding our digital privacy, the word encryption seems to be on many people’s minds. Of course that doesn’t mean that many people have actually encrypted their device(s). Statistically speaking ...
John Oliver on why Apple’s products aren’t really safe, but why the tech giant has every right to protect our privacy
In an ongoing case that is surely going to become a landmark issue concerning how we live today, satirist and comedian John Oliver laid down his views concerning Apple vs. FBI. If you don’t know what this is referring to, in short, a demand by the FBI that Apple hacks one of its own iPhones to ...
True Skin picked up by Amazon, must avoid cliches for sci-fi fans
True Skin, a 2012 short film that looks something like tech on steroids amidst a futuristic depiction of Bangkok’s red light district, has now been optioned by Amazon Studios to be made into a series. Written and directed by Stephan Zlotescu, the short was previously picked up by Warner Brothers less than a week after it ...
Consumers outraged at Microsoft’s underhanded patch trickery
“The most troublesome thing about this is that it becomes clearer and clearer that Microsoft doesn’t treat its customers as partners, but as some sort of enemies who have to be tricked, cheated, fooled.” These are some strong words, issued in reply to a recent Microsoft security update that was only partly a security update – ...
Surface Book vs. Mac: A war of words with a musical twist
Following an advertising campaign in which Microsoft lists the wonders of Windows 10 for PC and why it’s so much better than anything Apple Inc. can put together, Redmond is now bashing its competitor once more in a series of ads that tell us Microsoft’s Surface Book is way better than the Mac. The ads ...
Microsoft is bringing one of its most important enterprise products to Linux, its one time ‘communist’ foe
Microsoft has announced it’s about to bring its database software, SQL Server, to Linux. The move comes as some surprise, as Microsoft has never allowed SQL Server to run on another platform. Less of a surprise is that this direction is firmly aligned with CEO Satya Nadella’s vision of Microsoft’s priority to sell services. Such a ...