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

Now there’s no excuse for not doing what you said you’d do with Cortana snooping on your emails

Can you imagine this: You promised your girlfriend/boyfriend last week, in an email, that you’d accompany him/her to the gym (you put on a ton of weight over the holidays). You never made it to the appointment. “I forgot,” you tell your loved one. “Impossible,” is the reply you’re met with. “Cortana would have reminded ...

Synchronicity: A wormhole love story not in touch with its characters

“The power to cross the universe in an instant; the impossible becomes possible; all the unbelievable things you could accomplish; the eternal questions you could answer… and you want to get laid.” This piece of dialogue – part of a witty repartee amongst 101 minutes of quasi-seriousness – could stand as the synopsis for the ...

Microsoft updates Office Apps for iOS, including new inking tools for iPad and iPad Pro

iPad and iPad Pro users can now use the Apple Pencil, or their finger, in Office, Microsoft has announced. The update includes the addition of a new ‘Draw’ tab in the Office ribbon so users can access inking, drawing and writing tools quickly. Instant inking has also been added so that an iPad will detect ...

Xbox One gets free EA access today, update for preview members is on the way

Xbox Live members can get free access to the Electronic Arts digital catalogue, starting today January 19th, up until January 24th, a move that is encouraging gamers to download the EA access app. It might seem too much of a good deal, but there doesn’t seem to be any catches. Usually EA access would set ...

Sci-fi series Black Mirror is a nightmare you have to experience

British TV series Black Mirror, created for Channel 4, can at times be almost unwatchable. If you’re not unsettled while viewing what might best be called tech-gone-wrong, an ugly yet fascinating exposé on technological immersion – the downside of omnipresent cameras – a nightmarish trip through social media – then it’s likely you are one ...

You can now Skype from Slack

On the week of its 10-year anniversary – a decade of video calling at least – Skype has been busy announcing a flurry of breakthroughs. First it was the news that group video calling has become available to mobile, and later we heard that real-time translation in Skype has finally been rolled-out to all Windows ...

Living the dream: Skype’s real-time translation now available to all Windows users

Microsoft has just gone one step further in its mission to help bring down the language barrier. Skype translator is now available to all Skype for Windows customers (the roll-out actually started in October 2015), Microsoft announced in a blog post. Over a year ago the Skype Translator preview was released in partnership with Microsoft ...

Skype brings video group calls to mobile, and you can get it before it becomes officially available

10 years ago Skype brought free video calls to desktop, and 4 years later the same service was available on mobile. It has now been announced that in the coming weeks group video calling will become available to “hundreds of millions of mobile users” on Android, iPhone, iPad and Windows 10 Mobile. While the group calling ...

Tinder plays cupid, only showing you people it thinks deserve your unattractiveness

So you thought you had complete control; that swiping away less desirable faces on Tinder (Tinder, Inc.) could eventually lead you to virtually anyone. You were wrong; it turns out that Tinder has been selecting the appropriate people for you commensurate to your level of popularity, or unpopularity. Tinder ranks your desirability before anyone else ...

‘Mr. Robot’ wins best TV drama Golden Globe, but the brilliant Rami Malek only gets a nod of appreciation

USA Network’s hacker series Mr.Robot beat out other popular TV series, such as Game of Thrones, Empire and Narcos, to win this year’s Best TV Drama at the Golden Globes. Series creator, Sam Esmail, collected the award, stood amongst the series’ actors and producers, and stated that it “took a lot of courage” to give ...