Tom Steinert-Threlkeld

Not long ago, a portable device — the wristwatch — was given the heave-ho in this space. This month, a wired device got shown the door: the facsimile machine. The scene this time: unpacking, as the hyphenated family moved into its new abode in a Connecticut exurb of New York City. When it came time […]

Yes, accountants can be humorous. The best accounting joke of all time follows. After a disputed third strike is called, three umpires create an instant support group behind home plate and argue the best way to make such calls. UMPIRE NO. 1: Balls are balls, strikes are strikes and I calls em as I sees […]

Having just relocated from the Third Coast (Texas) to the First Coast (Connecticut), I want my handset to work in the bottom of Grand Central Station, on the train, waiting to pull away. I want it to work in elevators, passing over or under bridges, and I want it to perform all kinds of acts […]

Editors warning: This is not replicable. Do not try this at home. I finally got the phone company to allow me to cut directly into the fiber that passes my abode. Now, Ive got essentially unlimited bandwidth into my PowerMac G4 Cube. And Ive been trying out the Web as it really should be. I […]

When it comes to protecting privacy online, the biggest foes we have to fear are ourselves. Tracking the behavior of individuals while online can be considered insidious, because it happens behind the scenes, unbeknownst to the user. Yet most of this occurs with the use of those tiny files known as cookies. And there are […]

Pocket watches are back in fashion. You just might not think of them as watches. In the train conductor era, the pocket watch was round and smooth and was chained to ones clothing, so it could always be retrieved easily. Nowadays, we talk on them. Theyre called cell phones. The latest generation of cell phones […]

The headline on the news release blared the good news: “Broadband Access Soars Nearly 150 Percent At Home, According to Nielsen//NetRatings.” Pretty remarkable. The statistic seemed to scream that broadband use of the Internet was taking over digital communications. But the real screaming should be over the reality that was masked by the focus on […]

Walk into the unassuming brick house in Bostons Back Bay and you would think youve walked into the midst of a household ready to pack up and move away at a moments notice. Books, records, coffee cups, bric-a-brac and memorabilia cover every square inch of space. Not walls and shelves, mind you. The floor. Theres […]

Our reliance on keyboards, keypads and button-bearing devices of all kinds is creating a dependency that is not altogether healthy. This became clear to me one night early this month in an unfamiliar hotel. My bad luck had turned to good luck — or so I thought. Because my room at one hotel had been […]

Things you dont think about involve thinking. Take, for example, sleep. It may be akin to “garbage collection,” Marvin Minsky says. I cant remember having done an interview where I get to address love, consciousness and sleep at the same time. Well, I dont know anything about sleep. Well, you made a comment in one […]