Author Archives: jnelson

Introducing SnackReads Bite-size Entertainment

Posted on October 27, 2012 by jnelson

Southwest Cyberport is proud to be a full-service ISP and aspire to be even more. We’ve recently opened adjacent office space as Ideas and Coffee, a coworking facility that’s a friendly alternative to coffee shops for quiet online work or meeting clients and colleagues. And now, SWCP’s getting into the online publishing business with SnackReads. As longtime readers of genre fiction, many staff members have greatly enjoyed shorter works as well as novels. But with the decline of magazines and anthologies, short pieces are getting shafted. They’re becoming harder to find even as ereaders and tablets create more opportunities for enjoying them than ever before. So when Josh Gentry, one of our talented network administrators and now director of the project, came up with the idea of SnackReads, we jumped at the chance. SnackReads are short, enjoyable tales that are perfect for unwinding after a long day or while waiting for an appointment, during breaks, riding the RailRunner, etc. They’re quick, easy fun that won’t keep you up at night, and inexpensive, too – less than $2 each. All are offered in several convenient formats and there’s no DRM: once you buy it, it’s yours. Our goal is not just to help readers but writers, too. There are many great once-published stories now gathering dust in their files that deserve a second chance. So we’re hoping to uncover some real gems. We’ve started off strong with a great space-opera story … Continue reading →

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The 3D Replicator Revolution Is Here

Posted on October 11, 2012 by jnelson

While the world has been suffering through the Great Recession and many still worry about all the manufacturing jobs lost overseas, the next industrial revolution was quietly launched in garages, basements, and labs right here at home. This new method of producing goods will cause greater changes and more social upheaval than anything since Henry Ford started up his assembly line. This new technology is called 3D printing and it will change how we make everything from what we wear and what we eat to the vehicles we drive and the jobs we perform. 3D printing will give the average person the freedom of expression and specialty crafted goods which was once the exclusive realm of royalty and the super-rich. Not just in the abundance of “bespoke” objects available as customized products or reproductions of rare artworks, either, but in terms of the sheer variety of things also. The ability to render mathematical expressions in solid form gives designers, engineers, and architects a tool of incredible power. Since the 1980s, expensive professional devices have been able to prototype new gadgets. But the tech is now finally poised to enter the consumer market. 3D printing is, of course, the latest step in the digitization of the world. It may be helpful in imagining the effects of this new way of doing things by recalling how digital 2D printing altered everything. Before the invention of the personal computer, printing was an established … Continue reading →

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The Hazards of Abandoning a Domain

Posted on September 22, 2012 by jnelson

It happens all the time: you click on a link and the website that comes up is not what you expected. If you’re lucky, the page is simply gone, but the site may look oddly similar and contain links for the subject you’re interested in, or it may be a trap bristling with malware and spam. In any case, you probably shrug and move on, pausing briefly to delete the bookmark if there is one, but you likely don’t spend much time wondering what happened. What happened is that the website owner quit. Maybe she or he died, or their lives and interests changed, or the company went broke. Possibly the owner just forgot to renew the domain registration. Whatever the cause, abandoned domains rarely just die quietly forgotten any more. Usually they are snapped up even if they are not high-traffic, popular sites, often by a domain registrar hoping to cash in on, but increasingly by people with worse intentions in mind. Not long ago, it was not uncommon for websites of churches, schools and government institutions that had lapsed to be grabbed up by Web porn purveyors. They may have done it more for the shock value rather than to make money, but in more recent times even more sinister characters have been doing much the same. Nowadays, an abandoned website may present an irresistible temptation to hackers and spammers to walk in and take over. However, unlike … Continue reading →

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