common

Of e-book pricing, Justice Dept. charges, DRM, and Pottermore

Last week, the U.S. Department of Justice took on Apple and publishers over charges of e-book price fixing. Depending on what you read, those parties are either guilty as charged or are the only thing holding back the greater evil of Amazon.com. I don't know who's right. I do know, however, that the e-book model itself feels pretty broken.

Over the past few years, I've gone from paying $7 for paperback novels that I could read anywhere, lend to others, or even resell, to paying $10 for the novels in e-book format with none of … Read more

These 'find my phone' services will ease your mind

A few months ago, I dropped my phone in the back of a cab. It got turned in, and I recovered it the next day. Phew!

But it was a much needed wake-up call that I hadn't enabled any type of "find my phone" or "wipe my phone" services on it. Don't make this mistake! It's free and easy to do for the iPhone and Windows Phone; a little more work and maybe some slight expense for Android.

All the services I'll cover below allow you to do these things:

Locate your … Read more

The Soap Opera Effect: When your TV tries to be smarter than you

"Why does everything on the new TV look like video out of a bad soap opera," my wife asked me, about a day after our new set arrived. "You're crazy," was my response. I figured the move from a 40-inch set to a 55-inch one was taking some time to get used to.

As it turned out, she was right. After a few more days, even I conceded that unless "Game of Thrones" was now being shot in the same studio as "The Young and the Restless," something was wrong.

It … Read more

Win-Win: Hulu's custom clips fight piracy and enable fans

Like many people, I often want to share a television or video scene with others. Unfortunately, finding quality clips of want you want can be hard. The good news is that Hulu has been making my life easier.

For example, The Office recently did a hilarious sendup of what it would be like if the fictional Sabre company tried to have its own stores like Apple. There was a great scene in which Dwight Schrute explains the importance of bloggers to the store's success on launch day.

His awesome rant: "For a tech company, … Read more

My life among the Kindles: Comparing the models

In less than a year, I've gone from mocking e-books to never wanting to buy a print book again. Blame the Amazon Kindle. I've found it a great way to read.

A new generation of Kindles came out at the end of last year, including the Kindle Fire tablet. Here's how I've found them to measure up against each other, over the past four months or so.

Kindle's cool, but e-book high prices and limitations aren't Before I dive into the Kindles, let me get two issues that I hate about the Kindle out … Read more

Get free images for your Web site

The Creative Commons license system has been a real boon for publishers on a budget. If you need images but can't pay for them or create then yourself, CCFinder is a Windows app that lets you find them easily.

Install CCFinder.Launch the program and register with Abelssoft. It wants your e-mail address and name only.There are a few different varieties of CC licensing, so you'll need to choose whether you want pics that are freely usable without limitation, those requiring attribution, or those that require permission. You can also decide to search for pictures that may … Read more

No one likes a fanboy. How about more perspective about tech?

Some people--often called "fanboys"--support their favorite tech companies and products in the way that rabid sports fans root for their favorite teams. This column is for the fanboys out there. It's time to realize that criticism can be helpful.

When non-fanboys criticize one of your favorites, it doesn't necessarily mean that we hate it. We might actually like it. We just might have more perspective that you could use. Understand that, and you might come across as less annoying. You might also help the products you love get better.

Last week was my first week … Read more

You've got bad mail: Android needs a better e-mail app

One of the most popular apps for smartphones and tablets won't show up on the "Most Popular" lists at iTunes or at Google Play. E-mail is the app, and it's built into our devices. Doing e-mail on the iPhone or the iPad is a pleasure. E-mail on Android phones and tablets is a disappointing crapshoot. That should change.

Pew Internet reported last year that e-mail was the fourth-most popular activity among smartphone owners in the U.S., done by 76 percent of them. E-mail was beat only by texting, taking pictures, … Read more

Welcome to 'Common Sense Tech'

I'm excited to be penning a new column for CNET--"Common Sense Tech." For my first piece, I wanted to introduce myself to readers and explain what you can expect here. In short, some practical tips, some "why doesn't this work better" pieces, and the occasional rant, when deemed necessary.

Most of my tech writing has revolved around search engines. I've been covering how they work, both for marketers and for consumers, for nearly 16 years now. When I started, we had no Google. Instead, we walked through the snow for six miles … Read more

Joi Ito dives into the MIT Media Lab (Q&A)

Consider this list of institutions and companies that are at the center of the Internet and technology worlds: Creative Commons, Mozilla, Technorati, ICANN, Harvard's Berkman Center for Internet & Society, Twitter, Six Apart, and Flickr. What do they all have in common?

If you answered Joi Ito, you're spot on. And now you can add the MIT Media Lab to that list. Ito is a Japanese venture capitalist and entrepreneur who has been running and investing in technology companies like those listed above and serving on the boards of important institutions for years. And on Monday, he was … Read more