The Records Project (A Study of Paper vs. Computers)
One of my interests is finding efficient and useful ways to create, store, and retrieve information. I've tried tools ranging from wikis to to-do list manage...
This is a static archive of my technology writings on The Technical Geekery. I wrote actively on this site from 2011 to 2014, and it was also the home of archived posts from a blog and some newsletters that I published before that.
The spiritual successor to The Technical Geekery's technology posts is Control-Alt-Backspace, which is actively updated every week.
See About for details about The Technical Geekery and what you can find here. My apologies when (not if) you encounter broken links; there are far too many links to go through and correct or mark all of them. I tried to identify and correct the worst offenders as I created the archive, but since much of the content is over 10 years old and the site has moved blogging platforms several times, there are going to be some.Recent posts
How to Access a Web Page That’s Gone Offline
Have you ever been researching something and come across a website that looks like it's exactly what you're looking for, only to click the link and find that...
Learn to Write 25% of All Words Using Single Letters in 10 Minutes
Have you ever considered how many times we write words like "the" and "this"? Believe it or not, 25% of a typical English text is used by forms of just 10 wo...
Thinking Through Ranges and Avoiding Fencepost Errors
Because this post needed lots of diagrams, sections, and boxes, I did something unusual and hand-wrote it on graph paper and scanned it to a PDF. To continue...
Measuring Without Tools, Part 1
It's often useful to know how large something is. But most people don't carry rulers or tape measures around with them, and most people are also bad at guess...
The Smartphone Manifesto
This week I made the decision to get a smartphone. I'm heading off for college at the end of the month, and I thought it would be nice to have a phone that I...
Misplaced Blame: Why We Hate Our Computers
I don't think I like computers very much. Maybe that sounds a bit odd. After all, I enjoy playing with and configuring new software, researching how parts of...
A Call from Windows
I got a call from "Windows" the other day. My computer, you see, had reported errors to Windows, and they wanted to help me get rid of them. First of all, le...
YYYY-MM-DD: The Best Way to Write Dates
Most of us folks in the United States are familiar with the MM-DD-YY short date system (e.g., 6/28/13 for June 28, 2013). It's familiar, but if you stop to t...
The Art of Personal Indexing: The Complete Guide to Indexing Your Paper Notes
Contents Why This Article? Examples Influences on This Technique What an Index is Not Numbering Your Pages Making an Index Using an Index The Index is Never...
How to Prevent Compulsive Browsing
Guess what happened to me the other day? I had a big project to work on. Before I started, I figured, I would just check my email and my Facebook account "re...
Low-Tech: Use the Most Basic Effective Solution
Ever find yourself wondering whether you should use the latest app or buy the latest fancy device to replace a simpler, lower-tech tool? Here's a rule I rece...
Website Reorganization
Today I'm announcing the reorganization of The Technical Geekery. What does this mean? I'm going to be moving some things around and adding some things, but ...
My Space
This week I thought I'd show off my room and workspace a little bit, as well as showing some of the unusual devices and pieces of technology I own. I did a f...
A Week Without the Internet
I've spent my last week mostly disconnected. It's been a surprising week in a lot of ways, and a very good, relaxing, and productive one as well. The Plan F...
The Weakest Link: “Forgot Your Password?”
Assume for a moment that I wanted to access some confidential files that belonged to you. You, having at least an ounce of sense (or an IT department that ma...
Intermission: LastPass FAQ
It's been two weeks since my last post, when I suggested that you install LastPass and start collecting passwords from around the Internet into your account....
LastPass: How to Use Better Passwords Without Losing Your Mind
Last week (well, last post—I never got around to publishing for the last two weeks) I talked about why passwords are getting easier than ever to crack. If yo...
Why Passwords Are Getting Easier to Crack
I'm going to do a security series over the next couple of weeks, inspired by last week's post. This week I'm taking a look at an Ars Technica article I read ...
Security Advisory: You Should Use Two-Factor Authentication
Passwords are rapidly becoming less and less protective of your online information. And at the same time, we're putting more of our lives online and standing...