@sjvn@mastodon.social

Top business & technology journalist & analyst with a fondness for dogs, cats, music, theater & books based in Asheville, NC.

The perfect snow plow name doesn't ex...

I stand corrected.

Death and walkies.

“Every record has been destroyed or falsified, every book rewritten, every picture has been repainted, every statue and street building has been renamed, every date has been altered. And the process is continuing day by day and minute by minute. History has stopped…” -- George Orwell, 1984

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/white-house-reviewing-smithsonian-exhibits-make-sure-align-trumps-visi-rcna224588

Don't think this could happen? Think again. Using #AI can--and will--drop you into legal hot water.

https://www.theregister.com/2025/08/12/genai_lawsuit/

Who's really using AI? The evidence suggests its students using it to write their papers for them. Is AI great or what!?

AOL pulls the plug on dial-up - a reminder that 'dead' tech has a long expiration date https://www.zdnet.com/home-and-office/networking/aol-pulls-the-plug-on-dial-up-a-reminder-that-dead-tech-has-a-long-expiration-date/ by @sjvn@mastodon.social

My first book, co-written with @estherschindler@hachyderm.io was about modems. With AOL dropping dial-up, this technology will join dial phones in history's trash can.

This is a good story about what happened to my hometown, Asheville, during Hurricane Helene and its aftermath.

We're still recovering, and will be for years to come.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/11/magazine/hurricane-disaster-information-media-blackout.html?unlocked_article_code=1.dk8.8v0m.4jfyFIRueQ1R&smid=url-share

Generates code for ransomware virus
I guess I should have expected this.

The best Linux distros for beginners in 2025 make switching from MacOS or Windows so easy https://www.zdnet.com/article/the-best-linux-distros-for-beginners-in-2025-make-switching-from-macos-or-windows-easy/ by @sjvn@mastodon.social

Want to keep your Windows 10 PC working? Then, try one of these #Linux distros. With these distributions, anyone can run Linux these days.

Prohibition never works, but that didn't stop the UK's Online Safety Act https://www.theregister.com/2025/08/08/opinion_column_osa/ via @theregister & @sjvn@mastodon.social

Just as in the United States, with Prohibition and the Volstead Act in the 1920s, it's impossible to legislate morality.