Here is to a Kind Safe and Prosperous 2026
A heartfelt reflection welcoming the new year, offering warm wishes for safety, prosperity, and balance in 2026, and encouraging a thoughtful, hopeful start to the year ahead.
Posts by Scott
The Data Behind the Data How Metadata Is Collected in the Modern Internet
This article explains the types of metadata generated by modern internet-connected devices, how and why it is collected, and the technical methods used to gather it. It outlines the role metadata plays in system functionality, security, and commercial platforms, presenting a factual overview of how metadata underpins today’s digital ecosystem.
Free to Play Designed to Pay Inside Freemium Gaming
This article explains what freemium gaming is and how it has become a dominant business model in the gaming industry. It explores the psychological techniques used to keep players engaged and spending, the similarities to gambling mechanics, and the enormous revenue these games generate.
After the Turning Point How September 11 Reshaped Modern Technology
This article examines how the September 11, 2001 attacks fundamentally changed the direction of modern technology. It explores the shift toward security-focused design across surveillance, aviation, communication, data analysis, and digital identity, while presenting balanced perspectives on safety, privacy, and civil liberties. The piece reflects on how fear, resilience, regulation, and innovation combined to reshape the digital world, leaving lasting effects on the systems people use every day and the ongoing debate between security and freedom.
Connected at a Cost The Rise and Reality of Social Media
This article explores how social media has transformed the modern world, tracing its evolution from early online communities to today’s always-connected platforms. It examines both the challenges, including mental health concerns, privacy issues, misinformation, and scams, and the benefits, such as global connection, creative opportunity, and social impact. The piece considers whether social media is here to stay and how it may continue to shape human interaction and perception, concluding with a thoughtful reflection on balancing its power with mindful use.
Inside the Quantum Machine How Quantum Computers Work and Why They Matter
This article explains what quantum computers are, how they differ from classical machines, and why they represent a major shift in computing. It explores the history and principles behind quantum technology, including superposition, entanglement, and the observer effect, while examining current limitations and future possibilities. The piece also discusses practical applications, cloud-based access, security implications, and why quantum computing is more likely to complement existing systems than replace them, offering a thoughtful look at where this emerging technology is headed.
The Sounds of Old Technology I Still Remember
This personal article reflects on the distinctive sounds of older technology and how they shaped everyday experiences across different stages of life. By moving through a chronological timeline of devices and machines, it captures the clicks, hums, whirs, and beeps that once defined tapes, computers, appliances, vehicles, and early digital devices. The piece explores how these sounds provided feedback, comfort, and personality, and contrasts them with the quiet efficiency of modern technology, highlighting a sense of nostalgia for a time when machines were heard as much as they were seen.
Beyond Screens What Daily Life Could Look Like in 20 Years
This article explores what an ordinary day might look like twenty years from now in a world where digital technology is deeply woven into everyday life. It imagines how augmented reality, personal health tracking, seamless communication, intelligent transportation, immersive entertainment, and automated homes could shape how we wake up, work, connect with others, and unwind. Rather than focusing on abstract benefits, it paints a practical picture of how specific future technologies may quietly guide daily routines, blending into the background as naturally as electricity does today.
Beyond Moores Law How Computing Progressed and Where It Goes Next
An in-depth exploration of Moore’s Law, tracing its historical accuracy, explaining the science behind transistors and semiconductors, examining Gordon Moore’s influence, and looking ahead to emerging technologies that may shape the future of computing beyond silicon.
Why RAM Has Become So Expensive and What It Means for the Rest of Us
A detailed exploration of why RAM prices have risen sharply in recent years, examining supply constraints, industry shifts, and growing demand, and explaining how higher memory costs affect consumers, developers, data centres, and the future of computing.
How We Predict the Weather From Data in the Sky to the Forecast You See
An in-depth look at how weather forecasts are created, exploring the global infrastructure, data collection, computer modeling, and human expertise that work together to transform atmospheric measurements into the forecasts we rely on every day.
Living in a Sea of Signals The Invisible Infrastructure Around Us
A deep look at the invisible radio signals that quietly support modern life, exploring how wireless communication underpins everything from daily connectivity to future IoT systems, and why our growing dependence on these unseen networks deserves greater awareness.
What I Notice When I Leave My Phone Behind
A personal reflection on the anxiety, disruption, and unexpected relief that comes from leaving a phone behind, revealing how deeply smartphones have become woven into daily routines, work, communication, and our sense of connection to the world.
The Psychology Behind Doomscrolling
An in-depth look at doomscrolling, exploring why people are drawn to consuming negative news, how platform design reinforces the behaviour, the psychological effects it creates, and practical ways to recognise and reduce its impact.
I Spend My Life Online But I Miss Being Offline
A heartfelt reflection on growing up offline, remembering simple joys like neighbourhood friendships and unstructured play, and exploring how constant connectivity and digital life have changed the way we experience time, presence, and connection.
Best Practices for Staying Secure While on the Move
A comprehensive guide to staying digitally safe while away from home, covering encryption tools, wireless hygiene, authentication practices, public charging risks, metadata awareness, and the importance of securing all connected devices in everyday environments.
Strengthening Memory in the Digital Age
An exploration of how technology can enhance human memory through tools like spaced repetition, digital note-taking, multimodal learning, and habit tracking, highlighting research-backed methods and the importance of using technology intentionally to support long-term recall and understanding.
The Evolution of the Modern Smartphone
A look at how mobile phones evolved from simple communication devices into powerful smartphones, tracing the early origins, the rise of modern operating systems, the new capabilities smartphones enabled, and how future form factors and platforms may continue to reshape personal computing.
Shorthand Stenography and the Changing Nature of Notation
An exploration of shorthand writing as a once-essential method for capturing spoken language, examining how it worked, why it was widely taught, how technology led to its decline, and why related systems like stenography and Morse code have followed very different paths in the modern world.
The Invisible Backbone of Modern Finance
A thoughtful exploration of the hidden financial systems that underpin modern life, examining our reliance on their constant availability, the risks posed by disruption or attack, the limits of redundancy, and the shared responsibility required to keep the global financial backbone stable and trusted.