Kevin Boone
Kevin Boone
Kevin Boone
Musing on computing, math, electronics, de-Googling and the small web, from an old warhorse of the IT industry.
Latest Posts
We're used to computing devices being electronic. But what can we do with a purely mechanical approach? This article looks at how eclipse prediction might have worked in the Antikythera Mechanism, c.2300 years ago.
Nothing says '80s pop' like a DX7.
Denshi block kits were a unique way to learn about electronics back in the 70s.
These days, there are comparatively few up-to-date smartphones that can run a well-supported, non-vendor firmware. Sony's Xperia range and Google's Pixels are among the better choices.
There are good reasons why these handsets are so popular with de-Googlers, even if we have to grit our teeth and try to ignore the vendor.
Is this a minor irritation, or the end of Android as we know it?
Some guidance, mostly for science and engineering students, on how to write a scientific paper or technical report. I've updated this article slightly since I wrote it thirty years ago, to deal with the rise in web-based publication....
If you can't run an alternative, privacy-sparing firmware on your Android device, you can still assert a measure of control by disabling certain packages. You don't need to root the device to do this, and Canta is an app that sets out to...
If you were worried about tracking cookies, you really don't want to know about browser fingerprinting.
How are these alternative smartphone firmwares similar and different?
Which is the easier way to get to a phone you can feel safe using, without your personal data being sent to goodness-knows-where?
The costs and benefits of this somewhat controversial procedure.
Is it possible? Would you want to do it?
What's changed in the last two years? Would I do it again, knowing what I know now? TL;DR - yes.
Getting a proper dark theme for the e-mail home screen widget is worth spending hours building the app from source. No, really it is.