Articles by Nick Kolakowski

• Stephen Wolfram Demonstrates New Programming Language

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_P9HqHVPeik Stephen Wolfram, chief designer of the Mathematica software platform as well as the Wolfram Alpha “computation knowledge engine,” is showing off his ne…
• Code.org Resurrects ‘Flappy Bird’

  “Flappy Bird” might be kaput, but its hilariously awkward hero is serving another useful purpose in its afterlife: teaching people how to code. “Flappy Bird,” a free mobile game for Android and i…
• Farmers Suspicious of Monsanto Data Operations: Report

  In the “Shockingly Obvious But Someone Had to Say It” category, a subset of farmers are concerned that the world’s biggest agriculture companies could use data to intensify competition and increa…
• Oracle Buys Yet Another Marketing Analytics Firm

  [caption id="attachment_17702" align="aligncenter" width="602"] This is how BlueKai visualizes what it does.[/caption] Oracle has acquired BlueKai, a firm that specializes in marketing analytics,…
• MtGox’s Implosion Could Damage Bitcoin

  Prominent Bitcoin exchange MtGox is offline, with rumors circulating of imminent bankruptcy and massive theft. A group of Bitcoin companies (including Circle and Coinbase) issued a statement outl…
• Dear Dropbox, Why Are You Back in the Chinese Market?

  Dropbox has renewed access to the Chinese market for the first time in four years. But why? The Chinese government first blocked access to Dropbox in 2010, most likely to prevent people within Ch…
• Will Cortana Help Windows Phone?

  [caption id="attachment_17598" align="aligncenter" width="618"] Chances are pretty good that Windows Phone's Cortana won't look like this.[/caption] Microsoft’s long-rumored Cortana digital assis…
• The Biggest Tech Acquisitions of All Time

  Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg decided to drop a cool $16 billion on WhatsApp, a messaging service with 450 million users. It was a mind-boggling sum, even if you buy into Facebook’s argument that…
• Amazon Coins Aren’t Bitcoin; They’re Microsoft Points

  [caption id="attachment_17532" align="aligncenter" width="618"] Amazon Coins.[/caption] Amazon has expanded support for its Amazon Coins crypto-currency from Kindle Fire tablets to Google Android…
• How Not to Be a Glasshole

  Google has released some etiquette rules for Google Glass, its augmented-reality headset. While most of Google’s listed “tips” are little more than promotional material for the device’s features,…