Articles by Nick Kolakowski

• Google Fiber Expands to… Olathe, Kansas

  [caption id="attachment_8619" align="aligncenter" width="500"] Kansas City is increasingly speedy, thanks to Google.[/caption] Olathe, Kansas is the next recipient of Google’s high-speed broadban…
• Amazon Building Private Cloud for CIA: Report

  The CIA has signed a cloud-computing contract with Amazon worth $600 million over the next decade, according to Federal Computer Week. FCW drew its information from unnamed sources. Amazon execut…
• Apple Hires Former Adobe CTO Kevin Lynch, Crusher of iPhones

  [caption id="attachment_8611" align="aligncenter" width="618"] This didn't end well for the phone.[/caption] Why did Apple hire former Adobe CTO Kevin Lynch as vice president of technology? Adobe…
• Web-Connected Devices Top 500 Million in the U.S.

  Sometimes it feels as if nobody leaves the house without a smartphone and tablet in tow. “Here, let me show you something,” a friend will say, whipping out one screen or another to display the la…
• Filling Out Your NCAA Bracket Using Heavy-Duty Analytics

  A couple years back, a college-basketball enthusiast took me aside and—in a sign of our eternal friendship—confided his secret for filling out his annual NCAA “March Madness” bracket: he let his…
• Is there a buck in Apache Hadoop?

  [caption id="attachment_8560" align="aligncenter" width="500"] A bubble's always pretty until it pops.[/caption] Is there a buck (or two) in Apache Hadoop, the open-source framework for crunching…
• IBM, UCLA Collaborating on Big-Data Monitor for Brain Injuries

  IBM is collaborating with Excel Medical Electronics (EME) and the UCLA Department of Neurosurgery on a system that could help predict dangerous brain pressure in patients with traumatic head inju…
• Google Reader to Buzz: Google's Graveyard of Dead Projects

  [caption id="attachment_8539" align="aligncenter" width="413"] Google Labs, we hardly knew ye.[/caption] When Google announced the shutdown of Google Reader, its popular RSS reader, it sparked si…
• Dropbox Acquires Mailbox

  [caption id="attachment_8533" align="aligncenter" width="618"] The Mailbox app.[/caption] Cloud-storage provider Dropbox has acquired Mailbox, makers of a popular mobile app for managing email. T…
• Samsung’s Galaxy S4 vs. Apple’s Next iPhone: Battle Royale

  [caption id="attachment_8528" align="aligncenter" width="591"] Samsung's Galaxy S4, as seen during the company's Radio City Music Hall unveiling.[/caption] In past years, Samsung’s product-launch…