Accomplishments
DARPA Shredder Challenge Solved
A feature article about a $50,000 challenge issued by DARPA and its solutions, including quotes from the First and Second Place winners.
Association for Computing MachineryArticle
August, 2012
1500 words
Drupal in Context column: “Social Security”
A column for Issue #4 of “Drupal Watchdog”, a print magazine distributed at DrupalCon Munich.
Tag 1 PublishingArticle
August, 2012
550 words
Talking to Machines
A feature article about modern applications of speech recognition, in particular how they’ve combined with complementary technologies to produce such consumer products as Siri.
Association for Computing MachineryArticle
April, 2012
2000 words
Drupal in Context column: “What Three Decades of Publishing Programs Teaches Us”
A column for Issue #3 of “Drupal Watchdog”, a print magazine distributed at DrupalCon Denver.
Tag 1 PublishingArticle
March, 2012
1250 words
Cloud-based HPC
A very brief article about a U.S. Government report on whether high-performance computing is cost-effective using cloud-computing techniques.
Association for Computing MachineryArticle
March, 2012
275 words
Supercomputers Get Real
A short online-only article about how supercomputer developers are teaming up with application specialists to make the hardware’s power more useful.
Association for Computing MachineryArticle
December, 2011
900 words
Managing the Demise of Privacy
A news report on the Privacy Identity Innovation conference in Menlo Park, November 2011, which focused largely on how social media are changing the landscape for consumers.
Association for Computing MachineryArticle
November, 2011
750 words
Seeing is Not Enough
An article about vision systems that recognize actions, rather than just objects.
Association for Computing MachineryArticle
October, 2011
1500 words
Drupal in Context column: “You are a Mobile Device”
A column for Issue #2 of “Drupal Watchdog”, a print magazine distributed at DrupalCon London and later made available online.
Tag 1 PublishingArticle
August, 2011
1100 words
Supercomputing’s Exaflop Target
A review of Asia’s recent ascendency in the Top500 list of the world’s leading supercomputers, and the supercomputing field generally.
Association for Computing MachineryArticle
August, 2011
1700 words
The Promise of Flexible Displays
Article about advances in electronic displays that can bend, be made in irregular shapes, and be produced through a print-like process.
Association for Computing MachineryArticle
June, 2011
1700 words
Drupal in Context column: “Getting Paid”
A column for Issue #1 of “Drupal Watchdog”, a print magazine distributed at DrupalCon Chicago. (Content not available online.)
Tag 1 PublishingArticle
March, 2011
1300 words
Last CMS Standing: The Promise of Drupal Versus WordPress and Joomla
This article compares the three CMSes in terms of user base, code maturity, richness of plug-ins, and business acceptance. Commissioned by Peachpit Press to support my recently published book, Drupal 7: Visual QuickStart Guide.
Peachpit PressArticle
February, 2011
1550 words
Evaluating Government Funding
Abstract: “A presidential report asserts the value of U.S. government investments in the cross-agency Networking and Information Technology Research and Development program and specifies areas needing greater focus.”
Association for Computing MachineryArticle
February, 2011
600 words
ACM China Nearing Launch
News story about the Association for Computing Machinery’s expansion into China. (Published in Communications of the ACM.)
Association for Computing MachineryArticle
September, 2010
600 words
Beyond the Smart Grid
Feature story about sensors to monitor energy consumption and other environmental data in residences. (Published in Communications of the ACM.)
Association for Computing MachineryArticle
June, 2010
1300 words
Rebuilding for Eternity
Article about “e-heritage”, digitization of large-scale historical sites such as the Bayon Temple in Cambodia.
Association for Computing MachineryArticle
January, 2010
1250 words
Top Ten Changes That Make Drupal 7 the Best Version Ever
Article written for the publisher of my book, Drupal 7: Visual QuickStart Guide. I wrote it at a time when Drupal 7 seemed primed for imminent release, but it ended up taking a year more. The article is still fairly accurate, though.
Peachpit PressArticle
January, 2010
2000 words
Shaping the Future
Article about “claytronics” — ensembles of tiny robots that self-assemble into larger functional units.
Association for Computing MachineryArticle
October, 2009
1200 words
IT drives policy — and vice versa
Reporting on a three-day conference about technology policy. This was my biggest case of preparation overkill: 12,000 words of notes went into a 575-word article.
Association for Computing MachineryArticle
August, 2009
575 words
Practice Makes Perfect, Even for Brain-Controlled Prosthetics
Short, online-only news article about brain-machine interfaces — or, as I call it, “MONKEYS CONTROLLING ROBOTS WITH THEIR BRAINS!!!”
Association for Computing MachineryArticle
July, 2009
450 words
Review: OmniFocus for iPhone
A review of the productivity and life-tracking app, OmniFocus.
MacLifeArticle, Review
November, 2008
400 words
Articles for Apple Developer Connection (edited)
As the registered company Geller Guides, I found, oversaw, coached, and edited subcontracted writers for a couple of technical articles that appeared on the Apple Developer Connection section of Apple’s website. (I’ll provide copies of the articles on request.)
AppleArticle
September, 2008
5000 words
Overcoming the Uncanny Valley
A feature article about the perceptual gap between images of real human faces near-human representations.
Abstract: “What makes some near-human characters scary while others are merely laughable? More important, why do some human and humanlike characters fail to arouse our sympathy? Visual artists and roboticists face these questions as they seek to alternately frighten and endear. Recent attempts to create accurate human replicas have brought these questions to the fore with increased urgency.”
IEEEArticle
July, 2008
4500 words
“Ex-agent doesn’t miss shoveling dog doo”
Rediscovered this forgotten interview with me by an unnamed reporter. Fun!
Inman NewsArticle
June, 2008
600 words
Review: OmniFocus
Review of the productivity and personal-tracking application, OmniFocus (known at the time as “The Omni Group Omnifocus”).
MacLifeArticle, Review
June, 2008
500 words
Shrinking cities, Part 3: Investing in America’s urban rebirth
The third part in a series of three articles about the death (and rebirth) of cities, particularly in the U.S. Rust Belt. (Note: As of August 2013, these articles are incorrectly attributed to another author in the byline, but are correct in the footer.)
Inman NewsArticle, Series
November, 2007
950 words
Shrinking cities, Part 2: Local knowledge key for small investors in urban areas
The second part in a series of three articles about the death (and rebirth) of cities, particularly in the U.S. Rust Belt. (Note: As of August 2013, these articles are incorrectly attributed to another author in the byline, but are correct in the footer.)
Inman NewsArticle, Series
November, 2007
1500 words
Shrinking cities, Part 1: Why cities shrink… and grow
The first part in a series of three articles about the death (and rebirth) of cities, particularly in the U.S. Rust Belt. (Note: As of August 2013, these articles are incorrectly attributed to another author in the byline, but are correct in the footer.)
Inman NewsArticle, Series
November, 2007
1200 words
Coda Unites Web Development: Panic Builds Its UI with WebKit, Quartz
An article for the Apple Developer Center (ADC) about how someone created a popular developer’s tool using Apple technologies. (Article is no longer on ADC; available by request.)
AppleArticle, Case study
October, 2007
1800 words