Brian Fagioli

Having a startup business is all the rage nowadays; it is as trendy as a Pumpkin Spice Latte. Actually, if you go to Starbucks, you can probably overhear chatter from hipsters about some lamebrain scheme to launch a business. Of course, the business must have a wacky name to make it cool; throw a bunch of consonants (vowels are so passé) in a hat, pull out 5 and that's the new business name.

Despite the deluge of posers thinking they will be the next Mark Zuckerberg, there are legit people with sound business ideas too. These up-and-coming startups need all the help they can get. Today, Google announces that some startups can receive $100,000 worth of Cloud Platform credit.

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There was a time, when open source software was synonymous with being cheap or on the fringe. In other words, companies embraced closed source options, because that was the thing to do -- there were not many options. Quite frankly, I do not blame businesses for playing it safe.

Today however, open source software and technologies, including Linux, are viable and attractive options. Companies like Red Hat have paved the way for others to move open source from the fringe to the spotlight. Today, major player HP acquires a company named Eucalyptus to bolster its open source technology in the cloud.

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Life is a very precious thing, and for various reasons, not all people are lucky enough to procreate. Of course, adoption is also a great option to experience the miracle of seeing a child grow. Unfortunately, the experience of raising a child can turn tragic when something bad happens.

One of the biggest tragedies in the news lately, is toddlers dying in hot cars. When it happens accidentally, the parent will suffer in more ways than one. Of course, they will mourn the child's death, but also, live forever with the guilt. Such a horrific experience can destroy a family. Today, a new product is announced, that should prevent hot car deaths -- the Forget Me Not Child Alert System.

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When it comes to storage, more is better. As long as speeds do not suffer as a result, no one will ever turn down the possibility of increased storage space on their devices. One segment that craves storage, is photography. A photographer is an artist, and being concerned about storage limitations hinders the creative spirit. The same can be said of videographers too.

Today, SanDisk sets the hearts of many aflutter, with the all-new Extreme PRO SDXC UHS-I 512GB SD card -- holy cow! Not only can the card hold a ton of data, but it is fast too.

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By respecting the law and following the rules, you should live a relatively calm life. However, not all laws and rules are just, and heroes are not born from serenity. As a loyal citizen of the United States, I grew up being told stories of the revolutionary war. Had colonists followed the rules and obeyed all British laws, the USA would likely never exist. You see, sometimes it is necessary to take a stand against the status quo. After all, if we all bury our heads in the sand, positive change will never happen.

The latest American hero is an unlikely one -- a corporation named Microsoft. While it is odd to call a company a hero, from a security and privacy standpoint, it is justified. While not on the same level as a fireman, police officer or the troops, Microsoft is taking a risk and standing up to the US government to fight for what it thinks is right. As a result, the company has been held in contempt of court.

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When enthusiasts hear the term "graphics card", images of gaming cards are conjured. However, gaming cards and graphics cards are not synonymous. No, believe it or not, people use computers for things other than Wolfenstein and Crysis. Actually, there are many uses, such as powering multiple monitors for things like advertising, security monitoring and media events. Hell, a business may utilize a multi-monitor setup for a litany of reasons.

Today, long-time hardware manufacture, Matrox, announces a pair of sexy graphics cards aimed at the business world. Dubbed the "C-Series", they are based on AMD GPUs and can power either 4 or 6 monitors. Whoa.

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A home-cooked meal is great, as it is often healthier than getting take-out or visiting a restaurant. While it is not impossible to eat healthy away from home, it can be difficult. Chinese food is typically very bad for you; the sauces can be high in fats and sugars and many things are deep fried. However, I find these types of restaurants the best for healthy eating too. For instance, where else can you get steamed tofu with vegetables and brown rice? Certainly not Taco Bell or McDonalds.

Unfortunately, many local Chinese restaurants do not take credit cards, and when they do, they have minimum dollar amounts for usage (often $10 minimum). Sometimes, language barriers can make ordering over the phone problematic, leading to incorrect orders due to misunderstandings. Today, Chinese food chain Panda Express is taking the pain out of ordering Chinese food with all-new online ordering.

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Holy cow, new iPhones! Yes, unless you are living under a rock, Apple dominated the tech news today with its new iPhones. However, unlike years past, there are two different screen sizes announced on the same day. Hoping to meet the needs of more consumers (and make more money), the fruit-logo company introduced a 4.7 inch and 5.5 inch model -- the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, respectively.

Unfortunately, the new iPhones do not come with sapphire screens as rumors suggested. Still, Apple promises that the screens should be tougher than ever. Nevertheless, only a fool would carry it without a case. Not only does a scratched and scuffed phone look bad, but it decreases resale value too. Here are some of the iPhone cases you should be considering to protect your investment.

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There are many video streaming services nowadays, such as Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime Instant Video to name a few. Amazon is my favorite though, as it comes bundled with the awesome Prime membership which also offers music streaming, 2-day shipping and much more.

Sadly, Prime Instant Video has not been available on stock Android; you could only get it for the Kindle Fire tablets, Fire phone and Apple's iOS devices. Today however, Amazon announces that its streaming video service is now available for regular Android. Before you get too excited, please know there is a catch; it seems tablets are not yet supported -- weak!

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Nowadays, if you buy a laptop, it will have a built-in wireless card (desktops; not always). For the most part, these integrated cards work well -- on Windows. You see, most manufacturers build their machines with only Windows in mind. If you only use Microsoft's operating system, you should be golden. However, for nerds that like Linux (including myself), nonexistent or problematic wireless drivers can be an absolute nightmare.

This is why I recommend a USB wireless adapter to every Linux user; you never know when you may need it as permanent or temporary internet solution. Unfortunately, not all USB adapters work with Linux out of the box, so the model you choose matters. Today, Kinivo releases two USB wireless adapters that are promised to work with Linux-based operating systems.

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In New York, a dollar does not go a long way. Hell, if you are dehydrated, you may be hard pressed to buy a bottle of water at that price. If a dollar is all you have in your pocket, you are going to have a negative experience almost everywhere you go.

Today, your dollar may go a bit further -- at the AT&T store at least. You see, Amazon has slashed the price of the 32GB Fire phone to a shocking 99 cents. Early adopters are going to be mad, as they laid out $199. While discounts in technology are to be expected, please keep in mind, Amazon's phone only launched on July 25! Of course, the iPhone 6 is rumored to be announced tomorrow -- has Apple struck fear in the heart of Amazon?

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Wireless access points are basically magic. Well, it is actually science, but to early users, it was like something out of a fantasy. When I worked at CompUSA, people would buy a router and laptop and seem unable to grasp the concept of internet being everywhere in their home, including the front porch. Don't forget, at the time, we were not far beyond the days of dial-up and widespread AOL use.

Today, Wi-Fi is second nature to many people -- it is an expectation and no longer an interesting invention. This is no different than other mind-boggling technologies that turned mainstream, like the refrigerator or television. Today, the Wi-Fi Alliance celebrates 15 years of Wi-Fi; this technology deserves praise and thanks from all internet users. Hell, I love that I can access Netflix and my favorite websites while sitting on the toilet.

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Even if all people are created equal, power is not distributed equally; big players direct the world. In other words, if a company or person has enough power, they can influence policy and change, while the little guys tend to follow their lead. Sure, it may be a cynical point of view, and not an absolute, but as a little guy, it seems to be rather constant.

Today, one of those big companies, Google, is influencing the internet yet again, by effectively killing SHA-1. How is it doing this? Well, the search giant is declaring SHA-1 to no longer be safe, so starting with Chrome 39, sites that use it will no longer be considered totally secure. Since the company's browser has such a large install-base, this should cause webmasters to abandon SHA-1 at a faster rate. Is Google correct to do this?

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A powerful computer is an easy thing for manufacturers to build. Throw in a hardcore processor and some high-end components and the sky is the limit. Unfortunately, raw power is not the sole focus of consumers. No, many mobile computer users also want super-long battery life and silence to go with the performance. This, you see, is where things get tricky.

The Surface Pro 3 gets rather close to this, but the whirring of the fan in the hybrid is audible sometimes. Plus, the Surface components are a bit expensive for many consumers. Today, Intel delivers a fanless solution that should meet the needs of many -- the Core M Processor line, otherwise known as Broadwell-Y.

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There are so many Linux distributions to choose from. Depending on your perspective, this can be a good or bad thing. You see, for many, using Linux is about choice -- you get to choose the distro, packages and environment. There is truth to this; however, many others, including myself, often wonder if the community's efforts are too fragmented. In other words, when talent is spread thin, progress may be slowed.

One distro which should not be discussed in this debate is Gentoo; it has been around for 12 years and is not some recently launched project. Hell, Google chose this distro as the base for Chrome OS, so it must be good; seriously, the search-giant's operating system is pretty darn stable. Gentoo Linux has reached version 20140826 and it looks like a winner.

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