Articles by Jack M. Germain

Forming a real company, creating a working prototype of a new multipurpose drone, making components from scratch, and getting electronics and software to work together is filled with seemingly unending difficulties Imagine doing all that as a high school student under the time constraints and pressure of being part of an international competition....

A new e-commerce partnership could bring 1,200 Shopify small business sellers to the Walmart Marketplace this year, the companies announced Monday For years, Walmart's top e-commerce priority was building a marketplace customers would trust. According to Jeff Clementz, vice president of Walmart Marketplace, the company has joined forces with Shopif...

One of the great joys of constantly checking out new or obscure Linux operating systems is finding some insane innovations that stand out from the crowded collection of distros. The current release of PsychOS Linux, code-named "Insane," possibly might blow your mind This distro is really an off-the-wall project with the potential to become a thing ...

The Linux Foundation is priming the pump to help software engineers become cloud technology certified through a self-paced bootcamp and discounted pricing LF last week announced the availability of the Cloud Engineer Bootcamp, its first-ever training bootcamp. This new offering enables individuals to go from complete IT beginner to certified cloud ...

Linuxfx 10 could provide businesses and consumers with a Windows 7-like experience that puts users on a smooth downhill path to Linux adoption Distributions that tweak styles and desktop environment settings to create a Windows-clone type of familiar experience are now numerous, but they often fail to entice reluctant users to stay the course and r...

Lenovo introduced innovations that push the limits of Chrome OS-powered tablets with a new 2-in-1 form factor in the IdeaPad Chromebook Duet This new device mimics Microsoft's Surface Pro line, using Chrome OS instead of Microsoft Windows. It redefines what the Chrome OS can do on a convertible tablet compared to Android. The Duet comes with a 10.1

The United States Business Association of E-Commerce is poised to open for business on June 9. Its mission is to help small and mid-sized enterprises, as well as minority- and veteran-owned startups, to bridge the e-commerce digital divide The B2B marketplace platform will connect small and medium-sized firms to domestic and global buyers.

POP!_OS 20.04, released on May 1, has the potential to be one of the best starting points for any new Linux user. Given this distro's rising popularity, it will continue to hold that distinction....

COVID-19's rampage is causing the electronics industry worldwide to suffer supply chain setbacks Product innovation remains incredibly important in today's new normal, but more than half (53 percent) of electronics industry product launches have been delayed or canceled due to the pandemic, suggests a new study Supplyframe released last week....

What started out as a 13-year-old's hobby to feed his passion for technology has turned into a business for Skyler Ficklin, operator of the QuitZoom website and iSkyler YouTube video channel Ficklin, stuck at home while his Ohio high school is closed due to COVID-19, spends his days and nights completing online learning assignments to end his sopho...

Does flaky Internet connectivity have you scrounging for solutions? The COVID-19 pandemic increased our demand for Internet service due to working from home, online learning for kids, and video conferencing with colleagues and family members.

The Linux Foundation has achieved a major milestone: formal status on the international standards front Its Joint Development Foundation (JDF) received approval as an ISO/IEC JTC 1 Publicly Available Specification (PAS) Submitter, LF announced last week.This status gives JDF's standards development projects a path to international standardization....

In theory, all you need is a shiny new router for hassle-free wireless connections in your home or small office. Yet in practice, your wireless reception often will be plagued with interference issues. Interference can cause slow delivery, higher latency than hardwired connections, frequent disconnects and reconnects, and sometimes a complete inab...

Outdated or abandoned open source components are persistent in practically all commercial software, putting enterprise and consumer applications at risk from security issues, license compliance violations, and operational threats, according to the Synopsys 2020 Open Source Security and Risk Analysis Report released Tuesday Synopsys researchers anal...

If you are looking for a well-designed Linux distro that is far from mainstream, loaded with performance features not found elsewhere, check out the 2020 upgrade of the MakuluLinux Core distro. It could change your perspective on what a daily computing driver should offer Developer Jacque Montague Raymer recently released the 2020 edition of Makulu...

In what could be a trial run for more of the same, Red Hat last week held a first-ever virtual technical summit to spread the word about its latest cloud tech offerings CEO Paul Cormier welcomed online viewers to the conference, which attracted more than 80,000 virtual attendees....

The Linux Foundation on Tuesday announced that it would host the Trust over IP Foundation, a cross-industry effort to ensure more secure data handling over the Internet This new foundation is an independent project enabling trustworthy exchange and verification of data between any two parties on the Internet....

EndeavourOS is a rolling release Arch Linux-based distribution with some handy new features that improve the user experience EndeavourOS first appeared last summer. This latest version, the third release, became available on April 11 with graphical install options and preconfigured desktop environments. It introduces several in-house utilities to i...

Cracked or broken mobile device screens can be costly to fix, but a few inexpensive do-it-yourself strategies can eliminate a repair shop visit and salvage your tablet or phone Third-party repair shops typically replace glass on a tablet for about US$100-$200, depending on the model. Replacing the tablet's touchscreen can cost $50-$75 extra....

Consumers and companies worldwide have ramped up online ordering for software products and digital goods as they struggle to improve productivity and security while working remotely and spending more time at home 2Checkout on Monday released a report that indicates a sharp spike in online commerce aligning with the timing of the current global pand...