Prose Hacking

My recap of this year’s SXSW Interactive for Discovery News is my answer to this question: Without any It App for people to obsess over at the festival, what could you get out of it besides a lot of free tacos, barbeque and beer?

A USA Today reader wanted to know what kind of WiFi printer to buy to be able to print from an iPad and an Android phone. I was pleased to discover that the universe of possible hardware goes beyond those models supported by Apple’s AirPrint and Google’s CloudPrint—and that the third-party app I tried worked the first time out.  

My USAToday.com column hits a new high in networking abbreviations as I relate a couple of hangups I’ve recently experienced with wireless routers—one involving a stuck DHCP lease, the other a non-obvious omission of PPPoE configuration data in a DSL configuration. It wraps up with some advice about ways to test the speed of your connection.

My latest post for the Consumer Electronics Association shares some lessons about traveling with technology for fun that I’ve learned while traveling for work, from what kind of charger to pack to the perils of free WiFi. (Bonus: spot the link that is not actually applicable to people’s summer vacations.)

This week’s USAToday.com Q&A provides a refresher course on the finer points of three ways a phone can fix its location—and on how Web sites can determine your computer’s location to either provide you with more specific information or block you from certain services.

Switching your phone from overcrowded 3G and 4G to WiFi could get a lot easier with a new standard for wireless roaming.