Author: Ben Warner
Ben is an independent filmmaker, writer, and online content developer. He currently co-hosts and produces the weekly vodcast “FiST Chat,” dedicated to bringing insightful and entertaining discussions on all things film, science and technology. You can also see Ben as the co-host of the web series “Food Discoveries,” exploring various culinary experiences from around the world. Ben is the founder of production companies Digicosm and Small Wave Films, and has produced and directed numerous short films, feature films and documentaries since the late 1990s. When he’s not working, Ben indulges his love of traveling, food, technology, cinema, and music.
No More Star Wars vs Star Trek: J.J. Abrams Rules Them All!
The Star Wars vs Star Trek debate has been going on for decades now. Which franchise is better? Which characters resonate better? It has been going on for the better part of four decades, but now, thanks to J.J. Abrams taking over the Star Wars franchise, we are now in a peculiar environment where o ...
Fate Of Desktop PCs: What Will Your Workstation Look Like In 5 Years?
The world of computing is moving fast these days. That statement would ordinarily be par for the course, but in many ways, it is moving even faster than it ever did before thanks to the uptake in mobile computing with tablets and smartphones. PC and Mac sales are not as robust as they used to be, an ...
Enter Microsoft: The Subscription Service Company
Is it just me or is Microsoft not quite the same as it used to be? This behemoth tech giant has been responsible for software products that the vast majority of computers on Earth use. Windows is the obvious one as the go-to operating system of choice, but Office is perhaps more pervasive, with many ...
The Windows Desktop Is Going Away…Get Used To It!
Windows XP, the most successful consumer PC operating system by adoption in history, is still the second most widely used OS in the world, after Microsoft’s own Windows 7. The prevalence of both of these operating systems is testament to the power of the Windows desktop. The start menu, icons and ta ...
Mac vs. PC: Does It Really Even Matter Anymore?
The personal computer revolution of the 70s and 80s, noted distinctly by the rise of now tech giants Apple and Microsoft, fueled an era of Mac vs. PC arguments. Macs are better! PCs are customizable! Macs were cool but expensive, while PCs were clunky but cheap. Back then, all these arguments were p ...
How To: Keep Your New Year’s Resolutions
Another new year is upon us. 2013 is particularly special. We survived the Mayan apocalypse, made it through the holiday season, celebrated the New Year in style and now we have begun the year ahead of us in earnest. At this point, all those New Year’s resolutions that you made late last year should ...
The Mayan Apocalypse Is Here: How Will You Spend Your Last Days?
The end of the Mayan calendar has arrived, and the Mayan apocalypse is here. Finally! How do you plan to spend your last days on this blue ball we inhabit? Are you planning to head off to Tibet in search of high ground, hugging your loved ones tight as the Mayan apocalypse begins to rain down on us, ...
Will Future Technologies Turn Artificial Intelligence Into Skynet?
Do you think the world depicted in the Terminator films was just the stuff for speculative science fiction? Think again! Some of those future technologies are already available today. Right now there are examples of artificial intelligence at work. They might not be self-aware like Skynet, but alarm ...
Mars Rover & Higgs-Boson Nominated For TIME’s Person Of The Year
With the Mars Curiosity Rover mission by NASA and the discovery of the Higgs-Boson particle by CERN, it has certainly been a banner year in science. These two marquee projects came to the fore in big ways this year. They have opened doors to our universe that we could have only imagined a few short ...
The WITCH Is Back: 61-Year-Old Computer Alive & Well
In today’s world of mobile computing with devices that fit in your pocket, the notion that the first computers ever made occupied entire rooms and weighed several tonnes is hard to remember. It seems almost ridiculous too. Weren’t they just in the imagination of Hollywood producers of B-grade scienc ...
Star Wars Episode VII: What Exactly Are We Going To Get?
Ever since George Lucas dropped that bombshell of an announcement that he was selling Lucasfilm, Star Wars and all his other properties to the Mouse House in Disney, I’ve been wondering whether or not this is a good thing. George did give us the divisive prequels, but he was also responsible for the ...
The Windows 8 Test Drive: Navigating Through All The Hype
I am typically in the habit of upgrading my PCs to the latest versions of the operating system as long as the hardware is capable. With the release of Windows 8 last week, I was keen to try it out, at least as an upgrade to my Windows 7 Parallels Virtual Machine that I have running on my MacBook Pro ...
Casino Technology: How They Improve Their Odds With Technology
Have you ever stopped to think that casino technology might be improving their odds? Avid punters keen to maximize their winnings at gambling always try to develop ingenious systems for beating the house at its own game. Anything from card counting at Black Jack to shoe computers and laser beams tim ...
Apple’s iPad Mini Event Rains On The Windows 8 Parade
Leave it to Apple to schedule one of their media events just days before long-time rival Microsoft was to launch its revamped operating system, Windows 8, to the masses - thus raining on Microsoft’s first serious entry into the mobile device market. It was almost as if Apple was keen to remind peopl ...
Time To Get Retro: Compact Discs & How They Affected Our Lives
In case you missed it, the 30th anniversary of the first compact disc sale was on October 1st. The CD in question, sold in Japan in 1982, was Billy Joel’s “52nd Street.” It’s amazing that it’s already been thirty years since that event. It's easy to take for granted how revolutionary the CD was to t ...