Ideas from Mark Stout

Playing with ThingLink.com

Netflix has become a force of nature. It is credited with the downfall of the video store – even mega-giants like Blockbuster, when its primary business was mailing DVDs. Netflix has more than 70 million users worldwide. This is bound to grow dramatically, as it recently announced 130 new countries will soon have the streaming service. It’s grown so large that it now makes its own high-quality TV programs, like “House of Cards” and “Orange is the New Black.”  Its original series are frequently nominated for Emmys. Actress Uzo Aduba won two for best supporting actress for her delightful portrayal of Crazy Eyes in “Orange is the New Black.” Netflix’ streaming service has changed the way many people watch TV. Who binge watched entire series before Netflix? Now people think nothing of sitting down on Saturday morning and cranking through entire seasons of a TV show in one sitting. One huge frustration with Netflix is finding something to watch. Netflix does not have a categor...

No sooner do the holidays end, then the gadget universe turns to Las Vegas and the annual Consumer Electronics Show. I’ve written about half a dozen post-CES columns now. At first, I expected everything promised to be released during the year. The last couple years I’ve been positively disheartened, having re-read the previous years’ columns and realizing little shown in Vegas actually made it to Best Buy or Amazon. In this case, what happens in Vegas shouldn’t stay in Vegas.  Hopefully I’ve gotten better at differentiating between the pie-in-the-sky and products that will ship. I’ll know when I re-read this column in a year. One thing that got my attention this year was retro products. Both Tekniks and Sony showed turntables for playing vinyl records. In a nod to digital, the Sony has a USB port so the records can be converted to digital files. Vinyl is in a comeback, with vinyl record sales on the increase. Kodak released a Super 8mm film camera, its first in decades. The...

Apparently my wife read my column about gifts that geeks would want and I found a drone was under the tree. It was not really something I would ask for, which I guess makes it the best kind of gift. I have been intrigued by them, and sold remote-control airplanes and helicopters back in high school at Loreski’s Hobby Shop in the Pittsburgh area. I’ve had buying a remote-flying toy on my bucket list. These new quadcopters are easier to fly and, when coupled with a camera, would jibe nicely with my photography interests. And I’m not alone. The Federal Aviation Administration reportedly expected a million drones to be gifts this Christmas. Yet, it is not easy being a drone owner in Prince William County. I previously wrote about a five-mile no-fly zone around the Manassas Airport. Fairfax County residents had to worry about a no-fly zone in a 15-mile radius around Reagan Airport. What I didn’t realize is that in September, pretty much unheralded, the FAA increased that radius ...

Following the recent attacks in Paris and San Bernardino, California, some politicians are again trumpeting the need to give law enforcement access to all encrypted messages. The theory is, if we could read the texts and email terrorists send and receive, we would know their plans. A law would require makers of encryption products to build a backdoor into their software that law enforcement would access. FBI Director James B. Comey has long advocated law enforcement be given this tool. The New York Times reported recently it appeared Comey had lost an internal struggle within the administration to force Apple, Google and others to decode messages for law enforcement. It is unclear how, or even if, security software made in other countries could be compelled to provide backdoors to U.S. law enforcement. The easiest way to understand how this might work is to look at a physical system. The Transportation Safety Administration requires the ability to unlock suitcases for security inspecti...