Stories by Mark Gibbs

In Pictures: Ultimate guide to Raspberry Pi operating systems, part 1

Since we published a roundup of 10 Raspberry Pi operating systems the number of choices has exploded.

In Pictures: Spaced out tech auction - 8 vintage space items go on the block

Incredible space memorabilia that will make you geek out!

In Pictures: 15 hot Kickstarter tech campaigns

Here is a collection of some of the most intriguing and potentially valuable Kickstarter tech projects people are trying to launch.

In Pictures: 12 Bluetooth gadgets for geeks

Bluetooth, the short range wireless data communications technology, is in a huge range of products these days, and not just computers and phones.

In Pictures: Top 10 security tools in Kali Linux 1.0.6

Kali Linux 1.0.6

In Pictures: 12 crazy good iOS photography apps

An Apple iPhone ad that aired in April claimed, "Every day, more photos are taken with the iPhone than any other camera", and I can believe it. Not only are there are a boatload of iPhones in the wild, there are a huge number of apps that enhance and...

Neatly naming network nodes

On one of my favorite lists, we just had an amusing discussion about naming computers. It seems that unless someone is running a server farm or hosting facility, where logical organization is de rigeur and computers are numbered according to some str...

In Pictures: Cloud predictions for 2013

What does the IT industry predict for the Cloud in 2013? Here are 10 key projections.

In Pictures: Gearhead. Weird Websites

Here are some fine examples of the madness of the Internet.

Terahertz scanners, drugs, and shoes

A new technology will make it ridiculously easy to see if you are carrying or have consumed drugs or touched or have explosives on you.

In Pictures: The Gearhead Show - 8 teeny tiny computers

Even though we're all walking around with computers in our pockets (a.k.a. smartphones) there's still lots of uses for even more and even smaller computers.

Opinion: Microsoft, instead of turning the lights off on XP, make it open source

To state the obvious,, Microsoft is hugely important economically and culturally, and as Peter Parker (AKA Spiderman) was told by his grandfather: "With great power comes great responsibility." (Actually Voltaire said it first but he said it in Frenc...

When 16GB is really 14GiB

I was asked the other day by a friend why his iPad says, on the outside, that it has 16GB of storage, while in the About tab in the Settings app the storage size is reported as 14GB.

Server scripts, Web calendars and form handlers

One of my recent projects has been designing and building a Web platform for Community Emergency Response Teams. CERTs are local organizations that exist to provide emergency services such as fire suppression, medical assistance and search and rescue...

The iPad: Epic success for users

You read last week's Backspin (you did, didn't you?) so you'll know it included a riposte from my old friend and verbal sparring partner, Winn Schwartau, to my April column "Curse you, users."