Welcome to our last newsletter before Christmas! Has this been the longest December ever, or is it just me? As we approach the end of the year, I wanted to reflect on nine important things we learned about technology in 2025. AI Is Getting Boring (And That's a Good...

I spent this morning driving around Pasco County—which this time of year is, trust me, not for amateurs. But while navigating the holiday traffic, I found myself reflecting on my personal history with the internet, that omnipresent force that now controls virtually...

What can we look forward to in the new year when it comes to tech? Here's my take on what's coming. AI Gets Boring (In the Best Way) AI won't be as flashy anymore—it'll be embedded everywhere, quietly doing real work inside the apps we use daily in offices and small...

How many different AI tools do you use? I use two: ChatGPT and Claude.ai. Between the two of them, I get everything I actually need. Many people are now using AI instead of Google or other search engines because they find it more efficient. All that being said,...

What now seems like a lifetime ago, there was a gentleman called Jack Tramiel who ran a computer company called Commodore. Remember the Commodore PET? Remember the Commodore 64? That was Jack Tramiel's legacy. He worked for that company for years, built it from the...

When I started my adventure into PC computing long ago, I was using the DOS operating system. I remember everyone's excitement when DOS 3.0 came out. We then moved to Windows, and today I'm still there for the most part. So are most of us at the Tampa Bay Technology...

It's Wednesday, and this is all the tech news you need for today! I'm a volunteer here at the Tampa Bay Technology Center, and one of the things we've been thinking about reviving in a big way after the first of the year is in-person tech networking. Remember how we...

The February 1985 issue of Playboy magazine featured a fascinating interview with Steve Jobs. At that time, the personal computer market was crowded with competitors—Sinclair, Atari, and Commodore 64, among others. However, two brands dominated: IBM and Apple. IBM's...

Why Your Family Story Matters Hello, I'm a volunteer at the Tampa Bay Technology Center, where I teach podcasting. Today, I want to talk about something deeply personal: preserving your family history before it's too late. I come from a five-person family: my father,...

By Stew Bottorf For this week's newsletter, I am choosing to present an edited version of a presentation that was done by one of our late members about 6 years ago. Stew was just a wonderful guy who loved his wife and loved his community. Cutting the Cord group at our...

In the 1980s, home computers were clunky, dull, and utterly unexciting. Sure, they were useful for business applications and storing recipes, but they needed something more. They desperately needed innovation. Then, amazingly enough, Xerox—the company famous for...

What was your very first word processor? Mine was a product called word star. The two biggies right now are Microsoft Office 365 and LibreOffice suite. I asked Claud.AI to give me comparisons of the two products and here is its suggestions. Here are the top five...