Chris Roberts

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Chris is a senior consultant with Data Directions, Inc. in Richmond, Virginia.  He's also one of the authors of "Ask the PropellerHeads," a newspaper column and radio spot dedicated to technology.  His current interests include the Eclipse Rich Client Platform and Groovy + Grails.

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  • TripIt Makes Business Travel Fun

    Okay, maybe not “fun” exactly, but at least less of a hassle. TripIt makes it easy to collect all your info for an upcoming trip in one place.  I don’t travel often, but when I do I take a print-out with me of my airline reservation details, another one of my hotel reservation, and a third [...]
  • What is a “G” exactly?!

    I just finished my column on “what is a ‘G’ in phone ads”, where I discuss cell networks from 1G in the 80s up through today’s 4G technology.  As always, I used far more resources than I had room to mention in the column.  So here’s a quick list of links with more — much [...]
  • Geolocation in the Browser

    I wrote a column recently on how geolocation works — i.e., how the iPhone and other phones (and laptops and PCs) know where you are, even when the device you’re using doesn’t have a GPS chip.  Here’s a talk I gave recently at the Memphis Java User Group (MemJUG — www.memphisjug.org) on some of the [...]
  • Facebook to Users: “Privacy Schmivacy. We Know What You Really Want.”

    My recent column on the Facebook privacy dust-up had to be cut short a little bit because of space constraints.  Here are a few points that got the axe: A blogger at Gizmodo has compiled a list of 10 Reason to Quit Facebook. Facebook lets you deactivate your account, which is not the same as [...]
  • Libertarian PropellerHead Agonistes

    I’m working on a column now covering the FCC’s proposed National Broadband Plan. The geek in me is excited that high-speed Internet access might one day be as ubiquitous as electricity and the dial tone.  But the free marketer in me who complains every time I get a package two weeks late from the post [...]