The passing of an old year and the start of a new makes us reflect a little.
For instance, December was the 100th anniversary of Albert Einstein's lecture on the General Theory of Relativity, changing forever the way we see the universe. On a somewhat lesser level, it was the 40th anniversary of Colossal Cave Adventure, usually called simply Adventure.
Adventure, which is still available in several versions (one of them by Bill Gates), was the first role-playing game -- a game in which you, yourself, are a character in the action, nearly always the lead character. The game was created by Will Crowther and was only in text, no pictures. It was a huge hit and can still be played online. Now, role-playing games have real-time motion complete with sound effects and background music. These games -- Warcraft, Call of Duty, Halo, Bioshock and many others -- dominate computer gaming.
We normally don't cover games -- haven't done so in years. But that doesn't mean they're not important. A new release of any of several leading games will produce sales that rival and frequently exceed a hit movie. And unlike a movie, the game will be played and enjoyed for hundreds of hours, not just a couple. Monthly magazines are devoted to analyzing strategy, recommending tactics, designing an avatar, etc.
It is generally assumed that only kids and teenagers play these games, but in fact the majority of players are in their mid-20s to late 30s. Game playing occupies about 25 percent of computer use, often even in work situations. This percentage hasn't changed much in the decades we've been writing about technology. So, as historian Johannes Huizinga said in his famous 1938 book, Homo Ludens, we are by nature game-playing animals. It's maybe what makes us different.
ERASING PHONES
ConsumerAffairs.com has an article about wiping your old Android phone before giving it away. The bottom line: sexy photos, corporate secrets and old love notes may still be there, even after a full factory reset.
Avast, the maker of our favorite free anti-virus, bought 20 used smartphones on eBay, all of which had undergone a factory reset. They found 40,000 photos, including 250 nude selfies, hundreds of email and text messages, the financial information from a loan application and the full identities of four owners. And that's just from 20 phones. They got all this info using off-the-shelf data-retrieval tools.
What's a selfie addict to do? Consumer Affairs says that the only way to foil snoopers is to overwrite your data: add a bunch of meaningless photos or videos, fill up your email and text accounts with meaningless messages, lots of gibberish. Boy does this sound time-consuming.
TRACKING BAGS
We still remember the time an airline company rang our doorbell at 3 a.m.to deliver our lost bags. At least we were home, not at a computer show where we might be forced to wear Hawaiian shirts and flip-flops. Now there's a gadget aimed at preventing all lost bags.
HomingPIN is a loop and a tag, a key ring or a sticker that goes on your bag to track it. When your bag is sent to Morocco instead of Miami, the airlines check the HomingPIN's tracing code using the WorldTracer, NetTracer and SkyAssist baggage systems used at every airport. Instead of the typical six days it takes to find a lost bag, they claim it will be found in seconds and a text message sent to the owner. (We suspect the message will say something like "tough luck.")
You can also put a HomingPIN label on a cellphone, laptop, camera or passport. If left behind, the finder can find you at homingpin.com. Then -- should they choose to accept the assignment -- they can send you a text message to come and get your stuff. They don't see your address or other personal information.
The HomingPIN five-piece starter pack, with one loop and tag, one key ring and four stickers, is $10. It comes with a 12-month subscription, after which you pay $8 a year to cover 30 items.
Whatever you do, experts advise, don't write your home address on luggage tags anymore. That can lead to identity theft or to criminals tracing you to your home while you're on vacation. Try your destination address or your work address instead.
We're glad someone is on the case. Amazingly, 400,000 bags are lost each year. One in six cellphones is lost. Forty-six million items are left in hotel rooms. (We lost a Kindle this way.) Sixteen percent of drivers permanently lose their keys at least once. (And, by the way, here's Bob's all-time favorite statistic, from years ago from the National Opinion Research Center: Four percent of those responding to any survey "don't know," no matter what the question.)
TV or not TV
In three years, almost a quarter of all U.S. households won't be cable TV subscribers, according to a new study by eMarketer. Instead, they'll be watching Netflix, Amazon, Hulu and other channels on the Web, either directly on their computers or through devices like the Roku Player, Apple TV and Google Chromecast.
Streaming video now makes up 70 percent of Internet traffic, according to equipment-maker Sandvine. Netflix has about 35 percent of peak-time traffic, up from 22 percent in 2011.
According to a Pew Research survey, about 21 percent of adults are "online constantly." About 13 percent of those surveyed said they're never online, but another 13 percent go online several times a week. The largest group, 42 percent, go online several times a day. The smallest group, 10 percent, goes online once a day. The most active online users are ages 18-29.
Numbers Report
The number of photos captured worldwide every year has increased six times in the last 10 years to 1.2 trillion photos. That's around 3.3 billion (yes, billion) photos a day. Around 79 percent of smartphone users take photos with their phones, 88 percent of those ages 18 to 24.
Bob and Joy Schwabach can be reached by email at bobschwa@gmail.com and joydee@oncomp.com.
SundayMonday Business on 01/11/2016