Mark A. Kellner

KELLNER: Tech year’s good, bad, and, well, confusing

Come back next week if you're looking for last-minute buying advice; today, your humble correspondent would like to recap some of the good and bad the soon-ending year has brought.

December 5, 2012

KELLNER: What Google’s new Chromebook says about the future

Along with those hyperannoying Target ads, holiday weekend viewers got a flashy, almost Apple-esque spot touting Google's new Chromebook, a portable device starting at $199 that is neither a PC nor a tablet, certainly not in the traditional sense.

November 28, 2012

Motivational maestro Zig Ziglar dies at 86

Hilary Hinton "Zig" Ziglar, the man of a million motivational maxims who bucked up and cheered on three generations of American business strivers over a 40-year international speaking career, died near his home in Plano, Texas, on Wednesday after a brief battle with pneumonia. He was 86.

November 28, 2012

Plug into a very techie Christmas

Whether you're shopping on Black Friday or next week, there are plenty of items worth getting for the techie on your gift list … or even for yourself.

November 22, 2012

KELLNER: A second look at Windows 8: Proceed with caution

Microsoft Corp.'s Windows 8 operating system, which debuted at retail at the end of October, is, at best, an acquired taste. Should you chow down until you like it or should your response be the same as the famous toddler confronting a plate of greens in an old "New Yorker" magazine cartoon: "I say it's broccoli and I say the hell with it!"

November 21, 2012

KELLNER: The case of the $450 headphones

Life in a "cube farm," as I encounter it daily, can be exciting. I'm in a large enough building, with an atrium, no less, that construction noise and even other people's conversations drift over from upper and lower levels.

November 14, 2012

KELLNER: Improved medium for a timeless message

Even in a nation where 1 in 5 people, reportedly, claim no spiritual affiliation whatsoever, the Bible and its words continue to have an impact in the lives of millions — and on the society in which they live.

November 7, 2012

KELLNER: Is SaneBox, well, sane?

For nearly $90 a year, SaneBox.com claims it will tame the flood of email that comes into the inboxes of two of your email accounts and make it all manageable. You can "train" the Web-based software to send messages from the most important senders in your life straight on through, while filing others in a "later" folder for you to deal with, well, later.

October 31, 2012

KELLNER: Apple’s small wonder is worth the upgrade

Apple Inc.'s newest small wonder is, well, just that: It's small (albeit larger than expectations), it's light and it performs marvelously. If you don't have one, you might seriously want to consider buying soon.

October 24, 2012

KELLNER: Seemingly bleak PC future has bright spots

It's over, gang. Might as well pack it in. Personal computer sales are in decline, falling to an avalanche of tablet devices. There's nothing new under the sun. "Resistance is futile. You will be assimilated."

October 17, 2012

50 years later, Vatican II still divides

Fifty years ago Thursday, the fourth child from a family of Italian sharecroppers convened a epochal meeting of Roman Catholic Church leaders designed to "open the windows" of the nearly 2,000-year-old institution and let some of the modern world's "fresh air" inside.

October 10, 2012

KELLNER: Apple’s amazing — yes, amazing — Thunderbolt display monitor

The thought of suggesting a $999 computer monitor purchase, for myself or just about anyone else, is enough to give one pause. One dollar short of $1,000 is, well, still a lot of money, no matter how you look at it.

October 10, 2012

KELLNER: A tech company need — Meaningful customer service

The Sept. 28, 2012, passing of former Johnson & Johnson Chairman and CEO James E. Burke may seem to have little to do with consumer technology some 30 years after the Tylenol crisis for which he is best known, but I think there's a lesson for today's tech titans in Mr. Burke's experience.

October 3, 2012

KELLNER: First impressions of iPhone 5 are positive

I had to give it back, darn it. For some odd reason, Verizon Wireless didn't want me to hang on to the iPhone 5 it loaned me Sept. 21, kickoff day for the new device, which went on to sell more than 5 million units the first weekend.

September 26, 2012

KELLNER: C’mon, Kindle, light my fire (in HD)

Let's stipulate, at the outset, that Amazon.com's $199 Kindle Fire HD is not — I repeat, not — a "mini" version of Apple Inc.'s iPad. If you buy the new Amazon-produced tablet expecting an iPad, you are going to be disappointed, much as if you bought a Mazda expecting a Maserati.

September 19, 2012

KELLNER: With Retina Display, MacBook Pro sparkles

It's sleek, shiny, weighs less than its predecessor and has a screen to die for.

September 12, 2012

KELLNER: Whatever device, it’s all about content

A few hours after these words first see the light of day in print Thursday, Amazon.com will take to a small airport hangar in Santa Monica, Calif., to announce something. Quite possibly, it will be the next iteration of the Kindle Fire tablet, of which the first generation has sold out.

September 5, 2012

KELLNER: Evernote’s data-managing features can induce swoon

I'm not sure whether my reaction is the first stirrings of a huge crush or more the zeal of a fresh convert from demon rum who has claimed a spot "on the wagon," but Evernote (www.evernote.com) is the kind of service that, properly understood, can induce the kind of heart pounding usually observed along the rail at Pimlico.

August 29, 2012

KELLNER: I.R.I.S.’ $99 book scanner requires patience, practice

If you're not sifting through ancient (or seemingly antique) tomes at the Library of Congress, let's say, the idea of having a book scanner in your backpack, briefcase or purse may not appeal to you.

August 22, 2012

KELLNER: Digital photo offerings of the past stand the test of time

Tons of new technology is out there, and more is coming all the time, it seems. Both Canon and Nikon have new models rolling off the assembly line and into stores, while other camera makers also are planning to crowd shelves this fall. Software, too, is keeping up with plenty of releases.

August 15, 2012