bleeding edge of technology (original) (raw)
Cassidy at Large and other fiction
I’ve now written five technology mysteries about troubleshooter Cassidy Smith (she’s geekier than you and her motto is ‘see trouble, shoot trouble’)
Helping out her old friend Max Puck has put Cassidy in Cannes, but instead of relaxing on the beach she’s hijacking pedicabs, breaking into yachts and pretending to pitch her startup as she tries to track down the hackers threatening Treasure Island - Puck’s offshore haven - and the cryptocurrency it protects. She needs to find them before they break in - or before she cracks under the pressure and starts punching the people she’s supposed to be presenting to…
Drones. Movie sets. Mysterious deaths. Swanky hotels. Virtual currencies. It’s a packed itinerary when Cassidy Smith heads to Los Angeles to help (who else) Max Puck find out why buyers of the new selfie drone are literally dying to use it. But first, she’s going to need more coffee…
Sin City is swearing and Cassidy Smith wants to know why. Someone is using the state of the art, million-LED-lit art fountain lake at the Overachiever casino hotel to spell out X-rated messages, when they’re supposed to be flashing out psychedelic patterns in time to the music. Is it just a foul-mouth heckler or is this the first step in a clever casino heist?
It’s time for misadventure golf as Cassidy Smith heads to Florida to help an old friend whose virtual golf project is producing real dead bodies…
includes bonus short Love In A Time Of Spoilers - the most personal technology is going to need to be very trustworthy indeed, or you get killer sex robots
Nice, sensible Henry wasn’t being haunted. He wasn’t going mad. But he had been hacked and Cassidy Smith, who is still geekier than you, is going after the prankster. The trouble is, she’s trying to be subtle…
As a journalist, I try very hard to make sure everything I write is the truth. Almost everything in my Cassidy stories is at least possible and some of the ideas that sound improbable are actually true, but any resemblance to business models living or dead is purely coincidental. Though I kind of wish someone would pick up her more fun startup ideas, like a service that offers security-cleared ex-military motorcycle couriers with hammers ready to dash off to lost property offices around the world and send you a video of the resulting destruction.
I also have a short story interviewing a woman who records her dreams as if they were podcasts, two adult fairy tales about the Lord of Death - one with a library, the second with a holiday - and a novel about the Vampires of Silicon Valley who have a startup that’s going to save the world (all available on Kindle from Amazon UK or for US folks, here on Amazon Kindle).
And then you have to go read Hummingbird Futures - Simon’s stories of magic and machines.
Where are Simon & Mary?
We’re based in London but frequently travel to conferences and meetings, most often in Silicon Valley and Seattle. If you want to check our calendar before inviting us to an event or arranging a meeting with a client, you can find us on Tripit.
We’re now writing about Microsoft for TechRepublic:
S&M: the bleeding edge of technology
Simon Bisson and Mary Branscombe are technology journalists based in the UK, covering everything that makes a difference to users. We write for a wide range of titles. on everything from the best in-ear headphones to the latest devops processes, to the future of technology.
500 words into the future
Our blog for ZDNet. Unapologetically opinionated views on technology, in the office and out…
Why Mary became a technology journalist
My usual response is that I knew I wanted to write but I had no idea what I wanted to write, and my then-partnerwas a computer journalist and having seen what they did, I knew I could do it too. But getting into a field is one thing; staying here, as I have for over three decades, is another. There’s the fact that I get to meet interesting people and talk about interesting things - I’m always learning something new. And some years ago I got to combine that with a look at the first time I ever really thought about technology, in a humorous column for PC Plus’s What if… series.
While researching it, I realised my whole career in technology journalism well might have been inspired by this proposal, when I saw a manifesto for it on TV as a child. I talked to Lord Ashdown about the plans and I asked him what other technology near-misses he’d seen. He replied he would rather have had a database of human knowledge than the Millennium Dome. Wouldn’t we all…
What if… we’d had 20 years of fibre
How To Do Everything: Windows 8
Our friendly, helpful guide to getting started with Windows 8 and making the most of your new OS; published by McGraw Hill.
Meet Windows 8.
It’s fast, it’s fun, it’s connected - and it’s different. It works just as well on a super-thin tablet like the Microsoft Surface as it does on an all-in-one computer with a big touchscreen, or a notebook you can use on the couch or carry to the coffee shop. It has a new Start screen with tiles that are all about you - showing you what your friends are up to and showing off your favourite photos and websites, as well as apps from the Windows Store that look great and are easy to use. It comes with a powerful new version of Internet Explorer, a starter set of Windows Store apps and extras like free streaming music. But Windows 8 still has the familiar Windows desktop where you can run your favourite programs and be as productive as ever - just a bit faster and more securely.
It’s the best of both worlds, and we’re going to show you how to make the most of it.
You can pick up a copy of HTDE Windows 8 on Amazon or from the McGraw Hill site for your country.