Author: James Milin-Ashmore

  • Ethical Alternatives to Adobe: 2023 Update

    Ethical Alternatives to Adobe: 2023 Update

    Adobe Alternatives Guide – 2023 Update: Many Adobe alternatives have improved significantly since this article was first published back in 2021. Let’s take a look at the current state of affairs. Now best known for multimedia and creativity software products, American multinational computer software company Adobe has been around in some shape or form for…

  • Gmail Alternatives Guide: How (and Why) to Avoid Gmail – 2023 Update

    Gmail Alternatives Guide: How (and Why) to Avoid Gmail – 2023 Update

    2023 Update: Gmail remains one of the most popular email platforms worldwide. However, as a free service, the user pays with their personal data. This may have been acceptable a few years ago, but various alternatives now take privacy seriously. Gmail is a free, advertising-supported email service released on April 1, 2004. With over 1.8…

  • Facebook Alternatives Guide: 2023 Update

    Facebook Alternatives Guide: 2023 Update

    February 2023: When I originally wrote this guide, years ago, Facebook was a true behemoth. It’s still a massive tech company by most metrics, but a rebrand to push an unwanted Metaverse has definitely hurt the organization. The number of active daily users in the US and Canada has fallen in the past two years,…

  • Ethical Google Alternatives: 2023 Update

    Ethical Google Alternatives: 2023 Update

    “Google it.” Even my technophobe grandma understands what that means, and almost everyone with any experience of the internet has used the company’s services in some shape or form. Once a humble search engine, Google has morphed into one of the biggest companies in the world. “Don’t be evil” used to be part of its…

  • Twitter Alternatives Guide: How (and Why) to Avoid Twitter (2023 Update)

    Twitter Alternatives Guide: How (and Why) to Avoid Twitter (2023 Update)

    January 2023: When I first wrote this article, back in 2019, the landscape for Twitter was far different. Given a number of interesting developments in recent years, we’ve taken the time to revisit and update information accordingly.  Many people agree that, no matter how carefully you curate your experience, Twitter can be unhealthy for users.…

  • Ethical Alternatives to Basecamp

    Ethical Alternatives to Basecamp

    Basecamp made the news in April 2021 following the decision to forbid “societal and political discussions” internally – one of many changes which led to over a third of staff resigning en masse.  CEO Jason Fried went on to issue a public apology, taking to the company’s blog to say:  “We started with policy changes…

  • Top Sources of Tech News on the Internet

    Top Sources of Tech News on the Internet

    With an endless daily stream of tech news, it’s impossible to consume the vast amount of videos, articles, and everything in between that’s constantly fighting for your on-screen attention. Of course, not all tech news is created equal, so some is more deserving of your time (and bandwidth) than others.  We’ve come up with a…

  • Digital Tools, Democracy, and Activism

    Digital Tools, Democracy, and Activism

    It’s becoming ever clearer that democracy as we know it is more fragile than many in the west ever appreciated. Unchecked populism appears to be on the rise, while you only have to look across the pond to see the effects of divisive politics on a confused populace. Black Lives Matters protests are currently ongoing…

  • How Tech Companies Have Responded to Covid-19

    How Tech Companies Have Responded to Covid-19

    Most big tech companies have reacted well to Covid-19 – or at least that’s how it appears from the outside. In March 2020, giants including Apple and Facebook offered to source and donate at least nine million of the protective masks medical workers in hospitals sorely need, while Elon Musk’s Tesla started production on prototype…