Technology

When my mom joined modern-day society, my world changed. It happened when I saw a familiar message pop up on Facebook. "Jen's mom" wants to be friends with you. Do you accept? That lady in the picture looked an awful lot like the lady who gave birth to me, but there was no way she knew what Facebook was. She didn't even know how to turn on a computer. With an immediacy of a wild mongoose, I clicked "no" and closed my screen, hoping the friend invite was just a glitch in the universe - a momentary black hole whose vortex happened to be in the center of my little apartment.

Bang Bang Pie Shop in Logan Square is one of 13 businesses country-wide that have been chosen to pilot Square Stand, a new hardware by Square Inc. that turns an iPad into a complete payment system, replacing traditional cash registers. Since receiving the product May 15, Bang Bang co-owner Dave Miller said the old-fashioned shop has made a seamless transition to using the device. “Small businesses that integrate technology well, I think, stay around longer and are able to give more time to customers and quality,” Miller said.

While I certainly consider myself a pretty tech-“hep” individual, I usually refrain from writing about the latest gadgets, gizmos, and internet trends because let's face it, there's barely any readership for that kind of thing. After all, what kind of jerks are going to argue about the silly differences between cellular phones? Having said that, I recently discarded my Samsung “slidey-phone” for an iPhone. Suspect punctuation aside, I have to say, this iPhone is quite remarkable.

Millennials are a tech-savvy, mobile generation. But are election officials keeping up? In Illinois, many consider voter registration a time-consuming, antiquated and multi-step process. The good news is Chicago's election board is trying to bring the process into the 21 s t century. Earlier this year, the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners allowed eligible voters to launch the registration process online. The board offered to print out completed forms and send them to voters for their signatures.

Millennials are a tech-savvy, mobile generation. But are election officials keeping up? In Illinois, many consider voter registration a time-consuming, antiquated and multi-step process. The good news is Chicago's election board is trying to bring the process into the 21 s t century. Earlier this year, the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners allowed eligible voters to launch the registration process online. The board offered to print out completed forms and send them to voters for their signatures.

Bang Bang Pie Shop in Logan Square is one of 13 businesses country-wide that have been chosen to pilot Square Stand, a new hardware by Square Inc. that turns an iPad into a complete payment system, replacing traditional cash registers. Since receiving the product May 15, Bang Bang co-owner Dave Miller said the old-fashioned shop has made a seamless transition to using the device. “Small businesses that integrate technology well, I think, stay around longer and are able to give more time to customers and quality,” Miller...

Need to know how crowded John Barleycorn is right now? Or whether there are more women than men at Vertigo Sky Lounge? How about the average age of patrons at Schoolyard Tavern? If you're in Chicago, there's an app for that. SceneTap, a mobile and web application that launched in Chicago in July, uses cameras to gather information for its facial detection software, which provides real-time stats on the age, sex and number of patrons in more than 50 bars in Chicago. While the app does not reveal any identifying information about patrons (no...

Chicago folk-rockers the The Wall & the Window  answered our Chi-Tunes questionnaire . Do the same and your band could appear in RedEye! What makes your live show great? It's very intimate, and what you hear is what you get. Sometimes we pull out the circus and use all the instruments we know how to play. And sometimes we strip it down to just the essentials: two voices and a guitar.   Describe your sound in five words or less. Handcrafted folk-pop tunes.

A plastic gun made almost entirely with a 3D printer was fired last week, marking the first time ever a functioning firearm has been created with the technology. Well, sort of. The 3D printed gun, called “The Liberator,” was created in Austin, Texas, by an organization called Defense Distributed, which claims its goal is to “produce and publish information related to the 3D printing of firearms.” The weapon was created with a 3D printer purchased on eBay for $8,000 and assembled using 15 printed components made from ABS plastic.

Networking rarely sounds so good. As part of ThinkChicago - a program from Mayor Emanuel built to showcase Chicago's growing tech and startup scene - 100 students from across the country have the chance to get their hands on three-day passes to Lollapalooza, and a chance to rub elbows with some of the city's top tech companies. “You've got this international spotlight in the summer with Lollapalooza, demographically appropriate for people looking for jobs, why not use it?

While I certainly consider myself a pretty tech-“hep” individual, I usually refrain from writing about the latest gadgets, gizmos, and internet trends because let's face it, there's barely any readership for that kind of thing. After all, what kind of jerks are going to argue about the silly differences between cellular phones? Having said that, I recently discarded my Samsung “slidey-phone” for an iPhone. Suspect punctuation aside, I have to say, this iPhone is quite remarkable.

When my mom joined modern-day society, my world changed. It happened when I saw a familiar message pop up on Facebook. "Jen's mom" wants to be friends with you. Do you accept? That lady in the picture looked an awful lot like the lady who gave birth to me, but there was no way she knew what Facebook was. She didn't even know how to turn on a computer. With an immediacy of a wild mongoose, I clicked "no" and closed my screen, hoping the friend invite was just a glitch in the universe - a momentary black hole whose vortex happened to be in the center of my little...

The founders of a Chicago-based online matchmaking service say the art of courtship has evolved as technology has become more pervasive in our lives--and that's not necessarily a good thing. "We think things have went a little bit too far with Facebook, with online dating where you're just interacting with your computer," said Sarah Press, CEO and co-founder of Project Fixup. "We wanted to create a fun way to bring single people together to meet in person at a fun bar and have a conversation and see if they hit it off. " Project Fixup aims to bring together compatible singles that...

General Krell continues his relentless assault on the planet of Umbara in "The General," the latest episode of "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" debuting at 7 p.m. Nov. 4 on Cartoon Network. It's the second of four episodes about the attack on Umbara, and was directed by Walter Murch, who won Oscars for both sound and picture editing of "The English Patient. " (He also has an Oscar for his sound editing of "Apocalypse Now. ") The A longtime friend of George Lucas worked with the "Star Wars" creator on the films "THX 1138" and "American...