Paul Lilly
Paul is a seasoned geek who was first seduced into the world of computers and technology by the Commodore 64, and through the years he’s courted a number of OSes and platforms from DOS on up to the latest version of Windows. Having joined the HotHardware team in 2011, Paul is now a mainstay of the site covering the news beat and reviews, and resident wiseguy who keeps the mood light. He’s also an experienced freelance technology writer whose work has appeared in a number of online and print publications.
Opinions and content posted by HotHardware contributors are their own.
Recent posts
Steve Ballmer, the outspoken and oft times animated CEO of Microsoft, might not always be the easiest boss to work for. It all depends on who you ask, and if you sit down for a spell with Joachim Kempin, who worked at Microsoft from 1983 to 2002 in a high-level position, he'll paint Ballmer as a bully who forces out...
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The business world isn't all that different from the world of sports. In either case, if your team isn't performing at a high enough level, you go out and hire better talent. Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) just did that, adding a pair of experienced chip engineers, one of which previously worked for Qualcomm and the...
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One thing Samsung doesn't lack is a funny bone. Ask Apple, which has been repeatedly bopped on the head with it through a series of advertisements, both on TV and out in the wild. Want a second opinion? Talk to Research In Motion (RIM), Samsung's latest target in a new ad poking fun at people who refuse to give up their BlackBerry devices....
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Hey U.S. gamers, would you like a side of PayPal with your PlayStation Network (PSN)? You can have it, now that Sony is extending the same courtesy to PSN subscribers living in North America as was already available to those who reside in Europe. It's more of an end-around process to use PayPal, as the option to add funds to your Wallet using...
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There are some basic rules to follow when selecting a password. For example, while we're sure your significant other is a fine person, using their name as your password is a terrible idea. Same goes for your son's birthday. The object is to select a series of characters and symbols that's nigh impossible to guess, but it doesn't stop there....
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If we might be allowed to exaggerate for a moment, Apple finds itself in dire straits these days. Here are the facts: Apple's stock is only worth $500 per share, the company's slice of the smartphone pie in the U.S. is just 18.5 percent, and the iPhone has lost its luster compared to sexier Android phones and the...
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We're only a few weeks into the New Year and there's already an exciting gaming project in Kickstarter. It's Vendetta Online, an existing twich-based, sci-fi themed MMORPG that's available on a number of platforms. In fact, two years ago it was the first PC 3D MMO to make the leap to mobile and is now available for...
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Acer might have been on to something when it warned Microsoft that competing in the hardware space is no easy task. Undeterred, Microsoft entered the battlefield with its Surface RT tablet, an ARM-based slate running a gimped version of Windows 8 that doesn't support legacy applications. It's an okay tablet for...
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One of the oldest written songs in history is the Hurrian Hymn to Nikkal. It's inscribed on a clay tablet and dates back to 1400 BC. Unfortunately, you can't build a radio station around the 3,400-year-old song on Pandora, but there are plenty of alternatives. In fact, music lovers listened to over 1 million different songs by over 100,000...
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There was a massive public uproar on the Internet a month ago when Instagram tried changing its Terms of Service (ToS) agreement so that it could sell your pictures for profit. Following the backlash, Instagram tried to say it was a big misunderstanding over standard legalese, and then vowed to change the wording to appease the masses. It...
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In what's sure to bring tears to tens of people, Halo 2's PC multiplayer servers are permanently going dark next month. 343 Industries made the decision to pull the plug when it noticed that usage was consistently peaking at around just 20 player or less. "We’re sad to report that the service end-date for Halo 2...
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Now that the Consumer Electronics Show is over and done with, it's time to start looking forward to Mobile World Congress (MWC), the mobile industry's largest exhibition. It will be there that Samsung unveils its Galaxy Note 8.0 tablet. Two of them, actually -- one with Wi-Fi only and the other with both Wi-Fi and 3G...
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Apple's Siri voice assistant software for iOS devices is an evolving persona, one that creates the illusion of having a real-life secretary at your beck and call. She's able to find restaurants, set reminders, jot down notes, and plenty more, and occasionally gets sassy. It's all very charming, though there remains plenty of room for improvement....
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Samsung has a treat for Galaxy Note 10.1 and Galaxy Tab 2 owners heading into the weekend. It's Jelly Bean (Android 4.1), now available for both devices as an over-the-air (OTA) update or as a manual download/install through the mobile device maker's free Kies software. No matter how you install it, the long-awaited...
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The Consumer Electronics Show is over, but the product announcements keep rolling in. Among them is Corsair's introduction of a pair of big and burly Hydro Series liquid CPU coolers, the dual-fan H110 and single-fan H90, both with spacious radiators. "Many PC enthusiasts choose liquid cooling for its extreme cooling...
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John Sculley, an American businessman who once served as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Apple, has some advice for his former employer. The way Sculley sees it, Apple needs to "dramatically rethink" things and forge ahead with a low-cost iPhone model for emerging markets. "Apple needs to adapt to a very different world," Sculley told Bloomberg...
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For years, brick-and-mortar retailers have been crowing about the unfair advantage Amazon has in the retail space in territories where it doesn't have to collect sales tax, and now that the playing field is starting to level, their sales are going up. Best Buy, for example, noted that holiday online sales increased in three states where Amazon...
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Stop us if you've heard this one before: AT&T is looking to merge with a telecom...what's that, you have heard this one? Well this time it's different. AT&T isn't looking to make another run at T-Mobile, the U.S. subsidiary of Deutsche Telekom, and presumably the wireless carrier learned its lesson about offering massive breakup fees...
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Boy, it must be nice to live like a 1 percenter (speaking about the wealthy, not the outlaw motorcycle club), but even the filthy rich practice prudence every once in awhile. And when it comes to LG Electronics' ginormous 84-inch Ultra HD 4K television, I can share with you 22,000 reasons why not to buy it. Yes, the TV that's wider than a...
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Two great tastes that go great together are Jelly Bean (Android 4.1.x) and Samsung's Galaxy S III, and it just so happens that Jelly Bean is exactly what's on AT&T's over-the-air (OTA) menu. So go ahead Galaxy III owners and feast your phones on the OTA update, which is reportedly being rolled out today! Some of...
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At long last, AT&T is loosening its grip on Apple's FaceTime video conferencing technology over cellular connections. If you recall, FaceTime was limited to Wi-Fi when it was first debuted, and then in September 2012, AT&T said it would gradually roll out support on cellular to sort of test the waters. Now...
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Recovering Temple Run addicts who finally managed to stop playing the endless action game developed by Imangi Studios are going to feel like Michael Corleone did in Godfather III when he said, "Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in." That is, unless you can resist Temple Run 2, which is already available in New Zealand and slated...
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