The title of the video seen here is “Does Your Watch Need To Be Smart?” My first response was “What a stupid question.” My second response was: “What kind of tech writer would ask such a stupid question?” Pretty much nothing you own needs to be “smart”. And by “smart”, all they mean is the[...]
Several hundred articles appeared online today, many from respected news outlets, saying that Hulu might no longer be free, starting next year. (Here’s one article, from CNET.com.) Remember all the ads during the Super Bowl earlier this year, claiming that Hulu was free? Let’s break that down. First of all, it’s not free. Advertisers pay[...]
(Originally published on Dec. 31, 2003, as part of my “Off-Center Thoughts”) I am fully in agreement with those super-intelligent human activists who believe that all humans should unite together to save … well, everything. For the most part, of course, these activists (purportedly human) have forgotten to save the humans, but they can’t be[...]
(Originally written on Thursday, May 12, 2005, 9:26 p.m., as part of my “Off-Center Thoughts”) Can I be a juvenile for a minute? I hope Carrie Underwood wins American Idol this year. I was originally hoping for Constantine, but he was mistakenly voted out. (I’m not juvenile enough to vote on this stuff, but it’s[...]
Tuesday evening, I watched Game 1 of the WNBA Finals. And I was very disappointed. Contrary to what some would expect, I was not disappointed in the game itself, but in the presentation. The game was tremendously exciting. It was 31-31 after one quarter (a WNBA record), and went 105-105 by the end of regulation,[...]
Having been without regular TV (by choice) for more than eight years, last night’s VMAs on MTV opened my eyes. I mean, I knew television’s quality, content, ethics, and watchability have been declining steadily since … I’m not sure when. (When did TV reach its peak? Let’s just say it was the late 1980s or[...]
ESPN made the news today, because of its new policy limiting personal blogs and social networking by its employees. This follows close on the heels of news about the military’s new social networking policy. Quite a few people (especially employees of the above two entities) seem pretty upset by this. Naturally, they’re mad, because Americans[...]
The other day, my wife and I were thinking about how the world has changed, and the things we’ve seen or done that our own children will never see or do. With the help of a couple of other websites, here’s a few short lists. 54 Things That Are Already Gone(Some of these I wish[...]
After tonight, a few more folks might start agreeing with me that Paula Abdul is drugged up beyond belief and needs to quit American Idol. Disclaimer: if she’s not on drugs, then something much more serious could be wrong with her. For three years, I’ve been telling my wife that Paula’s time is up on[...]
Today, freakazoid Paris Hilton was ordered back to her jail cell, by a judge, after a sheriff had released her yesterday. Again, who cares? Why is this a headline in the New York Times? If there’s anything to be said about this, it’s: Thank God that Judge Michael T. Sauer had the guts to keep[...]
Flickr’s marketing department is taking care of publicizing what’s been added to the site, and how the design has changed. They’re real proud of it. So far, I haven’t seen anyone documenting what’s been taken away from Flickr users. I’ve made a page just for that, here. I’ll be updating it as I learn more.
Title: The Raven, A Biography of Sam Houston Author: Marquis James Year: 1929 Publisher: University of Texas Press, Austin ISBN 0-292-77040-5 View it on Amazon View it on Google Books Sam Houston on Wikipedia This book was awarded the 1930 Pulitzer Prize for “Biography or Autobiography” (James is one of the very few people who’ve[...]
Flickr holds a special place in my heart, at least compared to other internet sites. I’ve spent more time on Flickr than most people have spent on Facebook or Twitter — daily participation since I joined in Sept. 2005. Not only have I uploaded over 30,000 images to my photostream (most of them now non-public),[...]
“I thought the left loved freedom of the press and open government. I guess that’s only when ‘The Man’ is someone else.” That’s what one commenter said on a news story about the federal government hoping to charge a journalist for publishing news. It’s an astute observation about the way our two-party political system works:[...]
Commentary: A record Powerball jackpot isn’t a record to celebrate (Christian Science Monitor) The editorial board of CSM concluded their piece with this: Before the news media play up the next record-setting mega-lottery like Powerball, they may want to add these kinds of caveats in their reporting. It could deter people from rushing to the[...]
Following are some passages I underlined during a reading of To Sail Beyond The Sunset (1987) by Robert A. Heinlein, the last novel he published before dying in 1988: “I remember Earth. I knew her when she was clean and green, mankind’s beautiful bride, sweet and lush and lovable… It is futile to mourn over[...]
There is a school of thought, albeit a relatively unpopular one, that poor grammar or punctuation on printed signs should be corrected with a Sharpie or other tool, vigilante style. In the News: Vigilante Copy Editor (New York Times) And there are older instances, such as this one (The Virginian-Pilot).
Following are some passages I underlined during a reading of The Cat Who Walks Through Walls: A Comedy of Manners (1985) by Robert A. Heinlein: “It does not do to encourage bad banners; one should retaliate, urbanely but firmly.”
In The News: Adobe starts subscription for Photoshop and Dreamweaver (BBC News) This shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone; many software companies are moving in this direction. Instead of having to ship millions of boxes and discs every year when they upgrade the software, they’re just going to add the updates to the online[...]
Following are some passages I underlined during a reading of I Will Fear No Evil (1970) by Robert Heinlein: “…most people think of money as something to pay the rent. But a money man thinks of money in terms of what he can do with it.” “…it’s impossible for a woman to lay it on[...]
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