society

Working in the advertising business, I’m privy to a lot of online “services” which are dedicated to tracking your every move on the Internet. Their hope is to figure out who you are, learn all about your interests and activities, tie all that information to your public records and finally sell a frighteningly detailed and accurate personal profile to anyone with literally $39. So, as a public service, here are a few things you can do to thwart these nosy bastards. | Read more »

All over the world, magazines and newspapers are struggling to survive, fending off certain death like Jesse Eisenberg in Zombieland. It's an industry-wide problem that's affecting even progressive pubs like the New York Times and Wired Magazine. Despite huge traffic numbers, their current ‘advertising-only’ model isn't going to let them keep paying qualified journalists for much longer. So they know they need to move to a different model. But which one? Well, how about this brilliant one? | Read more »

The days when you could anonymously visit websites about big-breasted women with glasses, or guys wearing diapers while getting spanked are fast coming to a close. Is it the end of the Internet? Not necessarily. But probably.  | Read more »

As you may, or may not know, the Internet is changing. And I don't just mean its slow, corporate take-over and subsequent ruination. No, I mean the advent of HTML 5. Why should you give a crap about something that doesn't involve sports, religion or celebrities? I'm glad you asked. | Read more »

We just got back from watching J.J. Abrams latest effort, Star Trek, and enjoyed ourselves for the most part. Casting, I thought, was particularly inspired (although I did fully expect Spock to point his finger at one of the aliens' heads, make an incision and take his super-power). The acting was also far more nuanced than that of the original series, largely due to the absence of William Shatner. And, of course, the special effects were top-notch, not surprising since the movie cost almost as much as the Republic of Kiribati's GDP (it did, look it up). However, we did have a few issues with the plot afterward. One issue in particular could destroy all science fiction as you know it. | Read more »

Remember when wrong-doing was, well...wrong? Back in the day, people used to feel bad when they did things that everyone else in society agreed were unethical, or just plain creepy. But that all ceased to exist the moment a Hollywood executive invented reality TV. These days, doing wrong no longer results in your immediate and eternal social ostracization, it results in your own television show on E! network. | Read more »