I’ve been kicking a post around in my head about the New York Times‘ coming paywall for a couple days, but John Gruber went ahead and wrote it for me, which allows me to eat cookies instead. One thing many companies — in any industry — can learn from Apple is the importance of simple […]
Anthony Hecht
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Posted inEthics
Adventures in Tone-Deaf Altruism
Microsoft’s ability to make itself look terrible, even when doing something good, is already legendary, but they still manage to reach for new heights. Example! On Saturday morning, Microsoft posted this on their Bing Twitter account: The Internet went ballistic of course, and I don’t blame it. I guess if only 50,000 people retweet their […]
Posted inTech
It’s Called… iPad 2
Those freedom-hating maniacs at Apple have announced the next generation of the iPad earlier this morning. It’s called.. wait for it.. iPad 2. It’s thinner, faster, and lighter than the first-generation iPad, has front- and rear-facing cameras, HDMI video out, some kind of weird magnetic cover accessory, and will sport the next version of iOS […]
Posted inSports
Be-Bop Bamboozled
To take the edge off the horrible disappointment of yesterday’s halftime show featuring the truly awful Black Eyed Peas, please enjoy the pinnacle of Super Bowl halftime extravaganza-tude, from 1989. I miss the 80s. Here’s the full story of this amazing show.
Posted inTech
Secure Yer Facebook
Even if you and your team of lawyers pore through Facebook’s privacy settings every day to see what’s changed, and you diligently monitor your settings to make sure you’re only sharing what you want to share, your content is only as secure as your connection, and most people browse Facebook over an unencrypted HTTP connection, […]
Posted inMedia
Short Review of The Daily
I spent some time with The Daily last night, and here’s my review: It sucks. The idea of it doesn’t suck, but the execution sucks sucks sucks. The more I use it, the more it sucks. The interface is just laggy enough to drive you a little nuts. One of the big strengths of iOS […]
Posted inMedia
Apple and News Corp’s iPad Newspaper Launches
Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp and Apple unveiled The Daily this morning. They’re calling this the first publication with daily, original content created just for the iPad. Basically, the first tablet newspaper. Putting aside (for a moment) that this comes from the same company that brings you Fox News, this looks like it could be very […]
Posted inTech
iPhone Coming to Verizon February 10
No surprise here. Verizon announced today that the iPhone will be available on that network starting early next month. Prices are the same: $199 for the 16GB model, $299 for 32GB, with a 2 year service contract. No word yet on data pricing. Verizon has 93 million subscribers, so ending the exclusive deal with AT&T […]
Posted inHealth
Study Showing Link Between Autism and Vaccines “An Elaborate Fraud”
A widely-cited British study claiming to show a link between the childhood MMR vaccine and autism has been shown to be “an elaborate fraud.” The science wasn’t just bad, it was made up. A now-retracted British study that linked autism to childhood vaccines was an “elaborate fraud” that has done long-lasting damage to public health, […]
Posted inReligion
Ricky Gervais: Why I’m an Atheist
What he said. I’m bookmarking this to refer to whenever this topic comes up for the rest of my life. Especially: Why don’t I believe in God? No, no no, why do YOU believe in God? Surely the burden of proof is on the believer. You started all this. If I came up to you […]
Posted inTech
Ascent
I haven’t watched all of this (It’s 45 minutes long! The commentary voices are making me sleepy!), but the first 20 minutes or so are pretty damn impressive anyway. It’s a compilation of some of the best footage NASA has of various space shuttle launches from camera angles not usually seen by the public. An […]
Posted inNews
Watching Operation Payback
I normally would never link to a website called Malware Database, and if you’re running a vulnerable system, you might want to be careful here. BUT! Malware Database is mirroring Anonymous’ Operation Payback blog (the original is down due to counter-counter-counter DDoS’in’), and it’s pretty fascinating. Update — 12/8/2010 — 8:24 AM Mastercard.com is still […]