- Blog
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The Attack, Four Years Later
As you might know, a ways back two thugs beat the shit out of me outside my home Metro station when I lived in DC, and it was really, really bad, and it changed a lot of things for me. Of course, right? Well, last night marked four years since that event, and I thought it might merit…
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Death by a Thousand Emotional Microtransactions
How much do you care what people think of you? How much do you care what people you’ve never met think of you? How much do you care what people you’ve never met think about any individual choice you make or opinion you share? How much do you care what people you’ve never met think…
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The Real People Who Serve As the Internet’s Depravity Filter
An incredible investigative piece in Wired by Adrian Chen reports on the lives of contract content moderators, folks whose job it is to go through content posted to online platforms (such as Facebook, YouTube, Whisper, etc.), and deal with the content that violates a platform’s policies or the law. And yes, we’re talking about the really bad…
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Jekyll and Hyde: Forefathers of Internet Trolls
There is a degree of serendipity to my first reading of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. I downloaded it to my iPad mostly on a whim, thinking it might be a good idea to dip into some of the 19th-century science fiction to which I am almost entirely unread, save for…
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Computers, Coats, and Chainsaws: Longevity and Turnover for Technology
In an upcoming episode of the iMortal Show (which I promise is coming back soon – a new episode is being recorded this week), we’re going to discuss something that is often missed on websites like my own: products with longevity, objects and devices that are well-made and not intended to be changed over frequently…
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The Quest for Peace, Through Headphones
I am told that I am poor at being “in the moment,” and I confess it to be the case. I am nothing if not riddled with anxieties, large and small. At my worst, I am engulfed in worries, drenched in waves of stomach-sickening dread, doubt, and guilt. But normally, just going about my day,…
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Mars, Musk, and a Meditation
Ross Andersen’s interview with Elon Musk at Aeon, on Musk’s ambitions for Mars colonization, is a gem. “Interview” doesn’t do it justice; it’s part interview, part examination of the motivations (Musk’s and civilization’s) for a Mars migration, as well as a meditation on the humanity of such an endeavor. A big takeaway is how Musk…
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Perpetual Dislocation and the Angst of Techno-Conservatives
Nicholas Carr is a thinker I struggle with. (I mean, I struggle with his thoughts as expressed in written form, I don’t struggle with him personally or physically. Just so we’re clear.) Ever since introducing the rhetorical question “Is Google making us stupid?” I’ve been skeptical of his, let us say “conservative” perspective on technology.…
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Over My Dead Body
A college girlfriend of mine used to pride herself on being kind of pro-death. She wasn’t goth, per se, but she was certainly contrarian, and when we’d get into existential discussions (far too often for my late teenaged self who was more interested in physical explorations), she’d tell me that she wasn’t afraid of death.…
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The Apotheosis of Voltron
Did you already know about this? You probably already know about this. Look, I had heard of MC Frontalot, but being 36 and out of touch, I never heard any of his stuff. Little did I know that he is artist rapping about toilet paper manufacture in Elmo’s Potty Time, which, let me tell you,…
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A Song to Unfollow By
I’m doing some light Twitter culling tonight, as the relentlessness that is the Torrent of Feelings, the constant barrage of snark and attacks and outrage and disgust, is getting to be too much. Tonight I came upon this song by Jonathan Mann (the song-a-day guy who has been kind enough to pal around with me a…
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Inexhaustible Novelty and its Discontents
If you follow technology news at all, you’re probably tired of hearing variations on the word “disruption.” You’ve maybe heard the words “revolutionary” or “revolutionize” a few too many times in the past decade, to the point where it sounds kind of silly. I get that. While it’s undeniable that the Age of the iPhone has…
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Angels in the iPod: Lawrence Krauss on TWiT
Physicist Lawrence Krauss was recently the guest on Triangulation, the interview program on the TWiT network. It’s one of those lovely convergences where science and skept0-atheism cross paths with tech media, so I thought it’d be a good thing to post here. Content-wise, it’s fairly introductory stuff. If you follow Krauss’s science popularization work, you probably…
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Stuck in the Middle with You: The Awkward Sidelines of Skepto-Atheism’s Internal Battles
Mommy and daddy are fighting, and they’re ruining Christmas. This is pretty much how I feel most days when I glance at my Twitter feed or peruse the blogs of the skepto-atheosphere. People I like and respect making each other miserable, attacking each other, and each more or less defining the other as either a…
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Final Fantasy VII’s Final Battle Against Sephiroth…Sung A Capella
Smooth McGroove, he who produces amazing a cappella renditions of music from video games, has created his masterpiece. I’ve previously heaped praise on him for his versions of the Final Fantasy VII battle and Mega Man II Dr. Wily stage themes, and my absolute favorite, the DuckTales Moon theme. They all delighted me. But this, well,…
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