I was never a fan of the original Game Boy, which, to my surprise, did not affect its popularity. I was still an Atari fan, and was rooting for the Lynx. This past April the Game Boy turned 30. One must not underestimate the legacy of the Game Boy, it made casual gaming popular with Tetris being the pack-in. I… Read more →
Although I prefer the sequel Aliens, Alien was ground breaking at the time with its take on scifi horror. The coolest high school ever put on a stage production of Alien. Unfortunately, the trailer is pretty lame. I would love to see more of the play, especially the dinner scene. Alien is also making in roads in higher education. And… Read more →
If you know me, you know I like the 80s. Especially, I like retro electronics. Some may call them antiques, but that word conjures up memories of old lamps and davenports at my grandparents’ houses. Here’s a cool place where TV Shows and Movies get the retro electronics they need. Whenever I use an emoji instead of typing a response,… Read more →
Retro video game collecting will never be up there with art, but sometimes it gets pretty close, such as this unopened copy of Super Mario Bros. for the NES. What makes this copy special, besides the unopenness, is the fact that it is from the first batch released in the United States. It’s not shrink wrapped, instead it is sealed… Read more →
This past month Fortnite held a Marshmello concert in the game. I have to admit, watching a recording of the concert made me wish I had logged in to watch it live. When Marshmello asked for everyone to jump when he dropped the beat, and they did, I had goosebumps for some reason. Weird weather in the UK with rare… Read more →
Whereas social media has been demonized lately, especially Facebook, there are some brights spots such as Instagram saving the independent book store. I’m indifferent to regular books or ebooks, but I know some people (Grace…) would prefer a real book. Youth is wasted on the young. Another great coffee book for Star Wars fans. I’m going to have to add… Read more →
In the beginning of the internet, there was the dancing baby and Crazy Frog. But there was also The Hampster Dance. Here is the history of the iconic song and website. I had no idea that the song came from a Disney movie! Anything that makes money is going to invite a criminal element, including Fortnite. Subscribe to this Youtube… Read more →
Sure, the mother of all demos celebrated its 50th anniversary last year, but yesterday was the 35th anniversary of the debut of the Macintosh. Most people only remember the Macintosh Super Bowl ad, but it cannot be understated the effect the release of the Macintosh had on the world. At a time when most computers were difficult to use, the… Read more →
Yesterday, thirty five years ago, one of the most important supreme court cases in my lifetime was decided, Sony Corp. of America v. Universal City Studios, Inc. – Wikipedia. More commonly called the Betamax decision, this case allowed the sale and use of the video cassette recorder. The case started with the release of Sony’s Betamax video tape recorder in the early 1970s. Universal Studios and the Walt Disney Company reasoned that since the VCRs could be used for copyright infringement, then Sony should be liable for such infringement.
Luckily for us, the supreme court ruled that time shifting content in your home is not copyright infringement, and that VCRs had enough non-infringing use that VCR sales should continue. This ruling also helped make ripping CDs to MP3s legal. If the case would have gone the other way, then pop culture would look really different today. The home market for videos would be basically non-existent, you would only be able to see movies in the theater, on pay cable, or broadcast TV.
Although these are VHS and not Betamax, here’s a visualization of vhs covers. A lot of these are surprisingly recognizable.
I’m not a fan of online quizzes, but the subject matter of this one is brilliant.
Facebook has made it in the news a lot recently, and now conspiracy theories are starting to rise. What if Facebook’s ’10 Year Challenge’ is really a way for Facebook to train its facial recognition features. And apparently, most Facebook users don’t realize Facebook is tracking their interests. I’m not in the #deletefacebook crowd, I just try to not feed the beast. I only check FB every couple of weeks for messages, and when I check FB, I do it from an incognito window. My phone is devoid of Facebook and Messenger.
Oh my, daughter calls the cops after her father takes away her smartphone.. Boy is she in for a rude awakening once she gets out to the real world.
If you have others using your iPhone, such as child, there is a hack to let you password protect your apps. The hack uses the screentime protection features of iOS 12 to require a password to launch apps. Pretty ingenius.
In my day, we microwaved pizzas like poor college students should, but now, Ohio State students can get their pizzas from an ATM!
Computer security is hard, and if you’re going to fake documents, do some research on your fonts.
Finally, if you are trying to create some photos for Snapchat with your guns, you may want to unload them first. And if you’re arguing with your SO, don’t hand her a loaded gun and have her point it at you.
Technology gets a bad rap, and is blamed for a ton of society ills. But, that line of thinking just focuses on the negative. In Tokyo, technology is allowing a cafe to use robots controlled by paralyzed people. First it was Space Invaders wrist, then it was Nintendo thumb. Now, we have selfie wrist. Think of the children! Lawyers should… Read more →