Some iMacs are now apparently “Assembled in USA.” The Tech Curmudgeon doesn’t think that phrase means what you think it means….
Tag Archives: technology
How digital is transforming politics: a special report from Mashable that's well worth a look
Unless you’ve been off-world for a few years, it’s not news that electronic media technologies are exerting a dramatic impact on our political sphere. However, being generally aware of the fact and having a more detailed understanding of the hows and whys, that’s another thing. Our good friend Josh Catone and his colleagues over at […]
S&R 701 Final Exam, Spring Semester 2012
Watch the two TED talks below. The question, which represents 100% of your final grade, follows. First, Nick Hanauer in 2012.
Coming of age in the games industry: The Collective Agreement
by Michael Smith It’s no secret that the video games industry likes to compare its successes to those of the film industry. For several years now, game sales have surpassed the box office. The recent Avengers film set an opening weekend record, grossing $200 million in its first three days. Compare that to last November’s […]
Kara is self-aware: technology is climbing out of the uncanny valley, but toward what?
The uncanny valley is a hypothesis in the field of robotic and 3D computer animation, which holds that when human replicas look and act almost, but not perfectly, like actual human beings, it causes a response of revulsion among human observers. The “valley” in question is a dip in a proposed graph of the positivity […]
The Tech Curmudgeon – "Technology" means more than gadgets, people
There’s a world of technology beyond gadgets, games, and geeks, people. S&R’s Tech Curmudgeon rails on the asinine nature of today’s so-called “technology” reporting.
Kindles, books and libraries
OK, so I got a Kindle. This is a major step, for someone who is as much of a book junkie as I am. Actually, more like a book magnet. And after decades of buying books, they add up. Especially since I’m a packrat, as Mrs W never tires of pointing out, and living in […]
NASA, American exceptionalism, and me: older, and less viable
Fourth in a series As a child turning teen in the late 1950s, the black-and-white RCA in the living room received only three channels … well, four, but we didn’t watch PBS. So I read. Newspapers, of course (after Dad finished sports and Mom finished news). And books. The library was only two blocks away, […]
Three historic space shuttle launches
Third in a series STS-1: Columbia
The Space Shuttle: first thoughts on the end of an era
Second in a series. I just watched the space shuttle Atlantis take flight for the last time, and I’m trying to figure out why I feel so much like I did after my grandfather died. Is it because so much of my life has been defined by my attitude towards space exploration, and because the […]
Remembering the Space Shuttle: "Something has happened…"
First in a series. A few moments ago, at 11:30am EDT, Atlantis lifted off, marking the 135th and final mission in NASA’s historic Space Shuttle program, which began in 1981. The Shuttle era was defined by glory and tragedy and perhaps even a bit of banality. After all, the first time you do something it’s […]
Art and music and a special Friday Night edition of the Saturday Video Roundup: let's get the 4th of July weekend started!
Heading down to the First Friday event in the Highlands Gallery District here in a bit, and am very much looking forward to seeing mentalswitch’s eyePhone show at Sports Optical. You’ve seen some of his iPhone art here before, in fact, and tonight – lots more. Head this way, Denver folks. Meanwhile, I’m ramping up […]
Bitcoin – and digital currencies – retrace the troubled history of banknotes
Commenting on Thomas Lowenthal’s original article at ArsTechnica on Bitcoin and the dangers involved in introducing a new currency. The closest parallel to a pure digital currency play is the travails of paper money. Coinage is at least based on the value of the coin making up the face value. Paper money has no such […]
S&R Honors
Click here to learn more about past honorees...- I-5 bridge collapse: reflecting on our crumbling infrastructure
- Pope Francis says atheists can go to heaven: Sweet Jesus! The College of Cardinals done elected a hippie
- Magic Hat vs. West Sixth brewhaha: will MH win the battle that costs them the war?
- WordsDay: Postmodernist Xerism at it most discontentedly hopeful…
- How to stop journalists: Say they might be criminals
- Mystery Unraveled: How a white, moderate, married, churchgoing, middle-class, middle-aged woman could vote for Obama
- An open letter to Burt Rutan, regarding his WSJ commentary on human-caused climate disruption
- Meet the men of Match.com: Really, guys, are you serious?
- Climate scientists still besieged
- Pelosi on Bush: “He’s not worth impeaching”
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populartechnology: You are seriously comparing the mathematical error…
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Brian Angliss: Their methodology is imperfect. They admit it. I…
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I-5 bridge collapse: reflecting on our crumbling infrastructure | Scholars and Rogues: […] Wufnik from last November, post-Sandy: …
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