We beg to differ.
Miscellany of questions and information tidbits on day-to-day interaction with technology
Recently the Japanese pop group AKB48, an “idol” theatre group composed of young girls, created a sensation after a computer-generated “composite” character “joined” the group to appear in a candy commercial. The character, named Aimi Eguchi, became a hit with AKB48 fans who at the time did not know she only existed in a computer….
Read More “AKB48: Computer-generated pop stars and next-gen pop entertainment” »
Social networking and “microblogging” site Twitter is set to step up its efforts to squeeze more money out of its massive user base. Unlike Facebook which reportedly makes billions in revenue from the ads displayed on its pages, Twitter expects to make only an estimated $100 million in revenues from its “Promoted Trends” product which…
Read More “Twitter under pressure to squeeze big bucks from its users” »
The power of the Net and its most recent technological spawn, “social media,” to bring disparate people together to interact closely (and often intimately) is now quite well-known. What is emerging only now is how this technology-enabled acceleration in the pace with which humans form social connections and apply these connections to their personal lives…
Read More “Social network predators: Psychopaths let loose on the Net” »
Somehow, it was determined by government censors in Australia that three female characters in the Nintendo video game Dead or Alive: Dimensions are under eighteen. As such, a feature within the game that allows players to “look up characters’ dresses in certain poses” has been considered “potential child pornography.” As a result, the Classification Board…
Read More “Can some manga and anime images be considered child porn?” »
The holy officials of the Philippine Roman Catholic Church now step up their drive to implement a standard-speak to be used in the on-going “debate” surrounding Philippine Reproductive Health. Henceforth, the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines hereby decrees that “excomminication” be considered to be a dirty word… A Catholic Church official asked advocates of…
Read More “Philippine Catholic Bishops invent automated excommunication!” »
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg reportedly wants “younger kids” to be allowed on social network sites such as, well, Facebook. He sees says that “a fight to take on” will be the United States’s Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) which bars anyone under the age of 13 from signing up on Web sites that collect…
Google’s motto for its new line of “Chromebooks” is “you can do everything on the Web”. Chromebooks are laptops designed to be constantly connected to the Net and run all applications from the “cloud”. The cloud refers to a service hosted by Google that will deliver applications for use on these Chromebooks via the Net….
Read More “Google puts a solid back on cloud computing with the Chromebook” »
The iconic Commodore 64 (C64) is back, the 1980’s hit home personal computer that holds the Guinnes Book of World Records for the single PC model with the most units sold! Though I cut my teeth as a programmer on the Commodore VIC-20 back in the 1980’s, I’ve always had my eyes on the Commodore…
