I love xkcd.com. It’s a thought-provoking, often hilarious, sometimes sobering stick figure strip. The strip was conceived by Randall Monroe, who describes himself thusly: I’m just this guy, you know? I’m a CNU graduate with a degree in physics. Before starting xkcd, I worked on robots at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Virginia. As of [...]
Billboard Joins the 21st Century by Tracking YouTube View Data
While the top videos on MTV and YouTube (recently at least) have generally also been on the pop charts, the amount of popularity from video outlets hasn’t always translated into chart position. So it is great news for breakout video artists this week as Billboard joins the 21st century and starts tracking YouTube view data [...]
GoG.com Brings Greatest Shooter-RPG System Shock 2 Back!
Today we get great news with the announcement that GoG.com brings greatest shooter-RPG System Shock 2 back, and that it is playable on modern PCs! Many younger gamers know System Shock 2 as the ‘sprititual inspiration’ for the Bioshock games, but System Shock 2 does so much more. It is a masterpiece of writing, gameplay, [...]
A Good Day to Die Hard Film Review
Twenty-five years after the original 1988 Die Hard film, this series continually delivers great action and excitement featuring its famous “Yippee Kay Hay” hero who’s at the wrong place at the wrong time. References including Ronald Reagan and cowboys are meant to pay homage to the film series, but only remind audiences how the plot [...]
Fleetwood Mac Rumours 35th Anniversary Edition Review
When it comes to the iconic albums of the 1970s, people think of names like Pink Floyd, Stevie Wonder, Kraftwerk, and more. But in the late 70s, there was one album that was everywhere to the point that it seemed like a greatest hits collection: the legendary Rumours by Fleetwood Mac. With estimated sales of [...]
Smartphone Cameras Change Everything: Winter Storm Nemo vs Blizzard of ’78
This week marked the 35th anniversary of the Blizzard of ’78, and as a result we have seen some of the iconic images from that storm on web sites and social media. I have a few pictures that I’ll share here. The other day it was snowing – pretty snow floating to the ground and [...]
USPS Saturday Service Cut: The Revolution Will Not Be Sitting in Your Saturday Mailbox
For as long as anyone alive can remember, the mail has come on Saturday. Since 1863 the mail service has offered delivery six days a week, through rain, snow, sleet or hail! Well, that last bit has softened, and we have already missed one day this winter since our local carrier couldn’t get into our [...]
The Image That Helped NewEgg Crush a Patent Troll
The idea of a ‘patent troll’ has gotten taken way out of context in the past few years, with the Apple-Samsung cases being used by some to state that Apple is a patent troll. But while it could be debated that some of their patents are overly vague, or that they are over-zealous at prosecuting [...]
30 Rock Ends This Thursday; Top Ten Reasons I’ll Miss It!
There are very few sitcoms that can pull off that razor edge of satire and surrealism without teetering into live action cartoon territory. Even fewer can make characters both ridiculous and relatable all at once, but for seven seasons “30 Rock” has managed to nail the satire and the characters. And Thursday, January 31, is, [...]
Check Out Three Excellent Rare John Coltrane Live Performances
One of the amazing things for me about YouTube and Facebook is how folks on Facebook will recommend a YouTube video or site with an embedded video that leads you to something even greater. That happened this morning, as a Facebook friend recommended checking out a stellar John Coltrane version of ‘My Favorite Things’, which [...]
Who Is the 21st Century Salesperson? This Free Publication Offers Insight
It is a new world and in it many traditional jobs are changing. On the list is the work of the salesperson and those looking to sell in the 21st Century need to adapt. This free Forrester White Paper tries to answer the question “Do you know what seller types you have and what it [...]
Lance Armstrong’s Offenses Transcend Cheating, Are More About Abuse and Coercion
Last summer, I wrote about Lance Armstrong saying that he gave into the “need to be seen as better than all others that they are willing to go to any length – and take any number of people with them – to feed their ego-trips and need for adulation. Including cheating, and conspiracy, and use [...]
Are Subway’s ‘Not Quite Footlongs’ the Next Class Action Lawsuit Fodder?
Not too long ago Apple iTunes customers got a voucher for a few dollars based on a settlement from a lawsuit. The lawsuit came after Apple shifted pricing on music from $0.99 per song to a $0.69/$0.99/$1.29 tiered scheme to appease record labels. Suddenly gift cards that said ‘Buy 10 Songs’ would only buy 7 [...]
Bus Shelter Infographic Advises to ‘Stop Being Black’ to Avoid Police Searches
We would like to think we are living in a ‘post racial’ society, where someone would be judged based on their merits rather than the color of their skin or national origin or religion. But we only need look at the last political election to realize that racial and other discrimination issues continue to exist, [...]
In 2013 Thanksgiving and Hanukkah Overlap for the Only Time … Ever
Largely because I am not Jewish, I only vaguely keep up with the Hanukkah calendar on an annual basis. But when Perry shared this link on Facebook recently, I fell in love with the graph and simply had to share it here. Bottom line – Thanksgiving and first day of Hanukkah coincide in 2013 … [...]






















