Twitter Not Just About Lunch

Norm Geras remains baffled at the Twitter phenomenon.  Responding to a column by Nicholas Lezard, Norm asks: (1) Why would I want to record my daily activities for other people to follow? (2) Why would I want to follow the detailed doings of anyone else over the course of a day, and another day, and another day? You, of course, wouldn't. But that's ...

DVR Saving TV

Television executives have figured out that people watching their shows via TiVo-delay is a good thing. Against almost every expectation, nearly half of all people watching delayed shows are still slouching on their couches watching messages about movies, cars and beer. According to Nielsen, 46 percent of viewers 18 to 49 years old for all four networks taken together are watching ...

Neutral on Net Neutrality

Stephen Green is torn on the issue of net neutrality, with his libertarian side thinking Internet service providers ought to be able to "charge what the traffic will bear" on their equipment while his conservative side preferring to preserve a status quo that works well to an unknown future. I'm on the same fence but do agree with Mark Cuban that ...

Web’s Latin-Only Policy Ending

Starting in two weeks, users from countries who don't use the Latin alphabet will find using the Internet much easier, FT reports. Latin script’s monopoly in internet domain names will end next month, a development that could usher in a fresh wave of internet usage from Bulgaria to China. So far, finding web addresses has required some basic familiarity with Latin letters ...

Twitter Memes

Becks observes, "I suspect many Twitter memes that I find annoying (one letter off movie titles, failed children's books, etc.) would have been quite hilarious Unfogged threads." The post title, "The Medium Is The Message," is appropriate.  Several Twitter memes  (created by adding a hashtag such as #failedchildrensbooks) of the sort mentioned can be amusing if one is in the mood.  ...

Google Wave Pulp Fiction

Megan McArdle points me to this amusing video about which  Gizmodo's John Herrmann gushes, "I've read the articles, watched the instructional videos, and gotten an invite, but nothing—nothing—has done more to explain to me how this mind-melting Internet Thing works than Pulp Fiction, spectacularly adapted for Google Wave. (Warning: Tarantino language ahead)" It's an entertaining illustration but, frankly, not one that ...

Regulating Loud Commercials

Peter Suderman and Berin Szoka provide sane, libertarian arguments against the Nanny State regulating the volume of television commercials.  While they both find the longstanding practice where the ads are several decibels higher than the surrounding programming annoying, they nonetheless argue that it's not a matter where government should intervene. Says Suderman, It's easy enough to turn your TV ...

Email Era Over?

"Email has had a good run as king of communications. But its reign is over." So begins a column by Jessica Vascellaro in today's WSJ. We all still use email, of course. But email was better suited to the way we used to use the Internet—logging off and on, checking our messages in bursts. Now, we are always connected, whether ...

Windows 7 Huge Upgrade, Upgrading Impossible

Walter Mossberg says Microsoft's latest operating system, Windows 7, is good enough to help erase memories of the Vista fiasco. Not only is it "the best version of Windows Microsoft has produced" and "a boost to productivity and a pleasure to use" but it's every bit as good as Apple's Snow Leopard. Windows 7 introduces real advances in organizing your ...

Living to 100

A new study finds that living to 100  will soon be commonplace: If current life expectancy trends continue, more than half of babies born in rich nations since 2000 will live to 100 years of age, and they'll have less disability than elderly people in previous generations.  That's the conclusion of researchers who found that increases in life expectancy evident in ...

I Got Nothin’

The combination of a busy day at the office and a slow news day on the domestic policy front have rather limited my blogging today.   Norman Geras knows the feeling: If you're a blogger and you're honest, then you'll admit to the fact that you're often looking for connections. 'Connections?' you ask. Connections. On a day - like many days, after ...

Obnoxious Web Ads

Having run advertising-supported websites myself for several years, I'm appreciative of the need to run ads and get reader clickthroughs. And the mass media is struggling to figure out a sustainable business model. But some of the ads are getting to be too much. Take this one at The Hill: No, not the banner ad on the top.  Or ...

The Neuroscience of “Enhanced Interrogation”

Wired reports that studies show that "enhanced interrogation", far from being a reliable source of information, can actually make someone less of an intelligence asset because the stress involved changes the biochemistry of the brain:“There is a vast literature on the effects of extreme stress on motivation, mood and memory, using both animals and humans,” writes Shane O’Mara, a stress ...

They Don’t Make ‘em Like They Used To

The 1959 Chevy Bel Air, while not quite the iconic classic of its 1955-1957 forebears, is nonetheless a large, muscular vehicle from the Golden Age of the American automobile.  The 2009 Chevy Malibu, by contrast, is a wimpy, nondescript midsize sedan that provides basic transportation but not much more.   Which would you rather crash in?  Right you are: As Robert Farago ...

Google Sports Calendars

When checking my Google calendar this morning, I noticed a tab at the top highlighting "New: Sports Calendars."   Apparently, they actually rolled this out a couple weeks ago: Now, when you look under "Other Calendars," click "Add," then "Browse Interesting Calendars" (or use this link to the Calendar directory), you'll find calendars for hundreds of teams in dozens of sports ...