A great deal of ink has been devoted over the last few days to the leaked nude photos of young female celebrities. I’m not going to devote a great deal of time here to discussing how the leak is related to rape culture. That has been covered very well elsewhere. Suffice it to say, for…
What you should know about Ebola (+video)
Viruses are scary things. Some of them are deadly but they are very small and invisible to the naked eye. The only defenses against them, even in states where you can openly carry firearms, are good hygiene, vaccines and your body’s natural defenses. That means that there is no way to be 100% sure that…
You won’t believe how mind blowing this video about clickbait is!
As someone who writes for what I, increasingly inaccurately, refer to as a ‘living’ I understand the temptations of clickbait, but try very hard not to engage in the practice – no matter how ‘Upworthy’ I believe a story may be. What I find even more disturbing is a recent trend to sensationalize headlines to…
Anti-social media is finally coming: Apps to help you hide from people
According to Scientific American it’s the “Greatest invention in human history”, apps that use GPS to help you hide from people, or at least avoid certain people: “The Cloak app, for example, collects location info from Instagram and Foursquare to let you know where your so-called “friends” are—so that you never have to see them.…
Why Facebook is not really “new media” anymore
In the old days, of old media, consumers options were limited, nothing was customizable or interactive, content producers held all the cards and becoming a content producer required large sums of money. In the 1980s and 90s you could record a few programs to watch later on your VCR, video on demand required a trip…
John Oliver’s ‘Last Week Tonight’ coming to HBO starting April 27
There is some sort of US Department of Homeland Security restricting the number of Brits who can be on American television. Fortunately, CNN fired Piers Morgan which opened up a spot for John Oliver (Daily Show, Community). Starting April 27, Oliver will bring you all the news you need, when you need it. That is…
UStream Offers Free Pro Accounts to Citizen Journalists
Streaming video has become an invaluable tool for journalism. Traditional media outlets may not be able to get to a particular location, with professional equipment in a timely manner but anyone with a broadband internet connection and a phone can now show the world what is happening. Now, according to GlobalVoices, the streaming video service…
A ‘New’ CNN Might Not Be a Bad Thing
There was quite a bit of fuss on Twitter today about the changes Jeff Zucker might bring to CNN. ”After almost a year of tinkering, CNN Worldwide President Jeff Zucker has concluded that a news channel cannot subsist on news alone. So he is planning much broader changes for the network—including a prime-time shakeup that’s…
If You Are Also Using Controlled Substances, This is the Rob Ford Update You Want
When the folks at Taiwanese NMAWorldEdition report a story, they don’t seem to play by the same rules as Western news organizations, but they do make it entertaining and it’s hard to miss their points, even without speaking the language.
1977 BBC News Special on the Dangers of Punk Rock
This BBC special on the ‘dangers’ of punk rock is probably more entertaining now than it was in 1977. It features, among others, DJ John Peel (of ‘the Peel Sessions’) and Pete Shelley of the Buzzcocks. It also features of panel of British clergy and other defenders of propriety to warn you of the dangers…