Asimov’s Future
Here’s a little bit of trivia for you ever-curious readers. Do you guys remember a noted author by the name of Isaac Asimov? No? Well, way back in 1964 he … wait. Do you guys remember 1964? OK, don’t worry about it. Just know that it was a long, long time ago just after the […]
Just Another Surf and Tell
Ah, the Internet. She’s such a complicated gal, ain’t she? This all-knowing lady (who’s won Miss Cyberspace for 25 years straight now) seems to have it all. With her we can telecommute, we can visit interactive libraries and go to multimedia classrooms, we can buy whatever we need or sell whatever we don’t, we can […]
Print Me a DB4, Shaken, Not Stirred
So you’ve always wanted to feel like James Bond behind the wheel of a vintage Aston Martin, but you’ve never quite been able to scratch up the several hundred thou to pay for it, huh? Well, you’re not alone. But in today’s age of Internet connectivity and 3-D printers, you may still have an option. […]
The App That Gives You What You Need Before You Need It
With all the responsibilities piling up on your desk—all the hundreds of emails, tweets, texts and other electronic missives that are inundating you and all the appointments you’ve got to keep—I’ll bet you wish you had your own personal assistant, don’t you? Someone who could sort through all that vital and sometimes completely useless garbage […]
The Peril of Juvenoia (And What You Can Do About It)
My bloggy friends, today I’ve got a new word for you: juvenoia. OK, you won’t find the term in the dictionary. But it was coined not all that long ago by a sociology professor named David Finkelhor and essentially means: “An exaggerated fear of the detrimental impact of social change on our kids.” When he […]
Hey, Wimp, Go Big or Go Home
The word is out, Plugged In readers. You are what handheld device you use. Seriously. There were some researchers at Harvard’s Business School who recently started wondering whether or not the type of screened device people regularly utilized—you know, a smartphone, a tablet, a laptop, etc.—might have some direct connection to that person’s assertiveness. And […]
The Mess That Wouldn’t Stick
Hey gang. You know I like to bring you notice of new, and sometimes quirky, products from time to time. And sometimes, even if they don’t have a direct Plugged In media-consumption angle, I can’t help waving them in your face. Well, I’ve got a doozy for you today. It’s called “NeverWet.” After we spotted […]
Just One More Selfie For the Record
With the digital age upon us, it appears that everything is in flux. Even the venerable old photograph—an art form that was birthed way back in the 1830s and has remained pretty constant ever since—is changing in some pretty dramatic ways nowadays. Cameras. Film. Photo albums. Gathering friends and family for some commemorative shots. Those […]
Unreal Reality Television (Courtesy PBS)
If you happen to think that reality TV has pushed things to ridiculous extremes, you’re not alone. I’m certainly with you. And, guess what? So is PBS. Like us, a New York Public Broadcasting Service affiliate was obviously tired of all the crazy drunken-teen- swamp-faring-croc-hunting-mom shows that seem to populate nearly every network’s lineup. And […]
The All-in-One Matrix
The Xbox One is a-comin’. This latest-gen gaming console is scheduled to officially hit the store shelves sometime this fall. And now that the media dust has settled, some of you have probably heard at least something about it. If you’re a gamer, hey, you’ve probably been searching out little clues and hints about the […]