Culture and Society

I am stating here and now that I would like EVERYONE to comment on ALL my posts from NOW ON. Everyone except spammers, that is. Lolita and your kin – you can take your “Nice site!” lurking kiddie porn URL, light it on fire, and gerbil it.

Though I’m in a pissed off mood today, I still wouldn’t have bothered with this if it weren’t for the overweening smugness, the serene sense of superiority of the poor embattled aesthete forced to deal with affronts to her sensibility: If you have a site named, Blog Critics shouldn’t you …

Computerworld says free Wi-Fi is an effective markeiting tool: Cities and community development organizations across the country have embraced free Wi-Fi to boost economic development and attract visitors to downtown areas. A handful of small airports in the shadow of large hubs offer free Wi-Fi to attract travelers. And Verizon …

If the British “secret transsexual” dating show is a new low in reality TV, this is a new low in spam – fresh out of the box. I shant be clicking any of the links, but note the implicit threat that something will happen if you don’t click over. I …

The inexorable logic of broadband is working its way through the populace: After a quarter marked by DSL price cuts and cable speed boosts, one thing is clear: Broadband use is surging, regardless of what form it takes. Recently released numbers from cable companies and from the Baby Bells who …

We had a pretty great Halloween this year, here and in real life. Once again I thank all Blogcritics who contributed to our Halloween special, which was an artistic and “commercial” success. Thanks to all our linkers, trackbackers and commenters as well. I urge you all to work your way …

Congressman Rick Boucher (D.-Va.), friend of fair use, voices his complaints with the Copyright Office’s ruling on DMCA exemptions, which we mentioned a couple of days ago. As a result of the ruling, Boucher said, “Consumers will continue to be subject to the whims of copyright owners seeking to deny …

So you’re an antisocial type who would rather confer with the disembodied for Halloween – the NY Times has some cool links: For the members of www.masquerade.org, for example, every day is Halloween. In this so-called MUSH – “multi-user shared hallucination” – those who log on portray various types of …

Like it or not, the last five years have seen an explosion of media aimed at infants and very young children. In the guise of education, parents are utilizing the electronic babysitter – TV, video, computer – from birth on. Is this good, bad or indifferent? I’d say the best …

Please recall the DMCA exemption request process in which many of you helped participate – it was essentially all for naught: The U.S. Copyright Office has opted to leave a controversial software-protection law largely in place, despite protests that it interferes with consumers’ rights to watch movies and listen to …