Stop Your Crusade, Internet — This Isn’t Justice, It’s an Inquisition
Monday, 13th May 2013Posted in Industry
Tags: crowdfunding, harassment, indiegogo, internet, n4g, reddit
Written by: R Bryant Francis
Fair warning, this story is going to get complicated and messy. And due to the dark nature of the inciting incident, I’m putting a trigger warning at the top of the article for discussion of suicide and sexual harassment. There are a lot of tough issues at the heart of this tragedy, and to be honest, I’m not going to come out of this thing with an answer to any of the problems I’m about to show you.
But dammit internet. We’ve got to talk about this stuff. Continue reading “Stop Your Crusade, Internet — This Isn’t Justice, It’s an Inquisition” »
How An Always Online Next Gen Xbox Polarizes Potential Install Base
Tuesday, 9th April 2013Posted in Industry
Tags: Adam Orth, broadband, connection, hardware, internet, Major Nelson, microsoft, ms, next-gen, xbox
Written by: Craig Hunter
Rumors have been surfacing all over the internet lately that the next Xbox will require players to be connected to the internet at all times, something that has many gamers and critics concerned. Although there may not be anything inherently bad about always online experiences, the idea that the console itself must be, presents a number of different problems as I’m sure you can imagine.
For one there are many different regions of the world where broadband internet connections aren’t reliable. We are talking about both more remote regions as well fully developed city centers. Even parts of major cities like New York and Los Angeles experience random internet black-outs with no forewarning.
Continue reading “How An Always Online Next Gen Xbox Polarizes Potential Install Base” »
Iceland On Mission to Ban Internet Porn; Will it Do More Harm Than Good?
Friday, 15th February 2013Posted in Offbeat
Tags: ban, children, country, hardcore, Iceland, internet, pornography
Written by: Jeff Nau
Follow @jeffnau
Apparently Iceland Interior Minister Ögmundur Jónasson isn’t satisfied with his home country’s ban on the printing and circulation of pornography. Now he’s taking extra steps to ensure that, in addition, Internet pornography ceases to exist.
While such a move in the U.S. would no doubt entail hours and billions in legal and fiscal complications, Jónasson’s seriously close to executing his plan — and he’s got plenty of lawmakers to back him up. Continue reading “Iceland On Mission to Ban Internet Porn; Will it Do More Harm Than Good?” »
Teen Girls Drug Parents’ Milkshakes — So They Can Use the Internet Past Curfew
Monday, 7th January 2013Posted in Offbeat
Tags: curfew, internet, milkshakes, parents, police, Rocklin, sleeping pills
Written by: Jeff Nau
Follow @jeffnau
Two Northern California teen girls have been arrested after one of the minors drugged her parents’ milkshakes.
According to Rocklin, CA police, the two were later found to have crushed up sleeping pills and slipped them into the milkshakes one had bought for her parents at a fast food restaurant, just so they could access the Internet past their 10 P.M. curfew. Continue reading “Teen Girls Drug Parents’ Milkshakes — So They Can Use the Internet Past Curfew” »
Google: Now Reading Your Thoughts And Predicting Video Game Sales With 84% Accuracy
Wednesday, 26th September 2012Posted in Blog Archive, Gaming, News
Tags: data, google, google and gaming, internet, research, search results
Written by: Paul Nyhart
Can Google predict video game sales? You mean…can the site that possesses every bit of information on nearly every user from California to Kazakhstan predict whether a video game is going to be successful?
Put it that way and it certainly seems plausible, but new research from google indicates just HOW powerful their search engine results are in determining video games sales — particularly which games will do well.
The recent report “Understanding The Modern Gamer” (published via Google) analyzed “hundreds of millions” of searches related to the top 20 best-selling video games Continue reading “Google: Now Reading Your Thoughts And Predicting Video Game Sales With 84% Accuracy” »
SWAT Team Raids Wrong Home, Scares Family Sh!tless, Wrong Wifi Signal to Blame
Friday, 29th June 2012Posted in Blog Archive, Offbeat
Tags: internet, swat team, wifi, wrong house
Written by: Paul Nyhart
Follow @paulnyhart
In Evansville, Indiana, home of the Purple Aces and the West Side Nut Club Fall Festival, a SWAT team accidentally raided the wrong home after tracking an open Home WiFi signal.
Law enforcement was picking up threats perpetrated against the local Police forces over the internet, and subsequently tracked the signals to what they thought was the scene of the crime.
They went in like a freight train, dropping flashbangs and the whole nine yards, only to discover a family who thought they were under attack (or at skipped a line on their taxes). Continue reading “SWAT Team Raids Wrong Home, Scares Family Sh!tless, Wrong Wifi Signal to Blame” »
CYBER SECURITY Bill Allows Companies To Hand Your Information Over To The Government
Thursday, 26th April 2012Posted in Blog Archive, Keeping it Real
Tags: bill, cispa, cyber security act, internet, SOPA
Written by: Paul Nyhart
A new bill passed by the House of Representatives will give private companies the ability to exchange confidential information with the Federal Government.
The bill is titled The Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act and is designed to “defend U.S. networks against cyber attack.”
The bill passed despite heat from the Obama Administration to veto the legislation, saying the “bill Continue reading “CYBER SECURITY Bill Allows Companies To Hand Your Information Over To The Government” »
Are Jerks The Future of The Internet?
Tuesday, 3rd April 2012Posted in Blog Archive
Tags: bullying, infographic, internet, jerks
Written by: Paul Nyhart
If SOPA said anything, it’s that jerks are trying to destroy the future of the internet, not that they are the future in and of itself.
But hold the phone, an infographic is now involved, and it portends that the internet (social media) is paving the road for jerk-offs to flourish. The following stats coming from onlincounselingdegrees.net and reaction, from yours truly.
According to the photo, 33.2 million teenagers in America use social media, 90% of which are on facebook. A reported 15% report “meanness”, something that on the surface a) seems tough to measure and given that b) sounds awfully low. Continue reading “Are Jerks The Future of The Internet?” »
Racist Troll Handed Prison Sentence For Angry Tweets
Wednesday, 28th March 2012Posted in Blog Archive
Tags: british, epithet, internet, muamba, racist, troll, tweet, Twitter
Written by: Jeff Nau
Follow @jeffnau
As opposed to the guy from Wales whom, a couple of months ago, unabashedly made a habit out of racist trolling on the Internet — proudly dissing the dead, saying horrible, racist things about the innocent, and then getting away with it (not to mention shamelessly and aggressively confronting the journalist who hunted him down) – another racist troll has been handed a sentence and begun serving time, for similar acts.
This time it was another UK-based man, 21 year-old Liam Stacey, who hurled racial epithets at Fabrice Muamba, a player for Continue reading “Racist Troll Handed Prison Sentence For Angry Tweets” »
People Spend 15 minutes A Day Watching Porn (And Other Internet Facts That Might Be Lowballed)
Monday, 5th March 2012Posted in Blog Archive
Tags: graphic, internet, social media
Written by: Paul Nyhart
Of all the facebook posts, tweets, e-mails, download requests, and push notification that enter into our daily lives, a graphic like the one below probably doesn’t seem too surprising. But consider that roughly a decade ago none of these numbers could even have existsed — simply because the technology wasn’t even created.
Today the internet not only exists, it dominates our lives. But how much does the internet consume the everyday individual? How much porn do we watch? How many old TV shows? How many photos of ourselves do we upload?
The answer is somewhere in between “a lot” and “too many.” Continue reading “People Spend 15 minutes A Day Watching Porn (And Other Internet Facts That Might Be Lowballed)” »
Man Sells Locked Safe for $123, Buyer Finds $26,000 Inside
Tuesday, 21st February 2012Posted in Blog Archive, Offbeat
Tags: combination, EBay, floor, internet, james lebrecque, lot, safe, unit
Written by: Jeff Nau
James Lebrecque is being called a lot of things on the Internet right now, but perhaps the most deserving among them is “poor bastard.”
Turns out James was owner of a big-ass, locked floor safe, and decided to sell it on eBay for approximately $123. Via Geekologie, the ebay ad posted by James read as follows:
“WHAT YOU SEE IS WHAT YOU GET. NOTHING MORE AND NOTHING LESS. HERE IS A MAJOR FLOOR OR IN GROUND SAFE. IT LOOKS LIKE TO BE A 7″ DOOR MEASURED ACROSS. IT IS A COMBINATION LOCK UNIT… I DID NOT GET THE COMBINATION FOR THE UNIT .SO YOU WILL HAVE TO CONTACT THE MAJOR SAFE COMPANY TO GET THE COMBINATION OR FIND SOMEONE THAT CAN OPEN THE UNIT UP. Continue reading “Man Sells Locked Safe for $123, Buyer Finds $26,000 Inside” »
Is The Internet a RESOURCE or a PRODUCT…WHO Should Get To Use It?
Tuesday, 7th February 2012Posted in Technology
Tags: access, americans, broadband, comparison, data, FCC, internet, National Broadband Plan, resource
Written by: Craig Hunter
Currently the internet accounts for 21 percent of economic growth in developed nations — that’s more than energy, mining, or agriculture.
Given that, many americans are unaware there are over 100 million US households still lacking broadband internet access, and 46 percent of the “poorest households” are without access to a basica computer.
In comparison, only 4 percent of the world’s richest choose to NOT have a computer. Continue reading “Is The Internet a RESOURCE or a PRODUCT…WHO Should Get To Use It?” »
Justin Bieber Jailed In YouTube Videos? Here’s Why You Should Care
Thursday, 20th October 2011Posted in Blog Archive, Online Video, Pop Culture
Tags: bieber, charge, companies, content, internet, legislation, videos
Written by: Paul Nyhart
Written By Paul Nyhart
We all know that it’s practically matter of time before online video content becomes one of, if not the most dominant entertainment mediums in modern culture. It’s growing at a rate that we can barely control, and most recently, legislation has been passed to try and control the content that the everyday computer user (dare we say 99%) can stream.
Justin Bieber, you know that one guy from the baby video, put together some promotional content AGAINST the legislation. The official name of the U.S. Senate Bill is S. 978, which would make it a felony to stream unlicensed content 10 TIMES during any 180-day period, which also has a total economic value of at least $2,500.
Currently, if a criminal is selling pirated DVDs or CDs on a street corner, and they’re worth at least $2500, it is a felony. But if that same person is in their basement and felony streaming movies or books, whatever they could do Continue reading “Justin Bieber Jailed In YouTube Videos? Here’s Why You Should Care” »
Axe Cop: The Comic Written By a 6 Year Old, Drawn By His 30 Year Old Brother
Friday, 2nd September 2011Posted in Blog Archive, Pop Culture
Tags: axe, axe cop brothers, brother, comic, cop, internet
Written by: Paul Nyhart
For those of you deeply entrenched in the world of comics, you may be fully aware of Axe Cop, the comic series “written by a 6 year old and drawn by his 30 year old brother.”
For those of you who are unfamiliar with Axe Cop and think it must be a police cyborg who patrols the streets of an Orwellian universe in the future (you’re getting warmer) allow this to be a brief introduction into one of the most unique comics in the industry.
Axe Cop arose when graphic novelist Ethan Nicolle was playing pretend with his (at the time) five year old brother Malachai Nicolle, back in 2009. Ethan was already well know for Continue reading “Axe Cop: The Comic Written By a 6 Year Old, Drawn By His 30 Year Old Brother” »
Google Fined 500 Million for ‘Pill Popping’, How Wrong Are They?
Thursday, 25th August 2011Posted in Blog Archive, Pop Culture, Technology
Tags: controversy, drugs, fined. adwords, google, internet, pill problem
Written by: Paul Nyhart
Proof that the US Government is fearing a Google-World Takeover, the feds fined the internet giant 500 million for allowing Canadian pharmacies to advertise prescription drugs to U.S. residents.
The fine doesn’t exactly come as a surprise to shareholders, who in the spring were told that google was setting aside 500 million to pay a fine–which is roughly 20% of their earnings Continue reading “Google Fined 500 Million for ‘Pill Popping’, How Wrong Are They?” »
It’s official: The Internet can move faster than an Earthquake
Wednesday, 24th August 2011Posted in Blog Archive, Technology
Tags: earthquake, internet, seismic waves, tweets, Twitter, xkcd
Written by: R Bryant Francis
courtesy of www.xkcd.com
By R. Bryant Francis
Our East Coast fans may have been shaked, rattled and rolled by an Earthquake yesterday that stretched from the epicenter in Virginia as far north as upstate New York–but what you may not know is that the tweets about the earthquake may have reached you before the earthquake itself.
Several sites documented the recorded time of posted tweets versus the actual time of Earthquakes hitting further away locations such as New York or North Carolina. Check out this tweet from a guy who allegedly saw his friends in DC tweeting about the Earthquake before it hit New York.
Personally, this writer found himself watching his entire room shake like a Tyrannosaurus Rex was barreling his way and bolted for the nearest door frame–no time to tweet when the damn house is falling apart!
What was your earthquake experience like–did you feel the earth move beneath you, if you will?
#Thoughtsongaming: Is Internet Access a Human Right?
Monday, 22nd August 2011Posted in Blog Archive, Technology
Tags: access, comcast, freedom, gadhafi, geeks, human right, human rights, internet, ISPs, libya, tripoli, UN, united nations
Written by: R Bryant Francis
By R. Bryant Francis
It’s 2011. We’re able to conceive and execute functional robotic limbs for the price of a small car. Our cars can be hacked by Android-wielding security experts. And the internet has changed the way we perceive the value of content and goods.
So it’s time to ask a question belonging to a new age, and a new future for humanity. Is internet access an undeniable, fundamental human right? Continue reading “#Thoughtsongaming: Is Internet Access a Human Right?” »
Sorry Gizmodo, The Internet Did Not Lie to Us
Thursday, 28th July 2011Posted in Blog Archive, Pop Culture, Technology
Tags: charge, content, Freddie, Freddie Wong, Freddiew, Gizmodo, Guild, internet, Men, Mercury, Mercury Men, pay, The Guild, Wong
Written by: R Bryant Francis
FREE. FOREVER
By R. Bryant Francis
Brian Barrett over at Gizmodo wrote a post talking about the nature of “free” content on the internet, and how we should get used to the notion of subscribing and paying for things like the New York Times, TV Shows, and other things we’re used to getting for either free or with the basic cover charge that is internet access. I recommend you read it, mainly for his argument that the internet as we knew it Continue reading “Sorry Gizmodo, The Internet Did Not Lie to Us” »
I need a drink: Netflix and Comcast both make Bad Decisions
Wednesday, 13th July 2011Posted in Blog Archive
Tags: culture, internet, netflix, tech
Written by: R Bryant Francis
Guys, say it with me. The future of the internet, will be in the delivery of cheap content, at high speeds, with payments seemingly “invisible” to users. We got that, right? So why on earth are two Internet giants dropping the ball today like Lebron in the fourth quarter?
It's okay Lebron, we'll all forget about this soon
So, we’ve got two bits of news here. First: Netflix. Netflix announced 60% price increases today and shifted a lot of their plans around. Their single DVD plan now will coast you $9.99/month, (previously about how much their DVD+Streaming cost), and DVD+Streaming now will cost $15.98/month. Streaming-only is going to be $7.99/month…you get the picture.
So why the change? Weeeell there were rumbling lately about Sony pulling its movies from Netflix after a certain term of their contact was reached. Now that Netflix is dominating bandwidth across North America, it’s likely that Cable providers are strong-arming the streaming service in order to make sure live TV doesn’t go the way of the Dinosaur. Fan-TASTIC idea boys! ‘Cause making something more expensive is TOTALLY going to drive customers to the more-expensive-and-less convenient service instead of Piracy.
Ugh. So, unfortunately today, that’s the boring news. Here’s the good stuff.
This story making the rounds of the web is a potential vision of Draconian internet laws to come. Blogger Andre Vrignaud recently had his service cut off from Comcast for a year. The reason? He’d violated his 250 gb/mo data cap—twice. But how did he violate it, you ask? It wasn’t pirating tons of software. It wasn’t downloading mountains of Porn. No, he violated it by legally using all his streaming services and cloud-uploading services, the latter of which shotgunned his bandwidth usage and shot him past the cap. (He was syncing .RAW and other big file size formats to multiple clouds and servers.)
And because of that, Comcast saw fit to deny him internet for a year. And in his area, there are no other ISPs. This man is without internet.
Is that the future we want? Where companies can just kill our internet just because we’re using our services legally? Because that 250gb per month also includes uploading files?
I do not think so.
Facebook Search Warrants: Yep. They’re Real.
Tuesday, 12th July 2011Posted in Pop Culture, Technology
Tags: culture, Facebook, internet, social networks, tech
Written by: R Bryant Francis
Talk about a good time to jump to Google Plus! (Though they can probably search that too, come to think of it.) Police and law enforcement agencies across the nation, according to a recent Reuters news report, are gaining warrants to access people’s Facebook accounts, going after everything from your latest status update to the time you turned down that creepy girl’s friend request (if it can happen once…)
NOT WORTH IT DUDE, NOT WORTH IT
Don’t sweat it though—the authorities aren’t looking to tear into every single Facebook account, these warrants were issued in ongoing investigations for a variety of different departments, with the accused crimes ranging from Arson to Continue reading “Facebook Search Warrants: Yep. They’re Real.” »
Recent Posts
- Final Fantasy Inspired SOUL SAGA Is a “Love Letter” To JRPG Classics
- Over 70,000 Sign Petition Demanding THE DIVISION For PC (Probably Isn’t Going To Happen)
- Saints Row IV Is Probably The Craziest F#$king Game You’ll Play This Year
- This Week in Gaming History: Video Game Cartoons
- Ray’s The Dead Developer Tells us About Being On Stage At PS4 E3 Briefing and Sony’s New Indie Focus
- Bayonetta Gets A Haircut, Men Inexplicably Begin Crying/Complaining
- 6 Games From E3 I Can’t Stop Talking About (Also, Oculus Rift Are You Freaking Kidding Me!?)
- I Wish Gaming Would Teach Me How To Be A Dad
- Former SOCOM Creative Director David Sears Talks Spiritual Successor and PS4
- Virtuix Omni Takes On E3 + Exclusive Images