Lifestyle posts

It has become fashionable to bash 3D. Most recently, Roger Ebert came out and said that the case is over: 3D film is no good and never will be. There are many good reasons to call out 3D as a technology. Having to wear glasses is both annoying and expensive. Standards are yet to be fixed. And in the cinema, 3D dulls the picture. But for all its flaws, once 3D’s technical hurdles are overcome, it will flourish. The reason for that is that 3D is the right technology for the 21st century. But before we get to why, a little background. The History of Art Forms Each age in history develops forms of entertainment…

Technology will always be a generational thing with the twenty- and thirty-somethings of any particular time-period leading the way and watching their early adoptions spread to younger and older people. It’s just the way of speed – those with money and technological know-how try it first and lead the way for the rest. This graphic by our friends at SiteJabber breaks down the generational gaps and demonstrates how people are using the web. The important thing to take away here: everyone is using the web. Young, old, big, small – it doesn’t matter. The world is getting webby, and not in the Spiderman…

As the need for tech-savvy young people entering the work force increases exponentially, the need for the American education system to improve and keep up with the trends skyrockets. Who is doing well and who is failing? This graphic breaks down the grades for each state. How is your state doing? Do you pass or fail? Education is the key to the future. It’s a statement that hangs on many politician’s campaign tongues but often doesn’t come through in the way of results. Perhaps sending this graphic to your state representatives can help. Via: MyCollegesAndCareers…

It has become common wisdom that retail stores that carry physical media – CDs, books, movies in particular – are, to use the scientific term, “toast”. And indeed, whatever is being said, physical media stores are going through an upheaval: in the U.S. Borders seems barely solvent; in the U.K, Waterstones and HMV are shutting stores. It’s a pattern being repeated everywhere. Around the wealthy parts of the world, retailers who trade in old media are struggling. But they aren’t dead. Or, at the very least, they don’t have to die. There are steps that can be taken so they can save themselves. It won’t…

Just in time for next month’s Verizon iPhone release, we present to you a bit of thought-provoking, guilt-tripping data. In this graphic by InfographicWorld was created for iAmGreen and brings to light some of the questions that nobody asks but everyone should. What happens to all of those cell phones that we simply stop using after we move on to the latest and greatest? How much power does it take to keep all of these cell phones running? Is it likely that this graphic will make you toss out (in the recycling bin, of course) your cell phones and go back to the age of landlines? Of course not, but it makes…

Join in on the Facebook Discussion on this topic. When it comes to the Internet, the US government usually doesn’t have a clue. That seems to be the case with the recent announcement of the Obama Administration’s plans to develop an internet identity system that officials claim will reduce fraud and identity theft while streamlining online transactions. Cut to the chase: the National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace (NSTIC) is a bad idea. On the surface having something that will increase online transactions and reduce identity theft makes (some) sense. Security is the #1 reason…

The scene was one familiar to many tech geeks. It was after the launch of Netflix’s PS3 app, and I, breathlessly, excitedly, couldn’t wait to show my parents, who had a PS3 under their TV too. “Look!”, I said “you can watch an unlimited number of movies! There are new ones and classics and documentaries… trust me, you’ll love this.” My father’s brown furrowed a little. “Okay,” he said skeptically. “What do I have to do?” “Oh, it’s easy, I said. First, switch the input on the TV. Then pick up this remote and – well, you see that button with ‘P’ on it, press that. Okay, then see that circle pad? Use that to…

There is no question that there are a ton of planes in the sky at any given point. Understanding just how crowded the skies are requires more than just a bird’s-eye view, so someone took a satellite-camera view and turned it into a nifty video. As the shadow of night passes over the different continents, it’s clear that flight patterns are based upon the sun. Many flights leave the US east coast in the middle of the night, flying against the shadow to land in Europe at dawn. Heading west, there seems to be no reason to go against the shadow, so the vast majority of congestion in the air happens from morning…

It’s no secret that many of us who work in an office with a computer spend a good portion of our time doing things that are “less than productive.” Twitter, Zynga, online Fantasy Football – there are so many things polluting our work experience that we not available to us less than a decade ago. SocialCast explores the relationships between how we waste our time in the office when it tries to answer the question of whether the 8-hour workday is productive or pointless. It’s a good questi0n that seems to become more relevant as time goes on. With many experts recommending against blocking sites like…

What started as an online diary for lonely people to express their thoughts to nobody in particular (or in some cases, nobody at all) has grown into one of the most powerful aspects of the Internet. For many, it’s where we get our news rather than from mainstream media. For others, it’s become a full-time job that pays the bills through advertising and sponsorships. Some blogs are worth millions. This graphic by Flowtown illustrates a time line of where we’ve been and where we are now. Have bloggers evolved to their ultimate state as alternative journalists, public relations portals for businesses,…