Offbeat posts

What if every wall in your home was a digital display? What if your kitchen table would set itself and also be a touchscreen-enabled entertainment device. What if your kitchen counters were “smart” enough to know what items were on it and had the ability to react accordingly, keeping coffee cups warm and iced-tea cold? These are some of the questions that Microsoft asked when designing what they consider to be the “home of the future.” If it seems very much like Star Trek, only better in many ways, many would agree. The difference is that all of this is possible in the early 21st century, well ahead of…

Normally when blogs talk about link-building, they’re referring to an SEO activity that involves spamming forums, article directories, and comment threads. This type of link-building is bad. Out friends at IGN give us a different kind of link-building to watch. It doesn’t matter whether you’re a gamer or not – Link from the Legend of Zelda series is probably at least familiar if not recognizable to you. He has been around since the dawn of modern gaming and will likely fill our Nintendo-console screens for years to come. If you ever wanted to learn how to draw him, here you go. …

Trolls. We all love them. We all hate them. They are entertaining when we aren’t the victim, but when they focus on us, they can make us want to cry. There are things that you can do to fight them. We’re here to help. First, you must identify them. Getting into a conversation with one can lead to a trap if you don’t know what you’re getting into. Once identified, you have to take control of the situation and lead the direction of the conversation. Finally, you need to know when to fight back and when to walk away. This graphic breaks it down for us and shows how to keep it all under “con-troll”. Click to enlarge….

They have taken down websites representing banks, religions, and governments. Now, if a recent video is authentic, Anonymous has its sights set on the most powerful social network in the world: Facebook. Here is a partial transcript of the video: Attention Citizens of the World, We are Anonymous. We wish to get your attention hoping you heed the warnings as follows. Your medium of communication you all so dearly adore will be destroyed. If you’re a willing activist or a guy who just wants to protect the freedom of information then join the cause and kill Facebook for the sake of your own privacy….

Verizon customers who have land line phones, internet, and FiOS television services will be affected by the strike of 45,000 phone technicians, customer service representatives, and cable installation representatives. Verizon Wireless customers will not be affected. The strike, which began this morning, centers around failed contract negotiations between the tech firm and the two unions representing the strikers: Communication Workers of America (CWA) and International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW). Both unions are rallying on the streets as well online with their…

Network television has owned the airwaves for decades and shows no signs of slowing despite the increased popularity of challengers such as online streaming video. In a world where many are declaring traditional television dead, the market has grown 0.2% year over year. It’s not much, but it’s still on the positive side. Streaming video, on the other hand, grew over 35% in the same time frame. Is it conceivable that YouTube, Hulu, and the like can eventually overtake traditional television as the primary media source? That’s the question that our friends at Wistia posed in the infographic below….

There have been many renditions of fights between Street Fighter primary characters Ken and Ryu. Cartoons, CGI, even real-life movies have been used to portray the fight between the two evenly-matched combatants. The one below may be the most creative one yet. Using a Nikon D5100 sent as a sponsorship tool, YouTube user counter656 uploaded the video today and it’s already starting to make its rounds. …

Despite being the most used form of online communication, email has major drawbacks. Since the dawn of spam, email has grown to become both our most used asset as well as our most despised necessity. Many have gone away from it (myself included), only having it available as a last resort when people refuse to use more civilized forms of online communication. And yet, email continues to dominate much of our online lives. This infographic by our friends at Ccloop discusses the history of email and breaks down the 4 biggest announces: Attachment Chaos The Great Flood Super Spam Forgetful Forwards…

A very large majority of people on the internet are using social media in one way or another. It’s surrounding us and we’re rallying around it. Businesses have been tapping into this growing industry for years and it has reached a tipping point to where social is encompassing business and becoming the primary tool used by many. This infographic by our friends at GetSatisfaction breaks down the current and gives us a view to the future of the segment. Will we be using Google+ and Facebook to pump out most of our marketing and customer interaction in the near future? Some already are. Click to enlarge….

In the 21st century, most people are aware that there are little creatures living in or on everything that we touch, eat, and breath. Microbes are a fact of life that many ignore simply because we can’t do a lot about it. We try to stay clean, use antibacterial soap, and wash things that come in contact with food, but what about our beds? Again, it’s something that we ignore. A recent study by SleepBetter took a look at pillows and mattress pads that are being used by college students across the US. Bacteria, yeast, fungus – yep, they’re all there. While nobody is suggesting that we bleach our beds every…