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  • DIGITAL

    Aug 27, 2008, 12:56PM

    RIAA Stirs Up Digital Insurgency

    The Internet's got a funny way of getting even with big media conglomerates. Muxtape, a site set up so that users could share mixes with each other through streaming media (meaning the songs weren't available for download), recently became a target for the RIAA. So, true to form, they threatened the website with legal oblivion and shut it down. Only now the exact same software has reemerged in a peer-to-peer form, meaning that the software they tried to shut down is now both harder to trace and easier to steal music from.

  • DIGITAL

    Aug 27, 2008, 11:12AM

    Colleges Adapting To RIAA

    When the RIAA started cracking down on individual illegal downloading a few years ago, colleges and universities were prime hunting grounds. The combination of college idleness, free Internet access, and basic tech savvy lead to a lot of expensive legal action, something that wasn't in the best interests of the kids or the schools. Here's a look at what colleges are doing to make sure their students don't bring down the wrath of the RIAA.

  • DIGITAL

    Aug 26, 2008, 03:50PM

    Google One Step Closer To Mind Control

    This week Google is rolling out a new and improved "Google Suggest" feature for its search engine that will correct spelling mistakes, complete words and phrases, and deliver eternal happiness. (We think we're kidding about the last bit.) Should we be worried that between searching, Gmail, and YouTube Google acts as a gatekeeper for roughly 94% of all the information we consume?

  • DIGITAL

    Aug 26, 2008, 01:14PM

    Understanding Privacy

    An op-ed in today's Wall Street Journal argues that we've gotten over privacy as a society because most people willingly give away personal information online. After all, do we really care about privacy if we let Amazon track our book preferences? Author Daniel Solove offers an emphatic rebuttal, pointing out that privacy in the digital age is less about the information we share, and more about what is done with that information once it's in the hands of a third party.

  • DIGITAL

    Aug 25, 2008, 03:24PM

    The Olympic Experiment

    NBC hyped their Olympics coverage as a billion dollar research lab for providing video content over multiple digital platforms. Anyone who watched the wide variety of events online participated in a tentative little dip in the online pool for an old media company seeking to harness the power of the Internet. However certain restrictions on content and technology decisions showed that there's still a lot NBC needs to fgure out.

  • DIGITAL

    Aug 22, 2008, 02:47PM

    Specialized Search

    Knowing how to search well is a vital skill for a generation that's growin up online. A few specialized search engines are trying to carve out a niched around the Google behemoth. New search services are specializing in health care information, or providing more visual information. If you've ever gotten frustrated clicking through pages of links on Google, you might be interested in these Custom Search Engines.

  • DIGITAL

    Aug 22, 2008, 12:21PM

    Microsoft Outbranding Apple In 90s Celebrity Endorsements

    Microsoft's been having a tough time in the public relations department, even though they're still dominating the computer market. Their new operating system Vista's been panned, and those Mac commercials make them seem profoundly uncool. So what's the natural marketing response? Hire a comedian who peaked ten years ago and wears turtlenecks. Microsoft announced that Jerry Seinfeld would be their new endorser.

  • DIGITAL

    Aug 21, 2008, 09:23AM

    Think Locally In File Sharing

    Researchers have found that peer-to-peer downloading can affect the efficiency of the Internet if it's conducted between two computers that are far apart geographically. The reason has to do with how different networks interact and transfer data with each other. A solution is being proposed called P4P that would keep shared files local.

  • DIGITAL

    Aug 20, 2008, 01:31PM

    Canadian Digital Rights Under Attack From The South

    Canada, long the target of whimsied gazes from American liberals, has more than just socialized health care to tingle a progressive kid's jollies. In Canada peer-to-peer downloading and file sharing has always been legal, but maybe not for long. Backed by American media companies the conservative party is pushing legislation that will align Canadian digital rights laws with those south of the border.

  • DIGITAL

    Aug 20, 2008, 11:33AM

    RIAA Wins! (But Loses Lots of Money)

    When the RIAA first started flexing some legal muscle in the file-sharing wars, they probably expected to bully a bunch of college students. They've done plenty of that, but they probably didn't account for people like Denise Barker, who fought the RIAA for 3 and a half years over downloading songs from KaZaa. The case was recently settled, with Barker agreeing to pay $6,050 for the songs. Considering they probably spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on legal fees, we're thinking the RIAA didn't exactly get its money's worth.

  • DIGITAL

    Aug 19, 2008, 01:01PM

    Better Business Through Gaming

    The football video game franchise Madden celebrated its 20th anniversary this year, including a mega-release party in Vegas that glorified two decades of cultural over-saturation. But one college professor is out to prove the game it more relevant than you might expect. At the University of Oregon business professor Paul Swangard is planning to use the game's franchise mode to teach students about running a pro team.

    Madden_medium

  • DIGITAL

    Aug 19, 2008, 11:04AM

    MIT Geniuses Ride Subway For Free, Get Censored

    Three MIT students have gotten into a lot of trouble over a recent paper they wrote detailing how to hack the Boston subway's computer system. You'd think printing free fare passes is innocent enough, especially because they never tried to hide their work and intended only to show the flaws in computer security. But the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority is bringing the hammer down on these kids, setting up a legal showdown with open source advocates.

  • DIGITAL

    Aug 18, 2008, 03:26PM

    iPhone Replacing More Than Just Phones

    It was so hip of Apple to open up the iPhone for application development. Now the magic little computer with touch screen can be exploited for all sorts of purposes, like helping you to efficiently keep track of your stitches as you work on that new hat.

    Iphone_medium

  • DIGITAL

    Aug 14, 2008, 01:41PM

    Morbid Fascination

    Once a college writer discovered MyDeathSpace, the website that tracks dead MySpace users, he couldn't turn away for a week. But after realizing that a family shouldn't have to defend their deceased child's life from crazy evangelicals on social networking sites, he stopped going to MyDeathSpace, and he recommends you do the same.

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  • DIGITAL

    Aug 12, 2008, 11:30AM

    Mega Man Is The New Waterboarding

    Mega Man broke new ground in video game technology back when the NES was the only system in town. The biggest innovation was non-linear gameplay, meaning you could choose levels in any order. It was also famous for its soul-crippling difficulty. Here Taco Man plays Mega Man for the first time and slowly devoles into a blabbering mess.

  • DIGITAL

    Jul 30, 2008, 10:32AM

    Hey YouTubers! I Got Censored!

    Here's what happens to an eccentric gay man when YouTube goes corporate and starts enforcing 1984-like "community guidelines." As he explains in this clip, high profile video blogger Zipster was shut down for posting a controversial video, and in response a supportive community went on a guerilla posting campaign to show YouTube that freedom on the Internet cannot be contained, especially when it comes to cross-dressing man boobs.

  • DIGITAL

    Jul 23, 2008, 04:25PM

    Don't Toss That Cellie

    Not everyone is as obstinate as Splice writer Mr. Wrong, but there are still plenty of good reasons to be careful about how you replace your old cell phone. Most phones are shipped off under dubious "recycling" programs to developing countries, where kids will break them down in toxic environments for minuscule amounts of valuable metals. Watch and see the right way to handle technology disposal.

  • DIGITAL

    Jul 03, 2008, 09:41AM

    Don't Spree On That Free MP3

    While the RIAA is suing the mess out of college students this millenium, digital copyright protection didn't used to be so combative. Way back in the 1990s companies tried a softer, hipper approach. We just wish they would bring back MC Double Dare to rap about file-sharing.

  • DIGITAL

    Jul 02, 2008, 09:30AM

    Ghosts Of Machines

    In "Pix," an example of emerging trends in video art, the viewer sees three analog channels processed together into a digital format. The colors from the original images are flattened into blacks, whites, and greys, appearing to the casual eye as static. By presenting the work in a form that we're used to ignoring on screen, the project tests our typical impatience in deciphering a video image.

  • DIGITAL

    Jun 27, 2008, 09:46AM

    A Blog Website For Idiots

    A short mock-umentary about Tumblr, and the sad individuals whose lives revolve around it. Finally, another social networking device that breeds corruption and sucks souls from users' bodies.

    Blogger_medium

  • DIGITAL

    Jun 26, 2008, 01:36PM

    A Puppet's Magical Self-Indulgent Internet Media Adventure

    Ok, imagine if a bunch of important web companies used a narrative device to explain their own status as experts and gatekeepers. If you need help, watch this video and learn how new media isn't as different from old media as you might think.

    Puppet_medium

  • DIGITAL

    Jun 26, 2008, 11:05AM

    At Least You Can Kick Her Head Off

    Some of us are digital connoissuers who brook no sympathy for inadequate use of technology in the pursuit of entertainment. Here one such man rips to shreds the Bram Stoker Dracula video game from 1993, proving once again that the ridiculously lame can always be redeemed by its mockability.

  • DIGITAL

    Jun 05, 2008, 04:59PM

    Video For Those Who Really Care About Audio

    1984: What a time to be alive. A time when Devo and Ray Charles could come together to tell you about the joys of brand-new Pioneer Laserdisc technology. Just think--you can watch Sophie's Choice whenever you want! This a video you can watch and watch and watch and watch. And watch.

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