News and Views
Five Reasons to Play Tabletop Role-playing Games
It would seem that, with the proliferation of computer games based on popular pen and paper platforms like Dungeons & Dragons, Pathfinder, Cyberpunk, and others, the days of playing these games in person with friends are coming to a close. Bags of 20-sided dice, stacks of resource books and handwritten notes, and worn battle mats [...]
Abraham Lincoln Invented Facebook, and Other Popular Hoaxes
Internet hoaxes come and go every day, but only a handful of these carefully crafted shenanigans spread like a virus, becoming the top story on major news aggregates such as Hackerne.ws and Digg. Even more controlled news sites ran the Abraham Lincoln story, not wanting to be left behind in this quick-to-print news cycle we [...]
The Advantages of Being Polylingual
As I read the New York Times article Why bilinguals are smarter, I thought that I could tackle this subject with a different approach. It might be a little discriminating to argue that those who speak more than one language are smarter. Many have the will, but not the means to learn a new language. [...]
How to Create Your Own Portal 2 Test Chambers
I can’t remember when the last time was that a game had as much impact on geek culture as the Portal series. Perhaps Half-Life came pretty close, which explains why Valve is such a powerful force in the gaming world today. Speaking of today, Portal 2 has received a free update that allows players to [...]
Five Reasons to Switch to a Hybrid Car
With rising fuel costs and concerns for the environment as high as ever, the time has never been more right to switch to a hybrid car. Hybrid vehicles are powered with a combination of gas and electricity to reduce fuel consumption and limit emissions. Through the use of electricity, hybrids significantly reduce the amount of [...]
How Google Chrome Can Help You Learn a New Language
Google has produced a new extension for Google Chrome, and this one could help you learn a new language. It’s called Language Immersion for Chrome by Use All Five, Inc., and this extension allows you to select a language other than your own and configure the immersion level you wish to apply to pages as [...]
Email Marketing with MailChimp: the Good and the Bad
MailChimp is an email marketing service that enables users to create email newsletter campaigns for their business. That’s not all though, as MailChimp offers a range of other services including announcement tools and bulk email plans. MailChimp comes with many unique and easy-to-use features, which we’ll be taking a look at in this review. Features [...]
Open Source Weight Loss: Will You Join Me?
For those of you who read LockerGnome for the tech news, this article might not be your cup of tea. If you are a part of the LockerGnome community and would like to participate in a year-long experiment how technology can assist us in living healthier lives, this may be an article worth adding to [...]
Why Oracle Might Doom Software as We Know It
Yesterday, the Internet was alight with the latest news from the Oracle vs. Google lawsuit. If you haven’t heard, Oracle is accusing Google of breaching copyright and using components of its Java programming language and APIs in Android without appropriate licensing. Yesterday, the jury ruled that Google did in fact breach copyright. Does this spell [...]
Uploading to Box (Formerly Box.net) Using Windows Explorer
I have had a Box.net (now known as Box) account since late 2011, when it kindly gave new customers 50 gigabytes of space on its servers for free. I realized recently that I was letting all of this space go to waste, and decided to start putting it to use. With this goal in mind, [...]
