Technically Incorrect

When a pioneer of social networking turns his back on a social network, is this the beginning of a creeping social apocalypse?

Trent Reznor, frontman of Nine Inch Nails, Webby award winner, and generally interesting chap, has closed his Twitter account.

In June, Reznor declared that as far as social networking is concerned: "I'm out."

And though he briefly returned to microblog about the final, ultimate, totally farewell Nine Inch Nails tour, he has now shut the doors to Twitterdom.

Certain fans, he declared on the NIN blog in June, were driving him out: "Looks like … Read more

In this tough economy, forearmed is better than forewarned.

At least that seems to be the view of Mark Muller, owner of Max Motors in Clay County, Mo. Because, in August, he is offering a free AK-47 with every vehicle sold.

You might think this promotion a little on the eccentric side. However, Muller is no lily-livered Collapsenikov.

He believes in standing up for one's right to defend oneself. Indeed, he has a motto for his dealership that expresses his feelings very clearly: "God, Guns, Guts and American Pick-up Trucks."

You might wonder how on earth he … Read more

Many a college student adorns his dorm room wall with a picture, often large, of ESPN sideline reporter Erin Andrews.

It is not for me to declare that hers is the apogee of beauty. But the enthusiasm with which her image is often greeted by young men parallels that of the image of a carrot to a starving giraffe.

So perhaps one shouldn't fall to the rear and bump one's inverted baseball cap on the sidewalk to discover that some mischievous little miscreant filmed Andrews in a somewhat disrobed state through the peephole of her hotel room.

Given … Read more

States that are low on funds are steadily inhaling the idea of taxing the sale of a substance that gets you high.

Meanwhile, as if anticipating an uptick in demand, the folks at Apple have approved a new iPhone and iPod Touch app that will allow a little more mobile access to the soothing properties of marijuana.

Called "Cannabis" it is, according to Salem-News.com, an app that allows you to hold between your fingertips everything you need to facilitate your marijuana experience.

Your legal marijuana experience, that is.

Some states--California being in the surprising vanguard--have made the … Read more

Sometimes, I wonder what the rest of the world is looking at.

And I espied that one of the most popular articles in the Independent newspaper was titled "iSex: How pornography has revolutionized technology."

At first, I assumed this was a piece about how highly committed individuals in Silicon Valley and other places of technological worship had resorted to pornography because they didn't have the time to enjoy relationships with real human beings.

Propelling the world toward enlightened modernity is very time-consuming.

However, this Independent opus, in words and pictures, actually purported to suggest that the needs … Read more

I just know it's happened to you.

You click on a link in an article about, oh, I don't know, particle matter. The link will lead you to a piece of gossip about the personal life of some strange physics professor.

And just as your prurience is at its most piqued, you are assaulted by an ad that reaches right across your screen and asks you to be fascinated by an Intel chip. Or a diaper.

At the top right-hand corner, you read these mellifluous words, ones that might finally lead you to the gossip about the physics … Read more

My CNET handler woke me early on Friday.

"It's those corpse-eating robot people," he barked down the phone. "They're after you."

"But I'm not dead yet," I replied. "I just look pretty rough first thing in the morning."

Still, he made me stagger to my laptop and the Robotic Technology site. There, I espied the words: "IMPORTANT MESSAGE CONCERNING EATR."

For those of you who have been asleep since Tuesday, the Energetically Autonomous Tactical Robot, or EATR, is a steam-powered robot being developed for military purposes. Its … Read more

Back in May, my crystal ball twitched with wonderment at the idea that Microsoft might be feeling a frisson of excitement that Apple had decided to make an ad in response to Redmond's "Laptop Hunters" campaign.

I suggested that Microsoft executives would be dancing with fair glee and abandon.

It seems that, for once, my crystal ball may not have been full of Bay Area fog.

The revelation that Apple's lawyers allegedly called Microsoft to complain about the Laptop Hunters ads has brought much needed amusement to those who have not seen humor in quite some … Read more