Advertising

The paperless society is upon us. It has us enthralled by its shiny lights and geometric screens. Whenever we look at paper, we see it with a vague nostalgia, marveling at our retrograde nature for ever having trusted it.

But then along comes this profound ad for French toilet paper brand, Le Trefle.

It asks us first to consider how annoying it can be to live with one of those people who believes that every gadget represents a better future.

It asks us if we could tolerate living with a man who insists that he and his tablets are somehow … Read more

I've been having nightmares lately.

Usually, my nightmares involve short people stabbing me in the thigh with sprinter's spikes and calling me awful names. Yes, like "Charlie."

However, lately, I've been wandering the streets in my nightmares, wearing Google Glass and causing serious civic damage.

The problem, you see, is that I already wear prescription glasses. So every time I see promotional puffery for Google's informational eyewear, I try to work out how I could put them on over -- or, perhaps, under -- my own glasses.

My suspicions were aroused further by the idea that I'd never seen Google's Larry Page and Sergey Brin wear any other glasses besides these madly scientific ones.

Swallowing what remains of my pride, I contacted Google and whispered: "Look, I wear specs. Do you have Google Glass specs for spec wearers?" … Read more

I know several people who believe that Douglas Adams left a zero off the end of his answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything.

The man who gave meaning to 42 would have been 61 today, had he not died of a heart attack aged 49.

Google's fine and whimsical doodlers decided to commemorate his birthday with a doodle that whispers to the world: "Don't Panic."

In his 49 years, Adams certainly had a life. He not only wrote books, among them the very famous "The Hitchhiker's Guide to The Galaxy" (which started as a radio series), but he also penned three episodes of "Dr. Who." … Read more

Many believe that speed cameras were invented by Fagin.

They perch there in all arrogance, waiting for the next sucker whose pocket they'll pick.

Some localities have come to admit that they don't reduce accidents. Arizona took the decision to remove its highway speed cameras altogether.

Baltimore's were so riddled with errors that they were removed recently too.

Who could forget the recent, poetic incident in Baltimore when a speed camera decided (with the help of a human police officer) that a stationary car was speeding.

The chorus of suspicion surrounding these dubious objects has now been … Read more

There is something slightly entertaining about the alleged crisis at the world's most famous and successful company.

Just because a bunch of greasy-haired speculators have decided that Apple's shares are worth less than Google's (this week), garments are rended and teeth gnashed.

And then there's teens. Apparently, they're all fleeing the brand and rushing toward Microsoft's Surface. Which, apparently, isn't selling well.

In times of such rampant face-contorting and mind-numbing, I always remember the words of Mitt Romney: "Companies are people, too."

And so it is that in a rather more measured discussion … Read more

"I am killing you."

So said the tired foot to the head.

This is just one scenario I envisage with the latest -- and perhaps most imaginative -- product coming out of Google.

Not content with suggesting that you should put on a pair of tasteless glasses in order to get Martha Stewart's latest pierogi recipe, Google yesterday unveiled an even more sensational wearable product from its magic hat.

As Engadget reports, the company peopled its Google Playground with a man holding a pair of Adidas sneakers that talked.

It makes the self-driving car seem like a … Read more

In the world of "so bad, it's good," this may well qualify as bad. Or good.

It's Domino's Pizza selling a new iTunes app in Japan. Because if there's one thing pizza needs, it's an iPhone app.

Domino's wants you to know that no expense was spared in the creation of this app. So it wasn't going to sink to using Brad Pitt, Jack Nicholson, or Leonardo DiCaprio to sell it.

No, it was going to employ that versatile performer Scott Oellkers. Should you have been unaccountably held up in North Korea playing basketball, Oellkers is the president of Domino's Japan.… Read more

A certain panic seems to be fomenting among tech companies.

The old order is dissipating and the new order is, well, disordered.

So the occasional finger gets pointed and noses get disjointed.

The latest little brouhaha involves the seemingly harsh words of Jun Dong-soo, the president of Samsung's memory-chip division.

He seems to believe that Windows 8 really isn't terribly good. Indeed, as The Korea Times has it, he said: "I think the Windows 8 system is no better than the previous Windows Vista platform."

"Better" is always a relative word. Those of a … Read more

The adoration of Subarus has passed me by.

To me, they seem like very efficient mailboxes, driven exclusively by people who want to prevent the world from coming to a swifter end.

However, my mind is being altered by the notion that these cars are actually possessed of their own consciousness.

As evidence, may I reveal that 47,419 of them are being recalled, in order to be lobotomized and returned to their former passive state.

As USA Today recalls it, dropping the key fob on many Subarus released from 2010 to 2013 causes them to come to life.

Spontaneously. … Read more