Random

There's something about the plastic nature of Samsung's phones that make them slightly less attractive.

To me, that is.

I know that there are millions to whom it doesn't make a difference. There are even many, no doubt, who believe -- in some idiosyncratic way -- that plastic says now, rather than, oh, six months ago.

Some of these people are 13 years old.

However, not all of these people work for Samsung. Indeed, the SamMobile blog last week revealed that it had heard whispers from South Korea that some at Samsung believe plastic isn't quite … Read more

In a week of more news than seemingly could be printed, the media garlanded itself in praise.

The outside world, however, was troubled by some of the media's rather impulsive excesses -- which were not entirely confined to the New York Post.

Amid the pressure to give the insatiable public what it wanted -- more insatiability -- mistakes were made.

Perhaps the most bizarre may have been perpetrated by someone (or some auto-correct machine) at a Fox affiliate, at least if a picture posted to Twitter is to be believed.

Closed captioning isn't an always easy business. Those … Read more

Since Google announced the names of those who would get the first exemplars of Google Glass, I have been barely able to focus for wondering what Newt Gingrich is doing with his.

I await his new and vital perspective on Washington with rapt excitement.

However, others have resorted to more mundane activities, posting their little Google Glass movies for all to see (and so all can feel their eyes glaze over).

Perhaps the most mundane activity to which some have resorted is to try and make money out of their gadgets.

Before the winners of #IfIHadGlass were even announced, one … Read more

If you rob a bank and get away in a driverless Prius, will the owner be indicted as the driver? Or will Toyota? Or maybe Google?

If your driverless car decides -- as so many machines do in movies -- that it has a mind of its own, will you be responsible when it decides to mount the curb and plow straight into your favorite donut store? And what if someone hacks into your driverless car and you suddenly end up in Alaska, with an instruction to mow down moose?

You'll tell me this will never happen. I will point you to the fine profits regularly earned by the world's insurance companies.

I suspect that not everyone has the answers yet for all the ramifications of ceding your steering wheel to Google's machines.

Thankfully, though, all those who have the deepest knowledge of the self-driving future will be meeting in June to have a freewheeling exchange.… Read more

It was the glow that gave him away.

Benjamin Kohler, 26, a jury member at a trial in Oregon, was sitting through testimony.

You might imagine that the testimony was interesting to a 26-year-old man. For the defendant was accused of armed robbery.

Indeed, the lights dimmed to show a surveillance video. That would surely have a mesmerizing element.

It may not have been mesmerizing enough. Or, perhaps, Kohler is a very adept multitasker.

For the dimmed lights revealed his illuminated face. Like a character from the "Blair Witch Project," the rays shone from below.

Benjamin Kohler appeared to be texting. … Read more

It's not often you see a bearded Princess Leia. At least not in the circles I normally run in.

Yet when Harrison Ford appeared on Wednesday's "Jimmy Kimmel Live," he was confronted by the sight of people who had taken their "Star Wars" devotion to places where Captain Kirk would not be so bold to venture.

Ford explained to Jimmy Kimmel that he couldn't, positively wouldn't, answer questions about the new "Star Wars" movie -- yes, the one that George Lucas hinted Ford might appear in.

Still, Kimmel politely wondered … Read more

Some things I still can't come to terms with.

You know, like the members of Senate being all millionaires.

Then there are people who use their iPad as a camera. I know you can do that, but it doesn't mean you should, any more than you should drive your F-150 through the front door of a drive-through McDonald's.

The iPad as a camera feels like the shoulder pad as an expression of style.

I am, therefore, in some shallow sense, grateful to Busted Coverage for directing me to this video of a women's softball game at the University of Northern Iowa.… Read more

Even some of the more faithful might have wondered over the last few days whether there truly is a God.

Famed physicist Stephen Hawking would like to help. Let's imagine there isn't, seems to be his preference.

Indeed, in a speech at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, Calif., on Tuesday night, he made jokes about God's supposed power and omnipresence.

"What was God doing before the divine creation? Was he preparing hell for people who asked such questions?" asked Hawking, clearly not afraid of meeting a reddish man with a fork and a … Read more

Meeting someone in a club or a bar -- or even a church -- has its dangers.

You don't know who they really are. You don't know what they're like in a bad mood, as opposed to a bed mood. And you have no idea if they're really your cousin.

Such dilemmas have struck all those who are seeking love, or merely the comfort of warm, fragrant skin on a chilly Wednesday night.

Some extreme intellectuals in Iceland have decided to assist society's thrust toward safer human interaction.

They have created IslendingaApp, an app that gives you fair warning if the target of your pupillary expansion is, in fact, a close relative.… Read more