culture

AUSTIN, Texas--If there's one man in the world who can convince thousands of people to take off their pants in the subway, to follow the disembodied instructions of a downloaded MP3, or to high-five a stranger on an escalator, it's Charlie Todd.

The brainchild behind Improv Everywhere, a New York-based "prank collective" that has been culture jamming society since 2001, Todd knows a thing or two about how to get a group of perfect strangers involved in something very unexpected and very funny.

Over the years, Improv Everywhere has grown from Todd and a couple of … Read more

When Yahoo told workers last week that they could no longer work from home, there was no shortage of punditry opining on the merits of the decision.

Richard Branson, who has never worked out of an office, blasted the idea, calling it "a backwards step in an age when remote working is easier and more effective than ever." Blue Jeans, a videoconferencing company, bought a billboard on Highway 101, just north of the San Francisco International Airport, tweaking Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer, that reads, "Call us Marissa! We can help."

While there are plenty of benefits … Read more

Yahoo's focus on mobile apparently requires its employees to stay in the office.

ATD is reporting that CEO Marissa Mayer let it be known yesterday -- via a memo to employees from HR head Jackie Reses -- that come June, any existing work-from-home arrangements will no longer apply.

"To become the absolute best place to work, communication and collaboration will be important, so we need to be working side-by-side," reads the memo, as published by ATD's Kara Swisher, to whom it was leaked.

Swisher reports that the change has rankled some workers who say they were … Read more

Apple has reportedly taken a page from Google's playbook by offering employees time to work on side projects that fall outside their normal routines.

The Wall Street Journal's Jessica Lessin notes in a video interview today (via Business Insider), that Apple CEO Tim Cook quietly started a program code-named Blue Sky that gives some of the company's employees two weeks to work on projects that aren't part of their job.

While shorter, the idea is similar to one popularized by Google's "20 percent time," which allows company employees to work on side projects … Read more

The tablecloth was fresh, the juice was chilled. Francina Richardson and her family were ready for company. But instead of waiting for the doorbell to ring, this Sonoma, Calif., grandmother was listening for the distinctive trill of a Skype phone call. And her guests were joining her as part of a pioneering new initiative called the Virtual Dinner Guest Project.

Right on time, a group of youth in Cairo took a "seat" at the breakfast table. Introductions were made on both sides of the computer screen, and then, a natural conversation began. The young Egyptians, most of them … Read more

Remember on the first day of grade school when your teachers would ask you to come up to the front of the room and tell your classmates what you did during your summer vacation? Inevitably, there would be tales of frolicking at the beach, camping at national parks, and other cool activities, but we think 9-year-old Caine Monroy just might have the greatest story of all.

A big fan of arcades, Monroy spent his summer creating his own arcade (called Caine's Arcade, naturally) at his dad's auto parts store in east Los Angeles. Using cardboard boxes and the … Read more

commentary If Google's marketing video for its in-the-works high-tech specs turned your stomach as much it did the stomachs of certain tech bloggers and editors who shall remain nameless, you'll no doubt appreciate the satirical -- and, we suspect, all too probable -- take that's embedded below.… Read more

Zhu Kefeng could be the biggest Transformers fan you'll ever see.

Inspired by the robots in the popular Transformers franchise, the 49-year-old Chinese artist led a team that built more than 600 giant sculptures using recycled automobile parts.

These sculptures, created over a period of 10 years, now reside at a theme park in Jiaxing City in China's Zhejiang province. Also known as Mr. Iron Robot theme park, it has since become a tourist attraction that's popular with kids. … Read more

Who hasn't called their dad a geek or nerd at some point, right? The thing is, while those monikers might have been an insult or cause for embarrassment back in the day, today, they're a badge of honor for many tech-savvy dads out there.

According to a survey sponsored by Cisco Home Networking Business (who knew Cisco was in the business of geek dads?), these self-proclaimed nerds are eager to pass on their high-tech knowledge to their sons and daughters. And get this: instead of retreating to their rooms and slamming their doors in that special way only angst-ridden teens can, the kids are into it, giving both parties an opportunity to spend more time together.

The survey, called "Confessions of a Geek Dad" and conducted by Answers Research, asked 590 "tech-savvy" men between the ages of 25 to 54, with children ages 17 and under, about their technology habits as it relates to their interaction with kids and other family members. … Read more