Author Archive for Michael Boileau
E3 Lives Up to the Childhood Hype
This year, I finally got to realize a childhood dream. I didn’t become a firefighter, pilot or Batman. I also didn’t go to the moon. I did, however, go to the end-all-be-all of video game events — the Electronic Entertainment Expo, or “E3.”
How could going to a tradeshow be a childhood dream, you might ask? [...]
Don’t Eat Rotten Apples (Computers)
I’ll admit it: I’m an Apple fanboy through and through. It’s pretty embarrassing because as cool as Apple is now, my iPhone, MacBook and soon-to-be iPad will be a cliché of the early 2000s. I will have been just another smug nice-guy in the mold of Justin Long.
Regardless, even this knowledge can’t suppress my excitement [...]
Tax on Alcopop Isn’t so Sweet
The state of California and activists groups are outraged … at Smirnoff Ice. Smirnoff, along with Mike’s Hard Lemonade and other so-called “alcopops,” are in the cross-hairs of state legislation that will tax the beverages as spirits or liquor instead of beer, which was supposed to rake in $38 million in revenue for the state, according to The Los Angeles Times.
Music Merger: The Sound of Monopoly
Ticketmaster and Live Nation, the largest ticket broker and the largest concert promoter, respectively, intend to merge, according to The New York Times. Barring anti-trust regulation, the merger would create the largest concert conglomerate worldwide.
Californians See Greener Grass Out of State
Is California the golden paradise it once was? Would the state that at one time had the eighth largest economy in the world be lucky to have just the eighth largest state economy in the United States? Should you even be living here anymore?
Memorization Still Necessary for Tech Gen
I was first consciously aware of our newfound dependence on computers in middle school, when a teacher of mine yammered, “What’s wrong with you kids? Does no one teach you how to spell anymore? Why can’t you spell?” I retorted with, “Spell check.”
Public Financing: A Two-Sided Coin
Decency could return to politics once again. No, I don’t mean decency in the sense of honesty or fewer bribes from slick lobbyists. Nor do I mean less party jockeying and sober apologies with the wife on one side and the mistress on the other. I mean decency in just one matter of the political process: finance.
Scientists Developing Mental Communication
RESEARCH: Scientists funded by Department of Defense seek to create apparatus to send mental messages.
Capping Internet Junkies
If you have a tech-savvy friend, a pudgy, pimply little brother or know anyone else who fits the nerd mold, you might have heard them say this recently: “Dude, dude, the corporate machine is taking over, bro! They are limiting and controlling what we download, dude! It’s suppression by the Man!”
Wages Whip Whippersnappers
Have you ever had a crabby old person in your life who tried to make you feel guilty by telling you Great Depression anecdotes like “I used to walk 15 miles in the snow to go to school!” and “Back in my day, we didn’t have color TVs with the ‘Mary-o’ Brothers—we mined for coal in our spare time, and we liked it!”? Well, according to a recent study by the Economic Policy Institute, it may be time to dig deep and prepare for lean times like Gramps oh-so-bravely did.
