Every fall an epic battle goes down. Most of us witness the brutal struggle and even have a part in determining which opponent emerges victorious, yet we don’t even realize it is happening. Much like the gladiators of old, these warriors fight to the death. Not all are evenly matched: some have strength and brawn,…
My younger sister and I slumped on the sofa, staring glumly at the cheerfully decorated Christmas tree. Our family’s smiles as they opened their presents just made us feel worse; they were totally oblivious to the world-shattering tragedy that had occurred the night before. One of our favorite TV shows ended it’s five season run…
Seeing as I use my phone mostly for Twitter and texting, I am often surprised to learn what the plucky little device can do when it has the right apps. After my life was transformed by the almost magical power of Shazam, I began to wonder what other amazing things a smartphone can do. I…
Creating devices with more than one practical use is an old idea. Take the Swiss Army Knife, one small gadget that can be used as a knife, can opener, screwdriver, scissors, or pliars. Recently that old concept has played a huge part in the technological advancement of society. We have combined more and more of…
Back when touchscreens first out, I constantly overheard my friends complaining about them; saying how annoying, unreliable, and frustrating they were. Some even swore they would never buy a phone with a touchscreen again. Seven years later, smartphones have mostly replaced the dumb ones, and I couldn’t pay any of those friends to go back…
Every time a book is adapted into a movie, I hear people complaining that the book was way better than the movie, that the director changed the story too much, or that they left out important details. Sometimes this is true: there have been many disastrous attempts at translating beloved novels into films that have…
Ever been watching a movie or TV show and been able to predict exactly what the characters would say and do before they say and do them? The bad news is you’re not psychic, and the other bad news is that whatever you’re watching has fallen into the trap of using well-worn clichés in place…
Some of us live in the dark spots of the nation, far away from our geeky brethren and the gatherings (known in the geek dialect as cons; not to be confused with scams) that bring them together. We are forced to either travel hundreds or thousands of miles at great expense or sit at home…
I’m a firm believer that, if done well, TV can be art. An episode can be like hundreds of brilliant paintings all moving and blending together into one masterpiece. The plot, characters, and dialog are like the skeleton and muscles of the episode, but it will never be complete or beautiful without the skin: cinematography….
We’ve all seen the sad saga unfold: someone unwittingly left their laptop open to Facebook, a “friend” thought it would be funny to post an embarrassing secret about them, and they end up being humiliated in front of their unrequited crush and entire circle of friends. But frenemies aren’t the only people interested in taking…
Everyone’s been in one of those classes: the teacher or professor reads straight from the textbook, offering no new information to keep you engaged or necessitate note-taking. Their irritating, monotone voice manages to suck the remaining life out of the already dry material, and their lifeless eyes make you glad you’re not going into teaching….
I don’t know if I’m the only one, but sometimes I look at the smart phone I’m holding and am amazed all over again at how much one device has transformed the world in so little time. Now, it’s often difficult to imagine life without a smart phone. They have so quickly become such an…
Sometimes the writers really, really want us to like a character. All the other characters seem to love them, every episode revolves around their latest drama, and often they literally are The Chosen One. Entire storylines or even series are built on their super-duper specialness, and they are so integral to the series that we…
You sit and smile awkwardly as your guest animatedly recounts his pet dog’s dandruff issues. You don’t really want to hear about how he solved the unfortunate skin flakeage by adding dietary supplements to the dog’s nutrient deficient kibble, and you certainly don’t like the nagging suspicion that he doesn’t actually have a dog. In…
Sometimes the fantasy genre feels a little stagnant. Nothing groundbreaking has come along in a while, and the newest popular series seem to be recycling plots and characters from older books. I was despairing of finding a fantasy book with a unique premise, until I discovered Brandon Sanderson’s Mistborn Trilogy, a series of high fantasy…