Category: Technology

Here's the Thing

Why I’m Leaving YouTube

By Rob Rich • January 13th, 2021

After almost five years and hundreds of videos, Rob’s calling it quits and it’s all YouTube’s fault.

Rookie of the Year

It’s Complicated

By Matt Marrone • October 29th, 2020

After five years, my original Series 0 Apple Watch broke.

Collision Detection

We Can’t Afford to Log Off

By Ben Sailer • October 1st, 2020

Twitter isn’t just a time-wasting hellsite. It’s also the world’s worst multi-user dungeon.

BoJack, Grief and Remixes in the TikTok Age

By Joseph Ehrenkranz • August 6th, 2020

There is no other side. This is it.

Feature Excerpt

Digital Phantasmagoria

By Phantom • July 6th, 2020

On the art of DataErase – glitch witch, anime porn historian and DIP switch devil.

The McMaster Files

A Smaller World

By Jason McMaster • May 10th, 2020

With everything that’s going on, Jason’s found that his favorite Twitch streamers have helped make things a bit easier and the world a little smaller.

Exploits Feature

Modernism and Auto-Tune

By Noah Springer • March 20th, 2020

“I see auto-tune playing the same role in hip hop in the last two decades as photography played in art in the 19th and early 20th century.”

Here's the Thing

I’m Terrified of Disney+

By Rob Rich • December 11th, 2019

Streaming services have been A thing for several years now, with more and more companies trying their hand at it. Even Disney. But Rob’s a bit nervous about the massive entertainment corporation’s efforts.

Memscape

The History of Twitter’s Little Bunnies

By Alyse Stanley • January 9th, 2019

Twitter’s ushering in a new age of Ascii art, whether its users know it or not.

Documentary Sunday

Instrumental Intimacies: An Interview with Dr. Melissa Littlefield

By Megan Condis • July 3rd, 2018

Melissa Littlefield, the author of Instrumental Intimacies: EEG Wearables and Neuroscientific Control, talks with Megan Condis about fashion technologies that can read our minds.

Feature Excerpt

Lasagna Cat and the Internet We Lost

By David Wolinsky • January 16th, 2018

David Wolinsky talks to Jeffrey Max and Zach Johnson – collectively known as Fatal Frame – about the return of Lasagna Cat and the internet we used to have.

Bringing Back The Dead In Films

By Michael Edwards • February 10th, 2017

Just because we have the technology to do this doesn’t mean we have to do it.

There is Nothing Virtual About VR

By David Shimomura • February 6th, 2017

“The issue with “virtual reality” as a term isn’t the virtual part, it’s the reality part.”

A Normal Lost Phone: A Coming-of-Age Tale For the Digital Age

By Khee Hoon Chan • January 24th, 2017

“A Normal Lost Phone is an immersive experience because it does feel like you’re snooping about in an abandoned phone most times.”

Pokémon Red and Blue Reflect Your Worldview As a Kid

By Khee Hoon Chan • December 13th, 2016

“Minor but illogical details, like how my poor mum couldn’t afford a bed while I had an entire room to myself, were inconsequential to my eight-year-old self.”

Watch Dogs 2: It’s Just a Game, Right?

By Matt Sayer • December 6th, 2016

Watch Dogs 2 has an identity crisis. One part game, one part warning for the future, it sends a confused message that suffers for its interactivity.

Maybe Emily Should Stay Away, Too

By Matt Sayer • November 21st, 2016

“Emily is not a person but rather a toy to be played with, and in a game that deals with issues of consent and exploitation, this is especially heinous.”

Civilization VI Has the Best Opening. Ever.

By David Shimomura • November 17th, 2016

“Sometimes, something as simple as an introduction can remind us that, as a civilization, we’ve come so very far but that we’ve still so much further to go.”

The Cinematography of Horror Games

By Matthew Byrd • November 17th, 2016

“The fact that no one clear camera solution exists means that the horror genre serves as a playground for video game cinematography.”

Smash Up: Steam Early Access Impressions

By Sam Desatoff • November 16th, 2016

A great table top game with a not-so-great digital counterpart…

Keep Your Things in a Place Meant to Hide

By David Wolinsky • November 8th, 2016

Kevin Moyer on posthumously releasing Elliott Smith’s music & why you should care about the death of radio.

Become the Early Internet’s Big Brother in Hypnospace Outlaw

By Khee Hoon Chan • September 20th, 2016

An ode to the early internet and all the hideous design that came with it.

The Future of Pokemon After Pokemon GO

By David Shimomura • July 25th, 2016

Pokemon GO has shown us where Pokemon can go, but just how far will it go?

Backlog

Compromises

By Gavin Craig • July 8th, 2016

Gavin dug out the CRT and PS2 to see what the past’s future was like and is quickly seduced by the dark side.

Historian of the Future: An Interview with Andrew Groen

By Megan Condis • May 9th, 2016

Megan had the opportunity to sit down with Andrew Groen, author of Empires of EVE

Rise of the Rogue-like Platformer

By Amanda Hudgins • March 23rd, 2016

Derek Yu, creator of Spelunky, has released a book on game making. Wanna know our thoughts?

The Future of Fairy Tales

By Matt Sayer • March 22nd, 2016

The latest motion-capture technology could completely change the way parents interact with their kids.

Californium is a Fiction Reference Wrapped in a Drug-Addled Riddle

By Megan Condis • March 14th, 2016

Philip K. Dick influence is heavy in Californium, but might-be-winks and could-be-nudges may be just as frustrating as exciting for fans.

Virtual Reality In Perspective

By Matt Sayer • March 1st, 2016

VR with be in the hands of the masses in just a few months. Matt has a new perspective on the infamous price tags.

University of Minnesota Struts its Culture with a Game Jam

By Jeremiah Cheney • February 11th, 2016

Game culture has permeated all the way to the grim and frostbitten North!

GameStop’s Publishing Future

By Jeremiah Cheney • February 4th, 2016

GameStop is nothing if not malleable. Where are they going with their future as a publisher?

Oculus Rift Is Grossly Underpriced

By Charles Singletary • January 22nd, 2016

Gaming is but one small part of the VR experience, but many seem to be forgetting that when criticizing the $600 price tag.

Accidentally Killing the World With Kindness

By Declan Taggart • January 8th, 2016

Just some of the ways that humanity might accidentally shoot itself in the foot

How Undertale Broke the Internet

By Megan Condis • December 22nd, 2015

When Undertale won GameFAQs’ annual Best Game Ever bracket, the community went insane. But why?

Rookie of the Year

The Message, Received

By Matt Marrone • December 18th, 2015

Matt Marrone recounts his history with fiction podcasts, starting with Welles’ 1938 War of the Worlds and ending with the 2015 The Message.

Elite: Dangerous: Menus in Space

By Riley MacLeod • December 10th, 2015

A game that lets you roleplay as a space grownup.

The Growing Pains of Games Journalism

By Charles Singletary • December 7th, 2015

Lines have been drawn in the sand when it comes to video game journalism, the consumers, and the developers. Self proclaimed not-journalistic-writers and journalists live in a fog of marketing and advertising, but we have a chance to see things clear as ever.

Statistics are Making Us Into Assholes: A Modest Proposal to Reform League of Legends

By Megan Condis • December 7th, 2015

Megan has a solution for the toxic cesspool of shitty behavior, commonly called League of Legends, on how to make it less cesspool-y.

Tanis: Restoring Mystery to the Internet

By Dave Andrews • December 4th, 2015

In a world where your telephone will answer any question, one podcast/radio drama keeps mystery alive.

Social Media Break Up Coordinator

By Riley MacLeod • December 2nd, 2015

Personalized service for all your awkward social media break up needs.