Day: June 12, 2013

It’s summer. If you’re a kid, that means it’s time to go look at a dead guy your buddy found. If you’re a farmer, that means carrots. And if you’re a movie producer, that means pouring millions into loud, dumb-as-a-bucket-of-whey-protein blockbusters. (Or a remake of that movie where kids go look at a dead guy.)

Why do blockbusters coincide with summer? Because, historically, movie attendance has always been up in the summer because theaters were the first buildings in town with air conditioning.

But it’s not like anyone doesn’t have air conditioning these days, or that there aren’t other air-conditioned options. So why do we still go to the movies instead of, say, the local dialysis center or Ruritan clubhouse?

Good question. I’m starting to wonder myself. Maybe it’s time we stopped, and here’s why … Continue reading Take it from Snee: Why do we still go to the movies?

For the first time since 2005, President George W. Bush’s approval rating has gone up. 49 percent of respondents to a new Gallup poll have a positive opinion of the former president, while 46 percent remember that, oh yeah, he’s the guy that spent all of our money on a war in Iraq.

Another Pew poll this week showed that 56 percent of Americans are also OK with the NSA collecting their phone and Internet data. Which makes the Gallup poll make more sense.

After all, how can you approve of Patriot Act abuses by the current president without thanking the previous one for granting them in the first place?

On one hand, there’s the concept of trademark infringement. When someone blatantly infringes on another person’s IP for their own personal gain without permission, that’s most certainly frowned upon. Even more so, a breakdown of only 1 to 4 doesn’t exactly broker feelings of a “non-profit organization.”

On other hand, boobs.

The key to winning any war is predicting the enemy’s movements. Soon, we may be able control their movements, thanks to neuroscience.

At the TEDGlobal conference in Scotland, scientists rolled out an experiment that could change the war forever: a real cockroach controlled by a smartphone. With a microchip attached to its back and hooked into its antennae, neuroscientists are able to control a cockroach’s movements via Bluetooth. It’s RoboRoach, by Greg Gage.

Now that we can control insects, we can use them against each other. Also, Father’s Day is just around the corner.