While the world is just becoming aware of the number of ‘digital wallets’ in the market today, even the early adopters
are hesitant as to which one of the myriad of options to choose one.
From PayPal to Google Wallet to Square Wallet to cryptographic currency
such as Bitcoins, at this stage of development, the percentage of usage
is very low.
Beer brewing and drinking are activities that have been part of the human experience seemingly since the dawn of civilization. Around 10,000 years ago, mankind began to move away from living life as nomadic hunter gatherers, and began settling down in one spot to farm the land. Grain, a vital ingredient in beer making, was cultivated by these new agricultural societies.
On a recent trip home to Knoxville, Tennessee, I had a flashback. Not an acid flashback (I don’t think). We were weaving through the hilly streets of downtown in the shadow of the Sunsphere, a discoball of a monument built for the 1982 World’s Fair, and suddenly I was there in the crowd, staring at the future.
Let’s just imagine we could transport an Internet-connected laptop back to the 1790s, when the United States was in its infancy. The technology would no doubt knock the founders out of their buckle-top boots, but once the original patriots got over the initial shock and novelty (and clearing up Wikipedia controversies, hosting an AMA and boggling over Dogecoin), the sense of marvel would give way to alarm as they realized how electronic communications could be exploited by a tyrant, such as the one from which they just freed themselves.
History buffs might not know this already but it seems as if this week—April 14th to April 20th—might be the worst week in American history. Things like President Lincoln being assassinated, the Bay of Pigs invasion, the Columbine shooting, the Virginia Tech school shooting, the Oklahoma City bombing, the Boston Marathon bombing, etc. all happened during this week in history.
Political campaigns, down through the centuries have used the technology of the times to help enhance a candidate’s
competitive edge. Innovating communication channels has always played a
key role in reaching and targeting constituencies during national
elections. Presidential candidates who failed to embrace the new
technologies of their day often found themselves vulnerable in the eyes
of the public.
The emoticon might be older than we thought. This passage of text, which includes a cheeky smiley, is taken from Robert Herrick’s 1648 poem To Fortune—and it might be the first ever use of an emoticon.
Soda’s reputation has fallen a bit flat lately: The all-American beverage most recently made headlines due to an FDA investigation of a potential carcinogen, commonly called “caramel coloring,” used in many soft-drink recipes. This bit of drama follows other recent stories that paint an unflattering picture of the soda industry, including New York’s attempt to ban super-sized drinks, the eviction of soda machines from many public schools, and a spate of new soda-tax proposals. All these regulations are designed to mitigate the unhealthy impacts of Big Soda, such as increasing childhood obesity, in the same way restrictions were slapped on cigarettes in years past.
Are your ears ringing? Does your heart skip a beat? Well, they should – as two divergent forms of malware attacked
our online sense of well-being this week. Engineered by social media
gurus on one front and hackers on the other, one was analogous to an American Idol trainwreck, while the other, the work of a nefarious cat burglar
Mainstream media has been slow on the uptick in covering the U.S. government’s current investigation of ZunZuneo by
Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy. If you are unfamiliar with the name,
it’s most likely because of the covert actions that led to the rise and fall of this enterprise. . .
This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.
