My Latest MSN Article

Hey, That's My Blog!
Online Plagiarism, and What To Do About It

Check it out!

Are We There Yet Article, Reprise



My "Why Hasn't The Future Happened Yet" article is up on MSN, again, with some updates. Check it out.

Blogging For MSN


Swine Flu Patient Zero?

Check it out: 3 Ways To Fight Swine Flu. Brilliantly written.

Hopefully, I'll be doing more of this kind of thing in the future.

The Web For Wee Ones

My latest MSN.com article:



Enjoy!

New MSN Article: Grandparent Gadgets



You won't find walkers or an old bowl of Werther's Originals on this list. Only hip and helpful tech gifts for the hip-replacement set.

New MSN Article, Adam Vows To Write More Often



I have a new article up on MSN now. It's about how our nation will vote in the future-- what method, that is. Upon further review, I realize I neglected to take a long hard look into our chances of having a future robot president. Optimus Prime in 2016?

I also wrote a summary of a poll MSN conducted concerning the future of our voting system.

Readers of this blog may note that these two MSN articles are more than have appeared on this blog in recent weeks. My apologies. It is summer after all. What are you doing sitting indoors reading a blog? Get outside and play some ultimate frisbee or something.

Blogs to come on Israel, the Olympics, and the dramatic conclusion of the most successful Jewish Fantasy Baseball season to date. Long overdue, but all worth the wait, I promise you.

In the meantime, you might want to check out longtime reader BK's blog, full of musings on the important issues we face in our daily lives.

"Gads" For Dads and Grads
Best Tech Gadget Gifts For Father's Day and Graduation

My latest MSN piece:



Enjoy!

Other gift ideas that didn't make it into the final article:

For Dads:



The “Grill Master”: Dad makes the best hamburgers in the neighborhood, but even he could use some help. The Char-broil Commercial Series Infrared Gas Grill uses an infrared burner system that eliminates flare-ups that cook food unevenly. An 810 sq. inch stainless steel cooking area provides room for approximately 36 burgers, and a 13,000 BTU side stove with griddle is perfect for heating sauces or vegetables. $499 at lowes.com.



The "Couch Potato”: After eating all that meat, Dad might need to hit the gym. He can work out at home using Wii Fit for the Nintendo Wii. The game uses a wireless peripheral called the Wii Balance Board, which measures body mass index and helps players perform more than 40 different exercises, including step aerobics, yoga, even simulated skiing. $89.99 + Nintendo Wii ($294.99) at gamestop.com.



“Mr. Fix It”: Every craftsman needs a cordless drill, and the Makita 18V Compact Lithium-Ion Cordless ½ inch Driver-Drill Kit packs the most power in a light package, providing 450 pounds of torque while weighing in at a measly 3.5 pounds. And it only takes 15 minutes to charge the battery. $201 at homedepot.com



"The Traveling Salesman": When Dad's on the road, he might miss all those shows he watches at home. Help alleviate the homesickness with the Sling Media Slingbox Pro. The device connects to your cable or satellite box at home, and beams the signal through the internet to your mobile phone or laptop. $249.99 at circuitcity.com.



"The Outdoorsman": You've heard of the old idiom "carrot and stick," but the folks at Element 21 took it literally. They built their E21 Carrot Stix Fishing Rods with a composite material containing 70% cellulose fibers extracted from—you guessed it—carrots. The result is a lightweight, but durable fishing rod that won the Freshwater Rod award and overall Best of Show at the 2007 American Sportfishing Association's annual convention. $149.95 at e21fishing.com.

For Grads:



Beach Bum: After four grueling years of college—which involved no partying whatsoever—your graduate deserves to relax. This summer, they can lounge poolside or on the beach listening to their iPod on the weather-resistant BoomBucket Portable Music System. Unlike many other iPod docks, a clear cover protects the iPod from harm. The bucket doubles as a portable iPod charger. $150.00 at brookstone.com



The Blogger: Whether your son or daughter is the next TalkingPointsMemo or the next Washingtonienne, they'll need a laptop computer to type up their story. For Apple fans, there's the MacBook Air, one of the lightest laptop computers on the market, good for when reporting breaking news from the field. For PC lovers, Lenovo's ThinkPad X300 is nearly as thin and light as the Air, and includes a DVD burner drive. Air, $1799 at apple.com. Thinkpad, $2799.99 at compusa.com.



The Amateur Photographer: Your graduate has an eye for the perfect picture—just check out those photos they posted on Facebook. The Sony Cybershot W170 Digital Camera has 10.1 megapixel resolution, a 5x optical zoom, face recognition and anti-blur, plus "Smile Shutter" technology—which can automatically capture the moment your subject is smiling or laughing. $299.99 at bestbuy.com



The Traveler: Many graduates want to see the world before settling into a job. Make sure they don't get lost. The Garmin nuvi GPS Navigation touch-screen devices are small enough to fit in your pocket and come loaded with road maps and millions of points of interest for North America. The top of the line 750 model includes an MP3 player, audio book player, picture viewer, and a currency converter. Optional features include traffic alerts and a subscription to MSN Direct content. $250 - $600 at garmin.com.



The Pod Person: Wherever your grad goes, they'll probably need some portable entertainment. Not much needs to be said about the iPod Nano, the latest in the line of Apple's popular MP3 players. The slim, palm-sized player comes in six different colors and both the 4 GB and 8 GB models have plenty of room for your graduate's collection of music, TV shows, movies and podcasts. $149 at apple.com.

New MSN Article - Online Mobs



After the article was already published, I received an email from Sarah Wells, whom I had contacted for the story (I didn't hear back before the deadline). She offered her insight into the issue of online mobs, particularly in the case of Lori Drew:

I apologise for not responding sooner; though your message was overlooked, I appreciate your attempt to contact me.

I looked for articles with your name this morning, and the MSN piece popped right up.

I have my opinions about Solove's arguments, and would take issue with him on several points, including some of the liberties he has taken with facts surrounding the anecdotes he uses to support his theses. I don't know if he was your source for the following text from your article, but it is not a minor point, and ought to be
corrected. Solove himself is aware of this and I would hope he would be kind enough to have corrected this point already:

"One by one, they found out where she worked, and called her boss and her clients. Soon, death threats came over the phone and in e-mail. Then a brick sailed through a window of the Drews' house. Someone shot at their sun room with a paintball gun."

The brick sailed through the window about a YEAR BEFORE the Pokin-authored story hit the Suburban Journals, and before the internet reaction to that article. Likewise the paintball shooting. The Drew's installed a security system because of acts of vandalism well before the Pokin story appeared or Lori Drew's name was
circulated on the internet.

I have not been inclined to engage in a dry intellectual discussion of the Meier case with Solove or anyone else, though Solove did generously attempt to solicit my own opinons when I wrote him to correct a point regarding myself. But I find his arguments have significant weaknesses. They do not allow for the private and public good that results that otherwise might not without public pressure and publicity of bad acts. They do not comprehend that there are natural checks on the relentless mob, as well. ( But I am sure you have little interest in what I would have to say on the subject.)

My decision to name Drew before the press (a day or two away at most) was based on knowlege that charges pending against Ron Meier might be dropped or nolle prossed as a result of exposure and public pressure.

In fact, this has happened, and I am convinced that their exposure has something to do with this. I would expect that their attorney pressed them to petition the prosecutor to drop charges, to reduce factors that would tend to cause public outrage to persist, and act in a way that could help lead to a more favorable outcome in any civil action taken against them.

FWIW, My husband corresponded with "cell-phone guy", one of Soloves cautionary cybervigilatne tales, and there was some distortion by Solove in that case, much resented by the subject. To me it seems the truth should be enough...and that setting facts straight matters.

To that I only add I do not think Drew a "murderer". I see her as a foolish person who caused enormous harm with am agmitted plan to "mess with" an unstable 13 yo for self-serving, and probably malicious intention; probably guilty of a civil tort whether a lawsuit is ever filed against her or not. She did not deserve the cloak of anonymity, and it is no small point that she dragged the matter into the public sphere herself by calling police when the Meier's would not speak to her, the thanksgiving weeked following Megan's death.

In response I wrote the following:

Thank you for getting back to me, Sarah. I wish I had heard back from you sooner, because I certainly would have liked to add your viewpoint to the article. I cited the Lori Drew case and your blog's involvement because it is the most recent example of this phenomenon. I will post your comments on my blog, which is linked to from the MSN article.

Personally, I agree with you that in many cases, public outrage is a good thing in that it motivates authorities to action. My article wasn't trying to refute this. The article's point was that the anonymity of the web, and a "group-think" mentality can often lead to online mobs that seek revenge and retribution instead of justice. Urging the authorities to do something is one thing... harassing a suspect's family is another. Should Lori's husband and daughter to be subjected to the crazy threats of anonymous people? Should they no longer be able to live their lives without fear? We do not live in a society where outraged individuals can decide appropriate punishment-- that is what the law is for.

Yes, sadly, no law existed to punish Lori Drew. But does that mean the punishment should be left up to the internet masses? Will they act in a responsible way? The death threats, the drive bys, the deliberate campaign to destroy the Drew's family business seems to indicate that they won't. There is little doubt that the internet has signifigantly contributed to the ongoing harrassment the Drews face. When people's addresses, phone numbers, and other personal info makes it to the web, it's fair game for any vigilante anywhere in the world... a frightening prospect.

I would greatly appreciate learning your thoughts, even though MSN might not be interested in running a follow-up article.

Personally, I don't think you can hold Lori responsible for Megan's suicide. Lori, by all accounts, had nothing to do with the mean messages that were sent on that tragic day. They were sent by kids. Mean kids, of course, but kids who were too immature to realize the harm they could be causing. A bullied, teased kid with low self esteem finally reached the point where she couldn't take it anymore. Could Lori Drew have anticipated that kids would use the fake MySpace page to engage in harassment? Perhaps. But to imply that she used her knowledge of Megan's fragile state to create a sinister plan encouraging the girl to commit suicide is to imply something that lies outside the realm of believability.

Lori's creation of the MySpace page was a mistake. I'm not defending that. And she compounded her mistake by her attitude of self-preservation afterward. But by no means does her action-- the creation of a fake MySpace page-- make her a monster, worthy of violent threats and ongoing harassment from the internet masses.

Welcome MSNers!

My latest MSN article:



Why hasn't the future happened yet? A look into past visions of our present time-- and our hopes for the immediate future.

One tidbit that got cut for space:

Technological limits and safety concerns aren’t the only things holding back our future. Only now is NASA finally seriously considering a base on the Moon, even though the equipment has been around since the late 1960s. And their vision of a lunar south pole research station is a far cry from the domed cities envisioned in the 1979 book Future Cities: Homes and Living into the 21st Century, which predicted a Moon-hosted 2020 Olympic Games (imagine that high jump record). Blame the mineral mining corporations, which haven’t gotten around to building their giant moonrock mines. “They don’t make any economic sense,” Novak points out. “NASA is subsidized, they’re losing money. It doesn’t make sense to be mining minerals on the moon if it costs twice as much to bring them down.” Sometimes, it’s all about the Benjamins… or as future people call them, Zoltars.

If you haven't been to my blog before, you've been wasting your life. Luckily, you've finally seen the error of your ways. Feel free to dip a toe into the swimming pool of ideas that comprises the least-focused and most poorly organized blog on the net. Check out Rudolph, The Steroid-Abusing Reindeer. Or my completely serious plea for the development of a feline penal system. Or better still, dig deep into the Adam's Life archives and uncover forgotten gems such as the time I outed the space shuttle Discovery.

Ah, the memories.

Cheap Gifts, Future Thrills

My latest article is up on MSN.com: A Gift-Giver's Guide To Free Stuff On The Web

It's somewhat adapted from a blog entry I wrote quite some time ago.

My next article for MSN concerns the future. Basically, why aren't we living it right now? Where's the 21st century past generations predicted for us?

Curious as to how life will be in 2057, 50 years from now, I recently took a time machine (Wikipedia). Here's what I found out:

I will be 75. Hopefully.

Two solar eclipses will happen in the same year for the first time since 1889.

Tulsa, Oklahoma will unearth a time capsule with a Harley-Davidson Motorcycle as part of its contents.

The guy from 28 Days Later will travel into the sun in a giant spacecraft, in order to restart the dying star's nuclear core. It will be dull. And completely illogical.

Insurance companies will withold coverage from people who drink alcohol. But sexy female surgeons will operate on them anyway.

A holographic shark will shut down a major city. Much like a lite-bright shut down Boston.

Solar power will still be in its infancy, the result of decades of oil company propoganda. We will somehow blame the energy crisis on China.

Boomer Gadgets!

My latest article is up on MSN:



Check it out!

Some items that got cut for space:

Keep family ties: “Boomers have grandchildren now, and they want to tell them about their family,” Walker says. “They want to make sure their grandkids aren’t inheriting old pictures of people whom they don’t know.” Boomers who want their children to learn the family history (and those who could use a little help themselves) can take advantage of genealogy Web sites that allow users to quickly create their family tree (complete with uploaded photos) and find out how it links to others—even to celebrities. Ancestry.com and MyHeritage.com are two of the most popular sites.

Go on the road: Boomers have traveled more than any other generation in the history of the United States, according to the Association of Travel Marketing Executives. But that doesn’t mean they never get lost. A GPS navigation device may be more reliable than asking at the gas station. “Once you’ve tried one, you’ll never go back,” Walker says. “To hell with Google Maps.” One of the most popular GPS navigation devices, the Garmin nüvi 350, not only gives directions (and speaks street names), but includes a travel guide, an MP3 player, an audio book player, a currency and measurement converter, a world clock and a digital photo organizer. www.garmin.com/products/nuvi

New MSN Article: Students And Technology



My latest article on MSN.

My grandfather is in the hospital this week after suffering a stroke. Please, if you're the praying kind, help me pray for my pop's recovery. I appreciate it.

More MSN MMM MM Goodness



Check it out.

Yes, I interviewed a lot of moms. What about dads? Am I sexist? Maybe. There was one dad, that replied to my interview request, but too late to be included in the article. Paul's 11-year-old daughter wrote him a poem in an attempt to sway his decision:

Phone

Why can’t I get a phone?
A phone of my own,
Something to call you on,
Come on Dad,
Come on Mom,
It’s something I need,
I can not feed on it but,
When I go to middle school,
I need to call you,
If you are late,
or if you need someone to hate,
So please, please,
help me.

"When I first saw it, I thought the poem was pretty funny actually," Paul says. She is a real gadget kid, and I think feels some peer pressure to fit in as well. Funny because I brought an iPhone home from work yesterday, and as you can imagine she freaked out."

Her poetic efforts seem to have paid off.

"She is starting a new school this year and I think we've finally decided to get her and her sister phones," Paul says. "It's a convenience thing. It does feel strange, but from a fiscal standpoint, they've been operating and taking care of their nintendo gameboys (and now DS lites, which they bought with their own money), so I think they'll be able to take care of a phone."

What do you think? Is there a minimum age that's reasonable for a kid to own a cell phone? Or should kids receive phones immediately following their bris? Leave your thoughts below, or on the MSN discussion board.

New MSN Article: Old Folks Remember College



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New MSN Article: Dialin' n' Drivin'



In honor of my serious cell phone story being published on MSN.com (above), heres my non-serious cell phone story: Break Out of Your Cell

The Classics Never Die



I've got a new article on MSN. It's about videogames. Check it out!

I got my first videogame system for Chanukah 1985... or maybe 1986.. or quite possibly some other Chanukah in the mid 80s. Anyways, regardless of the date, that first system was original Nintendo, complete with two controllers, a light gun, and the game Super Mario Bros/Duck Hunt. I was a little kid. Like pre-multiplication tables little.

I remember that for the longest time, My mom and i (she was obsessed with the game too) thought that when Mario collected a "flower," he would simply change outfits. When my mom accidentally hit the B button and a fireball came out, we were shocked.

My older cousin, Jeff, became like a god to me when he beat the game before my eyes, running through levels and ducking into warp zones I never knew existed. A few years later, I called him late one night on the phone to ask him how to beat the final boss in Super Mario Bros. 2, Wart. "Catch the vegetables and throw them in his mouth," Jeff said. Of course! He's a genius!! I thought. He was my first role model. And while beating videogames may not be a skill admired in the adult world, it was something I strove to accomplish.

The Mario games were always my faves. I never was a Sonic guy or Mega Man kid. Somehow, I just identified with a plumber's quest to save a princess from an evil dinosaur. I think it's because, at the time, I wore Osh Kosh B'Gosh overalls very similar to Mario's.

Over the years, different games stole my heart. I got new systems with wildly better graphics. I'll never tire of blowing up my friends in Goldeneye 007, red-shelling the face off someone in Mario Kart, or connecting on that deep pass in Madden.

But in college, my Junior year, it wasn't my Nintendo 64 that I brought with me. It was that original Nintendo, still in working order. I thought that its inferior graphics and simple gameplay would be less of a distraction to my studies.

Boy I was wrong.

Turned out, my old Nintendo was a bigger hit than the Playstation owned by the kids down the hall. Duck Hunt was a great way to meet girls. Many had played it as a kid, and even ones that hadn't soon became addicted to brutally gunning down those innocent pixelated ducks. I'd watch these sweet, nice girls turn into duckicidal lunatics before my eyes. I'm sure I could have written a paper for Sociology class about the effect of weapon use on the feminine psyche, but instead I just developed the pick up line, "Hey Baby, Wanna come to my dorm room and shoot some ducks?"


Duck Hunt Drives The Chicks Wild

My Senior Year, my roommate and I discovered Tecmo Super Bowl, the greatest sports game ever made for the Nintendo. The game only cosmetically resembled the game of American Football. But we'd play for hours straight, zig zagging down the field to avoid the awkwardly slow computer defenders. Because my Nintendo was old, some games wouldn't work unless I used Galoob's Game Genie, a device designed to cheat at videogames. We never used the published cheat codes, but sometimes entered random codes just to see if they would do anything. One code ended the game after the opening kickoff. Another code caused the halftime show to go berserk. "What's this next one going to do?" my roomate asked, "Give us four Dan Marinos?" Weirdly, that's almost exactly what it did. Every player on the Dolphins was suddenly Marino. Of course, we never wrote those codes down.


Note: No Real NFL Team Has Pink End Zones

Often, it was the weird quirks that kept us coming back to these games. In Super Mario Bros, we could dance at the top of a vine by pressing "up." We could bankrupt the computer players in Monopoly by trading them a mortgaged monopoly for all their money and all their properties. In Major League Baseball, we could go into the audience with a player and walk around. And the baseball, sometimes, would inexplicably levitate slowly towards the sky. In Wheel Of Fortune, Junior Edition, every puzzle was ridiculously easy-- things like "Mickey Mouse" and "Fourth Of July"... except one answer-- "Diacritical Mark," which even my roommate and I, two college students at a prestigious university, had to look up. And of course, in Contra, we enjoyed causing the other player grief by moving too fast and causing the screen to scroll, which erased the ground beneath the other player and caused him to fall to his doom. And I'm clearly not the only one who feels these things add to the fun factor. This guy's got a whole page full of cool glitches.

These are weird things that don't exist in so-called superior games today, but it made us love those old games even more. Sometimes, screwups are beloved. Like Silly Putty for example. Someone's mistake making rubber gave us one of mankind's greatest materials.

Maybe that's why I and so many others still enjoy playing these old games. They're like us. Flawed. Screwy. Terrifically ugly. But they, like us, are fun and full of heart. Except the Nintendo version of "Where's Waldo." Who came up with that one? Lame...


Not As Fun As It Looks

I'd love to hear about your favorite classic videogames, and the glitches you came to enjoy. Leave a comment below.

P.S. I am apparently a character in the classic game Streets Of Rage:




If You Enjoyed My MSN Article, You May Enjoy This Facebook Group (Facebook Membership Required)

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This Anti-Hillary Ad Is A Tad Harsh, Methinks

Then Again, Not As Harsh As This

I Don't Know If This Is A Well Known Site Or Not, But I Just Found It And Love It -- Fingertips Music

Might Be The Most Effective Anti-Drug Ad I've Ever Seen -- Spinach Back

Some News:

Owl-Themed Restaurant Attempts To Bring Peace To Middle East

Idiot Kid Finally Rescued Anyone else think there's got to be more here? How in hell does this kid think hitchhiking home was a) possible, b) a good idea? And how exactly did he lose his cap and glasses? The story just doesn't gel, unless the kid is just plain stupid. Which is possible, I guess.

And finally... Taco Bell Lion Improv!!! So cheesy. But fun! I wrote "I like Taquitos" and the audience seemed perplexed. But then the other lion saved the joke and the audience roared. Roared.. get it? Err... just check it out.

New MSN Article!




High Tech Heartbreak

Check it out!

Email Horror Stories

Found this article online today. Don't know who this reporter is, but he's clearly a genius.