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What Apple is really working on 15 May 2013 | 06:14 pm
I sat down to wonder what Apple is working on. I came to the conclusion that it's not a watch or a TV. It's a version of telepresence so good it will be a little like teleportation, so good, that ...
The Real Mystery of Bates Motel 7 May 2013 | 07:38 pm
I am watching Bates Motel (Monday nights, A&E). It's engaging and scary. Tune in if only for the performance by Vera Farmiga which really is astoundingly good. I came away from last night's episode ...
Steve Portigal’s Interviewing Users 6 May 2013 | 11:03 pm
This is my Foreword for a new book on ethnographic method from Steve Portigal, Interviewing Users. –Foreword– I was just looking at YouTube in a brave attempt to keep in touch with popular music, an...
Orphan Black and involuntary improv 22 Apr 2013 | 03:19 pm
Orphan Black, the new show on BBC America (Saturday at 9:00 Eastern) is a pleasure. The theme is multiplicity, the writing is good, the acting is strong. Seven women discover themselves to be clones. ...
Pop music’s dark passenger 8 Apr 2013 | 02:17 pm
I was listening to Justin Timberland’s Mirrors the other day and at the 2:03 mark, something weird happens. It’s as if the song suffers a sudden loss of blood pressure. The tempo so far has been drive...
The Sweetness trend 25 Feb 2013 | 10:57 pm
Recently I was thinking on the possibility of a new trend. And I wrote it up here. Have a look. You will see that I rush the conclusion. These are early days and at the moment we have little more...
Netflix has big data, and that’s a tragedy 13 Feb 2013 | 11:02 pm
It's not hard to imagine why Netflix has decided to focus on original programming (most recently with House of Cards and now with an animated children's series). Making oneself an exclusive source for...
Culture Quiz 7 Feb 2013 | 04:05 pm
My nephew is up for an interview at the college of his choice. Everyone is thrilled. His speciality is the classics so I am no use at all. But what, I wondered, would be a good way of quizzing someo...
Women in combat…at the movies 28 Jan 2013 | 04:52 pm
Every time we renew the debate on women in combat, I think of the soldier in Aliens, rippling with muscles and attitude. A fellow soldier asks her, "Hey, Vasquez, have you ever been mistaken for a ma...
Should Portlandia satirize Subaru? 26 Jan 2013 | 02:54 pm
Portlandia (Fridays, 10:00, IFC) has started its third season. Fred Armisen (Saturday Night Live) and Carrie Brownstein (Sleater-Kinney) continue to search the city for satiric targets. And because sa...
