Author: Hillary

New Horizons Pluto mission is up there with the moon landing in American space achievement

If ever there were a perfect use for the phrase, “I can’t even,” this is it. Today we saw a high-resolution picture of a world over a billion miles away, taken by a small probe launched nine years ago on a mission that has been over 25 years in the making. And oh, yeah, that tiny probe not only took pictures, but it (presumably) took a variety of scientific readings, passing just 7,500 miles from Pluto. That’s less than the average diameter of the Earth. In astronomical terms, that’s CLOSE. I hardly have words for how absolutely awesome it is...

Do flagging Apple Watch sales prove we’ve passed ‘Peak Cupertino?’

Probably not.  But I couldn’t resist using the phrase ‘Peak Cupertino.’ iPhone sales are still pretty solid, despite a pretty lackluster WDC and a host of schadenfreude-inducing technical issues over the past year or so. Apple is surprisingly resilient. Also, no one who actually knows what they’re talking about ever expected Apple Watch sales to keep pace with the iPhone. That would be silly. To be honest, the precipitous drop in Apple Watch sales that has much of the media declaring the device a “flop” is just the latest round of non-tech media’s raging hate-on for smartwatches and all things wearable tech....

How not to suck on the internet: A nicely timed corollary, courtesy of Hank Green

Sometimes the internet hive mind is gloriously synergistic. Hank Green, of Vlogbrothers, SciShow, Crash Course, and various-other-places-on-the-internet fame, posted this video about how not to suck on the internet. Everything he says is accurate and true, and in his wonderful way of vlogging has likely saved us all from another one of my 1,500-word rants. Also, I strongly encourage you to check out the YouTube channels I’ve linked above. I’m subscribed to all of them, and they consistently put out fun, engaging, educational, and just downright good content.

Freebooting needs to die: 7 online marketing trends that are ruining the internet

If you’ve spent any time on Facebook in the last couple of years, odds are you’ve come across and fallen victim to a lot of marketing and revenue-generating tactics that pollute your feed, steal from creators, and just generally frustrate you and waste your time. They’re the social equivalent of spam, and they’re ruining the internet. 1. Freebooting This term might be new to you, but the practice almost certainly isn’t. Freebooting is the practice of taking media, usually video, that you don’t own, then rehosting it or embedding it on your own page surrounded by ads that make you...

Courtesy: Ubisoft

The one thing I wish game companies would stop doing at E3

It’s that time of year again–that time when the whole of my productivity grinds to a halt as I sit glued to my computer for days watching the livestreams of all of the major game companies’ E3 press conferences. Every year, my friends and I, as well as the internet as a whole, pick the winners and losers of the conference, get into a fangirl/fanboy froth over announcements about our favorite franchises, and stand either amazed or underwhelmed (or maybe a little of both) at announcements of new IP, new features, and resurrected titles. But there’s one thing I wish...