Angels in the iPod: Lawrence Krauss on TWiT

Last updated on: September 20, 2014 at 10:38 pm By Paul Fidalgo

Physicist Lawrence Krauss was recently the guest on Triangulation, the interview program on the TWiT network. It’s one of those lovely convergences where science and skept0-atheism cross paths with tech media, so I thought it’d be a good thing to post here. Content-wise, it’s fairly introductory stuff. If you follow Krauss’s science popularization work, you probably won’t get a whole lot new here. But host Leo Laporte is obviously enamored of his interview subject, and the conversation touches on some of what... Read more

Introducing the iMortal Show – Episode 1: Ersatz Geek

Last updated on: September 22, 2014 at 10:59 pm By Paul Fidalgo

I’m proud to present the first episode of my new podcast, the iMortal Show. Like the iMortal the blog, this show will look at the intersection of culture and technology, an exploration of how we live our finite lives during the tech revolution. For our first episode, I’ve brought on actor, singer, and science communicator Gia Mora and web designer Matt Licata to discuss what it means to be a geek today. We talk about how geekhood has evolved from... Read more

Amazon Embraces the E-reader’s Niche Status with a Premium Kindle

Last updated on: October 10, 2014 at 10:30 am By Paul Fidalgo

Last week I wrote about the recent spate of predictions about the coming demise of the dedicated e-reader, and I predicted that rather than go away, the e-reader would probably embrace its niche status in two ways. I wrote: …[E]-readers are not doomed, but … they’re going to cease to be an explosive category of mass market technology. Instead, I think we’ll see them continue to be honed and improved for a slightly niche market of frequent book consumers. And... Read more

Here’s to the Dirty One: Tim Cook and His 53 Minutes with Charlie Rose

Last updated on: September 13, 2014 at 10:14 pm By Paul Fidalgo

There was a lot of talk about Steve Jobs and the shadow he casts over Cook and Apple as a whole. I don't think any particular statement by Cook about Jobs is new or newsworthy, but I will say that it's the first time I got what seemed like a genuine sense of the emotional attachment Cook feels toward Jobs and his memory. You can hear his voice become louder, and see his eyes widen and his gestures sharpen as he talks about Steve and what he continues to mean to Apple. I think it takes an interviewer like Charlie Rose to bring something like that out of as reserved a person as Cook. Read more

Will the Apple Watch Justify its Existence?

Last updated on: September 12, 2014 at 10:12 pm By Paul Fidalgo

I am skeptical of the Apple Watch, in a way I haven’t been of an Apple product in a very long time. From the moment the concept of the smartwatch became the prime topic of tech conversation a couple of years ago, I failed to see what problem these devices could possibly solve. Certainly, smartwatches generally have some utility, and can make some things easier here and there, but it never struck me that these conveniences warranted an entirely separate,... Read more

The Waning Religious Experience of Apple Keynotes

Last updated on: December 23, 2014 at 5:03 pm By Paul Fidalgo

When I first became an Apple fan about a decade ago, it took an inordinate amount of effort for me to actually see one of their keynote events or product announcements. They were rarely livestreamed, for one (though few things were back in 2005 or so), and even when they were made available online, I had crummy Internet connections or spotty wifi, and the stream would often come in pixellated and jittery. Even as the stream quality and accessibility improved... Read more

Apparently Apple Has Metallurgists: A Podcast Conversation on Apple’s September 2014 Event

Last updated on: September 19, 2014 at 3:34 pm By Paul Fidalgo

What would iMortal be if it didn’t feature a discussion about the latest Apple product unveiling? A joke, that’s what. So I’ve assembled a super-team of tech enthusiasts to talk about the new religious artifacts introduced by Apple on September 9, 2014: the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, Apple Pay, and the Apple Watch. Here’s the SoundCloud link if you just want to get right to it, and here’s the direct download link. I’m joined by Matt Licata, Chris Sawyer,... Read more

Final Fantasy VII’s Final Battle Against Sephiroth…Sung A Capella

Last updated on: September 8, 2014 at 8:24 pm By Paul Fidalgo

Smooth McGroove, he who produces amazing a cappella renditions of music from video games, has created his masterpiece. I’ve previously heaped praise on him for his versions of the Final Fantasy VII battle and Mega Man II Dr. Wily stage themes, and my absolute favorite, the DuckTales Moon theme. They all delighted me. But this, well, this is something else entirely. Here’s Smooth McGroove doing “One-Winged Angel,” the theme of the final battle in Final Fantasy VII versus Sephiroth — complete... Read more

iMortal Coverage of Apple’s 9/9/14 Event

Last updated on: September 10, 2014 at 6:36 am By Paul Fidalgo

The holiest day of the year is tomorrow, September 9, as Apple unveils whatever heavenly new gadgets it has developed for the betterment of humanity. We’ll almost certainly see one and probably two new iPhones in new sizes, and the rumor mill is spinning like a Catherine wheel with expectations of things like a smartwatch or other wearable, possible new iPads, updates to the Apple TV platform, and more info on iOS 8. Apple’s gone as far as to build... Read more