Internet & Media

Those venal, vegetable-munching lefties at Google have struck again.

Just when they should have been doodling away to celebrate a religious festival of bunnies, colorful eggs, and lots and lots of chocolate, they go and place a large picture of recently deceased venal, leftie Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez on the home page.

At least, that's what certain irate and passionate humans thought when they raised their objections about Google's Easter doodle celebrating labor activist and very devout Christian, Cesar Chavez.

Their passions overflowed to such an extreme that some even threatened to perform acts of unspeakable shame and … Read more

The upstart live-TV streaming service Aereo is said to be in partnership talks with AT&T and Dish Network, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Aereo's antenna/DVR technology allows consumers to watch live, local over-the-air broadcast television on certain Internet-connected devices for a fee. If it partners with television and Internet providers it could greatly increase its reach.

This news is likely to be much to the chagrin for several major broadcasters, which are suing the company for copyright violation. ABC, CBS (the parent of CNET), Fox, NBC Universal, and Telemundo, all alleged in a lawsuit filed … Read more

Police going undercover on social media to catch gangsters and murderers is one thing, but posing as punk rockers to catch bands playing illegal house parties?

That's just what Boston police are allegedly doing, according to Slate.

After a nuisance control ordinance (PDF) passed last year, the city has been working to squelch local punk and indie rock parties featuring loud bands. And to find out where these raucous festivities are taking place -- in order to break them up before they get started -- the police are supposedly sleuthing out party addresses via e-mail and social media.

Acting … Read more

The best April Fool's pranks are absurd but also have a kernel of believability at their core just big enough to reel people in.

While the notion that YouTube has been a 8-year-long contest and Google is finally choosing a winner and shutting the site down tonight is pretty hard to swallow on its face, Google did shock many people by announcing the shutdown of Google Reader recently. Perhaps Larry and Sergey are beginning to go all Howard Hughes on us?

That's how the below video just put out by YouTube operates. The basic premise is that YouTube … Read more

Twitter is lighting up with tweeps questioning Google's choice of doodle for this Easter Sunday. The main search page today features no mention of the Easter Bunny, brightly colored eggs (which are on full, beautiful display on Bing), or Jesus, but instead commemorates what would have been the 86th birthday of labor leader and activist Cesar Chavez.

Just to be clear, I don't feel strongly about Google's choice. Chavez, Jesus and the Easter Bunny all seem pretty cool to me. But Glenn Beck and other prominent Christians are tweeting their disbelief.

Dana Perino of Fox News also … Read more

Who would you like most to see on your street, your television, or your cruise to the Bahamas, staring at you with one wicked eye and one distracted?

I fancy that more than one person might say "Newt Gingrich."

An intimidating presence at the best of times, please imagine how he might look wearing Google's new and currently taste-challenged glasses.

You may only have to imagine for a short while. For the Republican presidential candidate and famed historical consultant was a winner in Google's lottery to find explorers for its Google Glass.

I am grateful to … Read more

I'd like to help you work out your frustrations today.

There again, you have so many -- at least judging by the comments section here -- that I don't really have enough time.

Instead, then, here's an ad -- thank you, Techdirt, for exposing it to me -- that will help you be at one with your feelings about your high-speed Internet and cable provider.… Read more

Facebook executives love to do verbal tap dances around the idea of a phone. It's been going on for years: reports, denials, reports, denials. And now, just two months after a categorical denial from CEO Mark Zuckerberg himself, it seems that at its event next week, Facebook may well go ahead and release what arguably amounts to a Facebook phone.

OK, it's not really a Facebook phone that Facebook watchers are expecting. But this time, it's undeniably something phone related. The social network on Thursday sent out media invitations to "Come See Our New Home on … Read more

I get it. All grown up (more or less) and a publicly traded company to boot, Facebook thinks day and night about how to better delight its advertisers and convince Wall Street that it's quite serious about monetizing the folks who use its social network.

Just look at Facebook's News Feed redesign and it's clear the powers-that-be have some very smart ideas about how to satisfy those first two constituencies. And what of those hundreds of millions of people who use Facebook to catch up on cute cat photos and the latest apercus from slightly batty relatives? … Read more