Terry Pratchett, one of the most brilliant authors writing today (or any other day, for that matter), proposed that “Knowledge = power = energy = matter = mass; a good bookshop is just a genteel Black Hole that knows how to read.” (Guards! Guards!) I’d like to take his theory a few steps deeper into logical absurdity. At some point in the mid-1990s, the Internet amassed so much “knowledge” that it collapsed in upon itself, forming a supermassive black hole that can both read and write (mostly in broken lolcat English).

(more…)

If you’ve watched a movie in your local theater or on DVD in the past year, you’ve probably seen the MPAA’s obnoxious anti-piracy ad. It’s the one that goes, “You wouldn’t steal a car. You wouldn’t steal a handbag. You wouldn’t steal a television. You wouldn’t steal a DVD. Downloading pirated films is stealing. Stealing is illegal. Piracy is a crime.” It’s hard to argue with their logic.

(more…)