Culture

It's true: I could kill myself using Siri.

I have a car with a built-in hands-free system that I pair with my iPhone 4S while I drive. When I can, I use Siri over the Bluetooth audio speakers. Half the time, "she" doesn't understand me, or she tells me I have to unlock my phone before she'll help me. When Siri works as she should, as a wholly voice-controlled digital assistant that can send and respond to texts, call up maps, and take dictation, she's great. But I admit: interacting with Siri--even over my … Read more

On tonight's "60 Minutes" broadcast, there's something for both lovers and haters of Steve Jobs.

Even if you have no opinion on the Apple co-founder, the man who gave us some of the most culture-changing devices of our times, the show is worth watching. Included in the broadcast are tapes of the hyper-secretive Jobs discussing intimate details of his life and character as well as his impending death with Walter Isaacson, author of the Jobs' biography that goes on sale this week.

Jobs died on October 5 at the age of 56 after a long battle … Read more

Google Chairman Eric Schmidt is a smooth talker but apparently he has talked himself into a controversy regarding his relationship with Steve Jobs.

To hear Schmidt tell it, he and Jobs were pals and their companies were friendly as well. In an interview with The New York Times the day after the Apple co-founder died on October 5, Schmidt downplayed reports that he and Jobs, as well as their two companies, had fallen out over Google's decision to launch Android.

"We understood it was a possibility when I joined the board," Schmidt said of the business conflicts. &… Read more

How do you say "I want to rock and roll all night and party every day" in Dutch, Taiwanese, or Swahili?

You might be able to find out today when Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons, two members of the iconic glam rock band Kiss, take part in a real-time "multi-language global chat" with fans.

The chat is, of course, designed to bring attention to Ortsbo.com, a language translation service. From the press release: "Ortsbo.com eliminates the need to cut, copy and paste text into a translator by automatically translating typed text into the … Read more

Once again, Twitter carried vital information to Americans ahead of traditional news outlets.

The news that American special forces had killed Osama bin Laden, perhaps the most wanted man in the world, first began to trickle out when the White House communications director posted on Twitter that President Obama planned to address the nation at 10:30 p.m. eastern time, The New York Times reported Sunday evening.

Twitter, Facebook, and other social networks were also where people went to speculate--much of it erroneous--about what the president would discuss during his address to the nation.

According to the Times, the … Read more

When Kozmo customers ordered snacks or movies from the Internet delivery service via their PCs, the goods weren't teleported, ala "Star Trek." But it almost felt as if they were.

In the late 1990s, an orange-clad Kozmo delivery person would appear at a customer's door typically within an hour after an order was keyed in. The Kozmo man or woman might have cradled a pint of rocky road ice cream, an Al Green CD, a box of Junior Mints, or some other convenience item. The Internet was still new then, and Kozmo's service helped to … Read more

NEW YORK--YouTube co-founders Chad Hurley and Steve Chen are considering ideas for a new start-up.

Six years after the pair and Jawed Karim founded the phenomenon video-sharing site, Hurley and Chen are "dabbling with new ideas" for a start-up, Hurley said last night during a discussion he participated in at the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum in Manhattan.

Asked by a member of the audience what the two might be planning, Hurley, 34, was naturally secretive but said they're looking at what might be done with the "basic components that every Web site needs to get off … Read more

Sony Corp., the company that brought us the Walkman and parent company of music label Sony Music Entertainment, plans to shut down a CD-manufacturing plant in southern New Jersey in March.

About 300 employees will be laid off once the 50-year-old Sony DADC plant in Pitman, N.J., is closed. Sony said it plans to shift CD-making operations to a facility in Indiana. The company moved DVD manufacturing from the plant about a year ago.

Lisa Gephardt, a Sony spokeswoman said in a statement: "In light of the current economic environment and challenges facing the physical media industry, Sony … Read more

commentary Tyler Clementi, an 18-year-old Rutgers University student, leaped off the George Washington Bridge last week, apparently committing suicide after learning that his college roommate had video recorded him during a sexual encounter with another man, according to The New York Times.

Because much of the tragedy has played out online and because a computer cam was used to do the recording, some critics are now warning the public of apocalyptic consequences involved with social networking and technology.

"This 'stunt' isn't just a college prank gone bad," wrote Dr. Keith Ablow, for Foxnews.com. "It is … Read more