The World Wide Web provides a lot of benefits, so much that the United Nations stated in a report that disconnecting people from the Internet is a human rights violation. However, there are a few concepts that can undermine even the democratizing power of the Web. Tyranny of the Majority Tyranny of the majority is an old term used to describe a scenario that undermines … [Read more...]
Learn JavaScript and Vim through web games
Earlier this year, I wrote about CodeCombat, a web game intended to teach the concepts of object-oriented programming. Today, I'd like to introduce two others with similar approaches. These websites gamify learning JavaScript or VIM with objectives on each level that teach you about syntax or commands. Untrusted Untrusted is a game on Github to teach JavaScript. It's a little … [Read more...]
Tech and the World Cup: ESPN’s hardware and Google Street View
The 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil starts on June 12th and runs through July 13th. On Twitter, @AlexiLalas points out a single point of failure for ESPN's coverage of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. Hopefully they have redundancy, it's just difficult to explain in 140 characters. "This is the piece of equipment that if unplugged would shut down the entire @ESPN #WorldCup Brazil … [Read more...]
Gfycat brings cutting edge to .gif files
The only recent excitement in the world of .gif files was the creator telling everybody to pronounce it like 'jif' (I will continue pronouncing it 'gif' like 'gift'.) The website Gfycat modernizes the animated image format, saving bandwidth and improving compatibility. Gfycat starts off as a simple image uploading site with an emphasis on .gif files. It then proceeds to … [Read more...]
The Restart Page lets you experience reboots in your browser
The Restart Page allows you to interact with shutdown prompts from different operating systems. You can click on the buttons and watch the page turn off or restart with an accurate depiction. There are different versions of Microsoft Windows, Apple Mac OS, and others with sounds, icons, and progress bars. If the end of XP has you nostalgic for the past, visit … [Read more...]