No One’s Feeling the Dow Boom, Least of All Millennials

Wall Street might be doing well, but a twentysomething’s wallet tells a different story.

Perhaps Biggie said it best back in 1997: “The more money we come across, the more problems we see.” Well, OK, his back up singers sang it, and he was most probably referring to the crack-slinging game in which he came up, but his sage street wisdom still applies to economic matters today. Especially if we’re talking about the Dow Jones Average’s record-setting boom from earlier this week. Double-especially if we’re looking at it from the millennial perspective.

The Six-Strike Copyright Alert System Is Doing it Wrong

Ending piracy has nothing to do with macho policy, but just try telling that to the copyright holders.

I warned you. I even gave you a number of ways to get around it, but now it’s here. As of Monday, Comcast, Verizon, AT&T and other Internet service providers are officially playing copyright cops to the severely butthurt RIAA and MPAA. Taking their power from the Center for Copyright Information’s newly implemented Copyright Alert System, major ISPs will now begin serving up six strikes to customers suspected of downloading copyrighted material “improperly” before slowing their connections. And, once again, it’s going to be almost completely futile.

Will Penn’s Smoker Ban Even Work?

UPHS’s new anti-tobacco policy could make employees healthier. Or it could just make them liars.

Back in October, the University of Pennsylvania held a massive conference extolling the virtues of the class of drugs known as psychedelics. Finally, I thought, an important institution with a rational approach to drugs. But, alas: wrong again.

Chris Dorner Exposes Cracks in the NRA’s “Good Guys With Guns” Theory

Vigilantism in the face of government corruption can only lead to more death.

Now that alleged cop-killer Chris Dorner’s week-long rampage has come to an end, and we can all breathe a sigh of relief, maybe, finally, we can all admit that there’s a big problem with the “good guy with a gun,” that NRA leaders have been promoting. Guns, in the most reasonably idealized view, can serve as a hobby or a means of protection. People have defended themselves successfully with firearms (though, it is increasingly seeming like these are the exceptions to the rule). And on the small, individual scale, gun ownership is not inherently something to fear. As I mentioned in prior columns, I was raised around guns and do not advocate eschewing gun rights generally. But then there's Chris Dorner.

Pennsylvania Senator Daylin Leach Introduces Marijuana Legalization Bill In Harrisburg

Psst, Pennsylvania residents: wanna add something like $10 million onto our annual revenue this year? Then maybe we should do like Detroit and get our state some legal weed. And now, our chance has come (again). Every stoner’s favorite Senator, Daylin Leach of Delaware and Montgomery Counties, today officially introduced his brand of statewide marijuana legalization into the hallowed halls of state government in Harrisburg. This bill comes just a year after Leach saw two similar motions die in committee at the end of last legislative session.  So put down the pipe, holler at your representative, and let’s enjoy some...

Kai the Homeless Hitchhiker Is the Hero Millennials Need

When will twentysomethings start hatchet-smashing their problems on the head?

“Before I say anything else, I want to say no matter what you’ve done, you deserve respect, even if you make mistakes. You’re lovable and it doesn’t matter your looks, skills, or age, or size or anything. You’re worthwhile—no one can take that away from you.” And with that, the mysterious Kai the Homeless Hitchhiker began his rapid ascent into viral stardom.

5 Easy Steps to a Total Robot Takeover

Studies show that humans won’t be able to resist.

A hostile robot takeover has long been a worry for modern man, and the Cambridge Project for Existential Risk (along with some help from the Stephen Hawking) is now focusing energy on mitigating a coming cybernetic revolt. But I, for one, welcome our new metal overlords. I say, instead of fighting it, we ought to embrace the change. After all, total robot takeover is inevitable. Here's how it will happen—in five easy steps. 

Sorry, You’re Probably Not the Geek You Claim to Be

How Temple Magazine got "Philly geek" wrong.

How far the now-mighty geek has come. Formerly a term for a circus performer who would bite the heads off chickens and eat bugs, "geek" now represents all that is sexy and cool in our tech-driven society (thanks, Internet!). And this week, thanks to Temple Magazine’s semi-viral infographic, we got a look at what your average Philly geek looks like.

Civil Disobedience in the Digital Age

Hacktivist collective Anonymous, DDos protests, and the sit ins the of the turbulent Civil Rights era.

Back in the 1950s and '60s, the Civil Rights movement championed the sit-in as a form of protest against racial segregation, a practice seen at the time as severely disruptive to business, peace, and general white social graces. Now, with Martin Luther King Jr. Day approaching, it would seem that at least some part of the decentralized hacktivist collective Anonymous sees itself as the modern inheritor of King’s civil disobedience teachings. And they kind of have a point.