I've trekked to Machu Picchu, hiked the Himalayas and even survived the 2004 tsunamis of Southeast Asia. Yet there has been no more terrifying experience than my most recent venture: cutting hair.
Columns Archives
Columns Archives
Danger lurks in boyfriend's hair
Can solve a rubik's cube in 3 minutes; not too bright; from Los Angeles
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Your girlfriend isn't a porn star
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By Oren Matteson
RedEye Special Contributor
Hey, guys: Have you noticed that the more you look at porn, the more boring things get in the sack?
Quora: The next big thing in social media
RedEye's Social Mediaologist
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When Ferris Bueller was talking about life moving pretty fast, he could have been talking about social media. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.
The best advances in social media don't come from the players trying to imitate what's already in the space, they come from companies that think creatively. Enter Quora.
Take the fear out of Facebook
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By Thomas Pardee
RedEye Special Contributor
As the job market glacially progresses down its road to recovery, it's time for Gen Y to start a quiet revolution.
Trying times require monster truck action
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Grave Digger and his monster truck friends can be entertaining, but are they worth the price of admission?
For RedEye
I recently used this column to join the legions of slightly overweight, often lazy but pretty happy Americans railing against Amy Chua's "Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior" essay. To back up my words with action, I took my son last weekend to see monster trucks.
No Valentine's date necessary
A fireball combination of adventurous and quirky
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Why do people get so bitter about Valentine's Day?
Worst year ever to begin college
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By Lynda Lopez
RedEye Special Contributor
I'm going to take over the world.
Confessions of a bi-curious voter
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By Lenox Magee
RedEye Special Contributor
We're less than two weeks from the mayoral election Feb. 22, and I still have no idea who will get my vote.
The destruction of a Super Bowl
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By Matt Pais
Metromix
One month ago, Christina Aguilera's phone rings ...
Steer clear of this 'Trail'
RedEye's Social Mediaologist
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Oregon Trail is now on Facebook. Your workplace productivity just died of dysentery.
This tweet from @funnyordie had about a bajillion retweets last week after the classic `80s educational game "Oregon Trail" met the 2011 social web.
Good news for my bosses: If my workplace productivity dies, it will be because of "Angry Birds." This iteration of "Oregon Trail" sucks, and frankly I'm angry a piece of my childhood has been tainted in the name of research.
I used to play "Oregon Trail" in the computer lab in seventh grade, some don't-ask-me-how-many years ago. Oh, how I remember the snake bites (I hate snakes), the dust storms and the scorching hot weather. And why was it that I never died of cholera before gym class?
Here's the deal. "Oregon Trail" on Facebook exploded into Twitter's most popular topics because everyone got all reminiscent about days gone by. For people who are too young to remember the original, all the talk about how great it was got us excited for what a new version might bring.
The original "Oregon Trail" was so basic, so simple. We didn't have Flash and fancy-schmancy computer capabilities. But it also was so playable, so fun, so replayable. The new "Oregon Trail" has elements of those things, but it's slow and confusing to look at. The controls aren't intuitive and, frankly, I'm not really sure what to do first.
And then there's the whole business of needing to use Facebook credits. To be fair, we knew that was coming. Even though I never thought "Farmville" would be popular because of the need to pay into it, I was wrong. "Farmville" is not only popular, it's a phenomenon and it shows no signs of slowing down.
Me? I don't pay to play. I've managed to survive a month's worth of "The Smurfs" on my iPhone and I haven't purchased a single Smurfberry (hey, don't judge me!).
But going back to the people who never got to truly enjoy the original, there's no reason to think this version won't be popular. I'd cross a river with my oxen if I could go back in time, so here's my advice: Instead of spending your money on Facebook credit, search eBay or Craigslist for an old Apple II computer and fire up the real thing. Then, post about that on your wall. And then invite me to your house.