News

Facebook CEO Begins To Grasp That Users’ Privacy Is Important To Them

Amy Rose Spiegel :: Wednesday, May 26th, 2010 12:25 pm

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who to me has always looked like what would happen if Prince Harry and Screech from Saved by the Bell procreated, knows he screwed up. In a statement that reads much like a letter from a lover who knows he’s in the doghouse, he just wants to make it up to you, baby. He wants to show you he can change…the privacy settings. He has some new, easy-to-use ways to get out of sharing all your personal information with corporations. This time, girl, you’ll actually know whether or not your info is locked up. Shh, don’t talk. Just uncheck that box and let’s see where the night takes us. MORE »

Listen: The National’s High Violet Now Streaming

Alex Moore :: Friday, April 23rd, 2010 10:30 am

At 10am this morning, The National’s High Violet became the first ever record to premiere as a stream on the the New York Times. Listen for free here until April 27.

In a move redolent of Warhol’s Exploding Plastic Inevitable events, the band will take over a vacant space at 13 East 4th Street in Manhattan for four nights to host an event series they’re calling the “High Violet Annex” when the album releases on May 11. There are many things to love about this band, but it’s this kind of embodiment of the spirit of New York rock and roll that makes The National a quintessential New York band rather than just another band from New York, and makes the New York Times a perfect venue for the High Violet premiere. No details are available yet on the High Violet Annex, but stay tuned for more. Keep reading for spring and summer tour dates. MORE »

The Kids Are Not All Right But Are Emotionally Praying

Stephen Blackwell :: Wednesday, April 21st, 2010 6:45 pm

Two weeks after the papacy came under assault for its negligence in addressing its role in years of child abuse, Pope Benedict XVI is coming face to face with the Vatican’s sexual abuse scandals. Previously the Vatican had issued recriminations as opposed to admissions of wrongdoing. But with human scales tipping in the favor of secular thought and popular atheists calling for the pope’s arrest, Benny XVI announced “church action” in the response to childhood abuse. Either that or have a 21st Century breakdown. But what should “church action” entail? MORE »

Fuck “Old New York,” Unless You’re Edith Wharton, And Be Happy That There’s Only One Homeless Person Left In Times Square

Amy Rose Spiegel :: Wednesday, March 31st, 2010 4:05 pm

As a New York City college student, I often find myself involved in a really infuriating conversation that I’m sure many others are familiar with. My biggest pet peeve in the world is when 21-year-olds bemoan the loss of some mythical “old New York,” which usually involves the usage of the terms “gentrification,” “crust punk,” “sanitized,” and “Washington Square Park.” The best part is the people who spew these ill-informed diatribes are never, ever native New Yorkers - although they’ll be quick to tell you that their fathers worked here when they were growing up, or that they were born in a hospital in the Bronx, or that they’re from Long Island, which totally counts (it doesn’t, as if it mattered). They’re just elitist dicks who’ve watched Kids one too many times and think that by glorifying the perceived grittiness of rape, disease, violence, and class struggles, they’re somehow attuned to something more authentic than the safer city that they live in today. MORE »

Westerberg Talks Chilton, Mortality In The Times

Adam Kearney :: Monday, March 22nd, 2010 2:15 pm

Paul Westerberg, singer of The Replacements and infamous name drop, was a big fan of Alex Chilton. So much so that he wrote a song about him simply titled “Alex Chilton,” with the chorus going “children by the millions / scream for Alex Chilton.” But this was mere lyrical fancy, for Chilton’s meteoric rise to stardom at age 16 as singer of Box Tops, and his later success as the bandleader of Big Star, never earned him the adoration of hordes of teenagers, as perhaps he deserved. Chilton passed away last week at the age of 59, and Westerberg penned an op-ed in the New York Times lamenting his mentor’s death. His most recognizable song, “September Gurls,” proves Chilton to be an undeniable master of songwriting. Listen to Westerberg’s classic tribute “Alex Chilton” after the jump. MORE »

Booze Does the Body Good

Matt Kiebus :: Tuesday, March 9th, 2010 6:10 pm

Over time men at bars have made up a million lies and urban myths to convince women that we are more interesting or accomplished than we really are. Our methods have been juvenile, classless, and have never been based in any scientific fact, until now. The New York Times has reported that according to a recent study, women that drink “moderate amounts of alcohol” a day gain less weight than nondrinkers. MORE »

Global Warming’s Changing Tides

Amy Laviero :: Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010 4:15 pm

Global warming has always had its skeptics and until now, those skeptics came across as ignorant, ill-informed bastards. However, with the release of hundreds of hacked e-mails from an England-based climate research center last fall, credibility of the anthropogenic global warming cause has deteriorated. MORE »

March 2, 2010

Stephen Blackwell :: Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010 6:45 pm

If only we were Norwegian; Whoa, The NYPD still administers a policy of disrespecting minorities? No way! And frankly Roger Cohen, I didn’t understand a goddamn word of your editorial today.

Blogger Existentialism

Stephen Blackwell :: Monday, March 1st, 2010 6:30 pm

Get an e-mail, write some shit about it, grab a photo off google images, and poof, there it is. Blogging. Is it pointless?

The Atlantic’s bloggers are not typical bloggers. Sure, they’re fantastic at sending off bits of information, but they also write 10,000-plus-word articles for the print pub that, when at their best, change the way you look at a particular aspect of the world.

They want you to know how talented they are, so much so they’re referred to as “Voices” rather than bloggers or contributors or some variation thereof. It’s cheesy. And a person discovering their brand for the first time online wouldn’t know the difference anyway. But egomaniacal chest-beating still has a place in content creation, so when The Atlantic re-tooled its website, their Voices went apeshit. MORE »

Kick-Ass Trailer Kicks Too Much Ass

Shannon Hassett :: Wednesday, February 24th, 2010 2:45 pm

I know it only made it in as a scapegoat, but the appearance of Kick-Ass in the movie section of today’s New York Times was every bit as humorous as you would expect. The film, out April 16, is based on the comic book series by Mark Millar about a group of vigilante super heroes as heavy on violence as helping the innocent. The movie stays true to the comic’s graphic content, promising a barrage of blood and profane language from the likes of Nicolas Cage to an 11-year-old girl and everyone in between. The R-rating is a given, but the problem with such violence based films then becomes the trailer, which according to the Times piece is a viral nightmare. MORE »

Dick of the Week: New York Times

Shannon Hassett :: Friday, February 19th, 2010 7:00 pm

New York Times, you dick! While you may not have started the slew of rumors surrounding your little ‘expose’ on Governor David Paterson, your refusal to comment on the situation makes you no better than the gossip whoring social media mongers you were attempting to rise above. An aide that quickly rose through the ranks with a six figure salary to match? Overall laziness and some expensive dinners charged to the campaign budget now and then? We’re not talking pre-Clinton politics here, and I want some sexy laundry in my career ending journalistic endeavors. Look, I get it; some dude at the Observer decided to ask his fellow tweeters what they had heard about your upcoming piece on Paterson, and it was soon the shot heard ’round the world wide web. With Paterson’s reelection bid already healthily on its way out prior to printing, you were to be the final nail in the gubernatorial coffin — and you failed! I’m not criticizing your use of unmitigated rumors to sell some papers — times are hard, and over here in print media, we’ve got to be willing to take on new lows — but when those rumors begin to make their way into the realm of the real, you have to fess up. The murder of a political career is a terrible thing to waste.

Classic Movie Theaters: The Refurbished and Forgotten

Matt Kiebus :: Friday, February 5th, 2010 3:45 pm

Movie theaters have been an escape for generations of people, a place to forget about outstanding electric bills and minimum wage paychecks. There is something magical about seeing films at movie theaters, the arresting combination of moving pictures and music merge to create portal into a different world. During the 1920s and 30s massive theaters were built across the country, designed in Art Deco style and finished with flair. These theaters were most prominent throughout golden age of film, when men wore jackets and ties and women dresses to the movies. Over time these grand cinemas have fallen into disrepair, forgotten by the masses in favor of practical and profitable multiplexes. MORE »

Growler Prowler: A List

Amy Rose Spiegel :: Wednesday, January 27th, 2010 5:05 pm

It’s happened to everyone at some point or another. You’re at a bar, innocently drinking with friends, when someone starts rattling off exactly why they love their beer in excruciating, technical detail. “It’s the hoppiness that really makes that finish so divine,” or some such.

Yes, my friends, beer culture has essentially become wine culture, replete with its own jargon and condescension. Usually, you can bullshit your way out of a long-winded history of microbreweries and their oh-so-vastly superior output if you mutter a few words to show that you’re in the know. Real past responses I’ve used include:

“Unibroue is by far the best German export, I think. Excuse me for a second, I need to pee.”

“Dogfish Head isn’t THAT overrated. I think I see my friend over there.”

“Uh, yeah…IPAs.” [Don't judge me too harshly here. I was slumped in a corner with no real exit strategy].

Apple Tablet Unleashed (tomorrow?)

Adam Kearney :: Tuesday, January 26th, 2010 12:30 pm

Money says the wizards of Cupertino will show off the prototype Apple tablet at a conference tomorrow at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, and the world will get a glimpse of the gadget with the potential to destroy print publishing as we know it. All we’ve had to go on so far are rumors about what the device will look like, how much it will cost, and what its capabilities are, but tomorrow all will be revealed (hopefully). MORE »

New York Times To Charge Frequent Readers

Adam Kearney :: Wednesday, January 20th, 2010 2:05 pm

The New York Times has decided to begin charging repeat visitors to the website before the beginning of next year. This is likely to scare off some of the less frequent readers, so they have designed a plan where regular visitors would need to pay a subscription price, but those finding articles on search engines would be able to read for free, and keep generating advertising revenue. MORE »