Technology
Politics
Technology and the Base
September 20th, 2012
The major political party conventions are done, and now the micro-targeters take over, the political marketers who understand your voting, shopping and Internet browsing histories better than you do. Armed with iPads and other touch-screen devices, they’re deploying armies of political activists and phone bankers who have two goals: Get Las Vegas Valley voters to the polls while critical TV and Internet commercials push down opposition turnout. Read more »
Visions
Starting Up, Letting Go
A car with no driver may be rolling past you soon. And that’s a good thing.
March 15th, 2012
Last June, Nevada passed the nation’s first law permitting driverless cars on its roads, and the law took effect March 1. At first, the impact will be small. We may see a few cars with red license plates driving around with “drivers” who are busy texting on their phones, but not much else. However, the technology could grow into an industry. And Nevada could put itself at the forefront. Read more »
Vegas Tech
Five Apps Las Vegas Needs Now
February 16th, 2012
Think hard about the last time you consulted a folding map or looked up a number in the phone book. If you can’t remember, that’s because we’ve all got smartphones with applications that put handles on the urban experience. Las Vegas is served well by global apps: Google Maps, Foursquare and Yelp are fully functional both on the Strip and off. But that’s not enough. We need apps to make it easier to live here, and five apps spring to mind immediately. Read more »
Technology
After the Hack
January 19th, 2012
Zappos was smart enough not to store that information—the hackers only got the last four digits—and brave enough to immediately tell its customers what happened, including instructions on how to change their passwords, because even encrypted passwords are often not completely secure. Read more »
Media
Cosmopolitan Banking on Social Capital
October 27th, 2011
In a sense, the awards were richly deserved—the Cosmo has seamlessly integrated Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare and YouTube into a comprehensive platform fine-tuned to interact with the forward-thinking customers the resort is courting. So there’s some real commercial competence on display here. But what’s really in it for the Cosmopolitan’s “friends” and “followers”? Read more »
Vegas Tech
Morning in Vegas
October 20th, 2011
I recently wandered into a room in the warren-like Emergency Arts building downtown and found a standing-room-only crowd of techies listening in rapt attention to a speaker explaining how they should go about getting startup funding. And this wasn’t some convention filled with out-of-towners; these were all locals, wanting to start tech companies here. Read more »
Fever Pitch
It’s the latest must-have for trendy New Yorkers: a start-up of one’s own
September 29th, 2011
Start-up fever! Whether it’s due to The Social Network or the new wave of billion-dollar tech IPOs, lately it seems like everyone has a start-up. The start-up mythology—build fast, get cash, save the world—and the low barrier to entry make it tough to resist. Read more »
Digital Vegas
Tech This Out
June 23rd, 2011
In a city overloaded with overhyped technology conferences, it’s refreshing to find one emphasizing quality over size. The Digital World Expo, despite its grand and generic name, is a homegrown, well-focused labor of love—the brainchild of local new-media marketing pro Shawn Rorick. Read more »
Tech
Virtual Second Chance
April 21st, 2011
What happens in Vegas doesn’t usually stay in Vegas anymore—it’s set adrift in the sea of social media networks, and all those Twitter posts about hating your job or late-night ex-boyfriend stalking on Facebook have a way of haunting you from cyberspace. Have no fear, drunken Tweeter; Last Night Never Happened is here to rescue you from your inebriated recklessness. Read more »
Technology
Shot in the Dark
January 20th, 2011
If you’re anything like me, it will take you a second to think of how many cameras you own. You’ve got a digital camera, the camera in your smartphone, a digital video camera (don’t forget the one in your iPod) and perhaps even an old-school video camera and an older-school film camera in a closet somewhere. The point is that you’re taking your cameras for granted, and I’ve got two words that will make you think about photography again: infrared light. Read more »
