Stories by Joab Jackson

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The Perfect Thing: How the iPod Shuffles Commerce, Culture, and Coolness

Posted on: Dec 3, 2006, Source: AlterNet

Author Steve Levy explains the upsides and downsides of living with an iPod.

Medical Marijuana: From the Fringe to the Forefront

Posted on: Mar 27, 2002, Source: Baltimore City Paper

Joab Jackson outlines how medical marijuana moved from a fringe issue to a political buzz.

CYBERPUNK: Socket Man

Posted on: Jun 24, 2001, Source: Baltimore City Paper

As Microsoft-bashing has turned into a favorite sport of journalists everywhere, it's a bit disheartening to see online pioneer Steve Gibson needlessly indulge in it as well.

CYBERPUNK: Death of the Online Mags

Posted on: Jun 18, 2001, Source: Baltimore City Paper

The once-legendary online lode of cynical commentary Suck.com has gone on hiatus for business reasons. How ironic for an indie zine that claimed it was above the industry hubbub it so mocked.

CYBERPUNK: Artificial Intelligence

Posted on: Jun 11, 2001, Source: AlterNet

If Marvin Minsky, the godfather of artificial intelligence (AI) research, fails to get his computers to act like humans the way he promised, he'll take humanity down with him.

CYBERPUNK: Pay-Per Pushers

Posted on: Jun 4, 2001, Source: AlterNet

The entertainment industry is scheming hard to make us forget the concept of ownership.

CYBERPUNK: On Second Thought, Windows Not That Bad

Posted on: May 21, 2001, Source: AlterNet

Using Linux for the last few months has turned Joab Jackson into a secret fan of Microsoft Windows.

Extra! Extra! New Economy Magazines Doomed

Posted on: May 14, 2001, Source: Baltimore City Paper

Like revelers too drunk to suss the party is over and the booze has been returned to the cabinet, New Economy magazines are diligently ignoring what time it is now.

CYBERPUNK: Geekz 4Life

Posted on: Apr 30, 2001, Source: Baltimore City Paper

Pimpwar traffics in some of the worst gender and racial typecasting possible. Yet, despite the online game's bad-ass signifying, Pimpwar is essentially a numbers game. To win, you have to have the correct ratio of hos to thugs.

Beware the Software Rats

Posted on: Apr 16, 2001, Source: Baltimore City Paper

Anyone in your office ever copied a software program without properly licensing it? If so, you may be the next victim of a software raid, complete with US Marshalls and steep fines.

CYBERPUNK: PowerPointless

Posted on: Apr 2, 2001, Source: Baltimore City Paper

I know a woman who disciplines her children with PowerPoint briefing charts. What's amazing here is how effectively these presentations articulate what a smoothly family unit should be like. This is odd because PowerPoint is usually used to not communicate ideas.

CYBERPUNK: A Little NSA In Your Computer?

Posted on: Mar 26, 2001, Source: Baltimore City Paper

The National Security Agency -- America's premier espionage agency -- is taking an interest in Linux, the open source operating system. Programmers around the world are afraid the agency will use LINUX to spy.

Gear Jammers

Posted on: Mar 19, 2001, Source: Baltimore City Paper

When Nike came up with an online service where you can have your name or a favorite saying stitched on the side of a pair of sneakers, Jonah Peretti asked for the word "sweatshop."

CYBERPUNK: Real, Express Checkout

Posted on: Mar 5, 2001, Source: Baltimore City Paper

"I love the idea of online grocery shopping because I hate actual grocery shopping. I won't lose sleep over not squeezing the fruit, or checking to see if the dead fish's eyes are clear. Still, I do have a few minor issues with Peapod, my online grocer."

CYBERPUNK: Peer Pressure Spurs 'Net Revolution

Posted on: Feb 26, 2001, Source: Baltimore City Paper

File-sharing services such as Napster threaten to shift control of entertainment and information to consumers. That sounds vague, to be sure, but it's difficult to convey how deeply subversive something like Napster really is.

CYBERPUNK: Death Hags Unite!

Posted on: Feb 11, 2001, Source: Baltimore City Paper

People magazine makes a mint bringing the rich and famous down to our level, enlightening us on Celine Dion's new baby or Helen Hunt's New York apartment. But if you want the inside skinny on how celebrities succumb to that greatest equalizer of all, the place to start is the Web.

The Cult of IT

Posted on: Jan 29, 2001, Source: Baltimore City Paper

With the dotcom economy so pathetic, is it any wonder that IT -- the as-yet-undivulged invention that will supposedly "sweep over the world and change lives, cities, and ways of thinking" -- was one of the big tech stories these last few weeks?

CYBERPUNK: A Domain By Any Other Name

Posted on: Jan 22, 2001, Source: Baltimore City Paper

The idea of using simple real-world words as Web addresses initially seems appealing, just like having ice cream for every meal -- until you start figuring out the consequences.

Media Monopoly, the Video Game

Posted on: Jan 4, 2001, Source: Baltimore City Paper

We need a new "God game" for the New Economy, where players instead of controling empires and natural resources, players use multinational corporations to capture as much "human mindshare" as possible.

CYBERPUNK: Online Readers Freeload in Real World Too

Posted on: Dec 18, 2000, Source: Baltimore City Paper

When Stephen King pulled the plug on his online serial The Plant, was it really because he was shortchanged by a cheapskate Internet audience? Or did he finally realize how people's ingrained book-buying and reading habits were?

CYBERPUNK: Survivor, in Space?

Posted on: Nov 28, 2000, Source: Baltimore City Paper

Would you let a ratings-desperate TV network slingshot you 250 miles straight up out of the atmosphere to live on an unsafe Russian space station? If you win the reality show NBC is brewing up for a future season, you'll get your chance.

CYBERPUNK: The Ultimate Cereal Guide for Geeks

Posted on: Nov 13, 2000, Source: Baltimore City Paper

Hard-working computer geeks know nothing delivers bursts of instant energy with such caloric efficiency better than sweetened cereal. Cyberpunk Joab Jackson gives his review of the best and worst cereals ever to grace the late-night lips of malnourished programmers.

CYBERPUNK: The Meaning of the Word "Invent"

Posted on: Oct 30, 2000, Source: AlterNet

Gore never said he invented the Internet. He just "took the initiative in creating" it.

CYBERPUNK: Crank It Up

Posted on: Jul 17, 2000, Source: Baltimore City Paper

If a proposed law banning Web sites that discuss methamphetamines passes, we'll have to trust the DEA for information about drugs. Do you really want to put your trust in some law that had to be snuck through the legislative process, secretly, like a drug shipment crossing the border in the middle of the night?

CYBERPUNK: Suspicious Minds

Posted on: Jul 4, 2000, Source: AlterNet

Online privacy is becoming a hot issue these days, with people worrying about what information their computers betray about them. But when the web standards body W3C decided to create a framework to help Internet users protect their privacy, it stumbled into a heap of controversy.

CYBERPUNK: So Into You

Posted on: Jun 28, 2000, Source: Baltimore City Paper

New media is already saturated with advertisement. Now spots are cropping up in some of the most bizarre cyber settings. How far are new media buyers willing to go to make a sell?

CYBERPUNK: Is Your Site Fucked?

Posted on: Jun 26, 2000, Source: Baltimore City Paper

Fuckedcompany.com makes sport of the poor fortunes of the thousands of Internet start-up companies now struggling to survive.

The Problem with Priceline

Posted on: Jun 5, 2000, Source: Baltimore City Paper

"Is it just me, or does anyone else find the idea of using Priceline for grocery shopping a bit odd?"

CYBERPUNK: Eye Opener

Posted on: May 29, 2000, Source: Baltimore City Paper

How safe is the corrective eye surgery? A growing number of critics argue that the supposedly simple laser procedure isn't worth the potentially disasterous side effects.

CYBERPUNK: Microsoft Should Blame Itself

Posted on: May 16, 2000, Source: Baltimore City Paper

When the grand book of computer history is written, the story of Microsoft -- the greatest software company of the 20th century -- will be that of a giant struck down by its own arrogant hand.

Peeping Through Port 139

Posted on: May 3, 2000, Source: Baltimore City Paper

Now that high-speed access to the Internet can be had through cable and DSL, its easier than ever to hack your neighbor's computer. Here's how.

These Mortal Coils

Posted on: Mar 31, 2000, Source: Baltimore City Paper

"Forget about a giant-ass meteor rocketing down on us, or flesh-slurping aliens, or the four horsemen riding hard over the hills. Bill Joy, co-founder and chief scientist of Sun Microsystems, warns that tiny robotic machines, built on a molecular level and designed to go forth and multiply on their own, will be our downfall."

Confessions of a Computation Addict

Posted on: Mar 31, 2000, Source: Baltimore City Paper

"I used to laugh at those fools caught up in the expensive cycle of buying faster computers just to run bigger programs. But now I understand. Now I, too, am addicted to fast, bigger, smarter technologies."

Some Candy, Little Girl?

Posted on: Mar 31, 2000, Source: Baltimore City Paper

Fox's recent Multi-Millionaire debacle reminded me of an even more dubious contest run on the Web -- the Faelan's Sweetheart Contest -- which ended with multiple counts of criminal conspiracy to commit sex abuse.

Don't Take My Napster Away

Posted on: Mar 31, 2000, Source: Baltimore City Paper

Napster, an increasingly popular Internet program that allows users to download free songs, could very well spell the end of the music industry. At least, it would if every fan had a computer and a fast Internet connection. (And with the money they'd save by using Napster and not buying $16 CDs, they'd be able to afford the hardware.) Musician's reaction to Napster reveals what shamelessly greedy individuals they truly are.