This one was prompted by a conversation in Google Circles about how certain people weren't circling certain other people, and how scandalous that was.
Oh, for god's sake. As Shortpacked! cartoonist David Willis would put it, this is so babies.
A very few experiences can give you that feeling of the cold, icy hand of mortality taking hold of your gut and squeezing hard. An oncoming vehicle pulls into your lane at high speed. Your airplane's pilot asks you to assume the crash position, and there's a quaver in his voice.
Or you unzip your bag just before your presentation, and realize you don't have the adapter you were so sure you'd brought. Oh, and your battery? Drained. And your power supply? You can picture it sitting on your hotel room desk even now.
Editor's note: Rob Cottingham is on holiday. Normally, each of his cartoons is accompanied by a brief but shattering essay of such beauty, of such importance, of such exquisite insight into the human condition, that it often causes readers to examine their lives from top to bottom.
Often, that examination turns up a gaping, empty void: some lifelong dream that they have suppressed, some part of themselves they have for too long denied, some yearning from the depths of their soul that has only now found a voice.
Editor's note: Rob Cottingham is on holiday. Normally, each of his cartoons is accompanied by a brief but shattering essay of such beauty, of such importance, of such exquisite insight into the human condition, that it often causes readers to examine their lives from top to bottom.
Often, that examination turns up a gaping, empty void: some lifelong dream that they have suppressed, some part of themselves they have for too long denied, some yearning from the depths of their soul that has only now found a voice.
It isn't hard to find people willing to make absolutely firm predictions about technology and social media, each one asserted with total certainty. Facebook will be around forever, and Google+ is doomed. Google+ is the future, not only of social networking but of human evolution. Google+, Facebook and Twitter are all doomed, and within a year we'll all be communicating exclusively through Ping.
Some predictions are extrapolated from data, drawn from careful observations of long-term trends, and inferred from past patterns and outcomes. Those, though, aren't the ones that get the blood pumping and the retweets flying; the predictions that really get arguments going are the ones grounded in sheer opinion.
I drew this week's cartoon on my iPad, in a plane, at 37,000 feet. I penciled it, inked and colored it all in the confines of an economy-class seat, which experienced air travelers know has now shrunk to the size of a Scooby-Doo lunch box.
We're now accustomed to digital miracles. High-speed, jaw-dropping graphics on a cheap gaming platform? Been there. The video projector that sits in the palm of your hand? Old news. Casual 10-way videoconferencing? Thanks, Google. (Now what else have you got?) A massive personal catalog of music you can access from nearly anywhere you're likely to go today? Apple is about to deliver it, and they're playing catch-up to Google and Amazon.
If the minions of Satan ever want to seize your soul, they don't have to trick you into signing it away in exchange for untold wealth, fame or a sneak peak at Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception.
All they have to do is tuck a provision into the iTunes user agreement. Something like "The Licensed Application and related documentation are 'Commercial Items', as that term is defined at 48 C.F.R. §2.101, consisting of 'Commercial Computer Software' and 'Commercial Computer Software Documentation', as such terms are used in 48 C.F.R. §12.212 or 48 C.F.R. §227.7202, as applicable. You further agree that your immortal soul, and all derivative works thereof, are the sole property of the Dark Lord."
When the news about Google Plus broke, I was as cur— Sorry, just a sec. I have to go reload the Google Plus page to see if they're accepting new signups yet.
Nuts. No luck.
Where was I? Right: when the news about Google Plus broke, I was as curious as anyone about— Wait! Someone just tweeted that they're accepting newly invited users at a special URL!
The other day, I was at a local coffee shop trying to troubleshoot a page on my cartoon site. I didn't have my trusty laptop with me, but I no worries — I had my iPad, which is practically the same thing, right?
Until I opened the page in Safari, and had a look at the source.
Or, rather, didn't. It turns out Safari in iOS – you're going to want to sit down for this – doesn't have a "View Source" command.
Unlike pretty much the rest of Vancouver, I don't watch hockey — even Stanley Cup finals — so I was in a state of media blackout during the seventh game on June 15. The one exception was Twitter, which I was mostly ignoring because the feed had degenerated into nothing but anguished variations on "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUGH!!!!! #canucks".
But by the time the game was due to end, I thought it might be safe to start peeking again. And that's when I started to see the ensuing riot unfold in ASCII: A car overturned. Then another. Then one on fire. Then windows being broken. And then all hell breaking loose.
