chrisnull.com

Spam Headline of the Day

Christopher Null — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 03:19:24 +0000

From “Chase”: “You have an uncornfirm payment.”

I wonder if it’s legit?

“The first thing they told me was, ‘Leave your cats and get out.’”

Christopher Null — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 16:52:49 +0000

In a story full of great quotes, that was perhaps the greatest.

Dispatch from CES 2012

Christopher Null — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 16:43:16 +0000

Best CES schwag ever: Radio Shack’s pre-charged, portable smartphone battery pack. No more worrying about my phone dying at 2pm.

Top 10 Movies of 2011

Christopher Null — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 03:35:51 +0000

By popular demand… my personal (and completely subjective) top 10 for the year.

We Need to Talk About Kevin
Another Earth
Martha Marcy May Marlene
The Artist
Margin Call
The Way
Hanna
The Help
Shame
Rango

RIP Trade Shows, 2012

Christopher Null — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 16:26:44 +0000

With Microsoft abandoning the event (it’s hard to blame them; the company has launched anything new at CES for years), I have a sinking suspicion that this January’s CES will be my last. Ah well… the timing has always been horrible (who wants to announce new products in January?) and the really big news gets leaked in advance anyway to the major blogging outlets. I think CES actually began its death a few years ago when Apple announced the original iPhone in San Francisco, hundreds of miles away, reminding everyone that location and physical presence at an event no longer means much of anything at all.

CES, I’ll mourn you the same way I mourned Comdex, Networld+Interop, and all those other big computer shows that used to be matters of mandatory attendance.

The Supermarket’s Scourge Against Tall People

Christopher Null — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 23:14:21 +0000

What I Want For Christmas

Christopher Null — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 22:27:24 +0000

This.

Awards Season Is Officially Here

Christopher Null — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 19:04:48 +0000

These screeners arrived today…

This Is How Hoarders Get Their Start

Christopher Null — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 15:20:51 +0000

Yes, that’s a kids’ shampoo bottle.

Fact Checking the Cadillac World Thorium Fuel

Christopher Null — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 16:56:50 +0000

I’m writing about this here simply because I have nowhere else to put it: In the course of writing about alternate energy sources for autos, I’ve found (what looks rather obvious from the outset) that the much-reported-upon nuclear-powered “World Thorium Fuel” vehicle from GM is not a real concept vehicle but merely a 3D rendering from this fellow.

Somehow numerous outlets have convinced themselves that the “WTF” (red flag, IMHO) was “unveiled” at a 2009 auto show, that a laser-and-thorium-powered car was “introduced” at said show, and that it means that “nuclear cars [are] not science fiction any more” (that from a New York Times contributor!).

They’ve all been duped.

It’s just amazing how reportage feeds upon itself. It’s like a game of telephone. In the beginning someone probably noted that a guy that’s really good with computers mocked up a highly implausible Cadillac. Somewhere along the way the facts got lost, and by the time it hit the mainstream the WTF was a real prototype that you could tool around with and which would last for 100 years without a fill-up. I have no idea how the detail about the Chicago Auto Show came into the picture, but hey, what’s a good lie without something that sounds legitimate to back it up?

Here’s what Cadillac said in response to my query, just for the record:

We did not produce that concept. It was rendered by a freelance designer as a creative/visionary exercise. I don’t have a lot of details on the how’s and why’s of its creation….it just sort of appeared. We’re pleased that our Art & Science design was inspirational…..but outside of that, we don’t really have a view on it.