Jim Stitzel
Jack-of-All-Trades, Master of WordsExcerpts from Life
Age Gates
Everyone's seen them. You load the page for the latest viral video or the most recent update to your favorite web series, and the video player loads a screen similar to the one above. You have to provide the information requested to view the video, and you do so at...
Hiding Facebook’s App Ticker
Facebook has rolled yet another obnoxious feature with no user option to disable it -- the App Ticker. Apparently, some folks have seen it for a week or so now, but it only just showed up on my profile today. I've been using the wonderful Facebook Fixer script for the...
Media Networks Cause Increasing Piracy
Fox delays Hulu availability, piracy surges. I can't say as I'm surprised by this at all. I noticed recently that Fox had suddenly started delaying the publishing of their shows to Hulu from next day broadcast to eight days. They're not the only network playing...
Fiction
The Red Box
The box rests on a small, round table, perfectly centered on its rough surface. The man who purchased it stands across the room, leaning with one shoulder against the wall, staring at the box without really seeing it, lost in contemplation. Before him lies the prize...
Smoke Merchants
He winds his way through the chaos, trying to avoid bumping into anyone. Such a thing is nigh impossible here. But it hardly bothers him. Here, anonymity is paramount. Finally, he reaches a dark corner where two grey men sit. He sits across from them, aware of the...
Bearers
Olivia hits the ground with a sickening crunch, but she barely feels it. Her vision is swimming, her ears ringing, and it takes her a moment to realize she's landed left hip on the pavement, her arms supporting her upper torso. Her jaw throbs with a dull ache, the...