Taco Bell Decades Menu

Reviewbrah Discovers Food Ground Zero

For the past several years now, we've catalogued various cultural phenomena under the umbrella heading Ground Zero. Whether in movies, comic books, or anime, it's well-documented that consumers could no longer expect new iterations of popular IPs to improve on their predecessors, starting in 1997. Nor did Ground Zero happen…
December 11, 202418 Comments
A.I. Music

Why A.I. Music Can’t Replicate the Human Touch

As we've explored on this blog, A.I. has made remarkable strides in fields from image generation to writing. But when it comes to creating music that really touches people, A.I. faces formidable obstacles. Because while A.I. music generators can churn out competent melodies, their output often feels hollow or disconnected…
December 6, 20243 Comments
Death of the Author

A.I. Books: The Death of the Author?

There's been a marked uptick in nervous chatter within the publishing world over A.I. books. Some say they'll upend the whole industry, while others once again predict the death of the author. Hat tip to author JD Cowan for pointing me to this piece in The Bookseller about an upstart…
December 2, 20244 Comments
Larry Correia on the A.I. Enthusiasm Deficit

Larry Correia on the A.I. Enthusiasm Deficit

In case you missed it, speculation about the effects of A.I. on the publishing industry are bubbling up again. For instance: Over on X yesterday, a bunch of authors struck up a conversation about A.I. that included this item: That tweet caught the attention of best selling author Larry Correia,…
November 26, 202411 Comments
Anime Girl Psyop 2

The Anime Girl Depopulation Psyop

In recent years, the cultural exchange between Japan and the West has seen anime grow from a niche interest to a major entertainment force. However, this cultural phenomenon coincides with alarming trends in birthrates, both in Japan and in Western nations. Crazy as it sounds at first, the severity of…
November 25, 202443 Comments
Third Place Mall

After the Mall: Can We Build a New Third Place?

It's hard for Zoomers to believe, but the mall was once not only the preferred place to shop, its importance went beyond a mere retail hub. The mall served as a gathering spot where people connected, interacted, and shared their lives beyond their homes and workplaces. Malls, which began in…
November 19, 202412 Comments
Signs of the Times, The Fourth Turning

How the Fourth Turning Explains the Mainstream Entertainment Collapse

In the past few years, the mainstream entertainment industry has been gripped by an epidemic of costly flops. These failures have spread across video games, movies, comic books, and more. Titles expected to be blockbuster hits—like Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, Skull and Bones, and Suicide Squad: Kill…
November 13, 202411 Comments
Software Death

How Big Tech’s Novelty Obsession Killed Software

If you've used pretty much any consumer software or internet search engine in recent years, you've noticed a decline in user friendliness and utility. What was once a simple matter of navigating intuitive interfaces and obtaining relevant information has become a frustrating ordeal. From constant updates that seem to break…
October 21, 202411 Comments
CRT LCD Dracula

Why Millennial Devs Can’t Make Authentic Retro Games

For many gamers who grew up with the classics of the 1980s and 1990s, 8 and 16-bit video games hold a special nostalgic charm. Yet despite the recent surge in retro style indie games, it’s apparent that even talented Millennial developers struggle to recreate the authentic look and feel of…
October 15, 202412 Comments