BRUCEB NEWS
The Data Center Backlash Is All About Power
It’s a cliche that the US is hopelessly polarized, permanently furious, consumed by a bitter custody battle over the country. Take heart! We can come together. Our kumbaya moment is here. There is a new issue that unites all Americans. Everybody hates data centers….
AI Companies Are Chomping Books
AI companies are chomping books, millions of books sacrificed to the ravening maws of the AI machines. And weirdly, I’m okay with it, but I’m going to start by making it sound hideous because that’s more fun. VGT3 is a discreet Amazon operation that has been buying…
The Death Of The Price Tag
I’ve been telling you for years that data about you is being accumulated and sold by tech companies, data brokers, retailers, law enforcement agencies, telecom carriers, financial institutions, insurance brokers, employers, and, well, basically everything about who…
Pulping The Classics
For a brief period in the 1940s and 1950s, mass market paperback books had covers with sultry women, shadowy detectives, and thrilling action, sold for a quarter at newsstands and drug stores across the country. Let me tell you the story about how lurid pulp covers…
Not All Smart Glasses Dream The Same Dreams
Three wildly different types of smart glasses are arriving in the next three months. I had Gemini display them side by side in the above picture so you can see how different they are. Wait, you can’t tell them apart? Ha ha I’m a kidder! They all look just like…
Mark Twain & AI: The Indications Are Good
As of mid-2026, there are roughly 70,000 AI companies. About half of all global venture capital funding is pouring into pure-play AI startups. The indications are good. Remember that phrase. It does not mean what you think it means. We’ll come back to that. Right now…
The Rhetoric Of Ruin
You’ve boarded a plane. The airline CEO walks down the aisle with a microphone. “Ladies and gentlemen, we’ve done extensive testing on this aircraft. We believe there’s a very good chance you’ll arrive safely. There are some risks because we don’t fully understand…
New! Improved! Bruceb Favorites Gets A Glow-Up
I am inordinately proud of the Bruceb Favorites page, a lovingly curated directory of websites you already know how to reach. I’ve been maintaining it for nearly 30 years. In the last year it began to develop issues – slowing down a bit, occasional stumbles,…
AI Is The New Supervillain
AI is the new supervillain. Villagers are reaching for their pitchforks. People really don’t like AI . They don’t trust it and they don’t think it will be good for themselves or the world . The Economist predicts that “ the AI backlash is only getting started .”…
The Revenge Of The Ginger Man
The Olympia Press was a notorious Parisian publishing house that used a legal loophole to mass-produce cheap, pseudonymous English erotica for tourists in the 1950s. Olympia Press was owned by Maurice Girodias, a chaotic businessman who had an eye for avant-garde…