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I confess that I have never bought a Groupon, because it always seemed to require paying money to do something I didn't want to do.

I feared I might feel the same way about listening to former Groupon CEO Andrew Mason's new album "Hardly Workin'."

I had understood that Mason was a bit of a wag and a prankster, and I thought that when his opus hit iTunes Tuesday morning there might be, well, a Groupon. Or at least a deal.… Read more

Windows 8.1 users will eventually start seeing ads along with their usual search results.

Microsoft will begin to incorporate thumbnail images of the Web pages of Bing advertisers as part of the Windows 8.1 Smart Search, David Pann, general manager of Microsoft's Advertising Search Group, revealed in a blog post Tuesday.

The Windows 8.1 Smart Search improves on the search feature found in Windows 8. Smart Search can dig up results across a variety of sources, including your PC or tablet, your apps, your SkyDrive cloud storage, and the Web. Your results are also grouped together, … Read more

One word rarely used to describe Kim Kardashian is "mousy."

Although, for all I know, that might be one of Kanye West's pet names for his beloved.

She has, though, clearly wormed her way into the Western frontal lobes with a gift she gave the next Steve Jobs for Father's Day.

Should you have been detained in a Russian airport with passport problems recently, you might not be aware that West has declared himself -- not once, but twice -- the next Steve Jobs.

Perhaps this, therefore, might have been Kimmy's motivation in purloining two … Read more

I want to tell you what a politically neutral, entirely non-homophobic rant looks like on Twitter.

For the purposes of this exercise, please imagine your name isn't Tony Stark, but George Stark.

Here goes.

"I'm gonna find you, George Stark, you toxic little queen, and I'm gonna f*** ... you ... up."

Wait, I'm not finished.

"If [sic, probably wanted to say 'I'd'] put my foot up your f***ing a**, George Stark, but I'm sure you'd dig it too much."

Should you have been too busy celebrating, say, the Supreme … Read more

Tweets are the soundbites that you don't even chew over.

Before they even come into your head in some full form, you thrust them out onto the world in the hope of instant approbation.

You might imagine that rappers, who live in the rhythm of words, would all be Twittermeisters.

And yet one Philadelphia judge decided that Meek Mill, a rapper who hopes for an immodest future, needs a little help with his 140-character pronouncements.

As the Philadelphia Inquirer reports, Meek was put through the legal mill after allegedly violating his probation following drug and gun convictions.

One of … Read more

When a man called Jeff asks you to join him for a game of golf, you might agree.

However, when a robot called Jeff wants to accompany you to your local links, you'd better be prepared for losing a couple of links in the chain to your perfect swing and your mental equilibrium.

For Jeff the robot is a trash-talking, joyously mean-spirited golfing robot with a very well-honed swing.… Read more

When is a joke not a joke? When the police say so.

This seems to be the indication in the case of Justin Carter -- 18 years old at the time of the alleged incident -- who has reportedly been sitting in a Texas jail since March.

It all began after a game a "League of Legends." An argument is said to have spilled over to Facebook.

During this argument, Carter was allegedly accused by another gamer of being insane. Gamers say those kinds of things.

Carter's father Jack told KVUE-TV that his son replied: "Oh … Read more

I've been feeling a little crabby this week.

People have been annoying me for seemingly no good reason. But it hasn't yet gotten to that stage where I want to build a nuclear weapon and set it upon them.

I mention this only because, should I reach that demented level, I cannot use iTunes in the manufacture of that weapon.

You see, I have an iTunes account. And, thanks to the diligent Jim Dalrymple at The Loop, I now realize that I have already agreed not to design or produce nuclear weapons with the help of Apple's … Read more

Thursday saw an annual ritual that dedicated sports lovers cherish beyond most.

Yes, a bunch of tipsy New Yorkers mercilessly booed NBA commissioner David Stern while he tried to pretend to know the names of draft picks.

This year's draft was an especially dreary affair.

In times gone by, you could rely on my comely Golden State Warriors to draft high and pick someone whose name had never been heard then and hasn't been heard since.

This year, even committed sports fans would have been daunted to remember the name of a single player.

Perhaps that's why … Read more