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New World Order By Rob Pratt www.pctyrant.com THERE'S NO DOUBTING that the explosive growth of the Internet industry and the dizzying pace of advance in consumer technology have created a brave new world. Like the overweening futuristic optimism of the '50s, latter-day faith in all things computer-controlled has promised way more than even Moore's Law (of ever-increasing computing power and ever-decreasing cost) could deliver in several lifetimes. As leading propaganda organs of the new world order, magazines devoted to computing howl with hyperbolic claims and buy-it-now hype like snake oil hucksters of another era. Like a walloping dose of deprogramming given to the brainwashed members of a cult, PCtyrant.com debunks the myths of our computer world with biting satire of nearly every imaginable sector of the computer-industrial complex, all dressed up in the style of PC World, MaximumPC and PC Magazine. Penned by Santa Cruz cartoonist Clay Butler and Robert Reid, the site's first issue features interviews with Bill Gates (who outlines his plan to subvert federal antitrust litigation by changing his company's name to Microsöft) and Steve Jobs (who introduces cuddly iMac versions the iBunny and the iBear), in addition to game reviews (Age of Umpires and Nazi Accountant), product comparisons, computing tips and, of course, reader feedback. Loaded with shrewd observations and sly parody, PCtyrant.com is the funnest interactive site to hit the Internet since Silly Jokes' FartMatic 5000. [ Santa Cruz | MetroActive Central | Archives ]