I guess it was inevitable. As soon as I found a way to watch the five minutes of TV programming a week that was worth watching (I shut off cable TV two years ago; you should try it!), Google has put an end to Comedy Central's content on YouTube. If you land on a page that used to have, for instance, a Daily Show clip, you'll see the words "This video has been removed due to copyright infringement.". Whatever dudes. Back to the Bittorrents, I guess.
Apparently British parents are in a snit with Tesco (the British Walmart) over the fact that they were selling the Peekaboo Poledancing kit in the "Toys and Games" section of their web site. We won't deprive your inner pole-dancer. Buy the kit from Amazon HERE, or visit the Peekaboo site here. Be sure to click on the "Sneaky Peek at Pole Demo" (Direct link here, 1.8MB WMV) the narrator sounds like a dirty old Brit, saying things like: "Step 1: E-r-r-r-r-r-ect the Pole!", and explaining how to flaunt it for imaginary money.
I still think this is a good example of a frivolous suit, but here are some nice business suits: IBM sues Amazon over e-commerce patents. What goes round comes round, I guess. Bet they didn't see this one coming: Blind Web surfers sue for accessibility. And here's a lawsuit-in-waiting: Jon Lech Johansen (the DVD cracking kid) has cracked iTunes in both directions. Cool. Now iTunes can be MyTunes. By the way, Jon's blog is aptly titled So Sue Me.
You probably already know that a Google search for "failure" gives George Bush as a top result. But did you know that a Google search for "santorum" gives you SpreadingSantorum.com? In typical intellectually masturbatory style, there are even liberal blogtards (like Chris Bowers) who are trying to Googlebomb the upcoming elections. They should be careful. Don't they know Bush uses "the Google"? Call me old-fashioned, but I think this Adlai Stevenson line still holds up: "I have been thinking that I would make a proposition to my Republican friends... that if they will stop telling lies about the Democrats, we will stop telling the truth about them."
Don't tell Michael Jackson about this guy. There's no telling where it would lead. By the way, where is Michael hiding out these days? Oh. Of Course. He's shopping in drag in Bahrain. What else?
What could be more appropriate for a bunch of uniformed homophobes than to put them to work as a bunch of MPAA anti-piracy lackeys? Next, they'll be giving them brown shirts (oh wait, they already have them!), giving them a hip new name like Amerikanisch Jungvolk, and training them to report suspicious liberal behaviour to the Führer. This should all be about as effective as this vintage antipiracy video, Don't Copy That Floppy (YouTube link).
While accused rapist (an accusation that apparently impressed Vladimir Putin) and Prime Minister of Israel Ehud Olmert warns Iran over nuclear ambitions, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad warns that Israel will disappear. Meanwhile Bush warns North Korea against selling nuclear arms but won't invade, even though the Iraq war was based on the alleged presence of WMD's (something an Australian General disagrees with) and North Korea has actually tested them. Kim Jong Il remains ronery, and now he's sorry, too. I think I'm going back to ignoring the news. I have a headache now.
I knew it. Cylons have taken over the White House. I previously mentioned this in 2003, but those crazy Bush Babies are at it again. In their new National Space Policy, they insist that "the United States is committed to the exploration and use of outer space by all nations for peaceful purposes, and for the benefit of all humanity" but add, conveniently, that "Consistent with this principle, 'peaceful purposes' allow U.S. defense and intelligence-related activities in pursuit of national interests." Man, this administration sure knows how to put the "My" in MySpace, don't they? Read more at the Federation of American Scientists or New Scientist.
With the amount of money already being spent on keeping America safe, I wonder if it's a prudent use of financial resources to send out secret service agents to investigate every 14 year old that scrawls "Kill Bush" on their MySpace page. This kid is my new hero for the week. I hope her experience inspires her rather than beating her down.
Call me cynical, but I honestly believe that a lot of the things that are wrong with America are the result of the first generation that grew up eating McDonald's and playing on padded playgrounds while wearing bicycle helmets reaching adulthood. That being said, I was shocked to wake the other morning with a sudden lack of interest in my MySpace account. Sort of like the sudden lack of interest one has in drinking when one wakes up with a hangover. I wondered to myself: "Is There Life After MySpace?" Apparently there's at least death after MySpace, and interestingly, some young people are starting to look offline for friends. I love this quote from an Iowa State student. It's almost existential in tone: "The superficial emptiness clouded the excitement I had once felt....It seems we have lost, to some degree, that special depth that true friendship entails."
It appears I out-scooped BoingBoing by two days, and with a better headline, no less. So yes, Google bought YouTube. I wonder if anyone over at BoingBoing has a Soapbox account? Just received the preview invite yesterday. I don't think GooTube has much to worry about. The beta version interface of Soapox is every bit annoying as Hotmail, and the pages loaded like syrup in Firefox. Maybe they should've called it BlueTube of Death.
Or do you just dress like one? This Halloween, for a costume that's really the shit, why not dress up as a Poo Poo Platter? Or cock a snook as a Crock of Shit? Who knows, your wittiness might lead to a One Night Stand... Anybody got clever ideas for a costume? I'm guessing Kim Jong Il will be a big one this year.
...at least for a few of the men I know, anyway. Although these animatronic Hello Kitty Robot Girls are kind of freaky, humans are still cheaper, with union scale at $1,620 per week, versus $3500 for 5 days for a Robot Working Girl. You might want to brush up on your Japanese before you try to find the video links in this page, so here's a direct link (1.7MB, WMV) to make it easier on you. These robots are pretty impressive, but I don't think we'll have to hire a Blade Runner anytime soon.
So, if Google buys YouTube, will you be able to Googlemap the kid with the bottle rocket in his butt? Will pertinent ads (for fireworks? Preparation H?) appear in the video? More importantly, will it remain free? Billionaire investor Mark Cuban said recently that "Only a moron would buy YouTube". Was he hoping to devalue the property in advance, or is Google stupid? It's important to remember that the only thing that has made YouTube so successful was free hosting of streamed content and sharing of both legal and illegal content. Is YouTube the next Napster?
Old Enough to Know Better, But Too Young To DieSpace
Thank God. I may be an addict, but at least I'm acting my age. The media research company comScore has released figures showing that more than half of MySpace users are over 35. I was starting to feel kind of stupid spending an hour a day there, and I'm too young for other social networking sites like Eons.com .So dude, like, check out my PROFILE. I only have, like, 10 friends...
It's been quite a long time since I've seen a new image style that made me say "wow", rather than thinking "oh, isn't that cute new eye candy". Other than when I got my first GAF ViewMaster as a kid, the last time something really absorbed my attention was in the 1980's, when various genres of Hyperrealism were gaining exposure in pop media. Especially artists like Hajime Sorayama. of Japan. High Dynamic Range Imaging has really caught my eye though. Although some photographers carry it too far, so it really just looks like CGI or other typical effects, when used cleverly, it actually just looks "real", but slightly disturbing, because it looks more like what your eyes would capture than what a camera would capture.
I wasn't gonna say anything about this Mark Foley crap. In spite of the ages old joke about the congressman who "has a hundred pages to get through before lunch", I'm stunned that America is so surprised that a politician wants to have sex with teenagers. I was impressed with Fox News' Orwellian audacity though, so had to post this screen grab. So while I'm on the topic, apparently The Poor Man Institute got their hands on the original IM transcript that ABC News doctored and took out of context. Apparently the page was just taking care of Foley's pony: Foley (7:37:27 PM): how my favorite young stud doing Page (7:37:52 PM): he’s ok Page (7:38:32 PM): just gave him some oats
In a completely coincidental combination of Sunday and Monday's posts, an ad for Bald Lady Coffee (sold by Café Cartago, a specialty coffee roaster in Denver, Colorado) showed up in the adsense ad on the right side of the page today. Apparently all profits from the coffee are donated to support women-in-need during their treatment. Cool.
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I guess it was inevitable. As soon as I found a way to watch the five minutes of TV programming a week that was worth watching (I shut off cable TV two years ago; you should try it!), Google has 
Apparently British parents are in a snit with Tesco (the British Walmart) over the fact that they were 
You probably already know that a 
While accused rapist (an accusation that apparently 
I knew it. Cylons have taken over the White House. I previously mentioned this in 
Don't be. 
Not much to say today. I'm 
? This Halloween, for a costume that's really the shit, why not dress up as a 
...at least for a few of the men I know, anyway. Although these animatronic 
So, if 
I wasn't gonna say anything about this Mark Foley crap. In spite of the ages old joke about the congressman who "has a hundred pages to get through before lunch", I'm stunned that America is so surprised that a politician wants to have sex with teenagers. I was impressed with Fox News' Orwellian audacity though, so had to post this screen grab. So while I'm on the topic, apparently The Poor Man Institute got their hands on the 
A hamburger that spent too little time in a