January 27, 2004
Ridiculous Infomercial Review
Why won't Ron Jeremy say 'penis' on the air? This and many more important questions are pondered at the Ridiculous Infomercial Review. If you click in the next 20 minutes, you'll receive Matthew Lesko's wardrobe, absolutely free!!
Old Brands, Nostalgia And Remarketing
Old Brands Never Die; They're Just Waiting For Someone To Wake Them Up: With the Nostalgia and Retro boom playing off the increasing number of niche markets made possible by the Web, it's time to start desperately plugging those favourite, time-honoured brands which "they" unforgivably stopped making, leaving their loyal fans in the lurch. What would you bring back, given half a chance? (I'll weigh in with Sobranie Black Russian cigarettes; the original Volkswagen Beetle; the Oldsmobile or, definitely, the Olympia manual Monica typewriter.)
WikiTravel
What they left behind
What they left behind: "Craig Williams, a curator at the New York State Museum, drove four hours to visit Willard Psychiatric Center in the spring of 1995. The complex, located 65 miles southwest of Syracuse, was about to shut down after more than 100 years ... a staffer suggested he check out the attic of an abandoned building, and that's when he found 400 suitcases covered by decades of dust and pigeon droppings"
Drugs are bad, mmmkay?
Rep. Kirk (R), states, that Washington now must fuse counterterrorism and counternarcotics into an inseparable mission. It seemed almost inevitable, but could this indicate use of broad (possibly unconstitutional) anti-terrorism legislation for prosecuting drug users? With Britain downgrading marijuana, and much of the Western world softening on drug use, it seems that the United States won't give up. In fact, they even have Wal-Mart in on the action.
New Hampshire Crosstabs
New Hampshire Crosstabs: Primary voter characteristics cross-tabulated with their candidate choice. Dean runs strong with PhDs while Kerry gets the high-school-only crowd. Veterans vote just about the same as everyone else. And, surprise surprise, there don't seem to be any African Americans or Asians voting in New Hampshire.
Stick it to me, baby!
Stickernation - found sticker art from around the world.
Franken as "Enforcer? Dems are screwed!
AL FRANKEN KNOCKS DOWN DEAN HECKLER Defending free speech by tackling a heckler?
"I got down low and took his legs out," said Franken afterwards. "I'm neutral in this race but I'm for freedom of speech, which means people should be able to assemble and speak without being shouted down." Wacky.
[via the delightful and always dependable NY Post!]
Mini-Porsche
Filthy rich, but don't feel like buying your 5-year old a real Porsche just yet? Perhaps one of these will suffice for now. Vroooooomm...
Columbia's Final Minutes
Columbia's Final Minutes A fascinating (if horrifying) account of the shuttle's destruction.
SERVE
A security analysis of the Pentagon's experimental Internet voting system, SERVE, says it's too vulnerable to be used. An incident in Canada last year highlights the risks. But the Pentagon is standing behind the system, and seven states have signed on. [Via Black Box Notes.]
Next up: I'm a Senator and I can't keep my clothes on!
The popular radio show, This American Life, has an upcoming series devoted to Jerry Springer's previous life in politics. Along with the radio piece, an entire website has been launched to try and convince Springer to re-enter politics and "revitalize the Democratic Party." Is Springer the new Arnold of the left?
Little Brother!
Little Brother! Seven free mp3's from a very exciting hip hop group out of North Carolina. ?uestlove from The Roots says he's jealous of just how good they sound. I know that some of you will appreciate this.
Greatest game ever.
Greatest online game ever. (flash, and turn the sound up). I know it's not friday, but I'm hungover and cold so it feels like friday. And this game doth so rule.
Ronnie James Dio for President!
76th Annual Academy Awards: Oscar Nominations
BBC invests in Google
The BBC is buying up search terms for 'Hutton Inquiry' and 'Hutton Report' through Google's Adwords service.
I see this almost as the online journalistic equivalent of a government sexing up dossiers, and a first for any news organisation, according to the Guardian. Regardless of your (or Hutton's) opinion of the BBC's role in the Kelly affair, I don't see how they can possibly justify trying to control where people get their news from, especially as Hutton is almost certain to find the corporation (well, Andrew Gilligan anyway) to be a contributing factor in Kelly's suicide.
The looming singularity.
The Panopticon Singularity is an insightful rant by author Charles Stross that highlights just how close our society is to a data- and information-driven singularity. And it doesn't look like that's a good thing. Written for the recently discontinued Whole Earth Review, it is now available for all to peruse.
Byzantine Medieval Hypertexts
Byzantine Medieval Hypertexts. The idea of hypertext in the Middle Ages. Nice pictures, too.
Dear Mary:
Mary Cheney: "The next time you walk into a gay public place, be prepared for a chorus calling you everything from a quisling and a betrayer to a selfish, fiendish, nasty example of a human being." Michelangelo Signorile's open letter to the VP's gay daughter.
Is Privacy an Urban Myth?
Howard Dean seems to be on record as stating that citizens should be required to use a government-issued ID before they can log on to the Internet. He also seems to say that PC manufacturers should be required to add card-readers to all of their PC products to facilitate this. Read for yourself and draw your own conclusions.
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