Jamie (Internet remix)

"Good news, smokers! A new study shows that you are reducing your risk of developing..."

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 12:34:20 -0600

“Good news, smokers! A new study shows that you are reducing your risk of developing Parkinson’s disease simply by enjoying your favorite hobby, the near-perfect act of lighting a cigarette and drawing its comforting smoke and nicotine deep into your lungs. That’s right, not only does smoking steady your nerves, sharpen your focus, and soothe your anxieties, it also helps to prevent movement disorders. Even better, smoking rewards commitment: The longer you smoke, the less likely your chances of developing Parkinson’s actually are.”

- Smoking Is Awesome

What isn’t mentioned: you don’t develop Parkinson’s because you die too soon.

But man does that make me want a cigarette.

These five are my spirit animals. Which is helpful. Who wants to...

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 11:18:26 -0600

These five are my spirit animals. Which is helpful. Who wants to be stuck with the same spirit animal all the time?

does this HTML make my blog look fat?: Tribune Co. CEO Randy Michaels issues list of 119 words and phrases that must never be used on his AM radio station

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 10:12:36 -0600

does this HTML make my blog look fat?: Tribune Co. CEO Randy Michaels issues list of 119 words and phrases that must never be used on his AM radio station:

Flee” meaning “run away”

“Good” or “bad” news

“Laud” meaning “praise”

“Seek” meaning “look for”

“Some” meaning “about”

“Two to one margin” … “Two to one” is a ratio, not a margin. A margin is measured in points. It’s not a ratio.

“Yesterday” in a lead sentence

“Youth” meaning “child”

5…

From the article: Sure, you’d think the chief executive officer of a company struggling to emerge from bankruptcy and desperate to salvage an $8 billion buyout-gone-bad would have better things to do than pester his underlings with crazy proclamations. But in the case of Tribune Co. CEO Randy Michaels, you’d be wrong.

But wait. You’re telling me asking them to use clear language, eschew cliche and smite redundancy is a crazy proclamation? I’m just glad to see a news CEO caring about what gets broadcast/published!

nicky36: On display in my library. Next up, displays of VHS...

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 18:30:02 -0600

nicky36:

On display in my library.

Next up, displays of VHS tape and cassettes. Oh, dear Lord I feel old. Can one of you youngsters get my cane?

I got a call from a college newspaper to talk about Chatroulette and why it’s exploded so...

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 16:42:38 -0600

I got a call from a college newspaper to talk about Chatroulette and why it’s exploded so much. And then, at the end of the interview, I was asked why people use Chatroulette particularly and the Internet generally for sexual gratification.

And it was all I could do not to answer: Why you think the Net was born? Porn! Porn! Porn!

"In comments to the ombudsman’s call-in line (202.334.7582), one reader said, “the picture of two..."

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 11:33:27 -0600

“In comments to the ombudsman’s call-in line (202.334.7582), one reader said, “the picture of two guys kissing makes me cringe.” Another called it “ridiculous,” adding: “Put it on page 10 or page four, put it in the paper, but I do not like it right there where I can’t avoid looking at it.””

- Ombudsman Blog - Readers react to photo of two men kissing

At a paper I worked at not far from D.C., I would field complaints every time we put a picture of a black person on the front page. And I got yelled at when we did a Black History Month story.

The moral, of course, being: Newspaper readers are often reactionary idiots, particularly those who call in to complain. If they’re uncomfortable, that’s a good thing.

So I decided I’d try an e-cigarette. The hope being: this...

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 20:50:59 -0600

So I decided I’d try an e-cigarette. The hope being: this might not give me cancer. And I won’t need to make a throne out of the skulls of my enemies, as I would if I gave up nicotine entirely.

Yes, I am aware how douche-y it looks. The end glows blue. But it might not be killing me. That’s a start, right?

I was just talking last night about how amazing ignorant I am...

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 16:30:21 -0600

I was just talking last night about how amazing ignorant I am about pregnancy, and how any time a woman more than six months pregnant sneezes, I’m ready to dive under her to catch the baby.

How to get hidden in my Facebook feed. -OR- Why, of course...

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 16:26:00 -0600

How to get hidden in my Facebook feed.

-OR-

Why, of course it’s appropriate to tell everyone you’ve ever met about the status of your ~~vagina~~ cervix.

How to make your cat look like a shark I want this. My...

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 14:43:42 -0600

How to make your cat look like a shark

I want this. My co-workers (and my long-suffering wife), would have to deal with either me humming the theme from Jaws or knock on doors like the Landshark from SNL.

Ken Fisher of Ars Technica on How Ad Blockers Hurt Revenue

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 12:28:53 -0600

Ken Fisher of Ars Technica on How Ad Blockers Hurt Revenue:

From Gruber: “I have no easy answer, but I will point out that there’s no inherent reason why ads have to be something people are tempted to block. It’s not enough to ask readers not to block ads — you’ve got to work hard at providing ads that readers actually enjoy, or at least aren’t tempted to block.”

If publishers realized that and stopped the “Punch the Monkey/Bin Laden/political figure” then maybe they’d see revenue go up.

8-Bit NYC Map Turns New York Into Hyrule [Maps] Oh, great, now...

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 09:28:22 -0600

8-Bit NYC Map Turns New York Into Hyrule [Maps]

Oh, great, now I’ll have the Zelda song stuck in my head all day.

"Charlie, here comes the deuce. And when you speak of me? Speak well."

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 08:38:02 -0600

“Charlie, here comes the deuce. And when you speak of me? Speak well.”

- Crash Davis. Just because I hate how the rest of the great lines in that movie always take a back seat to that stupid speech. (via weselec)

Agreed. Of course, I’m also a big fan of “Strikeouts are boring. What’s more, they’re fascist.”

mrgan: The Panic Status Board - one of the things I’ve been...

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 20:46:16 -0600

mrgan:

The Panic Status Board - one of the things I’ve been working on lately. Read Cabel’s writeup!

This is fantastic. I see things like this and realize how much I want to be able to do them.

I have no idea what's going on.

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 20:38:48 -0600

(via yodelmachine)

I spend at least half my Internet time thinking exactly this. And much of my work time, too, come to think of it.

Twitter arguments have more in common with elementary-school...

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 12:02:38 -0600

Twitter arguments have more in common with elementary-school ones than most people would care to admit.

Also, TOTALLY my fault for responding to the guy.

Bunny Has Balancing Skills

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 10:34:51 -0600

Bunny Has Balancing Skills

reagank: (via eyeonspringfield) Bob: Oh Cousin Merle,...

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 10:09:13 -0600

reagank:

(via eyeonspringfield)

Bob: Oh Cousin Merle, really!

Cecil: Now, now, you know Cousin Merle ain’t been quite right lately.

My band’s second album will be titled “Geech gone to heaven”

Seeing Adam’s post about his birthday present made me...

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 09:07:40 -0600

Seeing Adam’s post about his birthday present made me remember that I bought Emily a similar birthday present. An early 1980s Apple IIe. Allegedly working, though we have no software to test it with.

It sat on the floor for months, but in my cleaning push, I thought we should display it better.

Pictory’s Neighborhood Treasures: Detroit Smile

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 09:01:53 -0600

Pictory’s Neighborhood Treasures: Detroit Smile