technorati tags:xbox, 360, live, arcade, worms, review, iwillkamakazeyourass
"Innumerable confusions and a profound feeling of despair invariably emerge in periods of great technological and cultural transitions." —Marshall McLuhan
About a week ago, I was taking a peak in the Xbox Live arcade and saw that an update of Worms had been added, and I’d somehow missed it. I quickly rectified my Worm problem, and have been playing it all week. Chris Kohler over at Wired has given the game a very favorable review, and he’s right – it’s awesome. If you’re playing, look me up (gamertag: Vinylslut).
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Number 3 will always be my favorite.
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Now I want to get a dog. Is that wrong?
Now, I generally think most of the media coverage of the VA Tech tragedy is kind of tasteless, but Fox News has hit a new low (high?) with their alternative theory – Cho Seung-Hui was possessed by Satan. Who the Hell (pun intended) is running their news room?
Did the Devil Make Him Do It?
technorati tags:foxnews, fox, cho, seung-hui, va, tech, tragedy, satan, thedevilmademedoit
In my last post I mentioned that I’m annoyed with the sheer volume of American Idol that’s on TV every week. Well, yesterday for my birthday, my fiance gave me Twitch City: The Complete Series on DVD, which I hadn’t even known was available (obscure Canadian TV shows from the early 90s aren’t really known for making the jump to DVD). Twitch City (if you’re unfamiliar) can make a strong case for being the greatest TV show ever. It works on about seven levels, all of which are hilarious, delivering scathing social commentary, quirky characters and situations that are both completely real and completely contrived. In a word, it RULES. How is it possible something this good lives on as 13 half hour episodes on two DVDs, and Idol is on 9 days a week? There’s something seriously wrong with the state of television.
technorati tags:twitch, city, american, idol, ihaveacrushonmollyparker
Hopefully this will be the last Idol post I ever make. Sanjaya Malakar has been sent home, thus ending the social experiment that made this season of AI interesting (though still not watchable). I can’t figure out why this show is one for like 27 hours a week. Everytime I turn on my TV, it seems to be on, and now that Dancing with the Stars is back, I can’t turn it on at all (to be fair, I only get three channels).
technorati tags:sanjaya, american, idol, ineedahobby
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The new NIN CD apparently changes color after sitting inside your computer for awhile.
I’ve often commented on this phenomenon when ordering a Big Mac, but now someone has documented the reality of fast food versus the promise of fast food. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go get some BK.
Fast Food: Ads vs. Reality
technorati tags:advertising, reality, fast, food, ronaldmcdonaldwilleatyoursoul
Okay… I’m a bit of a zombie nut. I can’t explain it, but I really enjoy the whole concept of the undead. When I was at SXSW, I even ventured out to see Chris Katan (the poor man’s Jimmy Fallon) star in a Zombie Western (because that has AWESOME written all over it). Anyway, I’m very happy that we can now get a look at life inside the zombie world, thanks to Twitter.
technorati tags:twitter, zombies, reallyshortfiction
Justin.tv is boring. Justine, on the other hand, is a hottie. Some one give this girl a website!
technorati tags:justin.tv, justine.tv, cuterisbetter
Well, it’s never too late to lynch the bastard responsible for taking Jam Master Jay away from us.
Suspect Named in Jam Master Jay Slaying
technorati tags:run, dmc, jam, master, jay, eastcoastforeverbaby
And to think, I almost upgraded to a BlackBerry last month. Whew! Instead, I’ve decided (i.e., I am brandwashed) and have decided to wait until the iPhone sees the light of day in Canada (hopefully in a nice and functional Gen 2 model). But this does beg a question – if your all BlackBerrys simultaneously die, does the world cease to exist?
Mass system failure affecting BlackBerrys
technorati tags:blackberry, go, boom
Yesterday I got all high and mighty about the new web radio royalties being stupid, and completely unenforceable once someone appealled and people realized they were stupid. Apparently, I underestimated the stupidity of the people who get to make that decision. Ouch.
U.S. Copyright Board rejects appeals from Net broadcasters
technorati tags:web, radio, copyright, royalties, riaa, soundexchange, thisreallysucks
Okay… it’s just erosion on one chunk of rock. But this story is worth a read, if only for the very last sentence.
technorati tags:newfoundland, itstheendoftheworldasweknowit
Ug. Learning virtually nothing from the mistakes of the US, it looks like Canada is now pursuing changes in copyright law. Unfortunately, the changes seem to favour business over consumer, meaning the laws will just be stupid. I wonder if this means I’ll have to stop downloading TV shows?
DMCA hitchikes north to Canada, catches a lift with Conservatives
EDIT: Apparently Norway is starting to recognize that content wants to be free.
technorati tags:copyright, dmca, cria, riaa, piratesarenotascoolasninjas
This story might be interesting after all.
Micorosft Crying Foul After Double Click Agrees To Be Bought By Google
technorati tags:google, microsoft, doubleclick, online, advertising, 3billionwouldtotallypayoffmystudentloan
Though I’m staying out of this, having decided to just shut down (or drastically change) my radio site if these new royalties are upheld, I’m still following the issue quite closely. Today, a formal protest to prevent the completely unreasonable and ludicrously stupid royalty structure from being adopted has been filed. YAY! I can’t see how the proposed structure can possibly stick.
Appeal Filed to Halt New Internet Radio Royalty Rates
technorati tags:radio, royalties, riaa, soundexchange, copyright, stupidpeopleruntheinternet
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Amazon.com: The Cult of the Amateur: How today’s Internet is killing our culture: Books: Andrew KeenFound on Fimoculous. Bookmarking so I remember to order it.
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Another gem I found on Fimoculous. Really articulates how I think of culture, and why I think marketing needs to spend more time focusing on early adopters and influencers.
Okay, back when Will Ferrell started getting more and more attention on SNL, I hated him. I didn’t think he was funny at all. That trend continued as he ventured into film. But somewhere along the way (maybe when Old School came out), Will Ferrell became, like, the funniest guy in the history of the world. I can’t even begin to explain it. Anyway, I have no idea where this video came from, but little kids swearing is always good for a laugh.
EDIT: I had the video embedded, but FoD’s player auto starts, and it’s really irritating, so please follow this link instead.
technorati tags:will, ferrell, comedy, video, pottymouthkidsarefunny
This has been getting a lot of coverage, and it should – $3.1-billion is a lot of coin. But it’s not really that big a deal, unless you’re Microsoft. In which case, this probably makes you want to cry a little. I’m not sure Google will be able to maintain their “Don’t Be Evil” mandate once they own the world.
technorati tags:google, doubleclick, microsoft, googleownseverything
Well, somehow, some way, someone has convinced Ed Norton that playing the Hulk is a good idea. I think it’s safe to say, pretty much everyone else on the planet disagrees. Marvel had their chance with the Hulk, and they screwed it up. I think at least a decade needs to pass before they are allowed to try again. Seriously… that movie was REALLY bad (and bad in a completely different way than Fantastic Four and Elektra were bad, though they managed to snag the screenwriter from those two films for this sequel). Ed Norton (who’s awesome) aside, I see know reason why this movie won’t completely suck.
technorati tags:hulk, ed, norton, comics, movies, holybadideabatman!
the most important 1/4 inch, originally uploaded by Nmarie.
I sometimes forget how great Flickr can be for killing an afternoon… you know, when I’m not writing groundbreaking copy. Just found the Vintage Advertising group, and it’s endless fun.
Doug Sarine and Kent Nichols of Ask a Ninja have landed a six-figure deal for their Ninja Handbook project. Another “W” for non-traditional media as business model.
technorati tags:ask, a, ninja, books, new, media, ninjasaresobadass
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Bookmarking this in case I need to get that new MacBook.
Found this on Flickr via Digg. Is this a case of typography gone wrong, or very, very right?
The copy on this site is just rad.
Have an adventure as a superdog. Chasing a butterfly, the dog got lost in the woods. Now it has to find its way home.Control this nice dog. Help persons you meet on your way – they will make it worth your while! To finish the game you should complete several tasks. The riddles are not too difficult for little kids. Superdog is a game for children and it is devoid of aggression. It teaches children you have to help other people.
It gets better. Just read the descriptions on the various games.
Play-Publishing games and software developer
technorati tags:marketing, copywriting, video, games, european, iwantthatjob
So, The Office references Wikipedia, but fictionalizes the information. So the Wikipedia masses jump into action turning that fiction into a reality. Or is it turning the reality into fiction? Much like when Steven Colbert told the world to change the entry for elephants, this kind of proves that the inmates are running the asylum as far as Wikipedia is concerned. Not that I care. I’ve always felt Wikipedia was a great social experiment than information platform anyway. Wikiality rules!
technorati tags:office, wikipedia, colbert, wikiality, stevecarellmakesmelaugh
Creepiness aside, he’s also been dragged through the ringer for his comments. And rightfully so, but my question is, why is it bad to make a racist/sexist slur, but okay to reprint it everywhere? Take this story about CBS deciding to fire Imus – it not only says it, it repeats it four paragraphs later, while quoting CBS president Leslie Moonves’ statement about the affect of language like this on young people. If the language is so bad (and it is), why does every media outlet in North America get to repeat it?
If you type the slur into Technorati, you get almost 6,000 results, while Google delivers a staggering 2-million. If Imus’ goal was to spread racism (and I don’t think it was, he’s just that ignorant/stupid), then mission accomplished. Fire the guy. Be outraged. But also, have some perspective. If we’re so concerned about using this kind of language, consider how many people heard the original statement versus how many people have heard it repeated verbatim since.
technorati tags:imus, racism, sexism, kramerishappyweveallforgettenabouthim
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Sadly, nothing I worked on this year was nominated. But I did work on the NASA site (which won two years ago) that has been ported over to different NASA divisions and is nominated.
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Holy free TV heaven, Batman!
To be honest, I haven’t thought all that much about Kurt Vonnegut in the last few years. A friend introduced me to his work in university, and I read pretty much everything. Cat’s Cradle is still among my favorite books. So, I was sad to check my feeds this morning and see he’d passed away yesterday after suffering a head injury a few weeks ago. I guess living to 84 is something we should all be so lucky to experience, but still, I’m sad and it sucks.
I’d say his biggest legacy is introducing the phase “go take a flying fuck
at a rolling doughnut” intro the public consciousness. I use it at least once a week.
CBC.ca Arts – Author Kurt Vonnegut dead at 84
technorati tags:kurt, vonnegut, jr, wherecanicansomeice9?
