This video pretty much sums it up. Thanks Evan for the link.
Astroturf Infecting Print and Online Media
I mentioned a practice of Astroturfing (though I didn’t know the official term for it) in a previous posting. While I mentioned that it was being done heavily by Bush supporters, as a commenter pointed out, the practice is being done on both sides. Mark Glaser has a great story on OJR about the practice, who’s doing what, and why they’re doing it.
Morning Funny
From Joke A Day:
A school teacher asks her class “What vegetable makes your eyes water?”
Little Johnny replies, “An eggplant.”
“No, Johnny,” says the teacher, “I believe you are thinking of an onion, aren’t you?”
“No, ma’am,” Says Johnny, “Have you never been hit in the balls with an eggplant?”
I’m Sick Of Beach Volleyball
Am I the only one that doesn’t give a rip about beach volleyball, let alone women’s beach volleyball, in the Olympics? Why is NBC, with their already crappy coverage, force feeding me women’s volleyball every night? Yes, there are scantily clad women, and that’s obviously a ratings boost, but what about the other 30+ sports (with multiple levels and categories in each sport) that are going on during these games? You can pretty much sum up NBC’s coverage in a few words: Phelps, Gymnastics, and Bikinis. I think that’s all I’ve pretty much seen so far. They make me get up at the crack of dawn or skip work to watch anything other than that, and since I don’t have a Tivo, I’m stuck watching the prime-time crap.
At least there are two things that I know: 1) Kerri Walsh and Misty May win the gold tonight, so hopefully that’ll be the last I see of them, and 2) NBC will, at some point in the next 30 years, hopefully lose the rights to broadcast the Olympics (I can’t remember how long their contract is now — until 2010, maybe?). Maybe then I’ll get better coverage.
Meanwhile I’m off to pirate the videos I want.
Where was John Kerry?
You have to love great satire:
A new Republican-financed negative ad is accusing Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry of fleeing to Vietnam to avoid serving in the Alabama National Guard.
The ad, airing in most of the so-called battleground states, attempts to contrast Sen. Kerry’s alleged guard-dodging with the storied Alabama National Guard heroism of the Republican nominee, President George W. Bush.
In the ad, a narrator asks, “When the Alabama National Guard called young Americans to serve, where was John Kerry? Thousands of miles away, in Vietnam.”
The commercial ends with a black-and-white freeze-frame of Mr. Kerry, over which the narrator asks, “John Kerry. reporting for duty?”
Priceless. Link from Barney.
Kerry Denies Performing Gay Weddings On Swift Boat
Another wonderful piece of satire:
One Million Anti-Kerry Boatmates March on Washington Democratic nominee John Kerry today blasted a just-released attack ad in which a new group of swift boat veterans accuse him of performing hundreds of gay weddings on the boat he commanded during that conflict.
The ad, financed by a group calling itself Swift Boat Veterans For Truth About Gay Weddings On Swift Boats, accuses Sen. Kerry of using his status as commanding officer on his boat to perform gay weddings on an almost non-stop basis.
Link from Barney.
Your Moron Crook For The Day
If you’re going to steal a car, make sure you don’t steal one with a Rottweiler-Doberman pinscher mix named “Diablo.” Just for future reference.
That’s a Load of Crap — Literally
The rear gate broke on a truck carrying 15 tons of treated sewage sludge, dumping it all over the road. According to the story, the Department of Health and Environmental Control says the sludge posed no hazard to the community, but I certainly wouldn’t want to be swimming around in the stuff.
Cool URL Tool
The interface could use some CSS prettying-up, but otherwise if you want to have a pile of information about a URL all accessible from one place, head to URLinfo. Nothing that it does is done by itself, as it relies on outside tools, but it does put it all in one place for you. More in-depth article on the tool.
Outsource Your Own Job
Says a programmer on Slashdot.org who outsourced his job: “About a year ago I hired a developer in India to do my job. I pay him $12,000 out of the $67,000 I get. He’s happy to have the work. I’m happy that I have to work only 90 minutes a day just supervising the code. My employer thinks I’m telecommuting. Now I’m considering getting a second job and doing the same thing.”
Disturbing, and hopefully the employer(s) never find out about the practice. Link via BBSpot.