Have a link to a story or cool thing you think we should write up? Drop us an email at
By the way, because we actually have jobs and, you know, lives, we probably won’t reply to your email, so you’ll just have to keep checking back here to see if we’ve decided to write up your link or not. A good way to make sure we write it up is to send us the link and a brief description of why it’s noteworthy or just plain cool. Include the URL of your site as well if you want a link back from us — and if you link to us, your chances of acceptance will greatly improve. If it’s clearly your own page, we probably won’t link it, but who knows, maybe you’ll get lucky — though not as long as you keep living in your mother’s basement!
This photograph was taken by David Shrigley. I have no idea what the story behind this notice is, or where in the world this was taken, only that the photo itself is called “Notice” and it’s possibly the best modern art short story ever. I’d like to teach this in a post-modern literature class if I ever could bother finishing Uni or put up with the little bastards long enough to teach them. Usually, five minutes with a room full of teenagers and I’m off to the bar for a martini.
If you’re like me (a dedicated Windows/PC user until Vista left you crapping your pants in fear of the horrors to be unleashed upon your precious machine) and just pluncked down a rather large chunk of change to jump head-first into the world of Mac, you know how annoying it is to have to redownload or re-purchase a lot of software that, contrary to the Mac ads, doesn’t “just work” at all, because you’re running a new OS it doesn’t want to play nicely with. And, just to be extra annoying, some programs haven’t been programmed for those of us who’ve moved away from Microshit. (Hello, I’m talking to you, makers of Trillian!!!!!)
To the rescue is Open Source Mac, a directory of some of the most useful freeware Mac programs out there, including Mac versions of some old favorites like Firefox and Thunderbird, and some new favorites I downloaded recently like Fugu, which is an excellent FTP client for Mac, and VLC media player. I’m totally not a software-minded geek of any form, but this site is definitely one you should bookmark.
Remember that lovely rootkit Sony put on their CDs last year in a *huge* media fiasco that had them sued, sent their stock prices tumbling, and briefly obliterated customer loyalty? Well, like an annoying pop tartlet who doesn’t know when she’s no longer young, cute, and hot, Sony’s pulling out the tricks *again*.
Electronics giant Sony has again been accused of selling products that leave PCs vulnerable to attack by hackers.
The vulnerability is similar to one found on CDs sold by Sony BMG in 2005 that led to the discs being recalled and lawsuits against the company.
I can’t help but not feel a bit of blame should be placed on the users here. I mean, as the Chinese say, fuck me over once, shame on you. Fuck me over twice, shame on me. Why would you trust a company that potentially ruined millions of people’s computers — customers who *legally* bought the music — in the name of stopping the people who weren’t going to buy the damned CDs anyway?
According to the BBC, Astro-nut Lisa Nowak’s attorney intends to enter a plea of “not guilty by reason of insanity.” Did anyone else not see that coming, because on the planet I’m from — Earth — driving several hundred miles in a diaper (so you don’t have to stop to use the bathroom, even though you’ll inevitably have to stop to refuel) in order to kidnap, assault, and/or kill your ex-boyfriend’s new girlfriend isn’t exactly normal…
…unless you’re Carrie Underwood, who seems to believe keying trucks, slashing tires, busting out headlights, and carving your name into the seats of your ex’s vehicle is perfectly acceptable behavior if another woman is involved.
You are a hated, multi-national corporation that closes stores rather than allowing them to unionize, has been found to have hired illegal immigrants in the past, is generally believed to exploit your workers, and is possibly the dictionary definition of evil capitalist concern. In other words, the typical uber-lefty, practically-communist student demographic is going to hate your greedy green guts. Now, you could get someone cool (like that guy off that show that all the kids are talking about) to be your spokesperson. You could start a trendy (yet somehow completely uncool) campaign to bring in the kids. You could hire teen models to pose practically nude and cause all kinds of A&F-style controversy with your back-to-school catelogues. You could even start paying your workers a living wage, get environmental, and pay lots of money to AIDS charities — but then your big business conservative investors may turn against you, assuming they don’t know it’s just a marketing ploy.
Or, you could totally cock things up and start a community in FaceBook.
The Wife is a sometimes writer, sometimes drone of the public slave servant type who is depressed and bitter about her wasted youth, failing good looks, and inability to find a real writing job / spot on American Idol. She writes for a webcomic of little significance. The Husband is a sometimes-writer currently employed by some sort of electronics retailer that either sells televisions or defeats terrorism; we’re not sure which they’re more successful at — probably the former. He draws the webcomic of little significance, which he originally created until his thieving wife stole the writing job out from under him (as she tells it).
…And What Are You Doing Here?
This is a compendium of miscellany utilizing polysyllabic vocabulary to embiggen our reader’s sense of superiority at reading such fine reference works on the InterTubes.
Yes, I am aware that BoingBoing.net hating Ted Stevens isn’t exactly earth-shattering, but when it’s this blatant, well, what can you do but post it to your blog!?
Today’s “links round-up” post:
Boy, the Peninsula Tokyo sounds sweet: “This being Tokyo, the hotel also includes a futuristic touch: a first-of-its-kind telephone system that allows you to make calls throughout the building with a cordless handset, which then switches to mobile mode the minute you step outside.”
However, when Sen. Ted Stevens said he wanted to switch from his home phone to a phone he could use on his motorcycle (a, duh, mobile phone — or cell phone, as we know them) BoingBoing called it technobabel.
To be fair, Xeni posted today’s post; Mark posted the one about Sen. Stevens (who did, yes, once compare the internet to “a series of tubes” thus giving rise to my favorite term for the web, “InterTubes”) but I still think this smacks of BoingBoing elitism.
“Oooh, we’re all cool hipsters and this is an old (possibly in big oil’s back pocket) geezer who doesn’t understand technology. When he want’s something, it’s stupid, but when the Japanese do it, it’s not stupid. It’s advaaaaaanced.” Excepting, of course, that BoingBoing isn’t cool enough to reference Jhonen Vasquez, so yeh.
ur back-to-school catelogues. You could even start paying your workers a living wage, get environmental, and pay lots of money to AIDS charities — but then your big business conservative investors may turn against you, assuming they don’t know it’s just a marketing ploy.
Yes, I am aware that BoingBoing.net hating Ted Stevens isn’t exactly earth-shattering, but when it’s this blatant, well, what can you do but post it to your blog!?
