slob

Hulk Mad, Hulk want Crunch Credit

2008-04-09T10:35:00.007-06:00

So I was sitting on my couch, innocently reading this week's New Yorker when I was viciously attacked by yet another article on credit. How many f*@%ing "credit crunch" pieces am I going to need to read? Well, Aaron, I'm glad you asked that. A quick google news search returns a healthy 40,000 articles matching "credit crunch", not a single one of them pertaining to the more palatable subjects involving the words "extra" or "captain". Anyways, there's a lot of shit written about this credit crunch we're all apparently in. The problem is, as consumers, we aren't in a credit crunch. We're swimming in a proverbial sea of credit card offers. Even as everyone and their destitute cousin are defaulting on their mortgages, we can all still convince someone to extend a few thousand dollars of credit. And yes, if you have poor credit already, it's tough to get a card, but you can. That's the problem. It's not in the bankruptcy laws, and it's not the fiscal irresponsibility of the general public, it's the fact that it is still profitable for a credit card company even when people default. Actually, thanks to Bush, it's even more profitable now because traditional bankruptcy (involving complete absolution of debt) is 40% more difficult to file.

I'd like to look at how our country has handled two other evils, drugs and file sharing. In both instances it is illegal to engage in that particular evil. However, in each case, in order to curtail their use, the government has focused on stopping the supply. Why? Because there are fewer distributors than users, and if there is no crack, no one can smoke it. Okay, there's some solid logic. We don't make life tougher for the millions of users, we make life tougher for the thousands of dealers and the people hosting the files (a la napster, P2P is another issue.)So, cut off the supply, good idea. And how do they handle the consumer credit crisis? Obviously they punish the consumer, make it difficult for him to forgo his debts and once he does sort everything out, make it difficult for him to get credit at a reasonable rate for the rest of his life. Like many Nash equilibria, that strategy is not pareto optimal. The credit card company doesn't get its money and the consumer is effed. Wouldn't it be nice to make it all work out. In an ideal world couldn't I just borrow money from the guy next to me and pay him back? Why can't real life be just a bit more like that? Why can't we prevent these credit card companies from making predatory offers of 0% balance transfers and low initial financing rates? Why isn't there a law on the number of credit cards one can use? There are laws on how much corporations can borrow, why not extend those to consumers? Why can I get a new credit card and transfer my delinquent balance from the old card to the new one? Much like crack to a crackhead, people are going to always want stuff, and they will buy stuff as long as they have a capability to get it. So cut off the enablers, cut off the credit card companies. Don't make it tougher to get out of debt, make it tougher to get into debt.

Many people would argue that competition in the consumer credit market reveals the optimal interest rate for consumer credit, which limits the use of the instrument, much as it does in any other market. However the consumer situation is not parallel to most markets. If the only way IBM will finance a new project is to issue bonds with a 20% yield, they simply won't do the project. If the only way Joe Johnson will get his new tv is to put it on a card that charges him 0% interest for the first three months, he'll do it in a heartbeat. Then when the interest rate is around 20% three months later, he'll switch cards and do it again. Eventually he will overload himself and the 20% will kick in and Joe is stuck with a bunch of new stuff including a healthy amount of debt. So why don't we just change that new bankruptcy law and enact some consumer protection measures? Make it difficult to get into debt by either making it less profitable for the credit card companies to extend predatory credit or by passing laws against such practices. It's a fairly simple solution that we've employed elsewhere. And if that fails we can always just root out consumerism in America.

Save While You Google

2007-08-08T11:29:00.001-06:00

A crew of amazing nerd/geniuses at Heap Media calculated that if Google were to use a black background instead of a white one on their page, they would save 750 mega watts/hour per year. So here, I present you, BLACKLE, a sort-of uglier but enviro-friendlier Google. It has all the same functions, it's just darker.

P.S. I considered ending this post with a racial slur and I'm glad I did not. I am a better person for this.

apple iphone vs. my nokia 6030

2007-07-10T01:22:00.000-06:00

vs.

Everyone knows that Apple's new iPhone is changing the way we look at phones; reshaping the telecommunications industry; bridging the gap between computers, the internet, and consumer electronics; and ushering in the age of the personal space travel. What no one knows is how the iPhone stacks up to my venerable Nokia 6030, aka "the Brick". It's time to settle this matter once and for all. Let's see how this pans out.

-Functionality
The iPhone uses state of the art multi-touch technology to allow users to manipulate a screen without the use of buttons. The iPhone also runs Mac OS X and uses Safari to browse the internet. The Nokia uses buttons. It has no operating system because it is a phone, not a machine from the future. The internet comes to the iPhone by way of the old EDGE network, which is slower than 3G, but the internet comes to the Nokia by way of black magic, although it actually does work. Technically. Winner: iPhone

-Features
The iPhone can display photos and play videos and music. It also has full access to Google Maps, email, and Skynet (which will shortly become self-aware and destroy humanity unless the Terminator goes back in time to save John Connor). But all of that sucks in comparison to Tetris, which runs on my Nokia, but not on the Apple. Winner: Nokia

-Price
An iPhone will set you back $500-600 or so. My Nokia cost about $15 with service. I can also throw my Nokia against a wall and it will still function. Will an iPhone? Will anyone even risk trying it? Also, for those of you who tend to get drunk and lose your cellphones (ie: female Facebook users), it's better to lose a Nokia. Winner: Nokia

-Scoring Chicks
Adding a girl's digits into your iPhone instantly labels you as a huge dork...but a rich dork. Entering that number into your beat-up Nokia just makes you look cheap. Plus, you can play "New Slang" for your future lover from your iPhone to show her how sensitive you are. Better yet, just cue up Garden State. Winner: iPhone

-Picking Up Guys
Any girl looking to pick up a cute guy will certainly benefit from having an iPhone, as most men will be drawn towards it like The Exterminators towards Zardoz and will inevitably be impressed by a female's ability to use it. Winner: iPhone

-Conlusion
So which phone wins this scientific head-to-head contest? Clearly, the iPhone has some advantages, such as full access to the internet, navigation capabilities, and all of the features of an iPod. Everything is interwoven fairly seamlessly by way of the most user-friendly operating system on the planet and innovative touch screen technology. Yet for $485-585 less, you can get an indestructible phone that can a) make phone calls, and b) play Tetris. So although the iPhone has a lot to offer, in the end, the Nokia emerges as the clear winner.

hong kong, 10 years after

2007-07-02T10:46:00.000-06:00

June 1st marked the 10-year anniversary of the transference of Hong Kong's sovereignty from Great Britain to the People's Republic of China. In the 1990s, Hong Kong residents and the international community alike imagined that the 1997 handover to communist-led China would mark the end of Hong Kong's civil liberties, rule of law, and robust, open economy. In principle, Hong Kong was to become a Special Autonomous Region, but if the realities of autonomy in Hong Kong were to be anything like the Tibetan experience, Hong Kong, "Asia's World City," was doomed to devolve into a puppet of the Beijing government. Or so the world thought.

In fact, the mainland government has done a fairly commendable job of maintaining Hong Kong's outstanding institutions and economic independence. For the most part, Beijing has shied away from meddling in Hong Kong's judicial processes and has not bothered the openly critical Hong Kong press. The mainland government has not interfered in Hong Kong's economic policies either. And, in spite of financial setbacks stemming from the 1998 Asian Financial Crisis, the American dotcom bust in 2000, and the SARS outbreak of 2003, Hong Kong's real GDP grew at a brisk 6.9% in 2006 while maintaining impressively low inflation. And although Shanghai's rapid growth since the early 90s may eventually allow mainland China to compete with Hong Kong as the business and financial capital of Asia, for the time being, Hong Kong is still Asia's number one city.

Except for one small problem. Hong Kongers can't vote for their government. Even though Beijing promised representative democracy to Hong Kong residents on numerous occasions, the PRC has taken drastic and generally shady measures to ensure that pro-Beijing politicians make up the majority of Hong Kong's government. Indeed, Hong Kong citizens only elect half of the tiny Legislative Council that runs the territory and have no say in the selection of the Chief Executive (basically the governor of the territory) who is essentially hand-picked by Beijing.

As such, thousands of Hong Kongers filled the streets yesterday to speak with their feet. According to The Guardian, at least 6,000 people "marched through the city centre chanting, 'One man, one vote', and carrying banners proclaiming, 'Democracy is not a gift from Beijing'." Indeed, "polls suggest the vast majority of Hong Kong people would like full democracy immediately." But of course, Beijing is afraid of democracy anywhere under its flag, especially since Hong Kong will fully merge with the PRC in 2047. Democracy in Hong Kong will either compel the mainland towards political reformation, or force Beijing to reconsider its future relationship with Hong Kong. Hu Jintao's government has never seemed too keen on the idea of democratization or political reform. Yet The Economist notes that, "in recent months [Hu] has tolerated an unusually open debate about the country's political options". In reality, this is nothing more than showmanship meant to coincide with both the celebrations of the 10th anniversary of the Hong Kong handover and the ongoing build-up to the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

Hong Kong is one of the world's most intriguing, most cosmopolitan cities, and it is a terrible shame that the Beijing government denies its people democracy. Whether full democracy will ever materialize for Hong Kong remains uncertain. In Wong Kar Wai's 2004 film 2046 (the last year of Hong Kong's autonomy), a train departs for the year 2046 where "nothing ever changes" but "nobody really knows if that's true because nobody's ever come back." Time will tell whether Wong is right.

run he's fuzzy ... get outta here

2007-06-29T19:03:00.000-06:00

The Escanaba Daily Press is reporting that Matthew Moneymaker and the Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization (BFRO) are planning their next expedition to find the big, fuzzy, out-of-focus monster known as Bigfoot, or sometimes Sasquatch, in Michigan's Upper Peninsula.

The search will focus in the UP's Marquette County, throwing a wrench in the general consensus that Bigfoot is roaming the Rocky Mountains somewhere. Quite the contrary, BFRO's website has a comprehensive list of the groups past 30 expeditions, which apparently include Oklahoma, West Virginia and Hilton Head. (There's also a place to sign-up for the group's next trip to Ontario. Pad your amateur naturalist resume!)

Being a Michigan native, I must admit, Bigfoot hiding out in the Upper Peninsula makes perfect sense. In fact, I honestly wouldn't even be surprised if Bigfoot was a Yooper. I think last deer season I saw him at a bingo hall in Houghton.

via CNN

talk crop

2007-06-27T14:32:00.000-06:00

Indoor farming is an idea that has been around for a long time. It is done on a small scale in greenhouses all around the world, and many foods that we consume on a daily basis are grown via larger scale, hot house farming. Indoor methods such as hot house farming allow all kinds of produce to be grown year-round in a controlled environment, virtually eliminating the threat of pests and weather to the crop yield and removing the need for soil by using a method known as hydroponics to grow things. Hot house farming can be done anywhere, bringing agriculture to the most arid of climates. While hot house farming solves the problems associated with outdoor farming, it doesn't do much to reduce the carbon footprint associated with transport of produce. This is where the idea of urban vertical farming comes in.

Dr. Dickson Despommier, Ph.D a professor of Public Health in Environmental Health Sciences and Microbiology at Columbia created The Vertical Farm Project. As a microbiologist and someone concerned with sustainability, he is a man after my own heart. The central idea of The Vertical Farm Project is to integrate vertical farms into the skylines of heavily populated cities thereby reducing the need to import produce and even small livestock such as chickens and pigs. The farms would be completely sustainable of course, using solar panels, recycling water, not using chemicals that can leach into the environment and kill fish and dolphins and baby eagles. Despommier's plan is quite impressive, and he seems to solve a lot of environmental problems associated with traditional farming techniques--especially the one about clearcutting rainforests to make farmland to grow crops to feed the projected 9 billion people that will be on Earth in 2050.

This plan could not come at a better time when it seems like world leaders are grasping at straws to do anything to reduce greenhouse gasses and couteract global warming. I can't think of a better way than letting forests grow where they once existed forever before we humans cleared them for crops.

aw frenchie, you scared?

2007-06-25T10:26:00.000-06:00

French officials are no longer allowed to carry Blackberries, according to a report in French papers last Wednesday, because they fear spies. (And not spam?)

The US, UK, Austria, New Zealand and Australian governments have all aproved the Blackberry network for sensitive material. But the US and UK based servers worry the Frogs. They don't want their secret widdle emails to leak. (Aw...)

Reseach in Motion (RIM), the Canadian Blackberry manufacturer denied the possibility of data interception. And a number of French officals are floating the ban anyhow. Figures.

i'm rich! duh i use facebook.

2007-06-25T08:24:00.000-06:00

A recent 6 month research project conducted at UC Berkeley by PhD student Danah Boyd reveals that Facebook users are of a higher socioeconmic class than MySpace users. Boyd defines class not just by how much money someone makes, but also by their ambitions, how much education they have recieved, race, religion, and geographic location. Initially I was intrigued by such a sweeping generalization, but upon deeper analysis, I realized that Boyd is totally wrong in her findings. Not to say they are completely devoid of merit, but Danah's conclusions are forgetting one very important aspect of Facebook's history--it was started at Harvard in 2004 and remained a social network that only college students and alumni and highschoolers could be a part of until September 2006. MySpace; on the other hand, is a social network that has never discriminated against users who weren't associated with an educational institution (that's why when I was 18, 36 year old men were messaging me). So, the very history of both MySpace and Facebook accounts for this observed difference in class of people who use the online social networks. I am not sure why something so evident to me, a recent college graduate, escaped dear Danah Boyd.
She also claims that Facebook users are for the most part white and degree seeking, while the MySpace user demographic contains more latinos and hispanics and "the kids who are socially ostracised at school because they are geeks, freaks, or queers." Again, these findings can be explained by who could join Facebook in the past as well as nationwide statistics on races and classes of people who attend college.
I use both MySpace and Facebook, and for different reasons. Facebook is what I use to talk to friends and when I am feeling a bit voyeuristic. MySpace is what I use when I want to check out new bands or friend a 45 year old.

MARS ATTACKS!

2007-06-20T09:10:00.000-06:00

This week, the European Space Agency announced that it is looking for 12 candidates to participate in a series of simulated trips to Mars. Surely astronauts the world over are wetting themselves at the prospect of being able to become one of the first humans to set foot on Mars, so there will likely be no shortage of applicants. The simulations are designed to study the psychological effects of space travel to Mars, and will be conducted in Moscow at the Russian Institute for Biomedical Problems. The participants will be made to live in a completely sealed space measuring 19,250 cubic feet for simulations lasting 105 or 520 days, dining on astronaut food and having only 40-minute-delayed radio contact with the outside world. The simulation is as close to a real Mars mission as possible with launches, emergencies and even exploration of the Martian surface. Sadly, the one fun thing about space travel--weightlessness--will be missing.
The screening process for the participants will be thorough, and the ESA is seeking healthy individuals 25-50 years of age and no more than 6 feet tall. The journey to Mars would be trying for anyone, and the average person would likely go crazy from that sort of isolation. If only space travel was like the movies and astronauts could be put in a medically induced coma for the long journey.
With a salary of about $160 per day and no expenses, being a fake astronaut seems like a pretty good job. The actual mission to Mars is still a ways off, and these simulations will help tremendously with the planning. Hopefully no crazies like Lisa Nowak slip through the cracks and get on that spaceship.

Clear Channel and NPR hold hands

2007-04-27T13:41:00.000-06:00

Yesterday, lawmakers introduced a bill intended to prevent the drastic increase in royalty payments targeted at internet radio in the coming months. The "Internet Radio Equality Act," introduced by Reps. Jay Inslee (D-WA) and Don Manzullo (R-IL), would overturn a ruling by the Copyright Royalty Board which by some estimates could result in fee increases on Internet radio operators ranging from 300 to 1200 percent between 2006 and 2012 driving popular internet radio sites like Pandora out of business. Naturally, this fee increase is opposed by NPR, Clear Channel, Pandora and pretty much everyone else with a soul. Keep your fingers crossed slobsters!

In somewhat related news, a federal court ruled Wednesday that there is no artist performance right in a digital download. Royalty collection agency ASCAP (to whom radio stations, bars, and coffee shops shell out fees to play their music, spawning the creation of Muzak) had been lobbying hard for the royalty right, which up until now had been overlooked. This ruling could have a serious effect on the future of music, effecting the bottom-line of many artists and music providers. But, it'll probably be appealed anyway.

story 1 via Benton Foundation

Story 2 via Digital Music News

See also SaveNetRadio.org

tonic closes; Ribot and Moore arrested

2007-04-17T15:34:00.000-06:00

Lower East Side avant garde mainstay Tonic was forced out by soaring rent last Saturday. The venue held its last concert, a John Zorn and friends improvisational performance and the following day protesters arrived.

The protesters claimed that the condo being built on Tonic's remains was not culture and that Tonic deserves to stand. In the comments on Brooklyn Vegan's post, somebody speaks to the new real estate trend of "go where the artists are." It has been super successful in NYC (see Williamsburg and LES) and Chicago (see Wicker Park/Bucktown) too.

It is sad to see culture-seekers move to hip neighborhoods and eventually destroy it by forcing rent up. I suppose that is just the way real estate works. Simple supply and demand...

Is there a solution for this? Probably not seeing as real estate gurus have already made millions and would do anything to repeat their gains. I'll tell you one thing, all of my friends from college want to move to New York and I'm not sure I want to go with them. With no experience in the job market, I'm afraid I can't afford the city that never sleeps.

In protest of Tonic's demise, Marc Ribot and Rebecca Moore stayed in the space until they were pulled out by police. Bob Arihood was inside.

Tonic was a great venue and I'm glad I had the chance of catching a Sexmob show there a few years back. Tonic, CBGB, Sin-e, who's next?

And on another note, what new neighborhood will the hipsters infiltrate? I hear they're moving into Pilsen, a beautiful Mexican neighborhood in Chicago. I heard that Harlem has gentrified. I guess I shouldn't be surprised.

sweet origami flag/bland friedman article

2007-04-17T11:45:00.000-06:00

The New York Times asked 10 artists to make "green" flags to illustrate Thomas Friedman's article "The Power of Green", published in this weekend's New York Times Magazine.

The coolest was the origami flag, designed by origami guru Robert J. Lang. See the video here.

By the way, in case you're wondering, Friedman's article is the same rehashing of similar arguments he's been making for years, which are essentially all plagiarized from real thinkers--he just adds his own self-impressed, obnoxious branding to it. There is no doubt in my mind that this article is the precursor to a book filled with stories of chatting about ethanol over a couple of beers with corn farmers in Iowa. He's got some really insightful gems in this piece, like: "Soaring oil prices are poisoning the international system by strengthening antidemocratic regimes around the globe." Huh...no kidding.

In other words, you can probably skip it. But check out the origami.

via The New York Times

leader of free world almost blows himself up; no one notices

2007-04-16T12:28:00.000-06:00

This is an old story, first running in the Detroit News April 7th, but the fact the story is still noteworthy makes it all the more ridiculous.

Fearless leader George W. Bush, VP Dick Cheney and Ford Motor Company CEO Alan Mulally were recently nearly consumed in a blazing hydrogen inferno. After a sort of auto company alternative fuel summit, Mulally wanted Bush to demonstrate the simplicity of Ford's new hydrogen-electric plug-in hybrid. However, an absent-minded aide had left the electric cord too close to the fuel tank.

Fortunately, Mulally was there to save the day:

"I just thought, 'Oh my goodness!' So, I started walking faster, and the President walked faster and he got to the cord before I did. I violated all the protocols. I touched the President. I grabbed his arm and I moved him up to the front," Mulally said. "I wanted the president to make sure he plugged into the electricity, not into the hydrogen This is all off the record, right?"

Have you heard this story? I sure haven't. How can the two most powerful people in the world nearly microwave their internal organs and no one talks about it? I did a bit of research, and while a few satire mags did Hindenburg jokes (like the one I was formerly so proud of), there were no "Hydrogen cars are an Al-Qaeda Plot" jokes on Colbert, or "Nancy Pelosi was a spark away from becoming President" gags on the Daily show (that I know of).

Hell, when the President tried to open a locked door in China, it was front page news for a week.

However, if the explosion occurred it would have been a fitting swan song the Ford Motor Company.

Via The Detroit News

miranda july is so cool

2007-04-12T10:40:00.000-06:00

Speaking of authors, Miranda July (you may remember the avant-artist from her movie, Me You and Everyone We Know), is releasing her book of short stories on May 15.

The collection of stories entitled, No One Belongs Here More Than You, has received critical acclaim from a number of hip authors and her site promoting the book was just posted on Gawker.

The site, that carries the same name as the book, is a fantastic DIY approach to the web and you should check it out.

Also, check out her personal site. She does all sorts of art in many mediums. My favorite is a site where she hands out strange assignments. People totally respond seriously. The Internet is incredible!

No one belongs here more than you.

R.I.P. Kurt Vonnegut Jr.

2007-04-12T07:37:00.000-06:00

Today, Slob would like to salute Kurt Vonnegut, 84. A novelist, essayist, and cartoonist, Vonnegut has been close to our hearts for decades.

His characters have made us laugh, his introspection has made us cry, and his insight has made us think.

Thank you, Mr. Vonnegut, ala v'shalom, for opening our young eyes. You will be missed.

NYT Slideshow

the cyborgs are upon us

2007-04-10T22:50:00.000-06:00

Researchers at the University of Tsukuba (in Japan--where else?) have developed a robotic suit that amplifies the strength of the user and potentially allows the user to lift up to 10 times his normal capabilities.

The suit, known as the Hybrid Assisstive Limb (HAL), has already been used to help a parapeligic man almost summit a mountain. Rumor has it that the developers are getting the device ready for commercial production.

See it in action:

via Weird Asia News + Engadget

lego cufflinks

2007-04-10T22:35:00.000-06:00

The Green Apple's Lego Cufflinks are made from discarded Lego pieces. The company sells them in a number of color combinations, and they can also be made to order.

England-based Green Apple specializes in ethical, environmentally friendly fashion and living accessories. Their clothing is primarily organic cotton. Other interesting products include a necklace made from recycled tin and a recycled newspaper wallet.

via The Green Apple

lenovo > apple

2007-04-09T19:28:00.000-06:00

Greenpeace's newly released Guide to Greener Electronics names the Chinese company Lenovo as the greenest electronics company, with Nokia, Sony Ericsson, and Dell coming up behind. Apple ranks at dead last on the scale.

Is the scale accurate? Call me skeptical, but as Slob's resident Sinologist, I'm going to go out on a limb and bet that Lenovo's environmental practices probably aren't as good as they claim. Inhabitat agrees with me, and goes further in its criticism of the Guide:

"There is something suspect in Greenpeace’s latest installment of the Green Electronics Guide, as the guide rates electronics brands on their web-based chemical policy reports, rather than on [their] environmental impact...Lenovo, the China-based PC maker that bought IBM’s PC business, jumped from last place in August to first place in the most recent report...The company’s actual environmental impact record could not have made such stratospheric change in that time frame. Lenovo is being rewarded for directly responding to Greenpeace’s campaign. Meanwhile, Apple is singled out for not responding to Greenpeace’s demands, ranking last on the list....The problem with Greenpeace’s campaign is the focus on toxicity and recycling while excluding one of the major contributors to climate change – energy expended during manufacturing and use."

Indeed, Greenpeace's Green My Apple campaign has been running for some time, and it points out that Apple's products are chock full of many non-biodegradable substances that competing electronic manufacturers have abandoned. At the same time, Apple's notebooks outrank Lenovo's according to the EPA's EPEAT ranking, which is far more thorough than Greenpeace's "standards." What's the moral of the story? Greenpeace's Electronics Guide is another one of their typical, attention-grabbing campaigns--high-style, low substance. Anyone else remember them crashing their boat into a reef that they were supposed to protect in 2005?

via Inhabitat + Greenpeace

google language tools

2007-04-09T00:00:00.000-06:00

I will not make a joke about something being lost in translation, I promise.

Google's relatively new Language Tools can search foreign language web pages and translate text and web pages in a whole host of languages, including text that does not translate electronically very easily (such as Arabic, Japanese, and simplified and traditional Chinese).

I used the software to translate simplified Chinese text today, and it works surprisingly well. Unlike Apple's useless Sherlock, which supposedly also translates Chinese, Google's translation was actually comprehensible and reasonably accurate, and with a bit of finessing, one could easily use the software as a foundation for more accurate translations.

Here it is (clothed in Baby Blue for Firefox 2.0, in case anyone is wondering). Click on the image and you can see it full-sized.

the end to expensive import albums?

2007-04-06T13:33:00.000-06:00

As most rockers have probably noticed, great albums are often released overseas months or years before they are available here. (reference countries are intentionally left vague. where's here? who's there? i dunno!)

Say, for example, you read a dazzling album review on the current "it" music blog. The record comes from Sweden, and it's nearly impossible to get your hands on. Record companies don't like to have one time, pan-universe, album releases. This practically makes sense, especially for indie-albums. Release the album in one country, see how it goes, then spend the money to make a push in the next country.

While this is all well and good, it has never been satisfactorily explained to me why you can't go online and buy the album from iTunes. You adjust the little country setting at the bottom of the homepage, input a phony credit card billing address that says you live in Göteborg, and try (and fail) to download the song. Then get busted for attempted fraud. So, most likely, you just illegally download the song. Now you're imprisoned for fraud AND the RIAA is your cellmate.

I hope the length of this narrative adequately expresses the depths of my outrage. Apparently, Apple is just as puzzled by the whole situation. On Tuesday, the European Commission slapped Apple (iTunes music store more specifically) and the Major Labels with an anti-trust suit.

The suit didn't address DRM. Instead, the point of contention is the price iTunes charges for downloads in each country. In London, it costs 99p ($1.56) to download "My Humps" while on the continent it costs a mere €0.99 ($1.32) to jam out to Fergie. The European Union has laws against territorial restrictions like this, bad music should cost the same in France as it does in England.

An Apple spokesperson responded by saying; "Apple has always wanted to operate a single, pan-European iTunes store, accessible by anyone from any member state, but we were advised by the music labels and publishers that there were certain legal limits to the rights they could grant us. We don't believe Apple did anything to violate EU law. We will continue to work with the EU to resolve this matter."

I had the grand scheme of figuring out exactly what these legal limits were, and maybe i will, but not today. So this suit MIGHT signal the beginning of the end for territorial releases. Majors will respond to the lawsuit by releasing albums across all of Europe simultaneously, then throw in the US for good measure.

Actually, they'll probably just figure out a way to make the price consistent. Or settle. But that's far less exciting.

Via Billboard.

invent a terrorist plot; win a prize?

2007-04-05T20:42:00.000-06:00

Bruce Schneier's blog, Schneier on Security has announced its second annual Movie-Plot Threat Contest.

Schneier is asking readers to "invent a terrorist plot to hijack or blow up an airplane with a commonly carried item as a key component. The component should be so critical to the plot that the TSA will have no choice but to ban the item once the plot is uncovered." Readers are invited to post their scenarios on Schneier's blog. Schneier is looking for "a plot horrific and ridiculous, but just plausible enough to take seriously." The winner gets an autogrpahed copy of his book (lame) and possible a sit-down with a movie producer (cool).

There are already a bunch of hilarious plot's on the website, including one about an Islamic girl band called "Unveiled" and one in which a terrorist replaces talcum powder with anthrax. Another plot forces the FAA to ban water from all flights due to its explosive interaction with sodium metal.

I like that Schneier has the balls to ask people to invent terrorist plots and post them online. During the climax of Bush administration power and post-9/11 absurdity, this would have been unthinkable and may have even caused a few FBI investigations (although we can't say for sure that it hasn't). He also deftly points out the pointlessness of current air travel regulations in the U.S.

We screened for guns and bombs, so the terrorists used box cutters. We took away box cutters and small knives, so they hid explosives in their shoes. We started screening shoes, so they planned to use liquids. We now confiscate liquids (even though experts agree the plot was implausible)...and they're going to do something else. We can't win this game, so why are we playing?

Post your entry here, Slob readers.

world's best cities

2007-04-05T11:18:00.000-06:00

Mercer Consulting has released its 2007 Quality of Living Survey, naming the world's top 50 cities for quality of life. So where are we going to move?

According to the survey, the top 5 cities in the world are Zurich, Geneva, Vancouver, Vienna (tied with Vancouver), Auckland, and Dusseldorf (tied with Auckland). The highest ranking American city is Honululu at 27, followed by San Francisco at 29, Boston at 36, D.C. and Chicago tied for 44, Portland at 46, New York City at 48, and Seatlle at 49.

The survey does not name a single city in Africa or Central or South America (or Antarctica for that matter). The only Asian cities named are either Singapore or are actually in Australia, which is rumored to be its own continent. The world (pictured inaccurately above) apparently only consists of Asia, Europe, and the Americas. And Australia is now part of Asia, and the Americas are actually just Canada and the U.S.

Obviously, some high-ranking cities like Calgary, Ottawa, and basically everywhere in Canada, are pretty boring, especially when compared to grittier cities such as Shanghai, Bangkok, Buenos Aires, or São Paulo. But as the report notes,

"A city with a high Quality of Living index is a safe and stable one, but it may be lacking the dynamic je ne sais quoi that makes people want to live in world-renowned cities such as Paris, Tokyo, London or New York. Sometimes you need a little spice to make a city exciting. But that "spice" may also give a city a lower ranking."

via Mercer HR Consulting

Josh Wolf released

2007-04-04T07:14:00.000-06:00

The world's most controversial blogger, Josh Wolf, was released from prison yesterday after handing over the raw footage of the video that landed him the 8-month lock-up. Judge William Alsup was finally content as he had “all the materials sought in the subpoena.”

Wolf's raw footage was subpoenaed last February as part of a federal investigation of damage caused during riots at a G8 summit protest in San Francisco. Wolf captured the riots on tape and posted them to his blog, The Revolution Must be Televised. You can watch the video here. While it doesn't highlight the alleged damage to a police car, it displays police brutality that sent a shiver up my spine.

In addition to the scorn received for his ethics, the media continues to question, even after his release, if Wolf is in fact a journalist. However, the Society of Professional Journalists, Reporters without Borders, and other advocacy groups stand firm in their position that Wolf is a journalist.

“Josh gave up his freedom for 224 days because he believes that a free and independent press cannot exist without a trusting relationship between a journalist and his information sources,” said Lucie Morillon of Reporters Without Borders.

In his first post back from prison, Wolf maintains that his case was more than an investigation about damage to a police car. In a previous phone interview with Democracy Now!, Wolf termed his case a "witch hunt." He claimed that the federal government has targeted the anarchist community of San Francisco and intends to try them as terrorists.

Though he had been stripped of his freedom for 8 months, Wolf believes he was released on his terms. He did not testify nor appear before a grand jury, which he considers a victory. He wrote:

"After two rather strenuous sessions of mediation, we at last came to an agreement that not only leaves my ethics intact but actively serves the role of a free press in our so-called free socieity [sic]."

via NYTimes

i'm ready for web 3.0

2007-04-03T22:52:00.000-06:00

Check out this Web 2.0 Logo Generator. Unfortunately, it's not as good as this Emo Ba nd Name Generator, but still clever. It makes its point, too: the plethora of homogenous "next-YouTube" sites are all basically the same crap (see TechCrunch for ongoing coverage of the same ideas repeated over and over with different venture capital each time).

On the flipside, now I have an excuse to label this post as follows:

compostable plates, trash bags, etc.

2007-04-03T11:09:00.000-06:00

Recyclaholics produces %100 compostable food service ware and trash bags. The company's products are certified compostable by the U.S. Composting Council and leave no known residues in the ground or water supply when composted in the right conditions. The company produces cellophane made from cottonwood trees farmed for specifically for cellophane production.

Recyclaholics' product line includes plates, cutlery/flatware, "to-go" packaging, napkins, cups, and similar items. The goods are are aimed primarily at the food service industry but are also available to the consumer.

via Recyclaholics

DRM-free music from EMI

2007-04-02T13:03:00.000-06:00

Alright. I'm not a Steve Jobs fanboi. I'm just not. I love Apple's products; I hate Apple's pricing; I don't mind iTunes DRM because I use an iPod. But I get it. DRM sux0r and all that.

So it's a pretty big deal that EMI (one of the Big Four) is dropping DRM from all of their digital offerings. You know, just like when you buy a CD. It means a lot for digital content distribution. iTunes users can put their music on the Zune. Of course, Zune users can just buy it from the Zune store, but they'd have the option of putting on an iPod. You get the picture.

But the real reason this is a big deal has nothing to do with devices. It has nothing to do with El Jobso carefully dodging European litigation. It means that someone in the music industry, somewhere, has finally figured it out. Whether or not Steve had any effect on the eventual decision, EMI has finally agreed that the people who buy music online are more interested in paying for a product than pirating it:

Q: Is this a green light for piracy?
Eric: no, we take the view that we have to "trust consumers." Some will disappoint us. The idea is to give them the best music experience to grow sales and not diminish them.¹

This is a big deal because someone, somewhere, finally got it right. Now we'll see if the rest falls into place.

muji coming to america!

2007-04-02T12:04:00.000-06:00

Muji, the Japanese small-box retailer of high-design, low cost household products, furniture, and other fun stuff, is finally coming to the United States. The company's full name, Mujiriushi Ryohin translates to "no-brand quality products," and indeed, all of Muji's products are unbranded (which, it could be argued, is a brand in and of itself).

According to BusinessWeek:

[Muji's] post-industrial designs tap into the less-is-more esthetic visible in Japan's temple gardens and haiku. Larger Muji outlets carry more than 7,000 products that run the gamut from $4 striped socks to a $1,170 front-loading washer-dryer combo. There's even a line of prefab houses that start at $115,000.

Many of Muji's items also come from recycled materials, such as the cute stuffed bunny pictured here. Muji will have outlets in 35 countries once it opens its 5,000 sq.-foot outlet later this year in--you guessed it--New York City. Stores in Boston, Chicago, and San Francisco may follow. Expect to see many SoHo apartments mixing and matching Swedish particle board aesthetic with Japanese Zen.

via BusinessWeek Online

first blood from DRM

2007-04-02T07:52:00.000-06:00

In the first strike against DRM, Apple and EMI have agreed to a deal that would offer digital downloads from iTunes without management restrictions. The tracks will cost $1.29 alongside the traditional DRM protected files still priced to go at $0.99.

EMI is one of the mammoth, self-aware, super-record companies; which has the power to reproduce on it's own and controls the nuclear launch capabilities of the United States, Russia, and Fiji. Its labels include the Capital Music Group, Astralwerks, DFA, and a little artist called Radiohead.

See the story on Billboard.

a dorky april fools

2007-04-02T00:55:00.000-06:00

The Internet had a ball with April Fools this year. Google posted two new Beta services that offer totally ridiculous services and even Facebook got their laugh in:

Google Paper

Ever want your e-mail in a physical form? Take your electronic mail and make it real mail with their new service. The testimonials are pretty funny. They quote a "Lifecoach" and the Google CEO. They'll even put your photos on glossy paper!

My friend, and fellow slob-ster, Anna totally believed this one, but not every April fools joke was this clever:

Google TiSP

The other Google April fools joke is more obvious. Free broadband through your toilet?!? Why didn't I think of that? The pictures are amazing. Dorks are funny.

Facebook thinks they're pretty goofy, so they jumped in on the whole mess:

Live Pokes

Today Facebook claimed that their poking system would be carried out live. The first 100 pokees in each network would recieve a real live poke. Boy, I wish this one was real...

thanks, god

2007-03-29T04:25:00.000-06:00

Recently, techies at the University of Oslo built an evolutionary computer that changes the design of it's own hardware using genetic algorithms to optimize performance. This is pretty amazing, considering the now-present possibilities for the rapid evolution of Strong AI by having computers design themselves. It reminds me of Ray Kurzweil talks about the singularity :

"Just like in the real world it can take 20 to 30 thousand generations before the system finds the perfect design to solve the problem, but this will happen in just a few seconds compared to the 8-900,000 years it took humans to go through the same number of generations." via BoingBoing

Yeah, thanks God. Real fair. Asshole.

world's geekiest hotels

2007-03-28T12:18:00.000-06:00

There are some travellers who want to stay in the grandest, goldest, marble-floored hotel in the world. Some seek out the hippest, boutiqueist, most Wallpaper* hotel out there. For others still, the local hostel will do, with all the comforts of shared bathrooms and Euro-trash roommates. Yet what do you do if you're looking for a hotel that, say, provides you with a Mac G5 in your room, or you want to travel to a hotel based in the set of Luke Skywalker's home planet of Tatooine (pictured at right)?

Luckily, HotelChatter has generated a list of the Best Geek Hotels in the World. The list includes the obvious Hotel @ MIT in Boston (complete with "historically significant robots" on display in the lobby), the Lord of the Rings-inspired Woodlyn Park at the film-site New Zealand, and the Faena Hotel + Universe in Buenos Aires where pool staffers will offer you charging cables for your electronic devices. My favorite? The Hotel Gansevoort in New York City comes with Wii in every room

via HotelChatter

texas instruments cell phone projector

2007-03-28T12:06:00.000-06:00

Texas Instruments has introduced a "pico-projector", a device small enough to be built into a cell phone that will allow users to project cell phone-based images and video onto any surface.

DailyTech reports that the projector uses three lasers and a DLP chip (for those of you who care) to provide "DVD-quality video, and the projection technology allows an effective screen size that far surpasses even the largest cell phone displays."

Just wait until you're on an airplane and someone is projecting cell-phone videos on the seat back in front of them. It doesn't come on an iPhone though, so it must not be that cool....

via DailyTech

weighing in on the sirius / xm merger

2007-03-28T09:42:00.000-06:00

Man, it can be hard to keep your head above water. You’ve got lobbyists complaining to the SEC, the FCC complaining that the sat radio licenses are (already!) being violated, the National Association of Broadcasters running copyright-infringing advertisements about anti-trust infringing mergers, and advocates on both sides screaming “pork!”

So what’s the question behind the Sirius/XM merger? It’s simple, really. Here’s how it boils down for the consumer (you, me; you know, most of us):

Ballyhoo! The merger will create a monopoly on sat radio and allow Sirius/XM to increase prices and ignore the consumer’s implicit “rights” (in all such cases of consumer-scare-ism, “rights” translates to “low prices”).
Huzzah! This way, Sirius and XM will standardize the industry and combine their programming (football and baseball on one device, wow, damn!). How could it go wrong?

Sigh. Like I said, this is a confusing situation. Personally, I find myself on the side of Ballyhoo!, for what I think are good reasons.

First, this will be creating a monopoly. There’s no two ways about it. I’ve seen arguments trumpeting terrestrial radio as a competitor of satellite’s, but the difference in technology, delivery, and, most importantly, advertising makes comparisons between the two an apples-to-oranges job; the kind of punditry reserved for CNN or Fox News. I’d like to ask users of sat radio to head back to the old days of terrestrial broadcasts for one commute, and then tell me it’s the same industry. Same thing goes for MP3 players or internet radio. There appears to be some confusion between “listening to things” and “market.”

So monopoly it is. While this doesn’t immediately bode poorly for those of us who already use one of the services, I don’t need to tell you about its potential. A big part of this country’s history is antitrust litigation; you’ve all heard about it, and whether or not you agree with it, it’s all about protecting your “rights.” Matters of principle aside, this merger holds real threats, especially to the SEC who will later be tasked with breaking everything apart again, just like those FCC licenses said should happen.

Second, this will standardize nothing. The industry will eventually develop another competitor, either when the SEC smacks it down or when Rupert Murdoch blesses someone’s coffers with enough cash money to overcome what will be a MASSIVE barrier to entry. Meanwhile, Sirius/XM will have standardized their own proprietary technology (whoo). Standardization is not something that comes from one place, since it initially reduces potential profit for all of those proprietary monsters out there (hello, Sony? Listen up, m’kay?). It has to happen when an industry isn’t syncing the way it should be. This industry will have no one left to sync with.

Finally, competition is good. How very un-revolutionary. But the reason prices have stayed low is that even the sat radio Oligarchy of Two couldn’t risk inflating prices. That one hasn’t massively undercut the other and pushed them out of business is surprising, but also illegal so I guess that makes sense for now.

And that’s what I think. I like pretending to be an expert.

mccain's myspace defaced

2007-03-27T22:12:00.000-06:00

John McCain's MySpace page, fairly funny in and of itself, was slightly altered recently to exhibit McCain's new (and improved) stance on same-sex marriage. Unfortunately for gay people, people who want to marry their same-gendered best friend, and the general cause of civil rights and equality in America, McCain's new position was nothing more than a bit of internet connivery

McCain's MySpace template was created by Mike Davidson of Newsvine. As TechCrunch reports, "Davidson gave the template code away to anyone who wanted to use it, but asked that he be given credit when it was used, and told users to host their own image files." McCain's page uses the template without crediting Davidson and uses images hosted on Davidson's server, forcing Davidson to pay for bandwidth from the hits on McCain's page.

Thus, "Davidson decided to play a small prank on the campaign this morning as retribution. Since he’s in control of some of the images on the site, he replaced one that shows contact information" with a statement in support of gay marriage, "particularly marriage between passionate females" (above).

I like this act of internet vandalism. Not only is it a great way to point out the necessity of intellectual property rights protection on the internet, but it also makes a great political statement. Slob is hereby calling on any and all hackers to infiltrate the websites of conservative politicians and replace their right-wing bullshit with some lefter-wing bullfact.

via TechCrunch [via Newsvine]

open source music

2007-03-26T21:54:00.000-06:00

Opsound is an online open source community for musicians and sound artists. Particpants simply upload their sound files to the site under a Creative Commons Attributive-ShareAlike license. This copyleft license allows users to "download works, make copies, share them, include them in other works, remix and rearrange them, and even sell them."

There's some pretty weird stuff on Opsound, and the site seems to attract people into music ranging from ambient and musique concrete to house and trance, and genres listed on their site include "algorithmic" (Xenakis, anyone?), "pscyhogeography," and, well, "country."

Potentially, Opsound might produce some very interesting music. I'd also be curious to see if this model could be applied to video or other media.

Stream Opsound radio here.

let's do drugs

2007-03-26T17:04:00.000-06:00

Australian artist, Justine Cooper, has created a drug. She's also created a disease for it to cure. And according to cooper, it's not all that uncommon.

Cooper's drug, Havidol, claims to be "the first and only treatment for dysphoric social attention consumption deficit anxiety disorder, or DSACDAD."

The made up illness is much like Restless Leg Syndrome or Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder, claims Cooper, that are diseases pharmaceutical companies claim they can cure.

Havidol, Cooper's fictional drug, just finished it's gallery stint in Manhattan. Complete with billboards, smiling people, and a t-shirt with a Havidol logo, the drug seemed much like an actual commercial.

Although it stirred controversy among consumers and especially with the large pharmaceutical companies, Cooper raises interesting questions about the pharmaceutical sector. What are they marketing to us? Are common ailments a creation of big business? Do I really have a disease? What the fuck am I taking?

via Holly Stocking [via The Scientist]

un airbus a380 en 7 minutes

2007-03-23T14:05:00.000-06:00

Apparently, you can actually build an airplane in 7 minutes--in French. Here's the video of Airbus's new monstrosity that made its debut in North America this week. The behemoth is "as tall as a seven-story building, roomy enough to fit 70 vehicles on its wings, as heavy as 500 Volkswagen Golfs and big enough to carry 35 million ping pong balls." Yeah, but Boeing 747s are big enough to take out a 110 story building. Too soon?

[via Gridskipper, The Lede]

2007 geneva car show; a look into the future of "green"

2007-03-23T12:32:00.000-06:00

The 2007 Geneva Motor Show was much more than a display of futuristic, street-legal, racing vehicles with a hard on for speed and handling. No, no, no. The show previewed the top ten green cars of 2007.

With the imminent threat of global warming and climate change on the agendas of policymakers and obviously consumers, the auto world is striving to fill the void of green vehicles.

I am still dubious as to the American people's actual desire to "go green," but the shift in automobile production and direction is a definite step in the right direction.

Consumers are more likely to purchase hybrid/diesel engine vehicles if they are 'fly', or in Paris' rhetoric 'hot', which Mercedes-Benz C220 BLUTEC and VW's Passat BlueMotion have fulfilled with their 50 mpg emission-cutting vehicles of 2007.

Among the other top green cars of the show was Saab's 9-3 convertible biopower and Toyota's “completely recyclable zero-emissions car” and technology in the Hybrid X.

What else will they come up with next?

al gore's still pissed

2007-03-22T12:27:00.001-06:00

In a long string of rhetorical questions, Al Gore pretty much told it like it is to Congress yesterday. Equiped with 519,414 signatures, Gore spoke about how "our children and grandchildren will look back and...ask one of two questions..." You bet they're rhetorical:

Also, Gore, in a bout of enthusiasm, scheduled a Bono-wannabe music festival/hippie convention/douchebag meetup for 7/7/07. It's called Live Earth and...well...don't go. But at least it's for a good cause?

conflict of interest or who cares?

2007-03-22T11:44:00.000-06:00

In a move to keep up with the kids, ABC hired former Rocketboom vlogger, Amanda Congdon, to their blog. A pretty cool idea, actually and it worked for a while until Congdon broke some of the rules...or did she?

ABC's ethics code forbids their journalists from engaging in commercials or other outside ventures so as to maintain their journalistic integrity.

Congdon, fully aware of this policy, filmed a handful of "infotainmercials" for DuPont. On her blog she claims, "I am not subject to the “rules” traditional journalists have to follow. Isn’t that what new media is all about? Breaking the rules? Setting our own?"

ABC has not made an official statement. But Jeffrey Schneider, a spokesman for the news division, told the LA Times that Congdon is a commentator, not a journalist.

Josh Wolf would be pissed. But hey, he can't read about it because he's in jail.

via Gawker [via LA Times]

sweet summer job

2007-03-20T12:37:00.000-06:00

How does touring in a bio diesel bus for 7 weeks sound?

Amazing?! Sign up for the Udall legacy tour and give it a shot.

Imagine you and a bunch of other college kids and recent grads doing a total of 57 service projects all over the country. You get to visit 32 places including cities, reservations, colleges, and national parks.

And at the end they PAY you! What an awesome summer job!

nerds everywhere are waiting with bated breath

2007-03-19T21:49:00.000-06:00

Rupert Murdoch's semi-recent acquisition, MySpace will receive a beating this month.

The bullies, two hackers that go by the names Mondo Armando and Mustaschio, announced on their LiveJournal that April 2007 will by the "Month of Myspace Bugs, Yuss!" (MOMBY, I swear...)

MOMBY follows in a string of Month of X Bugs and will consist of small bugs on your MySpace profile throughout the whole month.

You can avoid the bugs by adding mondo_armando@catholic.org to your spam blocker and http://momby.livejournal.com/ to your proxy blocker. You can also e-mail Mondo Armando suggestions for bugs. If there's something about MySpace that really irks you for some reason or other, let him know.

Don't worry emo kids, these hackers aren't harmful and April's not too long. Plus, I'm kind of excited to see what they have up their sleeves!

[via AHN]

tesla roadster for sale this fall

2007-03-17T12:52:00.000-06:00

Have you been waiting for a gorgeous, stunningly fast sportscar that won't singelhandedly cause the polar ice caps to melt, killing all the cute penguins? Wait no longer. The Tesla Roadster is a 100% electric, 135 mpg beauty that goes 0-60 in about 4 seconds.

Yes indeed, a fast, stylish car that you can feel good about driving. Plus, at $92,000, it's practically a steal. Just think about all the money you'll save on gas. There are also rumors floating around Gizmodo about a Tesla sedan, but no info on Tesla's site.

Five dealerships are slated to open this fall in Chicago, New York, Northern and Southern California, and Florida. Reserve your Roadster now, they're going to go fast. Pun intended.

[via Josh Spear]

"world's smallest" is "my favorite"

2007-03-17T11:07:00.000-06:00

Kingmax's incredibly small Super Stick measures an wild 34- x 12.4- x 2.2-mm. Somehow everything small is impressive. I love small ketchup bottles, vinyl figurines, and well-made dioramas. But tiny USB flash drives take the cake.

Usually innovative technology this impossibly small comes at a price, but the Super Stick runs pretty cheap. 512MB ($19), 1GB ($29), 2GB ($39), and 4GB ($55). On Amazon, you can pick up the 1GB for an astounding $8.90!

[via Engadget]

all the nicotine without the fire

2007-03-17T10:51:00.000-06:00

No, it's not another NicoDerm product, although it may help you quit. Swiss made, NicStics (no website? what?), are battery-powered tubes that vaporize the nicotine in tobacco to give you the buzz you crave without so much as lighting a match.

Yes, stoners, I did say vaporize. NicStics work just like your Volcano and are certainly healthier than a conventional cig.

It may be another clever way to quit--that's my suggestion--or possibly the cigarette of the future, but being addicted to anything isn't great.

We can't seem to give up our addictions though. Once bars go smokeless worldwide, we're going to have to find something addictive to replace cigarettes.

My suggestion, tootsie pops.

Gizmodo [via Medgadget via Ubergizmo]

students at the University of Michigan beware

2007-03-17T10:20:00.000-06:00

STOP illegally downloading songs on campus computers! Don't use bittorrent; don't use Kazaa; halt your Soulseek-ing!

The RIAA has identified IP addresses of p2p file-sharers in Ann Arbor and intends to sue according to a letter from Paul Howell, Chief Information Technology Security Officer of the University of Michigan. The letter, intercepted by Wired, encourages faculty and staff members to remove p2p file-sharing programs from their computers and to download their music legally (through iTunes, MSN Music, Ruckus, Rhapsody, etc.)

Luckily, UofM will not release names unless subpoenaed. The University is in the process of identifying the students themselves and issuing a warning.

For more info and a copy of the letter, check Wired.

iWhack

2007-03-15T14:22:00.000-06:00

I'm not usually one for MadTV because it generally sucks, but this sketch is awesome but sadly too accurate:

oriental virgin

2007-03-14T10:20:00.000-06:00

Take a look at this logo photographed by John at Sinosplice from the side of a Shanghai construction site:

Oriental Virgin. Brilliant. I won't even make the jokes. John points out that this sign, aside from being hilarious, is an obvious knock-off of the Sony Ericsson logo. Clever marketing, Chinese company.

Writes John:

Apparently the recipe for their English name and logo went something like this:
Take a successful foreign company’s name and add “Oriental” to the front. Base the Chinese name on the English name.
Copy the logo of a different company, altering it a bit.

Everyone knows Chinese companies never steal the ideas of others or anything dastardly like that. This must be the rare exception to the rule.

patagonia travel bags and DIY shoes

2007-03-12T11:09:00.000-06:00

Patagonia's new line of Lightweight Travel bags ($50.00-$70.00, patagonia.com) includes a Tote, Courier (messenger bag), and Pack (shown left), all made from 30-denier triple-ripstop silicone nylon. The fabric allows the bags to be extremely lightweight yet still incredibly durable; the three weigh less than 11.5 oz each, with the Courier coming in at a svelte 7 oz. Each pack can stuff into its own pocket when not needed, making them perfect for travel. The Pack can also convert to a stuff sack. Talk about useful.

Patagonia has also introduced a new do-it-yourself shoe ($30.00, patagonia.com) that comes sold as a kit, aptly named the DIY. According to the company:

Our DIY shoe is somewhat reminiscent of the moccasin kits we all had as kids, but it's made from leather scraps left on the floor of manufacturing facilities. Distinctive and easy-to-assemble (about one hour per shoe) and requiring no glue or tools, DIY shoes provide both maximum comfort and ample opportunity for personal expression.

Customizable, recycled, and cheap. Cool.

divvio set to launch

2007-03-12T10:40:00.000-06:00

Alarm:clock reports that Divvio is expected to launch out of closed beta testing any day now.

According to Bussinesweek, Divvio will be a "service that automatically finds audio, video, and, eventually, text, on your favorite subjects. Then it weaves these clips together to create personalized multimedia channels that are updated each time you sign on." I'm guessing the name oh-so-cleverly derives from "digital video", but I'm not an expert on these things.

Divvio's founder, former AT&T executive Hossein Eslambolchi has raised $3m in angel funding for the tech startup. Slob will be reviewing Divvio soon, so check back for more.

TED concludes this weekend; world emerges better

2007-03-12T10:10:00.000-06:00

The annual invitation-only Technology, Entertainment, and Design (TED) conference concluded on Saturday in Monterey, CA, and boy was it mind-blowing. Actually, we wouldn't know, because no one at Slob was invited.

The conference brings together 1,000
"thhought leaders, movers and shakers" from around the globe to discuss the latest trends, ideas, and innovation in virtually every field and subject area. Businessweek has a nice slideshow of the conference, and TED's blog provides some highlights of the events. Or check out the videos.

I, Robot?

2007-03-10T16:04:00.000-06:00

It appears as though Dr. Isaac Asimov's tales of humans and robots coexisting in society may not have been too far fetched. This past week, scientists in South Korea began drafting an ethical code to bar humans from harming robots and robots from harming humans. To many, this may seem a bit premature. The only robots most people see on a daily basis are in the form of toys, assembly line machines, and vacuum cleaners. However, developments in robotics have resulted in humanoid robots that can react to human touch, understand multiple languages, and even change their eye color and robot-face expression based on mood.

As robots become more human-like with the not-too-far-off development of artificial intelligence, this ethical code will become more important. If robots can think and learn and make their own decisions, can they be at fault for mistakes they make? Is the owner of the robot to blame? Is the company that built the robot responsible? The ethical code will hopefully answer these questions along with numerous others that will arise with the advent of A.I.

Once this technology is out there, the questions are going to be never ending. Will there be different laws governing different models of robots? Can robots be used in combat? Will they be primarily human servants? If they can think and feel can they get depressed? Can they fall in love with other robots? I hope I live to see robots integrated into society, but there will no doubt be very strict guidelines set forth regarding their use.

Want to see Hollywood's version of what robots living with humans will be like? I recommend watching Blade Runner, Westworld, or A.I.

good news for the climate

2007-03-09T13:22:00.000-06:00

In all-star day for, well, the world, the European Union announced the creation of a binding target for the implementation of renewable energy including solar, wind, and hydroelectric power. According to the BBC:

The 27 EU states will each decide how they contribute to meeting a 20% boost overall in renewable fuel use by 2020.The measures could include a ban on filament light bulbs by 2010, forcing people to switch to fluorescent bulbs....It is thought the EU could offer to extend its 20% target for emissions cuts to 30% if other heavy polluters like the US, China and India come on board.

The EU's agreement will have a large net impact on climate change and will hopefully force the rest of the industrialized world into taking more considerable action to combat global warming.

Meanwhile, President Bush signed a deal today with President Lula de Silva of Brazil to cooperare on the development of ethanol from sugar cane. According to SmartMoney.com, "the two nations intend to help third countries, beginning in Central America and the Caribbean, to stimulate private investment for local production and consumption of biofuels." Unfortuntely, President Bush stopped short of reviewing tariffs on imports of ethanol.

While the United States is now officially lagging behind Europe in the development of renewable energy, the ethanol agreement might be a step in the right direction. Furthermore, we may see more positive developments come 2008 when the Bush administration is out of office. Meanwhile, write your congressional representative, copy this story, and tell them that you want the House to debate binding targets for renewable energy.

the fcc, letting us be?

2007-03-08T13:33:00.000-06:00

In the same week that the FCC announced that Clear Channel, Citadel, and others would pay a settlement to end the payola scandal that has plagued commercial radio, another side deal was made.

Independent of the government's ruling, major radio corporations struck a deal with independent music spokesgroup American Association for Independent Music (A2IM, a sweet acronym) to allot airtime for indie bands. Clear Channel and friends will now set aside 8,400 half hour blocks for our little unknown friends thus flipping the the entire music industry on its head, baffling indie bands and their labels, and freaking out scenesters worldwide.

Now this begs a few questions:

1. What's an indie band?
2. Will indie bands get indie-er to avoid major radio play?
3. Will non-indie groups get indie-er to receive more gauranteed radio play?

We'll have to wait and see, but until then, I'm going to have to find all sorts of new ways to up my indie cred.

(Sourcess: ABC News, Spin)

presidential candidates on youtube

2007-03-08T13:06:00.000-06:00

Some of these guys (and gals) get it, and some of them just don't. Clearly candidates are trying to appeal to the internet generation--that would be us--by making YouTube videos so we can blog and MySpace and FaceBook about them and do whatever it is kids do these days. Message to campaign media managers: new media is all about user generated content and posting the same video that you're going to run at your party's national convention is not going to sell to a generation that is more media savvy than you are.

Take, for instance, Mitt Romney's video, titled "Unplugged". First of all, this is one of the only videos on all of YouTube that uses quotation marks in the title, and I know that's hypercritical of me, but it's an early sign that the video is going to be detached from YouTube's audience. Second of all, it's called "Unplugged", which might have been a cool pop culture reference in 1995 when that show was still on MTV, but now it sounds tired. Then there's the video itself: a slick, well-edited montage of Romney (using the word Jihadist, no less) and his wife, narrated by someone who sounds like he's from the National Geographic channel. This video might impress a 50-year-old, but word on the street is that they're not so hip to YouTube. There is, in fact, nothing "unplugged" about it.

Let's contrast this with the videos coming out of Barack Obama's campaign. Obama has hired Joe Rospars, a young, cool guy who co-founded Blue State Digital, as his New Media Director, and Rospars' team has produced a series of videos that I actually enjoy watching. They don't seem scripted, they're edited like other YouTube videos, and a good majority of them build on Obama's "I'm the grassroots candidate" theme by relying heavily on interviews with people off the street. The videos are effective because they don't bore the audiences with Obama's stump speeches--rather they play up the buzz surrounding Obama. In this next video, Obama is comes off as a rock star surrounded by his adoring fans. Talk about hitting the target audience nail on the head:

blogger's rights comprimised.

2007-03-08T11:55:00.000-06:00

The French government passed legislation yesterday banning citizen journalists from taking pictures or video of acts of violence. French authorities are policing the web and mobile phone services for images and video of violent acts captured by non-professional journalists.

Offenders can face up to five years impriosnment and a fine of up to €75,000 (US$98,537)!!

The law was passed, I'm sure, to protect bloggers from harm. But, censoring an unestablished community of citizen journalists is ludicrous. The internet should always remain a platform for free speech.

The question now is: will the law be enforced? How will French authorities determine what is an act of violence, who qualifies as a professional journalist, and most importantly how will they track down those who post acts of violence anonymously?

Also, don't forget that the French press is government regulated. How will the French people receive unfiltered, unbiased news? The mainstream media is censored and now so is the blogosphere.

The irony of the situation is that the bill was passed on the 16th anniversary of the Rodney King beating which was documented and convicted solely by citizen journalist footage.

(Source, MacWorld)

you can be big brother, yes you!

2007-03-08T00:59:00.000-06:00

I just found out about this hack for Google Earth. There are certain parts of the world that can be viewed at a much MUCH higher zoom level. Makes me worry a little bit about our privacy. But in the meantime, it's kinda fun to play around with.

1. Go to maps.google.com and find your location.
2. Click the Satellite button in the right corner.
3. Click "link to this page."
4. Scroll to the "z=" part of the url and make the number bigger.

That's it! I admit, I haven't found many places in the world that will allow for a zoom over "z=20," but many others have.

According to comments on GoogleBlogoscoped's post, the ultra-zoom is due to a collaboration with National Geographic as well as an Australian day flyover.

At some point they must have done flyovers in Africa too, because the man in picture is totally looking at the camera.

The weirdest part is that the super zoomed image (link) has a blurred edge, as if Google wanted us to find it.

we are humbled.

2007-03-08T00:01:00.000-06:00

Today was a great day for Slob. First, I learned that my write-up about Emily Nussbaum's article for New York Magazine was actually quoted on New York Magazine's blog. Next, one of my posts about Project (RED) was quoted
by PSFK (one of my favorite websites) alongside several very well-established sites including Gawker and that of the legend himself, Mr. Josh Spear.

It feels good to know that someone is actually looking at what I post. That being said, efforts will be made over the course of the next few weeks to update our appearance and usability. Don't be surprised if we make a move to our own domain sometime over the next year. Thanks to those of you who read Slob. And to the rest of the Slob contributors, how about some contributions? See you out there.

nau is the time

2007-03-07T11:25:00.000-06:00

After much delay, Nau has finally launched its official webstore and the new company is "open for business unusual," as the index page reads. Nau's clothing line attempts to blur "urban endeavor and backcountry" while simultaneously melding "beauty, performance, and sustainability." The company is working to develop myriad new fabrics to achieve these ends. Much of their clothing is made from organic cotton and recycled synthetics. The clothing is highly functional--much of it is stretchy, fitted, and water and wind resistant. Nau will be opening four retail stores in CO, OR, WA, and IL. Rumor has it, these stores will be "webfronts" places for customers to try out clothing, but customers will be encouraged to order clothing from the webstore to cut down on the company's carbon footprint (doesn't that mean more shipping? I guess we'll see how this works in real life).

With Nau's extensive use of sustainable and psuedo-sustainable fabrics (I'm sure recycled polyester involves extensive chemical processing to produce), their product line is perfectly situated to take on earth-concious labels like Patagonia and Edun. But unlike Patagonia, Nau doesn't advertise your eco-awareness so readily and would thankfully look out of place at a Yonder Mountain show. At the same time, the clothing is designed to take you from your favorite fair-trade coffee shop to a Big Sur bouldering trip or even your weekend in the backcountry. The clothing is clearly targeted at the young, urban, tech-savvy, yoga-practicing, Prius-driving, Whole Foods customer, a target market that is unfortunately devoid of a good moniker except for the tired term "yuppie".

The clothing will also be a hit with the virtually untapped flashpacking market, as the clothing appears to be lightweight, easily packable, odor resistant (merino wool is, anyway), and wrinkle resistant (anything with high polyester content). But so is GoLite. The key with Nau is that the clothing doesn't wear its technical features on its sleeves (get it?). You can wear Nau while hiking around Chiang Mai and leave it on when you go out to Bed in Bangkok without looking like a member of the sandals-and-socks crowd.

Nau has a lot of growth potential and should be a brand to watch over the next few quarters. The company is committed to social and environmental change through business and may find itself at the forefront of the social business movement. The one prohibitive factor is cost--Nau isn't cheap--but Nau's target market has generally shown a propensity to pony up for well-designed, value-added products, especially products fitting their social values. Furthermore, as the inevitable competition arises, the supply of sustainable fabrics should increase, bringing prices down. Who knows--maybe someday we'll all be able to recycle or compost our shirts.

More: check out Nau's blog, The Thought Kitchen.

more on (RED)

2007-03-07T00:19:00.000-06:00

Sorry to bombard you with video (I do assume someone looks at this blog), but just wanted to leave a quick note to show our loyal readers that Slob beat CNN to this punch:

CNN confirms that (RED) partner companies spent somewhere in the vicinity of $100 million to market (RED) products, while they only raised a scant $18 million for the Global Fund--less than the figure (RED) gave to PSFK. Is (RED) successful? Comments?

By the way, I could listen to Susan Lisovicz say "Buy less crap" all day. I can't wait until that gets cut into some leftie YouTube diatribe.

the machine is us/ing us

2007-03-06T23:55:00.000-06:00

Prepare to have your mind blown a little bit.

project (red)...so, how's that going?

2007-03-02T13:16:00.000-06:00

In 2006, Bono and Bobby Shriver created the (RED) campaign to raise money for the Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis, and Malaria. The initiative (the campaign insists it's a brand, not a charity) teamed up with a bunch of major international firms that agreed to design, market, and sell (RED)-branded products. Portions of the companies' pre-tax profits are then channelled to the Global Fund. Current corporate partners include American Express, Converse, Gap, Emporio Armani, Motorola and Apple. So if you buy a (RED) iPod or (RED) panties, Apple or Gap will respectively give some money to the poor Africans who can't afford either item.

(RED) has been hailed as a creative, market-based solution to financing the Global Fund. Theoretically, the campaign could raise serious money for the Global Fund as long as partner companies' bottom lines are continously met. As Shriver told the New York Times in 2006, "We want [our partner companies] to make money. We don’t want anyone to be thinking, ‘I’m not making money on this thing,’ because then we failed. We want people buying houses in the Hamptons based on this because, if that happens, this thing is sustainable.” The campaign raises money by playing off of the self-interest of corporations and the vanity of consumers (perhaps (RED) phones will be the new LiveStrong bracelets?). Furthermore, consumers do not have to change their behavior--they're already buying iPods, phones, and sneakers. Why not buy the (RED) ones and give money to charity without having to actually donate money ? Capitalism at its finest.

On the other hand (RED) also has it's share of critics. Recently, WP I launched BUY (LESS) CRAP, a campaign aimed at "rejecting the ti(red) notion that shopping is a reasonable response to human suffering." According to Ann Handley,

WPI founder Ben Davis says his big beef is that the donations aren't transparent: "When donations are based on percentages of profit and the accounting methods are not transparent, you can spend $100 on a (RED) product with the notion that you're helping to save lives in Africa—but there is no assurance that any of that $100 will actually reach the cause. Not one (RED) cent."

According to Project (RED), the campaign has raised over $20 million for the Global Fund, certainly a substantial amount of money that may go a long way in the developing world. At the same time, that sum pales in comparison to the $100 million that that Davis reasonably projects must have been spent by (RED) partner companies on marketing since the project's inception.

It appears that (RED) partner companies' marketing budgets probably could have gone further if the companies just donated the money directly to the Global Fund. What remains to be seen, however, is whether or not (RED) will gain enough momentum to be a sustainable source of finance for the Fund. (RED), therefore, needs to snowball into a trend, or it will be a wasted effort. One of the largest problems facing (RED) is the fact that consumers don't seem to assosciate it with a cause. There simply isn't enough buzz, and the marketing doesn't really provide consumers with any information about the HIV/AIDS pandemic or the Global Fund. Most (RED) television spots only point to the cryptic joinred.com link, and as Seven87 points out:

The joinred.com link doesn’t even talk about the issues, it just has a sparse page with the 6 RED branded products. The “Manifesto” has an overview, but only the “Global Fund” link has any info on the issues… A single page with the issues. Even the information design of the animation with drill down data was not as compelling as it could be.
Perhaps they didn’t want to go overboard on the scary/sad messages, but it still seems rather underwhelming. They really aren’t educating anyone. They aren’t even playing the “ace card” that charities have… emotional and guilt triggers.

Finally, (RED) products just aren't that cool. Advertising your charitable inclinations is simply not trendy. Consumers are searching for products that are their social values (ie: Toyota Prius, American Apparel), not just branded to represent their values. Perhaps (RED) is just too much like it's creator, Bono. Cool for awhile, but ultimately overly persistent, lacking in substance, and not something that hip people would be caught dead assosciating with.

i always knew emo was dangerous

2007-03-01T00:29:00.000-06:00

WDAZ News of Devil's Lake/Grand Forks, North Dakota recently aired this story about the growing threat that emo poses to our nation's schoolchildren (and thanks PSFK for unearthing this video).

Watch how the reporters extrapolate bogus claims based on their own misinterpretation of satirical websites. Apparently, no one in North Dakota is aware of a) what the internet is or b) what jokes are.

If you are Vin Diesel, yell really loud.

2007-02-20T20:07:00.000-06:00

You may remember back in 2003 when Homeland Security Czar Tom Ridge recommended a healthy supply of duct tape to ward off terrorist attacks. Little did we all know, the Homeland Security Department also created Ready.gov to teach us how to be "ready" for a terrorist attack as well. Here the government provides the extremely entertaining "Ready Kids" section of the site, featuring a family of Brazilian Jaguars preparing to defend themselves against the impending Al Qaeda threat. The government also provided nervous citizens with a series of pictorial instructions on what to do if disaster strikes.

Unfortunately, the pictures are so ambiguous it's tough to determine just what the right course of action is. Fortunately safenow.org has taken the liberty of explaining these images. Take for example:
The appropriate caption being "If you spot terrorism, blow your anti-terrorism whistle. If you are Vin Diesel, yell really loud."

Or try also:

Michael Jackson is a terrorist. If you spot this smooth criminal with scary eyes, run away now.

We are all truly fortunate to have Safenow.org here to protect us from terrorism. Stay Vigilant!

r-re-remix

2007-02-12T12:22:00.000-06:00

Though the great Malian guitarist, Ali Farka Touré passed in 2006, his son Vieux Farka Touré is carrying on the torch.

Much like Femi and his father Fela Anikupalo Kuti's relationship, Vieux Farka Touré has updated his father's passion into the 21st century. In fact, from now until March 7th, Creative Commons, Global Beat Fusion, and Modiba Proudctions are holding a remix competition.

Access the files for Vieux Farka Touré's song "Ana" here (you can listen to the album version on his myspace). Then upload your own remix to http://ccmixter.org.

May the best remix win!

the digital divide: the internet as rock and roll

2007-02-07T18:33:00.000-06:00

Someone had to write this article. The Internet is the new Rock and Roll. This is important, and I'm going to quote extensively from the article to convince you to read it.

"It’s been a long time since there was a true generation gap, perhaps 50 years—you have to go back to the early years of rock and roll," writes Emily Nussbaum in her excellent piece for New York Magazine. She is, of course, discussing the ways in which the current teenage generation interacts with new media, referring primarily to social networking sites like Facebook, MySpace, Xanga, and their spin-offs like Flickr. Nussbaum notes:

More young people are putting more personal information out in public than any older person ever would—and yet they seem mysteriously healthy and normal, save for an entirely different definition of privacy. From their perspective, it’s the extreme caution of the earlier generation that’s the narcissistic thing. Or, as Kitty [one of the young, hip subjects of the article] put it to me, “Why not? What’s the worst that’s going to happen? Twenty years down the road, someone’s gonna find your picture? Just make sure it’s a great picture.”

The article points three major changes that define the Internet generation. First, they think they have an audience. "In essence, every young person in America has become, in the literal sense, a public figure. And so they have adopted the skills that celebrities learn in order not to go crazy: enjoying the attention instead of fighting it—and doing their own publicity before somebody does it for them."

Second, they have documented every step of their adolescence. Nussbaum interviews one Caitlin Opperman, who is probably getting excited that she just got linked to in yet another blog. Yes, I looked at her website. This high school senior has been blogging, sharing photos, and networking since before age 12. Her digital life is a clear extension (and enhancement) of her flesh-and-blood experiences. On a recent trip to New York City, "Oppermann met dozens of people she already knew, or who knew her, from online. All of which means that her memories of her time in New York are stored both in her memory...and on her site...giving her (and me) an unsettlingly crystalline record of her seventeenth summer."

Finally, Nussbaum points out that today's youth has thicker skin then the old folks who just don't get it. "There’s a difference between being able to absorb embarrassment and not feeling it. But we live in a time in which humiliation and fame are not such easily distinguished quantities. And this generation seems to have a high tolerance for what used to be personal information splashed in the public square."

Wow--so the Internet generation has collectively huge balls. Check it:

Right now the big question for anyone of my generation seems to be, endlessly, “Why would anyone do that?” This is not a meaningful question for a 16-year-old. The benefits are obvious: The public life is fun. It’s creative. It’s where their friends are. It’s theater, but it’s also community: In this linked, logged world, you have a place to think out loud and be listened to, to meet strangers and go deeper with friends. And, yes, there are all sorts of crappy side effects: the passive-aggressive drama (“you know who you are!”), the shaming outbursts, the chill a person can feel in cyberspace on a particularly bad day. There are lousy side effects of most social changes (see feminism, democracy, the creation of the interstate highway system). But the real question is, as with any revolution, which side are you on?

Well, I write for a blog, so you know which side I'm on. The real beauty of this article is that it totally skips the fear-mongering usually assosciated with stories about the Internet generation and social networking. Instead of the usual "your children are going to get anally raped by a gang of transvestites" crap, Nussbaum provides a deft analysis of a very clear digital divide between generations. Gawker points out, however, that she sort-of kind-of already wrote this article for the New York Times Magazine. Oh well, I've reused one of my better international studies papers for at least three different classes. Oh wait, should I write that? Someone might read it....

facebook diarrhea

2007-02-07T17:34:00.000-06:00

In a hilarious new effort, Comcast will be joining up with Facebook to put together 10 hours of user-generated material that will be entitled Facebook Diaries. The material will be edited by none other than documentary filmmaker, RJ Cutler!!

Remember him?? American High, anyone? that PBS show about none other than my alma mater, Highland Park High School? Check out that China episode, I swear you can see me in the background.

Anyway, I hereby issue a challenge. LET'S GET OUR VIDEOS ON TV!!

is anyone else watching tv?

2007-02-04T23:01:00.000-06:00

Apparently, this is a real commercial for a new feminine hygiene product. I know, because I actually saw it on TV. Enjoy.

if you really love me

2007-02-01T15:12:00.000-06:00

Couples who are dying to wear a memento of their loved one now can do even better, they can wear their loved one.

A group of off the wall British researchers are seeking out couples who want to participate in their new study. They have found a method of extracting bone tissue and growing in a lab. The tissue is then sent to an artist who fashions the couple a pair of rings.

And bingo, Biojewellery!

Doesn't get much sexier than that, huh? Brings whole new meaning to, "I wanna bone you."

proof that self-loathing is a jewish thing

2007-01-29T17:13:00.000-06:00

A New York Judge ordered comedian, Jerry Seinfeld to compensate his ex-real estate broker, Tamara Cohen.

Seinfeld refused to pay his Shomer Shabbos broker when she refused to show his apartment on a Saturday. Although Seinfeld allegedly knew that about Cohen, he showed his apartment without her and sealed the deal.

Cohen sued the funnyman and his pending trial will determine her winnings. Just surveying the Google news articles, Seinfeld should be expecting to drop about 100k on that babe.

ALSO, in case you want some of Seinfeld's gum, it's for sale on ebay.
I swear.

"How Popular Do You Want To Be?"

2007-01-28T01:17:00.000-06:00

After sorting out some legal problems FakeYourSpace will be ready to launch a second time on March 1. FakeYourSpace is a social networking popularity service, which, for a small fee, allows you to purchase friendship and messages on your myspace, facebook and friendster accounts from extremely hot people. This service is designed for people who are tired of seeing their friends exchange flirtatious posts with members of the opposite (or same) sex, and feel the need boost their public standing.

Basic service costs just $1.99 per friend, per month. Available friends range from super hot to the mostly obtainable; perfect for making rival friends and ex-lovers jealous. Fake Your Space also makes a great gift.

Fake Your Space is an interesting addition to a recent post on We Make Money Not Art. "Peer Pressure" examined various ways to improve the persona you present the outside world, mentioning cell-phones that send you random text messages, printers that "accidental" print all your work email that makes you look popular, and headphones that make it sound like you're listening to Radiohead while you're jamming to Ashley Simpson.

"FakeYourSpace changed my online life. I've never been so popular."
- Lindsay from San Diego

swedish meatballs

2007-01-17T15:47:00.000-06:00

It's up in a bunch of places already (lifeiscarbon, psfk), but a new trend has struck in Sweden. Allegedly, random acts of sculpture have become a craze in the Scandinavian country.

It all started when a state sanctioned sculpture of a dog was placed on a roundabout and vandalized. The next day, somebody had made their own dog to replace it.

Now more and more homemade dogs are popping up all over the country on roundabouts or elsewhere. They don't even have to be dogs. The trend calls for a:

"...dog or other animal made from any material which, often concealed by the darkness of the night, is placed in a public place..."

Now that Americans take their music trends (PB&J, I'm From Barcelona, The Knife, Jose Gonzalez) and their fashion trends (that new hipster scarf, skinny jeans, etc.) from the Swedes, maybe I should start fashioning a rottweiler for my front stoop.

genealogy website drops

2007-01-17T15:10:00.000-06:00

Today for the first time, users can trace their family digitally. Using some pretty hip-looking web software, users type in their information and connect themselves to a family tree. Geni uses e-mail to contact family members and attaches them to your tree.

On its first day, the site has a few bugs. It times out pretty quickly and some pages have no information. But with time, Geni has potential to replace all of the paper documentation that my poor Aunt Leslee keeps rolled up in her basement.

I'm not really into my genealogy, but my mom is having a fit over this site. Partially because she's interested and partially because our family friend, Adam, helped develop it. Maybe this will be the Gen X's link to the internet. If they never get online, they'll probably lose track of their kids one day!

Oh yes...also...you might remember the CEO of Geni, David O. Sacks, as the COO of PayPal or perhaps the producer of Thank You For Smoking, now nominated for a Golden Globe. He's not doing so bad. Wonder what his secret is? Smart Start?

Pour me a bowl.

blog forces talk radio to kneel down, suck it

2007-01-17T14:11:00.000-06:00

West coast blog Spocko's Brain has scored some big points against San Francisco conservative talk radio station KSFO, an ABC affiliate (why there is a conservative talk radio station in San Francisco to begin with is anyone's guess). Blogger Spocko has been recording clips from Melanie Morgan's controversial show and sending them to major KSFO advertisers. According to the Guardian:

Spocko objected to various comments by Melanie Morgan. In one exchange about about a book by environmental writer Rachel Carson, Morgan said it made her want to dig up Carson and "kill her all over again". Carson died from breast cancer in 1964.
Morgan's colleague Brian Sussman, meanwhile, called Democratic presidential contender Barak Obama "Halfrican".

The New York Times notes that Sussman also "challenged a caller who said he was not a Muslim to prove it by repeating back an insult to Allah", although Sussman later apologized.

You can mock Rachel Carson, you can even mock Allah, but don't mess with my boy. Now slob is pissed too. It's on, now, KSFO. That's why we're posting the following soundclips. Here are some really classic numbers:

-"Allah is a Whore"
-"Stupid Liberals"
-...and my personal favorite:
"How to Torture Detainees"

In response to Spocko's campaign against KSFO, Disney, ABC's parent (KSFO's grandparent?), attempted to shut Spocko down, but alas you can't stifle the internet. Just ask the Chinese Communist Party. Unfortunately for Disney, using copyrighted soundclips to make a new argument or create a political or social critique falls under fair use best prac t ices.

Apparently, Spocko's campaign against KSFO has worked. Various reports point out that major advertisers have pulled some or all advertising from KSFO, including MasterCard, Visa, Bank of America, and the Michigan Economic Development Corporation.

Blogosphere: 1; Talk radio: suck it.

More: San Francisco Chronicle, New York Times, The Guardian, and of course, a third party blog devoted entirely to covering this subject

new york times stoops to cover nascar

2007-01-17T13:38:00.000-06:00

The New York Times, usually a bastion of eastern elite liberalism, reports on Toyota's entry into Nascar, the people's sport. Toyota, the first foreign-owned company to enter cars into stock races since Jaguar in the 50s (unless you count DaimlerChrysler-owned Dodge), has come under criticism for being unAmerican. Toyota fired back, pointing out that: "Camrys are built in the United States, the Ford Fusion is produced in Mexico and the Chevrolet Monte Carlo comes from Canada." Toyota will in fact be racing tricked out Camrys. Perhaps they would do better racing those Scion wheeled boxes--judging by the commercials, they're really easy to modify.

Toyota has also been accused of buying up the best drivers, engineers, mechanics, and support staff--much the same way the New York Yankees (and now the Chicago Cubs) go about baseball. Toyota is poised to overtake GM as the world's largest car manufacturer in 2007. They may also be seeking to push the ailing Ford Motor Company out of Nascar.

New York Times: Checkered Flag, or Red Flag?

solving crime with youtube

2007-01-15T17:39:00.000-06:00

ABC News reports on the growing number of law enforcement agencies using YouTube to solve crimes. Recently, police have been uploading surveillance tape clips to the video-sharing website in hopes of generating leads based on the tapes. From ABC:

"When we normally forward a video to mainstream media, it'll be shown two, three, four times, and that'll be it," said Sgt. Jorge Lasso of the Hamilton Police Department. "The advantage of it on YouTube, of course, is not only that it costs nothing, but it remained on YouTube as long as we wanted it to."

So when Time made "you" their Person of the Ye ar, they must have meant "you robbing a 7-Eleven wearing women's nylons on your head."

the $100 laptop

2007-01-13T13:15:00.000-06:00

That's right. Thanks to the MIT Media Lab's One Laptop Per Ch ild (OLPC) project, a New York-based not-for-profit, children in the most remote corners of the world may soon be able to cross the digital divide.

OLPC's prototype computer, dubbed the XO, was on display at the Las Vegas Computer Electronics Show this past week. Currently being built for about $150, the software is entirely open source, allowing programmers from around the world to contribute their expertise to the development process. According to OLPC's website, the XO is meant to be "a flexible, ultra low-cost, power-efficient, responsive, and durable machine with which nations of the emerging world can leapfrog decades of development—immediately transforming the content and quality of their children's learning."

The XO will not be available commercially any time in the future--the machines will probably be purchased by governments or donated by charities or aid organizations. Rumor has it, however, that OLPC may consider selling the XOs in rich countries as a 2-for-1 deal; that is, you pay for two computers, receive one of them and the other goes to charity.

The XO has the potential to revolutionize education and communication in the developing world. Plus, it looks cooler than my old PowerBook.

More info: olcpcnews.com, olpc.com
Pics: laptop.org

my favorite time of year is saturday

2007-01-13T11:38:00.000-06:00

So who saw the iPhone? It's pretty sweet huh? I was going to write something telling what it's good about and what's bad. Standard technoblogger babble, but instead I'll let you in on a little secret, you might be able to make a few bucks off it. Some of you more ardent internet technology skateboarders have surely read about the iPhone's impact on other companies and the minute by minute changes in stock prices of Apple, Palm, RIM, and Motorola as Jobs was performing on his little song and dance. Then again, some of you might not. So that's why I just told you. Next time the Wall Street Journal (and no one else save maybe David Pogue) says something with apple is going to happen, bet some money that it does, and then think about whose products will suck in comparison to the new "it" product that apple will unveil and bet against them. Then wait literally 2 hours, close out your positions, and you should have enough cash to afford whatever ridiculous device apple unveils. And if you're feeling extra saucey go to the local casino and put $20 on red 26. GO BEARS!!!!

children of men

2007-01-13T03:53:00.000-06:00

The year is 2027 and shit is pretty grim to say the least. Children of Men sets itself in a time where mankind can no longer procreate for reasons that escapes human understanding. The movie begins with the murder of the youngest person alive at 18 years of age. Our soon to be hero is Clive Owen (Theo) who’s acting career hits a peak in this film as the lead character. He plays an ex-activist who is now “apathetic cubicle guy” with a past full of demons and tragedy. The good news is that in this version of the future, computer monitors float in thin air. Theo finds himself by a series of chance events, in control of a woman who mysteriously is pregnant. The movie takes the audience on a journey through the turmoil of London which is apparently the last standing city; not completely succumbing to the hopelessness of a dying world. His ultimate goal is to get her to a group of people called the Human Project which will hopefully be able to use her as a way to possibly find a cure for the current human condition.

This movie is perfect in every way and is enjoyable no matter how one feels toward films made about the future. This version is cleverly depicted but makes certain to not distract the audience from the complexity and beauty of the film. In simpler terms, it wont leave you turning to your friend and whispering something equivalent to “Bullshit, no way the De Lorean is the only acceptable car for time travel”. Director Alfonso Cuaron also does an incredible job of using details to make the experience of 2027 more authentic. The most enjoyable part of the film, by far, are the scenes in the gritty streets of London where caged immigrants are in despair and nationalist guerrilla movements make war on the government. It is all visually stunning.

After watching this movie there is no doubt that you will immediately be asking your movie mate a million “what ifs” or “why dids” in addition to having the feeling you need to see it again, if only to be able to enjoy some of the subtleties that you missed the first time (hint: check out the shirt he wears throughout the film). It is sure to blow your mind in every way. With all the detail this film provides, it still leaves enough up to the imagination. This movie covers everything from the human will to political disorder and there is something for everyone to enjoy. This movie is worth the rape at the ticket office and therefore marks the first movie to be put on the Best Movie Ever list.

let's invade greece

2007-01-13T01:37:00.000-06:00

On Friday, January 12th, the U.S. embassy in Athens, Greece was hit by an antitank grenade, presumably launched from a shoulder-mounted grenade launcher. The attackers missed the non-existent tank, but hit a window in the embassy. Fortunately, no one was injured, so I can make a mockery of the situation.

The New York Times reports that home-grown Greek terrorists were probably responsible for the attack. So...Greece harbors terrorists that attacked U.S. soil? It's time to make the case for regime change in Greece. First of all, Greece would make an excellent base for projecting power across the Middle East and the Mediterranean, so an American military presence there could be highly advantageous. Second of all, they're big fans of Iron Maiden in Athens, and that's really not cool--not even in an ironic way--so a missile attack is probably overdue. Finally, they suck at international relations and should be put out of their misery, once and for all. Since that whole Iraq thing isn't working out too well, methinks it's time for the U.S. to find some easier territory to annex. After all, Greece hasn't had a strong military since, oh...say, the Peloponnesian War.

Opa!

korea

2007-01-13T01:18:00.000-06:00

My dry cleaner in IL is always telling me that I should go visit Korea next time I'm in Asia. Turns out, it's really pretty. Who knew?

Speaking of slob's favorite nuclear peninsula, Korean consumer electronics manufacturer Samsung told the global press that Apple's iPhone is going to spur healthy competition within the telecommunications industry. Slob thinks the iPhone is the coolest device ever, so let the games begin...

Samsung Sees Challenge in iPhone Launch

God Bless America

2007-01-12T15:11:00.000-06:00

Miami based artist, Kate Kretz has been receiving national attention recently. Her recent work, displayed at Art Miami Jan 5-8, is entitled, "Blessed Art Thou". The 88" x 60" oil painting features Angelina Jolie as the Virgin Mary hovering over a Wal-Mart checkout line.

Priced at $50k, the controversial painting sold for more and according to Kretz's blog, the work "has been confirmed to be going to an important international collection."

I originally thought that it was a mural painted above an actual Wal-Mart check out line, but apparently my dreams weren't true. It still seemed to strike up some controversy though. Is it really a surprise Americans deify celebrities? If I tried any harder to look like Adam Brody, I could make a living off of it.

bush vs. reality

2007-01-11T11:47:00.000-06:00

The Plan

Last night, President George W. Bush unveiled his new plan to secure Iraq over the course of the next two years. Speaking from the White House library, a frazzled Mr. Bush told the world, "The situation in Iraq is unacceptable to the American people--and it is unacceptable to me...Where mistakes have been made, the responsibility rests with me." That admission is a step in the right direction. Finally, the Bush administration is acknowledging the same reality that the American people acknowledged this past November: Iraq is bad, it is the administration's fault, and it is time for a change in strategy.

The centerpiece of Mr. Bush's plan is to send about 17,000 soldiers to war-torn Baghdad and about 4,000 Marines to Anbar province. In Pentagon/media-speak, this tactic has been dubbed the "troop surge." The mission of the military in Iraq will also shift from a search-and-destroy operation to a search-destroy-hold tactic in which Iraqi troops and police, backed by a substantial U.S. military presence, will engage and defeat the enemy and then occupy territory in order to prevent the reorganization of the militias. This new tactic (often referred to as an "ink-blot" tactic) is a common counterinsurgency practice that has, up until now, been ignored by the Bush administration.

President Bush also explained that the Iraqi government would commit USD10 billion to reconstruction of infrastructure. Furthermore, the U.S. will ensure that Iraq passes legislation to share oil revenue amongst the population, and will hold provincial elections later this year. Iraq will also alter the de-Baathification process in order to bring more people with political experience back into play in Iraq, possibly including security officials.

Many Democrats are rightly incensed that President Bush ignored the exalted Iraq Study Group's suggestions to negotiate with Syria and Iran. While the ISG report was a bit nearsighted, Bush should have headed the advice of Vali R. Nasr at the Council of Foreign Relations:

"He recommends a regional conference that includes the five permanent members of the UN Security Council as well as Iraq’s six neighbors (Iran, Jordan, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Kuwait). He suggests a UN envoy be appointed to “shuttle” between the various states and assess what their shared interests are and how to leverage their influence over Iraq’s feuding parties."

Good idea.

We Broke It...

Bush's new plan has a lot of potential. The increase in troops may provide the necessary edge to defeat the Shi'a militias that are fighting in and around Baghdad. If the Iraqi and U.S. militaries can successfully gain control of the capitol, then the political process in Iraq will be able to move forward, unencumbered by security considerations and the looming threat of civil war. Congressional Democrats argue that the U.S. should seek to jumpstart the political process in Iraq and bring all interested parties to the table. Realistically, the use of force will be a much more effective peacemaker than any overly-optimistic political dealings. As long as Shi'a militias are engaged in an insurgency, political unification of Iraq will remain stalled. Unfortunately, it remains to be seen whether or not an extra 20,000 troops will be a large enough presence to really secure Iraq. This may be a case of too little, too late.

Democrats are opposed to any troop increase in Iraq and instead argue for a phased withdrawal of U.S. troops. They maintain that the Bush plan is no different from strategies put forth by the administration in the past, that it is time for the Iraqis to step up and the U.S. to leave Iraq. It is not time to leave Iraq. The United States is responsible for the toppling of the Iraqi government and the destruction of Iraqi infrastructure. The current situation in Iraq is entirely a byproduct of American policies. It would be immoral and irresponsible to withdraw from Iraq without America putting forth its best efforts to bring peace and stability. At this point in time, an Iraq left to its own devices will be either an oil-rich country in a perpetual state of civil war or an oil-rich extremist Shi'a-led state with allegiance to Iran. Neither circumstance is in the interest of the United States or the world. Mr. Bush's plan may not work, but simply leaving Iraq will guarantee failure. Democrats (the majority of whom voted for this war in the first place, and therefore bear some blame for the current situation) owe it to Iraq and the world to work with President Bush to develop a comprehensive solution for the Iraqi problem, based on Mr. Bush's new proposal.

Click here for a full transcript/video of the Presidential address.

arcade fire

2007-01-11T10:28:00.000-06:00

I don't know how much you follow the release of the Arcade Fire's new album Neon Bible, but there has been a lot of unconventional press surrounding its March 6th release.

First came an awkward e-mail to the music blogs and the music press. It appeared to be spam promoting the Neon Bible which originally only showed a phone number, 1-800-NEON-BIBLE. After pressing extention 7777, phone callers could hear the new song Intervention.

Then, the "wrong" song was allegedly posted on iTunes due to a slip-up at their record label, Merge.

After which came an apology on Win Butler's personal blog.

Arcade Fire also released a pretty goofy YouTube video:

Now you can hear Black Mirror at www.neonbible.com as well as the hear the phone clip from 1-800-NEON-BIBLE, watch the video, and see some cool looking flash.

vampires?

2007-01-10T22:38:00.000-06:00

My mom just told me that last March my father was getting out of bed and took his shirt off and saw this on his stomach. No idea where it came from. Mom's skeptical of all of his after-hours activities now.
Also I just realized I say "bye bye" exactly the same as a little 3-year-old boy in rural Tennessee. This is why I never watch Discovery Health.

rushdie

2006-12-31T14:49:00.000-06:00

This is a small bit from a commencement speech that Salman Rushdie gave at Nova Southeastern University...

"In 1938, E.M. Forster wrote this, in Two Cheers for Democracy. "If I had to choose between betraying my country and betraying my friend, I hope I should have the guts to betray my country." Which is to say that "elective affinities"--Goethe's term for the allegiances we choose, rather than those which are foisted upon us--are the basis upon which each of us may construct a valuable, moral, and free self, if only we find in ourselves the courage to do so."

I liked it, that is all