Testing a theory

Here is smoe text. There will be more after the jump.

Accept no Immitations

Ok, I should have done this ages ago...
An Indian company stole my domain. Not only that... they're stealing my content. Don't go look, I don't want to drive any traffic there, just take my word for it.

Until I recover it, there will be no new posts on this blog. Sorry. Meantime, check out my new and substantially cooler blog, called You Can Stay, But I'm Leaving. Do enjoy, won't you?

The Epic iPhone Fail

Well, not to say I told you so-- actually, I told you so.

Oh, don't get me wrong: I completely understand how Apple's clusterfuck would blindside you. The original iPhone's release last year did have a hype machine in full swing, lines of sweaty-palmed nerds lined around the block in rapt anticipation, and eventual (inevitable) server overloads under their combined weight, but why would that happen again? Apple must have learned their lesson, right?

It's not your fault. You were duped, like you've been duped before, like you'll be duped again and again. In any case, I thank you for being good guinea pigs. Do let me know when your MobileMe account starts working, won't you?

Dammit Internet, be more funny!

Yes, yes, there's a Funnyordie.com, Adultswim.com, Collegehumor, Break, Ebaumsworld, JibJab, Cleanguys.com (snicker), and good ol' YouTube, but is it just me, or have these sites lost their luster?

Traffic would indicate that no, they haven't, and I'm just a disgruntled curmudgeonly misanthrope. But I don't think traffic is a good metric; in fact, I would argue that increased traffic is a sure sign that the general quality of their content is going down. Here's the equation: the more content a site has, the more traffic it gets. With sites like YouTube this is especially true, since the content is being created AND promoted by thousands of individuals. An increase in contributors, though, means that a number of people are posting content that is essentially garbage, with very little entertainment value. In addition, in order to produce massive amounts of content, the cost of the content must perforce go down. And with lower costs must come lower production values. From the perspective of these sites, this is an acceptable, even desirable equation. Push the content, maximize impressions, cash in.

So what's the solution? I haven't thought it out that far. I've already made the problem worse by writing a severely unfunny post. It's also difficult to avoid YouTube, which is simultaneously the definitive source for video on the internet and the most egregious offender. I'd say that we can all help by vetting ourselves. Don't post garbage on your blog. Don't watch pointless kick-in-the-balls videos or man-fall-down fare. In short, the only way we can force content providers to give us the funny is by ignoring the asinine.

George Carlin, RIP

Shit, George Carlin is dead. I'm pretty pissed, as I think being pissed is the only adequate tribute.

Fuck me, this is a blog, not an obituary section. As much as I respected Russert, George Carlin was more than a stand up comedian, he was an institution. The influence he had on the art of comedy cannot be expressed in a format so crude as this. I'd probably sound like more of cunt than I already do just trying.

The thing that really burns me, though, is all the little cocksuckers who want to get into comedy and don't even know who he is. In the end, though, the people who loved his comedy, not just because he was a funny motherfucker, but because they connected with it, they- we- are the ones who will keep his legacy alive. Tits.

Sundays without Big Russ

So you probably know by now that Tim Russert, the host of NBC's Meet the Press and one of the more bearable talking heads in the list of celebrity journalists. I'm sure he'll be equally remembered for big stories like the Plame scandal as well as his quirks of character, like his stupid little white board. I'm not much of a eulogist, and to be fair I'm not even a regular MTP watcher, but one thing is certain, and certainly sad: though he one of very few reputable journalists with a huge audience, his slot will almost certainly be filled by a loudmouth windbag like Lou Dobbs or Bill O'Reilly. Fuck.

A word on the new header

Yes, I incorporated the horrible visual pun into the new header, but when you take into account that the title of the blog is already a reasonably bad pun, sticking to my guns can only help at this point. Um, no pun intended.

On another note, I spent way too much time on this, but starting from scratch was necessary in this case. All of my original files of the header were lost long ago and I couldn't find the primary material (the stuff with the dueling guys) anywhere on the internet. As it is, I still don't know who the artist is. Ok, I think there's going to have to be a part 2 to this, because there is a quite a bit to say about the image, and I'd prefer to do it justice. Here it is:



I will say that there are still many flaws in the redesign, mainly due to haste, and a lot of stuff i wanted to steal or crib from the image, but i'm impulsive. I sure hope it's public domain.

Brave Men Run on Boing Boing

My fellow slave and DIY posterchild Matt Selznick recently released his book, Brave Men Run, in various formats, and Boing Boing picked up the story! Super sweet. Go Matt.

As for you, you should go download the book in your format of choice. You can listen to it as a podiobook, read it at your leisure as a PDF, or netjack it straight to your brain. I'm not kidding. Ok, I am, but still, do it.