Slate has an interesting article about how newspapers in the 1700’s routinely left extra space for readers to leave comments and notes, as well as add their own items:
These amendments weren’t aimless jottings, either. Newspapers were routinely shared after purchase, and the notes readers added in the spaces and margins were designed to edify the friend or acquaintance the reader next forwarded his paper to.
It’s like comments as well as citizen journalism all through a very early medium with a limited audience.
Let’s give this a second try…(first time did not save and I lost everything). Hey everybody! Lots of fun links to pass on, and I’ll be updating The Great and Secret Show as well, so stay tuned for more later this weekend as well.
I’ve found a lot of old links (from a few months ago), so I’ll only be posting the relevant ones, hope you enjoy:
Pittsburgh Sports and Mini Ponies is about exactly what you think, or at least their banner is. The site is on Bloquin, so good luck trying to get it to display correctly or have a working RSS feed though.
I hate the Wesboro Baptist Church as much as anyone. But I love that they tried to take on the San Diego Comic Con and lost, so bad (and this doesn’t even show the parade the attendees put on as a counter protest). Strong language and logic that will make your head explode about eight times:
Here is a cool chart showing different aspects on covers of fantasy book. I can’t embed it here, for some reason it breaks Joomla. Sorry!
And really, at this point, you’re just showing off:
Okay, that’s it for this one, shorter update, but more to come soon!
Is is possible to create and air your own ad? Well, it’s now a lot easier thanks to Google. Interesting Now with the correct video and everything! Oops:
I posted the first one before, but here is the fully sick rapper again:
Synaesthesia is really weird, especially in how many different forms it takes, and I’m pretty sure I fit into at least one, and possibly two categories. I don’t watch Dr. Who, so I’m not going to call myself a Time Lord, but how cool would that look on business cards!
Here’s an interesting article about the current state of the GOP. I’m always excited when Buckley is discussed, since I actually know a little about him (and his son, one of my favorite authors).
Do you love Dr. Horrible’ Sing Along Blog? Of course you do! Do you miss 8-bit video games? Of course you do? Check it out:
Would you like to make prank calls…as Tiger Woods? Again, of course you would! Slate has your soundboard here.
This is making its way around the internet, guerrilla bridge building:
Andrew Sullivan has been talking about a giant statue of Mary, and here’s a follow up post about the area around the statue. The image reminds me of a combination of Er’Cana (from URU) and the beginning area of Myst V. I know, I’m a huge nerd. This shot also reminds me of some of the areas in “The Great and Secret Show” and “Everville.” As much as I want to post it over here I won’t, since it only has to do with the book.
This is a cool graph, and I think shows one of the reasons I love podcasts so much, I can multitask with them. And I listen to free ones (well, all but one).
Are you upset by the Catholic Church? How about trying to get excommunicated? One Seattle writer tries it, I’ll keep you posted. The letter is gut-wrenching and heartfelt, here’s a snippet:
I demand to be excommunicated because I do not believe women are second-class citizens. I demand to be excommunicated because your missionaries are informing impoverished citizens of third-world countries that birth control is a sin when it is in fact the single most important thing they could do to gain some small amount of control over their economic situation and health. I demand to be excommunicated because your church has become a hate group as virulent as any this world has ever seen, one that is unnaturally obsessed with the sex lives of good men and women across the planet. I demand to be excommunicated because I do not condone child rape or the concealment of child rape.
And my mind has been blown in like eighteen little pieces from trying to understand this link. I heard this elsewhere recently and I’m trying to remember where, but for the life of me I can’t. Maybe that’s because we’re exploding backwards from a white hole!
A guy has made a computer program called Jarvis, and integrated it into his apartment, as well as his GPS phone and his friends phones. It can tell when they are coming home and turn lights on, turn lights on and off for the dog and all kinds of other things. Here he is showing how it helps him out in the kitchen. Very much a bachelor, and I do think the paper towels so close to an outlet and the George Foreman grill may be a safety hazard:
Thank goodness Ginny commented on this picture, I had seen it that morning in the PG and screamed a little inside. Sometimes I love Harrisburg:
I love Fleury, a whole lot. Here’s him and Sid talking about the snow (which I realize is ridiculous on at least three levels, but hey, it’s fun):
Speaking of Fleury and Sid, Olympics! Here’s what Slate suggested you watch if you watch just one thing a day. A really funny read (and I apologize in advance for the tardiness of all the Olympic articles, I got so caught up in the games that I didn’t write about them). And here is their awesome Sap-O-Meter. I’ll give you a hint, NBC is really sappy, and generally, awful at covering the Olympics.
I don’t know what’s going on in this picture, but we are seeing Bob Costas outside of his living room, so it’s got to be a plus. Also, Colbert! Make sure you watch this video that I’m not allowed to embed. Stupid NBC.
Slate also takes a stab at the biathalon. Awesome read, which just helps me galvanize my mindset that it’s a weird sport. I have more respect for it, but it’s weird.
I’m thinking it may not be actually from Verizon, but this is an awesome blend of nostalgia and current technology:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EkWKdJF7Md0
This might be one of my new favorite sites, someone watching season six of Lost, who has never seen it. It’s worth it just for the drawings!
And the healthcare debate rages on, it’s a few days old, but still worth a watch. Rachel Maddow is, of course, amazing:
A gut wrenching blog entry over at PG+, if you’re a subscriber, check out the link. If not, consider signing up! And I know I’ve promised to talk about it over at Metblogs, and I still am planning on doing that, I promise!
A great follow up to the video clips I posted before about the phrase “fucking retard.” As in, “Sarah Palin is a fucking retard.”
I’ve been really, really excited about the return of URU. To help you get into the Myst spirit, check out this awesome online fan project – Myst and Riven books! And in related news, over a million people are now playing D&D online, probably because it’s free (with some premium content). Maybe we’ll see a lot of interest in URU! We can only hope!
The Onion does a great job, and maybe humor is what we need in the discussion, but marriage equality is serious. Don’t believe me? Try filing taxes as a same-sex couple.
What is Wes Anderson directed Spider Man? Oh yes:
Cool ad that was apparently really effective, although the price must be really big, and installation I’m sure was a pain:
Happy Martin Luther King, Jr. Day everybody! And since he was a proponent of civil rights, I’ll start with a link from the LA Times about the Prop 8 trial:
Many opponents of same-sex marriage argue that it violates God’s will. Maybe theirs. My God doesn’t fret about homosexuality. And I figure if gays and lesbians can gain some comfort and happiness from formal marriage, then let them. Congratulations and good luck.
Nevada just registered the first male prostitute after a change in the laws allowed it to happen. Although, after reading the interview, he’s either stretching (he compared himself to Rosa Parks, yes, really) or just really dumb. I can’t quite figure it out. I started the link on the second page of the interview, which is where it starts to really get weird.
Here’s a cool spoof ad (complete with lots of swearing, so NSFW). Although I really shoudln’t talk, if the iPhone was on Verizon, I’d get one (mostly for the ability to play Myst):
Slate takes a look at the new Domino’s ad, which I happen to like, probably a little bit more than Slate does. Check it out here.
I’m a bit behind posting this, but if you haven’t seen it, enjoy:
It’s a little old news, but I didn’t post about it, and it still blow my mind, Slog put together a comprehensive list of the past administration (and Gulliani) trying to deny that 9/11 happened on their watch. My brain huts a lot when I try to comprehend this kind of logic.
Here’s a cool video about the power of images (and graphic designers). It reminds me a lot of the theory we discussed in my communication classes, if you’re interested in seeing more, check out InformationisBeautiful.net
Alright, a more media heavy update today, but some cool stuff to pass along.
First up, this video was filmed backwards. You’ll understand when you see it, and it’s pretty cool:
Faith finally finished her article about Women in Scouting, specifically at Scout camp. Check it out here.
It looks as though Slate’s year end Gaming Club has finished up, although I kind of remember them coming to the same conclusion last year. Still a great series, even if they don’t talk about some of the games I think they should have.
Even more than the previous link, this makes me so incredibly happy. The rest of the world must really think the U.S. is bat-shit crazy. Honestly, if I was not living here, I would just be laughing at how stupid this congressman is. Not only for doing what he did, but also for having the balls to go the conference, try to pull together a press conference even when our government is in the building behind him trying to work with other counties from around the world. Good frickin’ grief.
If you need something to make you smile, check out the trailer for Mega Man 10:
Did you know you can check your weather and put it in Star Wars terms? Currently, we’re at Hoth.
The Stranger has run this “new” column a couple times, and honestly, it makes me laugh each time, especially the second letter:
And to end (much shorter post than I thought), here is just a creepy, creepy PSA from CBS. Good sentiment, but still strange:
I’m not sure if this will work or not (playing with embed code features typically gives me grief), but hopefully the awesome editorial cartoon from Slate V will show up below. If not, check it out here.
Update: Ok, I’m going to slowly back away from the Metblogs before I blow it up more than I probably already have… Check out the link above to see Slate’s Newspapers v. the Internet, it’s well worth it. And I’m going to go find the fire extinguisher…
