I hear the hoofbeats of the 4 Horsemen of the Apocalypse approaching...I am sorry to report that the "Dude! You're gettin' a Dell!" guy, Dell computer pitchman Ben Curtis has at least 4 online fanclub sites, including Yahoo clubs.
Here are some ways to opt out of pop-up / -under / -every-which-way-but-loose ads: TechnoErotica and the Network Advertising Initiative. Note: you will need to turn AdSubtract off and cookies (including third-party cookies) on for some of the links to work.
Also, don't forget the Texas Do Not Call site (thanks, Jerry!) to turn off those pesky phone solicitors.
Today's quote:
The thought of being president frightens me and I do not think I want the job. – Ronald Reagan in 1973
And the award for Best Use of the theme from "Deliverance" in a video montage goes to Guerrilla News Network: S-11 Redux. Check this clip out (available in QuickTime or WinDoze Media Player. It is unusually well done, and features all the talking heads we have seen again and again since 9/11 on what passes for news. GNN has some great shorts. Here's a snippet of the description of this very cool video. It made me laugh--but it also made me think.
"It is a well-known and widely accepted fact that, during wartime, news companies and governmental representatives fuse their voices together into one univocal beam of support for the national military objective. And, while, for many, this is a vital aspect of institutional patriotism, it is also a very dangerous and troubling reality. For, if the news media have abandoned their responsibility to objectively inform the population, then our concept of a democracy (which is founded on the ability for all citizens to choose their nation's destiny based on a full spectrum of information) is in desperate peril."
Oh yeah--and it features Prince, AND the hillbillies from Deliverance as well as a great backbeat. I especially enjoyed the coverage of Bush's speech to a joint session of Congress. The closing quote is wonderful too.
"Wanna Snort Some Plaster Dust, Kid?" in a truly strange twist, Fake Drugs Force an End to 24 Cases in Dallas according to the story, "Nearly half of the cocaine and nearly a quarter of the methamphetamine that the Dallas police seized last year have turned out to be gypsum from wallboard, a discovery that has led to the suspension of two dozen criminal cases, local officials say."
Bellyfuzz Site News A few of you have asked for it, and I've finally been able to deliver (with a big thanks to uigui.net). Yep, as you can tell by looking at the bottom of each post, we now have COMMENT functionality! So if someone posts something that makes you want to start up a conversation on said item, click on "comments" under the post in question. That will bring up a little pop-up window that will show you any comments that may already be there AND also allow you to post your own. The first time you post it might be a little confusing, so here's a little help:
1) Write your comments in the top box.
2) Change the preset name from "anonymous" to a more appropriate moniker so that we can identify who says what.
3) Click on the word "post" in the blue box. That's it!
I would have devised something a little more robust to host on bellyfuzz's server, but my hosting service doesn't allow me to use any CGI scripts. I'd have to cough up an extra 20 dollars a month for a new hosting plan that would let me do that. So, until then, hats off to uigui.
I agree Mark--Slate is AD-heavy. The fact that the MS logos are all over makes it worse. I use a program called ADsubtract Pro, a $29.95 piece of shareware that rocks on PCs but does not work in Mac-land yet. It is a proxy/ad interceptor and does a great job of suppressing most crap. It also self-updates regularly as it learns about new ad sizes, locations and servers like the evil DoubleClick.com. For a look at what it suppresses, take a look at Today's SLATE page before and after using ADsubtract. It doesn't lose the entire MSN banner-thingy, but that might be an update waiting to happen. I do like the purple though.
The current design / layout of Slate is just heinous! I used to read it now and again when it was new and was impressed with its look. It now seems to revel in a sort of tabloid negativity (like a pig in mud or The National Enquirer). Today's "headlines" include:
Why is Robert Rubin getting a pass on Enron?
Rudy Giuliani's Stock Scam
The Curse of Bill Parcells
Ken Burns Ruins Mark Twain
Visit Slate.com / UK (oh! that's an ad, not a headline)
And ads! Slate's home page is surrounded by them on all four sides. Top, bottom, and the upper portion of the right column are all devoted to MSN navigation and propaganda. Underneath the minimal left column table of contents is an ad for AT&T Wireless. Further down on the right is an add for Microsoft Money. Under the list of today's postings is a Barnes and Noble ad. Feh.
I realize that most other news / commentary sites (like CNN or even The New York Times) have their share of advertisements in and around their content, and I recognize that ads help keep such sites free of charge. Yet Slate's format seems to intentionally give their ads as much or even more weight / space than their content. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised it's come to this, given Slate's corporate master, but I'm still sad that it has.
'Blow' Director Ted Demme Has Died at 38 Besides "Blow," he directed Springsteen's "Streets of Philadelphia" video, Denis Leary's TV special "No Cure For Cancer" and the underrated "The Ref" with Leary & Kevin Spacey. Demme is believed to have been a victim of Sudden Cardiac Death a form of heart failure that kills 500,000 Americans each year, 125,000 under 50. It's first "symptom" is usually death, so it would appear to be difficult to treat.
Did You Know? Baked beans are an extremely popular dish in Great Britain. The British, according to records, consume twice as much baked beans per capita as do the Americans.
Ah. Remember those good old days on the web, when you put up a homepage and listed all your likes and dislikes? You wrote about your family and friends and your hobbies. And even though you could barely code yourself (and several of your links didn't work, cause this was your first attempt at frames and you really didn't know how to link within a frame), you were still kind enough to post a link to an HTML guide for all those more clueless than you. On each page, you were polite and provided a "welcome" header, so everyone would feel like a part of the World Wide Web family and know exactly what they were looking at with envy, wishing they could put up a rest stop on the cyberhighway of life.
So now, let us celebrate this guy, who obviously bought "HTML for Dummies" on May 3, 1999, bought a domain name and put up his first web page. Welcome to the party, brother. You're a little late.
(I ran across this guy's site by mistyping slate.com. Jerry, the new design is fab. "Little. Yellow. Different ... Bellyfuzz.")
I know this is kind of lame, but it will force me to post everyday. So here's what I'm gonna start doing: Swipe an interesting or weird factoid and post it daily for your reading pleasure. I know it won't be as thoughtful or deep as the stuff coming from Baze, Faure, Jack and the rest of you, but I hope you won't flog me for that. :)
Did You Know? Milk delivered to the store today was in the cow two days ago.
