All Entries Related to "The Internet Is Fun"

July 29, 2008

The Saddest Parade Ever

The torch may have been passed - to this Canada Day celebration in Iqaluit, Nunavut.

I don't know what's most awesome - the patriotic gusto of the lead flag-waving Mountie, or the spectator, who no doubt is thinking, "Oh God, here they come, glad I remembered to bring my tiny flag". Either way, the whole thing reminds me of a Monty Python skit directed by Christopher Guest.

(Thanks Josh for sending me this.)

Posted by Michael at 04:01 PM | Comments (0)

June 25, 2008

The Future of Video Games

For someone who spent 96.4% of his sixteenth year on the Commodore 64, it's surprising how fast video games and I parted ways. I finally bought a Playstation to play sports games (about 45 minutes after I got it home, they announced the release of the PS2) and I fumbled with Guitar Hero once for about 20 forgettable minutes. But your Wiis and your XBoxes and such are foreign to me.

So I read this article, on the next 25 years of video games, with a healthy mixture of fear and awe. Some highlights:

Spore and PS3 Home are still made up of people and therefore a certain percentage of those wondrous new universes will be composed of dicks. At some point you will travel to a wondrous new Spore world and find the creatures there have evolved to have hides covered in porn URLs.

...

Electronic Arts could crank out a Shrek 9 game in a couple of weeks that features nothing more than Shrek standing in your front yard, quietly staring and occasionally farting. The whole time your brain will be telling you it's the most fun you've ever had.

Also, the article is about 145% better considering the occasional insertion of the Burger King.

(First seen at Ezra Klein.

Posted by Michael at 10:12 AM | Comments (0)

June 09, 2008

The Big LOLbowski....The Unveiling

Presenting.....The Big LOLbowski.

Posted by Michael at 10:42 AM | Comments (1)

February 21, 2008

Links

I can't remember what I've emailed to whom, so if I've mentioned something and promised to send it to you, here's what I've been enjoying on the Internetz lately.

* The LOLCat Bible
* SomeECards.com
* The LOTD guide to baby care
* Stuff White People Like
and of course This guy

Share and enjoy

Posted by Michael at 11:17 AM | Comments (0)

January 29, 2008

New York Times Screenshot of the Day

nyt.JPG

Any minute now.

Posted by Michael at 04:16 PM | Comments (1)

July 30, 2007

Simmons Interview

Pretty funny interview with the Sports Guy in today's BostonNOW. He's still consistently funny, especially here when he starts comparing Sesame Street muppets to members of the early-80s Lakers.

Posted by Michael at 02:30 PM | Comments (0)

July 29, 2007

YouTube Russian Roulette

Five of these clips are among my all-time favorites, and I can watch them again and again. One of them will make you question whether the Internet should just be thrown away. Choose wisely.

Clip One
Clip Two
Clip Three
Clip Four
Clip Five
Clip Six.

Posted by Michael at 11:52 AM | Comments (2)

May 10, 2007

Google Maps to Add Sounds

Google Maps (possibly greatest invention of my lifetime) wants to add a feature that will allow you to play sounds while you're looking at maps. Not a bad idea.

But they'd better remember movie conventions, which means that every time you view London, you'll hear the first line of "Hail, Britannia". Every time you look at Paris, you'll hear a snippet of accordion music. And every time you look at Japan, they'll have to play a gong sounding.

Playing "Dueling Banjos" when you view Tennessee might have to wait for the second wave.

Posted by Michael at 11:43 PM | Comments (2)

April 11, 2007

I'm Remiss In My Shoutouts

Alison of Bluish Orange, with whom I bonded last year over beer, Apples to Apples, and Snakes On A Plane hype, is currently showing exactly what the difference is between (a) spending your whole life looking at maps and dreaming about road trips, and (b) hopping in the car and going on a humongous road trip.

So I'm living vicariously through her photo album. And trying not to be too jealous.

Posted by Michael at 09:56 AM | Comments (5)

March 28, 2007

And That's Why You Don't Mess Around With Web People

The John McCain campaign used a template for its Myspace page that was free, but asked for credit. No credit was given. The McCain campaign hotlinked to images stored on the server of the guy they didn't give credit to.

Guess what happens next.

Previously: My War vs. Myspace

Posted by Michael at 08:51 AM | Comments (1)

March 13, 2007

Ben Schumin Attracts the Attention of Wingnuts

Lord knows I've had my share of chuckles at Ben Schumin over the years. (Like here) So I was surprised to find that he's currently being portrayed as The Face of Liberal Evil on Michelle Malkin's short bus, because he took lots of pictures(!) at an anti-war rally. And of course it would be suitable Malkin Material if they didn't highlight where Ben lives and works.

But Ben had better watch himself this weekend, according to the Malkinite. The Gathering of Eagles will be there, with patriotic anthems on their tongues and armbands on their sleeves (sound familiar?), ready to fight for what they believe in (assuming they only have to fight "moonbats" and pudgy Virginians, as opposed to Iraqi insurgents or "terrorists"). Be safe, Ben. There may be a bounty on your head, and the Internet can't afford to lose you.

Posted by Michael at 03:55 PM | Comments (10)

March 07, 2007

Consider This

I've had some ridiculous ideas in my life (get Sean Connery and Patrick Stewart to go to IHOP and order "Rooty Tooty Fresh n Fruity"s, get Jack Black and Jack White to play a chess match, watch and review the AFI Top 100 Movies).

And one of them, that I'll never follow through on, is to call NPR's "All Things Considered", and make some remarkably stupid statements (e.g. "I think global warming is caused by the growing popularity of jalapeno peppers") just to see if they consider them.

Now I doubt they would. Eeka wasn't crazy about an item on the show and wrote to them, and they sent back a form letter indicating that they hadn't really considered her complaint at all. You'd think that a show called "All Things Considered", though they may not agree with all their feedback, would at least consider it. No dice.

Damned liberal media.

Posted by Michael at 09:08 AM | Comments (4)

March 02, 2007

I Just Want to Be Loved, Is That So Wrong?

BostonNOW is a new free daily paper that's intended to be distributed much like the Metro, but with a predominately local perspective. To that end, they're asking for local bloggers and writers to come to a meeting next week, so they can pitch their plan and rally some enthusiasm.

Of course, not everyone loves this. The Universal Hub and Media Nation posts about this have several comments to the effect that BostonNOW is basically looking for free labor for their revenue-generating enterprise.

Well, I'm gonna go. When you're an amateur writer with big dreams and a wildly variable rate of productivity, you need the deadlines and the exposure more than you need the $10. (Though if anyone sends me $10, I won't send it back.) Even though BunkoSquad has been churning away on the K-list of blogs since 1998 (I started out on the B-list, but the number of blogs has really exploded in nine years), I still am at the point where I'm literally giddy for hours if someone mentions me or links to me (thanks Obscurorant!), and I worry that I'll never get better if I feel like I'm spinning my wheels and writing for the same audience of twelve that I had years ago.

So I'm going to check this out. We'll see how it goes.

(Post title from Jon Lovitz' Harvey Fierstein impression, if not from Harvey himself)

Posted by Michael at 06:22 PM | Comments (3)

February 28, 2007

Pout

There are so many people going to Conservapedia to make fun of it, that it won't load, and I can't get to it to make fun of it. This will have to do for now.

Posted by Michael at 02:48 PM | Comments (1)

February 23, 2007

Fark Headlines of the Week

Dick Cheney arrives in Japan for a meeting with the emperor. The emperor will not accompany Cheney on a hunting trip as he's afraid to lose face

Turkey hit with magnitude 5.9 earthquake. Feathers everywhere

Unidentified wreck found in Lake Superior. Witch of November wanted for questioning

Posted by Michael at 12:28 AM | Comments (0)

February 13, 2007

Vermont Hates Wikipedia

Middlebury College's history department laid the smack down, saying that Wikipedia entries are not considered valid sources for school papers.

Hard to believe, since Wikipedia only uses trusted, authoritative sources for its articles.

Posted by Michael at 11:42 AM | Comments (3)

February 02, 2007

99 Mooninites

I have a little bit of the Weird Al gene somewhere in my DNA (I'm trying - not very hard - to write a self-flagellating Five For Fighting parody called "You've Only Got 100 Films to Watch").

But I bow to, throw roses at, and kneel to Spatch for his 99 Luftballoons reworking. Brilliant, man.

Posted by Michael at 09:33 AM | Comments (0)

January 31, 2007

You Vertical-Leaping Bastards

ignig.jpgChannel 4 has the best summary of the suspicious device that got all of Sullivan Square, and now all of Boston, in a OMG!WTF!BBQ! tizzy this morning. Adam at Universal Hub has a link to a closeup of the device in question, and...Oh my God! It's Ignignokt! Randomly-placed circuit boards today, can the Foreigner belt be far behind?

Posted by Michael at 02:51 PM | Comments (3)

January 24, 2007

Never Forget the Lessons of September 18th

Via Oliver, here's a frothing right-wing attack on Barack Obama's "lack of qualifications" (written by someone who undoubtedly voted for George W. Bush in 2000 without a hint of irony), printed in American Thinker (nope, still no irony) in which he praises the heroes who downed their plane and saved the White House and Capitol from destruction.

The heroes of Flight 94.

Try to get the little details right, kids.

Posted by Michael at 03:36 PM | Comments (1)

January 17, 2007

Winter Notes

My favorite comment thread of the week has to be this one at Pandagon, where people are giving an Austinite advice on how to drive in cold weather, and there are several people giving explanations of what an ice scraper is and how to use it.

Closer to home, I agree wholeheartedly with Evan's post about winter, specifically, nitwits who are deranged enough to actually want a blizzard:

Friends who have visited me in March and as late as early April have compared Boston to a bombed out city, leaving its inhabitants covered in wool, hats, scarves, those awful leg warmers, and no exposed skin except that of their ghostly white faces, noses dripping due to the cold wind. It's lovely.

Couldn't agree more.

Posted by Michael at 11:09 AM | Comments (1)

January 08, 2007

Never Shoulda Let Him Go

Bronson Arroyo may have been sent packing to the Midwest, but his heart is still in Boston. That, and the indie-rock scene in Cincinnati is still getting its act together. So the lanky ex-Sox hurler is coming back to rock the Roxy this weekend, and you can enter to win tickets from Exploit Boston! Hurry; entries are due Wednesday at noon.

Posted by Michael at 07:58 PM | Comments (0)

January 06, 2007

I'm Sitting Here Doing A Slow Clap

Glenn Greenwald writes a brilliant essay explaining why the right-wing blogosphere seems to be always wrong about everything. It's long, and some of it's a little inside, but I loved every word of it.

Posted by Michael at 07:07 PM | Comments (0)

December 22, 2006

Meet Your Next Secretary of State

What do you get when you give every wingnut knucklehead on the planet a blank canvas on which to paint their solution to the problems in the Middle East?

You get, among other things, a complicated scenario in which the U.S. stabilizes the Middle East by getting Egypt to invade Syria and hand it over to Israel, then...

Ah, hell. I can't do this plan justice. Luckily, Brad as Sadly,No! goes over it with a fine-tooth comb. And it is funny.

Posted by Michael at 08:46 AM | Comments (2)

November 21, 2006

Gossip

Rumors are starting to fly around the Web about a potential relationship between blogger Oliver Willis and actress Jessica Alba. This could be a big coup for the blog world if this turns into something.

Posted by Michael at 01:11 PM | Comments (0)

October 17, 2006

While You're On YouTube...

Posted by Michael at 06:59 PM | Comments (3)

September 03, 2006

Flickr Wins the Internet

Does it feel like half the things I write are mea culpas for not writing more? Yeah, it seems that way to me, too. Ugh.

This time, I have an excuse of sorts - I've been rebuilding the library on my iPod (computer crashed months ago, my iTunes library got destroyed, I can only do so much work on it before my computer crashes, and so on and so on and scooby-dooby-doo). So most of my computer time has been praying that I can get all my ABBA tunes up before the PC goes down.

But there's been an exciting new Internet development that I'm thrilled to report. Flickr, possibly the coolest thing on the Internet anyway, just got 500 times cooler with the addition of new mapping functionality. Oh. My. Goodness. You can drag your pictures onto a YahooMap and it will geotag all of them instantly. So you can see where all your pictures were taken, and see who else is taking pictures in your neighborhood.

Here's my map, with 639 of my pictures placed in pretty much the exact spot I took them. Even if that meant finding one individual tree by a roadside north of Scribner, Nebraska. Talk about a needle in a haystack.

It also generates maps for groups, like this one for the Ballparks group, and one for the Exploit Boston event photos group.

Posted by Michael at 07:28 PM | Comments (1)

July 18, 2006

Where I've Been

Most of my Internet time recently has been taken up with LibraryThing, which is an awesome new tool to let you catalog your book collection online.

I haven't entered nearly enough of my stuff yet for a public unveiling, but it shouldn't be too hard to figure out how to find me on there.

Posted by Michael at 10:44 PM | Comments (0)

March 13, 2006

SXSW Linkorama

Some of the cool people I've met and hung out with (at least the ones whose names I remember):

Hopefully, I'll have more people to add to this list.

*James coined the phrase "lifetime underachievement award" which I plan to steal and use liberally. Consider this the citation.

Posted by Michael at 01:43 AM | Comments (2)

March 04, 2006

You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling

Some people get a little full of themselves. If I ever write a blog post like this, feel free to punch me in the mouth.

Posted by Michael at 10:30 PM | Comments (0)

January 27, 2006

He Should Be Eaten By A Grue

If you're a fan of old Infocom text adventure games, and you're not crazy about the President of the United States, this post on Defective Yeti is an absolute must-read.

Posted by Michael at 10:46 PM | Comments (0)

January 06, 2006

Oh, Come On

Carpundit says blonde jokes aren't funny. I disagree. This one's great.

Posted by Michael at 11:00 AM | Comments (0)

December 22, 2005

Mywar vs. Myspace

If you don't spend a lot of time online and you're over 17, you may not be familiar with Myspace, the Rupert-Murdoch-owned extravanganza that makes Web publishing available to everyone. Kinda like GeoCities, but different.

Now, I've never pretended that BunkoSquad was the pinnacle of human accomplishment on the Web. But as far as I can tell, the zeitgeist of Myspace is that any actual personal contribution (your own writing, your own pictures, any evidence of your own identity) seems to be unneccesary, if not actually verboten. It looks like the entire point of Myspace is to collect "friends" and throw a lot of crap up as if you're decorating your freshman dorm room.

Here's where I come in. When these kids have the entire Web to use to decorate their walls, and money's not an object, they're going to go a little nuts. And some of the pictures they chose to appropriate were mine.

Now we all know that hotlinking images is a bad idea for two reasons. One, it's a strain on the image host, but frankly, the extra traffic from Myspace isn't enough to sink my ship. But the second reason is that if the image owner (me) discovers that someone's doing this, they can switch out the images with something new. And so I did.

Unfortunately, one of my victims caught on pretty quick. They found a picture I took at the first night of legal gay marriages in Cambridge and posted it. The picture, of a guy holding a "Still Single" sign, was captioned "i'm sure that he will be a virgin for life". (Capital letters are frowned upon in Myspace.) I thought that was unfair to the guy, so I replaced him with an image of a fat kid about to destroy the world's largest burger. Unfortunately, the owner of the page (SAMSAMSAMSAMSAMSAMSAMSAM) realized my subterfuge and removed it.

Not so savvy were jeremye and vero, who chose independently to display an image from my movies section, without context. For that, I chose hetemeel.com's "HA! HA!" guy, the Internet gift that keeps on giving.

So the lessons here: Public schools should add basic Web skills to their stellar curricula, along with evolution, civics and practical sex education. And don't screw with someone who has a slight malicious streak and occasional spurts of free time.

Posted by Michael at 10:02 AM | Comments (3)

July 11, 2005

Fight To the Finish

Over at World O'Crap, they're beginning a contest to name "THE ULTIMATE WINGNUT". From a field of 32 initials, they're using a Survivor-style gauntlet of viewer voting and column analysis to see who's gone the furthest off the deep end of the Right. Should be fun!

Posted by Michael at 12:24 PM | Comments (0)

June 26, 2005

Rare Air

Sooz alerted me to the fact that this little clambake is featured on Boston.com's Blogroll. I'm a little surprised to see myself in the "Media and politics" section; I've drifted away from a lot of political ranting because (a) it's incredibly discouraging being a raving lefty in Bushistan, and (b) so many people with a hell of a lot more free time than I have do it so well.

But, happily, my subtle shift from "young idealist who thinks if you call attention to a problem, people might try to solve it" to "grumpy old fart growling from the edge of the abyss" is proceeding nicely. So less outrage and more bemused resignation (or is that resigned bemusement) is thus called for. Now I just have to figure out how to word my fake news story: "CNN Linked To Three More White Girl Kidnappings".

Anyway, thanks to (I assume) Adam for including me in this list. It's also helped me discover Celtics Blog, which is going to be a staple of my daily romp through the Internet.

Posted by Michael at 10:48 PM | Comments (0)

June 02, 2005

The Funniest Thing You'll See On The Web Today

Read the headline. Look at the photo. No comment on my part is necessary.

(From Sadly, No!)

Posted by Michael at 01:21 AM | Comments (0)

May 23, 2005

Pearls For Swine

Over at World O'Crap, they've posted a "Revised Revised Version of the Declaration of Independence", which they advise we surreptitiously disseminate among the type of people who send ridiculous chain emails to each other, then sit back and wait for it to become an Internet Phenomenon.

I think it's awesome, though I think it might backfire; some of the crowd out there might not see the parody (and by "might not", I really mean "don't have a snowball's chance in hell to"). I'm afraid they'll eat up seeing their views laid out in such plain English.

I can, in fact, see this being read verbatim on the Hannity Show.

Posted by Michael at 12:03 AM | Comments (0)

May 21, 2005

Heh. Indeed.

Universal Hub has a nice quote from David Weinberger rebutting the Globe's editorial about blogging.

Update: Here's David's post in its entirety.

Posted by Michael at 07:50 PM | Comments (1)

May 11, 2005

Eugene Mirman vs. Idiot Fundamenalist Phone Company

The great Eugene Mirman reaches out and touches a phone company that's trying to differentiate itself from all those other telecom companies, who are guilty of hosting child pornography and promoting gay lifestyles. He's in good form here; here's the mp3.

Posted by Michael at 09:50 PM | Comments (0)

April 09, 2005

We Stand As One

Finally the age-old question has been answered. What happens if you morph Steve Perry and Steve Tyler, strip away any semblance of soul, give him lyrics seemingly penned by John Ashcroft and a focus group of 4th-graders, give him a $75 video budget, and tell him to put together a cloyingly patriotic anthem for a new millennium?

The answer is here. If you're at all lactose-intolerant, beware. It contains 40 pounds of pure cheez.

Thanks(?) to Sooz, who tipped me off to this one.

Posted by Michael at 11:55 AM | Comments (0)

April 01, 2005

Fun With Google

Dear [Mystery Person],

I've told you before that you should have your own web site. Through the magic of Google, I have discovered that you apparently put up a web site several years ago.

Now it seems I may be in a pretty good position to blackmail you. Either get crackin' and get some current space on the Internet, or I shall be forced to ceremoniously add this old site (I'm going to estimate 1999) onto my blogroll, and out you as a once-attempted InternetDenizenWhatzit.

If you think this may be you, but are not sure, here are three key code words. Piglet. Orko. Fondue. You have a month until I reveal more. That is all.

Yrs, Michael.

UPDATE: If you're not the person in question, don't ask me who it is. Successful blackmailers don't leak...to anyone. (evil laughter)

Posted by Michael at 03:11 AM | Comments (0)

March 30, 2005

Boston.com

Boston.com, generally my first stop to check breaking news (well, kinda - more on that in a minute) is about to require registration. An informal study of BunkoSquad staff shows that visits to a site that require registration go down about 60%, but we're going to give this a try.

Here are their stated goals:

1. We want to know you better. Seeing how many users read a story or do the crossword puzzle is limited research; we want to give you more of the stories and features you like.

OK, here's what I like. I like the big news to be front and center on the home page. I don't like the (admittedly-easy-to-turn-off) rotating front panel that would sometimes show me automotive news and make me search for the real news. If I want to search for the real news, I'll search CNN or Fark instead.

I like to read about the Celtics. If you go to the Globe sports page, you generally have to scroll down past baseball, football, hockey, college sports, girls' highschool lacrosse, and updates on the 2012 Olympics to get any coverage of the C's. This is during basketball season, mind you.

2. Our advertisers want to reach those who are most interested in their products. So if you live in a certain geographic area, for example, one of our retailers might place an ad for a store near you on the pages you visit.

Actually, I'm pretty aware of the stores near me. There's that one Indian restaurant that I haven't tried yet, but I doubt that I would have missed that it exists. I'm sure I'll see ads for Central Square stalwarts like McDonalds, Blockbuster, Starbucks, and Foot Locker...all of which I could find almost blindfolded, and all of which I could find in any town in America.

It doesn't really matter, though, since I consider myself about the most adproof person around. 75% of what I buy is used. I go to the mall 3x a year (before Christmas, and a couple times to hit the Best Buy discount-DVD bin). The chances of me buying a car, or refinancing a loan, or asking my doctor about some new pills, is as close to nil as the chance of me starting to follow girls' highschool lacrosse. So ads don't really bother me (at least until this happens). Plug away.

Posted by Michael at 12:33 PM | Comments (1)

March 09, 2005

My New Raison d'Etre

Hello to the Uncyclopedia, a ripoff of Wikipedia where you're encouraged to be fake, funny, and all over the map. Have at it.

Posted by Michael at 07:29 PM | Comments (0)

Book Reviews

It's been too long since I've laughed hysterically at anything I've read online. Thank you to World o'Crap for breaking that drought with their Christian Book Club roundup. Funny funny stuff.

Posted by Michael at 12:51 PM | Comments (0)

February 17, 2005

It Works Even If You Have A Hook

Here's a specially-designed ergonomic keyboard for pirates.

Posted by Michael at 12:08 AM | Comments (0)

February 12, 2005

Meet Your Red-State Neighbors

Can it really be true that 2 counties in Alabama have no dentists?

Posted by Michael at 11:16 PM | Comments (0)

January 24, 2005

I Love People...Really

Just when I'm ready to abandon all hope in humanity, I see that someone's created a model of Escher's Relativity out of LEGOs.

Posted by Michael at 09:16 PM | Comments (0)

January 15, 2005

Your Headline Here: $50

It's all too tiresome to research and link to, so here's a quick summary:

In the wake of the news that pundit Armstrong Williams took thousands of dollars from the Bush Administration to shill for No Child Gets A Dime -- whoops, typo -- a mini-shitstorm blew up in the "blogging community" (spare me) about other people with financial ties to politicians and organizations. At the center of this is Zephyr Teachout, who apparently (again: no actual research here) worked for the Howard Dean campaign and made the startling revelation that a couple of lefty blogs were financially tied to the Dean campaign while there was still a Dean campaign.

Only difference is, the lefty blogs in question were completely up front about their connections. (Oh yeah, and it wasn't taxpayer money...) Of course, the right-wing media, completely missing the forest once again, is trying to seize on this as proof that corruption on the left is as bad as on the right. Keep in mind, however, that this is the same right-wing media that honestly tries to believe that some CBS staffers using questionable proof about Bush's pathetic showing during the Vietnam War (I try to stay balanced) is as meaningful as making up a bunch of crap about WMD's to launch a full attack on a sovereign nation.

If you're confused by all this, well, so am I and I think so is everyone else. I would like to reiterate that I've been asked a number of times (assuming 0 is a number) to take huge sums of cash in order to espouse a particular viewpoint, but won't do it. Every single opinion and factoid you read here is mine own.

Posted by Michael at 11:07 PM | Comments (0)

January 10, 2005

1985?!?

A list of the 100 oldest dot-com names. When I was 11, back when these folks were scooping up all the 3-letter words, my computer skills were pretty much limited to M.U.L.E..

Posted by Michael at 01:07 AM | Comments (0)

January 08, 2005

I Am A Total Geek

It's official. I scored 27.21893% on the Geek Test. And though "Total Geek" sounds impressive, there are 5 levels of geek beyond that. I think I should get extra Geek Points for being slightly disappointed I didn't score higher. Maybe I should try to build a robot. Or learn pi.

Posted by Michael at 11:41 PM | Comments (0)

December 19, 2004

Christmas Joy

Some pictures of kids terrified of Santa.

Posted by Michael at 06:49 PM | Comments (0)

September 22, 2004

Sending An Unmistakable Message

I don't know exactly how accurate the storm tracks are on this map, but it shows an interesting correlation between the Florida counties where the Bush supporters live, and the paths of the three recent hurricanes to hit the Banana Republic/Sunshine State.

Posted by Michael at 09:46 PM | Comments (1)

September 07, 2004

Gmail

Sooz hooked me onto Gmail a few weeks ago (incidentally, you're better off reaching me these days at [the name of this site] @ gmail.com; my regular email address has officially become a clearinghouse of offers for mor.t.gag!e plans and Christian debt counseling (?!)).

And now I find myself, inexplicably, sitting on a stack of gmail invitations. So if you want to get on the bandwagon, say something nice about me in the comments or send me an email at the above address. I'll hook you up.

Posted by Michael at 01:07 PM | Comments (3)

August 11, 2004

6

Oh...and BunkoSquad turns 6 years old tomorrow.

Getting whacked by summer allergies and planning a little 2-day road trip (I say "planning", but I literally won't decide where I'm going until I get in the car tomorrow) has kept the festivities to a minimum.

But I won't say no to a little pat on the back...

Posted by Michael at 05:12 PM | Comments (5)

Something to Cheer You Up

I stumbled on a site called Exit Mundi, a breezy, interesting look at a couple of dozen ways the world might end. Right now the two leading candidates are a volcano in the Canary Islands which will engulf the entire North Atlantic in 300-foot tidal waves, or a supervolcano under Yellowstone which will choke the Earth in dust.

Good readin'. If anyone needs me, I'll be living in an underground bunker for the rest of my life.

Posted by Michael at 04:45 PM | Comments (2)

June 28, 2004

The Gloves Are Off

I was going to write my thoughts on Fahrenheit 9/11, which I just saw (though seeing a movie certainly isn't a prerequisite for talking about it!), but I just got home and spent 40 minutes deleting comment spam off my site, and now frankly I don't have the energy. I'm going to go see it again soon with a notebook, though.

All this crap led to one site, which (I checked) isn't even online yet. Again...Marketing 101. But I did a little investigation and found that this site is registered to one Alexander Morzov of Moscow. His email address is listed as se-traf@mail.ru. I certainly hope email spam spiders don't pick this up and force him to waste time deleting crap!

Posted by Michael at 11:24 PM | Comments (2)

June 02, 2004

Bush Game

Get yourself to a fast computer with good sound, check at the door any tendency to get offended easily, and play the Bush Game. It took me about 40 minutes to get through the whole thing.

Posted by Michael at 04:03 PM | Comments (3)

April 17, 2004

More Tales From BloggerCon

So I skipped Sox-Yankees, Game 1 of the Playoffs (where the Celtics, like I thought, are getting dusted by Indiana), and the first honest-to-god spring day in Boston since like 1987. And went to BloggerCon, where, like I expected, I came away with a fervent wish for more time and more energy to work on this little clambake we call BunkoSquad. People are doing some really amazing things out there in Blogstonia.

The first panel I went to was called "What Is Journalism?", moderated by Jay Rosen of NYU. There was a good mix in the crowd of bloggers, professional journalists, and various combinations of the two. We never really answered the question, but there was a lot of good discussion about traditional media, the blogsphere's role in bringing to light underdiscussed stories, and where (if anywhere) the line between traditional media and blog-media is being drawn.

Second was a panel on blogs and libraries. I started succumbing to the hot room and fatigue, so I bailed on that a little early and shot the breeze with Sooz, Shannon, and Jessamyn (whose father used to work with my Dad - small world!)

Then a panel with Rebecca McKinnon on international blogs, which was pretty much all news to these US-centric quarters. Things I learned: the Iranian blogging revolution has made Farsi the 3rd-widest-used language on blogs; news of the SARS epidemic in China slipped around the government blackout due to blogs and SMS feeds; blogging is (slowly) catching on in Central Africa. If you're like me, and feel you ought to know more about what's going on in the world, this is pretty exciting stuff.

John Perry Barlow is currently leading a panel which I'd love to have gone to, but I'm just too damn exhausted. Time for a little rest, then to the end-of-Con reception.

Posted by Michael at 03:58 PM | Comments (0)

BloggerCon Kickoff

BloggerCon is tomorrow at Harvard! Sooz put together a kick-off dinner at Boston's historic Durgin Park restaurant. I got to chat with Gordon and Fran from WestportNow, an independent local-news blog from Westport, CT. It's a neat idea; how much truly local news does your local paper or TV station actually show? It sort of hearkens back to the day when every town of any size had its own newspaper.

I also got to meet Bob Cox of The National Debate, a thorough and fairly tongue-in-cheek clearinghouse of information on the pundits who keep America's op-ed pages and cable-news channels humming 24/7. If you follow blogdom, you may remember T.N.D. as the site that got sued by the N.Y. Times for its parody op-ed corrections page.

Then it was on to an impromptu performance of the The Accordion Guy outside Faneuil Hall. Watching some street skaterpunks breakdancing to an accordion version of "Should I Stay Or Should I Go" is an experience I won't soon forget.

Posted by Michael at 12:54 AM | Comments (0)

March 02, 2004

I Got Me A Camera

And what do you take pictures of with new cameras? Cats! Here's my roommate Rachel's handsome little Nino.

nino.jpg

Posted by Michael at 07:52 PM | Comments (1)

BloggerCon

I'm going to BloggerCon II, on April 17th. I got to go briefly to the first one last year; there were some pretty interesting discussions and a good chance (if you're slightly more outgoing than me, which is everyone) to meet some people you "know" online. Plus it's right up the street from my house.

Posted by Michael at 04:50 PM | Comments (0)

February 05, 2004

Succinct

Jessanne has received some interesting correspondence from Senator John Kerry.

Posted by Michael at 01:43 AM | Comments (2)

February 04, 2004

Tales From the Inbox

I just got this:

I am creating a web directory, (url deleted), and would like to include your website Bunkosquad.com under the "spirituality/astral projection" category. If you'd like to be added, please follow this url...

Man, did they do their homework or what? If you have any comments or need to reach me, I'll be floating above the French Riviera.

Posted by Michael at 01:11 AM | Comments (1)

January 15, 2004

Bitter Pills

Hilary pointed me toward this post on Miscellaneous, Etc., which addresses a problem I've been having lately: desperate spammers, no longer content to clog up America's email inboxes, are now leaving bogus comments on blogs to hock their fake wares. (scroll down to 'surlybird''s comment for an example). And while my email spam tends toward the mortgage and Paris Hilton ends of the spectrum, my comment-spam is more often than not geared toward some questionable medication.

Now, I'm one who firmly believes that 95% of the prescription medication being taken out there isn't actually needed. That's just me. But even if you're acutely aware that there's something wrong with you - something that gingko biloba and the Atkins plan aren't addressing - are you really going to seek out your cure-all pill because someone linked to it on BunkoSquad.com??

It makes almost as much sense as asking your doctor about some ridiculous pill because Mike Ditka told you to. That may work for Bob Swerski, but I'd personally like to have some clue what the freaking pill does before I march hungrily into the clinic.

So all you incautious pill-pushers: go peddle your snake oil elsewhere. Or, better yet, go back to whatever it is you did before the Internet revolution. I hear there are some freeway drivers in LA who could use some oranges. And if you're here looking for a hot tip on what medication will finally bring it all together for you, here's my advice. Eat right. Take a damn walk once in a while. Be excellent to each other. And party on, dudes!

Posted by Michael at 01:37 AM | Comments (3)