Sex Sells Kerry

Marty Callner's "Stranded Republicans" TV ad.

Rate the debate

2004 Citizens Debate Scorecard.

MediaChannel.org and the Tyndall Report have created the Citizens Debate Scorecard so viewers can rate in real-time the format of the presidential debate and the performance of the media moderator.

Join this national effort to "rate the debates" by registering.
via [ Media For Democracy ]

Diablog

Jon Hoem's Weblog.

Easier for me to read than his Norwegian site.

Eat your lycopene

'Tomato treatment' slows cancer:

Dr Limpens said more research was needed before doctors could say if a combined lycopene and vitamin E treatment could be given to healthy men to prevent them developing prostate cancer.

But she said her team's findings tied in with other studies suggesting that lycopene and vitamin E could protect against the disease.

"Therefore we would certainly recommend that all men regularly eat lycopene and vitamin E-rich foods - for example, all kinds of processed tomato products, papayas, pink grapefruit and watermelon, wheat germs, whole grains, mangoes, leafy green vegetables, nuts and olive oils," she said.

But don't eat grapefruit if you take Lipitor.

Grapefruit and grapefruit juice may interact with Lipitor. The interaction could lead to potentially dangerous effects.

Never get up

Sneaky Shorts is the perfect companion to Stadium Pal.

Just don't confuse the two!
via [ engadget ]

The History of Boston Rock and Roll

Here's an excerpt from the 1978 page:

Cindy Bullens: In a year when the percentage of woman vocalists with major releases jumped 90% from 1976, this young girl from West Newbury, Mass. debuted on United Artists records with the LP, Desire Wire. She started out as a background singer for disco hits like Disco Tex's "Get Dancin'" and then for Elton John, Rod Stewart and Bob Dylan. After playing Boston in the early seventies, she split, like many before her, to the west coast. She first recorded with Bob Crewe (of the Slay-Crewe team, who discovered Freddy "Boom Boom" Cannon) and was soon off touring with Elton John after crashing a Rocket Records party. The lead cut, "Survivor", reached #56, 1978.

via [ The Big Mattress ]

Bush Twins: $1,000 Each

You can meet the Bush Twins at The Rack/Boston Tonight.

Odd Todd Goes To Hollywood

Remember Odd Todd? He was unemployed and made a Flash cartoon that got him all kinds of press.

He has a new Flash cartoon about his trip to Hollywood to make a TV show.

Excellent!

Silly Globe: Joaquin Phoenix

Today's Boston Globe has two items about Joaquin Phoenix on Page C2.

In one item, he's happy and smiling, there's a photo, and in the other he's being rushed to the hospital in an ambulance.

Shouldn't the Globe have gone with the happy and smiling Joaquin? We really don't need two stories about him on the same page.

Names:

"Ladder 49" cast members, including John Travolta (center Back) and Joaquin Phoenix (at right in baseball cap) visited Boston's Engine 33/Ladder 15 yesterday.

Stargazing:

Joaquin Phoenix broke down on the set of his latest movie recently and started banging his head against a wall, reports IMDB.com, because a scene reportedly sparked memories of his brother River Phoenix's tragic death. The star - who was 19 when his brother died of a drug overdose outside the hip Los Angeles nightclub Viper Room in 1993 - is filming the Johnny Cash biopic ``Walk the Line.'' Phoenix reportedly had to be taken away in an ambulance.

The Miami Herald goes with the ambulance story too which comes from IMDb.

I guess he's recovered.

What's your opinion?

Barton Wants to Investigate TV News:

Joe Barton (R-Tex.), chairman of the House Commerce Committee, told a TV engineering trade group audience in Washington Wednesday that TV news operations "need to have safeguards to prevent reporters from infusing their opinions into news reports."

All reporters have opinions, just let me hear them.

Dilbert's Fake House

Dilbert’s Ultimate House (DUH) is the product of the combined wisdom of thousands of Dilbert readers, plus the help of real world experts.

Dilbert's House includes:

Christmas tree storage closet. Fake tree stays decorated, on wheels, all year, ready to come out in December.

Dilbert's not an athiest?

The clearest channel.

Podcast Networks?

Edwards: Bush seriously negligent

Documents Reveal Gaps In Bush's Service As President:

"Bush shirked his presidential duties with regard to the nation's fiscal health," Rocklin said. "Take, for example, the controversial memo in which Congressional Budget Office director Douglas Holtz-Eakin states that the federal deficit will reach a record high of $422 billion this year. This memo unequivocally shows that Bush was AWOL on the domestic front."

Rocklin said the documents indicate that Bush used his family's political connections to obtain his job in the executive branch.

"Bush stepped ahead of more qualified candidates to take what he thought would be a cushy job," Rocklin said. "Then, after signing up for a four-year term, he largely abandoned his post in 2004 to go work on a political campaign."

A new website for JP

JP Centre/South Main Streets.

It's a start.

I'm looking forward to their full website. They say it's launching soon.

I hope it's a weblog.

Google up 6.54% today

Google is at $126, up $7.74 today.

Wow!

That's pretty good.

So if you got in on the IPO and paid $85 per share, you've now made $41 per share.

The Office Meets The Parents

Everbody, set your Tivo's to record Worst Week Of My Life on BBC America.

I watched the first episode last night and am hooked.

This show, though somewhat predictable, is funny. Very funny in a Curb Your Enthusiasm kind of way.

Elle Macpherson gets intimate

intimates.tv launches full screen and contains nudity.

Dancing around naked to sell woman's underware.

Things are improving?

If America were Iraq, What would it be Like?
via [ Metafilter ]

Get Vertigo

Get U2's new single, "Vertigo," [ mp3 ] before it's gone.
via [ fimoculous ]

Don't Click Here

The craft of writing link text.

A reusable non-linear personal web notebook

TiddlyWiki.

Now in PHP.
PhpTiddlyWiki.

Sounds like Snoopy

Bnoopy - An entrepreneurship blog by Joe Kraus.

Take a cookie when it's offered.

Self-publish all your stuff

Self-publish books, images and calendars at Lulu.com for FREE.
via [ USA Today ]

Vote: The Best of the Blogs

The BOBs - Best of the Blogs.

Freelove Freeway

Noel Gallagher recorded David Brent's Freelove Freeway for The Office: The Special DVD.

Slacker Uprising Tour

Michael Moore Launches 60-City Swing State Tour.

Iraq: Not a gleaming showroom

Baghdad Year Zero: by Naomi Klein:

The great historical irony of the catastrophe unfolding in Iraq is that the shock-therapy reforms that were supposed to create an economic boom that would rebuild the country have instead fueled a resistance that ultimately made reconstruction impossible. Bremer’s reforms unleashed forces that the neocons neither predicted nor could hope to control, from armed insurrections inside factories to tens of thousands of unemployed young men arming themselves. These forces have transformed Year Zero in Iraq into the mirror opposite of what the neocons envisioned: not a corporate utopia but a ghoulish dystopia, where going to a simple business meeting can get you lynched, burned alive, or beheaded.

This article explains that Bush did have a plan for post-war Iraq - the wrong plan.

Cheney's looking good

Funny Photo Caption, "Vice President Cheney defends Iraq's interim prime minister, Ayad Allawi."

Rocket Ships Orbiting Mars?

MarsEdit.

MarsEdit is a weblog editor for Mac OS X that makes weblog writing like writing email—with spell-checking, drafts, multiple windows, and even AppleScript support.

Another weblog tool to try.

Adam likes it.

I'll be in the Hexagon if you need me

Hexagon:

Using only the universal and powerful Macromedia Flash plug in, running in a browser window, you can keep in touch with your colleagues wherever you are in the world. Not only can you see their present 'state-of-being', or get an immediate response to a 'quick' question using the inbuilt text chat, as with many other types of software, but you can actually see them working at their desk. As if they are just next door!

Or not working. Ha!

At least they are being encouraged to vote.

Vote threat for Afghan tribesmen:

Leaders of a south-east Afghanistan tribe have told its members they must vote for Hamid Karzai in presidential polls or their houses will be burned.

In Iraq, I hear that the threats are going to be worse.

Over there it's going to be, "Vote and we'll kill you."

Your Chance to be an Associate Producer!

Dumped! ...the musical
Only $19.95 and you get your name in the credits.
via [ MovieJuice ]

Can you pour a good pint?

Try out the BeerTender to see.

I had a little spillover at the end.

I hate that!
via [ A Welsh View ]

New Flash H2G2 Game

THE HITCHHIKER ADVENTURE GAME by Douglas Adams - 20th Anniversary Edition.
There's a nice new online Flash version of H2G2 by the BBC.

Hey kids! Try this text based adventure game and see how much fun it is.

Sean Sollé, Rod Lord and Shimon Young created this new Flash version added graphics to keep you interested.

But they didn't finish all the graphics and need you to help make some.

Back in the olden days we didn't need graphics to keep us interested.

I remember having to walk to school...

Macs Now Cheaper Than PCs!

WALTER S. MOSSBERG says Apple's Latest iMac Is Elegant, Powerful, Surprisingly Affordable.

My photos on your cellphone

My friend Joshua just launched Jivjiv.

My photos are over there!

Live Internet Television?

ManiaTV!
I just watched and saw a taped ad for the US Navy, and a Rap video.

So I guess it's live-on-tape sometimes.

Just like NECN.

Update 4:58 PM:
They're live!

Jeffrey does a nice Clinton impression. Now watching Fountains of Wayne.

This might be cool.

BuzzMachine... by Jeff Jarvis

Triumphalism or mere triumph?:

Citizens' media has arrived. And it's not leaving.

ourmedia

My media is ourmedia.

Pentagon Strike

Pentagon Strike [ Flash Video ] vs Snopes.

Inside Scoop: Ali G.

How Does Ali G Con His Guests?

Get ENT

Easy News Topics.

This specification defines the Easy News Topics (ENT) Module for the RSS2.0 syndication format. ENT is intended to be a very simple standard for describing how topic information can be introduced into an RSS2.0 news feed.

This looks like what we need to be able to add descriptive information like Author, Description and URLs to an RSS feed.I was wrong.

Get Content.

Search for Creative Commons licensed content.

WSJ: This Compilation CD Is Meant To Be Copied and Shared.

Next month, songs by the Beastie Boys, David Byrne and 14 others will appear on a compilation CD whose contents are meant to be copied freely online, remixed or sampled by other artists for use in their own new recordings.

"The Wired CD: Rip. Sample. Mash. Share." was compiled by the editors of Wired magazine, of San Francisco, as an experimental implementation of a new kind of intellectual-property license called Creative Commons. About 750,000 copies of the disc are to be distributed free with the magazine's November issue. The disc also will be handed out to audience members at a benefit concert by Mr. Byrne and others tomorrow night in New York.

So I guess we'll be able to download the songs soon after audience members get to an Internet connection. ;-)

If you can assemble it, you can ride it

LIKEaBIKE.
via [ engadget ]

TiVo for VP!

MONTEREY, MA -- Pro-democracy presidential candidate Will Markson today named revolutionary digital VCR service TiVo as his vice presidential running mate, finalizing the team that will barnstorm the nation and Internet between now and Election Day.

In announcing his choice, Markson noted that TiVo enables users to skip over commercials, dramatically reducing the power of big corporations in American life. He also explained that more than any other potential running mate, TiVo has a demonstrated ability to pay close attention to what Americans are doing, and what they might want and need in the future.

I might just be writing in Markson/TiVo on election day.

Is iSpider too transparent?

iSpider downloaded Adam Curry's Daily Source Code for me and I didn't even know it.

iSpider is a media aggregator which automatically downloads files to your computer or portable device, leaving you 'one-click-away' from latest media feeds. The whole process is done on it's own, so you don't have to select files, search for them or click links to download the media. All you do is specify some hotspots where to download from and wait to get yourself the content.

I like the idea of waking up in the morning and listening to mp3's that iSpider has downloaded for me, but I'd like to understand how it's doing it and when it runs.

Ping!

I just told EVERYONE that I updated my blog.

I used ping-o-matic to notify these guys:

Weblogs.com
Blo.gs
Technorati
Feed Burner
Syndic8
BlogShares
Root Blog
My Yahoo!
PubSub.com
BlogChatter
GeoURL
BlogRolling
BlogStreet
RubHub

Scoble told me about it.

Can I get upgraded to the Club Level?

The Ritz-Carlton, Boston Common Fact Sheet:

THE RITZ-CARLTON CLUB® LEVEL: The Ritz-Carlton Club® Lounge and accommodations are located on the twelfth floor of the hotel. Open from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily, The Club Lounge features five complimentary food and beverage presentations, newspapers, international magazines, and adult and children's games. Club guests enjoy exclusive use of The Club Lounge and the exclusive services by our dedicated Club concierge staff. The Club Lounge offers wireless Internet connectivity allowing any guest traveling with a laptop that features an installed Wireless Network card to access the internet, wirelessly.

I guess it's wireless. ;-)

Bad Experience

This Is Broken:

A project to make businesses more aware of their customer experience, and how to fix it.

Good thing they're not a Fortune Cookie Factory. Ha.

Hot or Not?

Do you think this girl in orange is HOT?

I saw her in Filene's yesterday and thought so. I even asked my wife, and she agreed.

So I snapped a photo of her. She didn't seem to mind.

OK, now decide. HOT or NOT.

Now take a look at a full frame picture of her.

Still HOT?

Don't Worry. Browse Happy.

Internet Explorer can make your computer unsafe. Why not switch to a browser that's more secure?

My feeds are on fire

NewsFire is pretty cool.

Obsessively clicking 'Refresh' on your favorite news websites? Wasting time clicking your bookmarks to find updated content? NewsFire is an elegant and intuitive way to aggregate and monitor news feeds.

I'm getting addicted to checking for updates on my favorites sites with NewsFire.

He is not fit to be our sports-fan-in-chief

Football Fans For Truth

Kerry once praised "Manny Ortez" of the Red Sox. There's no Manny Ortez on the Sox lineup--or indeed, any other MLB roster. Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz play for the Red Sox.

Ha Ha!

Flowers

Here are some close up photos I took with my Canon S400.

iPhoto makes it so easy to publish a photo album to the web!

Open debates?

Jesse Ventura and George Farah write The debate debacle in today's Globe, and explain whay the Presidential Debates are screwed up:

The American people never knew why a candidate they wanted to see was excluded, why the moderator did not challenge the candidates' misleading statements with follow-up questions, or why the debates were held on the same night as the World Series. Dole and Clinton were able to conceal their manipulation of the debates because of the complicity of the Commission on Presidential Debates.

There's hope:

This year, a coalition of 60 civic groups formed a genuinely nonpartisan Citizens' Debate Commission to host transparent and informative presidential debates.

Those debates would feature engaging and innovative formats, include the candidates that a majority of eligible voters want to see, and address a variety of pressing national issues. Now, President George W. Bush and Senator John Kerry must decide whether to courageously participate in real presidential debates that maximize voter education or to manipulate the debates and hide behind an unsuitable commission.

Read more here: Open Debates.

8-Track's Used To Rule!

Some of my old 8-Tracks are probably in 8-Track Heaven.

I wish I'd seen this site, How To Fix 8-Track Tapes, when all my 8-Tracks started to come apart at the splice.

Some 8-Tracks came out as Record Club Only (RCO) releases. I've gotta go see if I still have any around.

Hilary Bryant, 8-Track Lesbian, was featured in the Boston Globe today.

She's going to be humiliated on VH1's Totally Obsessed.

eBay Text Ad auction ends this weekend

ebay Auction: Text Ad for the 'Off On A Tangent' blog.

Dude!

Sweet!

Get your own Dude at dudefactory.com.

5, 5, 5, 5 How many is 5?

U.S. Mint Unveils New Designs for Nickel.
Why does the U.S. Mint choose a design WITHOUT the NUMBER 5 on it?

Please!

Take a look at the images of the new nickel. There are NO NUMBERS on it.


Take a hint from the Euro and put the NUMBER 5 on the coin.

π/2% off at Amazon.com

I just got a nice surprise from amazon.com:

Since you've been using A9.com recently, virtually everything at Amazon.com is automatically an additional π/2% (1.57%) off for you. Collecting this discount is zero effort on your part. It will be applied automatically at checkout (it will happen whether you use the shopping cart or our 1-Click Shopping®). You don't need to do anything to get this discount except keep using A9.com as your regular search engine.

Cool.

Did you hear the one about the Hamentashen, a robot and a rabbi?

Shabot 6000.
It's not everyday you see a comic strip about Hamentashen, a robot and a rabbi.

Howie Carr Flunks Math!

In today's Boston Herals Howie Carr has a great article about the leaky Big Dig Tunnel, SpongeBob Tunnel simply leaving taxpayers all wet:

They're going to make a movie about the Big Dig. They'll call it ``The Poseidon Adventure.'' Or maybe ``15 Billion Dollars Under the Sea.'' Or ``Voyage to the Bottom of the Tunnel.'' Another day, another flood.

He then goes on to talk about how much money they've gotten back from contractors:

So far, on a $14.6 billion project, they've recovered $3.5 million.

That would be like if you hired a guy to fix the roof on your house for $10,000, and the first time it rained, the water was coming in from every nook and cranny in your home. And then the contractor told you, hey, that's a shame, so I'm going to give you a refund - here's $30.

That math looks wrong to me.

Isn't $14.6 million to $3.5 million as $10,000 is to $2,400?

Update - Steve Garfield Flunks Math too:
Oops. Made a little typo up there. I was calculating in Millions not Billions! Billions? Who uses Billions? I tried to recalculate the math, but my calculator gave me an error.

Can some smart person figure out this math problem for me:

$14.6 billion is to $3.5 million as $10,000 is to X

Phil gives me the formula:

x=(10,000/14.6 billion)*3.5 million

I had to put it into Excel to figure it out, and come up with $2.39726

Rob emailed me with his answer:

X = 2.39726 - roughly $2.40

Thanks guys.

So we've proved that Howie Carr's math was wrong.

Oh happy day.

Steve Garfield: Protecting Democracy on the streets of Boston

Adam Curry comments on my 150 Feet Video Blog report in his Daily Source Code, Wednesday, September 15, 2004:

Steve Garfield has a very wry sense of humor, in fact, at the rate he's going, he can take this places.

Excellent! Steve Garfield: Protecting Democracy on the streets of Boston, and very proud of him for doing that because it doesn't matter how trivial the law is, those are the rules, and before you know it you're debating over hanging chads.

Thanks Adam!

Hello Camilla

Everybody's looking at Camilla, unless you move your mouse. ;-)
via [ Marc ]

150 Feet

Are Massachusetts campaign workers breaking the law?

Citizen Journalist Steve Garfield visits three polling places on primary day to see if campaign workers are standing too close to the polls.

Click to see the video 150 Feet.

Campaigners are breaking the law

There's a Massachusetts law that is supposed to keep campaigners away from the entrance to polling places.

It states:

Sections 52.03 (22) (d), 53.03 (18) (d), and 54.04 (22) (d) of 950 C.M.R. pertain to candidates and their workers’ rights and restrictions during voting hours and provide as follows:

Within 150 feet of a polling place as defined in 950 CMR . . . no person shall solicit votes for or against, or otherwise promote or oppose, any person or political party or position on a ballot question, to be voted at the current election.

I visited three polling places in Boston today and in two out of three, campaigners were standing outside the front door!

I hate that.

Video report coming soon...

A dictionary from the middle of this century

The Future Dictionary of America

errorgance (er´ur guns), n. a feeling of smug superiority over those who do not share one's own erroneous or misguided convictions: The president's errorgance alienated most of the Western world.

via [ Dangerblog ]

Halley likes what Tom Peters says

Fresh Pastry

They say “Plan it.”
I say “DO IT.”

They say “We need more steady, loyal employees.”
I say “WE NEED MORE FREAKS WHO ROUTINELY TELL THOSE ‘IN CHARGE’
TO TAKE A FLYING LEAP … BEFORE IT’S TOO LATE.”

They say “We need Good People.”
I say “We need Quirky Talent.”

I read about a third of it. Gotta go get some breakfast.

I'm going to read more later.

Be a Hero. Beat Cancer.

Click Here to donate to beat Cancer.

My mom is currently being treated by the doctors at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute for a rare form of cancer called GIST.

Please donate and help my team reach and surpass our fundraising goal for this year.

Thanks.

KING KONG Latest News

kongisking.net
via [ Ain't It Cool ]

Mul-T-Pass

I was thinking that Multipass, from the movie The Fifth Element, would be a good name for the new T Pass, until I read today's Starts and Stops column in the Boston Globe.

I thought my idea was good since we already have a T-Pass. The new card is an expanded version, Mul-T-Pass.

But the T-Cahd or T-Cod or T-Card, is pretty funny.

iVan

iVan, originally uploaded by celerityfm.

I just found this iPod parody while browsing flikr's new slideshow feature.

I was viewing all photos of ivan.

Viewing a flikr slideshow for all photos with the tag 'water' is cool.

Yahoo! Most Emailed

Most emailed stamps.

Ha!

Sponsored Ad: CafePress

Sell T-Shirts Online!

Check out my stores.

Save Betamax

Stop the INDUCE Act.

Al Michaels: Bush Lover?

The Patriots won last night.

Towards the end of the game, John Madden said something about the lead Flip-Flopping back and forth between the teams.

Al Michaels replied, "You're in the right state for that."

The message boards are on fire about the story.

Evan Coyle Maloney: Brainwashing 101

Brainwashing 101 is a provocative short film showing how universities use tools such as "speech codes" to force political views upon students. In this cutting exposé, documentary filmmakers Maloney, Browning and Greenberg shine a light on political correctness, academic bias, student censorship--even administrative cover-ups of death threats--at three schools: Bucknell University, the University of Tennessee at Knoxville and California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly).

Nice preview of Evan's documentary scheduled for release in 2005.

Hey Seals!

Putting the Dubya in AWOL

Check out this Bush AWOL Photoshop.
via [ bloggerheads ] by way of [ Matt ]

Ecto 2 Beta

The set up for Blogger has ATOM as the interface, but I use RSS as my site feed.

So when Ecto tried to download a list of recent posts it hung up.

I think I needed to try using http://api.blogger.com/api as my api like it used to be in the older Ecto.

This API should be an option in the new version.

Daily Source Code has a logo

Listen to Adam Curry's Daily Source Code.

The Truth About George

You can read this Slate article, Stung! if you are a subscriber, or watch a commercial first to get access:

Not only did Bush walk away from his final two years of military obligation, coming dangerously close to desertion, but that he attempted to cover up his absenteeism through swindle and fraud.

The AWOL Project has all the details.

I was looking forward to the debates, to hear each candidate talk about the future, but this article demands a closer look at the past.

Candlelight vigils

In the past four days, clashes with Iraqi insurgents have claimed the lives of 17 American soldiers. With these deaths, we mark a grim milestone: over 1,000 military men and women have now died in this misconceived war.

Their caskets have been hidden from view, and the President won't visit their graves. And this morning, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld diminished their deaths by calling the toll “relatively small.” But it is now time for us to publicly recognize the sacrifice these soldiers have made, and to demand that our leaders serve those in harm's way better in the future.

More than 1,000 U.S. soldiers have now been killed in Iraq. 1,000 of our brothers, sisters, wives, husbands, moms, dads, sons, and daughters have given their lives in service to our country.

To honor them and reflect on the loss of their lives, Americans everywhere are organizing candlelight vigils.

Find a vigil location near you.

Hello Wende

Wende, a 28-year-old model who currently resides in Austin, Texas.

She's my early pick before seeing any of them on The Bachelor.

No More Shakes

iStabilize is supposed to remove unwanted shaky motion from movies.

A tripod will work too.

Ha!

Flash Video

VitalStream allows you to stream Flash video from your website.

Cape Cod Times: Front Page

Hundreds of seals sun themselves yesterday at the Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge off Chatham as a tour boat passes by. (Staff photo by KEVIN MINGORA)

If you visited here yesterday, you would have seen my picture of these seals, published from my wife's camera phone. Citizen Journalism at it's best.

My next phone is going to have a still camera, video camera and an internet connection.

Seals on the beach