Odds and ends
“The Terrorists have already won” randomizer
[via kottke]
Apple previews [yet another] OSX update: Tiger.
[via kenney]
“Help the Beastie Boys get across the road safely to the political protest rally.”
[via MeFi]
Scarier and scarier
A June 23 Wired article: Net-Savvy Campaign Boosts Bush
“They’ve basically taken the idea of a viral, team-led campaign structure, where they find these team leaders, who go recruit friends, neighbors and relatives,” he said. “That gets a much higher response rate. Friend-to-friend is a much more effective solicitation than campaign-to-individual. They’ve also combined it with a Camel Cash approach. It’s a good way to spread the message.”
That’s a quote from a training director at a company affiliated with GOP Team Leader, a web site that allows regular people to win points and prizes for grass-roots campaigning.
To me, it seems manipulative, insulting and degrading. But hey, I suppose I’m the one on the outside, bitterly jealous that I’m not earning points for being another Bushie yes-man [or yes-woman].
To me, though, this is the scary part:
“[The official blog] lets them say, ‘We’re just like Dean.’ But it’s not like Dean at all — there’s no way this campaign will ever let you see inside it.”
In fact, “not like Dean at all” seems to be the most common criticism of the GOP’s online efforts.
“The Bush site is geared entirely toward disseminating information and passing orders to their troops,” said Markos Moulitsas Zuniga, who edits the unmistakably anti-Republican Daily Kos weblog. “Nothing on the Bush site invites people to become partners in the Bush endeavor, nothing asking people for their ideas, or to participate in a discussion, or to self-organize.”
Meaning, it’s nothing like Dean’s campaign. It’s just another shiny, smoke-and-mirrors way for the Bush team to pretend at something other than total domination. *shudders*
Ohmigod! It’s mine, all mine!
Dude, I just got my hands on the Care Bears font. It is way, way cool. Oh, man, and there’re so many others! I’m never going to get to Target now!
The hunter is now the hunted
Oooh, punctuation-related drama! I just eat this stuff up.
NYT book critic lambastes the author of “Eats, Shoots and Leaves” for punctuation errors …
The first punctuation mistake in “Eats, Shoot & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation” (Gotham; $17.50), by Lynn Truss, a British writer, appears in the dedication, where a nonrestrictive clause is not preceded by a comma. It is a wild ride downhill from there. “Eats, Shoots & Leaves” presents itself as a call to arms, in a world spinning rapidly into subliteracy, by a hip yet unapologetic curmudgeon, a stickler for the rules of writing. But it’s hard to fend off the suspicion that the whole thing might be a hoax.
… and goes on to make a wider assertion:
Though she has persuaded herself otherwise, Truss doesn’t want people to care about correctness. She wants them to care about writing and about using the full resources of the language. “Eats, Shoots & Leaves” is really a “decline of print culture” book disguised as a style manual (poorly disguised). Truss has got things mixed up because she has confused two aspects of writing: the technological and the aesthetic.
Sure do wish my library would get a copy of this book, so I could make up my own mind. [Via idletype’s waxy sidebar.]
Know what I’m sayin’?
Jeffy from the Murky-News pointed out an interesting thread on Visual Editors.com, which discussed this here TIME article called “Meet Joe Blog.” I actually didn’t barf while reading it, which often does happen when reading mainstream media articles about the “blogging phenomenon.”
Once more, with feeling: Dissent is not unpatriotic
Coming soon to the Charles: Fahrenheit 9/11. Showtimes are still TBA, as of today.
Unfortunately, Moore’s film [which, for some reason, really gets some people’s panties in a bunch] won’t be shown at the Senator, due to a little “disagreement” between the owners of these independent movie houses. Ah, well. At least I know where to find it so I can go see it.
Now, being a smart, rational young woman, I am witholding judgment on this film until I see it, unlike a lot of hot-headed, knee-jerk, reactionary Christian Conservatives who get a tingle in their tummies whenever somebody blasphemes against Lord Bush.
But that’s just me. [For the record, y’all can hate Michael Moore and his movie all you want. Just quit trying to convince me in the comments that he’s a “bad guy,” because — frankly — I’m bored, and I just don’t give a damn.]
It’s a good day.
Happy Pride, everybody.
Happy first day of summer vacay, all you Baltimore County teachers.
Happy first day at the apartment complex pool, Self.
Happy Father’s Day Eve Eve, dads.
Happy belated Flag Day, and belated birthday, Grandma.
Happy First full day of possession of a mortgage pre-approval letter, Iain-honey.
Happy funeral, you effing cicadas!!
Idle
I’m boring.
But this guy isn’t. Neither is this guy or this guy.
As an added bonus, they update far more regularly than I have been. Oh, and DaB says “fuck” a lot.
Now, let’s all wait for something blog-worthy to happen in my life, aside from french fries being officially labeled ‘fresh vegetables.’ Score.
This post brought to you by: Get ‘Em Outta Here from the album “Mr. Funny Face” by Sprung Monkey.
B-more Blogger Meetup
A’ight, Seadragon has done the hard work this time, I’m just here to spread the word:
Thursday, July 8
6 p.m. [or whenever you can get there]
Little Havana Restaurante y Cantina, 1325A Key Highway (Federal Hill)
Rockin’.
Shanty time!
Dude, I so love my Realtor. Iain and I met her and her husband this morning up in Hunt Valley, just to get the ball rolling, and I had a blast. She’s a hoot, and I just totally trust them, and this will be so much fun.
The quest for our first house is underway, and though Iain is shitting kittens, I am fucking psyched. Got my heart set on quaint little cottages and wood floors and large landscaped yards and plenty of stuff that’s light-years out of our price range. Not smart, because our price range means that we’ll begin our years of homeownership in a decrepit shanty. But it’ll be OUR decrepit shanty, goddammit! Woo hoo!
This post brought to you by: Crossroads from the album “The Cream Of Clapton” by Eric Clapton.
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