Geek Chic

Just saw this on Vulture — It’s pretty lo-fi and he basically looks like a kid in his parents’ basement.

But here he covers Pearl Jam’s ‘Why Go,’  and he’s pretty damn good:

I don’t know if you’ve noticed this too, but every time I’ve seen a blog post over the last week that mentioned the upcoming release of IE8, it was paired with an ad for Google Chrome:

Now of course, this makes sense.  Google owns AdSense, the ad-trafficking network on all of these pages.  And they certainly have a right to send their own ads wherever they’d like.

But…

Doesn’t this verge a little bit on an anti-trust issue?  Google can control the flow of ads to pages that mention the text ‘IE8’ — so that they basically own all ad space next to talk of Microsoft’s product.  Within their network, of course.  But since they bought DoubleClick, their network is huge.  And while they might not be able to put their ads on commercially sold properties (AOL, NYT, etc), I’m sure they’ll send some of their bulk AdSense ads to those pages.  And I’ll bet that if there’s a mention of IE8, there’ll be an ad for Chrome in that AdSense spot.

I’m sure it’s nothing.  Google only recently started advertising for their own products, so I’m sure they’re testing the waters a bit.  And there’s no way the Justice Department will ever figure something like this out until years after the fact.

But it does show a huge potential for abuse of power in Google’s ad network, no?

Only time will tell.

There’s been a lot in the news lately about the Jon Stewart/Jim Cramer interview on the Daily Show.  I just watched the full interview, and I honestly don’t know how to feel about it.  It’s pretty clear that Jon Stewart was trying to make a case that CNBC could have worked harder to defend its audience from the financial sector.  And Jim Cramer basically said ‘Yes! But you see, I run an entertainment program too!’ back to Stewart.

I honestly feel like the interview was editited to make it more salacious than it actually was.  What it was was two men at an impasse.  And I honestly feel like neither of them came off looking much worse than when they came in.

Watch the Full Interview at Comedy Central and decide for yourself.

Well, sort of:

Gotta get me some of that.  I think the gravity I keep under the sink in my apartment went bad a few months ago…

Can you believe I live in Brooklyn and I haven’t been to the Superhero Supply Store?!?  How is this possible?  I’ve got to get that taken care of, right quick.

I’d also like to take a moment to send a shout out to Dave Eggers and his crew — even the idea of the existence of the Superhero Supply Store (Park Slope) and the Pirate Supply Store (826 Valencia, San Francisco) consistently brightens my day.  Besides the sheer eccentricity of these shops and the items they stock, both of the stores act as fronts for writing workshops for kids.  How incredibly cool is that?

Do you know about these people?  Dave Eggers and his merry men?  If not — in addition to the Pirate and Superhero stores, of course — you need to check out:

McSweeny’s
The Believer

Thanks for the reminder, FFFFound.

Because it’s awesome!!!

I’ve gotta admit — I’m such a sucker for things like this.  I just came across 24 Unforgettable Advertisements yesterday and loved it (well… not so much the PETA one — keep scrolling down to Woodland Shoes and the McDonalds bus stop).  I really love it when people take familiar objects and make you look at them in a totally different way — even if it’s for the sake of an advertisement.

Thanks again, FFFFound.

I don’t mean to turn this blog into my reading list.  Or my Netflix-style Barnes and Noble queue.  But…

I saw this today, and I think it looks great.  Definitely up my alley:

Maybe have a look-see?  Maybe you like?  I’m going to get it when it comes out (tomorrow) and I’ll be sure to tell you all about it.

Many thanks VSL

I just came across this on The Boston Globe’s website.  I’m pretty sure they’re all just wire service photos, but they did a nice job curating them.  Here’s a taste:

photo by Irfan Khan

If you want to see the rest, go to boston.com.  I certainly wouldn’t want to divert any money out of the newspapers’ dwindling bank accounts…