A recent press release from Vibe:
“The December 2008 issue also features an exclusive interview with R&B superstar Brandy, providing the first look into her life after her fatal car accident and a four-year hiatus from the spotlight. ‘I really didn’t know what to do. I was in limbo for a long time,’ she says of the tragedy. ‘I didn’t go outside for months.'”
Feels like Dante would have a field day with this.
good catch, Gawker
Cinderella, Snow White and Mickey Mouse arrested as police clash with staff at Disneyland
Tough break, Mickey. You call me when you’re sent up. I’ve got friends on the inside.
what are you doing, Steve?
Over the weekend, a lot of dirty laundry was aired about Microsoft’s anti-Apple campaign, including:
All of this adds up to what looks like a huge embarrassment for Microsoft.
Karl Rove tells you you are:
“McCain has gone in some of his ads — similarly gone one step too far,” he told Fox News, “and sort of attributing to Obama things that are, you know, beyond the ‘100 percent truth’ test.”
As we know, Mr. Rove himself has a very low threshold for what passes the ‘100% Truth Test.’ If he can smell your lies… mabye it’s time to back off a bit?
Read more about how Rove thinks McCain went ‘too far’ on CNN
The second installment of Microsoft’s pro-Vista (and secretly anti-‘Get a Mac’. possibly VERY secretly) ad campaign emerged from the bowels of the beast today, after the first commercial came out last week.
I don’t even know what to say.
The uncut version of this one is 4:30. It’s not really funny at all. It doesn’t say anything about their product. It’s a truly awful commercial — one that makes Microsoft honestly seem even more out of touch with their consumers than I had thought before I watched this commercial.
Try it. See for yourself.
It just feels like watching a train wreck. Of a train filled entirely with octogenarians.
What on earth are they thinking?
I think we should start placingbets on whether the next one will make even less sense.
Microsoft talks a little here about how these commercials are just icebreakers. And that they have done their job by just getting even negative attention:
When you set out to create advertising, the thing that keeps you up at night is not “Will some people not get it or like it?”
Rather its “Will anyone pay any attention and notice”? I think we can safely check that box. Oscar Wilde’s quote on the subject may be overused, but it’s good to keep in mind when thinking about marketing products that can get taken for granted in today’s crowded media landscape: “The only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about.”
So by that logic, McCain’s negative campaign ads are just adding to Obama’s brand recognition! He’ll be elected for sure!
It just doesn’t make any sense to me. Really. Unless this is some super old- or new-school ad campaign philosophy: ‘If people think your product sucks, make commercials that suck too! Then people won’t be confused!’ or maybe Microsoft has some secret deal where they make money when people stop using their software.
But in all seriousness… there are a few holes in this argument for me. Namely — it’s not like people haven’t heard of Microsoft Vista. They just don’t like it. These commercials do nothing for me than make me continue hating Vista (before I’ve even tried it, mind you. I’ve never used Vista. I know I’m not alone in this sentiment.) and think that Microsoft is out of seriously out of touch if they believe a campaign like this will in any way help their case — even if it’s just getting a ‘tap on the shoulder’
Plus that guy from Microsoft is so smug in his response. It’s hard not to disagree with him the moment one starts reading.
My answer remains: Get a Mac
I’m sure you’ve heard by now. Google released a new web browser. Chrome.
My first reaction to this is one of dismay. Another freaking web browser? What do I need that for? I’m still having to check for bugs in IE6 — a browser that should’ve died years ago.
My second is one of anger at Google. I like Firefox. I think Mozilla has a good heart in addition to having a great browser. If Chrome is going to steal market share, it’s most likely going to steal from Firefox — not IE. Most of the people who use IE are either enterprise (and can’t download another browser) or not tech-savvy (don’t know how to download another browser). If they haven’t downloaded a browser besides IE6 (like Firefox, Safari, Opera, etc — they have plenty of choices and they’ve had plenty of time), it’s unlikely they’d download Chrome.
So great. Google steals from FF’s market share. And Google paid up on their Mozilla contract till 2011 to keep their bases covered, but if Chrome catches on, I bet you Google will kill that contract. Leaving Mozilla broke with about half of it’s market share poached.
Great.
What’s even better is Google’s terms of service with Chrome. Check this out:
By submitting, posting or displaying the content you give Google a perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, royalty-free, and non-exclusive license to reproduce, adapt, modify, translate, publish, publicly perform, publicly display and distribute any content which you submit, post or display on or through, the services. This license is for the sole purpose of enabling Google to display, distribute and promote the services and may be revoked for certain services as defined in the additional terms of those services.
What? I know I’m no lawyer, but what that says to me is if ANYONE displays a website in Chrome (ANY website), then Google then has the right to distribute that website, in part or in whole, worldwide. What? How can they claim to have that right? If you’re looking at this site in Chrome now, does that mean Google thinks it’s their right to adapt, modify, publish, display, ‘publicly perform’, etc?
My favorite little logical twist is that technically, if you ‘submit’ your credit card # via Chrome, since you’ve agreed to their terms of service, they then have a right to ‘distribute’ it. Now that’s a business model. Stealing credit card numbers on a massive scale and then moving to Switzerland.
AND the real kicker is this: Chrome is distributed under the BSD license — which is a particularly open open-source contract. You could logically say that if you submit your credit card number via Chrome that then EVERYONE owns it. Resulting in something less like Switzerland and more like the end of Fight Club.
But really, what the BSD license means is that, if you don’t like Google’s terms for Chrome you can download the code in its entirety, take out their logo, recompile it under your own terms and use it however you want.
So, kids. It’s time to get those compilers chugging. Who wants to to follow Google’s rules when they can so easily walk right around them.
Google looks more and more like Microsoft every day. Throw a few class actions lawsuits at them and the two would be virtually indistinguishable.
Soo… hopefully you got a chance to peruse the Times article this morning about some of the recent developments in the McCain camp’s selection of Sarah Palin as his running mate. I did. Hilarious.
I’m sure by now we all know that her 17 year old unmarried daughter is preggers (you probably caught that yesterday when CNN dropped its coverage of Hurricaine Gustav and began a full court press on Bristol. Seems like a bit of an unfair match to me, but what the hell.) And that Palin’s involved in a lawsuit over the wrongful dismissal of a public safety official who refused to fire her sister’s ex-husband.
But more fun facts came out today! Like the fact that she has a DUI on her record (although that didn’t stop Bush from getting elected) and that she was once a member of Alaska’s Independence Party — one of whose purposes was to drive Alaskans to vote for secession from the Union ( although once again, Bush’s home state of Texas threatens that all the time).
I have to say the best part of it (imho) is the fact that the McCain people did not even ARRIVE in Alaska to BEGIN their vetting process until last Thursday. As you know, McCain announced her as his running mate on Friday. So they had less than a day to find all of the dirt on Palin.
Since you can’t find all the dirt there is on a person in less than 24 hours, she now gets to be vetted in real time. By everyone, including the Democrats, CNN, NYT, AP… you get the idea.
What a delicious mess.
Perhaps the Republicans should do a little bit of catch up on SP by taking the time to read her blog, PalinDrome (actually a clever work of fiction, but then there’s already a lot of that in McCain’s campaign so I’m not sure anyone would notice the difference. Take, for example, their preemptive edits of her Wikipedia page).
All ranting asside, you should check out PalinDrome if you get a chance. It’s really funny.
Thanks for the link, VSL. You’re my cocaine.