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Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Wait, People Do This for Fun?

posted by on June 24 at 2:59 PM

The Tyee reports on The Death of Pleasure Blogging.

Technorati founder David Sifry, who compiles extensive blogosphere stats from time to time, released numbers last spring that showed a potential plateau of blogging growth. While the number of blogs was still increasing at an impressive clip, the stats showed more and more people weren't updating the old ones, thus keeping the number of active blogs stalled at about 15.5 million. Blogging activity appeared to have peaked.

But, apparently, according to the article, Twittering is still on the rise. But does anyone actually Twitter? Why don't they just change their Facebook status messages a whole lot?


Thursday, June 19, 2008

All This Useless "Beauty"

posted by on June 19 at 1:03 PM

Wordle, which is the current free web application being tossed around the internet at the moment, bills itself as creating "Beautiful Word Clouds." You cut and paste words into a box, press a button, and it makes a word cloud out of the text you inserted. I'm not sure if I think of word clouds as 'beautiful,' exactly, but I've certainly wasted some time with Wordle since I came across it last night.

And so have lots of people. Here's Wordle's gallery.

And here's a cloud that I made by dumping all of The Merchant of Venice into Wordle:

merchant.jpg

And now I am done with Wordle.


Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Letter of the Day

posted by on June 17 at 4:00 PM

To Whom it May Concern,

I want to start by saying that I love The Stranger. It truly is the best newspaper in Seattle, and I look forward to it every week. When you launched the Slog on your web site, I was thrilled. It was like a dose of The Stranger every day of the week.

Then I made the mistake of reading the comments section on one of the Slog posts. I have seldom seen a more ignorant, hate-filled miasma of crap in my life. I'm on the Internet a lot; I've seen some pretty messed-up stuff out there, and the Slog comments are in the top five. Many of the Slog commenters are misogynistic, homophobic, and lash out violently with death threats when accused of being such.

"Hey, it's all in fun! Don't read it if you don't want to read it." That seems to be the prevailing attitude of both the Slog commenters and of The Stranger in regards to this issue. When you publish articles condemning misogyny and then organize social events for people telling your female writers to go kill themselves, it's tough to believe your job is not just to cash in on human misery while pretending to care. You run what appears on the surface to be a wonderfully progressive and intelligent newspaper, but your tacit endorsement of the ugliness in the Slog comments make you look incredibly hypocritical, or shockingly ignorant of what's happening on your web site.

In closing, I apologize for not signing my real name to this post, but I am not afraid to admit that I genuinely fear your commenters. They have threatened to kill people they don't like, and I don't want to die at the hands of your Stranger-endorsed band of sociopaths.

Sincerely,

John Doe
A Concerned Reader

Discuss.

I Still Hate Safari

posted by on June 17 at 3:00 PM

Today is Firefox 3 Release Day, and apparently, they're going for some sort of world record of most downloads in a single day. I just downloaded the new browser, and it's pretty smooth so far, although it looks a little too much like Safari to put my mind completely at ease. But it does seem to be a marked improvement.

If, you know, things like browsers really matter to you.


Monday, June 16, 2008

Find-Your-Ass-With-Both-Hands-and-a-Map.Com

posted by on June 16 at 4:15 PM

I forget where I bumped into this...maybe a press release?...but this website, which looks like a joke, seems to be real. Outside.in now has a "Radar" function (emphasis mine):

Radar lets you keep track of what's happening around you right now simply and easily. Using Radar you can:.

* See what's happening within 1000 feet of where you are currently (as well as what's happening in your neighborhood and city)
* Keep track of places and topics that are of special interest to you
* Receive instant alerts of things going on right around you

…and more

To use Radar, you have to be signed in. And if you haven't yet registered, you'll need to do that of course, too.

Wow, a totally useless aggregating website that seems painfully convinced of its own utility. It feels like 2000 all over again.


Friday, June 13, 2008

No, Your a Fag

posted by on June 13 at 2:51 PM

Hm... I don't recall seeing "you're a fag," or "your a fag," in our famously vitriolic comment threads all that often. Apparently it's a problem at other websites, and on other blogs. I guess it's not a problem here because everyone at Slog presumed faggy until proven innocent.

Via Queerty.


Thursday, June 12, 2008

Winning the War on Wireless

posted by on June 12 at 4:48 PM

Posted by news intern Chris Kissel

In my news article this week, I reported that all attempts at providing free municipal WiFi across the country had ended in miserable failure. According to an article in the San Francisco Chronicle this morning, I may have spoken too soon.

The article says that the city is linking up residents with the help of Meraki, a small company that set up routers around the city in order to get its name out in the open.

In Seattle, we've got Seattle Wireless, a movement whose participants, like Matt Towers, set up nodes in their neighborhoods out of the kindness of their hearts. The result is a mesh network spanning the city that's got potential, but for the time being is full of holes and, for those who can pick up the signal on their laptops, provides service that's unreliable at best.

Matt Westervelt, one of the founders of Seattle Wireless, told me that the incentives for setting up a grassroots-based free WiFi network in Seattle amount to a feeling of "public good will" and a personal interest in doing the work. In San Francisco, project developers found a way to couple that with the entrepreneurial spirit, and now "144,000 residents will be surfing the Web for free by the end of the year at no cost to the city."

On top of that,

The mayor's office is working to ensure that SRO hotels and public housing projects are some of the first to receive the devices because residents there typically don't have Internet access. Five public housing projects now have the technology, and 13 more are expected to have it by the end of the year, Newsom said.

The work that folks like Westervelt and Towers are doing in the city is great, but they can't do it on their own. In San Francisco, it looks like some initiative on the part of the city in fostering a healthy business relationship with a start-up company (read: not Earthlink) was the key to getting something substantial to happen.

The Internet Is Eating Our Brains

posted by on June 12 at 1:15 PM

My friend sent me this link, asking, "Is it ironic that I just skimmed this?"


Tuesday, June 3, 2008

Dust Off Your Company Manners

posted by on June 3 at 10:29 AM

[Starting today, we're inviting guest bloggers to join Slog for a month at a time.]

Hi, Slog! I'm Chelsea. I'm gonna be guest blogging here for the month of June. Crashing on your digital couch, if you will. Because, after all, the internet is not a dump truck, it is a series of couches. Made of zeros and ones.

couch-L.jpg

So! Like most of you, I am a Seattleite. I am not a news writer. They have professionals for that, I'm told, and I will leave the news to them. Not that I don't think the news is, um, newsworthy. I just feel that my enthusiasms lie elsewhere. Being that I am of the "Write what you're stoked about" school of thought, that is what I will do. Mainly that means food, entertainment, and design. Let's have fun, dudes!

Chelsea Alvarez-Bell is June's guest Slogger. Her permanent home on the web is Who Did What To Who.


Friday, May 30, 2008

Worst Album Art Ever

posted by on May 30 at 10:35 AM

Flipping through the Florida Sun-Sentinal's Worst Album Art of All Time gallery, I thought I'd found the best-worst one every few clicks.

Until I came to #36 and knew I needn't look any further.

f51cc34f6425de0d880ab95eb5c02a0c.jpg


Wednesday, May 28, 2008

The Internet Is Not a Speculum

posted by on May 28 at 10:56 AM

The Internet is a tool. It is not a speculum—you don't need to show us everything. And if you do, you'll probably regret it.


Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Modern Warfare

posted by on May 27 at 5:51 PM

seana.jpg

The rain cloud is a little bit heartbreaking. A quick Google search on her name reveals nothing obviously malicious or damaging. Good luck and sunshine to you, Seana Sperling.

A Post About a Post About a Story About a Man Who Dated a Former Blogger

posted by on May 27 at 2:20 PM

Gawker, which seems to have turned into some sort of a fansite dedicated to their former editor Emily Gould, has quoted Keith Gessen's story for us that mentions a potential breakup with former Gawker editor Emily Gould.

Look! A widdle kitty-cat!

riley-maine-coon-cat.jpg

(Thanks to Slog tipper Davida for the Gawker tip. Thanks to an out-of-control American pet culture for the cat.)


Tuesday, May 20, 2008

America Has Spoken: "ugly face/nice body"

posted by on May 20 at 1:43 PM

Holy God Jesus on a pogo stick. Playboy is accepting auditions for their newest playmate on YouTube. 52 women have replied (so far.) This is one of the most depressing YouTube pages I think I've ever seen, not just for the videos--where women around the country are trying to make themselves into Playboy-style fantasies --but the comments on the videos are what make me sick:

your not going tow in because you like the cowboys. DALLAS SUCKS
Definatly not Playboy material....not even close.....maybe Black Tail magazine !!
DAMN HOT.....YOU GO GIRL!!! BYYYY FAR THE BEST! Alot of the contestants have good bodys, but their faces are ok....but she has an awesome face and bod. PUT ANOTHER HOT BLONDE IN THE MAG
yeah if i was you BF id tell ya you should try out for playboy to, but thats only so i could get some ha! incase you and all the other small titty'd chics didnt realize hef likes huge fake boobies and im sure holly dont want no IBTC (iddy biddy tiddy commiddy) either ,personally i dont mind and im sure you could do porn.

I don't recommend going and taking a look. It'll stick with you for days.


Monday, April 14, 2008

Since I've Already Mentioned LOLcats and the Bible Today...

posted by on April 14 at 12:31 PM

Here is the LOLcats Bible for you to enjoy.

Oh hai. In teh beginnin Ceiling Cat maded teh skiez An da Urfs, but he did not eated dem.

Da Urfs no had shapez An haded dark face, An Ceiling Cat rode invisible bike over teh waterz.

At start, no has lyte. An Ceiling Cat sayz, i can haz lite? An lite wuz. An Ceiling Cat sawed teh lite, to seez stuffs, An splitted teh lite from dark but taht wuz ok cuz kittehs can see in teh dark An not tripz over nethin. An Ceiling Cat sayed light Day An dark no Day. It were FURST!!!1

There's more. There's much, much more.

Gawking

posted by on April 14 at 10:57 AM

Gawker founder Nick Denton, who just two years ago would probably have been referred to as 'genius Gawker founder Nick Denton,' sold Idolator, Gridskipper, and Wonkette to different buyers. The really good news is that Wonkette, which was the only Gawker media site that I still read regularly (with occasional visits to Jezebel) is being sold to editor Ken Layne. It should be even better now. They are not being replaced with any new Gawker sites.

It's Very. Dramatic.

posted by on April 14 at 8:10 AM

You've no doubt seen this already because the Internet is a race and you won. But I hadn't see this until a friend decided I needed cheering up and introduced me to Brenda Dickson last week. This one got me through the weekend...

More video of Brenda Dickson—video you've already seen, of course, because the Internet is a race and you won—here.


Thursday, April 10, 2008

More Cartoonery

posted by on April 10 at 4:09 PM

I've talked about all the Internet molestation of Garfield. I just found the Nietzsche Family Circus, which randomly pairs a Family Circus cartoon with a Nietzsche quote.

Of course, people have been writing dirty captions for Family Circus cartoons for years, probably decades (My favorite altered Family Circus caption, made by an old roommate, involves the word "joe-bob," and that's all I'll say about it, and once, when I was bored, I took the lyrics from Leonard Cohen's song "Suzanne" and applied them to Family Circus cartoons in such a way to make it seem as though Dolly and Jeffy were star-crossed lovers), but this is notable for a brief click-by if just because the captions and the images sometimes mesh a little too well.

For instance, the caption to this cartoon:

67.gif

Reads, "After the old god has been assassinated, I am ready to rule the world."

And the caption to this:

100.gif

Reads, "A subject for a great poet would be God's boredom after the seventh day of creation."

And as an added bonus, when you're done with the random generator, your workday has been decreased by another fifteen minutes.



Friday, April 4, 2008

The Legs Were Messing With the Composition

posted by on April 4 at 3:39 PM

It's been around for a while, but lately I'm really in love with Photoshop Disasters, a blog that points out grievous examples of tampering with photographs in ads and magazines. One of yesterday's disasters is especially nice:

parenting.jpg


Thursday, April 3, 2008

So, I'm Reviewing...

posted by on April 3 at 3:22 PM

... this early 18th-century play this weekend and I don't have it in my extensive collection of Restoration comedies (just kidding--my collection of Restoration comedies is basically limited to The Way of the World in an anthology). I want to read The Beaux Stratagem before I see it. Enter Google Books.

Unfortunately....

beauxstr.jpg

What kind of jokers are they hiring to digitize these things? This is pathetic.