It's Not Just Us: You Really Do Suck

Dear Fellow New Jersey Drivers,
It's official. You are awful drivers. In fact, you are officially the Third Worst Drivers in the United States.

We've long suspected this. Your inability to parallel park. Your blatant Disregard for Stop signs.

Please, if you would, stop trying to kill us.

Thanks.

Show Me The Money

The ever hip NY Times has an article about the Decline of Movie Attendance. The Article cites video games, DVD rentals, home theaters, decline in movie quality, and changing cultural patterns as the cause. The astute reporter though fails to mention the fact that movie prices have now passed the $10 threshold.

Take for instance Loews at 19th Street and Broadway: $10.75, and if you order online, add another $1.50

OR Loews New Brunswick, $9.25.

And forget about matinee prices of $6.00 -- first showing only. At 10AM, who besides suburban housewives are going to be showing up?

Even with late fees, blockbuster rentals come out to be less than $7. New DVDs at Target start at $10.

Hollywood needs to stop crying about reduced attendance and lower ticket prices.

Denton's Blog Empire In Decline

On Tuesday we noted the Similarity in three Gadget Blogs. Well, they're at it again, talking about the Evolution, a robot lawn mower from the makers of Roomba.

Engadget and OhGizmo were both there to cover the story in painfully similar detail. But Gosh, it seems Nick Denton's [Gawker Media] Gizmodo just couldn't get out of bed in time. No doubt in the next 72 Hours we'll get a third, nearly identical story about the latest in automated lawn care.

Smile, You're On TV

"This is truly amazing, a portable television studio. No wonder your President has to be an actor, he's gotta look good on television."
-- Doc Brown, Back to the Future

As electronics have shrunk, digital devices have increasingly become portable and as a result, many people have these devices with them at all times. The NY Times has an article on a "new breed" of digital cameras discussing how these pint sized gadgets are ready to go anytime, anywhere.

Besides taking poster sized pictures, they also capture video. And then there are the handheld digital camcorders that came out last year. And of course, let's not overlook cellphone cameras. All of these devices have meant one thing: someone is always watching.

Within hours of the first aircraft striking the world trade center, video footage of the events surfaced. Even an unplanned event such as that tragedy was preserved in video because of the abundance of video recording devices.

Our society is moving towards a world where someone is always watching. And while it might be creepy to think that city governments are installing video cameras in high crime public places such as street corners, its even creepier to think that at any given time, someone might be recording your digital image.

HP recently patented a system where digital recorders could scamble facial images. The idea is this: you don't want you picture taken and digital cameras automatically blur your face when the picture is snapped. The very idea that such a technology is required to protect individuals would have been unheard of a decade ago: there was simply no need.

Now however, friends snap pictures of each other with cellphones. Every major event, or minor event, is archived by amatuers toating credit card sized cameras. New technology has the potential to shrink zoom capabilities to the size of a Pinhead.

Its not the government we need to worry about spying on us, its each other.

Take for instance recent events in New York. A camera was hidden under a subway grate intending to capture 'upskirt' photographs of unsuspecting women. New laws have made such spying a crime, but that doesn't mean you are safe.

Gone are the days where college co-eds can safely wander to class in their pajama pants without risking an embarrassing photograph or five [not that this has stopped anyone, of course].

While all this may seem a little scary, and a little sad that our freedom to have a bad hair day is being ruined by technology, there are some updsides.

For starters, historians will have plenty of documentation to weed through when reconstructing our time period. Images are now available of almost any event that occurs, even if the nightly news isn't there, a photo blogger is.

Pictures are worth a thousand words, and documenting crimes by corporate america or by the government has never been easier. Would Rodney King have had a case if an enterprising neighbor hadn't whipped out a camcorder?

The next time you decide to run down and get the paper before applying your makeup, just remember, smile, you're on TV.

Let's Review: The All Way Stop

Perhaps an All-Way stop is a New Jersey special, perhaps not. But an All-Way stop is an intersection where all traffic entering the intersection has a stop sign [also commonly known as a 4 Way stop]. Traffic must come to a stop at the intersection with cars yielding to the vehicle that approaches the intersection first.

You are not entitled to run the stop sign just because the car in front of you is going.

Blogging With A Rubber

Recent Blogsphere events have again brought to light the dangers of a misunderstood medium and of the corporate world. Call Center Purgatory coincidentally has posted about Work Blogs. But we thought it might be relevant to add our own thoughts.

Blogging is not much different than posting a personal website. While personal sites have existed for several decades, blogs are mostly an invention of the last five years or so. The only true difference is that most personal websites tend to be static while blogs are frequently updated. Blogs have increasingly become influencial. The mainstream media loves reporting on "the power of bloggers."

Due in part to the rise of popularity of blogs and their influence in society, people have begun to take notice. Like most new technologies or changing social patterns, blogs are misunderstood and feared. Plenty of high profile cases exist where people have lost their careers or have been harrassed because of what they say or do online. While we wait for laws and society to catch up to changing cultural patterns, there is in some cases a genuine threat to people's livelihoods or safety.

Take precautions.

Play Within the System Because You Can't Beat It

Many articles recently have suggested bloggers go underground and cover their tracks to avoid real life problems as a result of blogging. Inevitably, you will be caught, so play within the rules.

Know The No Policy
Some places of employment have specific policies addressing blogging. Others do not, and have an implicit policy addressing the issue. Other places actually encourage personal blogs, such as Sun Microsystems. Know what you are allowed or not allowed to do on company time or using company resources such as the internet. Some states such as California have laws prohibiting employees from being fired for off hours legal activity. This doesn't protect you while you are "on the clock."

If you are looking to circumvent this and need to blog during work hours, most blog programs allow you to set the time stamp on the post to whenever you feel like it. You could date the whole thing in 1985 if you wanted to. Of course, some places will monitor incoming and out going net traffic, or randomly screen capture computers on the corporate network, so you aren't entirely safe.

Make Hoffa Proud
Labor organizing is federally protected by law and can have harsh consequences for employers who fire employees discussing unionization. Discussing issues of organizing your workforce may offer you some protection. This defense has not yet been tested in court specifically relating to blogs, or whether a blog that contains both union and non-union posts would be protected.

Don't Violate Their Trust
Don't violate the trust of employers by giving away corporate secrets. Don't pose nude wearing part of the corporate uniform. Many states allow "firing at will," meaning employers can fire employees for any reason other than race or sex. However, most employers are not going to fire a valued employee who does not violate their trust. That is to say, if you are blogging on your own time, without reference to your place of employment, most places will not care or merely issue a warning at first. Don't rant about your boss and expect him to pay a blind eye if he happens to discover your blog, even if every other post is about your new cat fluffy. But in most cases, if you keep a personal blog purely personal, most people will ignore it.


Going Underground
The internet has always been seen as an [semi] anonymous public forum. Sometimes this is abused with harrassment, but most often users enjoy the freedom their otherwise restrained lives prevent them from having. However, the internet is rarely truly anonymous, and even casual users can use basic tools like google to find information that is thought secure and private.

Red 5, Standing By
If you want to remain anonymous, the first thing you must do is never reference your name or even the names of those around you. Intials are sometimes ok to use, but even then, its probably best to use an alias. Change your codenames for different things: don't make your anonymous blog name the same as your email address or even a private log in for your bank account or other service. Your anonymity is only as strong as the weakest person who can identify you. Change the names of people you blog about. Don't give away to your friends that this is 'your blog'. Make sure people who do know who you are protect your identity when linking to you or blogging about you.

Private Information
Just like you shouldn't give out your mother's maiden name to people, you should never give away information that can identify you. For instance, don't say you live in "Muarry Hill", say "New York City" or even better, "A Major East Coast City," or best, "A Large American City." Even a simple post like "today is my birthday" reveals when you were born. This of course is difficult if you have an entirely personal blog as some events such as "Partied like a rockstar last night, really hung over," require a qualifier like, "because it was my birthday."

The One Armed Man Did It
Blog from public computers if you are really afraid. Most places like libraries can track their uers, date and time. However, for the most part, matching an IP address with a specific user in a public setting is very difficult. Internet cafes are another possibility, especially independently owned operations that don't keep track of users or net use.

A blog "Some Blogs Are Better Than Other Blogs" made a career out of poking fun of other blogs. The creator lived with two other people, who shared his IP address. After his roomates were accused of creating the blog -- they had semi public lives as psuedo journalists -- he had to confess to clean up their names. Be careful who is using your IP address. Just because you are taking precautions to remain anonymous, doesn't mean everyone else is.

E-Mail is alot more easily tracked as the mail servers do keep track of IP addresses. Sending email and posting to an anonymous blog at the same time can reduce your anonymity.

Go Corporate
Foetry was once an anonymous site dedicated to exposing corruption in poetry contests, until GoDaddy.com revealed the user's name and address. Feotry's creator was less than happy since as it turns out, his wife, a semi successful poet, was attempting to win many of the contests he was exposing. Also, many of the people he exposed were not too happy he exposed them and sent him fan mail telling him so. In either case, to really shield your identity, go through a third party. A lawyer may be able to help you out, registering the domain and other things in their name rather than yours. Or create a corporation for your blog. For instance, the mythical reporter Wally Edge of PoliticsNJ.com has withheld the scrutiny of the New York Times [not that they are authoritative hackers] because he has the protecting of a private company behind him.

Final Thoughts
Blogging is very new in terms of cultural phenomenons. Attitudes will change with time. In most cases, bloggers have gotten in trouble for doing things that people have always done -- gossip, rant, spread rumors, give away company secrets -- but have gotten in trouble because they have left an evidence trail. How often has someone been fired for talking about the boss's extra-marital affair around the water cooler?

Protections for bloggers will develope both through statutes and through court cases over time. The decline of labor unions over the last two decades has also meant that employers have taken increasing liberties with regards to abusing employees and making demands about their personal lives. Looking back through the history of labor movement, many of the events that are happening today-- firing bloggers, demanding unpaid over time, abusing workers-- caused the creation of labor unions to begin with. The backlash from Corporate America will inevitably result in changes in workplace laws and more laws like those in California protecting workers from legal, out of office activities. But again, these things take time.

The Revolution Will Be Blogged.

A Man Doesn't Walk Into a Bar, Civilization To End

The New York Times has declared Jokes Are Dead. Meanwhile, a British study has suggested that people are laughing less, and as a result will also soon drop dead.

This is some seriously funny shit. We'll be doing our best to stave off boredom all week.

Office Haiku

A new Haiku, for You:

Late night Bill paying
Tried to expense my dinner:
Credit card declined


Or Check out some of the classics here.

And yes, Virginia, We are working on a complete manuscript.

The Lasts: Fat Moon

Last night we enjoyed what may be our last Fat Moon, and what might also conclude our series of Last Things To Do In New Brunswick. The Fat Moon is like many of the Fat Sandwhiches served up at Rutgers University's Grease Trucks: a long roll filled with the sorts of greasy goodies one might order at a diner.

Fat sandwhiches have existed at Rutgers since the early 1990s. The Grease Trucks that serve them originally were literally trucks that drove around selling greasy food. Later they found a permanent home in a Rutger's Parking lot just off the College Avenue campus. Two years ago, the health department attempted to close the trucks citing numerous violations that required the "obvious" tag. Instead, the Grease truck venders erected an even larger truck, including a bathroom for employees-- the main concern of the health department.

The Fat Cat is perhaps the most popular of the fat sandwhiches including cheesburgers and french fries. Yes, french fries, on the sandwhich. The most famous fat sandwhich may very well be the Fat Darrell. The Darrell made some headlines last year when Maxim rated it The Best in the country.

We once favored the Fat Darrell because it included chicken fingers rather than cheeseburgers. The Fat Moon later became our favorite because it is essentially a Darell with eggs and bacon, minus the marinara sauce.

Legend holds that the Grease Truck owners will rename a sandwich after a patron who can consume four of a kind in one sitting. Of course, you still have to buy all four sandwhiches. And as far as we know, no one has ever accomplished such a feat.

The grease trucks though are not the only places that sell Fat Sandwhiches. Most of the local pizzarias also offer them. Nothing beats a sandwhich right from a grease truck, either because often you are drunk while eating it or because the Pizzaria's use ingrediants that are far too fresh to truly capture the essence of a fat sandwhich.

We once actually assembled our own fat sandwhich as several roommates from 135 Easton Ave looked on in horror. It was amazing. And we were sober, too.

Other incarnations include The Fat Koko and The Fat Bitch, which feminists from Rutger's Douglass College have frequently taken to protesting against.

Secrets Revealed: Fat Moon

Chicken fingers
Mozzarella sticks
French fries
Egg
Bacon
Mayo
Lettuce
Tomato

You Will Die Alone

In case you were considering dropping off the Blogosphere for a while, consider this: Blogger blogs about his killer minutes before getting killed.

Creepier: Reading the Entry.

"I went down and recognized it was my sister's former boyfriend. He told me he wants to get his fishing poles back. I told him to wait downstair while I get them for him. While I was searching them, he is already in the house. He is still here right now"

Word to the Wise: Blogging could save your life, or at least, aid in the capture of your murderer.

WTC: WTF Was Everything Thinking?

Donald Trump announced the Trump Vision for rebuilding the World Trade Center. When we first heard that Daniel Libeskind's design for the WTC had been chosen, we were at least amused that there would be a tall tower to contribute to New York's skyline. But in reality, all we really wanted was the World Trade Center rebuilt, pretty much the way it was.

The Freedom tower itself lacked creativity, essentially mirroring suburban office parks of the last ten years but on much larger scale. The designation "The World's Tallest" would have been a temporary title as ever taller buildings in Asia are built. And since the building itself was pretty much an empty shell anyway, was there anyone actaully passionate about the big glass shard?

Larry Silverstein, who owns development rights at the site seems intent on ignoring everyone else's input and going ahead with the Freedom tower. But then compare the designs side by side. So WTF was the commission thinking approving the Freedom tower?

Donald Trump has a failing casino. He's reportedly on the verge of Bankrupcy. He's written mediocre books. He's a reality television star. So why is he the only person who realizes that the best way to rebuild the World Trade site is to actually rebuild the World Trade site?

We doubt anyone will take Trump seriously. After all, even though we like his idea, we don't even take him that seriously. But we should. The propsal is perhaps the greatest plan for rebuilding downtown Manhattan to date.

Frat Parties To Never run out of Beer, Alchies to Save Money

Researchers have found that a weedy vine reduces beer consumption in participants. During 90 minute sessions, test subjects were given a pill from the kudzu plant or a placebo. Those recieving the placebo drank 3.5 beers on average and those receiving the kudzu plant 1.8 beers.

The scientists involved in the study suggested suggested that the plant may help drunks feel even drunker and hope the plant might help people cut down.

We tend to think instead that such a pill would help drunks drink more, since they could get a buzz on less booze, and therefore spend more time drinking. Frat parties are expected to last longer as brothers won't run out of beer so early in the evening.

Why Playstation 3 Is Not Relevant

The playstation 3 was also unveiled, but despite its superior technology, it is not going anywhere. The PS3 is likely, at its earliest, to be out next spring, or later in certain markets-- by which they very well may mean the US. The XBox360 on the other hand will be out six to eight months earlier and in time for the critical holiday season. Unless sales of the system completely bomb, Xbox360 will have a great hold on the market long before the PS3 comes out.

What could happen:
If the xBox360 is not backward compatible to older xbox games, customers may simply wait for the PS3. Nintendo made this mistake with the gamecube and they are now struggling even to stay in the console market.

Poor quality manufacturing of the xbox360 may also hold back buyers. Early purchased xbox's had a high rate of hard drive failure, burning some customers who bought their systems in the beginning. The problem was identified as coming from a Mexico based factory and corrected, but not before angering many customers. Rumors of a repeat may not be so good for early xbox360 sales.

PS3's Failures:
PS3 is including Blu-ray disc technology. The Blu-ray disc is one proposed format to replace the DVD, and can hold more data, meaning larger games, and more intesnse graphics. But since there is no standard DVD replacement yet, including blu-ray is risky, especially if the PS3 isn't coming out for another year. Sony likely sees this as a way to push their priority format of the blu-ray over the HD-DVD. But then again, its a similar tactic sony used to push its Memory stick format over flash drives: the Memory stick lost that war too.

While the hardward is impressive on the PS3, it no doubt will also be expensive. Console makers often sell the system at a loss or very small profit margin hoping to make up for the difference in selling games. But since Playstations best known game--Grand Theft Auto-- is no longer under contract to be playstation exclusive, there is no killer game that will pay off the cost of the hardward. And if projections are right, new games will cost as much as $65 each, up from $50. The higher cost of production of High Def games will eat into profits while at the same time consumers will be buying fewer games because of the higher cost.

Meanwhile, Sony is a hardware maker, not a software developer. While it seems some aspects of the PS3 may attmept to do what the xbox360 does in terms of connecting household media, no doubt sony is going to have some problems doing this. MS software such as windows is tempermental. We don't even think MS can tame their own operating system to smoothly integrate the Xbox360 with home computers, so we have no confidence in Sony to do so.

Things to Look forward to:
But becuase Sony is a hardware maker, and above all, a gadget company, the many USB ports on the PS3 will hopefully be useable with other devices. For instance, plug your sony cybershot camera into the PS3, view a slide show. Plug your song digital video camera into the PS3, watch your movies. Plug your sony MP3 player into the PS3, listen to music. Sony has already said the PSP will also work seamlessly with the PSP. Of course, again, don't expect the iPod to play nicely with the PS3. And as for your kodak digital camera, your HP photo printer, and your LG video camera, those too will probably be banned by the sony police.

MS has said that their software will sell the xbox360: online offerings, integrated media control, ect. Sony it seems is making itself to be a game system first, everything else second. The trouble for sony is that the game market is changing. There have been few improvements in games or new game genres in recent years. Cinema like game play and graphics have essentially already arrived. Both xbox360 and PS3 promise to take things to the next level with High Definition television. But both with be roughly comparable in visual effects; the only thing that will set the systems apart are the additional services. Since pong debuted almost three decades ago, game designers have been pushing hardward to produce better graphics, and nearly every other year games with increasingly stunning visuals have appeared. But now games are very near naturalistic, camera like graphics. Better visuals are not going to sell games.

UPDATE:
The XBox360 will be Backward Compatible paving the way for MS to completely wipe the competition from the map. Buy stock in High Definition televisions manufacturers now.

UPDATE No. 2:
This Article suggests that the xbox360 would be compatible with the iPod, but not the PS3. But since Sony has This Awful Thing, we doubt PS3 would be compatible with an iPod, even if certain salespeople made the claim now. And in either case, unless MS was planning on producing a firmware crack for the iPod, its not in their best interest to open xBox360 up to the iPod, since they keep pushing their own media player and MP3 players. While there is a Rumor suggesting that PS3 will work with the iPod, neither sony nor apple have ever been very good at playing with others.

The Lasts: 34 Prosper

Last night we had a last slice of Pizza City pizza, and strolled around the corner to take a look at 135 Easton and 34 prosper. Outside we saw engineering Lauren and Jackie. Since Lauren still lives there with engineers, we were given a tour.

Things have changed. The whole house is decorated much like our own room: messy with a hint of odor. But all in all, it was good times.

The best 34 prosper: Shawn being bitten by Jackie.

Even better: Rachel getting upset because someone cooked cheese and meet on her George Foreman Grill.

The Best: Gin and juice in the snow.

Made Up Journalism Strikes again.

"Sampling the arts, visiting the city's spectacular public spaces and enjoying local delicacies like bagels and pizza can easily be done on a budget" claims a Fake CNN article.

"New Yorkers love to give directions, so feel free to ask anyone on the train how to get from Times Square to the East Village. Don't be surprised if three people butt in"

This is true. But they like giving you WRONG directions. Isn't it fun when touristas ask which way to Times Square and you send them to Harlem?

"For breakfast, get a $1.25 bagel with cream cheese from a deli or pushcart."

In what, 1987?

"If you don't have a cousin (or friend of friend) to crash with, rooms in the $150 range are surprisingly easy to come by."

Yep. Just a busride away in scenic Secacus New Jersey.

xBox 360: New Era, Still a Failure

The xBox 360 has finally been shown off and will be available for next holiday season. It promises a whole lot more than merely a console game system, but might fall short on real innovation.

First, the device comes with a removable 20GB Harddrive. Impressive compared to the 8GB that shipped with the original xBox, but pitiful compared to an off the shelf PC circa 2000. The Harddrive is removable though, meaning folks will no doubt be able to buy upgrades. At least MS designers caught on to the trend of people cracking open their old xBox's and isntalling new drives.

The wi-fi ready box should be able to hook easily into wireless home networks allowing users to hookup many devices. Sadly, most [read: none} televisions will be able to wirelessly recieve data making for a mess of wires. However, it might mean the xbox 360 will work similar to Apple's airport connecting to a windows xp computer and other, future devices.

The XBox 360 seems to be trying to fill a roll Dell and HP promised three or four years ago: managing home media. Users will be able to put music cd's onto the harddrive, play Dvd's, and even use media from their computers on their televisions. However, there are plenty of defficiencies with all this. We doubt, for instance, that the connectivity between the PC and the box will be as easy as they claim. Archives of thousands of MP3's that are on home computers will probably not as MS is implying, play nicely on the xbox.

Ideally, users would store their media files on their computer and simply use the xbox to transmit the data from the computer to the television or the stereo. While MS claims this will be possible, it will probably be wrapped up in Media player. Wouldn't it be great to plug an iPod into the xBox to seamlessly play thos audio files? Sure, but Apple and MS are never going to get together to do this. The iPod knockoffs that use MS's media files aren't nearly as fun as the iPod, and while Bill Gate's recently claimed that the iPod is already a has been, that's simply not true.

xBox 360 also promises free online services like chatrooms and downloading demo games. Premium pay service will allow users to actually play games. Great; just what the world needs, a giant silver box that lets people send instant messenges. This would be fine if it were compatible with MSN's chat software, AND other services like Trillian and AIM. But its unlikely xBox will be compatible with any non xbox chat service, making it irrelevant.

The xBox 360 seems to be the early stage of convergant technology. Yet, we doubt it will be successful [sure, we'd also like to tell the xbox to make dinner, walk the dog, and clean the toilet].

What we believe the Xbox 360 Will lack, but should have:

DVR: Tivo created the market and knockoffs abound. But a digital recording device within the xbox itself would make managing all this media even easier. This of course is nearly impossible since television companies would probably prevent a PC compatible device from recording television: all they would see is television shows flowing freely onto the internet. But since the xBox already comes with the hardware necessary for DVR capaibilties, all it really needs is the software from MS. They are after all, a software company.

USB ports: We don't know if the xbox will or won't have USB ports, but it probably doesn't. But with the proliferation of thumb drives, a usb port would enable file transfers to the xbox. Also, future peripheral devices could easily attach that way.

iPOd Dock: As we said before, Apple and MS would never get together to dock the iPod to the xbox. And since we doubt the xbox will have a usb port, third party hardware is probably impossible. But it simply doesn't make sense to have to plug an MP3 player into a computer, and connect the computer to the xbox just to play music.

Online Shopping: No doubt MS will have innovative ways to take people's money from the free xbox live features. But what would be even better would be online stores. Partner with Amazon to bring their catalogue to the xbox. While at this time few people would have a high speed net connection without a computer, clearly the xbox could replace home computers in the future.


Xbox 360 will probably go down as the transission home appliance; future generations will wonder why anyone needed a DVD player, stero, and toaster oven without xBlox emblazed on the side. But at the same time, the new xBox is probably going to lack many key features that would actually make life better.

UPDATE: Gizmodo is Reporting that the wireless controllers will plug into USB slots for recharging purposes. This opens up a whole world of future plugins, making MP3 docks a possible third party add on, and maybe even in the future, let you control your toaster! Also, as they pointed out, the portable harddrive will not function as a stand alone MP3 player, which would actually have been useful and possibly mean the end of the iPod. But since it doesn't, we're going to defy Bill Gates and say in fact that the iPod is here to stay.

Pre-Marital Sex Can Fuck You; Or Not

A school teacher Lost her Job for being 4 months pregnant and only married 2 months. Meanwhile, an Italian woman Sued Her Impotent Husband for failing to divulge that he suffered from limp dick syndrome. If the former is warning against pre-marital sex, the latter is warning against not.

Thankfully our pharmecuetical comapanies have a solution to both: Birth Control + Viagra.

The Lasts: Ale N Witch

Tonight we enjoyed a pint at former sanctuary Ale N Witch. Things we thought did not belong but were there anyway:

Sports Jersey
"Greatest Hits" Albums
Overalls.
Pregnant girl in overalls.
Fat girl who looked pregnant in overalls.

The Best of The Ale:

On one night about a year ago, we were enjoying an evening shooting the cue ball around when a man in his mid to late forties entered the bar with what appeared to be an 17 or 18 year old female companion. He joined the game of pool a few times. He bought the bar a round of drinks. He was clearly sleeping with the young woman. Good for him.

Fact Vs. Fiction: Does Anyone Actually Give a Shit?

The New York Times. CBS News. The New Repubic. All these reported news agencies have in recent years dismissed 'journalists' over fabricated news stories. One of the most recent cases involves Wired News and reporter Michelle Delio.

Of hundreds of articles filed by Delio, several dozen contained minor quotes from nobodies with whim she talked with, and now her career too might be in jeopardy.

But does it really matter?

Fox News in particular, but most of the cable news networks have blurred the line between opinion, fiction, and fact. Increasingly, people can't tell the difference. Blogs also, have added to this blurring of the lines. And of course there are outlets like The Daily Show that offer fake news coverage of real events, or the The Onion that offers real news coverage of fake events. So again, does it really matter?

People believe what they are told. If they are told they are reading the truth, then it is so. Even if Michelle Delio fabricated quotations, or fabricated people, it doesn't really matter. The stories were interesting. The content of the stories wasn't signicantly changed. And in the end, it didn't really matter one way or another.

Fake news is more fun to read, so 'journalists' should get off themselves. After all, it doesn't matter.

The Lasts [And Other Things To Do Before The End]

We've officially signed papers promising money every month for an apartment.

We ended the day with a last slice of pizza from favorite pizzaria, La Familia.

Other things to do before the end:

Enjoy a slice from Pizza City.
Drink a pint[s] from the Ale N Witch
Eat a Fat Sandwich
Walk across Vorhees Mall.

This is the end.

Buy a Computer, Get New Identity Free of Charge

Circuit City has a great new deal you can't pass up! Buy a computer floor model, get the identity of another customer absolutely free. A woman bought a computer from retail giant Circuit City. She requested they transfer the files from her old computer to her new computer. Apparently, including her personal files on a computer sold to another customer was just a bonus.

Circuit City claims there was no expectation of privacy. The woman claims everyone expects privacy.

What's this really mean? Don't buy anything from Circuit City.

Save $2, Spend $58,000

The Times is reporting about undercover officers who arrest homeless people who can't pay the $2 fair to get to a shelter, outside of Manhattan.

I'll say I have no real problem ridding the streets of homeless folks by arresting them: after all, in jail they will recieve a warm bed and food. In many cases, they'll also get access to amenities like prison libraries.

However, in this particular case, it seems the police are conspiring only to spend taxpayer dollars. The folks they are arresting are merely going to a shelter designated by the city, presumably in a location the city chose outside of Manhattan.

One source I found cites the cost of holding prisoners around $58,000 per person in New York's Riker's island. the national average is I believe closer to $40,000 / $42,000 a year.

So instead of arresting the homeless people and throwing them into a system that costs tens of thousands of dollars to jail them [not to mention the cost of the investigation and undercover police, or the cost to the court system], why not use the money to pay the MTA the projected cost of homeless people who hop on buses for free. Ultimately, the bill to taxpayers would be lower, and the police would be free to actually go after real criminals: like taxi cabs that run red lights.

In either case, as much as I would like to see the homeless wiped from the streets of New York and sent out to the sprawl of suburbia [wouldn't that be a great April Fool's day joke?], arresting them is costing more than letting them skip out on the bus fair.

Jersey City is the New New Brunswick

I have placed a deposit on a new rental in Jersey City. Coincidentally, fellow Oak Street cast member "other Ian" independently made a similar decision within hours. He will be located a mere 9 blocks to the north.

Don't be left out in the cold. Now its your turn.

Desperate Housewife

Not exactly as reported in The Times or Boston.com

''George always says he's delighted to come to these press dinners. Baloney. He's usually in bed by now,"

And suddenly we totally understand why the economy is going to hell.


"George's answer to any problem at the ranch is to cut it down with a chain saw"

This might just explain Bush's Foreign Policy.


"George didn't know much about ranches when we bought the place. Andover and Yale don't have real strong ranching programs. But I'm proud of George. He's learned a lot about ranching since that first year when he tried to milk the horse. What's worse, it was a male horse."

Of course, that is what he learned at Yale.

Laura Bush: Hero to the Common Housewife.