Recently in Internet Category
Looks normal, right?
People, this is a very important lesson about Facebook etiquette. What you're about to see represents exactly what you shouldn't do to your profile.
Well, that was unsettling. It's 2:15 AM, and I just heard a loud, echoey explosion outside my window. It sounded like it was about a mile away. It was very disconcerting. Plus, I was playing a game of Scramble on Facebook when it happened. Needless to say, I became very distracted. My score was undoubtedly affected.
Now I hear people's voices down on the street below. I can't tell if they're talking about the random boom or if they're just drunk. Oddly enough, I have not heard any sirens. Is it possible that I'm just going crazy?
Pending...
Last year, when J-Unit and I left TVgasm, we passed the sell-out baton to Television Without Pity, which was soon acquired by Bravo TV literally days after we stepped down. Now, just under a year later Gawker reports today that three of TWoP's founders will now be moving onto bigger and better things. Or, as Sarah D. Bunting, Tara Ariano, and David T. Cole put it, they're aiming "to pursue dreams and ambitions that will take them beyond TWoP." Translation: we're gettin' the hell out of here.
Rumors are already circulating that TWoP's new corporate parent was anything but a perfect fit. Gawker's Nick Denton even goes so far as to suggest that the site's critical stance towards NBC soured relations with Bravo. Who knows if any of this is true, but having gone down the "I Sold A TV Site And Left Exactly 365 Days Later" road, I have a few ideas of how it all played out in my head.
Nevertheless, I can't help but be amused by the timing of this news, which has arrived on the very last day of my noncompete clause with Bunim/Murray Productions. What a perfect way to end a year of silence. Ten hours, forty-three minutes left and counting...
• And This Is Why Corporations Don't Buy Blogs [Gawker]
Okay, this headline is a mild exaggeration, but as some of you know, Will.I.Am -- lead singer of the Black Eyed Peas -- has started up a new website titled DipDive, and I'm honored to say that I've been invited to contribute to it. My first post went up this morning; so by all means, go over there and check it out!
• Falling For Obama [DipDive]
The internet lost one of its best today. Mark Lisanti of Defamer has left us. Well, he didn't die, but today he resigned from his long-standing stint at Gawker Media. I've always enjoyed Mark's writing greatly, and I have him to thank for helping expose TVgasm to a lots of eyeballs back in the day. Plus, without Mark, I never would have been able to party at Arianna Huffington's house, and for that, I'm forever indebted.
So do yourself a favor and give the ol' boy a bear hug (in the form of a nice farewell comment).
• A Farewell to Grazerhead [Defamer]
Do the curtains match the carpet? It's an essential question not just for monochromatic interior designers, but for curious men (and women) who seek to know if a lady's hair color is uniformly aligned with the hues in the nether regions of her body. As we all know, not all blondes are natural, and nothing spills the beans more than a brown tuft of fuzzy revelation in the general pelvic area. Thankfully, for those seeking congruity in the Northern and Southern hemispheres, there's a relatively new product on the market that addresses this need. It's a gentle hair dying kit simply called BETTY.
Thankfully, Betty has a website, and since I'm dedicated to helping my readers choose only the best products for themselves, I urge you to join me as I explore this enchanting corner of the Internets...
So it's primary season in America, and while most people are concerned with "issues" and "leadership," all I really care about is web design. That's why I've decided to compare and contrast the official websites of Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. I combed through both sites carefully and created a brief list of what works and what doesn't for each. Okay, I mostly harped on the negative and petty, but whatever. This is a blog, not a newspaper. I'm allowed to be unreasonable.
That being said, this is meant to be as objective as possible. Political discussion is welcomed, but please do not interpret this post as an endorsement of any kind — although, I'm sure the candidates are all waiting with baited breath for an official B-Side Blog show of support. Additionally, if you base your vote on my superficial findings, you're kind of an idiot. Just saying.
With the disclaimers out of the way, let's move onto the sites.
Last week, I took a stand on behalf of Facebook users and announced which applications should unceremoniously die. My first choice on that list was none other than Scrabulous, the online (and unauthorized) adaptation of Scrabble which has become a mainstay on most Facebook profiles. While the game seems like nothing but a fun diversion at first, it soon devolves into a harrowing, never-ending saga of vocabulary-based torture, which is why I felt it important that Scrabulous be put to eternal rest.
Turns out somebody may have been listening to my pleas. The makers of Scrabble have requested that Scrabulous be dismantled, citing those old trustworthy bastards: copyright infringement and trademark violations. There'll probably be a public outcry on Facebook, and while I normally get all anti-corporate when it comes to Internet copyright issues, in this case I'll simply say THANK YOU.
For those counting, this now makes it the second time in a week that I've precipitated a death with my wandering mind. Sorry again, Sir Edmund Hillary.
• Toymakers scramble after Scrabulous [AP]
The other day, I discovered quite the surprise in my Facebook command center: someone had poked me. I was mildly taken aback as it had been months (which in Internet time is like decades) since I'd seen anyone use the classic "poke" feature instead of some ghastly "Are You Flirtable?" or "Are You Hot?" or "Do You Want To Have Sex With Me RIGHT NOW?" application. As you can imagine, I was very intrigued. I quickly set upon an impromptu investigation of my mysterious admirer, hoping to learn just who this person was that a) thought I was poke-worthy, and b) still used poke in the first place. What I found reminded me that there are still many lessons to be learned about Facebook etiquette; lessons, I hope, I can share with you.
My journey after the jump...
Before I go any further, I probably should make a disclaimer. I'm not writing this post to be a dick. I am appreciative to all my friends who send me application invites, even if the applications themselves are retarded. It's a very kind gesture, and I'm certainly not intending to piss on people's good will and thoughtfulness. That being said, let's get down to business. Behold, the Facebook applications that should die:
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