Recently in Internet Category

My lovely and dear friend Sly got her email hacked into, and some nefarious person sent this message out to her entire address book. If you receive it, do NOT send her money as she is NOT in London, nor does she write this poorly:

Google launched its new, horrific service Google Buzz today, which is basically all the fun of Facebook, but without the architecture. Or structure. Or lack of chaos. In short, it's like a chat room with no walls. A total and complete inundation of commentary that sprawls and grows faster than the most insidious of weeds. And best of all, with each comment that's made in Google Buzz (and I assure you the service encourages and allows for many, many comments), we get a new email alert EVERY SINGLE TIME. It's crazy.

Nevertheless, when my posse took to Google Buzz earlier this morning, things went sour very, very quickly. Note the screen shot above from two buzz convos, courtesy of me, IndianJones, Malibu Judie, m_ruv, and jash. This was only the tip of the iceberg.

Have you tried Google Buzz? What do you think about it? Worthwhile service or redundant Twitter-Facebook mashup?

Click to see larger (spoilers from last night's ep!)

Exciting news, 24 fans! I found Renee Walker's Facebook page!! Click on the pic above to see a full-sized image of the page (or at least as much as I could grab with a screen shot). If you haven't seen last night's show, however, be warned that there ARE spoilers!!

P.S. -- I'm finally caught up on the season. A recap will be forthcoming...

I think it's time for a new Twitter goal. Last year, I made a fuss about wanting to reach 1,000 followers (with at least one being a noteworthy celebrity), and happily I succeeded on both fronts (thank you, Blair Underwood). Now I'm at it again. I'm restless for more followers, and no, it's not because I have some deep-seated desire to be popular (although I do have that). It's because more Twitter followers means more traffic for this site. And more traffic for this site means higher ad revenue. And higher ad revenue means greater happiness for me. And greater happiness for me, means better blog quality for you (theoretically). So really, it's a win-win situation.

My new goal is to hit 2,000 followers (ideally 2,500). Another celebrity would be fun, but it's not essential. So if you're not following me, sign up! After all, The Wrap did include me on its list of "50 TV Insiders to Follow Right Now." If that's not an endorsement, I don't know what is. Besides, if you follow me, you'll be privy to such glorious things as celebrity sighting tweets, impromptu TV observations, and biting social commentary. And by that, I mean whiney posts about being hungry (ie "I am very hungry. And drunk. The two are perhaps related." 1:53 AM Jan 30th).

So follow me on Twitter at twitter.com/bsideblog. And then tell all your friends. It's the American thing to do.

Thanks!

From Crackle: 1: The Criminal Lifestyle

Not so long ago, I posted about my friend's upcoming web series The Bannen Way. Well, the project finally debuted on Sony's online site Crackle (which contrary to what you may believe is NOT a tasty snack), and it's very impressive. I mean, it features Robert Forster and Vanessa Marcil. What's not to love? I've posted the first webisode here, but there are six more online, with a new one premiering every week. So check it out...

Over the weekend, my friend jash became the proud new owner of a webcam, and for the first time, he was able to enjoy the many splendors of iChat's video-conferencing feature. He tested out this marvel of technology with me, and it didn't take long before he began playing with the backdrop effect, as made famous by Forgetting Sarah Marshall. Soon I got caught up in the mania, and eventually, I somehow wound up pretending to nuzzle against Rachel Zoe's bosom — as seen in the image above. If that's not a good use of iChat, I don't know what is.

After the jump, one more stupid screen grab, this one involving Teresa from The Real Housewives of New Jersey.

I can't believe I forgot to post this. One of my Twitter followers posted this to his account back on July 4th weekend. It's best read from the bottom up. There's probably a lesson to be learned here, kids...

Don't worry — he was okay.

Forget the tribute song by The Game and Chris Brown. Don't bother with the one hour specials cluttering up the TV landscape. Ignore the flowers on Hollywood Boulevard. The best ode to Michael Jackson so far is a nifty website called Eternal Moonwalk which has compiled user-submitted moonwalks into one random, never-ending sequence that both honors The Gloved One's memory and celebrates his worldwide reach. At the very least, it's a super cool concept. Check it out.

Eternalmoonwalk.com

Great news! After shamelessly baiting Blair Underwood to follow me on Twitter, my hopes and dreams were realized! Yes, at 2:46 PM this afternoon, I received this email:

Hi, B-Side Blog.

Blair Underwood (BlairUnderwood) is now following your updates on Twitter.

SUCCESS! Thanks for following, Blair. I promise it will be worth your while! You are already the coolest person I am currently associated with, and as such I plan to backdoor brag about this to many friends for the next four to six weeks.

Sly balks at Jash's attempt to rename her 'Sylvs.'

Thanks to copygodd at Midseason Replacements, I've discovered the wonderful world of Text To Movie at xtranormal, a site that generates little animated videos based on dialogue you type in. Needless to say, it's been quite a revelation. I've already animated two email conversations between Jash and Sly, and the results have been quite wonderful. See for yourself (one more vid after the jump...)

And yes, Jash really does sound like that in person.

Martha Stewart just called Bill O'Reilly a "bone head!" Well, actually, her "dogs" said it. And they didn't even really say that. They just made fun of him on their "blog," and Martha linked to it on Twitter and called him a "bone head," which was really just a reference to what the dogs were saying, but it's all moot because dogs don't talk or blog, and it's all coming from Martha anyway.

As the British say, I smell a whole lot of con-TRAH-versy!

Don't mind me. I'm just trying to fan the flames of a non-story. In the meantime, if you'd like to follow my Twitter, click here.

(Team Martha)

What's more fun than complaining about Facebook? Nothing, really. So that's why I'm doing it again! Granted, I got most of my issues off my chest last week with my Top Ten Bad Things About New Facebook, but there are a few annoyances that have crept up since then that still need to be addressed.

My main concerns after the jump...

My friend Heather started up a new blog recently called Eat Your Feelings, and quite honestly, it's sort of tailor-made for this audience. Basically, it's a cooking blog, but these aren't just your typical recipes. They have some backstory to them, such as the "Chicken with Mushrooms for When the Bitch Deserved It," which features directions such as "Add more oil to the pan and toss in the chicken breasts, jabbing them around like you jabbed your fingers into that bitch’s eye sockets." I think you get the point.

The site has actually gone up in conjunction with Heather's new book, also titled Eat Your Feelings, but that won't be available until September; so in the meantime, mosey on over to the blog and enjoy the recipes as they get posted. And tell her I say hi.

http://eatyourfeelingsrecipesforselfloathing.blogspot.com/

A funny thing happened after I heavily critiqued Facebook earlier today: my account went haywire. HMMMM....

Have I been blacklisted from FB? Time will tell...

Last week, Facebook overhauled its site for the second time in only about nine months or so, and the reviews are in: it sucks. And it sucks in the most insidious ways. You see, at first glance, things don't seem too drastically different. Navigation and usability is more or less the same (unlike the last transformation which was a radical change from the previous layout). However, the more one uses the new Facebook, the more terrible it gets. Little tweaks and changes become apparent, and soon it's very obvious that the problems with New Facebook aren't just kneejerk reactions against change. There are some major flaws with the new design, and I'm going to endeavor to detail them all right here.

A few weeks ago, I blogged about a creative Facebook meme that quickly took the internet by storm for forty-eight beautiful hours before flaming out in typical cyber fad fashion. I'm talking, of course, about the create-your-own-album-cover craze which had users combining random quotes, Wikipedia entries, and Flickr pics into one wonderful mashup of potential Indie band art. The results were often hilarious, and even though making the images took a little bit of effort, it was always worth it. Anyway, I told people to send in their best pics, and now I'm happy to present all the submissions as well as a few from the Internet that I found amusing.

Pics after the jump...

One thing I'm learning to enjoy about Twitter is the ability to follow real life celebs as they tweet the day away. For some, the feeds humanize them, turning stars into real people to a certain degree. For others, they just come off ass obnoxious and fake (like me!!). And then there's Martha Stewart. Almost everything she posts is a gem, especially considering the high degree with which she mentions, replies to, or shows interest in hip hop stars. But it's more than just that. It's about imagining her famously measured yet cheerful voice as she gives shout-outs to Diddy, calls New Yorkers "wimps," or merely delivers grim news about errant propane tragedies.

In case you're not convinced, check out these five recent tweets from Martha's feed:

MarthaStewart: perez hilton- new yorkers are feeling sorry for themselves-- the economy etc- but buck up= the worst is yet to come and it will not be snow

MarthaStewart: @snoopdogg Yo snoop, check out MY doggies new doggie blog http://tinyurl.com/baeoat

MarthaStewart: getting read to meet q-tip and make a cute craft with him on my show-an afternoon taping he has a new single album

MarthaStewart: lunch with ludcris was great fun- just charming- he is in town preparing for tomorrow on jimmy fallon- he loved lunch-esp choc cake

MarthaStewart: chow breeder karen tracy lost eleven chows and five boarders in a tragic propane explosion- my little ghenghis khan perished in the blaze

(In related news, I hope everyone and everything is okay after that propane explosion)

Remember that you can follow me and this blog on Twitter. Just go to http://twitter.com/bsideblog.

I have at last given in to the vast cyber world that is Twitter. I'd resisted — for no real reason — for the past two years, but finally, enough was enough. I set up a Twitter account for me/this blog, and now I'm up and running! I plan to update frequently; so be sure to sign up as a follower. That sounds mildly cultish, doesn't it? BE MY FOLLOWER. FOLLOW ME.

Anyway, for those of you who like to be two places at once, I've added a handy widget on my sidebar to the right a handy status update-esque header that shows my latest "tweets." (btw, for those of you who've had issues with the ads encroaching on text and pictures, I made an adjustment in my stylesheet, but I don't know if it's helped or not since I can't see the problem on my computer. Please let me know if it's fixed — fingers crossed). Anyway, back to Twitter. I have three simple goals with this new endeavor. A) I want to amass a large army of followers to feed my ego and more importantly to drive traffic to this blog and in turn generate more ad revenue. So far I'm at twenty followers. I'd be psyched to get up to about a thousand. B) I'd like to attract a celebrity as a follower. I'm thinking Demi Moore because she Twitters rabidly and has revealed herself to be a total blogger-type, but I'd be equally happy with Shia LaBoeuf, Gerard Butler, or really anyone. It's a very superficial goal, but it would give my site more clout, and I'd have tremendous bragging rites (although, I guess with statements like that, no celeb will want to touch me with a ten foot pole). I forget what my third goal is, but I'm sure it'll come to me, and then I'll tweet about it, and we can all chuckle about it (and by "we," I mean me and Demi Moore and Shia LaBeouf, my future followers).

To check out my Twitter feed and to sign up as a follower, click here.

Just last week, I wrote about a fun Facebook meme that parlayed search results on Google into hilarity for all. Laughter was had, tears were shed, and much tagging ensued. A few more memes have come and gone since then, and while they've been amusing, they've failed to reach the highs of that original "Google Game." Until today.

My friend Jash — who's been getting mentioned quite a bit on this blog (get back in the game, IndianJones) — sent me a meme called "My Band Album." It requires a bit of work on the user's part (Photoshop or a graphics application is required), but the end result is fantastic. Basically, users must look up a random Wikipedia entry — this becomes your "band name." Then they must look up a random quote, and this becomes the "album name." Lastly, users then must find a random Flickr photo, which becomes the band's artwork. Put it all together, and bam! You have instant fun. And yes, that's my band at the top of this post.

For specific rules, follow the story after the jump. Make your own pic and enjoy. Feel free to send me your images, and I'll post a retrospective next week.

And remember you can become a fan of B-Side Blog on Facebook by clicking here.

OH REALLY?

Last month, I dutifully dropped ten people from Facebook with the promise of receiving a free Angry Whopper from Burger King. Much to my shock, when I had completed the deed, I received a message saying my gift certificate would be arriving in two to four weeks. I wasn't happy with the lack of instant gratification, but nonetheless, I've sat here quietly, checking my mail excitedly (seriously) every day for the past two weeks. Well, tomorrow marks the four week anniversary of me earning my Angry Whopper stripes, and I have yet to receive my gift certificate. WTF? Seeing that the Angry Whopper is being touted as merely a "Limited Time Only" item, I will be quite, quite angry indeed if this burger disappears before I get to redeem my coupon. Cosmic justice for dropping friends from Facebook? Perhaps. I like to think of it as corporate malfeasance. Maybe even fraud.

You owe me, BK. You owe me.

So I'm not really into interactive Facebook activities — ie. 25 Things About You — but B-Side Blog reader Honeybunny introduced me to this new thing called, for lack of a better name, "Google Game." The concept is simple: type your name into Google and add the words "likes to." Wrap it all in quotes, press "search," and then list the top ten results. I was heavily amused at first, but when I read the HI-larious results for another reader, Jennifer30309!, I knew I had to give it a try. First I did a search for "Benjamin likes to," which was funny. Then I did "Ben likes to," which was even funnier. And then, just out of curiosity, I checked out the second page of results for the latter search query, and that was the funniest of all. I was so entertained that I decided to reprint it all here. Results after the jump...

One of my favorite/disturbing tools to use on the internet is the LAPD Crime Map, which lets you chart all the recent burglaries, assaults, muggings, rapes, and homicides in any given neighborhood. Naturally, when news broke about Chris Brown's attack on Rihanna, I immediately headed to the crime map and sought it out. Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the exact location of where the scandal went down!

When Schadenfreude Runs Wild.
Pic courtesy of LAist

Last night here in LA, a Bentley with Illinois plates led police on a chase that lasted over three hours, ultimately climaxing with a two hour standoff just north of Universal Studios. Early reports indicated that the event was spurred by a possible assault with a deadly weapon on the driver's girlfriend, leading many people to speculate that this could have been Chris Brown, a.k.a. Chris Breezy, in full career meltdown mode. As you can imagine, this piqued many people's interest, which in turn translated into a flurry of Facebook activity.

I'm not one to republish online conversations as I usually find reading other people's discussions a bit annoying, but nevertheless, I'm doing it here to give you a sense of the excitement, thrill, and eventual disappointment of the chase...

In case you've been living under a rock (or in Iraq. Or in Iraq under a rock), the Christian Bale tirade has been all the rage of the Internets. Even better is "Bale Out," the wonderful techno dance remix, which is not only spectacularly hilarious, but also a really good song. I could actually see myself and others dancing to it in a drunken haze at a club. After all, what's better than getting liquored up, hitting the dance floor, and shouting "WHAT DON'T YOU FUCKING UNDERSTAND???"

It's that sort of infectious energy which seems to have spawned the latest cool thing: posting videos of yourself dancing to "Bale Out." I think my favorite so far is the girl above, who manages to have a rockin' good time at her desk, courtesy of Mr. Bale's epic tantrum. I'm not sure that this is an oeuvre that I'm necessarily going to contribute to, but it's one I can certainly enjoy.

And if you'd like the MP3 of "Bale Out," just click here.

Well, I have finally sacrificed ten Facebook friends in pursuit of a free Angry Whopper from Burger King. You've all seen who I've cut. Now it's time to reveal the final piece of the puzzle.

Who could be more deserving of a sacrifice than Sherayay? The answer after the jump...

Sacrifice #9: It's none other than Sherayay from The Real Housewives of Atlanta! And who better to go down in flames than the genius behind She By Sherayay? Well, actually, I can think of one more deserving person, but that won't be revealed until tomorrow. I suppose I could tell you today, but that would be like throwing a fashion show with no fashions. And how the hell are you supposed to do that?

In the meantime, let's hope that Sherayay doesn't take this fiery dismissal too harshly. At least she'll still have that big ol' house to live in. OH WAIT.

We're getting close to the end here. Today I sacrificed Teri (and a wax version of The Rock), which means I only have two more people to destroy. Who will they be? Stay tuned...

In the meantime, BURN, TERI, BURN!!!!!

My friend Greg posted this seemingly harmless status update this weekend. Needless to say, he should be very careful when mentioning certain wholesale clubs. I think he learned his lesson.

As I mentioned last week, Burger King has this nifty new promotion for its new item, the Angry Whopper. Just drop ten friends from Facebook and get a free sandwich! How can I turn that down? Last week, I dispensed of two hapless souls. Over the weekend, I managed to drop four more people. Their identities after the jump...

Second to go down: "Squirtle Squirtle"

Reasoning: This Pokemon-esque creature added me a while back, and for some bizarre reason (probably drunkenness), I added it. I always felt I should drop it, but I knew I'd have to wait for the right moment. I'm glad I waited. 20% there!

First up in flames: the mysterious Lisa!

BURN IN HELL!!!!!

Back in the fall of 2007 while on holiday in Berlin, my friends and I encountered a most amusing item: the ANGRY WHOPPER from Burger King. Back then, we thought this was just some amusing German-to-English translation idiosyncrasy, with the intended descriptor being "Hot & Spicy," not "ANGRY!" We laughed at the name, took a few pictures, and later retold the story many times, chalking it all up to intense Teutonic severity.

A year and a half later, the ANGRY WHOPPER has made its way stateside, and now our story has lost all its caché. Turns out the Angry Whopper really IS called the Angry Whopper. It's not some weird German thing. Oh well. That being said, as part of a clever new promotion, Burger King is giving out free Angry Whoppers if Facebook users are willing to drop ten friends.

You know where this is going.

When it comes to free food, I'm pretty ruthless. But the notion of dropping ten friends is harsh. What to do? Well, I came up with a plan. I'm going to add ten people and then drop them immediately. It's a bit impersonal, but hey, it's what one has to do. The question is, do I seek out randoms or solicit them instead? I've opted for the latter. So here we go: if you know anyone that you think would be a good candidate for me to add and then drop, let me know (I'll keep your participation anonymous)! If I get more than ten, I'll put the names in a hat and see who wins my de-friending lottery!

What's in it for you? Nothing but perverse entertainment. I'll document the process though for a future post.

Last night, these two status updates appeared in my Facebook news feed right next to each other. Oh WEATHER. Will you ever cease to entertain me?

(Sorry, East Coast. It's still in the 80s here.)

I'm really loving this latest season of The Amazing Race, but when it comes to building buzz on the Internet, CBS seems all backward. Absolutely none of the show's videos can be embedded, and that goes for previews of upcoming episodes. What sort of marketing genius thought that up? Wouldn't CBS want previews to be accessible on every site on the Internet? I imagine some myopic supervisor thought that by disabling embedding, it would draw traffic to CBS.com, but if there's anything I learned from my TVgasm days, it's that readers don't like to do anything that's inconvenient. Specifically, if you make content difficult to reach, it simply won't be reached.

It's bad enough that CBS posts only a handful of photos from each Amazing Race episode (usually three to four days after a show airs), but to deprive the blogosphere of usable video? That just seems cruel and unusual. It's especially maddening when compared to how accessible the network makes content for Big Brother. When that show is in season, the webmasters deluge us with images (upwards of a hundred per episode) and video that can be embedded. Why the change of heart for Amazing Race?

Awful.

(For a good recap, click here)

While most celebrities and quasi-celebrities have been urging citizens to get out there and vote this election, along comes Trishelle (The Real World: Las Vegas, Ninja Cheerleaders) with these special words of wisdom, courtesy of her Facebook page:

Trishelle Cannatella thinks if you haven't watched the debates or know about the election and plan on voting for who your "daddy" votes for, do your country a favor and DON'T VOTE!

Well, that settles that! Thanks to Jash for pointing this out to me.

So the lovely ladies of Whatever Hollywood are at it again, drumming up support for another viral conquest. Their latest goal: getting Jimmy Kimmel to appear on their site. It's a noble cause, and while I have to admit that I would have aimed a bit higher (cough, Bea Arthur, cough), I can never ignore a friend in need. So be sure to watch the above video (they're trying to reach 100,000 views), and for more information on this valiant quest, click here.

Click for larger view / PROOF.

It gives me great honor to announce that B-Side Blog is now the top result for the Google search terms, "big brother sex." That's right: out of over one million possible options, I'm #1 in the ENTIRE WORLD, nay, GALAXY, nay, UNIVERSE! Huzzah! I always knew my blog would become famous for something, and now I know what it is. I suppose I should thank April and Ollie, whose penchant for DOING IT rocketed this site to the top of the charts. Without them, I'd just be another anonymous blogger, snickering at the world. Thank you, Aprollie. Thank you.

Yes, it's a wonderful day here at the B-Side home base, and I plan to celebrate with caviar toasts and a bottle of champagne. Or, barring the availability of those first two options, a bowl of cereal. Probably the latter.

Tri-Delt and Psi-U, here they come!

SPOTTED: white hot television show's script floating around the Internets!

It's inevitable that a show about leaking things to the blogosphere would itself get leaked to the blogosphere. Case in point: a few pages from an upcoming Gossip Girl episode have surfaced over at Gawker. They don't reveal much, but then again, I only read the first page as I am loathe to have my GG experience spoiled. In my brief glance at the dialogue, I discovered that Dan Humphrey will be eschewing Dartmouth for Yale because according to him, the New Haven institution has poached all of Big Green's English Department — perhaps even my freshman year professor / activist / crazy-bio-writer Shelby Grantham. Whatever. We don't want someone lame like Dan anyway. I like to think of Dartmouth as a Blair-Bear / Chuck Bass kind of place. No need for someone whiney from DUMBO.

Nevertheless, there's still no word as to who found the Gossip Girl script, and even if Gawker did know, I'm sure that's one secret they'd never tell!

xoxo,

GOSSIP LINK

This past Saturday, I had to make my first ever visit to Apple's Genius Bar (a.k.a. help desk) as my poor little iMac seemed to have come down with the vapors. While I waited for my name to come up in the queue, I couldn't help but notice a strange young man standing nearby, aimlessly perusing the Apple Store's wares. What caught my attention was that he was wearing feminine jeans and a long, blonde wig. How odd, I thought. He sort of reminded me of YouTube sensation Chris Crocker, of "Leave Britney Alone!" fame, but as far as I knew Chris Crocker had short, streaked hair. I don't know why the thought of him wearing a wig was so out of the realm of possibilities — especially when this person was so obviously wearing a wig — but my mind wasn't thinking straight. I had an ailing computer to tend to.

Well, sure enough, the Apple people called out the next person in the Genius Bar queue.

"Chris C.? Chris C.?"

And just like that, the peculiar little ladyboy perked up and moseyed on over to the counter. INDEED IT WAS CHRIS CROCKER! Now, I don't want to say I was star-struck — it's more like the exact opposite — however, I couldn't help thinking how hilarious it was that I was basically standing at the Genius Bar next to one of the internet's biggest curiosities. If only Tay Zonday could have shown up too. It would have been like the Weezer video all over again. Anyway, I knew I had to capture this bizarre encounter; so I busted out my camera phone and did one of those "I'm on the phone, but not really because I'm TAKING A PICTURE OF YOU" moves. I don't think anyone noticed. The downside is that the image turned out to be pretty bad (you can only see his wig), but trust me, 'twas him.

I love Los Angeles.

Batman is Hey guys i'm premiering today!

As everyone and their mothers knows (except for perhaps mine), The Dark Knight hit theaters at 12:01 AM today, and since then, Facebook has been under siege with Dark Knight status updates. I really thought Sex and the City and Indiana Jones brought a lot of repetitive updates, but they're nothing compared to this blockbuster. Don't get me wrong — I'm suuuper excited to see the movie, but how many times do I really need to hear that people are in line for, at the theater for, just came back from, and want to see again The Dark Knight? It's been getting a bit overwhelming; so I did the only thing I felt I could do: make an anti-status update:

"Ben is no offense to everyone, but the Dark Knight status updates are getting ridiculous."

I felt so smug and satisfied after posting that, but then I got to thinking... am I a douche? Am I just raining on other people's parades? Most likely yes. And am I opening myself up for similar "hater" status updates? Quite possibly. However, I still feel ardently that the status updates ARE getting ridiculous (and knowing my friends, they'll all go out of their way to make Dark Knight status updates now). So what should I do? Respect my fellow Facebook peers and let them relish in Batman enthusiasm without a hint of self-consciousness? Or do I be true to myself and advertise just how I feel about all these shenanigans?

DILEMMA. What do you think?

(Oh, and speaking of Facebook, feel free to become a fan B-Side Blog here)

Anyone notice something strange about this clipping from Yahoo! News?

The article, btw, can be found here.

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...

I don't mean to be a hater, but as an avid Facebook user, I find myself constantly navigating the cumbersome world of applications — a world which sometimes provides diminishing returns in the realm of fun. Whether I'm sorting through my umpteenth Oregon Trail invitation or simply trying to figure out the cryptic rules of some hastily designed app, there are plenty of annoyances to go around. That's why I'm finally taking a stand and announcing which applications should be put to eternal, cyber rest.

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: