Think.
full archivesI think a lot—some say too much. Behold the results… a collection of my random, scattered thoughts. Pardon the dust, I'm tinkering with the layout in my spare time.
MSNBC rethinks news pages
Mike Davidson on MSNBC’s story page revamp:
This weekend, msnbc.com launched a sweeping redesign of the most important part of their site: the story page. The result is something unlike anything any other major news site is offering and is a bold step in a direction no competitor has gone down (yet): the elimination of pageviews as a primary metric.
From a strategy POV, I love this. A few years back, when I was trying to get my first job in Seattle, I met the MSNBC team. This was right before they brought out their newer, much better looking colour-spectrum site design. I think what killed my chances, at the time, was the fact I was so strongly against the cognitive break caused by the inline ads and pagination on most news sites. Well, that or my smell.
It’s interesting to see this change happen. Granted, there are still some jarring ads that break the story text in half (and raise my ire), but by and large it’s a huge step forward for readers.
There are some stylistic oddities (Crofty makes a great point in the comments about the measure and the oddly floating headline) but I have a feeling they’ll get tweaked into something better over time.
The Prime Minister says she does not believe in God, and that the ‘greatest compliment’ she can pay those with religious views is not to pretend she has them.—
The Prime Minister doesn’t believe in a deity, but the ABC still uses a capital ‘g’.
(via indefensible)Just when we feel cool for having a black president, Australia go and get themselves a female atheist PM. I’m thinking we’ll have to one up them with an lesbian Asian scientist/socioeconomic strategist president next go round.
So what happens when a US-owned and controlled restaurant chain markets Australian food? This month their Bangkok restaurant’s outback feature is - prime New Zealand lamb chops. Ah well, the flags are almost identical anyway.—Aussie-themed US-run chain provides food for thought (via indefensible)
I felt like the only American to notice how unsettling the “we’ve been supporting our (american) troops for over 20 years” Outback Steakhouse commercials were. It’s bad enough that nothing served at their restaurants are even remotely “aussie,” and when they handed me a take-away container marked “tucker box,” no employee had a clue what that meant. I wouldn’t be surprised if the entire chain was started and continues to operate based on the founders’ vague recollection of Paul Hogan movies and episodes of Skippy.
Still play this. Still suck at it.
From a series of Pixar meets Star Wars drawings comes the essence of how my wife sees me: Sully (“KITTY!” as Boo calls him) from Monsters, Inc., mixed with Chewbacca.
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Detachable Penis by King Missile
This song and Black Velvet Flag’s cover of Institutionalized are the guilty pleasure songs the “alternative” radio station would play every now and then during my teen years.
And I loved it.
(via topherchris)
DAMN STRAIGHT!
So, apparently a S. African man in his sixties decided he really wanted to watch a World Cup match on TV, so he asked for the remote so he could change the channel. After being snubbed, he got up and switched the channel himself. Normal TV channel spat, right?
Nooooooope.
His 68 year old wife and two kids (grown adult kids, mind you)… jumped him. They bashed his head against the wall. Only after it was obvious that he was badly injured (because, you know, 61 year olds shake off headers into the wall ALL THE TIME) did they call the authorities. He was dead by the time they arrived.
Now, what was on TV that was so important to see that it must be defended with deadly force against an elderly family member? A different World Cup match (wouldn’t be the first soccer-related death)? An important address to the nation by the president of South Africa?
No, what was on the TV was a “gospel program.”
Apparently they heard the “good news” and that news is “make sure no one touches that dial; use deadly force if necessary!” I’m sure Jesus is proud of these defenders of the faith.
Recommended For You
I logged into YouTube and my first video recommendation was horses boning. What the fuck. By the way, the video I watched that it based this recommendation on was a clip from the BBC show Top Gear. A clip, I should point out, which does not contain anything similar to horses humping each other.
I’m reblogging this not because I love pointing out some of the effed-up stuff making suggestions based on some algorithm produces (which I do love), but because it seems like something Clarkson, Hammond and May would end up comparing with driving an Audi or whichever car is on their current “not-cool” list.
Scientists discover animal that lives forever. (via @ranajune)
From the article:
Because they are able to bypass death, the number of individuals is spiking. They’re now found in oceans around the globe rather than just in their native Caribbean waters. ”We are looking at a worldwide silent invasion,” says Dr. Maria Miglietta of the Smithsonian Tropical Marine Institute.
I for one welcome our new jelly overlords! (Did I ever mention both of my home networks are named after deadly jellies? You’ll let me live, right?)
