iPod Flea

Doug Pagitt over at the Pagitt Blog has posted a link to the incredible new iPod Flea. Come on kiddies, run right out and get yours now before they're all gone.

(If you're not familiar with Doug Pagitt, he's involved with the Emergent Church movement, a movement finding new ways to navigate the Christian faith in the postmodern world. He's associated with the Solomon's Porch community in Minnesota. Check it out if you get a chance.)

Reuters Pulls "Tasty" Page?

So yesterday I laughed so hard my cheeks hurt over a headline put out on Reuters for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Now it looks as if the page has been pulled.

See for yourself...

I find it very hard to believe that the piddly traffic from my own sight generator much notice to a site like Reuters, so I have to believe that other sites raised awareness to this headline, as well. Either that, or I am a very secret internets super power...

In any event, my screen-grab still exists here.

Enjoy!

Does Anybody Actually Read This?

Just curious...

Maybe if you enjoy what you are reading here, one of you faithful readers would be interested in sending this my way. Yes, for the mere cost of less than $5 (Twice as much as my adsense ads have generated in the last 6 months), you could make me the proud papa of three Lego dinosaurs!

Two things led to this moment:
1. That Triceratops and Stegosaurus have to be the coolest looking Lego animals ever.
2. The fact that I am actually unable to afford a measly $5 on myself at this time is very sad.

Two more things, I have serious doubts that:
1. Anyone is actually reading this.
2. Anyone would actually take the time and cash to go through with this.

Ok, If I'm really so lucky as to have a compassionate fan of MoRE.bs.com©*, (holy crap, that is now mine if it's available...), and you're making this small-yet-incredibly-awesome purchase on my behalf, let me know. I can be reached through manofredearth(at)gmail(dot)com.

/wishful thinking

*...on second thought, registering a domain name is way more work than I'm able to invest in at the moment. Until then, however, a cursory websearch affirms that I am the sole user of the phrase "more.bs.com"which is, obviously, the abbreviated form of http://manofredearth.blogspot.com ^_^

In Other News...

Wow... um... I find it really hard to believe that this made it past every editor without anyone else picking up on some rather awkward verbiage...

(found here)


Guilty confession: I'm still laughing like a junior high guy after hearing a silly poop joke.

One of These Things is not Like the Other...

This is a screen capture from Google News several weeks ago.


I just found this sitting in a misc. image folder on my desktop, having been forgotten after my several weeks of various travels and programs*. So why would this have been important enough for me to grab and post? Let's take a close look at each headline:

-Bush cool on climate deal, offers Blair no favors (Reuters)
-Bush wants to shift global warming debate** (CNN)
-US close to climate change concessions (Guardian Unlimited)

I started to explain what I found so humorous in this example, but why don't you leave a comment and tell me if you think it's funny or not.

I'm still chuckling.

*Flimsy excuse for having not post anything during the last 6 weeks
**Somebody please tell this man the debate has been over for quite some time...

Porn Sites get a Domain Address

Reuters (and others) are reporting on ICANN's (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) move to include .xxx as a domain name specifically assigned to pornographic content. First off, this is an idea I have advocated for the last half decade or longer, before (I believe) this was ever even considered. I can hear some of you out there asking me for proof (figuratively, of course). Well, if I find some post, blog, or message board comment I have made a long time ago regarding this issue, it will be posted here immediately. Regardless, it's a good move with one caveat: forced migration. ICANN must force sites with pornographic content to move to the .xxx domain without exception. The beauty of the .xxx domain name is that it allows for filters to work more efficiently. This is not the same as censorship. The availability of pornography on the internet, in a society that allows for that content as free speech, is not being infringed upon. Rather, it is being placed in an area that allows for easier controls to be put into place much like those already existing in "real space" aka brick & mortar locations. Without ICANN forcing sites to move off .com and into .xxx, we'll simply see a doubling of the available porn site addresses (think : www.hypotheticalpornsite.com AND www.hypotheticalpornsite.xxx)*.


*As of this posting, these sites may not actually exist. I assume that they do not, but I'm sure that any address with "porn" in its name has most likely been bought. The point is, the domain names in my example are exactly what they say: hypothetical.

"Revenge of the Sith" Breaking Corporate Banks?

This article from the Washington Times exclaims that:

Challenger Gray & Christmas, a Chicago outplacement firm, estimated that 51 percent of people attending opening day would be full-time workers, costing employers as much as $627 million in lost productivity.

This same type of bogus information was passed around during the previous Star Wars films and during the Lord of the Rings films. The fact is, the majority of employers offer sick days or some other for of leave to their employees. This "cost" of $627 million in lost productivity fails to take that fact into account. If every person who skipped work to see Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith had used up all of his or her sick days or personal leave days, then we would see these soaring costs of lost productivity that had not already been accounted for in employment packages/arrangements.

Having said that, I'll see you in line on Wednesday night.

PS- What does this have to do with progressive Christianity or politics? How about relating it to the economy? Or, wait, everyone knows God loves Star Wars. Yeah, that's the ticket.
May The Force Be With You.