Blogosphere: August 2010 Archives

Busy weekend -- no time to do much more than to pass along some interesting links:

Ace of Spades HQ: Hoyer: Expiration of Bush Tax Cuts = "Republican Tax Increase": The House Majority (not for long) Leader tries to sell the idea that its the Republicans' fault that their tax cuts will expire, the tax cuts passed during the Bush administration which the Democrats blocked from being made permanent.

Doug Dawg's Blog: Oklahoma City Area History: Not the history of the OKC vicinity, but the history of the square mileage of Oklahoma City, which reached its peak at 680 sq. mi. and once reached into 6 counties before retreating a bit.

TulsaGal has a history mystery to sort out: What happened to the World War II monument in Veteran's Park?

Howard Kozloff, writing in newgeography has some ideas on what to do with surplus real estate in resort towns:

Most stalled or dead projects were geared to higher-end buyers searching for second, or third or fourth, homes. As the lenders and creditors seize these assets and write down their values after taking heavy losses, perhaps there is an opportunity to reposition them and solve both worker housing demand and over supply of second homes.

Lileks Lint: How good's your '70s pop music knowledge? Identify the faces in an ad for Capitol Record Club. I think I've figured out all but three.

New York Times: Media Decoder: How Did William Shatner Interview a D.C. Sniper? He Asked.

Yes, it was Mr. Shatner, the "Star Trek" actor and Priceline negotiator, who interviewed Mr. Malvo and found out that the snipers claim to have committed dozens of other shootings, some with co-conspirators.

"It was the most electrifying 20 minutes I've ever spent on the phone," Mr. Shatner said in an interview Thursday.

The interview was conducted for "Aftermath," Mr. Shatner's new series on the Biography Channel. The series, which Mr. Shatner said he conceived and sold to the channel, is about the human leftovers of the 24/7 news cycle.

Best comment on the story, by PeteBDawg of Cambridge, MA:

If you were a sniper who had killed a bunch of random people and were sitting in prison, and somebody told you William Shatner was on the phone, of course you'd talk to him. I have no idea why that makes perfect sense, but it makes perfect sense. It's like the man has preternatural authority of some sort - like he's an angel from a low-key and unconcerned God who doesn't hold grudges and appreciates the ridiculous.

Old but still interesting: The Syncher, Not the Song: The Irresistable Rise of the Numa Numa Dance -- how a Moldovan pop song became the soundtrack for one of the biggest viral videos ever: "Brolsma's video singlehandedly justifies the existence of webcams.... It's a movie of someone who is having the time of his life, wants to share his joy with everyone, and doesn't care what anyone else thinks."

mental_floss: Drink Up! The Stories Behind 11 Regional Soft Drinks: Cheerwine, Moxie, Dr. Brown's Cel-Ray, Big Red, Green River, Belfast Sparkling Cider, Ale-8-One, Blenheim Ginger Ale, Vernors, Hires Root Beer, Sun Drop. I suspect most of them are available at Pops or Ida Red. (HT @randalljweiss)

ReadWriteWeb: Study: Youth Not Only Care About Facebook Privacy, They Do Something About It:

The research finds that "most" Facebook users modified their privacy settings at least once in 2009, with this practice only becoming more common as time went on, increasing for both frequent and less frequent users. "This suggests that either Facebook's changes to the site or the public discussion about them that took place between 2009 and 2010 -- or a combination of the two -- may have influenced people's practices," reads the report.

A couple of poignantly funny bits from The Onion:

Plan To Start Little Stationery Store Too Sad For Bank To Deny Loan
New Robot Capable Of Unhealthily Repressing Emotion: "...the robot instantly performs millions of computations to ensure feelings of unresolved anger and simmering resentment remain deeply buried within its complex circuitry.... with its superior processing power, the robot could apply for clerical work and settle for the nearest available partner 10,000 times faster than a human being."

Houldsworth's Ramblings: The Price of Fear: Our fear-driven legal environment is strangling freedom and creativity.

"The Law" can be a powerful driver of human behavior, and when laws are permissive and easy to understand, society and business can flourish. But years of highly publicized frivolous lawsuits has given people justifiable cause to be fearful. I could give examples but...there is no need, everyone has their own favorites.

In reality, the number of successful crazy cases is small, but they change behavior. For example, after a highly publicized suit against Microsoft, I was not allowed to keep any consultants on site for more than 9 months, even though it took those consultants between 3-6 months just to get up to speed. Inefficient and unnecessary, but a response to fear of "The Law".

(Via Lenore Skenazy of FreeRangeKids -- a blog devoted to combating fearful overreaction to unlikely dangers.)

Beregond's Bar: Today Would Have Been Our Anniversary: A touching story of love and loss: a story that begins with a 300 baud modem and a trip to the ER on the first date and ends with her sudden death after seeing him through a prolonged life-threatening illness:

Giving everything to take care of the ones you love is not enough. They love you, too. You're important to them. Taking care of you is part of taking care of the people you love. Yeah, you're busy. Yeah, you've got a million things to do. But do it for the people you love. You're their most important You.

And with that -- take care of yourselves and have a great week.