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Will Femia is a Weblog enthusiast who, through good fortune and dumb luck, was introduced to the form as his position as chat producer for MSNBC.com careered into obsolescence. On any given day, Will can be found having already spent an unhealthy amount of time squinting at a computer screen.

Send a message to Will at spotter@msnbc.com



The clicker as weapon

Posted: Friday, January 11, 2008 4:49 PM by Will Femia
Filed Under: ,

I have some assorted CES links I neglected to share the other day but I'm trying to catch up on my Web reading (that is what Clicked is about after all) so here's a bit of what I clicked.

Gizmodo's stunt at CES would almost be funny if the stakes weren't so high. They used some of those universal TV-turner-offers to randomly shut off videos displays at the Consumer Electronics Show. I can understand the urge since there is probably no other more gratuitous display of video screens - imagines millions of square feet of the Best Buy TV section. But the whole point is the TVs and what they're displaying. And more than that, companies have paid a lot of money to be there to display them. And even more than that, they stand to make or lose a lot of money depending on how those displays are received. And on top of it all, thousands of people have very limited time, energy and attention to spread around the show so any down time is especially costly.

I like the idea of using those universal turn-off remotes for when you walk into a bar and no one is talking and all eyes are gobbed on the TV - when TV is infringing upon what should be a social situation. Even interrupting sports viewing makes a statement of sorts. I'm not sure I see the statement in the Gizmodo stunt.

How to actually win a fist fight

Mr. Potato Head makes octopus pal - I know animals in zoos are given stimulation like this to keep them healthy and active but I wouldn't have guessed an octopus would have the capacity for play.

How to talk to girls at parties - (There's an audio link at the bottom if you don't want to read it.) NOTE: Usually it's a pain in the butt that I often skip over obvious instructions and introductions when I see a page of text and just jump into the reading. In this case it worked well for me because it gave the piece extra intrigue. If I'd noticed the big banner at the top I might not have bothered. I'm trying not to say more so you have the same chance. It's a relatively long piece of text so click it when you have ten minutes or so and yes, "girls" can click too.

What I was expecting from the above link was something more like this: How to Have Less Awkward Conversations: Assuming Rapport - "Assuming rapport" is such great advice for doing anything social I can't recommend it highly enough. "You simply pretend that you are meeting one of your best friends." Of course, don't act like you're closer than you are and kiss a stranger on the mouth and ask to borrow money, but if you trick your brain into thinking you're talking to a friend, you'll relax a lot, your mind will loosen up, and the person you're talking to will feel more comfortable. That's the best "how to talk to girls" advice I know.

Every now and then I click something that gives me the sinking feeling that I've been out of the loop on a major Web development. I'm embarrassed to say I hardly know anything about ARGs. And even knowing what I don't know isn't going to help me much in explaining it. ARG means Alternative Reality Game and from the descriptions in this entry it sounds like the kind of viral advertising that leaves you interested in the content but not quite sure what they're promoting. Like remember that video of the UFOs that turned out to be a video game promotion? Imagine that with multiple parts and fake sites and blogs that keep the questions going. That's the alternative reality. This piece is full of links to examples - almost none of which are familiar to me so I'm going to have to spend some time clicking in here to get caught up.

You suck at Photoshop is a Photoshop lesson with a twist. If you don't use Photoshop, give it a try anyway. Number 2 is also funny (in the same way, so that's assuming you thought the first one was funny) but NOTE: a curse or two.

"Do blacks actually spend more on consumerist indulgences than whites?" The inspiration for this piece is Bill Cosby's criticism of black people buying expensive sneakers but what immediately came to mind was the Chris Rock bit on buying fancy rims for your car. The short version is that people keep up with (and try to impress) the Joneses as part of human nature but if you're not living next to any Joneses and instead you have the more wealthy Smiths for neighbors, the Smiths are so far out of your league that you don't try to compete or impress them and therefore you spend less on conspicuous "signals" of wealth.

"As of November, Countrywide was the second largest online advertiser spending a whopping $57.6 million on online advertising, according to Nielsen/Netratings." I've seen seeing the CNBC breaking news banner about Bank of America getting ready to buy Countrywide for what seems like two days now but the significance to me didn't resonate until I read this piece. It's a good illustration of how bad financial news can cascade through the economy.

At the rate people are dropping out of the primary races this game may be obsolete soon. I thought it was just a silly video about the candidates doing Kung Fu but the video is actually an introduction (which you can skip when it gets annoying) to a Street Fighter style game.

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Comments

Sorry, but I don't get why you find it unacceptable to turn off advert TVs at an electronic event, but you find it acceptable at a bar where people went there specifically to watch the game?
This really is a nerd blog!

Kate, Calgary (Sent Friday, January 11, 2008 5:11 PM)

It's pretty arrogant, selfish, and rude for one individual to walk into a public establishment and unilaterally decide to turn off all the TVs just because he or she would personally prefer conversation over TV viewing.  You suggest that the TVs are "infringing upon what should be a social situation"; but, by definition, a "social situation" involves the mutual consent of everyone present.  No single patron has the right to impose his or her own notion of what a "social situation" ought to be on every other patron.  Some people actually like going to sports bars so they can watch televised sporting events in a social atmosphere.  They certainly don't see the TV as "infringing upon what should be a social situation" -- they consider it an integral part of that social situation.  By using a universal remote to kill all the TVs without getting everyone else's permission first, you are the one who is "infringing upon" everyone else's "social situation".  You are also violating the rights of the owners of the establishment to control the TVs in their place of business (and if they catch you, you may find yourself being tossed out and banned from ever returning).  I guarantee, if TVs were bad for business, the owners wouldn't have them in the first place.  The TVs are on because the owners know that most of their customers want them on.  If you don't like people watching TV in bars, then you ought to find yourself a bar that doesn't have TVs.  But, if you're going to visit a bar that has TVs, you have no right to impose your own preferences on everybody else.  Have some respect for the owners and the other patrons of the establishment, and leave the universal TV killer at home.

Greg, Athens, AL (Sent Friday, January 11, 2008 9:03 PM)

I wanted to comment on the octopus with the Mr. Potato Head.  Never before have I deemed and octopus "cute" until now.  I think it is absolutely darling that Louis enjoys playing with his toy, and the fact that he uses the storage compartment to store bits of food is fascinating.  I couldn't help but wonder if he rearranges Mr. Potato Head's features as part of his play.

Gillian, Madison (Sent Saturday, January 12, 2008 7:26 AM)

I found the article about conspicuous consumption very interesting, particularly when you pair it with the article about the happiest places on earth.  As I remember in that article people in one of the northern European countries were supposedly happier because they made an effort not to exhibit their wealth.  In that society it was considered rude to make someone feel they had less worth.  I wonder if it really is human nature to “keep up with the Jones’s” or the result of a consumer society.  

Heather (Sent Saturday, January 12, 2008 12:41 PM)

I found the Conspicuous Consumption and Race article very interesting in the data it offered (though I'm unimpressed as to the author's theories on cause).

We've heard constant complaints in this political season about how po' blacks just can't pay their doctor's bills and can't save enough to send their kids to college.

Well now we know why: blacks spend up to 30% more than whites on useless visible goods, wealth signals they are called, such as jewelry, sneakers and clothes.

30% is a LOT!! Instead of trying to blame the white man for all their woes, blacks need to start looking hard at their own bad behavior.

Bill Cosby is right.

Emma Morrow, Urbana, IL (Sent Sunday, January 13, 2008 11:45 AM)

The whole "I love bees" thing was the first arg I noticed.  Be sure and check out arg net ( http://www.argn.com/index.php ) when you are looking into the whole thing.

JR, Orlando, FL (Sent Sunday, January 13, 2008 10:13 PM)

The "How To Talk to Girls at Parties" is a short story nominated for a 2007 Hugo award, not an instructional article!  It's a good read for those who like speculative fiction, though.

MB (Sent Monday, January 14, 2008 7:55 AM)

MB, not knowing that before reading it made it a WAY more intriguing read.

Will Femia (Sent Monday, January 14, 2008 11:29 AM)

I realize that this isn't a political blog, but as an uninsured working Caucasian I can't let Ms. Morrow's remarks stand unchallenged. I assure you that my lack of insurance has nothing to do with my consumer habits. My clothes come from the consignment shop or the local ARC store, my television is an analog 20 inch screen, my jewelry from the Navajo flea market I am lucky enough to have access to.  

Race simply does not play into my lack of insurance. What does however is my employment with a small family
owned business with only 1 other employee, my age, and preexisting conditions. I would suggest that we look father into the issue of health insurance before jumping into any biased conclusions.  

ladytechie Farmington NM (Sent Monday, January 14, 2008 1:08 PM)

The article on fighting had some decent advice, the best of which is: practice.  The only knowledge that matters in a fight is the kind that gets hard-wired into your muscles and reflexes by tens of thousands of repetitions.  Thinking will get you killed.  

Jay - Blacksburg, Virginia (Sent Tuesday, January 15, 2008 8:54 AM)

In the interest of challenging people's remarks regarding health care...As a person who has just purchased health individually for myself and my wife I found the experience quite enlightening.  I found *insurance* reasonably priced.  The problem is that the cost of normal everyday health care is unreasonable.  I think this is mostly due to the unreasonable expectations of people in our society and to this idea most people have that someone else is responsible for their health care.  As Milton Friedman pointed out years ago, the best quality for the best price occurs when someone purchases a product/service for themselves with money that they earned.  Health care as a political issue is mostly BS.

KRW (Sent Tuesday, January 15, 2008 9:20 AM)



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