Of blogs and catching flies

mrharvey, Columbia, SC — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 20:23:15 GMT

Will,
I actually haven't been by the blog for a while (my old PC crashed and I lost my bookmarks). But I'm glad I found it again.

About the MoveOn ad, that seems pretty ridiculous to me. I mean, we have a volunteer army, why would she tell McCain not to take her baby? I want the war to be over as much as anyone, but this seems like they are exploiting a baby to knock McCain.

Re-adding clicked to my bookmarks now.

Of blogs and catching flies

Dan, New York, NY — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 21:47:39 GMT

Interesting post on Hulu. Thanks for the link.

Hulu is one of those sites that I find myself promoting to everyone I know, as if I'm getting residuals for each person I sign up. It's just a well done site, and puts me a little bit closer to canceling my cable TV (since I pretty much only watch Hulu and Netflix these days).

Also, no mention of Firefox download day? I'm not going to speculate . . .

Of blogs and catching flies

Mike - Chaska MN — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 21:54:52 GMT

Re - math universe. Coincidentally, the web comic XKCD recently made a similar point about the relationship between mathematics and all of the other sciences. http://xkcd.com/435/

Of blogs and catching flies

KRW — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 00:04:36 GMT

MoveOn ad was ridiculous, but also typical of much of the way debate gets infused with irrelevant emotion. Frame the issue in a context that doesn't exist, then argue that. Why not a ad with a pregnant woman asking Obama not to abort her baby? Granted different, but then again some would say not.

As for knowing the actress, I noticed something similar. Not sure what the ad is but Sally Field is in some commercial, implicitly portraying herself and she refers to her "grandkids" who are running around in the background. However, they're not really hers, just child actors. Which is no big deal but it's kind of odd when you know who the person is and she seems to be playing on her identity and folksiness. I had a friend who used to do "I quit smoking" commercials and he never smoked a day in his life. On the one hand, you know that's just how it works, but on the other, when you actually know the person (and it's more personal than just a coke/pepsi/tide/cheer kind of product) it just seems kind of weird.

Of blogs and catching flies

Liz H., Madison, AL — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 00:08:31 GMT

Coke salad is absolutely yummy. It's been a holiday tradition in my family for as long as I can remember.

Of blogs and catching flies

Will Femia — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 02:27:53 GMT

Dan, nothing nefarious about not mentioning Firefox Day. I'm pretty sure I've mentioned in Clicked a few times that I've been using Firefox as my principal browser since Flash started making IE7 crap out and doesn't offer that infinitely welcome "restore session" option Firefox has. The real reason I didn't mention it is that I don't believe it - or maybe I just don't get it. When Microsoft does a massive roll out of an update or a patch or something, surely they reach more people. I'm pretty sure they do it as a rolling thing, not all at once, but still, the idea that Firefox is somehow offering more downloads than anyone else could seems bogus to me. How many downloads does iTunes offer in a day? What am I missing that makes the Firefox stat significant?

Of blogs and catching flies

Will Femia — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 02:30:58 GMT

Liz, when I mentioned the recipe to co-workers, once of the first replies I got was a sarcastic, "Gee, I wonder which side of the Mason Dixon line that one comes from." So it's funny to note your in response to that item. (And, for that matter, my own ignorance of the dish, being a born and bred northerner whose only real southern experience is Florida - which may or may not be a southern state depending on who you ask and where you go.)

Of blogs and catching flies

Greg, Athens, AL — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 08:08:05 GMT

Hey Wilma -- and yes I plan to call you that from now on :-)

I guess I was wrong about the office freakout video. Apparently I just don't understand viral marketing (or the lengths some people will go to just to play an internet hoax).

And, although I live only a few miles from Liz, this is the first time I've ever heard of Coke salad. But it does sound like the sort of dish that you'd find around these parts. I'm surprised that I haven't encountered it before. I'd love to try some.

Of blogs and catching flies

Wed, 18 Jun 2008 16:45:07 GMT

Re: Office Freak Out/Viral Video for Wanted.

Um, what? How the **** does that make any sense? What does the video have to do with the movie?

I think the article you linked to said it the best:
"I find it all kind of funny -- mostly because I don't really get the point of viral marketing so unrelated to your film that you have to explain it on your personal blog."

Seriously, the director could have just said "The Aristocrats!" and it would have made more sense than saying "Watch my movie, 'Wanted'."

To tell you the truth, I am now going to download the movie and watch it illegally just so my money doesn't go to people like this (kind of like I do whenever a movie I want to watch has a Scientologist in it)

Of blogs and catching flies

Brent Mohrman, Flint, Mi — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 18:20:13 GMT

Re: the moveon.org add. The mother can say what ever she wants. When the kid is 18 and he feels patriotic like I did at 18 and wants to join the military, there isn a damn thing she can do about it. Same goes for Cindy Shehan. Yes. Its tragic that her son died over there. But she didnt send him. He chose to enlist in the military who's sole purpose is war and death and the possibility of dieing for your country.

Of blogs and catching flies

Steve, AR — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 22:24:55 GMT

Brent, thank you for your service.

Of blogs and catching flies

joanie boise Idaho — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 22:25:24 GMT

What do you want????? I have answered all the questiones you have asked. I want to hear from the Girls. Love Grandma Joanie and Grandpa Ted.

Of blogs and catching flies

Barbara Virginia Beach, VA — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 02:48:28 GMT

I just watched 'Wanted' last night, and for the life of me, I can't see how that office working having a meltdown in the office clip is a lead in to the movie. The relationship is tenuous, at best, but not exactly something that should be used in relation to the movie, in my opinion.

Of blogs and catching flies

Joan, Canada — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 00:47:01 GMT

At least Youtube is available outside of the states. Unfortunately, Hulu is not. Joan, Canada