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33 34</head> 35 36<body> 37<div id="cell"> 38<a name="top" href="/#top"><div id="transparent"></div></a> 39<div id="whitespace"> </div> 40<div id="content"> 41 <div id="logo"><a href="/"><img src="/images/logo-fimoc.png" width="340" height="78" alt="Fimoculous.com"></a></div> 42 43 44 <div class="post"> 45 46 <div class="tags"> 47 48 <a href="/archive/cat/internal/">internal</a> 49 50 </div> 51 52 <div class="datebox"> 53 saturday 54 <div class="comment-number">0 comments</div> 55 </div> 56 <h1><a href="/archive/post-7204.cfm" title="Encyclopedia of Misinformation">Encyclopedia of Misinformation</a></h1> 57 <p><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Encyclopedia-Misinformation-Counterfeits-Confabulations-Miscellaneous/dp/141972911X/ref=nosim/fimoculouscom-20/"><img height="434" width="340" src="https://www.fimoculous.com/images/misinfo-cover.jpg" align="right" height="638" width="500" alt="misinfo" /></a>I have a book coming out at the end of this month! If you once enjoyed this blog, you will likely find <em><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Encyclopedia-Misinformation-Counterfeits-Confabulations-Miscellaneous/dp/141972911X/ref=nosim/fimoculouscom-20/">The Encyclopedia of Misinformation</a></em> a delight. It was influenced greatly by blog culture of early '00s.</p> 58 </div> 59 60 <div class="post"> 61 62 <div class="tags"> 63 64 <a href="/archive/cat/internal/">internal</a> 65 66 </div> 67 68 <div class="datebox"> 69 tuesday 70 <div class="comment-number">0 comments</div> 71 </div> 72 <h1><a href="/archive/post-7203.cfm" title="Netflix and Ch-Ch-Chilly">Netflix and Ch-Ch-Chilly</a></h1> 73 <p><p><a href="https://backchannel.com/the-internet-really-has-changed-everything-here-s-the-proof-928eaead18a8"><img src="https://www.fimoculous.com/images/boy-fishing.jpg" align="right" height="226" width="340" alt="Ice Fishing in Napoleon" /></a></p> 74<p><a href="https://backchannel.com/the-internet-really-has-changed-everything-here-s-the-proof-928eaead18a8"><b>Netflix and Ch-Ch-Chilly</b></a><br/> 75How have decades of mass media and technology changed us? I return to my hometown to find answers.<p></p> 76 </div> 77 78 <div class="post"> 79 80 <div class="tags"> 81 82 <a href="/archive/cat/internal/">internal</a> 83 84 </div> 85 86 <div class="datebox"> 87 wednesday 88 <div class="comment-number">4 comments</div> 89 </div> 90 <h1><a href="/archive/post-7202.cfm" title="Art Authenticity">Art Authenticity</a></h1> 91 <p><p><em>Oh good, the login to the CMS I wrote in 2001 still works!</em></p> 92 93<p>Just a note -- I have been doing a series on Medium about art authenticity in the age of the copy. Here are all the links in one place:</p> 94 95<hr style="width: 230px; margin: 20px 0 30px 150px;"/> 96 97<p><a href="https://medium.com/message/this-is-not-a-vermeer-67b752b150c0" target="_blank"><img src="https://www.fimoculous.com/images/girl.png" align="right" width="340" alt="Girl" /></a> 98 99<strong><a href="https://medium.com/message/this-is-not-a-vermeer-67b752b150c0" target="_blank">Part 1: This Is Not a Vermeer <sup>TM</sup></a></strong><br />Can anyone own a masterpiece? Five very dissimilar people share a common desire: To own a Vermeer.</p> 100 101<hr style="width: 230px; margin: 20px 0 30px 150px;"/> 102 103<p><a href="https://medium.com/message/uber-for-art-forgeries-2c9c8bf41608" target="_blank"><img src="https://d262ilb51hltx0.cloudfront.net/max/2000/1*auozMtphAegSNcbfx4JvmQ.gif" align="right" width="340" alt="Replicants" /></a> 104 105<strong><a href="https://medium.com/message/uber-for-art-forgeries-2c9c8bf41608" target="_blank">Part 2: Uber for Art Forgeries</a></strong><br />So you want to own a masterpiece? It's easy! In part two in this series about artistic authenticity, we explore how to score that painting you have always wanted. </p> 106 107<hr style="width: 230px; margin: 20px 0 30px 150px;"/> 108 109<p><a href="https://medium.com/message/forgeries-gone-wild-d9b4c195da5" target="_blank"><img src="https://d262ilb51hltx0.cloudfront.net/max/1000/1*zrn9_arMd2kBJ8zlFdeDnA.gif" align="right" width="340" alt="Fake" /></a> 110 111<strong><a href="https://medium.com/message/forgeries-gone-wild-d9b4c195da5" target="_blank">Part 3: Forgeries Gone Wild!</a></strong><br />How widespread is art forgery? Experts say it's wildly rampant. Is it time to reconsider the economy of images?</p> 112 113<hr style="width: 230px; margin: 20px 0 30px 150px;"/> 114 115<p><a href="https://medium.com/message/the-end-of-authentication-cbbfbcb0c49e" target="_blank"><img src="https://www.fimoculous.com/images/the-procuress-photoshop.png" align="right" width="340" alt="Procuress" /></a> 116 117<strong><a href="https://medium.com/message/the-end-of-authentication-cbbfbcb0c49e" target="_blank">Part 4: The End of Authentication</a></strong><br />Woo-hoo! You just discovered a Vermeer in your aunt�s basement. But who will verify if it is real? Maybe no one.</p> 118 119<hr style="width: 230px; margin: 20px 0 30px 150px;"/> 120 121<p><a href="https://medium.com/message/the-artist-the-thief-the-forger-and-her-lover-49dc3df79610" target="_blank"><img src="https://www.fimoculous.com/images/howtosteal1.jpg" align="right" width="340" alt="Steal" /></a> 122 123<strong><a href="https://medium.com/message/the-artist-the-thief-the-forger-and-her-lover-49dc3df79610" target="_blank">Part 5: The Artist, the Thief, the Forger, and Her Lover</a></strong><br />How did the <em>Mona Lisa</em> become famous? The biggest art heist of all time connects the forger and the thief.</p></p> 124 </div> 125 126 <div class="post"> 127 128 <div class="tags"> 129 130 <a href="/archive/cat/tv/">tv</a> 131 132 </div> 133 134 <div class="datebox"> 135 saturday 136 <div class="comment-number">0 comments</div> 137 </div> 138 <h1><a href="/archive/post-7201.cfm" title="VIEWSOURCE">VIEWSOURCE</a></h1> 139 <p>If you're looking for something new from me, I've started a new site called <a href="http://viewsource.tv/" target="_blank">VIEWSOURCE</a>, where I write about one piece of video every day.</p> 140 </div> 141 142 <div class="post"> 143 144 <div class="tags"> 145 146 <a href="/archive/cat/tv/">tv</a> 147 148 </div> 149 150 <div class="datebox"> 151 monday 152 <div class="comment-number">8 comments</div> 153 </div> 154 <h1><a href="/archive/post-7200.cfm" title="On Bullshit: The Newsroom">On Bullshit: The Newsroom</a></h1> 155 <p><p><img src="https://www.fimoculous.com/images/bullshit1.png" align="right" height="227" width="340" alt="bullshit" /></p> 156<p>We're now two episodes into <em>The Newsroom</em>, HBO's newest entry in chatter-inducing Sunday programming. <a href="http://www.metacritic.com/tv/the-newsroom">Reviews</a> of the show have been <a href="http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/television/2012/06/25/120625crte_television_nussbaum?currentPage=all">brutal</a>, but asking a media critic to judge this show is like asking a cannibal how his gallbladder tastes. Outside of media circles (amongst the vegans, to continue this overwrought metaphor), the show seems somewhat more widely appreciated.</p> 157 158<p>This phenomena fascinates me. We seem to have some sort of uncanny valley relationship to art. If we are extremely close to it -- if the subject matter is <em>about us</em> -- then it is very likely that we find the similarity ugly, a disfigured clone of ourselves. The entertainment landscape is littered with examples of subcultures (professions, geographies, lifestyles) disagreeing with how they are portrayed by mainstream art.<sup>1</sup> It makes you wonder: When does a subculture actually ever like art about itself?<sup>2</sup></p> 159 160<p>The anxiety in appreciating art about oneself probably involves some deep Lacanian mirror stage shit. Or maybe it's dormroom pop psych: We are apprehensive about the shortcuts that art must take. We don't enjoy having our subcultures portrayed because it reduces ideas down to sketches, people down to characters. Local significance loses to storyline, depth loses to drama.</p> 161 162<p><em>So duh</em>, of course we media people hate <em>The Newsroom</em>. It's characters don't act like our colleagues, it's fantasies aren't our realities. So what? Part of me wants to say, <em>fuck it, that's our problem, not Sorkin's</em>. But other times, I'm like, <em>wait, that's fucking bullshit</em>.</p> 163 164<p>I want to talk about the part that's bullshit.</p> 165 166<p>I worked in newsrooms for over 10 years, most of the time at websites attached to TV stations or networks. I've seen, and usually participated in, the creation of news around executions in Texas, riots in Seattle, hurricanes in Florida, and psychotic killing sprees in Virginia. </p> 167 168<p>What I offer here is not an artistic or moral assessment of <em>The Newsroom</em>. Despite having nuanced qualitative opinions about the show<sup>3</sup>, that's not what we'll be discussing here. Let's temporarily ignore the finer ethical and aesthetic points, which are usually finessed as blustery diatribes, and instead focus on what's believable.</p> 169 170<p>What's bullshit, and what's not?</p> 171 172<p><strong>That eruption from Will McAvoy in the first scene.</strong> Yeah, this is kinda bullshit. It's easy to imagine an Olbermann-like figure doing this (actually, that's <em>all</em> he did), but it's pretty unimaginable for a Brian Williams or a Katie Couric. Or maybe our hero is supposed to be more like Dylan Rattigan or Rachel Maddow? Actually, who knows! The way this show blurs the monolithic network anchor with the opinionated cable host is precisely the kind of fake construction that feels like bullshit. Or as <a href="http://www.colbertnation.com/">the greatest news anchor of our time</a> would say, a great moment of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Truthiness">truthiness</a>. </p> 173 174<p><strong>Having a blog.</strong> Not bullshit. Olbermann had one, Maddow has <a href="https://maddowblog.msnbc.msn.com/">one</a>, Brian Williams has <a href="https://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30622506/">a</a> <a href="https://dailynightly.msnbc.msn.com/">couple</a>, Tucker Carlson has <a href="http://dailycaller.com/">a whole goddamn site</a>.</p> 175 176<p><strong>Not knowing you have a blog.</strong> Complete bullshit. This portrait of social media ignorance would have been accurate 10 years ago, but television executives started to freak out about the internet a while ago. They've spent an immense amount of time catching up, so now they're better at Twitter than you.</p> 177 178<p><strong>
178Walking into a newsroom and yelling "Punjab" to the Southeast Asian character that you know isn't named Punjab.</strong> This would never happen, even if your name is Sean Hannity. Bullshit.</p> 179 180<p><strong>Calling out someone as a "sorority girl."</strong> Sensing we would deem this bullshit, <a href="http://gawker.com/5921033/aaron-sorkin-calls-female-reporter-internet-girl-is-a-condescending-prick/">Sorkin set out to prove it's not</a>.</p> 181 182<p><strong>Dating people you work with.</strong> Not bullshit. The only professionals who fuck each other more are actors.</p> 183 184<p><strong>Arguing with people you date while you're working.</strong> Not bullshit. The only professionals who argue with each other more are politicians.</p> 185 186<p><strong>The speech from an Executive Producer about fearing Halliburton and the lawsuit it would bring.</strong> Bullshit. I don't know a reporter who wouldn't love to catch Halliburton, Scientology, or whatever big scary corporate entity you name. The mere fact that <em>Time-Warner-owned HBO aired this scene</em> seems to completely undermine any truth it is seeking to reveal.</p> 187 188<p><strong>Hiring a new Executive Producer without telling the anchor.</strong> I would say this is bullshit, but I've recently heard a story similar to this. Judgement: perhaps not bullshit.</p> 189 190<p><strong>Running to your agent when the President of News hires an Executive Producer over the top of you.</strong> Yeah, they're prima donnas, so this could happen. Not necessarily bullshit.</p> 191 192<p><strong>The ongoing debate between popularity and quality.</strong> This would never be said aloud. However, it subliminally infuses every newsroom decision. Pseudo-bullshit.</p> 193 194<p><strong>Forgetting the name of your hot blonde assistant.</strong> If this show is actually modelled on Olbermann, then this is bullshit. He'd never forget that.</p> 195 196<p><strong>Having a President of News who is drunk "most of the time" at work.</strong> Being a heavy drinker can still be romanticized within some media circles (especially if you hang out with bloggers), but being regularly drunk at work would simply not be permitted any more, at any level. Drink up, that's bullshit. </p> 197 198<p><strong>Quoting <em>Don Quixote</em>.</strong> Bullshit.</p> 199 200<p><strong>Quoting <em>Man of La Mancha</em>.</strong> Epic bullshit, <em>fa la la la la</em>.</p> 201 202<p><strong>Vacationing in Saint Lucia with Erin Andrews.</strong> Questionable bullshit.</p> 203 204<p><strong>Figuring out the oil spill that quickly.</strong> This is probably the single most annoying thing in the first episodes. If you remember the evolution of the oil spill story, it took weeks for scientists to figure out what our Happy Band of Googlers sleuthed out in a few hours. Complete media fantasy bullshit. </p> 205 206<p><strong>An executive producer threatening an anchor with a fake on-air graphic seconds before going live.</strong> Reminiscent of both <em>Broadcast News</em> and <em>Network</em>, this nifty dramatic effect was as much bullshit then as it is now.</p> 207 208<p><strong>Not knowing where your control room is.</strong> Crazy bullshit. </p> 209 210<p><strong>FOX News hiring someone with three Mohammeds in his name.</strong> Pass.</p> 211 212<p><strong>Sending an email that accidentally goes to 178,000 people.</strong> Yep, bullshit. Of course email groups like that exist, but they were introduced to corporations 10 years ago, not last year. So not only does everyone know how they work, but we all also know that not everyone has access to email all those lists. A reply-all snafu would have been less bullshitty.</p> 213 214<p><strong>A fluff newsreader with a PhD in Economics from Duke and an adjunct professor at Columbia.</strong> Sure, this is supposed to be Erin Burnett, but still bullshit! She's barely old enough to have a PhD.</p> 215 216<p><strong>The Three I's.</strong> That kind of bullshit would actually happen, so it's not bullshit.</p> 217 218<p><strong>Minutes after delivering the sanctimonious Three I's, commenting on a reporters legs.</strong> B-------.</p> 219 220<p><strong>The organization of this network.</strong> This is one of the more perplexing elements of the show. ACN is apparently a 24-hour cable news outlet, but this show gets the network treatment. Cable newsrooms are much more fluid than this show suggests, with more interaction of programming and personnel between shows. </p> 221 222<p><strong>Hiding under a bed while your date fucks his ex-girlfriend.</strong> I have less expertise on this matter, so I'll let you call this one.</p> 223 224<p>So?</p> 225 226<p>Correlating quality with verisimilitude is always a dicey proposition<sup>4</sup>. But when a show places itself into history with real news events, and within a professional industry whose mandate is exposing truth, <em>The Newsroom</em> must be aware that it has put itself under the lens of realism's scrutiny. </p> 227 228<p><em>The Newsroom</em> rubs so close to reality that it makes you wonder how Will McAvoy would feel about it. After a long walk, some nifty orchestration, and a verbose conclusion, he'd enter his closing judgement into the chryon: It's bullshit.</p> 229 230<p><b>Footnotes</b></p> 231 232<p><sup>1</sup>
232 For example, I lived in Fargo when the movie <em>Fargo</em> came out. To this day, the city has an extremely antagonistic relationship toward their portrayal as noble unsavages with snowboots. <br/> 233<sup>2</sup> The answer? Lawyers always love seeing themselves.<br/> 234<sup>3</sup> It's bullshit.<br/> 235<sup>4</sup> Didn't those dragons in <em>Game of Thrones</em> grow up just a little too quickly?<br/></p></p> 236 </div> 237 238 <div class="post"> 239 240 <div class="tags"> 241 242 <a href="/archive/cat/ads/">ads</a> 243 244 </div> 245 246 <div class="datebox"> 247 saturday 248 <div class="comment-number">1 comment</div> 249 </div> 250 <h1><a href="/archive/post-7199.cfm" title="Ad Tracking Present">Ad Tracking Present</a></h1> 251 <p><a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2012/02/im-being-followed-how-google-and-104-other-companies-are-tracking-me-on-the-web/253758/" target="_blank">I'm Being Followed: How Google -- and 104 Other Companies -- Are Tracking Me on the Web</a>. Just read it. It's great.</p> 252 </div> 253 254 <div class="post"> 255 256 <div class="tags"> 257 258 <a href="/archive/cat/film/">film</a> 259 260 </div> 261 262 <div class="datebox"> 263 wednesday 264 <div class="comment-number">1 comment</div> 265 </div> 266 <h1><a href="/archive/post-7198.cfm" title="TED Talk from 2023">TED Talk from 2023</a></h1> 267 <p>This make-believe TED Talk from 2023, done in conjuncture with Ridley Scott's new film <a href="http://www.prometheus-movie.com/" target="_blank"><em>Prometheus</em></a>, reminds me of <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQDBhg60UNI" target="_blank">EPIC</a>. 268<object width='524' height='374'><param name='movie' value='http://video.ted.com/assets/player/swf/EmbedPlayer.swf'></param><param name='allowFullScreen' value='true' /><param name='wmode' value='transparent'></param><param name='bgColor' value='#ffffff'></param><param name='flashvars' value='vu=http://video.ted.com/talks/ads/postrolls/Prometheus/Prometheus-450k.mp4&su=http://images.ted.com/images/ted/tedindex/embed-posters/Prometheus-TED-embed.jpg&vw=512&vh=288&ap=0'/><embed src='http://video.ted.com/assets/player/swf/EmbedPlayer.swf' pluginspace='http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer' type='application/x-shockwave-flash' wmode='transparent' bgColor='#ffffff' width='524' height='374' allowFullScreen='true' flashvars='vu=http://video.ted.com/talks/ads/postrolls/Prometheus/Prometheus-450k.mp4&su=http://images.ted.com/images/ted/tedindex/embed-posters/Prometheus-TED-embed.jpg&vw=512&vh=288&ap=0'></embed></object> 269<p><a href="http://blog.ted.com/2012/02/28/writing-a-tedtalk-from-the-future-q-a-with-damon-lindelof/" target="_blank">More info</a>.</p></p> 270 </div> 271 272 <div class="post"> 273 274 <div class="tags"> 275 276 <a href="/archive/cat/online/">online</a> 277 278 </div> 279 280 <div class="datebox"> 281 tuesday 282 <div class="comment-number">0 comments</div> 283 </div> 284 <h1><a href="/archive/post-7197.cfm" title="The Future is the Pseudo-Algrorithm">The Future is the Pseudo-Algrorithm</a></h1> 285 <p>Compare: <a href="http://gawker.com/5887697/how-i-found-the-human-being-behind-horseebooks-the-internets-favorite-spambot" target="_blank">Gawker's story</a> about <a href="https://twitter.com/#!/horse_ebooks" target="_blank">Horse_ebooks</a> and <a href="https://shortformblog.tumblr.com/post/18230584617/youtube-reply-girls-seo" target="_blank">Shortformblog's story</a> about <a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/MeganSpeaks" target="_blank">reply girls</a>. Once again, spammers are ahead of the curve in predicting the future of the internets: <strong><em>The Pseudo-Algorithmic Human!</em></strong></p> 286 </div> 287 288 <div class="post"> 289 290 <div class="tags"> 291 292 <a href="/archive/cat/design/">design</a> 293 294 </div> 295 296 <div class="datebox"> 297 friday 298 <div class="comment-number">2 comments</div> 299 </div> 300 <h1><a href="/archive/post-7196.cfm" title="When We Build">When We Build</a></h1> 301 <p>This is from a couple months ago, but I just found it now, and it's amazing: 302<p><a href="https://vimeo.com/34017777">Wilson Miner - When We Build</a></p> 303<p><iframe src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/34017777?title=0&byline=0&portrait=0" width="400" height="225" frameborder="0" webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen allowFullScreen></iframe></p></p> 304 </div> 305 306 <div class="post"> 307 308 <div class="tags"> 309 310 <a href="/archive/cat/tv/">tv</a> 311 312 </div> 313 314 <div class="datebox"> 315 monday 316 <div class="comment-number">10 comments</div> 317 </div> 318 <h1><a href="/archive/post-7195.cfm" title="Maybe Panther Town">Maybe Panther Town</a></h1> 319 <p>In a recent episode of the WTF podcast, <a href="http://www.wtfpod.com/podcast/episodes/episode_252_-_bill_lawrence" target="_blank">Bill Lawrence</a> (the creator of <em>Scrubs</em>, <em>Cougar Town</em>, and <em>Spin City</em>) talks about how he hates the name of his show <em>Cougar Town</em> so much that he considered changing it this season. One of the main reasons he didn't is that DVRs aren't equipped to understand a name change, so the show would essentially lose any audie
319nce that had a season pass in TiVo. 320 321<p>Anyway, it got me thinking: Has there ever been a successful show that changed its name?</p></p> 322 </div> 323 324 <div class="post"> 325 326 <div class="tags"> 327 328 <a href="/archive/cat/music/">music</a> 329 330 </div> 331 332 <div class="datebox"> 333 monday 334 <div class="comment-number">1 comment</div> 335 </div> 336 <h1><a href="/archive/post-7194.cfm" title="I Will Always Google You">I Will Always Google You</a></h1> 337 <p>The weird personal thing for me about this clip of Chris Cornell performing "I Will Always Love You" is that I found it playing around with the YouTube app on my GoogleTV. 338<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/vgFAq9Q8l8U" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></p> 339 </div> 340 341 <div class="post"> 342 343 <div class="tags"> 344 345 <a href="/archive/cat/tshirts/">tshirts</a> 346 347 </div> 348 349 <div class="datebox"> 350 sunday 351 <div class="comment-number">0 comments</div> 352 </div> 353 <h1><a href="/archive/post-7193.cfm" title="Startup Threads Monthly">Startup Threads Monthly</a></h1> 354 <p>Remember <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2006/05/04/get-web-20-schwag-from-valleyschwag/" target="_blank">Valleyschwag</a>, the site that sent you a monthly package of promotional material from hot startups? The idea is back with <a href="https://www.startupthreadsmonthly.com/" target="_blank">Startup Threads Monthly</a>, which sends you a monthly t-shirt from a startup. So far, it has included Boxee, Twilio, Reddit, and BreadPig.</p> 355 </div> 356 357 <div class="post"> 358 359 <div class="tags"> 360 361 <a href="/archive/cat/online/">online</a> 362 363 </div> 364 365 <div class="datebox"> 366 friday 367 <div class="comment-number">1 comment</div> 368 </div> 369 <h1><a href="/archive/post-7192.cfm" title="The Game Is Rigged">The Game Is Rigged</a></h1> 370 <p>Rick says a bunch of interesting things in <a href="http://www.betabeat.com/2012/02/14/friends-investing-in-friends-when-it-comes-to-startups-is-the-fix-already-in/" target="_blank">his new column</a> about whether you need to a be highly networked individual to succeed online. I especially relish how he ties geography into the conversation, alluding to a midwestern startup. 371 372<blockquote>And many, many more hyper-social New Yorkers and San Franciscans make successful startups than antisocial Midwesterners. Or even antisocial New Yorkers. These are things you can control. You can move to San Francisco. Better yet, you can move to New York. You can go to meetups. You can go to conferences. You can email investors. You can go to classes at General Assembly. It's in your control. Or, you can stay at home in the Midwest, reading TechCrunch and talking about how it's all rigged and an insider�s game.</blockquote> 373 374<p>This will frustrate my friends in Minneapolis -- those dozens of startups trying to compete at <a href="http://cocomsp.com/" target="_blank">CoCo</a> and other places. They're trying to create their own scene right now. Creative acts are becoming increasingly dependent on groups of people. Being part of a "sce
374ne" in music was undeniably important in the '80s and '90s, but now it's become as true for fashion, technology, theater, and nearly all creative arts.</p> 375 376<p>It's an interesting dilemma building a company in the midwest: Your success is as much a factor of your peers' success -- the community's success -- as it is the brilliance and execution of your idea.</p></p> 377 </div> 378 379 <div class="post"> 380 381 <div class="tags"> 382 383 <a href="/archive/cat/tech/">tech</a> 384 385 </div> 386 387 <div class="datebox"> 388 friday 389 <div class="comment-number">0 comments</div> 390 </div> 391 <h1><a href="/archive/post-7191.cfm" title="All This Talk of Cookies Is Making Me Hungry">All This Talk of Cookies Is Making Me Hungry</a></h1> 392 <p><a href="http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB10001424052970204880404577225380456599176-lMyQjAxMTAyMDEwNjExNDYyWj.html#project%3DSAFARITRACKINGCODE0212%26articleTabs%3Dinteractive" target="_blank">Most detailed code-driven infographic in the mainstream press ever?</a></p> 393 </div> 394 395 <div class="post"> 396 397 <div class="tags"> 398 399 <a href="/archive/cat/games/">games</a> 400 401 </div> 402 403 <div class="datebox"> 404 thursday 405 <div class="comment-number">0 comments</div> 406 </div> 407 <h1><a href="/archive/post-7190.cfm" title="Martin Amis' Guide to Games">Martin Amis' Guide to Games</a></h1> 408 <p><a href="http://www.themillions.com/2012/02/the-arcades-project-martin-amis-guide-to-classic-video-games.html" target="_blank">Martin Amis wrote a guide to Space Invaders in the '80s</a>.</p> 409 </div> 410 411 <div class="post"> 412 413 <div class="tags"> 414 415 <a href="/archive/cat/film/">film</a> 416 417 </div> 418 419 <div class="datebox"> 420 wednesday 421 <div class="comment-number">0 comments</div> 422 </div> 423 <h1><a href="/archive/post-7189.cfm" title="The Black Rainbow Trailer">The Black Rainbow Trailer</a></h1> 424 <p>A creepy sci-fi flick set in the past: 425<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/nWF0bBKhe6o" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></p> 426 </div> 427 428 <div class="post"> 429 430 <div class="tags"> 431 432 <a href="/archive/cat/film/">film</a> 433 434 </div> 435 436 <div class="datebox"> 437 tuesday 438 <div class="comment-number">1 comment</div> 439 </div> 440 <h1><a href="/archive/post-7188.cfm" title="Requiem for a Dream performed by Muppets">Requiem for a Dream performed by Muppets</a></h1> 441 <p>This is why they made the internet: 442<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/sftQ3Lw2Psw?fs=1&feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></p> 443 </div> 444 445 <div class="post"> 446 447 <div class="tags"> 448 449 <a href="/archive/cat/media/">media</a> 450 451 </div> 452 453 <div class="datebox"> 454 monday 455 <div class="comment-number">0 comments</div> 456 </div> 457 <h1><a href="/archive/post-7187.cfm" title="Rookie Audience">Rookie Audience</a></h1> 458 <p>I don't think I've ever worked with anyone who understands their audience more than <a href="http://rookiemag.com/" target="_blank">Tavi</a>. Here's <a href="http://www.wbez.org/blog/claire-zulkey/2012-02-10/tavi-gevinson-interview-96269" target="_blank">a new interview</a> where she describes who <a href="http://rookiemag.com/" target="_blank">Rookie</a> is for: 459 460<blockquote>I keep just describing it as a "website for teenage girls," because I like to think it's not too niche, and I don't want to alienate anyone by saying it's for alternative girls or artsy girls or anything. At the same time, I mean, we don't speak for every girl, but we try to encourage girls to speak for themselves. Mostly we just try to avoid being condescending or making anyone feel like there's something wrong with them that they should be worrying about if they're not already. Or like we're teaching anyone how to be cool. I want people to know that they're already cool. Whatever they're into, that is enough.</blockquote> 461</p> 462 </div> 463 464 <div class="post"> 465 466 <div class="tags"> 467 468 <a href="/archive/cat/online/">online</a> 469 470 </div> 471 472 <div class="datebox"> 473 monday 474 <div class="comment-number">4 comments</div> 475 </div> 476 <h1><a href="/archive/post-7186.cfm" title="Gamification of the Web">Gamification of the Web</a></h1> 477 <p>Opposing visions of the gamification of the web from this morning: 478<br/><br/> 479<a href="http://techcrunch.com/2012/02/12/no-longer-an-awkward-teenager-gamification-grows-up/" target="_blank">Joseph Puopolo on Techcrunch</a>: 480 481<blockquote>Gamification has become one of the hottest buzz words in the industry and is probably in the process of taking over a website or user experience near you.</blockquote> 482 483<p><a href="http://hello.typepad.com/hello/2012/02/gamification.html" target="_blank">David Jacobs on his blog</a>:</p> 484 485<blockquote>I surveyed the community services I frequent -- Metafilter, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Flickr, Mlkshk, Mixel. These services do present goals to their users and they have crafted a user experience that nudges them towards those goals
485-- but they do it without points, ranks and the other mechanisms and patterns advertised in the Techcrunch post above.... At some point people are going to wake up to the fact that the gamification industry is a scam. </blockquote> 486 487<p>For sure, "visualizing success" is a major component of social sites, but there are still scant examples of successful sites with more game-like components like leaderboards and badges, despite the <a href="http://www.badgeville.com/" target="_blank">rampant</a> <a href="http://www.bigdoor.com/" target="_blank">startup</a> <a href="http://www.bunchball.com/" target="_blank">growth</a>.</p></p> 488 </div> 489 490 <div class="post"> 491 492 <div class="tags"> 493 494 <a href="/archive/cat/msp/">msp</a> 495 496 </div> 497 498 <div class="datebox"> 499 monday 500 <div class="comment-number">1 comment</div> 501 </div> 502 <h1><a href="/archive/post-7185.cfm" title="Dan Wilson: Hit Man">Dan Wilson: Hit Man</a></h1> 503 <p>I was <a href="https://twitter.com/#!/fimoculous/status/168868667638034434" target="_blank">surprised</a> to find out last night that Dan Wilson co-wrote Adele's "Someone Like You." If you're from the Upper Midwest, you immediately thought of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trip_Shakespeare" target="_blank">Trip Shakespeare</a>. Outside of that, the name might not sound familiar, though you definitely know <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xGytDsqkQY8" target="_blank">"Closing Time,"</a> the 1998 omnipresent hit from his band Semisonic. According to <a href="http://www.startribune.com/entertainment/music/139057949.html?page=all" target="_blank">a profile</a> in today's <em>Star-Tribune</em>, Rick Rubin brought him in to write with Adele. 504<blockquote>Wilson said the session commenced with Adele playing some YouTube clips of rockabilly queen Wanda Jackson, her latest favorite. "Then I went to the piano and she played guitar and we launched into writing. It was very natural and low-key. 505<br/><br/> 506"She told me she had this terrible big breakup and it was all she could think about. She had the first four or five lines [of lyrics] and a melody, and she sang the verse." 507<br/><br/> 508Wilson then played the song on piano, embellishing it with big, classical chords. "She said, 'That's way more inspiring.' Things started to move quickly, and by mid-afternoon, we started recording."</blockquote> 509<p>Take THAT, <a href="https://www.fimoculous.com/archive/post-7180.cfm">science</a>.</p></p> 510 </div> 511 512</div> 513 514<div id="search"> 515 <form action="https://www.google.com/search" method="get" name="searchform" id="searchform" onsubmit="this.q.value='site:fimoculous.com '+this.q.value"> 516 <input type="text" name="q" size="15" class="searchbox" /> 517 <input type="submit" value="Search" class="searchbutton" /> 518 </form> 519</div> 520<div id="footer"> 521 <div id="footer-content"> 522 <h1><span class="firstletter">R</span>ex <span class="firstletter">S</span>orgatz</h1> 523 <p><a href="http://kindasortamedia.com/">Company</a> <img src="/images/dot.png" alt="" width="5" height="5" hspace="0" vspace="2" border="0"> <a href="https://fimoculous.tumblr.com/">Tumblr</a> <img src="/images/dot.png" alt="" width="5" height="5" hspace="0" vspace="2" border="0"> <a href="http://vyou.com/rexsorgatz">VYou</a> <img src="/images/dot.png" alt="" width="5" height="5" hspace="0" vspace="2" border="0"> <a href="https://twitter.com/fimoculous">Twitter</a> <img src="/images/dot.png" alt="" width="5" height="5" hspace="0" vspace="2" border="0"> <a href="https://plus.google.com/113068441549452664746/posts">Google+</a> <br/> <a href="https://www.facebook.com/rexsorgatz">Facebook</a> <img src="/images/dot.png" alt="" width="5" height="5" hspace="0" vspace="2" border="0"> <a href="http://statigr.am/rexsorgatz">Instagram</a> <img src="/images/dot.png" alt="" width="5" height="5" hspace="0" vspace="2" border="0"> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/fimoculous/">Flickr</a> <img src="/images/dot.png" alt="" width="5" height="5" hspace="0" vspace="2" border="0"> <a href="http://amazon.com/o/registry/3KKN9EH42V9T4/">Amazon</a> <img src="/images/dot.png" alt="" width="5" height="5" hspace="0" vspace="2" border="0"> <a href="http://foursquare.com/fimoculous">Foursquare</a></p> 524 <p><a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#e597809da5838c888a8690898a9096cb868a88da9690878f808691d8a38c888a8690898a9096c3878a819cd8bc8a9097c0d7d587898a82c0d7d58c96c0d7d581908887cb"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="a1d3c4d9e1c7c8cccec2d4cdced4d28fc2cecc">[email protected]</span></a></p> 525 <p>
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