A random thought

alternateorg on March 1, 2001

It occurs to me that the movie “eyes wide shut”, about a secret society whose members- all of privilege and wealth- gather to engage in ritualistic nihilism and (sometimes violently) defend their organization from both scrutiny and infiltration, was stanley kubrik’s last great joke on us all.

With it being in the news lately, it recently wandered through the dusty field that is my brain that he managed to recruit two of the biggest stars in the world to star in a movie that, while based on a short story that surely didn’t intend to do so,  perfectly depicts the money-based faith corporation that is Scientology.

And he got Tom Cruise to come on TV after Kubrick passed away and defend the
picture’s
artistic statement.

Fuckin’ beautiful.

The choice of a GNU generation?

alternateorg on March 1, 2001

Uhm. I thought this was a joke. And it is… but it’s really funny. It’s an open-source soft drink called OpenCola. And I heard Microsoft used cocaine in Windows 1.0 in order to get you to keep using it.

Maintaining the iMac's girlish figure

alternateorg on March 1, 2001

An interesting and insightful view (scroll down to the bottom) on Apple’s limb-going-out-on new iMac cases:


Salomon Smith Barney analyst Richard Gardner doesn’t get it either. “We are concerned that these bold new patterns will appeal to a limited audience at a time when Apple needs to broaden its appeal.”

That “limited audience” of 8 to 17 year-olds, perhaps heavily female, just happens to be the future. And the future of the PC is what Apple seems to be wisely staying focused on.

Jesus Missles

alternateorg on March 1, 2001

MSNBC has been hacked. Pretty good job. Link via MetaFilter.


“For too long, military planners have been denied the use of the supernatural in attempting to protect American citizens from attack,” Bush declared today in a speech to the National Association of Amateur Submarine Captains. “There is no reason why we cannot maintain a healthy separation of church and state while still calling on divine intervention for the Pentagon budget.

Heh. Here’s a screenshot (105k) of it, if they take it down.

Its Almost Spring and Family Trees are Blossoming

alternateorg on February 27, 2001

The Mormon Church has just released the bank records of thousands of people freed just after the Civil War. I find this to be really interesting because it opens the window for millions of Americans to look back at their geneology, which may have been shrouded in a haze. The entire database is available really inexpensively as well, which makes this all the more valuable. This really peaked my interest because about a month ago my parents sent me a huge book tracing my own family tree. Although no one was famous, its still really interesting.

I’m just curious why the Mormon Church undertook this enormous effort, they seem to have no real relation to the issue at hand. I think it is a really noble thing to do though.

Hold on, I need to make a right turn from the left lane because I just saw that Container Store billboard

alternateorg on February 27, 2001

How come internet advertising is based on click-thrus? Seriously. I don’t understand it. For 100 years, advertising has been totally (well, kind of) passive: the ad sits in the magazine, hoping you will look at it, and after seeing similar ads a number of times, you will consider purchasing the product contained therein. Right? So how come online advertising is so obsessed with click-thru rates? I don’t have to throw a rock at a billboard every time I see it, so the advertisers know I saw that ad. So why do I have to click a banner in order for that ad to be considered effective?

If I’m driving down the highway (again) and I see an ad for the Container Store, the advertisers don’t expect to me to all of a sudden immediately take the next exit and head toward the nearest Container Store, do they? So why do they expect that if I’m reading news or checking out designsites or shopping for music online, I’ll be willing to immediately stop what I’m doing, click the flashing banner at the top of the page, and totally redirect my activities, just because I saw a banner? That’s ridiculous. One rule of advertising is that the best you can hope for is that the consumer will think of you strongly enough when they next need/want a product that fits the description of yours, not that they’ll go out and buy in droves the second they first see your ad. That simply isn’t going to happen, offline or on, bigger ads or smaller ones:


Web sites have been looking for ways to become more attractive to advertisers, who have been disappointed with response rates to Internet banner ads.

The bulked-up Web ads will take up much more space on a Web page than current banner ads, which typically run across a narrow section at the top of a page — 234-by-60 pixels for a half banner or 468-by-40 pixels for a full banner.

The larger units include a square pop up that is 250-by-250 pixels and a so-called “skyscraper unit” that measures 120-by-600 pixels. Larger ads will also allow marketers to make their online message more creative and more interactive.

Link via SVN.

Now, ads for The Gap I wouldn't mind (they're in NYC every block, too)

alternateorg on February 26, 2001

From WireNews


For example, you’re sitting in a taxi traveling up 6th Avenue when the cab passes by a Starbucks. Suddenly, your cell phone rings. Starbucks is offering you a 50-cent discount on a Mochaccino if you come in right away. But in a recent cab ride through the Big Apple, Catlett said he noticed there is a Starbucks every two or three blocks.

Right. So I’d get to PAY by the minute for ads to be CALLED INTO MY PHONE? Wonder-fucking-ful. And what if you LIVE right next to a Starbucks? What then? Why can’t marketers and advertisers just, for once, leave something alone? I mean cell phones are pretty intimate.. far too personal for it to be acceptable to be called like this. I was reading tech news from Yahoo! wirelessly in a cafe at lunch today, and I actually could pay attention to the story. You know why? There’s not banner ads yet in the wireless internet. If I get any coupons called to me, I’m going to flip out..

Now this here, this is Chewbaca…

alternateorg on February 26, 2001

From WiredNews:


Edwards asked Minear whether it would violate antitrust laws if Microsoft used its connections “to destroy a grocery chain.” Minear said there would be no violation because Microsoft “doesn’t have a monopoly in the grocery market.”

Edwards then likened Netscape to the grocery store, saying the company did not consider itself a challenge to Microsoft.

Ah.. yes. The brilliant ‘grocery store’ defense. I thought they’d pull that out.

The Not-So-Bad Files

alternateorg on February 25, 2001

I’m amazed. The X-Files wasn’t so bad tonight. In fact it was quite good. I haven’t watched it like all season, and I knew what was going on… Although we don’t get to know until April whether Mulder is dead or not. We have to suffer through ‘The Lone Gunmen’ until then. :/