Come See Me On ‘To Catch a Predator’!
MSNBC ran a marathon of the Dateline series To Catch a Predator the other night and it was totally fascinating. I've never seen the series on Dateline (I thought Dateline only specialized in blowing up cars to drive their conclusion based reporting) but I've heard about it and seen clips and parodies online. Last night, I watched most of the marathon, and eventually I realized that one of the products we sell is featured on the show! Awesome!
Watch the embedded video and the magical moment starts at about 7 seconds into the clip. It might repeat a few times throughout, but the first time is all you really need. Did you miss it? At the right of the frame is a wall cross with a dark thing in the middle. I believe (though obviously its hard to tell for sure) that it is this item. We haven't sold anything to NBC recently; but given that these houses are (I assume) rented out or owned by Perverted Justice, it'd be hard to know if we sold them that item or not.
Either way, I'm glowing! So; if you want a piece of 'To Catch a Predator' memorabilia, click on over! I won't guarantee that creepy dudes will come over to your house to have sex with your 12 year old son/daughter, but I will guarantee a good conversation piece. And what more can you really ask for?
Ron Paul Promises to Cut Government Spending
The last hope for the Republic, Ron Paul, is a fiscally conservative senator from Texas who rails against big government and government spending.
Ron Paul's supporters "love" his championing of the Constitution in this regard. Limited government. Lower taxes. More Freedom.
But is Ron Paul really for less government spending? The proof in the pudding is always pork projects for the local constituency. That's the way politicians buy votes, right? Shouldn't Ron Paul, the champion of the Constitution, be against pork barrel spending.
As they say on TV, let's go to the tape. (local PDF link - link to original version). Can someone please remind me, which article of the Constitution allows for "Brazoria County Shore Protection", "Cancer Center Expansion" "Chocolate Bayou" among other pork projects, many of which just -happen- to be in his local district. Very puzzling.
The Champion of the Constitution, indeed. Sure, come and say that he's just working within the system and that when he's elected he'll change things. Then, in the next breath tell me that he doesn't pass many bills because he can't get people to agree with him - because he's such a rigid supporter of constitutional ethics. Uh huh.
Ron Paul. The last hope. The best hope. For the Republic. Take the Red Pill. Ron Paul.
(H/T: Ace)
Ask.Com Kato Kaelin Ads
I'm sure you've seen the Ask.Com ads featuring Kato Kaelin. Some lady sings that she found what she is looking for. What is she looking for? Kato Kaelin.
I'll make this simple. If you are searching the internet for Kato Kaelin, then you are a moron. You don't deserve to "find what you are looking for".
By the transitive property, if you use Ask.Com you are a moron as well. Because only morons (see point above) use Ask.Com.
Is this the message Ask.Com wants to put out with this advertisement? Become a moron. Use Ask.Com.
I think they should make it their official slogan, too. Jeeves is rolling over in his grave.
Being the web entrpeneur I am, I did a search on how many people are looking for "Kato Kaelin" During the last 90 days 33 people searched for Kato. Ask.Com is obviously trying to capture those high volume searches, isn't it?
Let's also examine Ask.Com's results for Kato Kaelin (this search may age, so feel free to type Kato Kaelin in at Ask for your own analysis). Half of the front page is consumed with results from 1996. Now, that's current results. Congratulations, Ask! You rock.
Ask.Com has this neat little feature in the left navigation, too.
The answer to all of these searches can be summed up with "Who cares"
And who cares about Ask? Kato. And Morons.
Smugglers Using Garden Gnomes for Illegal Animals
This story, not only is it funny, but it strikes me - personally - and very deep level.
During a routine check of international mail on June 10, an officer discovered two snakes and three lizards stuffed inside three of the diminutive garden figurines in a shipment from Britain.
"When the package was opened, the officer spotted several snakes moving about. The package was immediately resealed," Australian customs said Tuesday in a statement.
A day later, officials at the same facility X-rayed another package from Britain and found five snakes and five lizards stuffed inside pottery figures and other ornaments.
Nice. So, it's just a routine smuggle and capture, right?
Well, for me, not so much.
See, when I was a kid, I lived in an area with no sewage so we had a septic tank. One morning, when I went to the bathroom and sat down, I didn't notice the snake in the toilet immediately. When I did, I jumped up and started screaming like a girl. It's a very traumatic experience at that age, try it, if you don't believe me.
And don't think my mother doesn't enjoy bringing it up all the time too!
So, looking at the picture:
You can see how personally affected I'd be by this. Snakes/toilets/butts do not go together in any way at all. That we sell garden gnomes doesn't help the link very much either! The scene in Snakes on a Plane with the snake in the toilet. NOT FUNNY! (Well, kinda funny). Gags where parents put some monster in the toilet to scare their kid. NOT FUNNY!
Okay. Time for therapy again.
Is Sci Fi Channel Killing Sci Fi Movies?
Tonight on Sci Fi, "Dark Storm". The premise of the movie is that a group of scientists discover a device that uses dark matter to eliminate matter, but an accident gives one scientist the ability to control weather. WTF is this about?
Guess who stars in it? Stephen Baldwin. If it's a bad Sci Fi movie, surely he'll be in the starring role. He's the worst actor ever. This time, he has a retarded mustache on his face to make him look smart. Here's the rub: he'll look dumb regardless.
He -never- gets eaten by the monster in the movie too. I keep hoping, but nooo. Heaven forbid Sci Fi channel ever give a premise that would make me smile.
But this isn't about Baldwin (maybe a little) as much as it is about the predictable, stupid story lines.
Guy finds ancient creature. Ancient creature kills guy. Team (consisting of: a black guy, a hot chick with huge boobs - the brains, Baldwin, and an old guy - for credibility) are sent in to deal with it. Black guy is killed first (of course). The old guy is next. The hot chick and Baldwin are trapped somewhere and start to have feelings for each other. She dies. He saves the day. The end.
We get it. We get it. Enough already, okay?
UPDATE: On the positive side; you do know what you are getting with a Sci Fi movie. Next up on Sci Fi, "Ice Spiders". You want spiders on ice. Sci Fi delivers spiders on ice. Never a doubt as to what you are about to see. 'Gargoyles' - yep, its about Gargoyles. I'm still waiting for a Flying Spaghetti Monster movie or something. That'd be a step up from what we are seeing now.
Boeing Dreamlifter – Flying Pig in a Blanket
So Boeing unveiled its Dreamlifter aircraft the other day after a series of test flights. It can carry 65,000 cubic feet of cargo, double that of a 747 airliner. Shipping companies such as UPS, FedEx and others will surely want this for their international freight. It's a great plane, sure. But why does it look like a pig in a blanket?
What ever happened to aesthetics? This is an ugly sucker; but boy does it look delicious.
CashCall.Com: A Cycle of Poverty
I saw an advertisement on TV the other day, while getting my car repaired. It was an advertisement by Cashcall.com; which offers signature loans to people with poor credit. For credibility, Gary Coleman was the spokesman, claiming that he got $5,000 wired to his checking account within days of filling out the application.
At the end of the commercial; I noticed the small print on the advertisement saying that the interest rate was 99.25%. I dropped by jaw; that had to be a typo, but it is not. Curious, I check out their website and go to the interest rates page. I certainly hope people realize what they are getting themselves into when they sign this thing.
Let's do some of the math: a $5,075 loan (at about 60% interest). 84 payments of $254.03 each. Total repayment is over $21,000. In 7 years, you have to come up with over 4 times the original loan amount.
For a $2,600 loan the payments are a little better, because of a shorter payoff term. You only payback $9,100 on your loan. 3 1/2 year payoff. For a $1,075 loan, the repayment is about $3,500.
Amazingly, the site even says that the rates can change "without notice" - so are you basking in a 99.25% interest rate. Well, I guess they can up it to 199.25% tomorrow and double your payments on you. Cool deal!
The repayment on these loans are just shocking. I'm wondering the what default rate is; given that these are loans for people with bad credit. I guess Gary Coleman's penalty for not repaying his debt was being the spokesman for this commercial, because who would willingly apply their name to a company like this?
Digg Revolt of 2007
Digg users went on revolt today (May 1) because of Digg's deleting stories related to the HD-DVD crack that was recently exposed. This video captures the temper tantrum. Notice how stories appear (especially on the swarm) and are promptly deleted again. Yes the hacking code appears in this video. Of all the people who posted up stories about it - I wonder how many of them know what to do to put it into action and make it work for them. I know I don't, nor do I care.
Very interesting (at least to me) 6 minutes of video or so.
I'm not a fan of Digg anyways. I think the site caters, mostly, to kids and is a wonderful exercise in Groupthink and I think this episode points out how follow the leader Digg users really are. It speaks volumes of the whole web 2.0 community and how flawed it is.
How quickly Digg users turn on the site that asks nothing of them. Tempers tempers, children.
Digg posted a comment about the deleted stories. It's amazing that not one of Digg's users care or even concern themselves with Digg's legal dilemna here. Digg -is- being amazingly hypocritical here; though. Daily, you can find hacks on the site, illegal mods on the site, Roms etc. Digg almost encourages this behavior by not deleting it and wonder if they'll improve policing now that it's gone this far.
Probably not.
Blackbelt TV Sucks
Verizon FIOS has the Blackbelt channel; but I'm not sure why. I watch it off and on, because its an awesome concept for a TV channel. All the good (even the really bad!) ninja movies out there and fights and martial arts cartoons. 24 hours a day. What could be better?
But what are we presented with?
- A couple of bimbos who chant the name of the station we are watching.
- Mortal Kombat cartoons - I think there are like 5 episodes, cuz they run the same ones over and over and over again.
- The same 4 fights. I've seen the game guys fight about 10 times now.
- Bowflex commercials.
Awful. It's sad when the Bowflex commercials are the best content on the channel.
And it even has a crappy website, from the last time I looked. It's been on television for over a year now. The first 6 months were a promo telling us what we'd see. I feel deceived.
Red Tailed Hawk Attacked My Pool
This morning my dog went mental in the backyard and I thought they were just barking at ghosts or at the neighbor's dog. It wouldn't shut up, so I went outside and what do I find inside the screened patio?
A Red Tailed Hawk (at least, that's what I think it was, from pictures online) laying on its back, claws in the air. The dogs were barking at it and it was panting like it had been trying to get out for a while.
As I approached it the first few times, it tried to fly away and just ended up doing headers into the screen, then falling back down to earth. I thought it was going to kill itself. After a few tries, I get the pool net on top of it and keep the dogs away.
So I try to bring the bird to the door saying the whole time "I won't hurt you. I won't hurt you. Don't bite me. Don't bite me." as if it understood. So it flies closer to the house, where the sliding glass door is still opened. I'm praying that it doesn't go inside - then we'll never get it out again.
It lands on a patio chair and I put the net over it again. It tries to fly away and just tips over into the net, upside down. This made it a lot easier to carry outside the covered area. So I take it out, turn the net over and let it sit in the grass. Keeping the dogs away at the same time.
Eventually, the thing flies away and into the trees. I'm glad it didn't seem injured and happy that it got away. A nice eventful Sunday morning.
Awesome looking animal. I've never seen one that close and now I hope I don't again.