Unlikely Words » boing boing

On McDonald’s burgers not aging

aaron cohen — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 00:03:00 +0000

You have let me down, internet. Earlier in the week, a to do was made about the artist Sally Davies and her series of 137 daily photographs of a McDonald's Happy Meal. The upshot is that McDonald's Happy Meals when left out on the counter don't really change much (as most food wouldn't in a low humidity environment). There's supposed to be a big shock.

Let me tell you, reader, there was. The first time I saw this story. On March 3rd of this year, BabyBites.info posted a photo of their year old Happy Meal (2 weeks later, BoingBoing posted via Consumerist). Three weeks after that, Sally Davies started her daily photo project. I don't know if Sally Davies was inspired to start her project after seeing any of these stories, but even if she wasn't I can't be the only one who remembered we saw similar pictures 6 months ago. It's not even like this was last year. I'm going to go take a minute, you get back to me when you want to share original stuff I won't care about 5 minute from now.

Updated:
OK, OK, people have been leaving McDonald's burgers out forever. Jason reminded me of this, while Hubs reminded me of this Supersize Me bonus. And we must never forget one of the original internet experiments, the stinkymeat project.

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A Month’s Worth of Links About Newspapers

aaron cohen — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 15:55:05 +0000

Photo by Flickr user danielweir.esq
It's important to note when discussing the problems at newspapers that spending on advertising is down almost EVERYWHERE, not just in newspapers. Industries that are dependent on ad dollars, of which Big Newspaper is just one, are all hurting. Yes, circulation is down, but there aren't less people reading the news necessarily, there are just less people subscribing to newspapers. If newspapers were able to charge higher fees for online advertising, they'd be in much better shape, obviously.

On that note, I noticed I had about a zillion tabs open related to the newspaper industry and I thought I'd collect them all here.

Via Daring Fireball, The Awl, demanding context from how bi-annual newspaper circulation numbers are typically reported, put together a chart showing newspaper circulation over the last 2 decades. It's pretty if you like looking at line graphs with dramatically plummeting line graphs. The LA Times' fall is breathtaking in its suddenness, and circulation is down 10% across the board.

In supporting Steve Coll's idea that newspapers should be nonprofits and in attempting to determine the value of local newspapers, Clay Shirky decides to do a "news biopsy" on his hometown newspaper, the Columbia Daily Tribune. From his biopsy, he finds that only 1/6 of the newspaper is "created news" or content created by the newspaper's 6 reporters and those 6 reporters work for a newspaper with 59 employees.

The city desk editors and the copy chief make the work...more valuable than it would otherwise be. But you can pick any multiplier you like for necessary editorial and support staff and that number, times six reporters, won’t be a big number. In particular, it won’t be 59, or anywhere near it.

His conclusion? "There are dozen or so reporters and editors in Columbia, Missouri, whose daily and public work is critical to the orderly functioning of that town, and those people are trapped inside a burning business model."

Also commenting on the "the power and necessity of local reporting" Esquire.com uses the recent Samoan earthquake/tsunami as an example of the big guys besting the little guys.

Newsosaur looked into pay walls and found that paywalls might never come because publishers are realizing they can't afford to lose the traffic a paywall would cost. Which is good news, because some columnists are quitting over paywalls. At the end of the Newsosaur's piece, there is bleating from Stephen Brill that, “You are misinformed about folks being less inclined” to add paywalls. Stephen Brill, by the way, founded Journalism Online, a company dedicated to helping publishers charge consumers for content, so, you know, he might be biased. (Journalism Online has a funny section of their site called Why Readers Will Pay For Online News, which features several different newspapers talking about why people SHOULD pay for news, but not why they WILL. That's a distinction worth making.)

Finally, via Kottke, Daniel Gross has a piece in Slate that says despite the falling circulations numbers, it's not as bad as you think. Several publishers were able to raise subscription revenue by raising subscription costs enough to make up for canceled subscriptions. "This is the new emerging model—cutting costs, raising prices."

I debated whether to include this last one because I kind of hate Megan McArdle's writing. I figured since I had already read her post and linked it, I'd leave it there for you to decide if you want to read it or not. ~~Here's Megan McArdle doing what she does best, spewing confusing nonsense. She doesn't add anything to the conversation, but wants you to know she's very concerned about the future of journalism.~~

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Two Links from Two Weeks Ago

aaron cohen — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 15:54:08 +0000

Two links from two weeks ago that you may or may not have seen, but I had saved to share and not gotten around to it yet.

The Yes Men sent out a hoax press release from the US Chamber of Commerce saying they had changed their position on climate change. Obviously the media was interested in this so the Yes Men rented a room at the DC Press Club and gave a fake press conference. Then it gets really awesome when a representative of the Chamber shows up and shuts down the presser. And now, they're getting sued for it

Via TPM.

If you saw the profits made by the big banks last quarter and wondered how they were doing it, Philip Greenspun has an answer:

Because of the Collapse of 2008 financial reforms, the big investment banks are able to borrow money from the U.S. government at 0 percent interest. Then they can turn around and buy short-term bonds that pay 2 or 3 percent annual interest. Now they’re making 2 percent on whatever they borrowed. They can use leverage to increase this number, by pledging some of the bonds that they’ve already bought as collateral on additional bonds.

It's all so awesome, isn't it?

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Wu-Tang vs Blue Note

aaron cohen — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 19:03:26 +0000

Wu-Tang Clan albums done up in the style of Blue Note Records album covers. Can't see anything about this to dislike. Of course I chose Iron Man to display. It's my favorite, even though everyone else likes Liquid Swords. It happens. Reminds me of 20 Hip Hop Album Covers Recreated in LEGO Format and Wu Tang Clan Chessboxin’.

Via Boing Boing.

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GG Allin Bobblehead

aaron cohen — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 16:07:28 +0000

This GG Allin Bobblehead... What do you even say about it? I guess you could say there's More Blood And Filth, because, well, this is the second edition.

(Via Boing Boing)

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What to do with Junk Mail

aaron cohen — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 21:16:04 +0000

These Business Reply Mail pamphlets remind me of how I used to deal with credit card offers before I became complacent.

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Origin of the Phrase Thousand Yard Stare

aaron cohen — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 02:29:26 +0000

Is actually a painting named Two-Thousand-Yard Stare by Tom Lea. Lea had been known for his jingoistic propaganda art until spending time on the island of Peleliu during the battle of 1944.

Via Boing Boing

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Fake Traffic Explained

aaron cohen — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 15:45:41 +0000

I've written before about "Fake Traffic" and a developed theory called "The Wave Theory of Traffic" and I'm happy once again to write that scientists have used math and science to prove that ‘Phantom’ Traffic Jams exist and they're working to mitigate them.

The MIT team found speed, traffic density and other factors can determine conditions that will lead to a jamiton and how quickly it will spread. Once the jam forms, the researchers say, drivers have no choice but to wait for it to clear. The new model could lead to roads designed with sufficient capacity to keep traffic density below the point at which a jamiton can form.

Via Boing Boing.

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Repo Men Repo Planes and Tankers, Too

aaron cohen — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 13:33:32 +0000

I suppose everything can get repossessed if someone falls behind on their payments. This story from Boing Boing about a guy who repossesses planes, small and large reads like a Hollywood story:

Popovich's first rule of firearms is pretty simple: The man who tells you he's going to shoot you will not shoot you. So without so much as looking back, he got on the plane and flew it right to Chicago. "My job is to grab that plane," Popovich says. "And if you haven't paid for it, then it's mine. And I don't like to lose." Nick Popovich is a repo man, but not the kind that spirits away Hyundais from suburban driveways. Popovich is a super repo man, one of a handful of specialists who get the call when a bank wants back its Gulfstream II jet from, say, a small army of neo-Nazi freaks.

As does this story I remember reading a couple years ago about a cargo ship repo man:

Meanwhile, an oceangoing tugboat also hired by Hardberger slipped into port and backed up to the Aztec Express. Under a full moon, the crew began cutting the anchor chains with blowtorches. In case harbor officials noticed and tried to call for help on their cellphone, Hardberger had paid a witch doctor $100 to cast spells on the port's soccer field. The witch doctor marked the field with gray powder, a clear warning to believers in voodoo, the nation's dominant religion. No call ever went out.

However, this story about another boat repo man, not so much.

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Shark Week: Megamouth Shark Eaten

aaron cohen — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 17:39:31 +0000

No one would confuse me for a shark lover, but I'm not a COMPLETE jerk. That's why I think it's a shame that a megamouth shark was recently captured and eaten in the Philippines. This was only the 41st megamouth shark ever found. I'd support an international law preventing the killing, hunting, or eating of any shark species with a population lower than 200.

Via Boing Boing.

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How Much Disgusting Junk is in Your Food?

aaron cohen — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 15:27:53 +0000

This type of article comes out once in a while and it never makes me feel better. In fact, it makes me want to stop eating anything, ever. I don't want to eat anymore bug parts.

Peanut butter — that culinary cause célèbre — may contain approximately 145 bug parts for an 18-ounce jar; or five or more rodent hairs for that same jar; or more than 125 milligrams of grit.

In case you’re curious: you’re probably ingesting one to two pounds of flies, maggots and mites each year without knowing it, a quantity of insects that clearly does not cut the mustard, even as insects may well be in the mustard.

(Via Boing Boing)

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The Somerville Gates – Four Years Old

aaron cohen — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 18:00:24 +0000

A chance encounter hipped me to the fact that it was four years ago yesterday that Hargo built The Somerville Gates. At which point, the internet went crazy and 4 million people looked at The Somerville Gates' website in a week. The site had to be taken down to cool the viral internet's greedy bandwidth needs, but the entire installation is now happily back online where it should be. More coverage from The Boston Globe, Big RED & Shiny, msnbc.com, The New York Times, and of course Boing Boing.

The Feeding Gates

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Steven Johnson’s Auspicious Start To Guest Blogging

aaron cohen — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 21:21:08 +0000

On January 14th, Steven Johnson was celebrating the release of his newest book, The Invention of Air by blogging for a couple weeks on Boing Boing. One of his first posts, was about how safe air travel in the US had become and that a child had a better chance of being elected President than dying in a plane crash.

25 hours later, while BoingBoing commenters were debating the veracity of this claim, US Air Flight 1549 landed in the Hudson. Johnson quickly vowed not to talk about aviation safety anymore.

In somewhat related news, US Air won't charge travelers for their tickets.

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Shepard Fairey Is All Over My (Internet) TV

aaron cohen — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 15:44:20 +0000

What do you need cable for anymore when you can get programs about stuff you want to see so easily on the internet? Sports. That's what. (I was just looking to see if the Superbowl is being streamed this year, but couldn't find any reliable results.)

Also, you know what? I don't care that the Shepard Fairey backlash is in full swing, I'm still going to the Supply & Demand show at the ICA, and you should to. Let me know how much of a hack or farce or fake or fraud or rip off he is in the comments, I'll be at the museum.

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Eric Massa – Fuel Cell Fail

aaron cohen — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 14:47:49 +0000

Eric Massa wanted to drive a hydrogen fuel cell car from NY to his swearing in in DC. Hydrogen fuel cell cars go 200 miles on a charge, but DC is 300 miles from his district. Shades of Auto CEOs taking private jets to Congress to ask for help. FAIL:

Massa drove one fuel cell car while a hybrid SUV [Chevy Tahoe] towing an additional SUV followed along. Once he got half way, he switched to new fuel cell car [which I assume was towed to the half way point sometime earlier so that it would be waiting for the environmentally-conscious congressman]. The empty fuel cell was then towed back by the first SUV. As he continued on his journey, the second SUV followed. Once Massa arrived in DC, the second SUV then towed the second fuel cell car back to NY.

(Via Boing Boing)

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What if “Cops” had been called something else?

aaron cohen — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 14:24:04 +0000

Interesting post quoting a letter from the creator of "Cops" about his intentions - the steady stream of questionable police behavior as social commentary. Essentially, what if "Cops" had been called "Pigs"? I used to think the same thing about the way "24" portrayed torture until I found out I was DEAD wrong. It turns out they were actually glorifying torture, not trying to make the Bush administration look stupid for employing it as a strategy.

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