[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0EjuEx95u3Y] Those rascals at Improv Everywhere are at it again, this time picking a random person in a bar and throwing him a birthday party. Chris is suddenly Ted, with 30 so-called friends […]
Category: Oddlies
Hollywood is Faker Than You Think
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=clnozSXyF4k] Whoa, is anything real anymore? This Stargate Studios short shows how much Hollywood studios use computer-generated graphics to fill in locations or to fake them. What? You thought Jack Bauer was in Washington? He […]
iPad vs Paper Pad
It’s really an unfair comparison without price of the pen. Editor’s Note: This post was moved to joewilcox.com from oddlytogether.com on Sept. 26, 2010.
The Bicycle Thieves
We rent half a garage to protect our bicycles, two of which someone stole sometime between Wednesday afternoon and Friday morning (Feb. 17th and 19th). The thieves got access to the garage and hacked through two Kryptonite HardWire cables. The thieves nearly cut through the Kryptonite Evolution Mini U-Lock protecting a third bike, presumably the prize of the three.
Misplaced Lock
Misplaced lock; spotted outside Horton Plaza, San Diego. Photo taken and uploaded from Google Nexus One smartphone.
Pepsi Throwback
Why is sugar soda only available for a limited time when high fructose corn syrup is so much worse? (Taken and uploaded with Google Nexus One).
Sick NBC Has 'Conan Fever'
There’s a collective scorn for the way that NBC has so openly pooped on its audience like Triumph the Insult Dog: replacing its 10 p.m. lineup with five nights of cheap, clunky Jay Leno shows […]
I’m With Coco
Conan O’Brien may not last much longer as Tonight Show host, but he has my support. Even if he loses his job, Conan will be a winner. Say, can Conan collect unemployment? Now there would […]
Conan O’Brien Should Out-Fox NBC
NBC’s reasoning for bringing back Jay Leno to late-night TV is baffling. I now understand why TV programming is rife with dumb-ass decisions: The people making them.
Here’s the basic story: Last year, Conan O’Brien replaced Jay Leno as host of the Tonight Show as planned. But then NBC gave Leno his own show at 10 p.m., preempting Conan by 95 minutes, five nights a week. NBC figured Leno could carry the timeslot, saving boatloads of money otherwise spent on producing dramatic programming. Whoops, Leno couldn’t deliver the ratings, and NBC affiliates complained they were losing local news viewers at 11 p.m. The solution isn’t rocket science: Can Leno.
My Run In With Fake Steve Jobs
It’s not the first encounter. But this time, I fought back. Last week, someone tweeted that I had been Fake Steved. Last week, at Betanews I blogged: “Why I chose Windows 7 Over Snow Leopard (and you should, too).”
For Fake Steve (aka, journalist Dan Lyons) that translated into post title: “Borg lapdog says you should choose Windows 7 over Snow Leopard.”
Bubbling Bing Soda Story is Flat
Microsoft employee evangelist Heather Hamilton is my darling today (Please don’t tell my wife!). She writes quite convincingly that “Sometimes, when something looks like a fizzy scoop, it totally isn’t.” Heather responds to a weird story circulating the blogs—soda cans marketing Bing to Microsoft employees. Anyone who works for Microsoft or has visited the campus should know there are fridges on every floor (or there sure seem to be) filled with soda and other beverages. Microsoft coolers pack a better selection than my local 7-Eleven, and for better price: Free. I’ve seen product branded cans in the coolers before, but hadn’t thought much of them. Branded gear of every shape and size can be found at most consumer companies.
Where the Rubber Room Meets the Road
I have a suggestion for Joel Klein, chancellor of New York City schools: Publish a teaching offenders list.
I must be a slow learner, because until Saturday I hadn’t understood New York City’s losing battle with the powerful teachers union. Once teachers achieve tenure—after 3 years—they are employed for life and damn near undismissible, even for cause. Journalism professor Samuel Freedman wrote about the situation for the New York Times two years ago: “Where Teachers Sit, Awaiting Their Fates.” I missed that one, but not Steven Brill’s shocking “The Rubber Room: The battle over New York City’s worst teachers” in Aug. 31, 2009, The New Yorker.