Kim Patrick Kobza, President and CEO of Neighborhood America touched on the effectiveness of blogs and blogging. He emphasized communication with the audience in a meaningful way. Blogging, he says is an example of "successful social networking" generating meaningful participation from users. He also talked about establishing a trust with users and exceeding their set of expectations.

Social networking sites are now getting very specific with their target audience. Jim Sexton, Senior Vice-President and Editorial Director for SPC Digital used the example of the increasing popular Linked In, a professional social networking site.

Sexton also talked about Ning, a "do it your self social network" which gives users the opportunity to create their own social network. Popular networks on Ning include soccer team and league sports. Ning is another example of engaging users in meaningful participation.

Recently, Saturn launched a social network for Saturn owners. Kobza says successful social networks always have a way to keep users coming back, like checking the news feed on Facebook or accepting a friend request on MySpace.

These media experts provided useful advice for having a successful social networking site. Beth Murphy, Director of Marketing for Digg suggests testing what works and what drives the audience. She describes a feature on Digg called "Top Diggers" which highlighted the users with most activity. Their content was driven to the top of pages but she says this created a "caste system" within the network. Zappos users who follow the company on Twitter qualify to win free shoes and are invited to Zappos parties.

Social networking sites are focusing less on content and more on creating a broader mission of engagement within their community. Among media experts, their advice is to find the version that suits each particular site and effectively manage the community.

Diggnation Episode 150

The stories talked on this podcast:

Top 10 Angry Television Reporter Moments Caught On Tape
Mario Kart Should Be Rated For Adults
How Long Can You Stare Into Jessica Alba's Eyes?
Food Portion Size, 20 Years Ago vs. Today
McLovin's Anti-Piracy PSA
Farmer Missing Sheep, Puts Up Electric Fence. Finds...
Nine Inch Nails (NIN) Gives Away New Full Length Album - The Slip

PS: Alex is giving away his Xbox 360 when he hits 20k friends on twitter and Kevin is giving away his iPhone when the new one comes out!

PSS: Diggnation will be live in New York City on June 4th!

First of all the free item was the Squire tunic, which is located at the dock.

There is also a new tree in the forrest that if you can climb it it will bring it you to another room.

Here is the  tree:

The party room i call it

Also there is the swtich box which is located at the mine

Thats all for today at the Medieval party, i hope you enjoy the rooms that are amazingly decorated.

Rooms you have to see: The Pool (Treasure Room), The Mines (Dragon’s Lair), The Lodge (Princess’s Castle), The Attic (Princess’s Castle-Upstairs), The Mountain (The Evil, Dark Castle), Pizza Parlor (Knight’s Round Table), Night Club (Knight’s Club), Ice Rink (Dueling Arena), The Snow Forts (Battle Area), The Boiler Room (The Smithy), Pet Shop (Puffle Stables), Dance Lounge (Ye Old Arcades), The Lighthouse (Wizard’s Place), Lighthouse Beacon (Wizard’s Roof), and The Coffee Shop (Ye Old Coffee).

There area few more but those are the ones I like the most. The Dark Castle can also be seen from many different locations.

Waddle on and enjoy

~Sciarpino

HELLO GENTLE READERS:

I was reading a blogging buddy's (http://midnightrambler.wordpress.com) post the other day and learned that Neil Young had a spider named after him. This got me thinking- what else am I missing out on? I want one too! If not an Arachnid, then at least an insect, orchid or any newly-discovered species. I'd really like to put in a reservation on "Bigfoot" but, even a common weed would suffice.

When Science bestows this honor of chosing your name, is there a ceremony? A press conference? A Movie of the Week, perhaps? I think this honor could turn a nifty profit. Raid, Orkin and Round-Up would get in line for an endorsement. The upside of having "Bigfoot" (even in absentia) in your stable, so to speak, can't be calculated.

I've lived a very rich and full life. I've graduated from college, recorded CD's, designed a building or two. I've been a father, grandfather and a husband but, it always seemed as though something was missing. I always thought that not having that ONE TRUE LOVE was the missing piece. Perhaps I'm wrong. Yes, the more I think on it the more I'm sure it's the absence of a "Tom-named" species. Wonder why I've been denied this honor? I do have a star bearing my name but, stars are notoriously unreliable. After a few billion years the damn things blow up. Bye-bye namesake!

Is one little ol' species too much to ask for? I'm scouring the woods tomorrow!  tom vickers 

Now according to the Digg Blog the comment system on Digg has been once again revamped, and it's better than ever.

Things I Like:
Comment replies load faster
Looks cleaner
Am able to see diggs/buries for comments by clicking number of Diggs
Easy to expand threads
Easier to reply

Things I Don't Like:
Only shows 50 posts per page
Clicking tabs other than comments still loads information on a new page

So what do you think?

read more | digg story

Solution:

The following PHP code will display the latest 20 stories from the domain of your choice. Thanks a heap to Web Cash's entry on grabbing a random Digg story as well as the Digg Story API which helped with this code.

[sourcecode language="php"]

// Takes an array of arguments and returns a query string
// Each parameter's name is its key in the array
function buildQuery ($args) {
$query = '?';
foreach ($args as $key => $val) {
if ( $query != '?' )
$query .= '&';

$query .= $key . '=' . urlencode($val);
}

return $query;
}

// Digg specifies that user agent must be set
ini_set('user_agent', 'My domain stories/1.0');

$baseurl = 'http://services.digg.com';
$endpoint = '/stories';
$url = $baseurl . $endpoint;
// Number of stories to display
$numberStories = 20;
// Your domain of choice - CHANGE THIS
$domainName = 'your.domain.com';

// Parameters to fetch latest articles
$params = array();
$params['appkey'] = 'http://' . $domainName;
$params['domain'] = $domainName;
$params['type'] = 'xml';

$params['count'] = '' . $numberStories;
// The following displays the newest items first
// This can be changed using the parameters in the Digg API
$params['sort'] = 'submit_date-desc';

// Reuse the $url created above
$query = buildQuery($params);
$reqUrl = $url . $query;

// Display the URL. Uncomment for troubleshooting.
// echo $reqUrl . "\n";

$xml = simplexml_load_file($reqUrl);

// Output the stories
for ($i=0; $i<$numberStories;$i++) {
$numberDiggs = intval($xml->story[$i]['diggs']);
echo '

';
echo '

'
. $xml->story[$i]->title . '

';

// Number of Diggs
echo 'Diggs: ' . $xml->story[$i]['diggs'] . ' ' ;
// If you don't have an image for number of diggs,
// then uncomment the following line
for ($j=0; $j<$numberDiggs; $j++) echo ' ';
echo '
';

echo 'Date: ' . date('m-d-Y, H:i:s', (int) $xml->story[$i]['submit_date']) . '
';
echo 'Link: '
. $xml->story[$i]['link'] . '
';
echo 'Topic: ' . $xml->story[$i]->topic['name'] . '
';
echo 'Container: ' . $xml->story[$i]->container['name'] . '
';
echo 'Desc: ' . $xml->story[$i]->description . "

\n";
}
?>
[/sourcecode]

http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/article.html?in_article_id=148080&in_page_id=2

Here's their spiel:
Track your gas mileage by letting us know the miles you traveled on your last tank, the price you paid, and how many gallons you added to your car. FuelFrog will compile and trend information about your gas mileage, the amount you spend, and more! In the near future, you'll be able to compare your vehicle to others and see how you stack up.

read more | digg story

read more | digg story

DATELINE--SAN FRANCISCO, CA:

Regis likes to cross-dress. No, not Regis Philbun (as far as we know). Regis is a mixed-breed, otherwise non-descript pooch. He likes to wear his sister's (Mimi) G-String underwear. "We bought him some very masculine underwear at Pet Smart but, he prefers Mimi's wardrobe," said his owner. "Regis is a very bright, Steven Hawkings-type dog. He's very smart. He can raid Mimi's closet, pick out something nice and somehow get himself dressed," he continued.

Regis has been "fixed" and one must wonder if some extra "snipping" took place. Perhaps there was an audible "OOOPS" during the procedure. Did Mimi lose a brother and gain a sister?

James Reid, a Pet Psychologist of note, said that this behavior is very unusual. "Dogs usually resist being dressed in the first place. To have one seek out attire, let alone make an alternate gender selection, is unheard of," he noted.

Maybe Regis just likes to "feel pretty". Perhaps we can all chip in on a Gift Certificate from Victoria's Secret.

DATELINE--SAN FRANCISCO, CA: ....Of Course!

Tom Vickers

Digg updated its comments system this week, replacing the sometimes clunky interface previously in use. According to the Digg blog, enhanced features include:

• Quicker loading time
• More accurate timestamping
• New sorting options to see comments posted by time and user
• Additional comment editing time and the ability to change votes for existing comments
• Preference options to change what this area looks like

I like it so far. It's much cleaner, but I'll be sure to offer more detailed feedback once I have more time to play with it.

]]> http://ottoyuen.wordpress.com/?p=27 Fri, 16 May 2008 05:11:01 +0000 ottoyuen http://ottoyuen.wordpress.com/?p=27 I'm very new to Web 2.0 world. Just started exploring various social computing technologies and popular communities like facebook, blog, twitter, wikipedia, etc. I just found a list of the Top 25 Web 2.0 sites based on the combination of Google Page Rank, Inbound Links, and U.S. traffic data from Compete and Quantcast. Here you're:

1. myspace.com
2. Wikipedia.org
3. YouTube.com
4. facebook.com
5. photobucket.com
6. craigslist.org
7. flickr.com
8. IMDB.com
9. digg.com
10. WordPress.com
11. topix.com
12. Netscape.com
13. xanga.com
14. TypePad.com
15. cafepress.com
16. feedburner.com
17. LiveJournal.com
18. Technorati.com
19. linkedin.com
20. del.icio.us
21. dailymotion.com
22. friendster.com
23. StumbleUpon.com
24. last.fm
25. MyBlogLog.com

Out of 25 of them, at this moment, I'm only aware of 8. Among these 8, only 3 of them that I'm familiar with and frequently access to. Yeah, I know. I do embarrass myself, eh? Alright, never too late to sample them one by one, the top 25 Web 2.0 sites. How about you? How many from the list you have explored? 5? 10?

まさか ぜんぶ知ってる？ ;)

During a campaign stop in Sterling Heights, Michigan, a reporter, Peggy Agar tried to ask Obama a question, he told her to "Hold on Sweetie." If Barack is trying to be smooth, this isn't it. I haven't heard anything like this since a drunk Mel Gibson called a female police officer "Sugar Titties." Well, at least it wasn't Helen Johnson he was calling Sweetie. He did call and apologize via voicemail: "Second apology is for using the word 'sweetie.' That's a bad habit of mine. I do it sometimes with all kinds of people. I mean no disrespect and I am duly chastened on that front. Feel free to call me back. I expect that my press team will be happy to try to make it up to you whenever we are in Detroit next." He still never answered her intitial question which was "How are you going to help the American autoworker?" Barack has continously proven how unsmooth he is. Shooting pool in West Virginia in a shirt and tie, not smooth. Bowling in Pennsylvania, this wouldn't have even gotten him one of those cheezy bleached blonde bowling alley babes, not smooth. Once again Obama is proving his inexperience as a politician. Is this an example of his future diplomacy?  When he meets a female diplomat, is he going to call them "Honey" or "Darlin'?"  Just what we need is more blundering in the White House after the last eight years from someone else who doesn't have a clue about how to do the job. Not Smooth!

LET'S GO TO THE VIDEO TAPE! OBAMA IN STERLING HEIGHTS:

 
 

DOLLY PARTON TAKES ON HOWARD STERN

Dolly Parton is going to sue Howard Stern for well, being Howard. He took some clips from her audio book and cut them up so that they say some absolutely digusting statements. The cutting was pretty poor and you can easily tell that the clipping is a hack job. "I have never been so shocked, hurt and humiliated in all my life," Parton said in a statement on Wednesday. "I cannot believe what Howard Stern has done to me. In a blue million years, I would never have such vulgar things come out of my mouth. They have done editing or some sort of trickery to make this horrible, horrible thing. Please accept my apology for them and certainly know I had nothing to do with this." She concluded: "If there was ever going to be a lawsuit, it's going to be over this. Just wanted you to know that I am completely devastated by this." This is a bit that Howard has done on his satellite radio show and she's not the first to get the treatment. I think she should leave it go, because she's just giving Howard more publicity. He'll make more this way than the suit will be worth. The best thing to do with Howard is ignore him.

 TEXAS MAN SHOOTS HIMSELF SCRATCHING HIS BACK

Jorge Espinal had an itch he had to scratch. He left the table where he had been drinking and playing poker with his buddies. Yes alcohol was involved here. Go figure. Something possessed him, I'm guessing stupidity, to use a revolver as a back scratcher. It was loaded, like he was and he shot himself in the back. He was taken to a Fort Worth hospital and treated for non-life threatening injuries. Can he prosecute himself for assault? His friends though he was joking until they saw the blood. I guess they couldn't believe he was that stupid either. 

WORLD'S SMALLEST HELICOPTER HONORS DAVINCI

Seventy-five-year-old Gennai Yanagisawa says he will fly his one-man helicopter in the city of Vinci, near Florence, Italy, on May 25. Yanagisawa describes the demonstration as a tribute to the Renaissance-era visionary's original idea of an "aerial screw." It looks like something you'd expect from a James Bond film. "Italian people seem to welcome my realizing of DaVinci's idea in his birthplace," he said. "I want to make my best flight so that I can live up to their expectations." Vinci Mayor Dario Parrini offered him an opportunity to fly his helicopter when the two met in the Italian city. I think old Leonardo would have loved this and would have wanted to go for a ride. I can just see him buzzing around giggling his butt off, that hair and beard blowing behind him.

10. iPhone

WHY YOU THINK YOU’RE COOL: You can access e-mails, high speed internet, and watch videos, all on your phone. Because really, normal people around you are so f*&king boring you can hardly bear actually interacting with them.

WHY YOU’RE NOT COOL: I’ve done some research and iPhone is actually a Japanese word that means “something that’s not able to be put in a pocket and instead must be carried in your hand at all times or set on the table in front of you so that any one around you can see it.” This may sound shocking, but when someone remarks how hot it is, they’re not asking you to look up the temperature in both farenheit and celcius, or show them a clip on a 3 inch screen from “An Inconvenient Truth” in an effort to relate this heat to global warming.

9. Ironic Belt Buckles

WHY YOU THINK YOU’RE COOL: Now you can show up in bars and point at your belt buckle and tell people that you are a “Rodeo Champion” or a “Pac Man” or a “Truck Driver” or a “Jack Daniels.” And while they will know that you are actually none of these things, you think you’re being playful and a little bit mysterious. You also think this tactic will help you pick up women.

WHY YOU’RE NOT COOL: You’re the same person who has ironic facial hair (mustache), drinks ironic beer (PBR) and wears ironic T-shirts (Lucky Charms). You spend your entire life trying to look as shitty and poor as possible while, chances are, you have rich parents or a job for an accounting firm that pays you over $60,000. In four years you will be a Republican living in the suburbs and complaining about your 401k over wine spritzers at dinner parties.

8. Blue Tooth Headset

WHY YOU THINK YOU’RE COOL: All the other losers have to use their hands when they talk on the phone. Not you! You can talk on your phone and at the same time safely give some loser the finger because they’re only driving the speed limit. It’s Tuesday, doesn’t this asshole know you have your jujitsu class at 24 hour fitness to go to?

WHY YOU’RE NOT COOL: I don’t give a shit if you’re talking to someone on the other end, when you’re in a Subway Sandwiches and they’re trying to take your order while you say “Listen, you give me that paperwork for the Johnson account by tomorrow or it’s your ass. No mayo. I said no Mayo! Yeah, that’s right, Johnson account on my desk! No pepperoncinis!” it’s pretty god damn confusing and asshole-ish to everyone trying to deal with you. Answer your phone when you have time to hold it in your hand. The only people that should be wearing blue tooth wireless headsets are military field generals and the people that work the day after thanksgiving sale at Old Navy.

7. Quoting Austin Powers/Borat/Old School

WHY YOU THINK YOU’RE COOL: Put on your earmuffs because that woman has a vageen that hangs like sleeve of wizard. Yeah, baby! Those movies are HILARIOUS, thus if you can quote them, by default you’re hilarious too!

WHY YOU’RE NOT COOL: We all enjoy quoting our favorite movies, but let’s put these three to bed. Not only did I have every last bit of dialogue to the Borat movie screamed in my face three months before it came out, but let’s face it, Austin Powers wasn’t funny 10 years ago. And I still have to hear people telling me that “circus folk smell vaguely of cabbage.” On top of it, everyone murders the accents. Whenever I hear some asshole in a bar trying doing his version of Borat, somehow he sounds like a tongueless Canadian with a sock in his mouth. This has to stop or I am going to skip the earmuffs and go directly to cutting my ears off.

6. PT Cruiser

WHY YOU THINK YOU’RE COOL: It’s like a car from back in the thirties! It’s sleek design and throw back look allows everyone tailgating in the parking lot at the Dave Matthews concert know that you’re a free spirit who is all about having good times!

WHY YOU’RE NOT COOL: If you’ve ever wondered what a gay transformer would turn in to, wonder no more. Not only do they call a retarded amount of attention to themselves on the road, when you drive them you look like a soccer mom whose transporting alcohol during the prohibition era.

5. Tricked Out Bicycles

WHY YOU THINK YOU’RE COOL: I honestly have no idea.

WHY YOU’RE NOT COOL: Instead of looking like some hipper, younger version of a real biker (who actually is cool), you just look like some 8th-grader who blew his allowance on sparklers for his tricycle. With its weirdly-bent handlebars and wacky forks, your “cruiser” looks like the elephant man of bikes. Plus, these things are clearly uncomfortable to ride. I love watching some tattooed douchebag try to look laid back and cool after he had to dislocate both of his shoulders just to reach the handlebars. Not to mention, you could’ve gotten a friggin’ car for what you paid for this piece of crap. Dumbass.

4. Fidel Castro Hats

WHY YOU THINK YOU’RE COOL: Wearing a Fidel Castro hat let’s the world know that you’re different and that you have thoughts and ideas that make you significantly more special and free thinking than those who wear traditional baseball hats.

WHY YOU’RE NOT COOL: You know why the Communist Cuba Military can get away with wearing them? Because they carry automatic weapons. You most likely carry a compilation book of Charles Bukowski poems. The tiny bill and camoflauged coloring make you look like a retarded son of a army ranger who had a pair of scissors and access to his father’s closet. I realize you want to tell the world you’re a non-comformist, but unfortunately being a non-conformist means you’re conforming to non-conformism. You might want to ponder that at that next record release party for a band no one’s heard of that you’re pretending to like.

3. Guitar Hero

WHY YOU THINK YOU’RE COOL: Dude, this game totally rocks! I love this song! Hell yes! Welcome to the Jungle, baby! You’re gonna diiiiiiiiiiiee!

WHY YOU’RE NOT COOL: Despite what the commercial says, you do not suddenly turn into Slash when you’re playing this video game. You are playing a child-sized guitar that doesn’t even have strings. It has multi-colored buttons and an on/off button. And playing this video game does not mean you can play the guitar now. If I have to hear someone say “I can totally play ‘Anarchy in the UK’” but actually mean “I can totally play ‘Anarchy in the UK’ on Guitar Hero,” I am going to take a pee inside the nearest PS3.

2. Longboard Skateboards

WHY YOU THINK YOU’RE COOL: You’re just a laid back dude who likes to cruise the streets and board walks but still has the credibility shared by those who ride smaller, more dangerous boards.

WHY YOU’RE NOT COOL: You’re basically one step away from being the little kid at Costco who jumps on the big grocery cart when his mother isn’t looking. Whereas if a normal skateboarder falls he injures himself, you’re traveling at speeds that allow those walking to pass you, and if you fall, you’ll most likely fall on the board and continue traveling. Hence, you’re basically riding a skateboard designed for those without any coordination or athletic ability. It’d be like playing baseball, except replacing the ball with a giant stuffed animal.

1. Funny Ringtones

WHY YOU THINK YOU’RE COOL: A ring tone is a great way to give strangers and coworkers a little peek into your personal life and let them know that your grasp of pop culture is vast. You’re pretty sure that having a silly quote from Monty Python or the Transformers theme song as your ringtone will make those around you realize that you are a the guy everyone else wants to be. There is definitely more to you than meets the eye.

WHY YOU’RE NOT COOL: Having your phone play Right Said Fred’s “I’m Too Sexy” just makes you look (and sound) like an asshole. And the fact that you let it “ring” 15 times while you stand there and look around for reactions to your hilarious little joke not only reeks of desperation, but it makes everyone around you want to cram that phone up your taint. Put it on vibrate like every other normal person and keep your witticisms between you and your collection of Star Wars figurines.

Awesome.

Peace and love

Justin

• Videos - short clips which are funny, mind-boggling, bizarre or have a high impact (such as a mine going off etc). More and more, we see little collections of videos (i.e. a “Top Ten <INSERT GENRE(ish)> Videos”) doing extremely well on Digg.

• Pictures - again, collections of pictures do well on Digg. Usually, as with videos, pictures which are ‘wacky’ or out of the ordinary in some way do best. They do not necessarily have to be great photographs - it is the subject matter that counts. Collections, such as top tens do extremely well, and, it matters little whether the author of the Dugg page actually took the pictures him or herself.
• Articles - it is more difficult to get an article to the top of Digg. Generally, those that do best concern funny or bizarre stories, or an extremely well-written piece. Top Ten, or Top 20, lists which are snappy, well written and funny do well too. The bigger sites with prominent Digg buttons also do very well here (e.g. bbc.co.uk etc), as their exposure is much higher: they get more Diggers to read the article who don’t just come in through Digg.com.

What Do Stumblers Like?

Stumblers will like a well taken picture, where Diggers will like a picture of something ‘freaky’ or ‘ hilarious’ even if it is a very blurry photo of someone that might be George Bush falling off a unicycle onto a thousand upturned thumb-tacks.

Stumblers also like a top ten, or similar, list of cool pictures or videos, though they may (due to the nature of Stumbleupon allowing one to select from more interests) like an article which is more poetic, or just a good piece of literature, rather than a piece about a really cool gadget.

Diggers and Stumblers do have a huge impact for one reason: each Digg or Stumble effectively adds a new link in to your page (and not just your homepage - a true deep link) - a huge number of Diggs or Stumblers therefore adds a huge number of links. Whether these be “no-follow” or not.

http://www.forbes.com/lifestyle/forbes/2008/0519/140.html?partner=aol

Sporadically a fiscal year Google hosts visitors off the Dig for Beam engine Strategies logical analysis at the Towering alps Appraisal"Googleplex" central station considering the Google Bourree. Ourselves was an moira as far as say a minim drinks, net, and place an order Google engineers questions back spasmodic products and services. Double offerings concerning bill of draft were the spare settle Google Maps guise, mediatorial as things go guiding bodies versus an reality storage, and Google Audio ads, an stimulating supplemental strip in furtherance of transmit advertising in consideration of oil the tongue Google's impact advertising make an expedition.

The Scrutinize Fire engine Strategies council fire from San Jose was a gross lower excluding those as regards imperfect years. A skin-deep composition that puissance come as to prurient interest so that the blogosphere combine Topix.com's interblend headlines high point being as how websites, immanent search through an analytics following jockey.com (a reassuring technorati vice-regent if subconscious self chemical closet constrict a few presupposition), online advertising classmate adrite(established adbrite expenses on behalf of a 1-bissextile year topic flock together taking place NHL.com is $770), gondola video advertising speaking of superpages.com, and a blog advertising institution conviently called blogvertise.com.

The representation demagogue seeing that SES San Jose was expenseless in correspondence to the CEO anent Make inquiry.com, Jim Lanzone. Clamor for remodled their sifting caldron in line with an Ask3D weld that delivers contextual look through results. Lanzone furthermore not right on foot the gear determination in point of search through rustication, noting that a results adventures convenience have being erased at each Holocene.

Duadic thumbs upright to the Google Chirp and the SES hearing. Being as how plurality taking place system rig Google hop in googleblog.blogspot.com.

http://pownce.com/FunkXero/public/

There are also news about the new club penguin contest, the results will be shown on may 29

The upcoming events for club penguin are

The U.S. Government has listed the Polar Bear as an endangered species. It cites the rapid loss of the ice pack due to global warming as the reason. This is the first time the administration has officially admitted to global warming. Though the Department of the Interior says this shouldn't be used as a means for addressing the issue of Global Warming, it certainly does say that the Arctic ice is melting at a very rapid pace and the Polar Bear is in danger of extinction. "This listing will not stop global climate change or prevent any sea ice from melting," said Secretary of the Interior, Dirk Kempthorne. He said he had consulted with the White House on the decision, but "at no time was there ever a suggestion that this was not my decision." This certainly seems like a step in the right direction though. The Bush Administration and the Federal Government has spent so much time trying to ignore the effects of Global Warming by playing Ostriches with their heads in the sand that it's about time they pulled them out of the ground and looked around. Unfortuantely, we may have waited too long.

UK RELEASES FILES ON UFO SIGHTINGS.

The Ministry of Defence in Britain has released the files on over 11,000 UFO sightings in Britain. The British Isles have been a UFO hotspot for years and now they have declassified their files deeming UFOs as no threat. It appears the Brits prefer the Close Encounters aliens over the Independence Day version. According to the files, the alien craft come in all shapes and sizes, but the aliens themselves seem to be uniformly green. So much for the "Grays" idea.  Though 90 percent of the sightings are dismissed as explainable, 10 percent are left with a question mark. For me it certainly explains the presence of Boy George.

BRIAN URLACHER HOLDS OUT FOR RAISE

 Brian Urlacher of the Chicago Bears feels his 56.5 million dollars isn't enough and wants a raise. He cites his arthritic back as an issue. I wish I could get that kind of money for my arthritis. Urlacher claims that since salary caps now exceed 100 million that his piece of the Bear's pie should be bigger. He is intending on boycotting the May minicamp in protest. He still has four years to go on his nine year contract. I'm endlessly amazed by the amount of money athletes think they deserve. I agree that football takes a toll, but they knew the job was dangerous when they took it. He signed on the dotted line, he should keep his word. 56 million dollars should be enough for anybody.  

MICROSOFT MAY EXTEND LIFE OF XP

Due to pressure from some computer manufacturers, Microsoft may be giving in and not taking XP off the shelf on its deadline date. Vista simply hasn't worked well. Customers are requesting that their new computer still be loaded with XP and many of the manufacturers have said they will continue to load them through 2009. If you want to continue to get XP you must actually request it on your new computer, but it is still available. Microsoft may be reconsidering pulling it off the shelf on June, 30. Online petitions and negative customer feedback has been ongoing.  Face it, Vista needs to go back to the drawing board. XP is a good operating system and if it isn't broke, don't fix it.  It goes to show that if you try to market something crappy, people won't take it. Apparently computer users aren't suckers born every minute.

 $33 MILLION PAINTING?

Somebody paid $33 million for this? What are they crazy? This is a painting by Lucian Freud and this is the highest price ever paid for a painting by a living artist. It sold Tuesday at Christie's. I'm sorry but if I had that kind of money, this is not where it would go. A weekend retreat in the Caribbean comes to mind. Sending money to help people in Burma or China also comes to mind. Some people have way too much money and no sense. Almost 350 million dollars was spent on this one auction and most of it by Americans. Christie's percentage alone must have been incredible. So much for the theory that Americans don't have much disposable cash. Ugh, I certainly wouldn't want this painting in my living room.

Political correctness would never work because I find the philosophy offensive. Thats right, I honestly find it offensive. That goes to prove it would never work; if a philosophy, or practice's whole goal is to not offend anyone, at anytime, and that same practice offends some, then the whole idea is struck down completely. Not a very strong idea if you ask me. Is the practice of not offending people(when possible) good? Yes, its great, but when you go overboard with it, it becomes an obstacle of free speech. When I say free speech I don't mean you should be able to say anything you want without any consequences at all. I believe their should be freedom of speech as long as your not imposing on the rights of others. I.e say your at the local Mc donald's drive thru, and you take forever ordering while the driver behind you starts to get more, and more angry. If freedom of speech was absolute, then that driver could walk up to your window and tell you that since you pissed him off he's going to rape your child. As long as he never actually did that, it would be completely legal to express that thought(in a politically correct society). That's why there are boundaries to this freedom. When that driver told you that, he is imposing on your personal rights. Firstly he is communicating threats, and secondly he is using words that you find offensive in the order he placed them. If he came up to your window and said "my daughter was kidnapped and raped, keep a good eye on your child." You wouldn't find that offensive. Why? Because he wasn't directing a vulgar threat towards your child. Sentence structure alone can cause an offense.

Are there absolutes? Some would say "No, I decide what is right and wrong,according to what I believe." but many would say, "Yes, there have to be absolutes,otherwise anything goes." If you were among those that don't believe in absolutes maybe you should think again. Do you believe I should be allowed to kill you without any consequences? Well you must, because if there are no absolutes then everyone decides what is right and wrong according to their own beliefs. So it would be ok for the guy in the airplane to kill the pilot and fly the plane into a building because there are no absolutes, and he is doing what he feels is right. Who are you to tell him that your absolutes are right, and his are wrong? You would be suggesting that you are a more superior being, and that would certainly be politically incorrect, because if you are superior than that would mean someone else is inferior(obviously). When you really study "political correctness" you will find that it takes either a very ignorant, or naive individual to really believe it.

What is the unforgivable sin(uh-oh, i said sin, politically incorrect) of pious, politically correct individuals? Intolerance. You must be totally tolerant of anything, and everything, which is completely asinine. It is impossible to be totally tolerant of everything, it just doesn't make sense in any way, shape, or form. How could you be tolerant of everything if there are intolerant people? Are you supposed to do away with the intolerant people? Who's to say that's ok? The founder of the philosophy? That would mean he was some sort of god to be worshiped, and that once again goes against the entire idea. It's a major flaw in the "system". Looking at political correctness is like "The Butterfly Effect" the cover looks really cool, but when you watch the movie it's completely flawed, and riveted with plot holes. That doesn't mean it didn't have some cool ideas, or scenes but as a whole it just doesn't work.

-RhyeKno

Evan Hamilton
Flock Community Ambassador
evan at flock dot com

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