More internet fun

When did this stop being a serious (well, semi-serious) political blog? I'm sure I'll stray back there eventually.

But in the meantime, I have to agree with August: this might represent the very apex of what the internet ever has, or ever will, offer. Warning: streaming video = bandwidth hog. Do not follow link on dial-up unless you have some time on your hands.

Fun with search terms

To the person who found me last night with the Yahoo!!!!! search term "large nipple contest", I was sorry to disappoint. You'll be happy to know that the results on Google are more in line with what I expect you were looking for.

What I'm curious about is if you were searching for a contest involving large nipples, or a nipple contest that involves many participants. For the latter, may I suggest Congress' review of FCC decency regulations in the wake of the second-last Super Bowl?

Seeing the world

Since the CBC lockout began, I've been stretching to find other sources of news. The Daily Show is all well and good, but it has the negatives of only being on four days a week, and of having some delay between event and story.

Instead, I've been listening to podcasts from elsewhere. Okay, mostly the United States. But still. And they in turn have pointed me to other interesting sources of news, and future news. One in particular of note, and one that I'll be following for the next while: Yahoo! (I think you have to emphasize the exclamation point, or it's not as entertaining) Yahoo!!!! News is sending a one-person crew around the world to cover wars. Yahoo!!!! would like us to call Kevin Sites a "Solo Journalist", or even better, "SoJo". Solo Journalist, perhaps. That other one? Forget it now, Yahoo!.

Nonetheless, it speaks to the way technology has changed the way we can access the world. One person, a laptop on his back, a little bit of digital recording equipment, and you've got yourself a foreign correspondent. If we decide to notice them. Big "if".

Bear season

Long-time RevMod guest host Bear has returned to blogging, and judging by his recent production, he's been saving up. Give him a visit - tell him Don sent you.

The beginning of the long dash, following 26 days of silence...

Anyone else missing CBC radio? Well, the silence has ended. Not because the two sides are any closer to cutting a deal, but because much of the locked-out talent is now involved in producing a series of podcasts.

The podcasts, as well as alternative broadcasts on local unversity stations, have been going on throughout, but they aren't always the easiset thing to find. Fortunately, CBC technology columnist Tod Maffin has organized it into a single, somewhat unified entity, at CBC Unplugged. Alternatively, go to the iTunes store, and subscribe through the "podcasts" listings. For no charge, you can turn your $500 mp3/hard drive into a ten dollar transistor radio!

(Full disclosure - Tod Maffin featured/mentioned revmod on the National's election night broadcast. Sadly, it came before the polls closed, and I missed it. Nonetheless, I appreciated the extra few "gaffe-o-meter" google searches at the time.)

One hopes that long after the lockout is settled, CBC takes note of a) the power of podcasting and b) the importance of not pissing off a bunch of people who communicate for a living.

Moday evening, Edited to add: I've finally gotten around to breaking my permalinks to the CBC. Those links to your right will now go to the unplugged site, where they'll remain until the doors open again.

Happy Birthday, Alberta!

I love this province. I'm sorry that our cheap-ass government has done virtually nothing to mark the occasion, but that doesn't mean I can't take advantage of what celebrating there is to be had. I will write more later, maybe even find a site or two to link up to, but for now, I have to rush downtown for my free pancake.