Caterina has a point, but David has a better one — all the hype and new “web 2.0” businesses popping up (and no, I’ll never write that without quotation marks around it) is giving us as repeat of the 90s bubble times, when what really makes this new “era” better than the last is the ability and willingness of people to address problems simply, directly, in small teams, charge for the solution, and organically grow a business without the need for crazy VC funding, San Francisco digs, and attending tons of conferences.

Khoi Vinh, whose beautifully crafted blog continues to impress me, writes about the 37signals approach to “web 2.0” development, something they call “getting real.” The post and comments capture the same ambivalence I feel about 37s — impressed by their products, their approach, their success, and their confidence, but also rubbed the wrong way by their attitude towards their readers and their customers (of which I am one). There is a lot all web developers and business people can learn from 37s, but perhaps not all of the lessons are intentional.

Boing Boing compares the penalties for shoplifting a DVD with the penalties for downloading a DVD. Apparently what would be best for society is for everyone who is dowloading illegally (all the millions of them) to stop and start stealing DVDs directly from stores.

William Saletan’s opinions on abortion, as explained in his _Slate_ article, “My Secret Burden,” express exactly what I feel about the issue. I believe that the more moderate voices of the pro-abortion movement must win out of the movement hopes to survive. I remember freshman year of college when a girl from FMLA asked me if I was a feminist, and after I heard her definition of the word, a defintion that included the right to abortion in very stark terms, a definition that made me uncomfortable in its passion, I had to say that I was not. I don’t believe abortions are good. I believe they are bad. I believe we should do all we can to make them as rare as possible. And I believe they should remain legal. Read the article.

Researchers have found that Americans rate atheists below Muslims, recent immigrants, homosexuals and other groups as “sharing their vision of American society.� Americans are also least willing to let their children marry atheists. (via Kottke)

The raisin has ruined the oatmeal cookie, I agree. That’s why I demand my oatmeal cookies with chocolate chips. Throw in some nuts and it might just be love.

Don’t Shoot the Puppy. I completed the game in 22 minutes, 38 seconds. And I’ll never get that time back.

Ars Technica examines the rise of television product placement. I suspect there is no getting out of this one, but I’m hopeful that after a few screw-ups occur (as they inevitably will) we’ll start to see less of blatantly product-placed storylines in non-“reality” TV shows. After all, its nice to hear Veronica Mars say “I dig this song” without having to wonder if the show was paid for the sentiment.

Thirty-five years ago, a group of anonymous activists broke into the small, two-man office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Media, Pa., and stole more than 1,000 FBI documents that revealed years of systematic wiretapping, infiltration and media manipulation designed to suppress dissent. I have to wonder, if they did it today, would anyone really care?

My favorite Congressional office, the GAO, was able to successfully smuggle bombmaking materials passed airport screeners 21 times. Guess how many times they tried and were caught? Oh, wait, never. Are you surprised? I’m not surprised. Now please hand over your knitting needles.

Do my eyes deceive me, or does the _New Yorker_ like _Battlestar Galactica_? Wonders never cease!

Dr. Sachs has just released his most brilliant case study to date, Diagnosis of Inferior Social Proclivity Disorder in Young Adult Patients. I feel so…so…enlightened. I played Seymour Fleming in a local production of _Babes In Arms_ many years ago.

Rotation Of Earth Plunges Entire North American Continent Into Darkness — “Darkness victims describe hunger pangs, lassitude, and a slow but steady loss of energy, forcing many to lie down. As many as two-thirds of those believed afflicted have fallen into a state of total unconsciousness.”

The proof is not in the pudding.

“The ‘fig sign‘ is a gesture made with the hand and fingers curled and the thumb thrust between the middle and index fingers, or, rarely, the middle and ring fingers, forming the fist so that the thumb partly pokes out. In some areas of the world, the gesture is considered a good luck charm, in others it is considered an obscene gesture, and in still others it is used in the “I’ve got your nose!” child’s game.” Thanks, Wikipedia.

Ever wonder what the US director of national intelligence does every day? He takes three hour lunch breaks at an exclusive club, for one. Of course this is not the least bit surprising, after Congress went along with the Bush administration’s lobbying to gut the bill that created the office, giving John Negroponte a title and little else, least of all any control over the US intelligence services.

“Exposing hypocrisy while being self-depreciating is what Jon Stewart does best; in fact, it’s basically all he does. Those who believe _The Daily Show_ is actually ‘fake news’ don’t understand either satire or the exceptionally smart, informative humor that the show invokes on a daily basis[…]But that sort of contradictory, somewhat nuanced humor didn’t work well for the Oscars’ audience.”

77,000 private medical records were exposed when tape backups were put up for auction. We haven’t had one of these stories lately. I mean, not publically.

For New Orleans, a charming place for tourists but a desperate clump of poverty and poor schooling, the question is not whether the current reconstruction plans will create a thriving city—they will not. It is whether there are any that could.

Forty-percent of college applicants come from schools that do not disclose their class rank, and college admissions officers say this hurts those students chances of getting in. A lot of this, sure, is context, but could some of it also be pressure from _US News_? Either way, grading on a curve, so to speak, is always fraught with pitfalls.