@gfscott Twitter archive About
I wrote this thing for @marketing_mag about the various obstacles to introducing ads on @CBCradio2: goo.gl/rK3ty
@lisanjutras Amazing how often "technically exceptional" and "unsatisfying" go together. Hard to imagine what the sensation would be, tho'.
Look at this crazypants bathtub concept: goo.gl/9xbwv
Keywords: Sex, war, Disney princesses, male predator drones, Plato's Cycle of Regimes, G.I. Joe, Joseph Campbell, "Homeland Vagina", slavery
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I like all her stuff, but this @xintra essay brings it with particular panache: goo.gl/gXPfj
And their Dropboxes were 97% full, and there was much lamenting. And GOOGLE said, Here is that Drive you wanted, and it was good.
@SairaPeesker I'm don't know if it makes it worse; I think it operates on a different sociological plane. Few adults can access—in or out.
@christindal @SairaPeesker Like Kony, it reeks of clueless bystanders riding Awareness: The Experience at the Empathy Theme Park.
@christindal @SairaPeesker 100%. Will "community" give any thought as to why this bullied kid isn't reaching for its aid?
(I think the Onion-esque editorial cartoon was what red-zoned my bullshit meter: goo.gl/G3l1J — compare goo.gl/PDCqE)
I don't doubt the severity of the problem at all. But kids deserve better than this clueless "something must be done" routine.
Most "bullying" is, by its nature, coded behaviour and language designed to operate right under noses of the adult world.
Like, can we treat this highly complex issue as more than another opportunity for straight grownups to feed queer kids banal platitudes?
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The chorus of anti-bullying messages is reaching Kony2012 levels of tone-deaf piety: goo.gl/jOEiQ
(But that's fine, I'll take it. All politics is local etc.)
...it's so irritating that their basis for this judgment seems to be "I liked/disliked yesterday's weather."
It's good that people increasingly acknowledge that climate change is, like, a real thing that exists: goo.gl/D6Kmj — BUT
1) "No Diggity" is still great; 2) Why did Weird Al never do a parody version called "No Dignity"? youtu.be/3KL9mRus19o
Read this profile of LBJ ur-biographer Robert Caro, and think about your life: nytimes.com/2012/04/15/mag…
Like, "I crashed my car, but if I hadn't, think what a good driver I'd hypothetically be!"
So this is just Jim Balsillie trying to retcon his epic mismanagement of RIM, right? goo.gl/hVTT9
RT @timothycomeau: Oh, New Aesthetic, you're so 1 week ago
(I will sincerely try to rein in my Olympic-disgust outbursts here, but no promises.)
Yet more reason to loathe the Olympics: as proving ground for brazenly evil private security firms: goo.gl/bqQG0
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@lisanjutras Even weirder because I've never, ever seen one of his movies.
@lisanjutras Weirdest dream I ever had was that Harmony Korine made an unflattering documentary about me.
Just wanted to hear "Town Without Pity," but it came with a pretty great little essay on Gene Pitney: goo.gl/UUr6x
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...I can't tell whether that's a deeply cynical or a painfully naive reaction. Either way: bloom.bg/x6smHM
Honestly, I was surprised to learn that the richest member of congress was only worth $700 million.
(I share this figure merely because I think it's interesting—not because I think US politicians aren't clearly in thrall to big money)
Number of billionaires in China's National People's Congress: 38. Number in US congress & senate: zero.
@emmamwoolley Impossible. Though I'm concerned by the more frequent sightings of Evil Graham around town recently.
"Non-cognitive elites" is a delightful new term (coined by a nasty little group, but hey): goo.gl/pyZUy
RT @ACCheng: A typeface of impossible angles - ideal for conjuring unspeakable horrors in clean, modern style. ow.ly/9UecX.
@maxfawcett I just worry the holodeck algo will offer nothing but White Stripes concerts based on one album I bought off Amazon in 2003.
Next Deadmaus will reminisce about how you used to get a feature and two newsreels for a nickel: goo.gl/8RkBg
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No doubt an uncanny ad perfectly targeting a desire I didn't even know I had is on its way, but I think it's way further off than many say.
Or, EG, an AdWords banner that follows me around graciously offering a credit card I already have & whose account I'm *logged into.*
EG: A promoted tweet from the AARP advertising scholarships for women over 50. A service I am 3X-uneligible for (male, <50, Canadian)
I simply can't muster up the paranoia over laser-sharp personalized social media marketing. The examples are too feeble:
@bborzyko Yeah, was just watching this guy do it, and felt vicariously humiliated.
There is something deeply undignified (and unmistakeable) about crawling the baseboards of a coffee shop, hunting for an electrical plug.
I redesigned @praxistheatre's website, christened today with a stirring takedown of @Luminato: goo.gl/0PxRj
Yay: New Simcity in 2013. Boo: "Images not representative of actual gameplay." youtu.be/kztNWdhRdnw
... The concept strikes me as something public broadcasters could/should do more of. Totally on-mandate, but internet-length.
This short video on the history of GIFs is fun — youtu.be/vuxKb5mxM8g —and there are more on the @PBSoffbook channel: goo.gl/reBVF
I am curious to see the new @TorontoTempest, involving people I know and like. But I cannot conceal my hatred for that typeface.
That's from this astonishing lump of sophistry: goo.gl/flHxT
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"It has taken a century to turn capitalism from an awesome force of nature...to the subservient thing it is today."
“He ruined a number of people’s lives for no real reason, and he was generally a toxic influence”: salon.com/2012/03/01/wha…
Biden previews the Obama re-election message: "Osama bin Laden is dead and General Motors is alive": goo.gl/XzSG8
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“Charles Taylor ... once sued a journalist for saying he had eaten a human heart, and lost”: guardian.co.uk/global-develop…
I love living in a time when "Steampunk Batman vaporware" isn't merely a string of nonsense words: goo.gl/YlDse
Interesting: at FT, digital will crest 50% of revenue this year, digital subs are 44% of paid circ: goo.gl/C4owR
@WScott_Steele I know, right? So good. Glad you liked it too.
@mattbraga @kelkord Enjoy! The disjointed structure is a barrier, but just go with it. I think it pays off.
It is about video games, Asperger syndrome, the financial crisis, cheat codes, and the 1989 Nintendo movie “The Wizard.”
It is kind of ridiculous and will not suit everyone's taste. But I like that it committed fully to its formal experiment.
I didn't read it until months later, but I would like to recommend this (long) essay in The @Awl: goo.gl/K97ir
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@lisanjutras RE: Pinterest, they *were* monetizing using Skimlinks, but stopped: goo.gl/MlBqG, goo.gl/n8oxS
Monopoly board with web companies instead of streets. No way does Yahoo get the Boardwalk spot: goo.gl/VUcdv
I thought DogTV—“The first television channel for dogs”—had to be a YouTube joke, but it seems not: dogtv.com
@journo_dale The rest of the column's OK too, though overwritten in the de rigeur Internet Essay Style.
The Conservative Political Action Conference “is like Comic-Con ... where everyone LARPs as ‘evil’”: goo.gl/kgY3A
"We probably know a lot less about the Pakistani nuclear arsenal than one would think." Comforting! goo.gl/zE7St
“Congratulations Facebook, you’ve built the killer birthday app”: goo.gl/O4254
Buffy the Vampire Slayer gets an abortion: goo.gl/2GTJc
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@chantalbraganza @navalang Don't wait! Be the change, Chantal.
@chantalbraganza I could probably stomach the vocabulary if I thought the argument held water, but yeah, sheesh.
The new Life cereal box design is crazy retro: goo.gl/fUYwd
It's long past time for a Ryan Gosling backlash, but this essay is a mess: goo.gl/yeqKj
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Ersatz page-flipping on the web is so infuriating. Don't. Just...don't: turnjs.com (via @phillipadsmith)
(The best one being: "White girl got off easy.")
This clip of Sonia Sotomayor on Sesame Street produced some anomalously great YouTube comments: youtu.be/FizspmIJbAw
Technology! Carnegie Aerial Observatory uses Lidar & spectroscopy to make 3D Amazon forest maps at 360 sq km/hr! goo.gl/RD0uf
Even considering it's Joe Eszterhas, this is a weird interview: goo.gl/jkSVl (since it's mostly about Mel Gibson?)
@serial_consign "Echoes" would be the charitable interpretation, I suppose. Somewhere on the homage/ripoff spectrum.
Sped up “Koyaanisqatsi” condensed to five minutes: vimeo.com/36205162
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@briandstdenis Watch out, when the music stops you're about to have a carefully sound-edited fight.
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@ivortossell It was United's slogan for 30 years!
I really think this week's Businessweek (@bw) cover line should have riffed on "Come fly the friendly skies": goo.gl/34FID
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@canice Try the 45>33 trick with Anne Murray ("Snowbird" is amazing) or pretty much anything by Karen Carpenter. (cc @typeter)
Nano quadrotors clearly exist for one purpose: a lame opening ceremony setpiece at the 2012 Olympics: youtu.be/YQIMGV5vtd4
A promising new tumblr devoted to calling out interior-design clichés: fuckyournoguchicoffeetable.tumblr.com
Brazil's fertility rate in 1960: 6.15 children per woman. Today: 1.9. post-gazette.com/pg/11365/12004…
Number of prisoners taken to Guantanamo: 779. Number convicted of a crime: 6. Disgraceful: guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jan…
RT @mediapathic: Feed google image search a blank png. Search for closest match. Repeat 2951 times. vimeo.com/34949864
Let's get metaphysical.
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@ivortossell @kelkord @taddlecreek I am glad to live in ignorance no more.
@TaddleCreek I don't know what that is.
I had lunch with @TaddleCreek's dad.
@NatalieZed That #omdcdd2012 gen-x tweet was about marketing pitch strategy: "Girl power! Buy our deodorant!" etc.
A Gawker comment section that spontaneously and delightfully became every Gawker comment section: goo.gl/6FN0e
I know stories like this are important to write as gender roles shift. I just wish they were all less vomitous: goo.gl/w6TNM
I bundled all the @NiemanLab 2012 prediction posts into one big @Instapaper-friendly page: bit.ly/Nieman2012
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@joyce_byrne That @walrusmagazine cover was my "wish I'd done that" cover of 2011: goo.gl/7oFvb
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RT @theophani: “These accidental videos show real life.” Videos of people who think they're taking a photo. ithinkitsonvideo.tumblr.com via @bby_su
@kattancock I would say being "that guy conspicuously reading Monocle" is a significant reason I seldom buy it.
RT @Cupcakes_n_Rap: Do you know about the terrorist attack that happened in Florida on January 1st? If not, ask yourself why not. http:/ ...
@ivortossell Linguistic prescriptivists: they walk among us.