August 04 2008
New Footage From Nelson Near Miss and Other Choice Links
posted by Ana Samways at 11:54 am
The truth sometimes hurts: Pregnant Paper Dolls is a book of paper dolls showing a pregnant woman’s progression through the trimesters — from a high-heeled, fashionable minx to a dressing gown, odd-sock wearing disaster. It would be a great baby shower gift; but only buy for friends who are having their second or third … not first. Buy it here.
How to make your own news: The Wall Street Journal op-ed page wonders whether Barack Obama isn’t fat enough to be President. What research gave them that idea? A message board.
Picture this: Oral Sex. (Go on, click!)
Crocodile Cage of Death at the newly-opened Crocosaurus Cove theme park in Darwin, Australia looks like an adrenalin rush.
Pet peeves: Do you do this? If you do, stop.
The New York Times has a very thorough piece on the subject of online trolling (i.e. deliberate online provocation) which has evolved into anything but harmless fun. The first famous troller, Jason Fortuny, posted a hoax ad on Craigslist, posing as a woman seeking a “str8 brutal dom muscular male.” Fortuny posted responses from men and all their personal details. Then came the Megan Meier, the 13-year-old who killed herself after getting cruel messages from a boy on MySpace. The boy turned out to be the mother of one of her friends. More recently, trolls flooded the Epilepsy Foundation’s web site forums with flashing images and links to animated colour fields, in an attempt to provoke a seizure.
“Today the Internet is much more than esoteric discussion forums. It is a mass medium for defining who we are to ourselves and to others. Teenagers groom their MySpace profiles as intensely as their hair; escapists clock 50-hour weeks in virtual worlds, accumulating gold for their online avatars. Anyone seeking work or love can expect to be Googled. As our emotional investment in the Internet has grown, the stakes for trolling have risen. Trolling has evolved from ironic solo skit to vicious group hunt.”
Read the full story here.
Video link: What happens when you chuck a bowl of liquid nitrogen into a swimming pool? This.
Video: We’re not sure if this edited version of the “near-miss” tree falling in Nelson, NZ, last week qualifies as ambush marketing, but it’s certainly advertising opportunism at its best — the result is a gem and whoever thought of capitalising on it as a viral video deserves a pat on the back…