Slashdot Mirror
Seanbaby.com
If there's a single trait most people who read Slashdot share -- maybe the only one besides an addiction to software -- it's a love of popular culture.
Culture has become a huge term, expanding by the week. It has come to include superhero comics, trashy daytime TV, sci-fi TV shows and websites, indie rock, rap and hip-hop, gaming, anime, cartoons, whatever. High culture -- the traditional, respectable, well-funded kind -- gets covered and criticized in the other media. But upstart culture, especially low cyberculture, can be wondrous stuff, an explosition of idiosyncratic voices that gives birth to this website and to Seanbaby.com. Interesting, valuable, fragile and endangered, Seanbaby.com is in its unique way, very significant.
In fact, for those working to maintain their sanity in the Disney/Sony/ AOL/Microsoft nation forming off and around the Web, The Seanbaby News Stupid Probe is a great place to start the day.
You won't get the world as presented by the Today Show there. Instead, you'll encounter what the site itself describes as news that will "kick your head's ass," focusing on frivolous lawsuits, exploding animals, chainsaws and chickenheads. You won't want to miss the Stupid Forum either. This is a look into the soul of the real America, at least a significant chunk of it.
Seanbaby is direct, if nothing else -- most media is not. It describes itself as intended for people over 18 -- only because, as we all know, kids will shoot one another if they hear or see dirty words. Seriously Seanbaby.com is what the late, lamented Suck really wanted to be but couldn't quite pull off. From the 20 worst NES games to Superhero Bios featuring stories, comics and videos about Aquaman, Lex Luthor and all their stupid friends, this site bristles with 'tude, shared cultural references, biting, anti-hypocritical humor. It rakes the moral pompousity that passes for discussion of digital and other culture in Washington, on campus and in much of the other press. It also manages to capture a lot of the lunacy.
The site's links and forms veer off in some strange directions, but Seanbaby.com is a great antidote to news, culture and the corporate entertainment machine as presented in the Corporate Republic.
Seanbaby is one of the reasons the Web's still-vibrant climate of individualistic expression needs to be preserved as Microsoft and AOL/Time-Warner gather their forces like two giant and rapacious dinosaurs to plot out the future of the desktop. (Believe me, if either or both win, Seanbaby.com won't be there.) Seanbaby.com is the voice of the other Web, the "real" web, if you prefer. It understands that comics, The Simpsons, and Nintendo aren't just "entertainment" -- they're the basis of whole sub-cultures affecting and shaping people's lives. It suggests the promise of the medium to create original and outspoken content and link people with distinctive sensibilities, two things the AOL culture relentlessly destroys, no matter what it owns, buys or acquires (AOL/Time-Warner is now trashing up the snoozy CNN news network by adding -- what else? -- lifestyle, celebrity gossip, and health stories -- and by hiring the usual platoons of blow-dried airheads. That won't get younger viewers either. The money they're wasting could launch tens of thousands of Seanbabies).
"You should know that some pussies have been known to find sarcasm and bad words confusing and offensive," writes Seanbaby, whose bio also appears on the site. "If so, I, your sexual fantasy from the future, advise you to find a new source of free comedy, caveman. For those who stayed at the risk of face rockage, you should know that soon, like all Earth entertainment, this site will be replaced by Doctor Excitement's Fun Blaster, a peace-bringing combination midget generator and launcher."
Old fart media execs wondering what they have to do to get young people to consume mainstream media have only to log onto Seanbaby.com to understand why they never will, and don't really even want to. This freedom and voice and community and definition of culture will never enter a straight newspaper, pop up on a network newscast or, for that matter, appear on Slate or Salon. Yet it reflects its new culture as well as the New Yorker Magazine mirrors the old. For as long as it lasts in this parlous time of Web sanitation, may it grow and prosper, and spawn a thousand more just like it.
I've read Seanbaby numerous times, and I have to admit that the Superfriends bios were fsckin' hilarious. Then, one day, I clicked on the little picture of a bear cub on the front page and found lots of descriptive words and photos about how this little cub, confused and frightened in the city, scrambled up a telephone pole, where it made contact with some wires that it shouldn't have, and was electrocuted and burned to death. Just exactly what is funny and refreshing about that? I was actually rather horrified to see it in such graphic detail. Humor: the suffering and death of innocent animals? I'm sorry, and call me whatever you want, (I really don't care!) but I anyone who considers that kind of thing to be funny has something very wrong with them.
Palaces, barricades, threats, meet promises
If Katz's stories only recieved about 20 comments he would be gone in a week.
It sort of a forum where geeks get to be bullys
I used to have a cool sig, back when I cared
High culture -- the traditional, respectable, well-funded kind -- gets covered and criticized in the other media. But upstart culture, especially low cyberculture, can be wondrous stuff, an explosition of idiosyncratic voices that gives birth to this website and to Seanbaby.com. Interesting, valuable, fragile and endangered, Seanbaby.com is in its unique way, very significant
Can you kindly tell us what is that "high culture" you are talking about?
Classical Music, Opera or Ballet perhaps? No coverage of the media.
Serious books aiming to more than provide a nice reading for your summer holidays? No, those are not covered by the media either.
Painting, architecture? No, one hour per week in CNN does not count as coverage.
So what is that "high culture" that MS-AOL-The BIG MEDIA are promoting?
IANAL but write like a drunk one.
One: he was making fun of the guy who shot a tranquilizer dart into an animal up a telephone pole. That takes a certain amount of stupidity.
Two: the bear DIDN'T DIE. It got a little roasted is all. Then it picked itself up and walked off.
"Thats un-BEAR-able!"
skye
Shh. Don't tell anyone.
Easy does it!
This comment has been submitted already, 276865 hours , 59 minutes ago. No need to try again.
Hey man, when LNUX's stock is THIS low they have to bring out the big guns and let Katz troll for readers. I wouldn't be suprised if in a month he's bashing those stupid dorks. They deserve beatings from the football team.
Good point in the second paragraph, which also applies to advertising.
/-"i-z&m/ noun
OTOH, please don't use words when you don't have the slightest idea what they mean.
From Merriam-Webster Collegiate:
Main Entry: re.ac.tion.ary
Pronunciation: rE-'ak-sh&-"ner-E
Function: adjective
Date: 1840
: relating to, marked by, or favoring reaction; especially : ultraconservative in politics
- reactionary noun
- re.ac.tion.ary.ism
I can't dig out a link, as the site is being (of all things) slashdotted at the moment, but somewhere in the bowels of seanbaby.com, there will be a page stating something along the lines of "not that it's any of your buisness, but no, I'm not gay." Just because he wears women's vinyl pants doesn't mean he's gay. ;-)
Um, I hate to say me too, but, I must agree, me too. Portalofevil.com is a portal of evil, just like it says. It has links to the most fucked up, evil sites on the web. /. crowd would appreciate ifuckedbillgates.com ifuckedlinustorvalds.com ifuckedstevejobs.com mommylovesmemore.com (well, I don't know why that applies to the /. crowd, but I really like it) more than just evilemail.com.
Portalofevil.com is better than seanbaby because reality can be funnier than comedy, if you get people who are fucked up enough producing the reality. The Libertarian Green National Socialits party, for example. Seriously, not even Landover Baptist Church can equal what some of the fucked up religion sites put out. Of course, portalofevil is really DESERVING of the tasteless title, so any reasonable filter should block it.
The entire Portalofevil network is pretty cool, Oldmanmurray, fatchicksinpartyhats, seanbaby abd evilemail. Evilemail has the best domain names, some which I'm sure the
Erik
"You," Bite me.
"Each and every one of you." Bite me.
If there's a single trait most people who read Slashdot share -- maybe the only one besides an addiction to software -- it's a love of popular culture.
You forgot to mention utter disbelief at how your articles get posted here as a shared Slashdotter trait.
Why are you paying $3k for a T1? You could be paying 1/4th of that.
'This site is intended for people over 18, but only because kids
shoot each other if they hear the word "fuck."'
Use my userscript to add story images to Slashdot. There's no going back.
I see your point, but if the average person is going to get their media hype about technology from someone, better that it be Jon Katz who usually has a positive spin and a forward-looking viewpoint, than some news anchor who's deathly afraid of viruses and hackers. The best goal would be to educate the public responsibly, but since they won't sit still for that, at least we can get them excited rather than afraid of technology.
Your right to not believe: Americans United for Separation of Church and
The difference is this: Being black is something someone is born with. It's neither good nor bad, it just is. Being a lard-ass is a lifestyle choice. It is a sign of weakness, sloth, greed, etc. They choose to be fat. Being ridiculed is just a consequence of their action. If I dressed up like a potato, and people laughed at me, would I deserve pity? No. Neither to Fatties.
"Would it kill you to put down the toilet seat?" -- Maya Angelou
I think the topic of this thread should have been, Idea: maybe Jon needs a different forum?.
OTOH, even old-timey /.ers seem unable to bring themselves to filter his stories. He's like Rush Limbaugh or Howard Stern -- Those who agree pay attention, and those who disagree pay more attention. Annoying for us, but great business for Slashdot. :)
Got Rhinos?
That's completely insane. Since when does being funny make someone a corporate whore trying to oppress all you Tyler Durdens? Seanbaby is THE MAN about as much as your hypocritical insanity makes you cool.
I run poe, the sub network sean is on. Seanbaby is currently hosted on ugo's servers. We had to make a deal with UGO (when they won't pay you money get something else). Sean was utilizing 60% of our T1 on most days. Now he has a T1 to himself on ugo's shared server but its metered, hence the no response today. But it is capped so no extra cost to us. Our current bandwidth bills (if we actually paid for everything) would be over $3000 a month. Not what we are making in ad dollars anymore. Eventually bandwidth will get cheaper, but will ad dollars just keep dropping as well? Right now this is all an expensive hobby. Chet
Thanks, but... Do you realize you just advertized for the book?
You say you want a revolution?
However, it looks like it's not quite working for this site. It still works for Yahoo though. Also, the /. preview is showing a space between the 'o' and the 'm'. Make sure that you don't type one there if you need to enter it manually.
Then you've probably not heard of x-entertainment.com either.
Go there, be happy.
Ha! He got you. About every 10th visit or so, it graciously forwards you to goatse.cx. Just try again, and you'll get the real site.
std::disclaimer<std::legalese> sig=new std::disclaimer; sig->dump(); delete sig;
/. being owned by VA makes it part of the corporate Internet, no? Quick ma, run for the hills!
Jon, I don't think you should be suprised there's still cool, small(ish?)-scale, independent stuff happening on the web. Such as (here comes the inevitable plug!) my recently launched newsfilter.co.uk. Erm, I guess someone other than me should decide if it's cool, but, whatever...
There will always be small, independent stuff springing up - I have no doubts about that. Some of it will grow into something bigger, and become part of the "evil" corporate world. Some will tick over at a smaller scale hobby level. Others will fade away. It's all good stuff.
And it will continue to happen, whether or not Steve and Bill end up owning the 'net. That much should not be suprising.
...j
Is it just me, or does this puzzle anyone else? When I hear/read the term 'popular culture', it is the AOL/TW/MS/NBC/ABC/CBS version of 'culture' that is meant.
???
Where the value of X-Mailer: is the true measure of a man...
Actually, both Seanbaby and OldManMurray are part of the Portal of Evil.
Jooleem. Get Addicted.
Why does everyone think Seanbaby is secretly a corporate lackey? He runs a banner by UGO so he can pay rent. It's not like he calls them to get instructions on what to write about and you can be damn sure they don't censor him with all the retard/deaf person jokes that make me pee my pants.
Seanbaby is Miguel you dork
...making extremely hurtful comments about women with a medical condition?
Oh jeez. When are people going to learn that everyone has feelings? That everyone belongs to a minority, or has something wrong with them? That every single last person on the planet has had something embarrassing happen to them, or that someone has had reason to make fun of them before? I wish people would realize that we are all different, and humor is one way we point that out and embrace it.
I dread the day that there exists no more classes or races or genders or body types or social professions or.......
cd
Besides, (yes, I'll be the one to say it), lose some weight. It's not THAT hard. I lost 80 pounds when I finally decided I was tired of being a fatty head.
Slashdot has begun linking to sites that aren't DMCA-awareness advocacy groups! Really...I was actually planning on reading some of the Hostess Fruit Pies archives today. I guess I can throw that plan out the window now that poor ol' Seanbaby's gonna get /.ed...
"Mod, mod, mod...and another troll bites the dust."
I think I remember reading somewhere how an inktomi url can be used in conjunction with any url to get to a filtered site. Anyone remember/have the inktomi url for this trick? thanks
"There ought to be limits to freedom"
is one of the other sites that I check religiously. Sick, perverse, unreasonably cruel and funny uber alles. It's what the editors of Rotten do when they're not posting fleshy bits. Esp good was the Shrek review.
But yeah, I've wasted a crapload of time going through archives of seanbaby and SA. Unlike stile's linkfests, there's actually chunky stuff there.
And remember, everyone wants a piece of you.
Scarce, scared, scarred, sacred... -Col. Bruce Hampton
I'm sorry, I seem to have wandered into the wrong website. I'm looking for Slashdot. I'm not entirely sure how I wound up at msn.com instead. I guess that'll teach me to use IE...
You see, "popular culture" has the word "popular" in it, which means "involving many people." Big media corporations have figured out what this is and offer it in a neat little box with a pretty pink bow around it, and like hotcakes it does sell because that's the definition of "popular."
Is he also 'extreme to the max'? Is he 'keeping it real'? How about 'too legit to quit'?
Seanbaby, timetrip is right. You're funky fresh, dope, fly, hip with your whacked out mind. Increase the peace, I'm out.
Tasteless, odorless, and one of the more deadly of the known poisons.
Or maybe I've just had too much caffeine today.
Websense doesn't block sites with bad taste, they block sites that taste bad.
Really dating myself here.
To save you the trouble: "It's not like anybody else would date you"
The next Cmdr Taco duplicate will be ready soon, but subscribers can beat the rush and see it early!
If there's a single trait most people who read Slashdot share -- maybe the only one besides an addiction to software -- it's a love of popular culture.
Pop culture, no... sub-culture maybe. AOL/Time Warner is pop culture. MTV is. Abercrombie and Fitch, and Hot Topic are. Pepsi and Coke certainly are. Face it, listening to indie rock has become part of pop culture. Buying a T-shirt from unamerican.com promotes conformity through individuality.
Advertizing has become insidious, with people completely unaware that astroturfing is occuring. Think the Soppranos just became popular? No, they paid radio stations to talk the show up in banter format as opposed to a commercial. I won't argue whether or not it is a good show, but I won't watch it either because its advertisement is morally objectionable. You are conditioned to like things, you are conditioned to buy certain things... Clever marketing is taking over your lives.
You say you want a revolution?
A perfect opportunity presents itself for your own edification (edification - n. - "Intellectual, moral, or spiritual improvement; enlightenment.")
Consider referencing a dictionary when you encounter words currently not in your vocabulary, rather than complaining about your lack of comprehension.
de rigueur - adj. - Required by the current fashion or custom; socially obligatory.
"It's not as clear why Seanbaby is important, a vital but endangered Web species ..."
One of the vital "I've been slashdotted" species.
--Yahiko
Everything I say is a lie.
Except that. And that. And that. And that.
Katz is an older guy - IIRC, he mentions in Geek being old enough to be the dad of the guys he's writing about.
/., I can't recommend Geeks enough, it's an excellent book).
You can find a pic over here which claims to be of Katz.
(And, despite not necessarily being the biggest fan of his stories for
...j
Wow, I think I've found my new .sig - a more pithy summation of current youth culture does not exist. Thanks for making my day.
Your right to not believe: Americans United for Separation of Church and
Not withstanding the fact that the Simpsons is a product of one of the biggest Media conglomerates in the world.
Don't forget, though, that Simpsons creator Matt Groening's Life In Hell comic strip ran for years in alternative weeklies before he ever gained mainstream attention with The Simpsons. In the late eighties, when The Simpsons first aired, Fox, was an edgy upstart network. Yes, Fox Studios had been around for half a decade, but the network itself was out to shake the market up. I don't think Murdoch's News Corp. owned Fox at that time, but I could be wrong.
The counterculture-from-the-big-boys phenomenon is not new. Mainstream media sources have always picked up on popular elements from the fringe and taken them as their own, whether its Elvis Presley singing R&B or Toyota commericals saying a car is "like punk rock", its a recurring phenomenon in American culture.
Somebody please, tell this machine I'm not a machine.
Katz-bashing is so de rigueur on Slashdot that I find myself increasingly less interested in participating in it.
I do have to say, however, that I agree with your general assertion. I would only disagree with your statement that Katz emphasizes "the stuff cultural theorists care about".
With respect to cultural theorists, media ecologists and sociologists, their concerns are considerably more weighty and substantive than the techpop-culture musings that pass for thoughtful commentary here (most often prompted by a Katz article).
I would say, then, that Katz emphasizes "the stuff that tech/pop-culture columnists care about". Small distinct, but I think necessary to show respect for the complex (if soft) sciences of media/cultural theory.
If there's a single trait most people who read Slashdot share -- maybe the only one besides an addiction to software -- it's a love of popular culture.
Actually, I don't think this is true, and this is why Katz catches so much flack around here.
Katz is not a techie, but rather a fan of tech/popular culture. Most folks come here for tech news, not cultural news. When the two intersect, as when a computer-animated movie is released, Katz invariably emphasizes 'the stuff cultural theorists care about' and de-emphasizes or fails to understand the stuff techies care about -- and gets flamed for it.
Fat chicks in party hats and seanbaby are both part of the portal of evil network. seanbaby did the graphic design for FCIPH....
Why, so we can slashdot google?
I realize this is probably a stupid question, but I really want to know: Why does http://3630752905/ = http://safeweb.com ?
:wq
The only thing that keeps things interesting is when people have to scrap and struggle and throw their shit up wherever it'll stick in spite of the mainstream culture. A little corporate backing would turn Seanbaby and everything like it into the same old garbage in an instant. The whole POINT is that the stuff is marginal. And yeah, yeah, it's pretty neat that the internet makes it that much more available to the average joe...
BUT THAT ISN'T FUCKING NEWS AND IT DOESN'T NEED TO TAKE UP SPACE ON SLASHDOT
There is only ONE way to get fat. Take in more calories than you burn. That's it. No other way. Period. Medical conditions do not cause you to get fat, they cause you to need more excercise and smaller meal portions.
Enough of the Politically Correct Fat-Chunk Police:
The vast majority of fat chicks don't have a medical condition: They can't keep the god-damn fork out of their mouths and they sit around all day on the sofa poping chocolates. They are lazy gluttons. They are not disabled. A disabled person is a Combat Vet with his leg blown off or a person born blind. Not a self-pitying food monster.
There are very few fat people where the population has to work hard for survival (Africa). There are very few fat people where people walk a lot (Europe). There are very few fat people where they eat properly (Japan). And if you find a large peoson there - they are usally are big and strong, not frail and blubbery.
America's standard of living has gone down the toilit 'cause every where you look you can't get away for viewing the SUV-owining-glutton-blubber-beasts .
Moneyed corporations, non-working 'poor' and criminal prisoners are turning productive citizens into tax-slaves.
Seanbaby is one of the reasons the Web's still-vibrant climate of individualistic expression needs to be preserved as Microsoft and AOL/Time-Warner gather their forces like two giant and rapacious dinosaurs to plot out the future of the desktop. (Believe me, if either or both win, Seanbaby.com won't be there.)
I'd like to refute this just a wee bit. The "only" thing that Seanbaby has going for it is a sense of humour and good design. Whether or not MS/AOL takes over the desktop is irrelevent to the future of sites like seanbaby. Lets face it, no matter who wins you ain't gonna see that on the desktop.
Blatant plug alert:
I run my own radio show which operates outside of the "system". Whatever happens to MS/AOL won't affect me either. All that the forthcoming amalgamation of large media sites will do is alter the viewing patterns of the folks who can't or won't change the default start page on thier browser.
Go down to your local alternative book store and check out some 'zines. They're still there. The online equivalent will alwyas be there as well.
Hey guess what katz, the people who own seanbaby and affiliated sites are in fact the same clueless old fart executives that "don't get it". In fact the tops execs from MTV are in charge of these sites. In case you don't know about MTV either it is owned by Viacom a huge media behemoth. You are very full of it, or extremely gullible my over the hill friend...why don't you give this a read...
The Truth
Once again katz is full of it...
You really need to watch out for run-on sentences, and contradictive ideas in each of your thoughts. Reading a JonKatz essay is like reading a Dr.Suess book - backwards.
It's obvious that Seanbaby.com is funny, weird and distinctive, a showcase example of how idiosyncratic personalities, viewpoints and sub-cultures can flourish on a free, non-corporatized Internet. It's not as clear why Seanbaby is important, a vital but endangered Web species that needs to grow and prosper in a world whose desktop is being shaped by Microsoft and AOL/Time-Warner.
Umm, no.
BOO-YEAH!
I would say that he should post to Plastic.com, but I think he'd be severely outclassed by the posters over there.
the best part is that seanbaby is owned by a large company that makes its money by selling "counter culture"...well they sell ads on websites designed to look underground or homemade. In reality they are a large media corporation worth tens of millions if not more. Duh the marketing people aren't stupid...they sell both pop culture and counter culture...check out press releases from UGO. They are quite proud of the fact that they have cornered the "elusive male 18-35 market" and in corporate speak explain to would be investors and affiliates how by tapping into counter culture they have been able to generate millions of page views for advertisers across their network of 500 sites. Don't be fooled. If something seems to counter culture and rebellious to be real chances are it is. I guess the sheeple can enjoy being sold goofy t-shirts and trendy joysticks or something while they get their jollies feeling rebelious. To me these imitation homegrown sites are offensive.
stile sux
seanbaby is not culture jamming or counter culture it's UGO Corporation stealthily tapping into the 18-35 year old male market...
If you want to get away from mass media you're going to have to try harder that "gee that site looks like shit and has a bunch of swears and 80s references on it! cool DUDE!"
The marketing departments aren't stupid.
As someone else mentioned, it's probably better to say "Seanbaby and Oldmanmurray are part of the Portal of Evil" - but even that may be incorrect - perhaps they are on the same server? It appears the guys of Old Man Murray are doing server administration for the site, and developing other stuff.
Of course, it gets even more confusing. Apparently, Old Man Murray has reached the point of perfection, where Chet and Erik have decided that there is nothing that can be added without taking away from the present perfect state. The forums continue, and the forum coding continues, but it's more of the coffee shop in the museum, where the insiders can meet, talk about new developments in the art world, but not change any of the exhibits. Perhaps it's time to put the site on a CD, and sell it to kids. With candy.
He can't afford the views we're dumping on him! Do you want to kill the poor guy? Proud Owner of a signed seanbaby tshirt skye
Go HERE. Somehow related to seanbaby. Thank me later.
"Would it kill you to put down the toilet seat?" -- Maya Angelou
Why do you buy a product? You were informed about it. By who? Under what influence? Think about the ungodly amount of information and awareness manipulation [yes you are manipulated!] that occurs everyday. Feeling unhappy? Buy a car! Feeling ugly? You need makeup and plastic surgery! Consumerism, folks...
The web (but not necessarily seanbaby :) causes this flow of information [read--propoganda] to become a fictional pastime of greedy corporations. If you can find true accounts and reports, rather than a stem of corporate sponsored media and advertisment, suddently the consumer is aware and a little smarter. Even better, imagine a society where consumerism in't the name of the game, and happiness/enlightenment/existance involves more then just a sale at the mall...
Ah, the informed consumer. What America as a culture needs, but what america as a business fears...
----------------rhad
Slashdot needs to interview Natalie Portman.
Although Seanbaby is on the bleeding edge of the bleeding edge, I'm surprised Katz didn't mention other sites. Old Man Murray, Portal of Evil, Something Awful, Jerkcity, hell even my site, Gamer's Angst, are all sites offering a more cutting view of the world.
Seanbaby is just one of a hundred sites out there offering not just pop culture commentary, but honestly some of the more cutting edge humor available today (except for our site. Our Tshirt slogan is "They're not funny"). Seanbaby just happens to be the best at it.
More disturbing is Katz weekly trumpeting of the impending AOLTW/Microsoft/Whoever else takeover of the Internet.
Of course we should be aware about these things, of course we should celebrate sites like Seanbaby that, frankly, rock. But can we tone down the "DEAR GOD QUICK EVERYONE READ SEANBABY TO STOP THE AOL YOU GOT MAIL MONSTER OMGWTF!" hysteria?
S.
http://www.stepto.com
Okay, if a white guy calls a black guy a n*gg*r, and he does it out of hate, that's bad. Sure. But this is different. I live in a pretty much all-white portion of the country(in the mountains in Colorado), and I've never personally dealt with racism, so I don't really have much to say about it. Except this:
I have a friend who grew up in Zaire (I think it was Zaire, might've been another african country), we were talking about American History X, and he told me how much he hated the movie. I figured, you know, the whole scene that landed Edward Norton in jail... Later it came up again and he said he hated it for the shower scene (where Edward Norton gets it in the butt). I mentioned that I thought he meant the earlier scene, and he says, "Nah, I don't care about that stuff..." What does this mean? He's lived in the US for about 4 years, and has never experienced racism. Ever. And since he wasn't raised with the stigma of what most of the black people in this country had growing up -- slavery, and then racism -- he didn't go out looking for people of color being maligned, so he could complain about that. Granted, your experiences may differ, but in general, a lot of percieved racism is probably hypersensitivity. I'm not complaining, it's not like it gets in my way up here in the Rockies, but life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it.
On topic, however, if you're black, you're black. There's no two ways about it. If you're fat, however, sure it might be due to a glandular problem or something, but what it comes down to is that you eat more than your body needs. If you simply make the decision not to do that, you will not be fat anymore. Or at least, eventually you won't. It's not cool to make fun of people because of the color of their skin, or because of their physical disabilities, but if they're stupid(ignorant stupid, not downsyndrome stupid) or fat, or sporting a mullet, that's a choice they made, and they have to live with the consequences.
Synergy is your friend
Be a good net citizen. Follow the link.
HOW DUMB DO YOU WANT AMRICANS TO BECOME ?
As if we are not dumb enough already. I don't have the attention span for much more of this crap. That's why I get my news on 'culture' from indymedia.
If I want to talk about cultural issues, I come here, or go to adequacy.org. Or at least I used to until some idiots decided it would be a good idea to DDOS it.
To sum up: SNES games are NOT culture.
I think there is a large proliferation out there of non-corporate content creation sites scattered all over the web. By virtue of being non-corporate, they are just harder to locate unless you are told about it, or happen to pick it up in an off-beat search. For example, another great undiscovered content producer is www.digiclair.com which produces a mix of serious technology and gaming articles with rants and satire pieces. All good stuff, just not well known(til now ;-) ).
Craig.
The1Genius - Littera Scripta Manet
fatchicksinpartyhats.com purports to be by Miguel, of dubious existance and bad grammar, but I believe is written by seanbaby.
AC's cheerfully ignored
Great...read all about how this site is "better than CNN" yet it sure can't handle the hits. So please, somebody, tell me why this is so much better. Popular Culture? Popular Culture wants a damn site that can handle some traffic.
"Science Explores, Technology Executes, Man Conforms." -1929 Worlds' Fair
SeanBaby is part of the PortalOfEvil network which is composed primarily of tasteless (but funny) content.
Isn't SeanBaby the home of Fat Chicks In Party Hats?
Mr. katz you big sucker. Don't you realize that site is owned by a large media company. It's one of those sites designed to have a "homemade" feel ala stileproject. The "clueless execs that don't get it" obviously do as they are funding this project and it is part of a larger corporate family. You are so gullible, man i always feel sorry for people who fall for that crap. This is almost like those fake fan sites for tv shows and movies. It's an ok site, but trust me it's not made by some teenager in his parents basement.
The funny thing about it is, when you ask semi-net-savvy people, AOL and MSN rank dead last in the great sea of ISPs big and small. Anyone smart enough to do more than casual surfing gets the hell off Eh? Oh, Hell ASAP; the whole high speed data craze has both 800-pound gorillas scared ****less because neither of them has penetration in that market.
To make a long story short, there is rapidly becoming a two-tiered Internet: The hoi-polloi on MSN and AOL, and us eggheads who patronize their _local_ ISP (high-speed or not) and have the freedom to roam wherever we want and get the Real News.
Whether this is good or not, is open for debate.
Why does slashdot always say how "grand" micr0s0ft and a0L are and how we need to stay away and you make it seem like a majority of the internet is 0wn3d by them, when it's TOTALLY NOT THE CASE. OPEN YOUR FRIGGIN MINDS PEOPLE. I don't need to be told what to like and what not to like, and I also very very very very much disagree that AOL and/or MSFT have ANY SAY on what I do on the internet. I just simply DON'T USE THEIR STUFF. You guys just keep egging it on, like you're trying to be bought out by one of the two, which I don't blame you for since you're losing money anyway, hell you know what, keep talking great things about them, I hope you get bought out. A nice AOL symbol or a butterfly next to Slashdot would be a nice touch, and I know you'd never see me around ever again.
As requested, you are now connected to outer space.
PERHAPS THERE WAS AN AGE WHEN PEOPLE DREAMED OF THE POSSIBILITIES IN THE OUTER SPACE?
I hate the spew of AOL/Time-Warner, etc.
But neither can I stand the bullshit spewed by moron sites like Seanbaby. I don't care about silly news items or about honing a youthful irreverent attitude toward popular media.
Whether it's "culture", or "counter-culture", it's still the same light-weight, glittery awareness-lowering, brain-decaying garbage that everybody is running around paying way too much attention to.
I don't give a rat's ass about Aquaman or Bart-fucking-Simpson or the 'Family Guy' anymore than I do about the latest CNN mis-information propaganda.
It's all just material generated by the same zombie assholes who want everybody to work 10 hour days, eat too many food additives and continue raping the Earth in order to produce more stupid & useless shit. To extend the greed and suffering to all new levels.
Culture on this landmass is less than a complete fucking joke. It's a mind-control program deluxe.
Seanbaby is almost worse than AOL; Those who think they're somehow breaking free of the program through a "counter-culture" response, are only re-enforcing their participation by regurgitating the same old shit by way of a subroutine designed to capture all the sheep who fall through the cracks and threaten to maybe maybe wake up.
The only true rebellion is to cut the umbilical cord altogether. There's a whole world out here. . .
-Fantastic Lad The most half-awake Lad of them all!
Yeah, a 404 page is real funny.
Yes, but TV stations and magazines have (at least in theory) steady streams of revenue coming in from advertisers. Web sites for the most part do not nowadays.
It understands that comics, The Simpsons, and Nintendo aren't just "entertainment" -- they're the basis of whole sub-cultures affecting and shaping people's lives
Not to troll or anything, but i'm fairly certain that the assertion that cartoons and an antequated game console system are the foundations of a powerful counterculture is something seanbaby would probably consider explosively retarded.
In other bits-from-a-katz-article-I-don't-get news:
if there's a single trait most people who read Slashdot share -- maybe the only one besides an addiction to software -- it's a love of popular culture.
And yet,
Old fart media execs wondering what they have to do to get young people to consume mainstream media have only to log onto Seanbaby.com to understand why they never will, and don't really even want to.
Which is it? We love popular culture, but will never consume it? What? Is Simpsons not "mainstream"? What do you think Nintendo is, if not an old fart corporation? Jesus, Katz. Figure out what the hell you're trying to say. Geeks love to consume popular culture, but are to savvy or whatever to consume it or want to. Um. Okay.
Another damned comic
+++ NO CARRIER
Do you mean "ironic" in the Alanis Morrisette sense? Like rain on your wedding day? I don't see how seanbaby getting slashdotted is somehow supposed to disprove the fact that Jon Katz is an idiot. Remember, there are a lot of people who like to badmouth Katz. What better way to get ammunition than to see what the hell he's blabbering about? Maybe you and Alanis need to consult a dictionary.
That is freaking hilarious. Thanks for ruining my productivity for at least a half hour.
How to solve most of our problems: 1.Lots of nuclear plants. 2.Cure aging.
I sure hope Britney's real...
Developers: We can use your help.
[Media giants] may make [counterculture content] slightly more difficult to find, but they can't force me to look at their crap.
Slightly more difficult? If AOL and MS really want to stop the counterculture, they'll be visiting Google.com often, looking for unofficial fan sites, and sending cease-and-desist letters and DMCA takedown notices. At least that's what Enid Blyton Ltd. did about my Noddy fan site.
Will I retire or break 10K?
A Short and Happy Life kills all the tired rehashings of URR HOSTESS CAKES KICK YOUR DICK IN that Seanbaby blabbers out. You've seen one Seanbaby section, you've seen it all; KTJ is the multimedia megamack for the new millenium. Dammit.
Easy does it!
This comment has been submitted already, 276865 hours , 59 minutes ago. No need to try again.
Better to send someone who won't get facts wrong. Better yet, don't send anyone at all. I get so sick of overhearing (or trying to hold a conversation with) people talk about computers and tech who have no idea what they're talking about. People who read this little blurb on a website (newspaper, tv whatever) and think that they have a right to an opinion on the subject. Maybe if this sensationalist, innacurate bullshit wasn't out there people would feel more obliged to do the research to find out the real facts.
Please note I'm not putting anyone down, and tech isn't the only place this occurs.
License Agreement: By decoding the above symbols into meaningful brain activity you have (by the DMCA) voluntarily given up the ability to decode the information contained therein in anyway way other than what the author intended. Furthermore, according to UCITA you may not review this post in any public way, this includes but is not limited to moderation, meta-moderation, or replying.
I'm the big fish in the big pond bitch.
wtf? Where did Bowie Poag's page go? Angry Cat? The Hick? Had some crazy and stupid news. Darn, so much for that plug.
It's 10 PM. Do you know if you're un-American?
No, Jon. This is a look at a particular slice of the "real America"
Except for areas, like the RoZone, which is written by a friend of mine, Rosy, from Edinburgh, Scotland.
Check it out sometime - she's a funny girl;
http://www.seanbaby.com/rozone/
Sorry about that, it seems to have gone the way of goatse.cx since the last time I visited. I didn't mean it to be so malicious. I just hope you read this before visiting...
http://ars.userfriendly.org/cartoons/?id=19991016
I think that the generation below mine has been so inundated with a barrage of glittery sights and sounds that they are numb. It sounds like Seanbaby (which is ./'d already, by the way) consists of just those kids, who are to be regarded as spoiled in one sense and to be pitied as lab rats in another. The science of media manipulation is probably the richest-funded research in the world; They (yes, They) are desperate to understand how to manipulate us. Our 'culture' therefore, has become awash with things that we never would consider pleasurable or desirable, but they are things that corporations have determined are necessary to their survival, i.e., eyeballs or clickthroughs or 'just making the damn sale', and whatever that entails.
But these things cannot be genuine, because they do not spring from genuine creative energies. They therefore don't touch the hearts and sensibilities of our youth. So we as parents are left with the common lament of past parents (as so eloquently pointed out by the Beatles in "She's Leaving Home"): "We gave them everything. Why do they turn from us?" They turn from us because we gave them nothing, except blinders and 'sensation as experience'. Whereas my generation (late 60's thru 70's and 80's) was somewhat coddled, this one is just plain numb, and it takes a lot to wake people up anymore, so shock and 'Extreme' (how many times have we heard that buzzword?) sports and experiences are necessary anymore. Trust is lost; truth is meaningless; connection is severed. One can only wonder how this generation will raise its children? They will have a tough time to the degree that they - for reasons of expedience - have bought into whatever the media culture was selling while they were growing up.
Oh, and please don't bring up Suck; every Wednesday without Polly and Terry just reminds me of how much this Promise is failing, falling to the likes of Disney and AOL.
You know, I was going through my mp3's the other day, and I realized how things have changed. The first 30 or so songs I dl'd were of Radiohead (only live bootlegs, mind you, and yes, two wrongs do make a right here), but they weren't off of Napster, they were downloaded off of fan's pages! You just don't find that sort of access anymore. Not like the old days, ahhhh.... 1998, I remember it like it was yesterday...
We've given them everything. We've taken away everything. It depends on your perspective.
SDMI: Finally! Music that won't rip or burn! Brought to you by the fine folks at RIAA.
Well I'd be willing to bet that we could never pawn Katz off to USA today (never ever), but I bet there is someone who could actually sit down with us and say IAAL and here's your problem. Maybe he could be Ebert to Katz or something. that would make me read /. more often than I have been lately
this sig is deprecated
Fuck you, Katz. Is nothing spared from your poo-stinky finger of filth? God, I really wish you were dead.
I doubt it. Loser.
shut up katz, face it your clueless. Your attempts at "hipness" are weak. Crusty old fart, go write for modern maturity or something...
Anyone going to somethingawful.com from slashdot gets redirected to goatse.cx. Clicking the link above WILL lead to goatse.cx, if you want to visit the site you must type the URL in manually.
Man i wish i had some mod points. That is really god damn funny. Why the hell does everyone mod up the same type of comments in every article? Come on, all of those comments that get 5's - they aren't THAT good.
Sitting on your ass eating Twinkies(tm) is a medical condition?
With the way you're describing the 'slashdot effect' and seanbaby.com's reaction to it, I think you're actually referring to the newly coined phrase hear on slashdot called (Dun-da-da-duuu!): the Slashdot Gangbang!
yeah, Megatokyo.com. skye
Ever see the episode of NewsRadio where Matthew discovers Dilbert cartoons?
I have a new image of Katz in my head, and he looks like Andy Dick.
Yes, also part of the portal of evil is the famous bad-candy.com
Please tell me jon katz is not related to boris katz vice president of sales and marketing for UnderGroundOnline entertainment network.
That would be really really pathetic.
I assume from Mr. Katz's high praise of Seanbaby as a sign that women in the 21st Century still need to be verbally brutalized for the amusement of men based on their physical appearance. Good for you Mr. Katz! You have revealed yourself for what we all believe you are, the UbberTroll! Congratulations!
Have you thought about running around and calling homosexuals, "STUPID FAGS" like Seanbaby? Or do you remember all you articles regarding Columbine and other school shootings. Praising what you tell us you detest is very confusing.
Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government.
http://www.somethingawful.com. 'Nuff said.
std::disclaimer<std::legalese> sig=new std::disclaimer; sig->dump(); delete sig;
"Sean-baby"? I guess it's time for somebody to write a parody of "Hatten är din".
Will I retire or break 10K?
Alas I am one of my companies security experts, so it does me no favours to go bypassing their security systems while I'm working ;-)
I know the tricks, but I'll wait till I'm on my own connection!
The first paragraph looks just like something one of those JonKatz simulators generate!
.killfile first!
"It's not as clear why Seanbaby is important, a vital but endangered Web species that needs to grow and prosper in a world whose desktop is being shaped by Microsoft and AOL/Time-Warner."
ProtoKatz-Turing Test: After 5 story lead-ins, see who gets added to the
I buy books and food. That's it. When i must replace a wornout garment i buy clothes with no label. Sure it's still probably made in a sweatshop somewhere, but at least 10$ for some jeans no ones getting rich off it. Seriusly, fuck all that consumerism shit. I buy what i need to live. Books are the only non-necessity i purchse. Doesn't this leave me with alot of extra cash laying around? Yup sure does.
Please tell me Slashdot didn't just highlight the shit fest that is seanbaby. WHY DO PEOPLE LIKE THAT SITE? It is pure crap.
we're important too. butt, forget IT, the "mainstream" (this may/may not include slash/crash/cash dot) media is too busy wurking hard to help keep j. publick's head up his .asp.
will the 'net be doomed to end up LIEk tv?
This is trollish and slightly flamable ...
What? Seanbaby is fricken retarded. Okay, so much of my angst comes from the fact that I find him completely f*cked up and that he has the same name as me. I really do not like that. I go to class one day and some chick asks me if I run the Seanbaby.com site thinking I am all cool like that - but no! I couldn't even capatalize on that since he is gay (not that there is anything wrong with that). Then all my friends start calling me seanbaby. Wth. SCREW THAT. Sean is a great name, nothing wrong with it - ie. Sean Conary - but then this SOB comes along. Really, its the Micheal Bolton complex. }:P~
The ultimate network admin tool needs HELP!
And when the fuck do I get new fishfiction? As in: the Flash extravaganza you've been teasing at in-between bouts with sobriety.
Easy does it!
This comment has been submitted already, 276865 hours , 59 minutes ago. No need to try again.
I skimmed past this article header on the main page and as I scrolled down here was my thought process: "Wtf was that? Did it say anything? Why is that on here? Oh. I bet it's a John Katz piece. Let's check. Yep. Ok."
I bet that's still a hell of a lot less than running a TV station or publishing a magazine.
"Yo' shot it wif a tranquilizer! Fry mah hide!? Th' bar's a-gonna fall on thet god dadburn transfo'mer, yo' fat idiot! Fry mah hide!" shouted an angry six year old onlooker.
fatchicksinpartyhats
The system has failed you, don't fail yourself. --Billy Bragg
Lowtax of sa.com (not the real site, i'm not gonna have him slashdotted too, you either know the site or you don't) has said that it costs him up to 2-4k$ a month in bandwidth fees. Possibly more, as he won't tell anyone an exact number.
Well, if you visit lowtax's site, you can see why he pays $4k a month in bandwidth fees. The front page is 55k in size, with over 170k in images. Every page has the same unnecessary 20k in overhead for the graphic-intensive top- and side-bars.
Think about it. If he's having so much trouble paying bandwidth fees, why doesn't he spend a few hours making the page lighter? I could easily trim the page down from 200k to 100k without any loss in content, or noticable loss in image quality. If he did this, he would cut his bandwidth fees in half! Then maybe he wouldn't have to decide whether to keep SA running another month, or to go broke.
I don't have a site that is as popular as penny-arcade or SA, but I have decided that, in the event that my site becomes too popular, I will remove more and more unnecessary graphics until my page is just plain text with supporting photographs. If you read any study on web usability, you will see that people don't really pay attention to graphics anyway.
If you're into the Massively Multiplayer Online RPG scene, another great site that I suggest you check out is http://www.lumthemad.net
/.'ers who love pop culture, Jon? You're pretty bold to generalize.
Quite the interesting perspective from there, it's too bad that Lum sold out (not for a bagel), though.
As for us
"Stop saying 'Don't quote me' because if no one quotes you, you probably haven't said a thing worth saying" -KMFDM
I was completely unaware that such a site existed. This is great! safeweb.com was blocked as a sex site (???) but the other linked worked. Thanks man.
"I strongly urge both the faint of heart and the faint of butt to leave the room at this time."
- Strong Bad
Against their commerical interests to introduce anything that might jeopardise the richness of the internet experience for their customers. Why did AOL allow access to the web in the first place? (remember when it didn't?) Because the multiplicity of content is the key selling point.
They, you see, understand that Seanbaby is not the voice of the "real" web. It's just a voice within it. Without Seanbaby, the web would be a poorer place, sure, but frankly, so would the web be poorer if we lost all the crocheting sites, or the fly-fishing portals, or the china-doll collecters' webrings.
That's like being the president and not being able to launch a nuke now and then.
No boom today. Boom tomorrow. There's always a boom tomorrow. - Cmdr. Susan Ivanova
mod this fucker up, he deserves 5 funny!
Here's the press release from when old man murray sold out to corporate ownership! woohoo! Gee guess what katz with out those big bad mainstream media companies these cornball beavis and butthead style sites wouldn't even exist.
NEW YORK - November 05, 1999 - UGO Networks Inc., the underground entertainment mecca for 18-34 year old males on the Web (www.ugo.com), announced today that it has added established and highly esteemed game oriented sites, Blue's News and Old Man Murray, to its network. Blue's News was one of Snowball's flagship affiliates and Old Man Murray is joining an affiliate network for the first time.
"Adding such prominent sites as Blue's News and Old Man Murray to our network underscores our commitment to providing the best content on the Web " stated J Moses, President and CEO, UGO Networks. "As well as being innovative and original, the content furnished by the sites is ultimately relevant to our audience, 18-34 year old males. Where other formally male oriented networks like Snowball increasingly target teenage girls, UGO holds steadfast in its commitment to its audience. In essence, where one sees the UGO fist is where one finds the Internet's best content."
Blue's News (www.bluesnews.com ) is one of the oldest and most popular game sites on the Web and serves over four million monthly page views. Stephen "Blue" Heaslip, the Founder and Web master of Blue's News, is a nationally recognized and highly esteemed video game journalist.
"UGO Networks is dedicated to the kind of content that caters to the needs and passions of our audience," stated Heaslip of Blues News. "UGO will also provide Blue's News with tools to further develop our site. UGO furnishes outstanding technical and financial support and our relationship will decidedly lead to increased awareness of our site. We are excited to be a part of the network."
Also joining UGO Networks is Old Man Murray (www.oldmanmurray.com ), a cutting-edge gaming site that uses mature humor and insight to deliver hip game content. The site attracts more than 1.5 million entertainment enthusiasts per month with edgy content like Portal of Evil, a site that presents readers with the weirdest and most bizarre Web sites in the world.
"Old Man Murray chose UGO for its unique mix of pop culture sites," said Old Man Murray Webmasters, Chet and Erik. "Our site is a hybrid of gaming, current news and pop culture. No other network blends these ingredients as well as UGO."
With the addition of Blue's News and Old Man Murray, UGO has over 300 affiliates and 20 owned Web properties.
About UGO Networks Inc.
UGO Networks, Inc. is the underground entertainment mecca for 18-34 year old males on the Web. " UGO.com caters to music, games, film, TV, animation, extreme sports and technology enthusiasts who seek out cutting edge entertainment and news. Its extensive affiliate network is comprised of over 300 Web sites and 20 owned Web properties, including UGO.com, UGO FI, UGOdirect and GameDealer, a wholly owned subsidiary of UGO Networks. UGO Networks hosts over 4 million unique visitors each month and boasts over 150 million page views. UGO users are technologically savvy and passionate, spending an average of 1.5 hours per UGO visit. The company is headquartered in New York, NY and can be reached at www.ugo.com.
Well said.
What would be great is if we could swap Katz for a legal analyst. The sheer volume of IANAL posts and their corresponding topics show how much we could use some accurate insight into DMCA, Patent law, privacy, etc. I think keeping up with all ongoing cases and sharing the implications with the /. community could be a full time job.
Well, Taco, waddya say?
"I don't know half of you half as well as I should like, and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve."
Personally I'm hoping this problem will solve itself as technology progresses, and the cost of running a site like SA is about what you would pay for your internet service. Because the only alternative is a situation where advertisements are as unavoidable as TV commercials, and the survival of content creators like Lowtax depends not on their own talent, but on the support of a for-profit business. The internet would become a medium for more of the same; MSNBC and such. Content would be 'altered' so as to not offend the parent company. Small, competing sites, with actual integrity, would be bought out by the bigger fish. The only alternative would be to go into debt trying to pay for an increasingly popular site that's been boycotted by the major conglomerates and their advertisers. Any remaining hope for the survival of unfiltered, untainted information online would be snuffed out when it tried to compete with the government-subsidized mainstream.
Ah, the informed consumer. What America as a culture needs, but what america as a business fears... Not really. At the end of the day, you're still a consumer: informed or otherwise, that is your only option in America. Business has no reason to fear it, because you're still exactly what they want. And to change that role, at this point in American history, will take nothing short of revolution. Business wins.
I don't know what it means. I don't even know if you spelled it right. But I know what you mean from context. you could substitute 'mnaxoarfoof' for 'de rig...etc.' and you would be just as eloquent. Including the phrase doesn't demonstated any intelligence except for your knowledge of html.
Also Migeul is seanbaby being a racist prick impersonating a hispanic. Guess you racist pricks like defend each other...
----There are very few fat people where they eat properly (Japan).---- Are you fucking insane? Eat properly? The Japanese? Home of nearly all the world's top eaating contest champions? The land of tentacle rape's pretty lunch? You've got to be kidding.
Seanbaby has great stuff. e.g. the original stupid page:
http://seanbaby.com/stupid/original.htm
and pretty much anything in the probe, like:
http://seanbaby.com/news/commonsense.htm
And of course the E3 articles, the movie reviews, etc. It's hilarious.
Seanbaby is not part of Old Man Murray. An affiliate. BTW. Go to slashdot's main page. Go 3/4 of the way down. Look at the right hand side of the page in the slashbox that says "Quick Links". Notice anything peculiar?
Shouldn't this be in MLP? Oops, wrong site...
Got Rhinos?
I seem to have missed out. Tired rehashings of characters that couldn't quite make the cut for some D-grade Saturday Night Live timekiller closing skits aren't my idea of "a level of hilarity that has never been rivaled in this universe", unless from your frame of reference, crib death and cancer are on par with Richard Pryor, in which case point well made.
Easy does it!
This comment has been submitted already, 276865 hours , 59 minutes ago. No need to try again.
http://www.GuerrillaNews.com/cocakarma My god that was a scary article. All this time I thought trolls that talk about coporate power were just plain trolling. Check it out, and check out. http://www.GuerrillaNews.com/cocakarma/cont.
I guess that's true. Although I'm of the opinion that one is just as bad as the other, but I guees I can see that Katz would be slightly better than traditional newsmen.
I'm the big fish in the big pond bitch.
0: Slick, professional, elegant and useful.
2: Great design, useful content.
4: Nice effort: Graphics, interesting content.
6: Rough graphics and color scheme, poor HTML
8: Non-compliant HTML, little visual appeal, poor colors.
Perfect 10: Crap layout, lousy colors, animated gifs -- hip, happening, and real.
Got Rhinos?
Seanbaby, is part of the Portal of Evil, which is part of the Old Man Murray Network, which is part of UnderGroundOnline.
"Defenestration" is to throw out of a window; what's a word for throwing 'Windows' out of something?
I agree, except for the -ndy part.
Got Rhinos?
look up on google "IP to DWord" :)
In Soviet Russia...michael would be rotting in Siberia!
Dude, this stuff is hardly popular culture. Popular culture is like n'sync and millionare and soap operas and crap like that. This is definetely sub-culture. Anything without a major financial backer is usually sub-culture.
And frankly, I like it that way. Companies would just screw it up and bring a bunch of morons to liking it, which kindof spoils the underground effect of this stuff. Now that I think about it, almost all of my hobbies are in some way obscure and non-popular. Pirate Radio, comone, maybe 200-300 people do that?
My only exception to this rule is that I think every single Hayao Miyazaki movie should be available in america right now, because they're the most amazing films i've ever seen (nausicaa.net)
We don't really actually, uhm, like superfriends and cheesy mr. t comic books, we just like to make fun of them. Also, the guy 'does' make money, he has adspace, and sells 'Aquaman Sucks' t-shirts (which i ordered a few weeks ago)
so he's probably doing ok.
-KD
It also needs to be pro-active, and in your face.
:)
Actually seanbaby is great becuase it helps large media conglomerates tap into the hard to reach but lucrative 18-35 market. Oh you didn't know it was owned and operated by a large corporation?
pop culture?
rap, hip hop I hate that crap. TV, I rarely watch. Sorry Katz but I don't think that you and I share common interests.
And, yes, his print articles read like his online ones. Thankfully he's consistent.
It doesn't mean much now, it's built for the future.
Sorry, that one phrase in the Katz story just had me chuckling...
Wouldn't you be proud to feature that quote on *your* website? Maybe even some flashy "Bristles with 'tude" logo could be made up for sites that Katz considers to be hip, daddy-o.
Random Musings at Rum Smuggler
If Bob Hope ever finds out he's being used on it.
--Blair
P.S. Nobody ever did say what Hedy got for her trouble.
As far as I can tell, the story has moved down the /. front page and SeanBaby.com is *still* unaccessable. Maybe it's just me or my T1, but I doubt it. :-)
"He's more machine now than man, twisted and evil."
Be quiet! An ignorant customer is my best friend!
I'm sure he's probably gonna write a nice article about slashdot, and being slashdotted. So while it may suck that it is slashdotted, we'll be sure to reap some rewards :). Can't wait to see what his wacked out mind comes up with.. buwuauahha!
You crazy man? You piss off supahfly!
Seriously Seanbaby.com is what the late, lamented Suck really wanted to be but couldn't quite pull off.
what-fucking-ever.
foisjhfuclker.
that's really all i can say.
I have to reply, because you got modded up to the point where people believe what you say is true.
1) Seanbaby's site is a part of the Portal of Evil network. Other people also have sites in the Portal of Evil network, most notably Old Man Murray. Fat Chicks In Party Hats(FCIPH) is a member of the POE network. Seanbaby does not write FCIPH, so to say that he is responsible for it's content is akin to saying that I'm responsible for something one of my co-workers does at work. Just because I work with him doesn't mean I supervise him in everything he does.
2) FCIPH is funny for 2 reasons. Reason 1 is that the guy who writes it(Miguel) doesn't speak english worth a damn. He calls people "a big ham" and says stuff that makes no sense. Reason 2 is that these people are really really fat. Miguel likes to catch them eating. Maybe if you're fat it wouldn't be funny, I wouldn't know.
3) If you don't like it, don't read it. What you don't know can't hurt you, right?
4) If it's a medical condition, it *can* be fixed. You can have your stomach stapled (John Popper from Blues Traveler recently had this done, and lost like 100 pounds), you can go on a diet (I'm not talking about a fruit juice diet, I'm talking about a one-steak-per-day, go for a walk every once in awhile, stop buying M&Ms diet. Find somebody skinny and eat what they eat.)
5) Your crusade to end fat-people jokes only alerts people to the fact that fat people hate being called fat, which will only end in more fat-people jokes. Didn't you learn anything during recess at middle school? Fatty.
6) If the last word from 5) upset you, don't complain, DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT. Make a plan, take action. Kick your stomach's ass!
Synergy is your friend
He praises seanbaby.com for being unique, then prays for a 1000 other sites "just like it." what a way with words... I think that just having more people willing to be open and express their own opinion would be better. Or at least the good sense to not believe everything the media says, but to think for themselves.
nWo 4 Life
"Tasteless" sounds like a pretty broad category to be blocking - can you still get to britneyspears.com? How about web sites associated with Tom Green or MTV?
Maybe there's something offensive on the site, but "tasteless" in and of itself isn't enough of a reason to block something, IMHO.
Your right to not believe: Americans United for Separation of Church and
That's a terrific idea! My Mom loves to read Jon.
He doesn't talk over her head and he always makes her think about things from a very different perspective than her own. I send her most of his stuff. She reads it and Googles around learning about what he's writing about. The people in her tennis club think she's becoming "a real brainiac". I was damn proud when I heard about her discussions with her younger PTA friends about Columbine. I'd love to see Jon on the MSN or AOL "home page".
Operator, give me the number for 911!
http://www.oldmanmurray.com/features/crates/crates 1.shtml
This sig is xenon coated, and will glow red when in the presence of aliens
Check out the parent company, this site is just as corporate and sold out as MTV...here's there information for "investors and advertisers":
UGO Networks, Inc. ("Yu-Gee Oh") consists of UNDERGROUNDONLINE (www.UGO.com), the entertainment mecca for 18-34 year old males on the Web and UGO Technology Solutions, which provides Web hosting and other professional services to UNDERGROUNDONLINE affiliates, strategic partners and third parties.
Featuring content in the following categories: animation, music, games, wrestling, tech, TV & film and freestyle, UNDERGROUNDONLINE offers the best in cutting edge entertainment. UGO.com (www.UGO.com), the networks' central property, is a directory of the coolest UnderGround content and is a launching point for our audience to shop, play games, listen to music, watch video clips and catch up on the latest in entertainment news.
UGO Technology Solutions offers Web hosting and other professional services to UNDERGROUNDONLINE affiliates, strategic partners and third parties.
BUSINESS MODEL
UGO Networks has two revenue streams: advertising and fees generated from UGO Technology Solutions.
UGO Networks' affiliate aggregation model is one of the most cost efficient ways of creating an online community. The model allows for the efficient aggregation of original and innovative content, and the rapid generation of unique visitors and page views. It also creates a solid foundation for a highly marketable brand while maintaining low marketing and unique visitor acquisition costs.
UGO Networks owns and controls all of the advertising throughout the UNDERGROUNDONLINE network, including the media space within each of its affiliate sites. This model offers several benefits, including cross-promotion of its own properties within the network and the ability to capture its otherwise elusive demographic, 18 to 34 year old males.
UGO Technology Solutions leverages UGO Networks' technical infrastructure and expertise into revenue while simultaneously expanding the range of offerings to UGO affiliates and strategic partners as well as fulfilling a need in the market place for niche hosting services.
PRODUCTS AND SERVICES
UGO.com: A hub showcasing the sleek, cutting edge entertainment content that can be found throughout the network. From this locus point, visitors can shop, play games, listen to music, watch video clips and keep up with current trends and scoops. Currently, UGO.com links to a myriad of services such as forums, chat, search, polls, contests, email, homesteading and newsletters, as well as to its relevant channels of interest (Animation, Music, Games, Wrestling, Tech, Film & TV and Freestyle).
* UGO Animation: The destination channel for the comic, cartoon and collectible enthusiast. Offering the sexiest and most irreverent original animation, latest flash techniques and the best in editorial content, UGO Animation is on the cutting edge of interactive entertainment. Various sites offer innovative downloadable animation clips and games. UGO Animation includes the Heavy channel, featuring the animated episodes "Behind the Music that Sucks," a parody of "Behind the Music" series, as well as "Behind the Music Suck-O-Grams," and music clips.
* UGO Music: An exciting haven for the music lover. Totally diverse, UGO Music samples a wide scope of genres and tastes. With "under the radar" sites exposing edgy content, UGO Music is fast becoming a digital music mecca. The channel is made up of the slickest fan, zine and interactive sites around. Various sites offer digital audio and video, artist and DJ profiles, interviews and in-depth features, festivals and show information and music news and reviews.
* UGO Games: A mecca for game enthusiasts. UGO Games has over 100 premier affiliates that specialize in news and strategies for all the hottest games. From overarching e-zine properties to hard-core gaming fan sites, UGO Games caters to the rabid gamer who never knows enough. The channel offers a variety of online activities, including free multiplayer games, ladders and competitions. It also provides sneak peeks, reviews discussion forums, files, links, chat, cheats and hints on current and upcoming computer and video games.
* UGO Wrestling: This ultimate wrestling channel, the second-largest wrestling destination on the Internet, features the sport's latest updates, headlines and breaking news. It includes links to sites covering the entire wrestling world, from Internet wrestling radio shows to fantasy wrestling to superstar wrestler gossip. UGO Wrestling also offers the official site of Extreme Championship Wrestling, as well as complete coverage of the World Wrestling Federation and World Championship Wrestling.
* UGO Tech: Featuring the best in news, reviews, interviews and underground gossip in the world of technology, hardware and gadgets. Technology sites cover the gamut of products in the marketplace about which technology zealots are passionate. The place where devout tech fans can find everything from which motherboard is right for your dream machine to which is hotter, a HP Jornada or a Palm Pilot.
* UGO Film & TV: A destination providing cutting edge media coverage of current entertainment events and issues as well as furnishing imaginative original content. It offers a witty glance at pop icons ranging from Star Wars to Angelina Jolie. UGO Film & TV supplies news, reviews and buzz from Hollywood and other entertainment pulse points by providing links to the best entertainment content from the affiliate network. Rapidly expanding, UGO Film & TV houses many sub-categories such as wrestling and trivia.
* UGO Freestyle: From the "it" girl of the moment to news about a Twinkie shortage and Daryl Strawberry's latest coke binge, the UGO Freestyle channel isn't about run of the mill lifestyle coverage. UGO Freestyle is for those who are tired of all those out of touch rags and Websites fronting like they know how people think. UGO Freestyle provides the best of what guys really want.
* UGO Services: UGO.com links to a range of entertainment services such as UNDERGROUNDstore, a virtual mall that offers a range of products that are relevant to our audience; UGOvideo, forums, search, polls, contests, Daily Flash, UGOfreepages, etc.
* UGO Ground Zero: This navigation channel is devoted to all of the off-the-wall, amusing features and columns created in-house at UGO, from ?Coleman Confidential,? Gary Coleman?s advice column, to ?UGO Goes Down On,? UGO?s exclusive celebrity interviews featuring wacky questions to even wackier guests. The channel also features UGO exclusives on movies, music, video games and wrestling. Ground Zero additionally serves as an archive for all older columns and features.
Why does everything cool have to be some kind of Wall Street slaying broadsword? Do you think Seanbaby sits in his Seancave with his Seancomputer thinking, "Hmm.. what can I do to debunk and enlighten the droves of net-addicted anarchists this week?"
Seanbaby is important, but not because his site is some kind of geek preservation society. Sean just loves what he does and he has the guts to do it. He's one of the last few true entertainers of the world wide web.
If he was making all the same moves, but talking about SUVs and bad sushi, he'd still be funny because he's likable and honest. It has nothing to do what he says, just how he says it. The site is well layed out, and well written.
EAT THAT, Slashdot! ;)
I mean, this article is all about preserving SeanBaby.com and all the sites like it. And then you guys go and set Phasers on Full, and unleash the firehose of the Slashdot Effect(tm) DDOS!!
I bet the SeanBaby server is cowering in a corner somewhere, rocking back and forth, queitly echo-ing, "Think of a happy place, think of a happy place..."
"He's more machine now than man, twisted and evil."
Hmmm, "tasteless content"? I suppose that would include occasional nudity (even tastefully used in stories where it applies, or the author thinks it ought to), swearing, Mr. T, talk of exploding cows, a feature on comics about kicking guys in the groin and mercilessly making fun of retards, deaf people, bad games and christians. So, it's pretty apporpriate, really. But seanbaby is funny, although not up to normal people's "tastes".
Erik
"You," Bite me.
"Each and every one of you." Bite me.
The most interesting thing about counter-culture is that it seems to feed on the strength of the dominate culture.. I hate to sound all yin and yang, but the stronger the dominate culture, the stronger the counter-culture.
Take a look at Salt Lake City.. Strong religious culture there, right? with a party/rave scene underneath that you wouldn't believe. The stronger MSNBW/AOL/Warner get, the more prolific the seanbabies of the net are going to be..
This kind of artsy, pretentious musing is exactly the kind of crap that kills places like seanbaby.com, by reducing them to nothing. Thanks, moron.
Shutting down free speech with violence isn't fighting fascism. It IS fascism!
This is not a troll, this is a serious suggestion. But don't let that stop you :)
Mr. Katz gets flamed a lot here, mostly for either saying what we were all mostly aware of already, or for the way that he says it (humorously, the phrase "moral pompousity" used in this article is sometimes pretty close to the truth). But just because this isn't necessarily news for this batch of nerds doesn't mean that it isn't news for someone - I agree that there are a lot of old media companies who probably need to get whacked with this particular clue stick. In the meantime, the "nerd ghetto" here on /. is often in need of some serious clue sticking about the way the real world of lawyers, politicians, and public opinion really works. Thus, I propose a trade.
Jon Katz should get a semi-regular opinion column in an old-fashioned medium like USA Today (motto: news for those who don't like to read) or maybe on talk radio. He really has a pretty good handle on entry-level geek evangelism, and he could do a lot more good preaching to a choir that isn't already singing his tune. In return, he (or someone else that's available from the old media world) should write some stories for /. focusing on how it is that young, smart, hopeful nerds can get so pounded by the old-world forces of politics and money, and what we can do about it. I realize that /. has become a lot more trademark/copyright/patent-savvy in the last couple years than it was originally, but we still get blindsided by some issues or by the depth of feeling that Joe Sixpack has on them, so it's clear that the /. community as a whole has something still to learn.
I guess in a way this is a pretty idealistic plan - the people of the world don't really want to be exposed to the cutting edge of technology culture that we're creating and experiencing, and I imagine we'd all be pretty happy if the world of the mass market consumer society left us all alone (OK, except for our weekly /. movie review...). Nobody likes that guy who goes around poking holes in your rosy worldview. But the masses who are just venturing into the digital age need that perspective from Jon Katz, just as we here need some perspective on what those masses are really going to do with our playground once they're all in here.
Plus, anything that avoids the usual JonKatz flamefest would be a big plus IMHO. Not that I mind the flaming, it just gets a little repetitive and predictable after a while. If you have to flame Katz, flame him for his writing style or the truth of his statements, but don't fault his goal of laying out how he thinks the tech world works. It's a good goal; it's just that sometimes we're the wrong audience for it.
Your right to not believe: Americans United for Separation of Church and
www.safeweb.com
safeweb is your friend.
if "safeweb.com" is blocked, try: http://3630752905/
In Soviet Russia...michael would be rotting in Siberia!
review and explanation of http://www.fatchicksinpartyhats.com made me pee.
Well...
Usually i give katz a chance, read the article, and attempt not to flame...
But its getting rediculous. According to Katz, AOL/Time warner is out to get EVERYONE. Come on jon, just accept things for what they are. As far as threatning SeanBaby, I've been reading sean baby for 4 months now. I don't see it going anywhere. Its probably more threatning to slashdot it, as they probably have a bandwidth cap on the server.
Well, good work katz.
~zero
sig?
"Removed the cost of distribution" ?
I can almost guarantee that this slashdotting will cost him 500$ or more in bandwidth fees.
Lowtax of sa.com (not the real site, i'm not gonna have him slashdotted too, you either know the site or you don't) has said that it costs him up to 2-4k$ a month in bandwidth fees. Possibly more, as he won't tell anyone an exact number.
Check out penny arcade's donation page with the meter... they're paying almost 5k$ a month.
This is out of pocket. Many are going to micropayments now, for obvious reasons.
But once you get more than 20-30 regular readers, cost of distribution becomes HUGE. It used to be that you could get some cheap ads to at least cover bandwidth, but unless you're willing to go popup crazy, ads will only pay a small %. The rest is out of these people's pockets.
This is a look into the soul of the real America, at least a significant chunk of it.
No, Jon. This is a look at a particular slice of the "real America". Just like Time/Warner, Microsoft, The New York Times, Hollywood, Britney Spears, The New York Philharmonic, Joe's Personal Page, Grandma's Grandchildren Page, and everything else that makes up the tapestry of the "real world".
Something doesn't have to be odd or weird to be "real". Something doesn't have to be Gangsta Violent to be "real". Something doesn't have to be geeky to be "real". A quiet midwest suburban small town with white picket fences is just as "real" as the mean streets of an urban inner city.
And quiet, dignified manners are just as real as loud, obnoxious immaturity. And a large corporation made up of human beings is just as real as whining, complaining pseudo-anarchists.
Sometimes it's best to just let stupid people be stupid.
If websites could guarantee an audience for advertising (which they can't), they'd get the kind of advertising money radio, TV, and newspapers have. The basic difference is that advertising is just not appropriate for the web, because people can avoid it so easily (and are incredibly annoyed when they can't!). Websites wouldn't get the kind of money TV gets unless your computer showed nothing but advertisements for three minutes every four.
Seanbaby is not responsible for Fat Chicks in Party Hats. It would seem that you are among the large group who mistake all of the affiliates of the Portal of Evil website as being one large site. While Seanbaby's site is probably on the same server, and he does provide a link to this other site that offends you, he is in no way responsible for its content. Really, i think you are probably smart enough to know this, but you said:
Seanbaby was/is known for a portion of his site called "Fat Chicks in Party Hats".
I think what you are trying to do is what so many people are doing: bashing Katz no matter what comes out of his mouth. You should read Seanbaby again, too. It really is not a hateful website.
http://www.fatchicksinpartyhats.com
Good ol' Jon, always 3 years behind everyone else.
:)
Next week: An article about someone who welcomes you to his website, and kisses you!
In 3 years, Katz will write an article about the cultural impact of the "All Your Base" phenomenon.
How's that memepool writeup you started in 1998 coming along, Jon?
- A.P.
"Remember when the U.S. had a drug problem, and then we declared a War On Drugs, and now you can't buy drugs anymore?"
All JonKatz left out was: "This message paid for by SeanBaby.com -- stay tuned for 'When lawyers attck 6' and 'Webcam Survivor' next on the alternative media channel."
In all seriousness, the problem with mainstream media is not the lack of variety it offers but the poor quality of the programming itself. Everybody is trying to cater to the lowest common denominator of human existence (sex, violence, etc.) that any regular Joe can relate to. The sites that make the web a better resource for entertainment are those that focus on a very well-defined niche (slashdot.org) and build an active community among that audience.
If I'm not mistaken, Jon Katz, himself, actually wrote an entire book about developing web communitites that expresses this same thought. I cannot understand why he would point to a site as general and (in my opinion) uninteresting as SeanBaby.com. It is just another reactionary counter-culture site in an Internet filled with such places.
ByteMyCode.com: A Web 2.0 code sharing community.
Something Awful
the liberator who destroyed my property has realigned my perception
www.quantumheresy.com
get back to ssw.
FSUIJhncl>REjk,.msgdv.
Seanbaby is one of a very few sites that is pee-yourself-laughing funny ALL the time. His articles are the sarcastic writing equivalent of a Jackie Chan fight scene: line after line of constant attack where the sheer creativity is as impressive as the damage dealt, and you're left amazed that it all came out of one head.
If there's a single trait most people who read Slashdot share -- maybe the only one besides an addiction to software -- it's a love of popular culture.
Eh? I'm so out of touch with popular culture I'm not even sure if I love it or not!
Dammit.. I always forget to put in those line breaks...
Ah well...
Keef
--------
Nothing can be done before the tremendous power!
RabidComics
This is exactly the kind of corporate in disgiuse crapola a big wannabe like jon katz would fall for.
You have got to be kidding me.
Next week on Features:
Jon Katz gets knee deep in Onions as he investigates a ground-breaking website that is sarcastic at times, and always hilarious. It's called theonion.com, and this brand new website is making waves. Be sure not to miss it, and please leave your pesky brain at home.
STFU Katz.
We dance to all the wrong songs.
--Refused.
Stileproject Seanbaby sucks. What does he suck? I'll leave the pondering of that answer up to you.
As a huge comic fan and a fan of video games, I find Seanbaby very refreshing. It's fun to see a site that doesn't just kiss the butt of products the author(s) like. Seanbaby tells us what sucks, and makes us laugh while doing it. If you like comics, I suggest checking out the "stupid comics" part of the site. For those of us the right age to appreciate it, the "nintendo" part is really great as well.
Never give up! Never surrender!
So, how many of you really needed to be informed that SeanBaby exists? I thought that SeanBaby was one of those sites that ranked up there with the Onion, Brunching ShuttleCocks and (almost) slashdot? Keef
--------
Nothing can be done before the tremendous power!
RabidComics
I'll say it's endangered! It's getting Slashdotted to death already!
You're using her as bait, Master!
Does anybody else find it the least bit ironic that /. is promoting a site that is basically about vapid "coolness," the very same that fuels time warner aol when it is commercialized in another two years?
Just getting on the loop at an earlier stage doesn't make you "counterculture." Getting OUT of it does.
he's old news and my page is even better!!!
--
And Justice for None
http://www.google.com/search?q=cache:2BFD0zxjzPw:w ww.seanbaby.com/+&hl=en
for the link weary.
There have always been people like this, who would run sites and magazines and public-access TV shows like Seanbaby if they could. The real point that Katz should have been trying to make is that the Internet has removed the cost of distribution (mostly) and allowed Seanbaby to become popular around the world.
AOL/TW and Microsoft will not be able to replace counterculture. They may make it slightly more difficult to find, but they can't force me to look at their crap.
Anyone who wants to protect a site in today's environment should never post a link on the /. front page!
it's affiliated with seanbaby, and gets the worst vanity homepages submitted. Ughh.
My employer-proxy blocks this on grounds of "tasteless content". Can someone expand for me, until I get the chance to check from home?
i find it terribly ironic that a link in his storyline would get /.'d
I read scanbaby.com, and I was pretty horrified already... Thank god I was wrong.
It's cool to see seanbaby getting attention, but really...
this is the most blatant use of the slashdot effect ever! maybe we should dos some servers that need it! :)
In case anyone didn't know this as well
Seanbaby is a big part of the Oldmanmurray website
One of the funnier game review sites out there, with some fairly biting commentary on the state of the industry
http://www.oldmanmurray.com
I prefer Naked News
For those interested, this matter is actually given a rather thorough examination in a recent book called "Nobrow - the Culture of Marketing, the Marketing of Culture".
The "Kirkus Review" of the book offers the following summation, Seabrook is certainly not the first to address the problem, and I suspect there are superior works on the subject. But this is a good starting point.
Am I wrong, or is SB handling the load pretty well? Little does Katz realize that the site is funded by a multimedia megacorp and is running on a powerhouse server cluster!
Got Rhinos?
Did Mr. Cum Bake actually just say that we all "LOVE POPULAR CULTURE"? What fucking planet is this bastard from. It's like he goes out of his way to fuck up his articles.
Stupidity never felt so good.
"'tude"?
Jon Katz, could you rasta-fy that by about 10%?
~jeff
No. I referred one to a book. If I was being compensated in some way to plug the book, that would be advertising. I am not the author, and I don't get a commission on sales generated by my link provided to Amazon.
Disdain for the consumption culture is certainly warranted. Where one draws the boundries are a matter of personal opinion and principle. You recommend products to friends- albums, movies, books, ideas. Is it advertising? Word-of-mouth is a form of advertising wherein the incentives to suggest a particular product are the rewards of seeing others benefit from them in some way (edification, entertainment, etc.). The motivations of adveristing are monetary- the motivations of word-of-mouth are more likely altruistic. (I do not directly benefit in any way if you or a stranger buy the book on my suggestion, and learn something useful from it.)
I live in Nashville TN, where it is arguably the largest Baptist Bible belt are in the country. You can't throw a rock without hitting a church... at the same time, you can't throw a pebble without hitting a strip club or a massage parlor, if you know what I mean. The interstate has the largest neon sign I've ever seen that has "WORLD'S LARGEST ADULT BOOKSTORE" glowing night and day. I swear, you could probably see it from space.
How are we gonna keep the net an exclusive club if you keep telling people about the best bits of it? ;-)
If anyone here reading this hasn't tried seanbaby out, do so now! I've had co-workers look at me oddly because the super-friends page has made me burst out with laughter while I'm meant to be working.
So, the challenge is down, what other web pages are indispensible? Is everyone fmailiar with www.superosity.com? What about www.redmeat.com? What others are there, suggestions please!
~~~~~ BigLig2? You mean there's another one of me?
When he sold the rights to his book for a feature film to them? I don't mind hypocritical selling out like some other people do, but you don't have to slam your bread and butter every week.
Since Seanbaby is getting a cheap plug, I figured I would plug my site as well. Imagine my surprise to actually think some news would be in this space...
This just in on slashdot! Uhm... a website!
*slips JonKatz a $5 bill* (you'd be surprised what you could get on slashdot for $5)
bacontaco NOW!
Checkout www.consumptionjunction.com and click on a few of the banner ads and buy some T-shirts.
ps. Don't go to this site at work, they pay the bills with pr0n advertisements.
you see...this is the root of many problems...light pollution. when you walk outside at night and are not simultaneously awed and frightened by the wonder of the sky you are less than natural...you are cut off from the world around you...you dont know what its really about. dont try to fool yourself into thinking you do.
My cat's breath smells like cat food.--R. Wiggums
Sad but true.
Well, almost.
Waking up from the beast doesn't automatically eject one a-la 'Matrix'.
Going cold-turkey is rarely the recommended meathod of breaking an addiction. Instead, you do it in stages
For starters, over the last three years I have. . .
Gotten rid of my evil car. Quit my evil sales job and got a much lower paying job, working maybe 15-20 hours a week. (Fixing computers & tutoring ESL students.) We stopped eating mass-produced meat products last year. (Mostly veg now, with free range meat produce now and again. I feel much healthier, BTW. The pundits were right!) I don't buy anything I don't need or can't make myself. Cancelled the cable subscription. (OMYGOD-WHAT-A-DIFFERENCE!) It's SO much nicer to actually TALK with friends and room mates; to play Scrabble and D&D type games. To socialize rather than stare at a fucking CRT.
We ditched the air conditioner this summer. (Really no need. A little summer weather never killed anybody!) We wore sweaters and thick socks last winter. Our power & gas consumption dropped significantly. Plus, over the last year, we've managed to get our household trash output (four adults) down from two garbage bins per week to less than one half. (We got a big composter for the backyard.) And this fall, I start donating time to a community center.
The end result is that I consume a LOT less, contribute a LOT less garbage, have a LOT more free time, feel a LOT healthier/happier, and have more friends than ever before. And weirdly, even though my income has dropped to a quarter of what it once was, I still somehow seem to have more than enough money for everything I need or want to do. (When you stop consuming crap, life gets a hundred times cheaper). All in all, I'm mighty glad I got fed up and decided to make a change before I became another fat, miserable & confused loser in corporate land. If anybody had told me five years back that life could be this good I would have laughed in their face.
But, yeah, while we're still in the land of milk & honey, and while there is still a lot one can do, if everybody in my city decided to start living this way, I can't help but think that the world would be a MUCH better place.
Wierdly enough, the internet is one of the few resources which I find still holds a great deal of merit. But with a Linksys router and one DSL connection split between four people, high speed internet only costs me $10 a month. Life is SO good. And while it takes an extra effort, making the decision to find and live with room mates, rather than feel forced into that life style makes life very good. My roomies have become some of the best and most caring friends I've ever had. The whole illusion that people are greedy and stupid and impossible to live with is, I'm certain, something which is programmed into us by those who would rather we all live seperate from one another and consume to feel good rather than simply be good people. But you can break through propagandized bullshit and turn back the social clock to where small communities were warm and wonderful things. I've been living with the proof of that for nearly two years now.
Not only can it be done, but it's a helluva lot easier than you might think. The only thing to overcome is the fear of change.
-Fantastic Lad
Fag. Oh, no, not appropriate. I APOLOGIZE for my INAPPROPRIATENESS.