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AOL Buying Up Blogs
1%warren writes "The Register has posted a report on AOL's purchase of many of the more popular Blogs. It quotes an AOL executive as saying: 'You can't really put figures on this, but we think we have 78 per cent of the libertarian news blogs, and 91 per cent of the ClueTrain Manifesto fan sites.'"
As happens with these things, I am not allowed to comment.
The cluetrain bit was a giveaway...
The story.
Best Slashdot Co
... to Microsoft.
If it weren't 4/1, I'd be deeply afraid that AOL were trying to quash all new political thought that often seeks to encourage radical changes in the current state of politics. But it *is* 4/1, so I be happy. :)
Steve Magruder, Metro Foodist
Oh come on - its only one day. I myself look forward to April Fools on Slashdot. I still chuckle at sending pointy hair's the lossy compression story. And I think QT console is gonna BE the next thing. So sit back and enjoy - and hey, if the stories aren't funny, write one :)
Top Most Bizarre/Disturbing Error Messages
I've been cringing all morning long while wondering whether anything I read is real or not. Seems like most of the fake news is pretty obvious this year although I was caught by the story about installing OS X on x86. Maybe we're suffering from the post-9/11, Columbine shootings, social imperative to play nice even if it's not very fun.
your = it belongs to you. you're = a contraction of you and are. Got it now?
AOL has also begun vigorously buying up brain waves. They have a wwbsite where you can sell them your brain waves and recieve compensation. Like blood banks, these brain wave banks are becoming popular with those down on their luck and out of work. After a successful program Launch in Boulder Colorado, the company opened up brain wave banks in major techonlogical centers, hoping to gather the thought patterns of every out-of-work engineer in such places as Silicon Valley, and Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. Once contained, this highly charged free thought will be sold to Beistol Mayers/Squibb, for conversion into brain enhancing vitamin suplements.
--Got Lists? | Top 95 Star Wars Line
That was the old Christmas day, which was later changed by the church academics. It became named April Fools day after the people who refused to accept the Church's wisdom, and begin celebrating Christmas on the new "proper" day. Time to get my tree out of the closet...
Isn't "As happens with these things, I am not allowed to comment" itself a comment?
And can we get him not to be allowed to comment on more things?
Well, this is an April Fools' joke, but I frankly wouldn't be surprised if somewhere along the Slashdot>Andover/OSDN>VA Linux chain, AOL/TW owned some stake (In which case CmdrTaco really wouldn't be able to comment, he'd probably be under some sort of NDA or vested-interest clause or something).
-raph
This is a better idea than a lot of the *real* dotcom ideas out there. Getting lots of content created by a large group of people on the cheap isn't that stupid of an idea.
Best. Comment. Ever. Enjoy!
Of course it's after mid-day (at least where I am), which means the joke is on the original poster....
Phil
If you have something to admit, admit it on April Fools' day.
ok then your [sic] infringing on my copyright! Could you as [sic] me next time before STEALING my comments for your own?
Listen Carefully
I will say this only once
DO
NOT
PUT SALT IN MY COFFEE!!!!!!!!!
Co-worker with no sense of humor did this last year. Oh, your tires got slashed? APRIL FOOLS!
S.t.e.v.e.
Well, same thing happened over at BBspot. The site that published the Microsoft Purchase Evil from Satan article has joined the MSN network.
...who else has lost the "Post Anonymously" box?
And does anyone have any idea why?
Still not dead.
Today, AOL doesn't have any MONEY.
I spent a year in Iraq looking for WMD and all I found was this lousy sig.
They now have "59 per cent of all blogging female arts graduates, many of whom are Virgos"
;-)
Now that's an audience I'd like to be closer to.
God I hate April 1st.. What is the point of all this nonsense? I guess it could be funny, but after about age 5 it sort of stopped being funny for me.
... a cure for cancer has been found!
The point is that in an information-saturated society, you need to sometimes step back and be a little more critical. 4/1 is an arbitrary day set aside to pause and reflect on trust. It celebrates and tests our ability to think critically, just as we use Christmas to reflect on charity or Valentine's Day to celebrate our relationships. I've been burned once or twice by 4/1, but I've emerged from the embarrassment a little wiser each time.
By the way
um....they use a European date format. It puts the day first, so 01/04/2002 is April 1, 2002.
-AC
You could always look at the date they were posted, in most cases
Yes, but this also makes it difficult to look for any *real* news from April 1. In fact, most stories (and mailing list postings) from the evening of 31 March until the morning of 2 April are all suspect.
I remember this was very bad last year, and I'm afraid that this year is going to be worse.
It should be relatively trivial to put all April Fools' Jokes into their own category, while allowing them to retain a "real" icon and such. That way, people who just want the news on days like today can filter these things out.
I, for one, would hate to be a PR guy at a company which released something on Friday, got picked up by the geek sites on Monday, and had all the press ignored because it was April 1.
AOL recently purchased my entire family.
Bruce Perens.
Microsoft buys up the moon. Bill Gates travels back in time to a time long ago, in a galaxy far far away to seek guidance from his master the emperor on how to properly outfit the moon with plasma weapons and to recruit people with english accents, willing to march around in lock step, wearing silly white plastic helmets.
--Got Lists? | Top 95 Star Wars Line
Who died and made you Mr. Poopy Pants?
Edith Keeler Must Die
The previous posting should in no way be construed as attempting to drive 'hits', QUALITY or otherwise to LibertyNews.org as an attempt to instease AOL stock value so I can cash in on the new dot org boom.
Remember Lexington Green!
"That's not a moon...that's a space station."
20 January 2017: the End of an Error.
I hate April Fools ... but probably not as much as others do. Example:
Media Bistro
posted this "story" as the lead in its
daily News Feed:
But they must have wised up, as it no longer appears on their front page. Oops.
Trust Microsoft to acquire somebody else's moon, fit it out with a couple plasma lasers, and market it as a "fully operational battle station".
Any sufficiently well-organized community is indistinguishable from Government.
I spent a year in Iraq looking for WMD and all I found was this lousy sig.
They're also experimenting with dream adverts - so you'll never be able to escape the annoying Connie from the TV ads explaining how to use computers to you like you're about 4!
Video Game cheats, hints a
According to a friend's older brother, back when I was in 3rd grade, it took about 126 licks. Is this the conclusion you reached?
"I would say that 99 per cent of what my father has written about his own life is false." - L. Ron Hubbard Jr.