Are you a designer? Do you have clients? Are they in love with their logo to the detriment of anything you try to design for them? Then this song is for you:

Make the Logo Bigger presumably by Burnback.

Song and links courtesy of today’s Compiler Blog.

James sent this to me this afternoon and I liked it so much I wanted to pass it along.

“When I was very young and the urge to be someplace else was on me, I was assured by mature people that maturity would cure this itch. When years described me as mature, the remedy prescribed was middle age. In middle age I was assured hat greater age would calm my fever and now that I am fifty-eight perhaps senility will do the job. Nothing has worked. Four hoarse blasts of a ship’s whistle still raise the hair on my neck and set my feet tapping. The sound of a jet, an engine warming up, even the clopping of shod hooves on pavement brings on the ancient shudder, the dry mouth and vacant eye, the hot palms and the churn of stomach high up under the rib cage. In other words, I don’t improve; in further words, once a bum always a bum. I fear disease is incurable. I set this matter down not to instruct others but to inform myself.

When the virus of restlessness begins to take possession of a wayward man, and the road away from Here seems broad and straight and sweet, the victim must first find in himself a good and sufficient reason for going. This to the practical bum is not difficult. He has a built-in garden of reasons to choose from. Next he must plan his trip in time and space, choose a direction and a destination. And last he must implement the journey. How to go, what to take, how long to stay. This part of the process is invariable and immortal. I set it down only so that newcomers to bumdom, like teen-agers in new hatched sin, will not think that they invented it.

Once a journey is designed, equipped, and put in process, a new factor enters and takes over. A trip, a safari, an exploration, is an entity, different from all journeys. It has personality, temperament, individuality, uniqueness. A journey is a person in itself; not two are alike. And all plans, safeguards, policing, and coercion are fruitless. We find after years of struggle that we do not take a trip; a trip takes us. Tour masters, schedules, reservations, brass-bound and inevitable, dash themselves to wreckage on the personality of the trip. Only when this is recognized can the blow-in-the-glass bum relax and go along with it. Only when do the frustrations fall away. In this
a journey is like marriage. The certain way to be wrong is to think you control it. I feel better now, having said this, although only those who have experienced it will understand.”

I’ll admit it: I’m a TV addict. My favorite shows, in no particular order, include Lost, Invasion, The Daily Show, Numbers, Prison Break, and Two and a Half Men.

Last night was the thought-provoking season end to the dark and creepy Invasion. Families were torn apart and Sheriff Underlay had to make a life and death decision about Russell’s pregnant wife. His inability to answer Russell, or even speak, at the end of the episode was a powerful moment. And a perfect setup for the beginning of next season.

Today I find out that there is no next season. That ABC plans to cancel the show. I’ve never signed a fan petition before (they mostly get circulated for anything produced by Joss Whedon) but I signed this one:

http://www.petitiononline.com/33030/petition.html

I also sent a comment directly to ABC:

http://abc.go.com/site/contactus.html

Help me be entertained. Sign the petition and write a quick note. It only takes a minute.

I like Stephen Colbert but I have to admit that I prefer his mentor, Jon Stewart. After the White House Press Correspondent’s Dinner though, I have newfound respect for the man. My jaw dropped watching his ballsy, spot-on performance at the dinner:

Update: I realized after posting this that it doesn’t contain the full video (and it has an annoyingly long introduction). To see the full thing check out Salon’s Video Dog. They also posted his press secretary audition skit.

More Firefox commercials here.

SXSW Interactive is just over a day away. It’s my favorite time of the year. Even better than Christmas.

Great article up on Salon right now called I, Nanobot. Definitely worth a read.

I just saw a great Twilight Zone. One of the old black and white ones. Man, I didn’t realize how much better they were than the schlock they put out in the color series. I saw two great episodes really, but the second one resonated more. The all powerful state, which banned books to limit knowledge, decided if people were obsolete or not. Obsolete people were executed. The obsolete person, a librarian, got his revenge on the state by getting his judge executed as well. What’s good for the goose…

This post was written at 1 AM but due to a power shortage wasn’t posted until morning. (I only mention that so that people don’t think I sit around in my underwear watching old Twilight Zone episodes on a workday morning.)

Waxy.org is hosting a series of parodies of Bill Cosby called the “House of Cosbys” wherein Cosby is the subject of a cloning experiment gone wrong. Bill Cosby is threatening legal action against Waxy, claiming “unfair competition” and a violation of Bill’s “rights of publicity.”

Bloggers have been removing links to Waxy in response to messages from Bill’s legal team. Nevermind that the material is protected under the first amendment and nevermind that, as Waxy points out, Cosby has been paradied by Mad Magazine, Saturday Night Live, South Park, The Simpsons, Family Guy, and others.

This is a guy with extremely thin skin going after the little guy because he knows he can’t go after the big boys, legally or professionally. The latter would be career suicide. Not that he is doing much these days anyway.

Go here for Waxy’s response which includes clips from many of the Cosby parodies.

Now that I’ve posted no less than three links to Waxy (oops, four now), I have one thing to say to Bill Cosby and his legal team:

Sue Me

PS If Waxy ends up getting sued and has to setup a legal defense fund, I’ll gladly contribute to it. (Hopefully, those of you reading this will do the same if I get sued.)

I just read the following over on Salon’s “The Fix“:

The secret profanity of “40-Year-Old Virgin” revealed: Screen It, a Web site ostensibly devoted to parents concerned about the content of Hollywood movies, bills itself as “an unbiased, easy to use, yet heavily detailed and complete look at popular entertainment your kids might see, rent, or buy.” But in protecting kids from smut, the people behind Screen It have had to learn to wallow in it. See their painstaking assessment of “The 40-Year-Old Virgin” for an example of just what “heavily detailed” means. Their rundown of the film’s profanity: “At least 68 ‘f’ words (2 used with ‘mother,’ 16 used sexually as are phrases such as ‘laid,’ ‘nail,’ ’screw,’ ‘do it,’ ‘get it on’ and ‘tap’), 29 ’s’ words, 19 slang terms using female genitals (’p*ssy,’ variations of that word and ‘poon,’ and ‘tw*t’), 15 using male ones (’d*ck,’ ‘c*ck,’ ‘c*cks*cker’ and ‘pogo stick’), 4 slang terms for breasts (variation of ‘t*tty’), 17 asses (2 used with ‘hole’), 4 hells, 3 damns, 1 S.O.B., 15 uses of ‘Oh my God,’ 8 of ‘God,’ 4 of ‘Oh God,’ 3 of ‘My God,’ 2 each of ‘G-damn’ and ‘Swear to God’ and 1 use each of ‘For God’s sakes’ and ‘Oh Jesus Christ.’ ” Oddly, the site also includes a number of possibly imitative phrases to watch out for that range from “F*ck your mother” to the seemingly innocuous (or laden with hidden meaning?) “Forty is the new twenty.” For even more awkwardly precise descriptions, see the “Sex/Nudity” section of the site’s “Brokeback Mountain” review. (Screen It)

Now I really want to see this movie. I’m a bad, bad boy.

This is a letter I just wrote to Hillary Clinton* regarding federal game legislation she is cosponsoring. Hat tip to Chris Kohler over at Wired who posted about the legislation on his Game|Life blog.

Senator,

I am not one of your constituents. I live in Texas. However, I am a liberal and I assume you will be looking for my vote in 2008. Please don’t deny it, we can keep it just between us, you don’t have to acknowledge anything.

I’ve been very concerned watching you take stands that smack of a politician rather than a person doing what they believe. Perhaps I’m wrong, but that’s how I see it and I’m the voter.

I’m appalled by the proposed federal game legislation. Enough so that I felt the need to contact you. This will be the first time I’ve emailed any senator. I have a question:

Since when do Democrats support limits on free speech?

Why are games singled out, while movies, television, and music are left alone? This is what really smacks of political opportunism. It’s a “hot button” issue so you feel the need to jump on it. Again, maybe I’m wrong. I’m just calling it like I see it.

Let’s address the issue both ways.

As a political issue it’s a bad one. Ignore what your advisors are telling you. Have you seen the last, oh, five elections? The middle-of-the-road, Republican lite strategy will lose my vote and a few million others very quickly.

I am the average “gamer”: I am a 32 year old white male. I have an above average income and a house in the suburbs. My wife and are I trying to have our first child. My favorite games are Civilization IV (a strategy game that includes history–you would approve) and Grand Theft Auto (yes, the one that started all of the controversy). Contrary to idiotic assumptions, I have no desire to commit crimes, even after playing the game.

Funny thing about the average gamer being a man in his early thirties: the average gamer is also now a voter. You might want to start considering that.

Now let’s address the issue apart from the political aspect. Rating systems are already in place. They serve the same function that they do in movie theaters and on cable television. The new generation of game consoles have content management features that parents can use the same way they use V-chips in television sets.

It is not your job, or the job of any part of government, to be my nanny. By attempting to protect kids, that is what you are doing: treating every man, woman, and child in this country as a child, regardless of age. Leave parenting to the parents. It is their responsibility to raise their children and to take an active part in the lives of their children.

The proposed legislation is also a direct attack on freedom of speech. One can only assume the required FTC investigation will find exactly what it wants to find: a “pervasive problem” with the ratings that will grant it carte blanche to set content standards. That is a scary phrase, “content standards.” I could do the obligatory Nazi comparison and point out that they had “content standards” when it came to books. That would be too easy though, wouldn’t it? Every oppressive regime has always had content standards so why single out the Nazis. Maybe with your support, this bill could be the beginning of a new China, err, America. Chimerica!

Yes, I’m aware this is not your typical tepid message or fiery ranting. Hopefully, by injecting a little bit of (sarcastic) humor and intelligence into it, it will actually be read by somebody in a position to talk to you (I don’t presume that you read your own email address) about it.

You’ll need to do some convincing to win my vote in 2008. You can start by backing off of this legislation. Senator Lieberman has long been an opponent of free speech and his name on the ticket in 2000 led me to vote for Ralph Nader. I would say that I’m not proud of my vote, but I chose the best option that was available. That may be the saddest part because I think Al Gore is a great man and would have been a great candidate had he not saddled himself with such a bad running mate.

Hmm, there I go talking about the political aspects of the legislation again. Well, you are a politician, so I guess that’s okay.

Sincerely,

Chat Clussman
Concerned Citizen and Registered Voter

I heartily recommend that anybody concerned about free speech or that wants to choose for themselves what they watch, read, play, or listen to, to write Senator Clinton and make your opinion known as well.

Also, I want to point out that the above is the exact text that I sent to Hillary. However, I may have fibbed just a little: I actually am a bit embarrassed about voting for Nader in 2000. Before anybody lynches me, I’m obligated to point out that Bush beat Gore by 21 points in my state and Nader only received 2 points (137,716 votes according to CNN).

* I guessed at the email address based on the fact that every senator with a published address used the same format. Clinton’s senate page has a contact form that requires you to sign your life in blood to the Democratic party in order to send a message to her and I didn’t particularly feel like doing that.

If you’re as addicted to Lost as I am, you’ll be interested to know that one of the links on the Hanso Foundation website suddenly has content behind it: a document on the Life Extension Project (LEP). You can find it here.

If you didn’t know there were a whole host of mock websites out there from the world of Lost. I’ve put together a few links you might be interested in.