It’s so easy to get caught up in the silliness that is Facebook: the quizzes, the applications, the five favorite things. They can be so engrossing and so distracting. Who can’t resist a Greenpatch or an invitation to get involved in someone’s Mafia Wars? Chris’s post about this trend just seemed reactionary. How could someone not like Easter Eggs? It’s like saying you don’t like Christmas.* Even I get to a point where I’ll see things have become utterly ridiculous, as people can now become a fan of breathing.
April, 2009
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Apr 09
Screaming Girls, Breathing Went That-A-Way
28
Apr 09
Graham Turns Himself On
Link: 
I was watching the Graham Norton Show on BBC America this Saturday (right after Ashes to Ashes) when Graham Norton revealed he ordered a look-alike robot doll from Japan. The on button location – just wrong and funny at the same time. And who knew that Gillian Anderson had an English accent? Speaking of Anderson, the latest Doctor Who hype surrounds the possibilty of her playing the Rani, an evil Time Lord.
27
Apr 09
Rest in Peace, GeoCities
I have to admit, I forgot about GeoCities until I saw the news a few days ago. Before Blogger/Blogspot, WordPress, MySpace, Facebook, and Twitter, GeoCities provided a valuable public service – free web presence in the early days. Websites for the masses, which weren’t always the most attractive, even by 1990′s standards. They were fairly easy to create, no HTML required. One could even upload their own HTML files to their account. Whatever the quality of the personal websites (and the information contained within), GeoCities was democratic as it gave many a means for self-expression. They’ve managed to continue after Yahoo acquired them a decade ago, but now they have gone the way of the dinosaur. Yahoo has decided to close down the once ubiquitous web hosting service.
My very first website was on GeoCities. I used the templates at first, but then graduated to uploading my own files created on Pagemill and early Dreamweaver. Once I created a fairly attractive website, the disadvantages were the limited memory space (2 MB in the late 90′s), ads, and the complicated URL. Plus, having a GeoCities address was cheesy, so I eventually moved on. I would later relive some of my mixed feelings about GeoCities when I started my blog on Blogger/Blogspot and created a MySpace profile.
I’m sure I’m not the only user who sought to flee GeoCities the first chance they got. However, I feel some sadness for their closure as it signals the end of an era. No, the era’s long past and now they’re going. Rest in peace, GeoCities.
25
Apr 09
No Crocodile Safari Hunting
This video’s made by Suzie, my young cousin in Australia, and her nephew Connor. Suzie’s very passionate about wildlife conservation and makes videos and websites to raise awareness. Here is the link she puts at the end of her video for her online petition to stop crocodile hunting: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/no-crocodile-safari-hunting.
24
Apr 09
You Really Didn’t Need A Website To Tell You This…
I’m a fan of wikis and humor sites (whenever they are effectively funny), so I got the best of both worlds when I discovered the Dickipedia. It’s not about anatomy, but it is about people who are considered dicks. You know, the slimy, good-for-nothing, high profile people such as politicians, media people, sports stars, and some others. It’s not a true wiki, so there’s no democratic editing process in the articles. This is good because the entries are much better written than real wikis and are much funnier.
The one person who’s truly deserving of an entry, George W. Bu$h, isn’t featured, but the next best thing is the aptly named Dick Cheney. Another unfortunate thing is that the list is not as comprehensive to reflect the true amount of dicks and douche bags out there; the list is fun to go through, nonetheless. Some very worthy people featured are Condoleezza Rice, Phil McGraw (AKA Dr. Phil), Tom Cruise, Kim Jong-Il, Steve Jobs, and Bernard Madoff (whose name even Charles Dickens couldn’t make up). Some Easter egg entries include then President-Elect Obama and Michelle Obama (who are more dicks by whom they associate with, of course).
For those of you who labor in front of the computer monitor all day, the Dickipedia is perfect for making you look busy, as if you’re doing research. Enjoy.
23
Apr 09
Battlestar Galactica: Caprica
Warning: Spoilers ahead.
The beginning of a beautiful bromance? Perhaps not.
With Battlestar Galactica coming to a close in Hitchhiker style, Sci Fi (or is it SyFy) were quick to notice the vacuum in the fans’ lives, one that they have decided to temporarily fill with the pilot for the upcoming Caprica series, a prequel with events leading up to the destruction of the Colonies.. After a few years in development hell, Ronald D. Moore and company give us a finished product that is just as impressive as the prototype Cylon created by Daniel Graystone, the brilliant scientist who gets involved in a bromance gone bad with Joseph Adams, a Mafia-connected defense attorney. Of course, there’s more to Caprica than that, as it is a tale of the dangers of the unwise uses of technology and religious extremism, issues that resonate with us today.
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Apr 09
Life After Earth Day
The thing I love about Earth Day, whether it’s the environmentally unfriendly fair in Balboa Park or the day itself, is that people can feel good about “going green” for a day. Hell, even the Republicans are in on it these days. Everyone’s buying a hybrid or going vegan, but those things still take plenty of resources. Here are some suggestions I have to help make our planet a cleaner and safer place for all.
13
Apr 09
Doing the Limbo
I really hate discussing education and employment practices though it’s been on my mind a lot. Various factors, including small paychecks and increasing expenses, are guaranteed to put those things at the forefront of my thoughts, even though there are more important things that need my attention (like my lessons and my students’ homework assignments). While I have been polite about the subject, it is no secret how I feel about the issue of adjunct teaching. I often find articles and blog entries that confirm my feelings, such as a recent piece in The Nation.
12
Apr 09
Happy Easter & see you soon…
Happy Easter, everyone!
It’s been a week of not being on the blog and a week after my April Fool’s joke. No, Walmart did not buy my website. A big huge sell-out like that, however, would have been nice. I am clearly in the wrong line of work if I keep having financial bail-out fantasies, especially those that enable me to quit my job(s).
ShindoTV’s had a nice little hiatus. Time to get back. The midterm’s over and it’s back to life as normal for the rest of the semester. More posts to come. No, I’m not going to do Twitter recaps for blog posts. I know it makes someone feel like they’re blogging, but it’s the type of stuff that offends me as a reader.
Before getting back to normal, here’s an item that we should all find amusing. Does the GOP even know teabagging is?
1
Apr 09
ShindoTV’s sold…
I’ve been absent from the blogoshere for a week or so. There have been a few changes since my last post.
Walmart bought ShindoTV.Com for quite a hefty price, enough for me to quit the adjunct teaching for good. Never let it be said that the Waltons are a bunch of stingy bastards. All those stories you hear about grossly underpaid workers who must take out foodstamps and receive public health assistance is a bunch of lies. Don’t let those liberals lie to you. Walmart is a very generous company. Only, I can’t disclose the amount.
