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Sunday, February 15th, 2004

AOL’s pop-up ad

I opened AOL’s latest junkmail piece because for a change it contains a useful freebie. The freebie used to be the media; reformatted AOL floppies fed several Linux installs over the course of my career (“insert disk 17 of 30…”). Now, the freebie isn’t the media; it’s a neat CD/DVD case that I’ve named … wait for it … Steve.

AOL's analog pop-up ad proclaiming that they block pop-up adsInside the case appears a rather hostile advertisement. It’s a pop-up ad about pop-up ads.

When I opened the case, a small loose piece of paper flew up. Being colorful and mobile, it caught my eye. It claims AOL’s new software blocks pop-up ads.

Popup-blocking is a great feature in web-browsing software. Everybody hates pop-up ads; they’re the spam of the web. Blocking pop-up ads is a noble goal and it’s likely to gain AOL some customers.

But to advertise this feature, AOL has used what is essentially a pop-up ad! When I opened the case, this little ad flew up in the air. See this re-enactment. It’s an analog pop-up.


Tags:
posted to channel: Personal
updated: 2004-02-22 22:49:16

Saturday, February 14th, 2004

male role models

gay couple witd adopted twinsGiven what I wrote yesterday about gay adoption, I find this photo hilarious.

Happy Valentine’s Day, indeed!


Tags:
posted to channel: Politics
updated: 2004-02-22 22:49:16

Friday, February 13th, 2004

a society based on fear

Mark Morford asks, What are you so afraid of?

This is my favorite part (well, aside from “Fear is the new black”):

Try this test. Ask your neighborhood neoconservative homophobe just what, exactly, would happen if, say, gay marriage were to be legalized nationwide.
Ask them what would change. Ask them to be very specific. How would their lives be threatened? How would society crumble, exactly? Riots? Locusts?

I actually did this once. I didn’t realize he was a neoconservative homophobe at the time. We were having dinner at a nice restaurant with two other people. Someone mentioned a California initiative regarding, I think, adoption rights for same-sex couples, and unwittingly I voiced my support. I thought it was a no-brainer… adoption is a good thing. Broken homes are a bad thing. Foster care is the band-aid on the bullet hole.

This person had a different opinion, which he proceeded to share, along with some spittle and maybe a few used bits of table bread. He launched into a fire-and-brimstone tirade about, basically, the evils of homosexuality. The other guests were embarrassed for both our sakes.

His argument was that children raised by same-sex couples couldn’t possibly end up with healthy attitudes about sex and relationships, because they’d have no male role model. (He was already apoplectic at the thought of lesbian couples — I can’t imagine how he’d have responded to the idea of male gay couples. I think I’d have had to take his fork away from him.)

I said that hetero couples are equally capable of raising kids with unhealthy attitudes. He agreed with me but countered that I hadn’t addressed the point, which was true enough. I was never on the debate team.

So, he won the argument. I could tell because he ordered a fat bowl of bread pudding for dessert. In contrast, I didn’t feel well enough to finish my dinner.


Tags:
posted to channel: Politics
updated: 2004-02-22 22:49:16

Thursday, February 12th, 2004

Naxos Town

Naxos Town and coast, Naxos, Greece
This is Naxos Town, the main city on the island on Naxos. I was standing with my back to the gate of Apollo. The wind came from the left. The sun set behind me to the right. And the smell of drying octopus came from just down the hill.


Tags:
posted to channel: Photos
updated: 2004-04-07 16:47:09

Wednesday, February 11th, 2004

mandarin season

seedless mandarinsOne of the best things about my house is something I didn’t even know I was getting: a seedless mandarin tree. This is the best fruit in the world, or at least the best in my yard. I could eat five a day.


Tags:
posted to channel: Personal
updated: 2004-02-22 22:49:16

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