Blogosphere vs. MSM: A Matter of Choice

I was reading this post over on Freedom Dogs and it got me thinking. Help me out if I’m insane, because that’s been known to happen. But doesn’t it all boil down to choice? Let me elaborate.

The reason that Capitalism is such a great system is that generally speaking the best idea wins. Anyone can invent something, start a company or write a book. All of these get thrown into their respective arenas and then you and I get to pick and choose. Whoever sells the most (market share) is readily accepted as the winner.

Much in the same way, our national government should get out of the way and let the states experiment with this and that; things like school vouchers, income tax, or even welfare systems. Then bring in the analysts to see what worked and what didn’t. Take the best idea and emulate! This isn’t rocket science.

So how does this relate to the blogosphere? Choice, my friend, choice. Instead of being limited to the the four networks, or 6-8 news outlets on cable, the blogosphere offers literally thousands of choices for you to get your news. No wonder the NYT is shaking in their ink-stained boots.

But wait a second! Aren’t the elite blogs slamming stuff down all our throats? You’d be surprised. Even though the Top 10 blogs account for approximately 50% of all blog traffic, this number isn’t going up. It’s going down. In part, due to the increasing numbers of people taking their voice to the Internet. No matter how you look at it, having more choices is good news for us… the consumer.

Now, trying to discern fact from fiction… that’s another post for another time.

Star Wars: Enhanced

For any die-hard Star Wars fan, you must read DVDAnswers.com analysis of all the changes and enhancements to Episodes IV, V and VI. Wonderful stuff! My childhood comes flooding back as I remember playing with all those plastic figures in my basement. Heck, I even made a film! Complete with a musical score by Prince. Ahhh, those were the days.

The Brown Era of Home Decor

The Washington Post has a story about Lilek’s book, Home Desecrations. My favorite quote:

You can be sure the designer chose this scheme because it ‘drew the eye upward.’ Of course, one could say the same thing about the Hindenburg disaster.

If you can’t get past security, you might try this. Shhh… don’t tell them I sent you.

Hyundai No Longer ‘Crap’

Remember when you saw your first Honda? It was a tiny thing. I could have picked it up and put it in my coat pocket. And they were cheap! Two for a hundred bucks or something? Today, Honda means amazing value.

1972 Honda Civic shown above followed by 2005 Hyundai Sonata below.

Well, apparently Hyundai, the car company that we all know produces crap and only crap, has now something to throw back in our collective face.

Last year, the company overtook Honda and Nissan to become the world’s seventh-biggest automaker. Also last year, U.S. consumers rated Hyundai and Honda as tied for second-best in overall quality in an influential J.D. Power and Associates survey — ahead of Mercedes-Benz and behind only Toyota.

Color me bewildered! [via Wizbang]

Lileks Cries Foul

As only Lileks can, he’s overcome with emotion of the loss of his beloved Eucalyptus Spearmint. I’d pay $50 to watch him type a Bleat; pure literary genius.

Take This News and Shove It

What do you think of the news you consume? Quite tasty? Or does it feel like you’re eating the same news day after day? Change the channel and get the same stale menu? How many straight days of Peterson Murders Soufflee can you stomach?

If all of this has got you reaching for the pink stuff (Nausea, heartburn, indigestion… upset stomach, diarrhea.. yeah Pepto-Bismol! sorry… couldn’t resist.) then give Take Back the News a try. I’m sure you’ll be feeling better in no time. [via Blogs of War]

Bloggers Rejoice

Now, I don’t know if this will actually work, but any progress is appreciated. Hard Times reports that Google has got our back when it comes to comment spam.

Update: Apparently there are some critics in the crowd. Here’s hoping they’re wrong.

Enjoy the Silence

I posted this before (in a previous life) but felt compelled to do so again. It’s rare for a video to so tell the story of a song, that this remake of Enjoy the Silence (.mov) belongs in MTV’s Hall of Fame… that is, if MTV were truly about music. [via John Little]

Movie: Man on Fire

I knew I could count on Denzel to give a solid performance, but this was even better. Perhaps his best to date. And I’ve always been a fan of the “payback” plot-line. So with employing an adorable victim, Man on Fire had all the makings of my kind of movie. The violence was graphic at times, but expected. Fine cinematography and score enhanced a very good story.

8 out of 10

The IRS Gets Its Man

I only post about this because I’m a fan of Survivor. But how dumb must Richard Hatch be to not report his Survivor million dollars on his income taxes? Now he’s pleaded guilty to tax evasion. Some postulate that he did it on purpose for more press. I guess it’s a possibility. You know what they say, “There’s no such thing as bad PR.”

Muddled Marketing vs. Just Do It

Saw an ad for Song in a magazine yesterday. It wasn’t totally clear that they were an airline. After a bit of research, I learn they’re just a piece of Delta with limited flights but with the all-important 11 key committments.

#7 is my favorite:

We will provide full and timely information on the status of delayed and canceled flights.

Why aren’t they already doing this? It takes a new company to tell the truth?

After my recent “encounter” with Delta and American, I have no problems saying the airline industry is a necessary evil. But seriously, how hard would it be to:

1. Safely transport people from Point A to Point B; and
2. Depart and arrive when you say you’re going to depart and arrive; and
3. Be nice to the passengers?

Isn’t that all we really need? Just think of the cost savings they’d realize by going from 11 key considerations to just 3.

King of the Blogs

Hey, it’s no March Madness but for the blogsphere it’s pretty cool. What is it? Head over to King of the Blogs to find out. And no, I’m not asking you to vote for me. (Not yet anyway.)

China Rethinks Abortion

Posted last week about how different people groups deal with the fact that the unborn feel pain. China seems not to care either way about something so trivial. But now that their national one child policy has been killing off all the females they’ve decided to pull a 180 and make aborting a female a criminal offense! And here I thought China was the morally vacant.

Turns out they merely want to control the gender balance. To understand how much males are preferred, when a woman is receiving her ultrasound, “A shake of the head means it’s a girl. A nod means it’s a boy.”

Doesn’t that equate to boys=good, girls=bad? Where are the feminists? Where is the outrage? Perhaps our own sins keep us from commenting. It’s amazing to me to think that people can make such caustic decisions so casually.

Darth Tater

I bet you never thought you’d see a Darth Tater. It is irreconcilable to see my childhood icon of evil take the form of one of my dearest playtoys. Therefore, Hasbro must be evil.

In order to right my mind, perhaps I should buy my very own Sand Crawler? Only $20k! [via Coudal]

Just a Funny Picture

Might want to read the fine print.