Posts by matt

This BoGlo piece exploring the possible genetic and biological roots of homosexuality has made its way all over the gayosphere et al., but I didn’t actually get around to reading it until today and wow, is it chock full of goodness. Did you know, for example, that every older brother a guy has makes it significantly more likely the guy will be gay?

Awesome interview with Ira Glass from CJR Daily. Also, awesome story from the L.A. Times about the “This American Life” television show (!). “Television is the medium of our time,” he says. Wait, why does that sound so familiar?

An excellent indictment of NASA’s manned spaceflight program, which y’all know I love. (Via Collision Detection, which also features a great post on babies learning with toys.)

Very fun music video from OK Go. Via MF.

And just to toss in another random link, check this out, from Things Magazine.

Great bad review (via). Even better bad review (via).

(PS: Crash Bonsai!)

Of all the wonderful things Current TV has done for the world, I think the best will be introducing it (the world) to Joe Hanson, a.k.a. Binowhite, a.k.a. B-Whizzle. I found Joe during my hour-long binge in the recently hott Current Studio, where you can preview the pods people have submitted and vote whether they should appear on-air. It’s definitely the best part of the site (excellent blog notwithstanding). Go check out my favorite VC², Binowhite. I can’t wait to see what Joe gets into next.

While in Gameworks at Tampa last weekend, I discovered the new recreational craze that’s poised to grip the nation: 3-puck, 2-paddle air hockey (I have no idea who those people are, but they’re playing 3P2P). Let that sink in for a moment. Three pucks. Two paddles. Eternal glory.

It’s called the SEGA Hockey Stadium, and it’s pretty much worth lobbying City Hall to bring it to your town.

Adrian Holovaty reports that the Lawrence Journal-World has just made it “stupidly simple” to add Google Maps to its news stories online. This is something that Friend Of Snarkmarket Larry Larsen has been stumping for for quite some time.

I’m seeing this Reuters article everywhere, talking about how Jimbo Wales of Wikipedia has issued an announcement that the site will be tightening its editorial controls, freezing some content to prevent vandalism.

The article is wrong. Reuters should issue a correction. Wales has clarified that he was talking about creating a static snapshot of the site, with verified information, which would exist alongside the dynamic content. They’re calling the project Wikipedia 1.0, and they’ve been talking about it since at least last year.

Besides, Wales says, Wikimedia doesn’t really work by making “announcements.” They effect change through discussions and concensus-building. He’s calling for tighter editorial controls on Reuters (and Slashdot), though.

Update: Well, here’s one correction, from Steve Outing at E-Media Tidbits. Still waiting on Reuters.

The lack of screenshots, feature listings, or even an explanation of exactly what it is all prevent me from guessing whether Meetro doesn’t suck. (You have to actually download and install the app, which is totally played out. See more snark from Jason Pettus. And Stowe Boyd at Corante actually did post a screenshot.) But it appears to be a location-based social networking thingie that guesses where you are based on WiFi signals and tries to find other folks around you who match your profile. See also: Mates | PlaceSite | Dodgeball.

I think this location-based networking business has huge potential, especially as cell phones and other ubiquitous devices become sophisticated enough to partake in it.

When digital social networking is paired with analog social gathering places, I think people will go a bit nuts for it. Imagine a sort of venue-oriented version of the new HotOrNot Meet Me site. (The principle behind the site is that you look at a rotation of photos of random people, clicking yes if you’d like to meet each person, and no if you have no interest. If you click yes, your own photo goes into the other person’s photo rotation, and if they click yes for you, you’re both notified.) Or say you’re relaxing in the park, and you decide you want to pull together a pickup Ultimate Frisbee game. Send out the Meetro bat signal, and bam! Ten other people chilling in the park decide they’re down for it, and the game is on.

One downside for Robin — MeetRo.com is now taken. MeetRoSlo.com, however, totally still available.