If there is one thing you must never, never do, it’s press this button.

David Vise peers into the soul of Google for The Washington Post‘s Sunday Outlook section, and finds some stuff I didn’t even know was going on. (Googling your genes?) Good, quick read.

For those of us who miss the old days of AdCritic, Tim Yang (of Geek Blog fame) has created The Ad Blog. Dorkcellent.

CSSVista: Live CSS editing with Internet Explorer and Firefox simultaneously. Hoooott. [/geek] [oh wait]

This one’s from 1987, made for Apple. And you know what? It’s not all that outlandish.

A fascinating New Yorker article last week profiled one of the many claimants to the title of forefather of modern conservatism, Peter Viereck. The article talks about how far conservatism has drifted from Viereck’s ideals, and how some of his greatest fears about the movement have been realized. But the profile ends with an extraordinary passage from one of Viereck’s lectures. It struck me as a wonderful summation of the value and mission of what many of us do, so I’ll share it with you:

What causes the greatest crimes in history? The greatest bloodshed? The most murders? I would say two things: sincere love and a sincere devotion to liberty. … If you kill out of love or for a perfect utopia, you never stop killing because human nature is always imperfect. Robespierre, rightly called “the incorruptible,” was more sincere than Danton and always found somebody deviating just a little bit from true liberty. …

I can think of nothing more gallant, even though again and again we fail, than attempting to get at the facts; attempting to tell things as they really are. For at least reality, though never fully attained, can be defined. Reality is that which, when you don’t believe in it, doesn’t go away.

The Adventures of Pete & Pete is coming to DVD! That’s awesome! That show was surreal in the best way.

Pop Quiz: What is the meaning of the word “privately” in this sentence when the context is the front page of The Washington Post?

Top White House aides are privately discussing the future of Karl Rove, with some expressing doubt that President Bush can move beyond the damaging CIA leak case as long as his closest political strategist remains in the administration.

Wait, seriously? The US has more people incarcerated than China? The highest absolute number of prisoners in the world and the highest per-capita?

Whimper.

I totally agree with Michael Idov’s words on t.A.T.u. and the recent spate of critically acclaimed guilty pleasure pop music. “All the Things She Said” was a wonderful song containing, as Idov says, “at least five distinct parts, each catchier than the other.” I’m happy critics recognize this. And having utterly fallen for Kelly Clarkson during the first American Idol, I’m thrilled that she’s recorded such a universally beloved gem of trash-pop as “Since U Been Gone,” even if I don’t much care for the song itself. I look forward to hearing t.A.T.u.’s new album. May they never jump the shark.