Posted 12:23 AM by Blah blah

Another amusing blog in the Philippines: Unica Hija's Top Ten Site. She's like fast food, but boy is she filling. From Trixy.

By the editor-in-chief of Scientific American: 15 Answers to Creationist Nonsense. This is my last salvo in the whole Creationism vs. Evolution debate in May. Rah...take that!

I saw The Bourne Identity yesterday, starring Matt Damon and Franka Potente. A+. I LOVE IT. GO SEE IT. I absolutely think this movie is one of the most entertaining you will see all year. Better than Spider-Man. Complex, human performances by Matt and Franka. Excellent all around! I wouldn't mind seeing it again. Don't read any reviews if you haven't seen it. Keep the plot a surprise.

Sam wrote a thoughtful, revealing essay a few weeks ago about what it has been like for him to come from a wealthy background. And to keep it quiet. See "Insecurity in Wealth." Sam, what kind of "incidents" caused you to finally be open about this?

We're Broke: The Economics of a Web Community:

"Many people are under the mistaken impression that the business of media is collecting information or creating entertainment and selling it to the public. This is not true. Information and entertainment is the bait, the 'loss leader,' which is used to lure large numbers of people into looking at a magazine, newspaper, television show or what have you. The 'product' that media sells is you, the audience. Your attention, gained through information or programming, is sold to advertisers whose ultimate aim is to convince you to buy their product.

Advertising is not a means of supporting media. Media is an excuse for presenting advertising.

Have you ever felt like the tremendous power of media was being used for purposes that were lackluster at best, and downright disturbing at worst? When you watch TV, do you feel like you're getting dumber by the second? Have you ever felt like the news media was avoiding certain topics, or dancing around an uncomfortable truth? You were not imagining it. This, my friends, is the feeling of being a product. You're collated into demographics, analyzed, bundled, packaged, and sold to the highest bidder. Even in the media business, the customer is always right, but your opinions and desires don't matter, because you're not the customer. The grocer doesn't care if the tomatoes would rather be closer to the display window, and successful media organizations don't really care what you think of them, just as long as you're still watching."

Being Tom Cruise (Time): What makes Tom tick? "What he seems to have perfected—on film and in life—is the ability to win you over, to be liked without really being known."