Here’s a strange publicity stunt: Taco Bell is going to give a free taco to everyone in the United States if a hunk of Mir hits a 40 foot by 40 foot Taco Bell logo that they’ve placed in the South Pacific. Considering the fact that the projected splashdown area is thousands of square kilometers in area, I’d say it’s likely that they won’t have to cough up the tacos.
I can’t imagine many things more gratifying than the XFL game broadcast on Saturday night achieving the lowest prime time rating ever recorded. As a sports fan, I delight in seeing this garbage go down in flames.
IP.com is working on a partial solution to the software patent problem. They’re allowing open source programmers to record their innovations (for $20) in a database that’s actually consulted by the PTO before they issue patents. Rather than waiting for someone to file a patent and then clubbing them with prior art, you can record your innovations so that they’ll be taken into account before patents are even granted.
I know everyone is linking to this story about a customer service rep from AOL, but I can’t fight the impulse. I’ve always found the notion of people online acting out their pitiful (often hateful) fantasies as some kind of tonic for their meaningless existences to be more than a bit disturbing, and this story only serves as further confirmation. I don’t know how I feel in general about anonymity online, but I do know that the degree to which some people’s personalities change when they feel anonymous is really sad. Oh, and the last few paragraphs of the story really left me with a strange feeling in the pit of my stomach.