Crunchy Mustard

WOW.

So, last night (or yesterday at noon for the hardcore fans), Battlestar Galactica premiered its fourth and final season.

I just finished watching the season premiere. If I were to sum it up, it would something like OMFG! (oh my fracking gods).

This has to be up there among the best ways to open a season. My heart was beating so hard, so fast, that I could actually hear it over the sound of the show.

Twists and turns, you’ll find yourself yelling OMG! and WTF! every couple of centons - unit of time used to indicate one colonial “second” on the original Battlestar Galactica series (1979).

Very, very , very badass.

Merriam-Webster has chosen the ever popular phrase of exclamation, “Woot!” as their Word of the Year.

The word was chosen from a list of 20 including others such as “blamestorm,” “hypocrite,” and “quixotic” in an online survey. The words competing generally came from the mostly frequently searched terms on Merriam-Webster Online as well as their own Open Dictionary which operates like a wiki.

“Woot!” is known as part of l33t or elite speak, popularized by online gamer forums and geeks alike. Clearly, it’s no surprise “Woot!” came out on top in an online poll.

[Merriam-Webster Online, via WIRED.com]

Computer geeks and gadget-crazies across the world felt a punch to the stomach this morning.

At 10:45 PDT Steve Jobs announced that the 8GB iPhone will be reduced from $599 to $399.

“OH HELL NO!” … I know what you iPhone owners are screaming. Yes, yes you just saw $200 wash away in front of you so you could hold the God phone in your hands a few months before everyone else.

Do no fret, I am one of those tools.

Also announced was a new iPod which will allow users to take advantage of the same touch-screeniness and side-ways flips that only iPhone users had until now. It will run at a variety of sizes and will also have wifi and iTunes Store capability. This new gadget will be christened the “iPhone touch…”

For those still not interested in the touch screen, there is an updated “classic” iPod in new and improved storage sizes. The iPod nano has also been reshaped to provide video viewing.

An even more fantastic display of toolery is Apple’s recent partnership with Starbucks. New iPod (and iPhone users) will see a 5th button appear in their iTunes music store which will allow them to listen to the latest song playing in the coffee cafe and download it.

Fantastic.

Source: CrunchGear!

**UPDATE** I just heard from a friend that all iPhone owners will receive a $100 rebate. Those who bought the phone within the past 14 days will receive a $200 rebate.

Times Online has named the 50 worst celebrity baby names. (Actually, it’s entitled the 50 “craziest” baby names, but you be the judge of their quality.) I’ve picked a few of the most creative from the list.

Princess Tiamii: Jordan (pictured right) and Peter Andre - “We love it because it’s unique, plus it means something special to us. I’m going to get a tattoo on the back of my neck with a crown and ‘Princess’ underneath.”

Pilot Inspektor: Jason Lee and Beth Riesgraf

Moon Unit: Frank Zappa, also father to Dweezil and Diva Muffin

Audio Science: Shannyn Sossamon

Camera: Arthur Ashe and Jeanne Moutoussamy

Fuchsia: Sting and Frances Tomelty

Hopper: Sean Penn and Robin Wright

Kal-El Coppola: Nicholas Cage (Kal-El is Superman’s original birth name)

Memphis Eve: Bono

Moxie CrimeFighter: Penn Jillette (also father to Zolten)

Ocean: Forest Whitaker (also father to Sonnet and True)

Pilot Inspektor: Jason Lee and Beth Riesgraf

Poppy Honey: Jamie and Jules Oliver (also parents to Daisy Boo)

Rocket: Robert Rodriguez (also father to Racer, Rebel and Rogue)

Rufus Tiger: Roger Taylor also father to Tiger Lily and Lola Daisy

Saffron Sahara: Simon and Yasmin Le Bon (also parents to Amber Rose and Tallulah Pine)

Sage Moonblood: Sylvester Stallone and Sasha Czack (also parents to Seargeoh)

Is the population of crazy people willing to name their kids after car parts and fruit equally distributed? Or does it take a special breed of celebrity?

Via Filipino Martin Aquino’s blog:

A Philippine girl has allegedly committed suicide over a fake version of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. According to blogger Martin Aquino who heard the story via a Philippine radio news report, the mother and daughter had downloaded what they believed was a legitimate copy of the latest and final Harry Potter novel.

Sadly for the girl, the book was a fake, and detailed a gruesome end to Harry Potter and each of his friends.

The girl’s mother stated that her daughter was extremely upset over this fact and locked herself in her room. When the mother finally came up to get her daughter for dinner, she found that the young girl had hanged herself in her closet with rolled bedsheets and a nightgown.

Apparently, this girl was a Harry Potter fanatic: her room was filled with figurines, models, posters, toys, dolls, and the six other books.

So far, there hasn’t been much backing up this story except one other forum post I found via Google.

I believe it! After hearing about how wild people go with ruining the final book and whatnot, I feel like some people would wrap their entire lives around it.

Does this advertisement look attractive to you? Does it make you want to wear glasses that don’t fit right? Does it make you want to throw on that pretty-average t-shirt and scream: I AM A NERD!

Well. I’m not quite sure what it says, but it does not suggest attractiveness.

American Apparel has been long known for their hideously ugly photos which tend to seem like amateur porn shoots (including bruises and stretch lines) of their models. My trouble is… where is the appeal? Sure the thought that this is shock advertising can be thrown out there.

Honestly? The initial shock that I receive only makes me click on the link and to decide to never buy the actual item.

Good work American Apparel.

Oh, and go read some “real” marketing analysis of AA here. And some more on the porn bit here:

Have you heard of American Apparel? Spreading fast, it is, opening multiple open-aired clean-cut brand-free stores across the nation and across five countries and they are, apparently, a big hit with hot urban chicks and lesbians and DJs and club kids and sporty types and grungy ’70s-inspired dudes who like to wear floppy hair and multiple layers of really simple clothing covered by nicely made hoodies of various primary colors, all without actually thinking they’re attaching themselves to a brand or a logo or a “look,” even though, of course, they very much are.

American Apparel. It was founded and is run by a talented and sexually nutty and increasingly notorious, mutton-chopped, ’70s-happy 36-year-old dude named Dov Charney, one of the more unique and controversial and libidinously open CEOs in all of corporate America, unafraid and unabashed and just a little greasy (click here to see a video interview with Charney, via Lou Dobbs).

And Dov, well, he happily indulges in consensual sexual relationships with members of his staff, and he uses tons of raunchy language in the workplace and posts old shots from Penthouse magazine up in his stores to complement the racy retro hipster club-kid design aesthetic, all despite a slew of sexual-harassment lawsuits now winging his way, fast.

Charney takes many of the company’s beautifully racy ad photos himself. He encourages a sexually open workplace atmosphere. He works not at all to hide his predilections, and most people claim he has never done anything that hasn’t been fully consensual, out in the open.

It still doesn’t make me want to buy the shirt (or glasses?) It just makes me feel dirty.

Snap, Crackle, Done! The Kellog company, which made the cereals you loved as a kid (or your children currently eat now), has officially stated that they would phase out advertising its products to children under age 12 unless the foods meet specific nutrition guidelines for calories, sugar, fat, and sodium. Kellog also stated that they would discontinue the use of licensed characters or branded toys to promote their foods unless they passed those certain guidelines as well.

Has hell frozen over? Will Toucan Sam be NO MORE?!

Sadly, this is true. These voluntary changes to be made by Kellog will wipe out Rice Krispies (I KNOW! Right?! Apparently, too much sodium), Cocoa Krispies, Apple Jacks, Honey Smacks, and finally… Froot Loops. Strangely enough, the two cereals that actually make the cut are Frosted Flakes and Rice Krispies with Real Strawberries. However, the aforementioned cereals in fact DO have a chance if they undergo reformulation that does not affect the taste.

If the product cannot be reformulated, it will either be marketed towards the 12 and over crowd, or will simply not be advertised at all.

This move is voluntary, and you may wonder why Kellog would make a move like this. Apparently, the threats of a lawsuit by two advocacy groups for children against Viacom prompted Kellog to reevaluate their situation. Kellog will now include a small “nutrition at a glance” section at the top of each box highlighting the amount of calories, sugar, and more.

Hmph. I prefer my sugar-coated, alien-colored, milk-melting Froot Loops thank-you-very-much!

Source: NYTimes Thursday Edition.

I returned home this afternoon after a trip to the upper west side to my FUTURE college (go Bears… haha, like we actually get our feet dirty playing sports) AND picked up a copy of the Daily News. I’d usually pick up my daily dose of Page Six from the Post, but I was too late and the super market doesn’t like it when you shop late.

So, I flipped through, of course breezing past some of the world’s true problems, and went straight to the day’s Paris Hilton spread. This is day 7 (just in case you weren’t aware) and apparently Paris Hilton has come out that she believes she’s all spiritual and crap. As I’m sure you read and saw, Paris was toting Bibles and books of faith everywhere right after she was sentenced to jail. (And of course she held the title side out so that all the paparazzi would see.)

She made the following statements on the View (my show of choice):
“I used to act dumb it was an act and that act is no longer cute. I do not want to be that person for the young girls that looked up to me. I am 26 and it’s a different time. God has given me this new chance.” THEN: “My spirit or soul did not like the way I was being seen and that’s why I was sent to jail. God has released me.” She plans to do quite a bit of charity work when she is released as well.

Oh, Paris.

Need to get rid of your iPod? Don’t recycle! Blend! (Naturally).

P.S. This is just as safe as blending up a crow bar.

Right now, Facebook and Myspace are in a boxing match and Myspace is on the floor crying.

A few days ago Facebook launched themselves into the world of open-sourcedom through their brand-spanking-new developer platform. The API gives a limitless amount of third party developers direct access to Facebook’s functionality and its 20 million users. “Huh?” you say?

Commonly referred to as “apps” any Facebook user can head over to the directory and use a two-click system to install tons of different applications to their profile. There are more than 20 different categories to choose from including music, business, messaging, and mobile. Many of the applications offer direct connections to popular services such as Twitter and digg.

Facebook also fills the void where Myspace once lead with user-uploaded MP3s, photo slide-shows, and scrapbooks. These new features joined with the sleek look of Facebook (rivaling Myspace’s tainted blinking heart backgrounds) and extreme user functionality make the question of choosing a social network not a decision but an IQ test.

Users can also now remove existing Facebook applications (like Facebook photos) and replace them with new ones. Like Microsoft with Windows, this creates an situation in which Facebook is competing with other developers on its own platform.

The bottom line? Although Myspace still trumps Facebook with 100 million users over 20 million users (with growth of 300,000 versus 100,000 users per day), Facebook’s new transparency and access to its core features will offer amazing advances in marketing to create a viral phenomena like never seen before.

Me? Right now I’m updating my Twitter, while doing a few diggs, after having created a digital slide show and updating my favorite RSS feeds to compare with my friends… all through my pretty Facebook profile.