Brad Williamson

"Last week we told you about young Will Phillips, a boy who refuses to pledge allegiance to the flag and the United States of America until gays and lesbians are allowed to marry. While Will is finding support from op-ed columnists and his parents, the kids at school are not as kind. They are harassing Will and calling him a "gaywad." Well, last night Jon Stewart decided to do something about it. After praising this precocious 10-year-old, he decided the boy must be protected so he brought out professional wrestler Mick Foley to delver a message." - Brad Williamson from Bookmarklet

I wish we could get wrestlers to protect all kids from bullies. - Eric @ CS Techcast

"It seemed like an impossible task, but that didn't stop us from trying. With the first decade of the new millennium coming to a close, we decided to compile a list of the 50 most important recordings of the past 10 years — a list that covers a wide range of styles and genres, with indelible songs and albums that challenge, inspire and captivate. These are the game-changers: records that signaled some sort of shift in the way music is made or sounds, or ones that were especially influential or historically significant." - Brad Williamson from Bookmarklet

"The 50 recordings that appear here are listed alphabetically." - Iván Abrego

"I have been sharing these slogans with the writers I've worked with over the years in different publishing houses, and for many authors, they have acted as catalysts, breaking through anything from solving a structural conundrum to bringing a long case of writer's block to an end. When we started the books page, I contacted Ginsberg's literary estate to see if we could post the slogans, and happily, the answer was "yes."" - Brad Williamson from Bookmarklet

"The thing about being super rich is that you eventually run out of things to buy. You can only live in so many houses, or drive so many cars, or pay to have so many enemies killed. Fortunately, before you ever get so desperate as to, say, give money to the poor, there is a whole industry devoted to inventing ridiculous things to waste it on." - Brad Williamson from Bookmarklet

man, is cracked awesome or what? - Chris Heath

"It's typical for an athletes' appearance to change after they retire from professional sports -- they pack on a few pounds and age like normal people. But there's something stunningly different about Sammy Sosa's post-baseball look. Recent photos snapped of the former Chicago Cubs slugger show a shocking transformation: his skin is turning white -- stark white." - Brad Williamson from Bookmarklet

:'( - Ayşe E.

"As the New York Yankees beat the Philadelphia Phillies this week, the Eagles were crushing the Giants. This unprecedented moment in the New York/Philadelphia rivalry made the folks at the "Daily Show" ask: Which fans are the douchiest? Jason Jones and John Oliver were there as the sports supporters battled it out for the title. Clad in the ugliest suits anyone has ever seen, they ran down the criteria of being a douche: excessive drinking, excessive cursing, gay-bashing opponents, and defiling the icons of opponents." - Brad Williamson from Bookmarklet

As a Phillies/Eagles fan, I would say the answer is obviously New York. (Seriously though, every city has its own share of assholes among its fan base.) - John (a.k.a. dendroica)

I like blogging. I enjoy its informality and instantaneousness—the way it provides me an opportunity to spout off publicly about this or that outrage of the moment. Opining is fun, and so is ideological combat. But a book is, or should be, something different: A chance to slow down. An opportunity to raise one’s sights a little higher. To stop focusing so incessantly on the moment and strive, instead, to step back a bit, to take in a wider view, perhaps even to rise above the fray. To reflect instead of react. To ruminate instead of respond. - Brad Williamson from Bookmarklet

Interesting article... I didnt have the time to read it fully but it looks like interesting reading.. - TrafficBug

"Most importantly, as the great digital revolution rolls on, bands are no longer having to compete for people's money. Instead, they're jockeying for our time. And the field is huge, crossing not just genres, but eras. Who do you want to investigate today: TV On The Radio or Crosby, Stills and Nash? Do you fancy losing yourself in the brilliant first album by Florence And The Machine, or deriving no end of entertainment from how awful The Rolling Stones got in the 1980s? Little Richard or La Roux? White Lies or Black Sabbath? As one of my music press colleagues use to say, there's no longer any past - just an endless present." - Brad Williamson from Bookmarklet

On the Internet everything is everywhere all the time. Cosmic consciousness given physical structure, made physically manifest as a global machine. - Sean McBride

"What would life be like under the "Internet Freedom Act?" Well, one Reddit user created an image that depicts the "worst case scenario." John Biggs at crunchgear says, "this sort of bundling is a favorite pastime of most stream providers. For years voicemail was a privilege, not a right, and there are still grannies out there renting phones from the phone company. While month-to-month the costs might not seem like much, this sort of thing adds up to delicious profit." Over at Gizmodo, John Herman adds:" - Brad Williamson from Bookmarklet

is that article really claiming John McCain invented the Blackberry? - alphaxion

"How a Network Shot Itself in the Foot by Cynically Cost-Cutting -- and Betraying Its Viewers and Affiliates" - Brad Williamson from Bookmarklet

reading through that, I realized that I felt this coming. NBC, which used to be about good dramas, dropped at least 2 pretty good dramas in their infancy (Kings and My Own Worst Enemy). I watched a bit of Southland and thought it was ok, but after those other two were cancelled, I couldn't let myself get into another new NBC drama and sure enough, it has been cancelled. Now I've even lost my fervor for SVU (SVU!!) because of my general malaise towards NBC. Way to kill your brand, guys. - Chieze Okoye

"ISPs may not act for years on local complaints about slow Internet—but when a town rolls out its own solution, it's amazing how fast the incumbents can deploy fiber, cut prices, and run to the legislature." - Brad Williamson from Bookmarklet

Competition always trumps government intervention when it comes to innovation. - Craig Eddy

This is a video we made about free and open web access as a right for all people, with all interests, of all backgrounds -- it's for all of us. Enjoy - Brad Williamson

I like this. I just wish that it didn't start with kiva. And certain examples are not really about 'open' but the interviews are good. If I created this, I think that it would be nice to start with quick quotes of people talking about what open / net neutrality is about, show some examples, then get back to the longer parts.. but it's nice. thanks for sharing :) - See-ming Lee 李思明 SML

"Branding used to be for products, then celebrities. Now it is something ordinary people do to themselves. Peter York traces the roots of a phenomenon that goes back to Dale Carnegie" - Brad Williamson from Bookmarklet

"The show is part of Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim, a block of late-night shows, and individual Awesome Show sketches can be as short as 15 seconds, making them ideal Internet fodder. Heidecker and Wareheim usually strive to make Awesome Show look as low tech as possible, a tribute to an earlier generation of user-generated do-it-yourself content creators who plied their craft on local news shows, infomercials, and public-access channels. If you were to stumble upon Awesome Show on a late Sunday night, you’d be forgiven for thinking it was a slapped-together collection of viral videos. You’d also be thoroughly weirded out, as Heidecker and Wareheim have found a way to tap into the voyeuristic glee these clips can inspire — the sense that you’re watching something that wasn’t meant for you to see and enjoying it in ways that the creators could have never intended or even imagined. Awesome Show is perfect for the YouTube era — now that our comedy metabolisms have accelerated and our inboxes are filled with accidental classics like “Chocolate Rain” and the Star Wars kid." - Brad Williamson from Bookmarklet

I've been a fan of Tim & Eric Awesome Show Great job since day 1! Before day 1, actually. I saw the promo for the show months before it hit and knew I'd love it It's definitely divisive. Some of my friends HATE it, and some of them LOVE it. Mostly HATE though, probably because the few friends that do "get" it quote the show absolutely nonstop. T&E try to make you uncomfortable, but if you have the stomach for it, it's absolutely brilliant. - veo

"“I call them the Henry Ford of online video,” says Jordan Hoffner, director of content partnerships at YouTube. Media companies like The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, AOL, and USA Today have either hired Demand or studied its innovations. This year, the privately held Demand is expected to bring in about $200 million in revenue; its most recent round of financing by blue-chip investors valued the company at $1 billion. In this industrial model of content creation, Muñoz-Donoso is working the conveyor belt — being paid very little for cranking out an endless supply of material. He admits that the results are not particularly rewarding, but work is work, and Demand’s is steady and pays on time. Plus, he says, “this is the future.” He has shot more than 40,000 videos for Demand, filming yo-yo whizzes, pole dancers, and fly fishermen. But ask him to pick a favorite and he’s stumped. “I can’t really remember most of them,” he says." - Brad Williamson from Bookmarklet

Cole -- I would have to see some examples of what you are referring to. Usually I seem to find what I'm looking for in the top 5 results of a Google search. - Sean McBride

"HDI’s 100-inch TV gives off a 1920 x 1080p image from three RGB laser-illuminated micro display imagers. It’s not thin like plasma or LCD, but it’s nice and bright and refreshes quickly at 360 Hz. HDI thinks it can sell the TV for $10-15,000, undercutting what people are used to paying in the home theater market. HDI’s TV can also do 2-D (in fact, it was only in the middle development that HDI realized it could combine 3-D with such a nice screen). The demo unit weighs 80 pounds, is 10 inches deep, and draws 190 watts of power." - Brad Williamson from Bookmarklet

Why are the laser projector systems starting off with rear projection? - Andrew C

This seems quite steep. I'd prefer getting a plasma & a projector to this. - Cristo

That day cannot be forgotten. - Brad Williamson

Actually, I will remember, because I was twittering with other New Orleanians who were disappointed that a helium balloon allegedly carrying a 6-yr-old boy had preempted the 9-yr-old Tyren's question to Obama why people hated him, when God is love. Maybe(!) that was staged as well, but he was earnest. I'm just glad child protection services are being called in, and Falcon and his brothers will get the help they obviously need. - Ojos Criollos

"For consumers, the gadget will provide an easy way to become a "lifelogger" – someone who attempts to electronically record as much of their life as possible. Microsoft researcher Gordon Bell has made his life an experiment in lifelogging, recording everything from phone calls to TV viewing, and uses a SenseCam wherever he goes." - Brad Williamson from Bookmarklet

uh-oh. - T. Brent, technopeasant

It will be great help to Alzhemer's patients who forget the little things. If they could track back in time and see a time lapse video of themselves, it will help improve jog their memories. It serves same purpose as photograph - something that you want to record and preserve. Students can wear this camera and sit thru lectures and outsource the note taking part (transcriptionism) and... more... - TrafficBug

So when my Netflix arrive, will my mailbox play them? Wait... that's for a DVD player. Dayum! - Brad Williamson

"Kids these days. Just look at them. They've got those headphones in their ears and a gadget in every hand. They speak in tongues and text in code. They wear flip-flops everywhere. Does anyone really understand them? Only some people do, or so it seems. They are experts who have earned advanced degrees, dissected data, and published books. If the minds of college students are a maze, these specialists sell maps. Ask them to explain today's teenagers and twentysomethings. Invite them to your campus to describe this generation's traits. Just make sure that they don't all show up at the same time. They would argue, contradict one another, and leave you more baffled than ever." - Brad Williamson from Bookmarklet

"The reflecting pond in front of the Winspear is a joy. In the summer? Kids will go nuts for this thing." - Brad Williamson from Bookmarklet

By "The Meters" (1972) Download the entire album here... http://bunsoplenty.blogspot.com/2009... - Brad Williamson

"The latest additions to the district, the Dee and Charles Wyly Theater and the Margot and Bill Winspear Opera House, are scheduled to open on Sunday. Facing off across Flora Street, the district’s main thoroughfare, they embody radically different design philosophies, one coolly experimental, the other a traditional take on civic architecture cloaked in a modern wrapper. Yet together they give the area the cultural stature Dallas has long been craving." - Brad Williamson from Bookmarklet

I gotta hand it them... they did a great job on these. Up until about a month ago, I lived about a half a mile away from the construction and it was beyond exciting to see these innovative structures take shape. - Brad Williamson

"Many stars and show creators are promoting their series on the messaging service. But giving platoons of highly opinionated actors and writers a filter-less forum can have its drawbacks." - Brad Williamson from Bookmarklet