Best Deal Stop

Okay, so that title is little misleading, but I meant it to be that way. There are no politics in this post, but I titled as such hoping you might come here with your fingers twitching with anticipation to type out some all-caps angry comment against me or against those who are against me. Instead of talking about politics, we’re going to talk about negative Internet commenting.

The New York Times recently published an article about a site called Topix that was “initially envisioned as a hyperlocal news aggregator with separate pages for every community in the country.” Now, though, its main purpose seems to be for anonymous users to perpetuate gossip. On the Mountain Grove, MO board, for example, tempers run very high, causing residents to get divorces, consider suicide, or leave town altogether. I only had to click on the first post I saw to find this juicy tidbit...

I’m not much of an acronym expert, so I’m not sure I understand exactly what “the truth” is trying to say, but it sounds pretty mean. Now, though, something different seems to be happening. The Times article has roused the do-good-o-sphere of the Internet into action. And what are they doing? They’re… also posting kinda mean stuff to this forum. But it’s for the greater good, right? Just look at this intelligent little thread:

Nothing says “I’m above this” like an accusation of inbreeding! And, as if that wasn’t enough, some of the comments on the Times article itself are equally frustrating. Here is what David from NYC has to say:

While it is well-worded and more insightful than the above posts, I can’t help but feel it is just as condescending. Coming from a small town three hours north of the city, I’m not that excited to hear New Yorkers analyze small town dynamics. In fact, my town, Pine Plains, was featured as a weekend haven in a condescending Times article of its own in 2003. One line sticks out in particular: when discussing the local wine and spirits shop, the author writes, ”...it was hard to distinguish weekenders from the full-time residents with people bundled in uniform layers of turtlenecks, flannel shirts and down jackets.” Because get us out of those turtlenecks and we'll look like a different species or something, right?

Now, I don’t mean that, because I grew up in Upstate New York, I understand Mountain Grove, MO. I don’t. Not at all. In fact, a lot of people from there there probably also don’t understand Mountain Grove, MO. That’s why analyzing Mountain Grove, whether from without or within, isn’t going to bring some greater understanding; it’ll just bring frustration.

What I see as the value of the article (as well as the reaction to it) is to show that most of us are naturally inclined towards negativity. The Internet gives us a place where we can express our opinion anonymously, which is to say without much concern for the consequences of our words. However, the reaction to our negativity will occur regardless of whether or not we have to watch it or a be a part of it at all.

I, on the other hand, am contractually obligated to watch the negative reaction to this post unfold, so please people, let the comments fly!

Hoo boy. Remember that "ultra stacked" team I was all excited about? Peyton Manning! Chris Johnson! Peyton Hillis! Dwayne Bowe! What were these jokers thinking, letting me draft all these great players? My confidence wasn't even shaken when it turned out Chris Johnson wouldn't play football unless everyone in the state of Tennessee gave him $100. "Feh," I thought, "I've still got Peyton 'Points Machine' Manning. And the rest of my running backs ain't bad at all." Then it turned out Peyton Manning needed some Frankenstein bolts put into his neck or his head was going to roll right off the top of his body. "Hmm," I thought, "this is going to be closer than I thought." Well it turns out my fears were unjustified because it wasn't close at all!

In fact, I got my ass pretty thoroughly handed to me. 

There's a lot of blame to go around, and obviously none of it is my own so I'm left to foist it on the players. Dwayne Bowe (1. Freaking. Point.), along with the rest of the Kansas City Chiefs, forgot there was a football game on Sunday. Cleveland Browns coach Pat Shurmur refused to use 240 lb. running back Peyton Hillis (8 points) near the goal line (and if you don't know American football, this would be like opting to throw away your hammer and try to drive a nail with your face instead). I knew Chris Johnson (4 points) wouldn't put up gaudy numbers since he missed all of training camp and the preseason with a contract dispute, but at the last minute I decided to play him anyway, and I was punished for it. Ben Roethlisberger (8 points) basically took my fantasy football team into a bar bathroom and forced himself on it in unspeakable ways, including THREE interceptions.

It was an all day, up and down butt kicking. 

There were bright spots, though. Michael Turner put up 17 points even without scoring a touchdown and even with a fumble. Anquan Boldin (13 points) and Stevie Johnson (12 points), my receivers who actually bothered to play, put up decent numbers. Jason Witten (16 points) was on fire and could have been a difference maker had he gotten a TD or two. And Tim Hightower (15 points), a guy I picked up at the last minute as insurance against the uncertainty of Daniel Thomas (0 points, didn't even play, may have lost his chance to start), would've looked great had I not left him on the bench.

And speaking of bench, now I'm stuck with Peyton Manning, who's out for at least two months (and therefore probably half the season) with his neck injury. Yahoo has mercifully taken him off the "Can't Cut" list, allowing me to ditch him, but what if he comes back just in time for a late season push? If anyone can bounce back from a neck surgery and be just as good as he was before, my money's on Peyton Manning. I'm not a huge fan of the guy or anything, he just has a bizarre, borderline-autistic dedication and focus when it comes to studying, preparing for, and playing football. The guy's a savant.

But I need performers on my team NOW. Do I cut him, so that someone else can inevitably swoop in and snatch him up and possibly burn me with him weeks down the road? Or do I absorb the roster hit and limp through the season with only one serviceable quarterback (as soon as I ditch Big Ben) and hope Manning comes back at 100%?

Currently I'm scheduled to use four of my five roster moves for the week already. I won't say who I'm picking up, because with my position in the waiver wire someone in my league who reads this could try to block me. But what to do about Peyton Manning? 

Hey, are you one of those people who like to read our blog at work? Well thank you, loyal reader. Here's our chance to pay you back! Big important newspaper The Los Angeles Times is currently reporting on a study from The Academy Of Management that says, and we quote, "Browsing the Internet serves an important restorative function".

Like a cool stream of information on a hot day at your desk

Sure, you've been saying that for years now, but who's cared about you? You're just some schmo trying to do a little goofing off! This, though, this is a report from a company with "management" in their name! This is being mentioned in a paper that has a stock page! This is the kind of thing that executives can begin to trust, and it might be opening the door for us cyberloafers who know how to balance work with play.

So what do you think? Is this the Facebook generation's "Dylan goes electric" moment? Or just another thing for middle management to ignore? Sound off inside with your opinions inside! And don't worry if they catch you typing. Now you'll be able to play it off as a productivity experiment.

Photo River water caressing rocks by Matt Mercer is used under a Creative Commons license,

Football season is nigh, and that means it's time for the infinitely-more-annoying ritual of Fantasy Football season! If you're unaware, Fantasy Football is a thing invented for the purposes of giving football fans a reason to follow the minutiae of box scores and stat lines the way baseball fans might. You draft players, which can be on any NFL team, and play them on your own team to earn points from their stats. So if you have a great Quarterback who throws for 400 yards in a game, you'll earn points in your Fantasy team. If he wins the game on a last-second touchdown pass, but had three interceptions before that, you'll probably lose points.

It's a weird zone on the Venn Diagram of sports junkies and stats nerds...

I like to play, but not too seriously. There are people who live and die by these leagues, get into arguments or even fights over trades, player availability, and the like. I usually draft the guys whose names I recognize and shy away from accepting anyone's offer to trade players with me for fear of being swindled. So when my Dallas pal Fenster sent a generic invite to join a league he was creating for Woot folks, I happily joined in. After randomly clicking a few links on The Phrontistery to generate my team name (The Croceate Cockets. Look it up.), I posted a message asking when our draft would be. The commissioner responded with a helpful "sometime in the next 72 hours, so keep checking." Uh, okay, fine. I'd just have to check back on the webpage once a day.

Oops.

Several days passed before I remembered, "Oh crap. I have a Fantasy Football team!" I logged in to find the draft had already transpired. Luckily, I had set some pre-rankings ahead of time and had a decent draft position. My team looked relatively stacked considering I had forgotten it existed:

So now I'll periodically document my triumphs or failures throughout the season, while soliciting advice from you, the unwashed masses of the internet. My first matchup is already looking favorable:

And even though the season hasn't started, I'm already looking forward to playing our league's "not taking this seriously" person, who I guess is a huge fan of terrible football teams the Seahawks:

So what moves should I make? Who should I absolutely drop in a heartbeat? I'm not keen on making a bunch of moves before getting a chance to see them play a game. I'm sure I'll get some flak for my homer decision to pick up Lance Kendricks (I dropped Steve Smith of the Panthers, which I would normally say was a bad move but Steve Smith isn't going to have anybody throwing him the ball for at least three years), but I've been a fan since they drafted him and after seeing his performance in the preseason game, he's definitely going to be a part of the offense for St. Louis.

Let me know what you think in the comments below, and feel free to keep me posted on how YOUR team's doing.

With all that unpleasantness over in London, how are Britons forgetting their troubles? According to the "Movers and Shakers" chart for the Sports & Leisure department at amazon.co.uk, they're taking up baseball.

La la la, writin' copy, la la la, writin' up some stuff, la la...

Whoa! Hello there, Mr. Whiskey! And a happy, um, Wi-Fi Day to you, too, I guess. Wait, is that even a real thing? I've never heard of... Oh, I get it! It's because it's 8.02.11 and IEEE 802.11 is a set of standards of implementing wireless local area network computer communication (according to Wikipedia). Very clever, Mr. Whiskey, but I'm afraid it's much too early in the day to celebrate anything with you, especially a holiday even Reddit seems to be fighting about. Besides, you know what my therapist said about substituting real friends with ones I've made up from my hidden office liquor cabinet.

Aw, I'm just joking, buddy! Wi-Fi Day is the perfect excuse to hang out with the only real friend I have in the whole world! Now then, since this is the very first Wi-Fi Day and probably the last until 2111, how should we celebrate?

What an excellent idea! Haikus will be the perfect way to ring in such a glorious nerd-created thing! Let's see...

our shackles broken / wires will reign no longer / freedom in the air

are you connected? / I can't find a good signal / stupid coffeehouse

downloading so slow / speed throttling is murder / a cherry tree dies

a, b, g, and n / the protocols of love / a paper crane is born

it was Wi-Fi Day / we drank until it was gone / how very splendid

So how are HIC how are HIC What are YOU gonna do for Why-Fry HIC Fry-Guy HIC today, huh? HUH? YOU THINK YOU'RE BETTER THAN ME AND MR. WHISKEY? YOU'RE JUST LIKE MY DAD!

While planning his move from New York to San Francisco, New York Times Lead Bits Blogger Nick Bilton had an important decision to make: should he pay to ship his enormous collection of print books across the country when he does most of his reading on an e-reader? The answer, to me, seemed to be clearly to be “Yeah, duh! How could you not bring your books?” But after thinking about a moment more, I realized that I didn’t understand where such a strong sentiment was coming from.

The e-reader vs. print debate is an annoying one because, like so many things that essentially come down to differences in personal preference, it is argued as if there is will eventually be some definitive we-solved-for-x answer. I’m in the faction of people that like to say, “We just like reading print books better” which actually translates to “We just like reading print books.” I’ve never read an entire book in its digital form, so the idea that I like reading books more in print than on an e-reader is ridiculous. Sure I’ve used display models in stores, and sure I didn’t particularly enjoy my experience. But then again, I hated wearing my glasses when I got them a year ago, and now I can do so many amazing things, like read the score when I watch Celtics games and sit more than three inches away from my computer screen while I write.

No, I think my true passion for print books comes from their secondary use as wall art. If it’s bad to judge a book by its cover I guess it’s worse to judge a book by its spine, but I guess that’s exactly what I’m doing. A wall with a bookcase against it is a wall I don’t need to hang a painting or a poster on to fill out the room. The spines – with their varied widths, heights, and colors – do the work of a painting. Bilton even describes his books as possessing the two qualities that make art, well, art: “beautiful and important to me.” While an ebook can certainly be beautiful and important to its reader, it cannot liven up a dull, empty area of your living space the way a print book can. So while I may not always need to read books in their printed form, I feel that I’ll always need books in their printed form around, to make my home feel like my home.

What about you? Are those lovely shelves worth the clutter and hassle of owning the books that fill them? Or would you just as soon throw them into the shredder?

Photo by Flickr member CarbonNYC. Used under a Creative Commons License.

Like many fans of John Carpenter's The Thing, I was more than a little disappointed by the trailer for the remake prequel coming out later this year. Don't get me wrong, Mary Elizabeth Winstead sure is nice to look at and everything, but I've already seen the movie they're making. It's called John Carpenter's The Thing. The filmmakers could've saved themselves a lot of trouble and money and just made the thing with action figures.

Oh, wait. Someone's already done that, too. Kinda. (Warning: if watching some of your favorite G.I. Joe figures die in horribly whimsical and bloody ways, it might be best not to press play.)

Detroit gets a lot of flak in the media for being a sort of ground zero of the recession: every media outlet has at one point run a story about how it's a bombed out, abandoned, lawless city and how we should all feel terrible for the poor souls doomed to live there. Thing is, East St. Louis has been doing that stuff for damn near 50 years. And now you can catch a haunting, oddly beautiful glimpse with Doors of East St. Louis...

I have a weird, unearned affinity for East St. Louis. My parents both grew up there, and to hear their stories things were already pretty bad in the '60s. I grew up just 15 miles away but in a completely different world of suburban, white bread America; and I owe my good fortune to my folks' determination to get the hell out of their hometown and find a better life. I've driven through it, both on guided tours of my parents' history with my dad and on my way to the casino parking lot to catch a MetroLink train to a hockey game. After living in Los Angeles I can honestly say I felt safer and more welcome in Compton.

But East St. Louis didn't disappear once my parents left. It continues on like a bizarre zombie city, from all outside appearances completely dead but still lurching on. When I showed my mom this site her only response was, "Glad we made it out alive." But people still work there, people still have homes there, and people are still fighting to improve their community even in the face of overwhelming odds.

It's easy to look at photos like these and feel sad, or grossed out, or just dismiss the whole place as a lost cause, another bombed out city. But I think these photos are really cool looking. They're well composed, which always helps, but in a weird way they're like extremely long exposures: underneath the graffiti or grime or decay, you can see the hints of the city that used to live there. You can see that parts of the city are still standing, almost defiantly. And I think that's really neat.

People go to great lengths to present just the right image of themselves to the outside world. Hell, there are billions of dollars spent every year on make-up, plastic surgery, "miracle" diets, and clothing to make us look our very best in public. But Sacha Goldberger wanted to look at the other side; the side that's not too far removed from sprinting across fields to try and spear a mammoth. So he and his team set up an outdoor photo studio near Paris and asked joggers passing by to sprint, then let him take a picture while they were gasping for air. Now, thanks to My Modern Met, you can see the debut of the results...

Next to each shot of an out-of-breath jogger is a photo taken later, when the joggers came to Goldberger's studio for a follow-up shot. The artist presents it as a look at "the difference between our natural and brute side versus how we represent ourselves to society." It's really neat stuff. But seriously. The jogging pictures make people look like crap. 

I know, I know, that's kinda the point, but before you blast me with your "OMG JOGGING IS THE HEALTHIEST ACTIVITY KNOWN TO MAN U R TEH SUX0RR!11eleven!" diatribe, let me ask you this: if you saw someone playing video games who looked this terrible, wouldn't you suggest they stop? In fact, if you saw ANY activity make someone look so rough, would you want to do it yourself? Okay, fine, sex. But anything ELSE?