Electric Fishwrap

I turned the key on my 1995 Ford Taurus and threw it in reverse. I heard a clunk, something not uncommon for the car, but I didn’t really think anything of it. As the speed limit in my town is 25 MPH, I didn’t attempt to go higher than that until I was out of town limits. It took me about 10 minutes to realize my transmission was shot.

I loved my car. Don’t let anyone say otherwise. My blue Taurus had character, maybe made more so by the bumper stickers on the back:

Reunite Gondwanaland

The lottery: A tax on people who are bad at math

Those two politically neutral bumperstickers have been great conversation starters with soccer moms after a school board meeting, and with political candidates (I particularly remember explaining where, or rather, when, Gondwanaland was and a rudimentary discussion on plate tectonics with Pete Coors, who ran for senate in 2004).

So I’ve replaced my Taurus with another car. A 2004 Toyota Prius.

I’ve always thought that Prius owners are snooty, smug, pretentious hippies who  have more money than sense. So it was really difficult for me to accept that a Prius was the right car for me.

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Yay!

Richard Hernandez, creator of multimediashooter.com, decided to redo the site. He also created a top 10 list of what he learned from being hacked:

1. A bottle of Jack Daniels doesn’t bring your site back to life.

2. Don’t take it personally. Boy, did I take it personally. “Why me?” “What did I do to deserve this? I was only trying to share with others.” And so on.

3. It’s usually some dumb-ass kids in Canada, with nothing better to do on a Saturday.
[We know who you are James and Max!]

4. It sucks.

5. Don’t be so dramatic. Yeah RIP was a bit strong.

More from the list on the aforementioned link.

For those unfamiliar with MMS.com, check out the notable multimedia section. If you have way too much time on your hands, this is a great place to get lost.

I often went to Multimediashooter to get inspiration or just browse the incredible projects that were posted. But someone decided to ruin it for us all. A hacker deleted every post and now the creator of the blog doesn’t have the heart to continue. I don’t blame him.  Ugh. What a loss.

*Lowers pen and notebook and bows her head*

When I saw News Gems’ post about about Deadly Encounter: The Art Rozendal Story, I knew I had to tag it with delicious and come back to it. I was not disappointed.

A man and his wife goes to a bar to enjoy a well-deserved night out. The night ends with his wife trying to administer CPR on his beaten, broken body, and she will remember the taste of his blood on her lips for the rest of her life. Art was killed by three gang members after he tried to defuse a situation in the men’s restroom.

What follows is a meticulously reconstructed narrative by Jon Wells of the Hamilton Spectator. Trust me, it’s worth the couple of hours it will take you to get through the entire series. If you don’t like crying in front of people, make sure you’re alone for the last two installments. I bawled like a baby in one part, but it probably didn’t help that I was listening to the last half of Evanescence’s album, “The Open Door”.

Since I posted about Angryjournalist.com, I figure it’s only fair to add Happyjournalist.com. To be honest, I thought Angryjournalist.com site would be insightful and cathartic, but at this point I avoid visiting. I agree with Meranda Watling on the topic:

The more I read aj.com the more depressing I realized it was that so many people hated their jobs and this industry. I mean, we all need to vent, but surely if you hate it that much you should consider switching jobs.

I consider myself a glass-is-half-full person, so I’m happy to see Happyjournalist.com come about. I also notice that it’s full of comments where people leave their real names. That’s encouraging to me (I also posted one).

Unfortunately the posts in angryjournalist.com will always outnumber the posts in happyjournalist.com. Unfortunately some people will always make what is supposed to be a postitive site into a negative one:

rally monkey 3:13 pm on March 3, 2008 | #21

i’m happy i no longer work at the seattle times for blowhard editors.

I’m sure the guy who replaced you would agree. Most people I know would give a favored body part to work there.

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