Why I follow you on twitter... and it's not why you think...

I love twitter, and that's no secret.

Apparently, I'm one of the ones who "gets it" and I enjoy it immensely. I love the community, I love the accessibility to entities that otherwise I'd have no way into (@CarlyWithAXE has made me a loyal Axe Man for life. They get me AND my hair!), and most of all, I love the tweets. I love the endless stream of consciousness that, collectively, my follow list gives me. I can tap into that stream anytime I want and instantly I can take the pulse of my twitterverse. And let's not forget that. It's MY twitterverse. I made it up by selecting all the cool people I follow. My twitterverse is not your twitterverse. Our personal pulses beat a little differently. So when we take them, we're going to be colored by the endless paints of the little universe we created, and our pulses will be different. Every time.

That's the beauty of Twitter. Relevancy. It's my Twitter feed and I get to decide how it feels and how the collective stream of tweets defines me.

That's why I follow you. Because you're interesting. Not because of your work. I read your blog, and I know the work you do. I know that if I have a question about Flex, or Actionscript, or ColdFusion, you're probably a terrific resource.

But I don't give a shit about that. I care about you.

Matt Kerner and Leif Wells are two of the most proficient and intelligent people I know. Same with Ed Sullivan, Todd Sanders, Scott Fegette and Raymond Camden. They all represent the best and brightest of my professional peer group, in my opinion.

But that's not why I follow them.

I follow Matt and Leif because besides being terrific developers, they're interesting. Their lives are interesting, and it's really nice to see how their lives, and the way they go about their day shapes how they develop and how they do what they do. Same with Raymond Camden. There's no doubt that these are some of the best developers out there, but when I wanna read about development, I'll go to Raymond's terrific blog. When I wanna get insight into how his mind works, and how he approaches problems, I'll actually pay attention to his twitter stream. Which do you think is more valuable in the long term?

I think everyone I follow is tremendously interesting and I wouldn't follow them if I didn't think they had something to contribute. Their contributions, however, don't always come in the form of tangible nuggets of actionable information. They come from the slowly evolving picture of who they are, and why I like them.

Conversely, I try to use my Twitter stream as simply a window into my head. Nothing more. I have no lofty goals, I'm not looking for a million followers. Honestly, if I didn't have a single follower, I'd still tweet endlessly. Why? Because I think there's value in just putting your thoughts down. If you don't put your thoughts down on paper, or commit to at least acknowledging them in some way, what use are they? How many opportunities did you miss because you let some thought get away from you without at least recognizing it and jotting it down?

If you consider that everyone else that I follow is doing the same thing, you suddenly get a sense of how relevant and valuable MY Twitterverse is.

And that's why I follow you. Because you're interesting. So get out there and be interesting, because ANYONE can work.

Your first mistake? You forgot about Google...Your second mistake? You hit "send"...

So I was forwarded this:



I thought they were great words. Really inspiring. So I thought I'd take a moment to thank Red Pepper for the original article.

Fucking wow, man.

The Simpsons new title sequence, first change in 19 years

From Digg via Youtube:
"For the first time in the show's history, The Simpsons will be in HD for all to see Sunday night, as well as the first full, permanent revamp of the show's opening titles since its premiere in 1989. Fox will also air both a full-length and an abbreviated version of the credits. "

DVR + HDTV = Freeze Frame that opening split second shot of the entire town!

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Online 'Free Your Avatar' application goes global

From Digg via Joystiq:
Once exclusive to the UK's Xbox.com web space, Microsoft's online, photo tinkering Free Your Avatar tool just released to most all global Xbox.com sites. The website relaunch also comes with the new ability to upload your own background and comes packed with "new props and goodies!" Joy!

This is so cool. I have to admit, when the Fall Update for Xbox Live was first previewed, I was completely ambivalent about the Avatars. I thought, "dressing up my avatar? I dunno about that, I'm not much for dressup and stuff like that". However, since the update, I've really grown to love my Avatar, and the idea of breaking him out of Xbox Live and letting him stretch his legs is really resonating with me. I love this. I hope it gets deeper and deeper as time goes on. I've heard rumors of unlockable clothing items, and "winnable" avatar elements. I would LOVE that. It would be such a perfect combination of gaming and social interactions.

People could take a lesson from Xbox 360. I've said it once and I'll say it again, Xbox Live is absolutely without a doubt the premiere social network.

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Man appears free of HIV after stem cell transplant

From Digg via CNN:
"A 42-year-old HIV patient with leukemia appears to have no detectable HIV in his blood and no symptoms after a stem cell transplant from a donor carrying a gene mutation that confers natural resistance to the virus that causes AIDS, according to a report published Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine."

Amazing. Simply Amazing.

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Twitter Video Game Reviews - You've got 140 characters, is it good, or does it suck? Go.

Had a cool idea today. I was thinking, you know, if you REALLY wanted to harness the power of twitter, and tap directly into the pulse of the people who are buying your product, why not give them a voice?

So I thought, "Twitter Video Game Reviews". 140 characters to pretty much state your business and move on. Loved the game? Rave about it. Loathed it? Say so. You've got a voice. Just tag your tweet with #tvgr and you'll be joining a universe of people giving their two cents to anyone who'll listen.

And you know what? I bet some people start listening! Imagine how cool it would be to check twitter a week or so after your game's out and see instant feedback? Not a focus group. Not a paid review wonk. A real, living, breathing person. A person who cared enough about your game, positively, or negatively, to let people know. And it's not just for Xbox360. It's "video game reviews" not "xbox 360 game reviews", so everyone can play. Playstation 2, 3, Xbox, Xbox 36, Nintendo DS, Nintendo Wii. Whatever system it plays on (Google Android?) you can review it! Just tag and tweet. It's that easy!

You couldn't PAY for that kind of feedback, and the twitterverse is just going to give it to you for free!

The Ten Most Expensive Comic Books at New York Comic Con

From Digg via io9:
"If our list of the ten most expensive comic books at the New York Comic Con is any indication, the high-end comic book market hasn't yet experienced any fallout from the Financiapocalypse."

I love doing this at conventions. I love to look at the really high end gold and silver age books just for the heck of it. The thing that really stands out about this list (okay...it doesn't stand out at all, in fact, it's exactly what you'd expect)...and that's every comic in this list is CGC. I mean, just look at how that's affected the comic book market. Naturally any list of "most expensive" would wind up being high number, graded, slabbed, books, but it just goes to show you. ALL of those book are being slabbed. Every single one of them. There is practically no relatively high end gold or silver available today that hasn't already been signed, sealed, and delivered. I guess what I'm saying is, there's really no middle ground, it appears, when it comes to wading into the gold and silver age markets. Especially if you even *whiff* around keys. Amazing stuff, that list.


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"These are a few of my favorite things..."

I was just thinking about some of my favorite things right now. Not family stuff, or sentimental stuff, just things I'm enjoying lately. Stuff that puts a smile on my face for one reason or another. In other words, I hope you smile while you read it. It helps.

1. COMIC BOOKS In particular, The Boys, Crossed (Dude, seriously, just check out that cover), Action Comics (actually all of "New Krypton" now), Buffy the Vampire Slayer, No Hero, Battlefields,Umbrella Academy, Walking Dead, and Kick-Ass. I'm sure I'm leaving out some great books, but right off the top of my head, those were the ones I thought of. Those books have renewed my faith in the comic book as a medium of fantastic, astounding, stupefying, larger-than-life stories. Every month I look forward to those books more than anything.
- "The Boys" and "Crossed" just absolutely blow me away month after month after fuckin' month. There is no middle ground with those books, and the brutality & insanity is just...well, fucking brutal...and insane. Garth Ennis has never been one to pull punches and this is another example of his signature style, but for some reason, I love it way more than his usual stuff. For real. Theses books aren't subtle and they are not meant to be. "Crossed" in particular has proven to be absolutely riveting. "The Boys" has been a consistently great story with shocking moments, but "Crossed" just takes the very idea, "hey, there are no rules here, anything goes, so...what if?" and elevates it to an art form. You *will* say, at least once an issue, "what the FUCK?!". I promise.
- "Action Comics" I'm singling out of the whole universe of Superman books, simply because I've loved it most of all over the past couple of years. The other Superman books have been a little inconsistent, always good of course, but "Action" just seems to always deliver. I picked this up back when Eric Powell started the Bizarro storyline, and I've been enjoying it since. The current "New Krypton" story is a hoot, I'm enjoying Superman interplay with the New Kryptonians, and Lex Luthor is written superbly. A consistently great read every month.
- "Buffy The Vampire Slayer" is great. Season 8 has been just terrific to read and I always enjoy Joss Whedon when he's writing these characters. In other hands, not so much but the nuance of the dialog, and the relationship between the characters just shines when he writes them and it really is a treat to read. I bet you I probably smile the entire time I read one of those.
- I've enjoyed Warren Ellis' "No Hero" immensely since it started. There are only a handful (3?) issues out now, but so far, I love it. (I should probably mention again how much I love FreakAngels. But I've alreadyblogged once about that.)
- I'm really so obviously enjoying Garth Ennis' work lately (See above, The Boys, Crossed) and "Battlefields" is one that I think has huge potential. "Battlefields: Nightwitches" was great and I understand this is to be a whole series of war stories told by Ennis. I know, I know, that sounds so cool, right? If you haven't gotten your hands on "Nightwitches" yet run out and get them. They're really great. I was almost a little afraid to list ANOTHER Ennis book in this list for fear of looking rather unabashed, but I don't care. The guy writes comics right now that are just too compelling to ignore.
- That leaves "Umbrella Academy", "Walking Dead" and "Kick-Ass". "Umbrella Academy" is just utterly creative. From concept to completion, it's well crafted and oh, so charming. I think I just...appreciate "Umbrella Academy". I dig the vibe the book puts out and love the way it's told. It reminds me of the feelings of artistic appreciation I used to have whenever I'd pick up a copy of "Love and Rockets" back in the 80s. You know, you just sort of read it in awe of the whole of the creative endeavor, and it deepens your appreciation of the craft of comic books. "Walking Dead" is simply "Walking Dead". It's the best month to month serial of the human condition going in my opinion. What's going to happen to them? Where's the end? How does the whole drama of this post apocalyptic world play out? Don't you *get* it, stupid? It *doesn't* end. Life doesn't have an end. Neither does this. Welcome to the real apocalypse. Welcome to the day to day living in a world infested with the Walking Dead. Welcome to, "how do I wake up every day and deal with this? My old life is gone.". This is the one comic no movie could ever do justice. I hope nobody is attempting to turn this into a screenplay, unless it's for HBO with a 12 year commitment. Last, but not least of my current favorite comics..."Kick-Ass". How could you not fall in love with this book? Seriously, have you even READ an issue? No? Then what the hell are you waiting for? Trust me. Here's the premise: "real super heroics", aaaand...go. This book is cool. I mean, this book is so cool, you'll want your friends to read it too. Then, when you're done reading the first handful of issues, click on this.

2. CALVIN AND HOBBES Can you believe it's been 13 years since Calvin said goodbye? Over the Holidays I was going thru my Amazon Wishlist and I noticed The Complete Calvin And Hobbes, which I had added to my wishlist a long time ago. That got me thinking about reading some Calvin and Hobbes and it wasn't too long before I was digging out some of my other larger collected volumes and leafing thru them. That stuff is sheer genius. Just look around the newspaper comic strip landscape today and ponder the impact Watterson would have.

You know the great thing about reading Calvin and Hobbes now is, years ago when I originally fell in love with the strip, I naturally identified with Calvin. Now I sit here, over a decade later, with my own "Calvin", and I find my empathy with the parents has given those familiar strips an entirely new life. I'm going to move that Complete Calvin and Hobbes off that Wishlist soon, I think.

3. LORD OF THE RINGS EXTENDED TRILOGY DVD BOXED SET - I don't know how it happened, but I just fell into a recent habit of watching them while I ride my bike every night. When I started riding, the first DVDs that I "got into" was HBO's "Band of Brothers" and "From the Earth to the Moon". I enjoyed watching them, but I wanted to be...I dunno, more "engaged" while I rode, so I pulled out my LOTR Extended Box Set and started watching them all the way thru from the beginning. I got thru all three and at the end I just...well...wanted to watch them again! Thing was, when I started them over that was when I stumbled across "English Subtitles" and my life changed forever. Prior to that, I was really struggling with sound issues. First off, riding in the garage on rollers isn't exactly "whisper quiet". It's not noisy, but it drowns out most sound. You have to crank the TV to max volume just to hear. Secondly, it appears as if half of the dialog in "Fellowship" is whispered. Elves whispering in woods, Aragorn whispering Arwen, Sam whispering to Frodo, Frodo talking to himself in half whispers. So you wind up missing the best parts of the movie, the dialog. Not so, once you hit "English Subtitles". You get to read while you ride!

This was really when I got into it. The extended versions are nice and deep, and the added dimension of being able to read while you ride, to get the subtle nuances in dialog, to see names and faces, is hugely rewarding. Next up, I think, is digging into some of the special features. I hope there are subtitles for them as well!

4. XBOX 360 AND NETFLIX - This should probably be two items. The truth is, since the Fall Update, the Xbox 360 has been the premiere entertainment device in our house. The DVR fills up. TV goes unwatched. Shows don't hold any interest, and more than at any other time I've owned a console (and I've owned them all...literally) I'm actually just coming home and firing it up without any game in mind. I just want to get on XBL and see what's going on. The Party features are fantastic. Photo sharing is amazing, and the social aspects of XBL simply cannot be understated. There are more, and deeper social interactions going on nightly on XBL than any web 2.0 social network. These are people sharing experiences, talking, and *doing* stuff together. If you want to see a real "Social Network" look no further. Microsoft has built the best one on earth.

Also, over the Christmas Holidays, the entire household got into "Fallout 3" and fell hopelessly into Xbox addiction for most of the entire time. I think my entire Christmas break could really be reclassified as "two weeks off to play Fallout 3 nonstop until the game is finished". There were days when I actually played more than 8 hours in a single sitting (and you wonder why I got so fucking fat?)! But the game was *that* fucking good. I mean, this game was easily an "eleven" on a scale of "one to ten" and it elevated my enjoyment of gaming to a whole new level. Now, after I beat the game and sent it back to Gamefly, guess what? They (Bethesda Studios) have brilliantly released an additional DLC (Downloadable Content) pack called "Operation Anchorage" that adds more missions, more achievements, and more fun to an already amazing game. Guys and Gals, this is EXACTLY why we got an Xbox, and this is exactly what the promise of Xbox Live was all about. Games don't have to "end" when you reach an "ending". EA has already done the same thing with the greatest game ever created, Battlefield: Bad Company by adding map add-on packs for free that expand on the game as well as offering up a "Conquest Mode" patch that added conquest mode back into the game.

But it's just not the games. One of the most surprising new features about the Fall Update that we've just fallen in love with is the Netflix "Watch Instantly" application that was included in the update. The app was free, and once you downloaded it, hooking it up to your existing netflix account was a breeze. Immediately our "Instant Queue" was available for watching, and we're not talking shitty little crunched up artifacted WMV files. We're talking about beautiful, clear, crisp, STREAMED High Definition video. The first of any of the netflix streaming products that streamed HD, and it's fantastic. On a broadband connection, with the 360 hardwired to the network, we get maximum bandwidth, and high quality. It's beautiful. It's convenient. And it costs nothing extra.

And that brings me to my last reason for absolutely falling head over heels in love with my 360: DIVX. Yes, you heard me right. Quietly, without much fanfare, Microsoft added DIVX decoding to the 360's network streaming video capabilities and as far as I'm concerned, if any of the above things didn't convince you to go out right now and get one, then this last one should seal the deal. Let's just play a hypothetical scenario: Let's say you have a broadband connection. You have a fast connection, and you LOVE torrents. You have a collection of fantastic movies, and TV shows(They're not WMV files, because as we all know, EVERYTHING online is a DIVX avi file), and they're all sitting on the hard drive of the computer in the other room. You know, the one you do most of your "stuff" on. You like downloading and watching all those great movies and TV shows, but it's a pain in the ass to do so. You either have to watch them on your computer screen, or get some wacky video card and connect your computer to your TV. More wires, and a computer that's now sitting where your entertainment center is. Gross. Those solutions suck.

How about this instead? You download whatever you want, save all those AVI files right on your hard drive. Then, wander into the other room and turn on your high definition TV, cut on the 360, connect to the computer in the other room, and watch whatever you want, in glorious high definition, without connecting shit to shit. It's a beautiful thing, and the Xbox 360 has made it completely possible with what appears to be the least amount of effort ever. You owe it to yourself to investigate.

So that's it!

That's my current little list of things that bring a smile to my face. Try some of them. See of they make your life a little happier too!

Why do I feel like I've stumbled onto some wacky secret?

So I wanted to get healthy and lose weight. Honestly, I'm not sure which was which. I knew my health was tied to my weight. I knew my blood pressure was going up. Stress from work & deadlines was killing me and not helping in the least. I knew my cholesterol was going fucking nuts. My LDLs were so off the charts batshit crazy that I'm not even going to put them down on "paper" here and tell you them. Just do this. Take the most far out number you can imagine, and probably double it. Yeah, it was that bizarro-high. 

So you know. I think, looking back on it, that I really was just interested in doing the most I could do to get healthy. I figured the weight would just come off as a result of the "getting healthy" part. I suppose I was right. I've dropped an unreal amount of weight over the last month or so (rapidly approaching over 40 pounds gone), but what really gets me is the simplicity by which I've done it, and I haven't even really "done it" yet. This has only been a month. I'm really waiting until my birthday on March 13 to see if the real work has paid off. I'll go for fasting bloodwork and we'll see what's up. When the internal numbers look good to the doctor-man, then we'll claim success.

In the meantime however, I'm left with weight loss, and I gotta tell ya, it's the bike riding that's changed everything. It's changed my lifestyle, and as a result, it's changed my eating habits, and as a result of THAT, I feel like I've sort of accidentally fallen into the greatest lifestyle change of all time, and inadvertently stumbled upon a secret that everyone who's discovered it prior has held near and dear to their heart. Here it is: 

"Eat a lot. Eat an awful lot." 

Now, there are some obvious caveats that come with this advice. First of all, what you eat has to be good, real good. We're talking about as wholesome as you can get. Obviously I stopped drinking sodas and whatnot, but it even goes beyond that. I'm avoiding anything with "High Fructose Corn Syrup" in it completely. Oh, it's hard, but with a little patience you can do it. Just be prepared for two hour grocery store trips while you search labels (oh, and buy the ice cream last). I'm also avoiding trans fats, of course. I'm eating a lot of whole grains, opting for whole grain rices, etc. I'm staying away from processed foods. No bleached flours, etc. I'm using that amazing kick-ass book "Eat This Not That" to help me select whole foods and avoid foods that contain the things I'm looking to cut out. It compares various name brand foods you find at your local supermarket and shows you the healthier, more wholesome option. A real simple way to get your bearings when shopping.

The other thing, besides your food "being good", is "not being too much". Probably the most dramatic switch I made was reducing my portion sizes significantly. Honestly, who the fuck was I eating for, an Army? Was I pregnant? There was absolutely no reason to sit down to a meal that had enough food to easily feed two people. How do I know they were that big? Because two people are eating them now instead of one. Seriously. Instead of two chicken breasts, I eat the amount I'm supposed to eat, and cook one and cut it in half. Instead of a mound of mashed potatoes that you could ski jump off of, I opted instead for the correct amount and only ate half a cup. 

This sounds extremely difficult. I know. You're probably saying, "that's completely fucked, no wonder you lost weight, you're eating half as much and riding a bike, you idiot". But that's not really it. You eat half as much because you're not hungry.

Bear with me here.

Instead of not eating breakfast every morning, and going someplace at noon or one o'clock hungry enough to eat an entire buffet, I'm actually eating a bowl of oatmeal & fruit and some coffee (maybe a whole wheat english muffin if I'm feeling frisky). Wake up and eat that shit tomorrow then tell me you'll go to work hungry and I'll call you a big, fat, liar. This means I'm eating at 7-8 o'clock in the morning. Then, when I get to work, I'll have a snack at about 11 or so, usually later because I'm not really that hungry, but I force myself to eat maybe a banana and some peanut butter crackers or something. So now, I'm really not looking to eat next until later, around one o'clock. I'm not really THAT hungry, so I'll just have a sandwich. Actually, since the "suggested serving size" for the lean turkey I got is only about 4-5 slices, I'll cut a piece of bread in half, throw some swiss (only need half a slice!), lettuce, tomato, and fold over 4 slices of turkey and feast on a sandwich that seriously fills my ass up (It's that "double fiber" bread we saw in the "Eat this not That" chapter on bread). Lunch at one easily lasts me until about 4 o'clock when I'm supposed to eat again. By that time I'll have crackers, a Clif Bar, Fruit, Celery... just something to munch on. Now I'm heading home and I've got to eat dinner in two hours. You think after eating all that, you could pack away two meals? I can't. I cut my portions in half, started eating more smaller meals thru-out the day and Viola! Like some fucking crazy alternate universe where up is down and down is up, I'm eating like mad and losing weight.

Of course, this is all just academic if you're not exercising. My drug of choice just happened to be bikes, and a large part of the reason for the lifestyle change in diet and eating was really to help facilitate better bike riding. The healthier I am, the more/farther/faster I can go on the bike, and the more/farther/faster I can go on the bike, the healthier I am. 

I like the spiral I'm on now. The direction it's going is much better than the one I was previously on. This spiral makes me happy, and I smile a lot when I'm happy. 

Geektastic Graffiti

From Digg via Kontraband:
"Contrary to popular belief us geeks do go outside & here is some strong evidence to support that..."

You know, it's always good fun to take nerd cleverness and mix it with good ol' illegal vandalism. The results always please!

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What the fuck was I thinking?

I just signed up, registered, and paid for the "Michelob Ultra Bike Race" on February 15th at the Myrtle Beach Pelican's Stadium. You could choose 10, 30, or 63 miles. I took the 30 mile option.

I got 10 days that I can ride between now and Feb 13th (I think I'm supposed to take the 14th off, that's what everyone says). I'm currently riding 15 miles with the goal of riding faster and faster each time and reducing the amount of time I've been riding. Occasionally going for longer rides, but not stretching out my time on the bike too much. I figure if I add 2 miles each ride, by the time the 13th comes around, I'll be up to 25 miles. Then, on Sunday, 30 miles will only be 5 miles farther than I'm currently riding.

From my house in Socastee, it's 10 miles to 10th Ave N. in Myrtle Beach. It's almost exactly 14 miles to work. Last summer, I routinely rode both of those routes and more, riding up to as far as 79th N. which puts me well over 30 miles there and back. So I've definitely done it before, multiple times. I've just never done it at 7:30 in the morning with a group of 200 other riders, and with a number strapped to my chest, and with someone actually *watching me* do it.

So tonight, I'll start my...*ahem*..."training" for lack of a better word. I'll throw down and ride 17 miles as hard as I fucking can, and we'll see how it goes.

If anyone has any pointers, by all means let me know! I'm a total n00b at this shit, you know!

Brew The Best Possible Coffee Without Breaking the Bank

From Digg via Lifehacker:
"Whether you're the kind of coffee drinker that slugs back the swill in the break-room coffee pot at work or savors exotic coffee on sleepy Sundays, there is always room for enhancing your java.

"Ooh, I want a French Press so bad. I loved this article.

read more | digg story

Michael Phelps Should Not Apologize for Smoking Pot

From Digg via Alternet:
"Plastered all over the internet right now is a photo of Michael Phelps smoking marijuana out of a bong. Phelps struck another blow to the myth that marijuana smokers are lazy couch potatoes. Here is the guy who has won more gold medals than anyone in history, and obviously his health and accomplishments are not hindered by smoking some pot."

Um, I agree 100%. I don't really have anything to add.


read more | digg story

"Video Killed The Radio Star" or "The Death of 'Super Bowl Ads'"

A little while ago, on Twitter I noted that I wasn't really into the Super Bowl. I don't follow Pro Football, I work in Advertising so I don't care about the ads, etc... I got a couple of replies/DMs wondering why I wasn't into the ads, they thought for sure I'd be all over that. Aren't I into all the cool, clever ads that debut during the Super Bowl?

I am. I suppose I misspoke when I said, "work in advertising, so don't care about commercials". I do care about the commercials. I really do look forward to our industry's most creative time of the year, and knowing who some of the players are only increases the anticipation (What crazy shit is Crispin Porter & Bogusky gonna pull out of their ass this year?). What I should've said was, "work in advertising, so don't care about the broadcast". That would've been far more accurate statement.

When I get to work on Monday, between 9 AM and 5 PM I'll probably get over two dozen emails with links all over the internet enticing me to view and possibly vote on "the best and worst super bowl commercials". Yahoo will probably have a spot devoted to them (with HD versions, I'm sure). Same with America Online. They'll have a prominent button there when everyone logs in that they can click and pick and choose which of the most insanely clever spots they want. Heck, sort by popularity, then you won't even have to bother with the crap and the bottom. Then I realized, it's not just me, it's everyone. Mainstream America will all be able to wake up tomorrow and go to CBS.com after watching the morning show, or head over to CNN's special Super Bowl Commercials page, or Fox's, and browse the nicely displayed listing of "all the best" Super Bowl ads in one convenient place. You don't even have to watch the game...

See where I'm going with this?

Is the broadcast that special now, if even the casual audiencemember, who used to tune in for the commercials, like myself, just shrugs it off and waits for the inbox followup? How long will it take before this happens? I figure the internet's been around in this "social, high bandwidth, video sharing" form now for about three or four years. That's about how long it's taken *me* to become conditioned to not give a shit about the super bowl broadcast. Am I an "early adopter"? And if the broadcast isn't the event it once was, are the ads for that event "less special"?

All I know is one thing. I'm not a big Pro Football fan and the only reason I previously ever watched the Super Bowl is now sent directly to me, for me to pick & choose and watch at my own leisure. That certainly seems like a different dynamic than the dynamic of the LAST 42 Super Bowls, and I wonder if I'm the only one.

UPDATE (10:48 PM): Of course Hulu.com has all the Super Bowl Ads in one high quality, nicely presented, socially sorted place!

UPDATE 2 (12:14 AM): Or I could just embed a custom widget they provide and highlight all the best Super Bowl ads right here in this here blogorini.


UPDATE 3 (12:18 AM): Oh, and the game totally blew away the commercials this year, in my humble opinion.