A blog appears on the internet, written by a man named Håkan Nordkvist who claims to have traveled to the future and that he has proof. Later, a video surfaces. Apparently, this man crawled under his sink and into the future where he met himself and took a mobile phone video of the event. The video is viewed thousands of times and debated by many. The problem? The entire matter was conceived by AMF Pensions to market to a “younger” generation. This video is part of a portfolio of “guerrilla” marketing campaigns propagated by Forsman & Bodenfors. The apparent logic of the marketing campaign is that you should give your money to people who are willing to deceive and lie to you for a good laugh. The problem with this sort of campaign is that not everyone finds out that the matter is a hoax; more disinformation is created in an already incredibly noisy environment. This kind of marketing is simply unethical and is the worst kind of propaganda because it is in no way concerned with the truth or even willing to make a case, based on evidence, for the value of the product. It’s bullshit is what it is.

I’ll admit, Moveon.org has gotten on my nerves more often than not lately, but their most recent email really does point to a genuine problem. Ron Fournier, Bureau Chief of the Associated Press offices in Washington, D.C. really seems to be bent on ruining the AP’s reputation for journalistic integrity. Read more…

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Wow. A stoopid filter for the web. It’s about time. Generally speaking I hang around on sites with pretty smart readers who make insightful commentary. But every now and then, when visiting Youtube, I forget to avoid the comments, and then the rage begins. If these guys can actually create a filter that will allow me to ignore the ignorance, rudeness, and stupidity of comments on some web sites, I think they deserve a Nobel. You have the right to say whatever you want, but I have the right to jam my fingers in my ears and sing “la la la!” while you talk.

Look for teeth whitening products and your bound to come across this lovely page: Best Teeth Whitening Products - Compare, Buy, Review the Best Teeth Whiteners. How nice! Someone has gone out and tried all these products and reviewed them and put them in the best order. I wonder who would do that—maybe I want to thank them for doing the gumshoeing for me. Hmm. No byline. No email. No instant messaging name. Land’s sake! No company name or phone number. Well, that piqued my curiosity. And what do you suppose happens when you whois http://www.best-teeth-whitening.com/ neighbors? That’s right. Nothing! The domain is actually registered by proxy through (guess) Domains By Proxy, Inc. Now ask yourself, why go to all the trouble to write a review of products and then take no credit, and obfuscate who you, in fact, are. The smartest in the class will get this quick. And frankly, I think this kind of crap should be just as illegal on the web as it is on TV or anywhere else. It is false advertising, pure and simple.