Branding BS branding BS branding BS branding BS branding BS branding BS. Same old story. Get 'em while they're young. Branding BS branding BS branding BS branding BS branding BS branding BS.

Frontline is airing a report on PBS about the business of marketing to American teens called "The Merchants of Cool." If you missed it last week (like I did) you can catch it tomorrow, Feb. 27th. They have transcripts and RealPlayer footage up online, and you can also listen to a Fresh Air interview with the reporter, Douglas Rushkoff. Interestingly, Rushkoff expresses dismay about his findings that what is "cool" to the marjority of today's teens is to be used by a company for viral marketing and product placement, not to rebel against what corporations are pushing at them. He also discusses a marketing feedback loop wherein MTV goes to a teenager's home to find out what he thinks is cool, while the teenager is surrounding himself with stuff he sees on MTV. Douglas Rushkoff's work is worth keeping an eye on.

Opensewer 8 dates announced for Cleveland, OH and Ithaca, NY. Go>>

I can't help but link to this.

Aaarrrgh! Derf's vision is coming true!

Ah! While it seems mother nature helped lessen the immediate impact of our horrible crime, should we really insult her by leaving the weapon at the scene?

So we sit here in America, watching Temptation Island, while Iraq gets bombed again. It’s amazing. I mean, could we be more removed? How many of us even understand what’s going on over there—maybe ten percent? The roots of the instability and conflict go back so far they’re almost impossible to comprehend, but here is a good place to start, if you’re interested. (Make sure you get to the end. That's where current events start to make more sense.)

Today, the headlines just couldn't be more interesting: Anna Nicole Smith, Alan Greenspan, Salmon Rushdie and a topless British soldier. Now, if that line-up isn't enough to get you interested in world events, I don't know what will.

The United States is a great country, but some people in this world think it’s a big bully. Among the many reasons for this is the fact that the English language now dominates the world, especially when it comes to financial and academic environments. (And no, we can’t blame the U.K. for this…) Well, according to this article in Utne, English-language domination may not last forever. But, in true American style, as our language is usurped by others I’m sure we’ll find a way to make some money from the situation.

Ann Mitchell's gallery has been updated with price information for all photographs.

Salon just makes my job so easy sometimes. I love 'em. Today, on the cover, a great interview with Eric Schlosser, author of the book, "Fast Food Nation." My kind of guy.

It's good to know that the Human Genome Project is providing us with valuable research like this...

What-EVER! As a nation we have the intellectual curiosity of a 12-year old. No, wait, that's actually optimistic...

As the dot-com shakeout continues, almost everyone is reeling from the shockwave – from MBA’s with sensible business models and venture capital, to indy startups that rely on fierce customer (and employee) loyalty and good ideas to survive. One of the most visible shocks to the weblogging community recently is Evan Williams’ announcement about the troubled state of his company, Pyra. (Opensewer uses Blogger, which is a product of Pyra.) Pyra is one of the little guys – one of the underdogs that we all really wanted to “win.”

There seems to be a great collective sense of anxiety and disappointment that “our world” – the world of the web – hasn’t turned out the way we wanted it to. It was going to be our generation’s thing, and we were going to show all those boomers that you could succeed simply by having great ideas, giving them away for free, being fearless, and not selling out.

All of this is now tainted by the “real” world – the recognition of the (unfortunate) fact that good ideas cannot survive by their brilliance alone. They must sustain themselves economically. So many great concepts fail because their creators weren’t able to properly position them in the market. Perhaps it’s a fault of the paradigm under which most of us are compelled to operate (which includes the “live a creative life OR put food on the table” paradox), perhaps it’s the fault of people who are afraid … perhaps it’s no one’s fault at all. Maybe it’s survival of the fittest, or capitalism at its finest. Whatever.

As hard as things are right now for many people in the industry, we must realize that the dream is not dead. The web is the greatest tool for free expression to come along ever – and that must never change. We, the independent, powerful voices of the web must make sure of that. We must never quit doing what we love just because we’re not making any money doing it.

The WAIS is thinning, and it's probably being caused by the PIG. Dr. Andrew Shepherd, a member of the team of scientists making this report, says that this event could have "profound effects." But what, exactly, would those effects be?

Collateral efforts: Our very own Scott, a guy we like to refer to as our “secret weapon,” has a great new article over at DevX.

Here is an update on the Galapagos tanker accident that no one seems to care about. I guess we shouldn’t worry, after all “…nature’s resilience should enable Galapagos to fully recover,” according to “most biologists and ocean scientists consulted by Reuters.” What about working to make sure these accidents don’t happen in the first place?

Follow-up to my comments on 1/26: The front page of Salon.com today has a couple of good articles on the California power crisis. Read them here and here.

Oh, yeah, I almost forgot... the Superbowl is today. Um, who's playing again? Did anyone score a home-run?

This situation illustrates, arguably, that there are indeed some problems that the free market and unfettered competition simply cannot solve. Although public/private partnerships can be very effective entities, when it comes to issues of the public good, local government (the advocate of the people) has a responsibility to exert strong control. California’s power crisis is an example of conservatives strong-arming their economic views onto a system that, by its very nature as a utility, should be primarily a government-controlled endeavor. From a good Washington Post story: “The result was a Rube Goldberg structure -- half free-market, half regulation -- that new U.S. Treasury Secretary Paul H. O'Neill has called ‘lunacy.’”

We usually like to dig a little more for the links we post here, but the issues don't get any more relevant than education. As Bush announces his plans to make America's high schools more accountable, we are led to wonder: Would this be his perfect academy?

"Just love your brother and drink a good glass of red wine every day," says the world's oldest man. Not a bad operating philosophy. Not bad at all.

While George Dubya enjoys himself at the "Black Tie and Boots Ball" tonight, we'll all be pondering this critical question.

It’s nice when mainstream media sources finally mention great ideas that have been around for a long time. Local (or alternative) currencies, whether they’re called LETS Systems, HOURS, or Time-Dollars, are an absolutely wonderful method of maintaining indigenous capital and keeping local economies vibrant. Here is a great searchable database you can use to find resources like this in your area, and here is an article that puts the idea of alternative currencies into the broader context of American banking in general.

Just in! Twelve new works from artist Derek Hess.

New attack on Catcher in the Rye. While the teachers profiled here have a point, I think the opinion voiced in Metafilter is better: "Since when does opening the doors to diversity mean excluding others?"

Superbowl follow-up from yesterday: A national holiday? Sad, sad, sad.

Warning: Major stereotypes ahead. Well, the big, annoying countdown to Superbowl XXXV has begun. (Interesting fact: only 10% of Superbowl viewers can read Roman numerals.) Nobody here cares; except that we’ll all be holed up in our homes, trying to protect ourselves from the frothing, testosterone-bloated frenzy that surrounds this ridiculous yearly event. What fun! Get in your super-duty truck, grab a super-size meal, buy some super-crappy beer and come home to watch the three-hour bore-o-thon, the most interesting part of which is the commercials (how sad).

Rice University officials took over the student created and student run radio station, some are saying that it reflects how colleges are patterning themselves after large corporations. I find this entire thing terrifying.

Calendars featuring the winners of the CAi Photography Competition are now available.