If you’re going to videotape your Star Wars fighting skills on a school camera, remember to remove the cassette when you’re done. Watch this embarrassingly good video.
Internet Jackass Day 2006
Like every year, I’ll be rounding up my favorite pranks on Internet Jackass Day (aka April Fool’s Day). In case you’re thinking of getting involved, Anil’s got some advice for you. We’re a day early, but it’s April 1 somewhere, so let’s get started.
* ThinkGeek’s annual lineup of unusual new products
* Flickr goes catty on all “Explore” pages, in a timezone-sensitive hack; some screenshots
* Google Adwords unveils two new image sizes
* Bioengineering firm to create pet dragons
* Slashdot finds its feminine side (yawn!)
* Yelp buys rights to the Pets.com sock puppet
* Bungie’s Pimps at Sea video game
* Yahoo buys Web 2.0, all of it
* Ars Technica reviews Duke Nukem Forever
* Google Romance (though Google isn’t far off entering the personals market, in reality)
* TeeVeePedia: TeeVee’s 10th annual entry carries on their tradition of the best written pranks ever
* SQL on Rails, don’t miss the screencast
* Gamespot previews World of Starcraft, among other news coverage
* Google Earth adds some visitors to Area 51
* Wordpattern, WordPress merges with Textpattern
* LinkFilter cribs Metafilter’s design
* Homestar Runner goes upside-down
* DeviantArt previews new Web 2.0 redesign
Comprehensive lists: If you feel like drinking from the firehose, try Urgo’s definitive list and Wikipedia’s rapidly-growing collection. As Greg put it, be prepared for “less than half-assed humor.”
Conclusion: Eh. The only two that made me laugh were the Flickr cats and SQL on Rails.
Litigation Cosby Threatens Waxy, You See!
I suppose it was inevitable, but I got a cease-and-desist from Bill Cosby’s legal team for hosting the House of Cosbys videos and the out-of-print “Cosby Talks to Kids about Drugs” album. (View the cease-and-desist PDF.)
I’ve removed the album (even though it’s been out-of-print for as long as I’ve been alive), as that’s within their legal rights.
But I’m not removing House of Cosbys. House of Cosbys is parody, and clearly falls under fair use guidelines. I’m not taking it down, and their legal bullying isn’t going to work. They claim that hosting these videos “violates our client’s rights of publicity as well as other statutory and common laws prohibiting the misappropriation of an individual’s name, voice and likeness and unfair competition.” Sorry, but the First Amendment protects satire and parody of a public figure as free speech. Also, the right of publicity only applies to unauthorized commercial use, and not a work of art or entertainment.
More than anything, this strikes me as a special kind of discrimination against amateur creators on the Internet. Mad Magazine, Saturday Night Live, South Park, The Simpsons, Family Guy, and countless other mainstream media sources have parodied Bill Cosby over the years (see growing list below).
But because it takes so little effort to threaten a small web-based artist (or the blogger who hosts their work), the Net is constantly targeted regardless of just cause. Justin Roiland, creator of House of Cosbys, was forced to remove the videos because he couldn’t risk the possibility of an actual lawsuit. And when Channel 101 decided to take a stand, Cosby’s lawyers targeted their ISP instead, forcing the videos offline. (Read Channel 101’s excellent response.)
But I know my legal standing, and I’m not backing down unless ordered by the court. This is free speech and creative freedom, and even though it’s just one guy’s goofy labor of love, that’s worth fighting for, dammit.
Cosby Parody in the Media
This is hardly the first time Cosby’s been parodied in the mainstream media. If you have other mainstream examples, please post them or email them to me! Scans, recordings, and video clips are highly encouraged.
* Video: Cosby on Family Guy (July 18, 2001)
* Video: Cosby on The Simpsons (WMV, May 13, 2001)
* Video: Cosby on the Simpsons (Quicktime, April 30, 1995)
* Video: Saturday Night Live’s “Celebrity Jeopardy” (May 14, 2005) – Bill Cosby has been parodied on at least nine episodes of SNL by three different cast members: Eddie Murphy, Adam Sandler, and Kenan Thompson. Any other clips?
* Video: The Boondocks (Episode 11, “Let’s Nab Oprah”)
* Comics: Mad Magazine appearances – Wow, Michael Hunziker compiled a collection of 12 Cosby appearances in Mad from 1967-1998!
* Video: South Park, Episode 210 (“Clubhouses”)
* Video: South Park, Episode 512 (“Here Comes the Neighborhood”)
House of Cosbys: Mirrors Clones!
Watch the original House of Cosbys at any of the sites below. We really need more mirrors, so let me know if you’ve mirrored it!
* YouTube
* CommonFlix (BitTorrent, formatted for iPod)
* EOD.com (thanks, Greg!)
* Watching Paint Dry (thanks, Alek!)
* Stroeck.com (thanks, Michael!)
* Nonstuff.com (thanks, Robert!)
* I’m Just Sayin’ (thanks, Krup!)
* 1hug.com (thanks, David!)
* Panoptican (thanks, Jason!)
* R3V.com (thanks, cls!)
* I Eat Tapes (thanks, David!)
* Kaninka.net (thanks, Páll!)
* Waxy.org
Updates
Stay tuned. I’m calling the EFF and House of Cosbys creator Justin Roiland today.
Update: I was just interviewed by the New York Times for an article set to appear in their Monday business section. Journalist Lia Miller also interviewed Channel 101’s Dan Harmon for the article, but was unable to get a comment from Bill Cosby.
I also spoke to Jason Schultz, staff attorney for the Electronic Frontier Foundation. He contacted me directly, providing some great feedback and offering the EFF’s support to help fight this. Their network of legal counsel is extensive and well-versed in cases like these, and the EFF’s powerful activist community will help raise awareness should this go to trial.
No word yet from Justin Roiland, but waiting patiently. Justin, if you’re out there, call or e-mail me! I got in touch with Justin through Myspace. He’s giving me a call on Monday to discuss.
March 5: The New York Times article is out. Nice!
March 7: I spoke to Justin yesterday afternoon. I was relieved to hear he’s not opposed to what I’m doing, though (rightfully so) he’s hesitant to get involved in a lawsuit himself. He’s going to speak to an attorney and get back to me.
Also, no word yet from the Cosby legal team.
Penn & Teller's Smoke and Mirrors
Years ago, I’d heard about a mythical unreleased videogame developed by Penn & Teller for the Sega CD and 3DO. The game was supposed to be an oddball adventure game, with some cruel magic tricks and minigames thrown in for good measure. This Absolute Entertainment press release from March 1995 sums it up nicely.
Waxy Hits the Deck
In the past, I’ve never been a big fan of advertising. It’s very often irrelevant, obnoxious, and almost always diminishes user experience. While there are clever TV commercials, print ads, and outdoor campaigns that win worldwide acclaim, I’m not sure any user would shed a tear if every ad banner disappeared overnight. (It’s no wonder that the Firefox Adblock extension is downloaded 100,000 times weekly.)
The rapid rise of contextual advertising takes a step in the right direction by attempting to recommend ads related to the page you’re currently reading. I’ve been minimally running Google Ads on the Waxy.org archives since May 2004, and I’ve generally been happy with the results. The ads themselves were still a bit ugly and only occasionally relevant, but it was an acceptable sacrifice since they covered my hosting bill every month. (About $150/month, if you’re curious.)
Now, a little bit of news. Late last year, Jim Coudal started a boutique advertising network called The Deck. A few things make The Deck’s approach unique among other online ad networks I’ve seen.
First, every advertiser must offer a product or service that the Deck members have used or paid for, and we’re very picky people. Second, the ad slots themselves are very limited (currently only six slots), forcing us to choose best candidates. And the ads are cleanly designed and unobtrusive, without animation and limited to one per page.
I’d like to see a world where online ads are meaningful, representing the ideals of the writer and the interests of the reader. Careful moderation and unobtrusive presentation will hopefully lead to a better experience for everyone, which in turn means better results for advertisers. It’s an interesting experiment, and I’m proud to be in the company of net legends like Jeffrey Zeldman, Jason Fried, and John Gruber. Neat guys with very good taste.
Anyway, I’ll report back in a few months with the results. For more information, read John’s explanation of why he switched, and Mister Snitch’s analysis some trends in blogger ad networks. And if you have something to advertise you think we’d like, get in touch.