Hello, my name is Mr. Malley

I came across this video this morning (that was supposedly animated by Trey Parker and Matt Stone) showcasing the ideas of philosopher, writer, and speaker, Alan Watts, whom I don’t know much about other than what you see here:

For obvious reasons, this hit home with me. I’ve spent a lot of the past three to five years very ambitiously trying to build my career and my business. I’ve spent a great deal of effort working toward something. Now that I have a kid, I’ve had no choice in slowing down … enjoying the ride, I suppose.

I guess you could say I listen to the music now.

Update: I have found a much better format of this video here.

As a huge fan of Apple’s new line of ads, I was pleasantly surprised when I came across their first ad ever on YouTube (1984).

Not to mention, it’s been a while since I’ve posted some nonsense. Enjoy:

I’m not sure if many readers here are big of fans of “blogosphere” monitoring sites like Digg or Technorati. If not, you should be! These sites are a quick and easy way to check out what’s cool on the web right now.

Anyway, something interesting is afoot on Digg that is worth mentioning. It involves a leaked HD-DVD encryption code that allows super-dorks (like the one pictured above) to play HD-DVDs on their computer.

A couple of weeks ago, I posted a YouTube video that an anthropologist from Kansas State University created about Web 2.0 - called “The Web is Us/ing Us.” Watch this if you haven’t already done so. It is one man’s well-produced vision of what the web has become: a place where content is formed to fit around the user, rather than the user fitting their habits around the content. Watch the movie! It’s much cooler than I make it sound.

Well, out of this Web 2.0 atmosphere, we have Digg - people from around the world submit articles, pictures, etc. that they … digg. Users (like me) then visit the site in search of what other people are buzzing about on the web. Users then “Digg” what they like, and “bury” what they don’t like. This process, repeated thousands of times each day, produces a variety of hot (and not) items of the day. I find a lot of cool stuff this way.

Anyway, what happens when the people “Digg” something that the providers of Digg don’t find to be in the best interest of their business model? What happens when a large corporate entity asks Digg to remove something from its front page that is proprietary? Well, Digg complies.

Then, the masses revolt against Digg!

Then, Digg submits to its electorate!

… after seeing hundreds of stories and reading thousands of comments, you’ve made it clear. You’d rather see Digg go down fighting than bow down to a bigger company. We hear you, and effective immediately we won’t delete stories or comments containing the code and will deal with whatever the consequences might be.

If we lose, then what the hell, at least we died trying.

- Kevin Rose, Digg founder

If you’re still reading (and interested), you can follow the story a little deeper at the New York Times, Forbes.com, CNet, or the BBC.

Or, just check out Digg! The story is all over the front page.

Update: Here are some of the ways clever bloggers spread the code:

I stumbled upon a really cool site that helps individuals organize web content to suit their needs. It’s called Netvibes and it uses AJAX to produce a smooth, interactive, application-like interface.

This sort of web application is really what Web 2.0 is really all about - separating web content from web form to suit individual needs. For example, why look to more than one place for the weather, news, your favorite podcasts, YouTube, Flickr, movie listings, your email, your to-do lists, and your favorite search engine? Programs like Netvibes lets you conform your favorite web content around you, rather than conforming to web content.

Interesting and useful.

Interesting.

Web 2.0 … The Machine is Us/ing Us

Edit: I have replaced the video with it’s original found on YouTube. 10:50am EST April 11, 2007

Look what I found:

I bet you can’t watch the whole thing!