Contextual Advertising Run Amok!

This Toyota advertisement popped up over a news story that used the word "car" in the headline. OK - maybe contextual advertising isn't all it's cracked up to be:

Mayor Has Strange Way of Showing Appreciation

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom was served well by his long-time campaign manager, Alex Tourk, who worked tirelessly for the mayor helping him get elected. Then the mayor slept with Tourk's wife.

Given that this is San Francisco, the question remains, will this bit of news help or hurt the Mayor's re-election bid?

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It's Empty!

Thought for the day: if a glass is empty, do you see it as being not full, or empty? or really empty?

First Thing Ever Sold on eBay?

First thing sold was a broken laser pointer for $14, sold by eBay creator Pierre Omidyar in 1995. Conveniently the negative feedback feature had not yet been created.

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90% of Venezuelans Thrilled

Chavez gets sweeping new powers

Imagine a country where the top 10% of wage earners carry the poorest segment of their society on their backs. Where schools, welfare, insurance, roads, and the nation's protection are paid for mostly by the top 10% in the form of hefty tax revenues. Oh wait - wasn't supposed to talk about the United States in this blurb...

As for Venezuela... can we also vote into power someone who will take the company and the luxury home your family worked for over decades, and give it to me? Sounds strangely similar to North Korea in the beginning. My Korean wife's family lost their homes and companies which were seized by the Communists from the North, and then what happened? They became one of the poorest countries on earth. How did that work out? And her family, starting from nothing again, built new companies and became wealthy again. Funny.

But seriously, 90% of Venezuelans who are poor are happy that Chavez will seize the assets of the rich and distribute to the poor. Government sanctioned thievery. Quick way to get a 90% approval rating. I'm wondering what kind of commission Chavez will keep for himself of the seized assets. 20% in a private offshore account? 30%? We'll never know because that's probably part of the new power grab - all books will be closed.

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Trade you a gallon of gas for a corn tortilla?

Mexicans stage tortilla protest! We want to conserve fuel by using more Ethanol. Mexicans want corn tortillas! Something's got to give!

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Pot-Bellied Man Looked Pregnant

OK - this guy was teased to no end for his pot belly... bet they didn't know he'd had his mutated twin brother living inside his stomach for almost 4 decades.

"The case may have been a medical miracle to doctors, but to Bhagat his condition had been a source of shame and misery. All his life, people in the village where he lived had mercilessly teased him and told him he looked pregnant. Ironically, they were right in a way."

I don't think I have any similar excuse, unless I can blame the mutated carbs and pizza that make up some of my midsection.

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