I just came across this interesting history of the Netflix mailer.

Where do they go from here? Obviously: downloadable movies. It's the last mile of video-on-demand and Netflix seems like the player (perhaps with some help from TiVo) to actually make it happen.

In their last quarterly conference call yesterday, they committed to having a solution in place by the end of the year. That's ambitious, if they hadn't already done some groundwork. I'm excited, because with this advance, the final three problems with Netflix disappear (the return time, unplayable discs, long waits for good movies) and the only real question becomes one of revenue. By this I mean that any idiots who subscribe to a "5 out at a time" plan will immediately ratcheted back down to 3, because if there's no wait on return times, you won't need to have multiple movies out at once.

So go have some fun with these free symbols conveniently copyright free. The world needs more of this...

This is absurd.

The sad fact is that more and more of us, as we invest ourselves in the web, entrusting intimate personal information to garish pages, are destined to leave hastily-constructed, poorly-designed memorials online when we die, trivial shrines whose guest books and comments sections will continue to grow even as we rot, puffing up slowly with hackneyed, repetitive, ghoulish, unintentionally funny tributes.

This is merely the modern equivalent of myth-making; instead of an oral tradition, it's moved into the twenty-first century. Is it any more serious than to have people spreading gossip behind your back? I don't think so.

I can see the identity theft angle...but all it would take for this particular person to knock that down would be to sign up for myspace and tell the other guy off. Not difficult at all. Sure, the onus is on the person in question, but that's the price to pay for being a (minor) celebrity.

If we're cleaning up the White House, why not have a redesign too?

This idea, although conservative, is hilarious:

What better way to reign in the White House Press Corps than to install Jack Bauer as Press Secretary? Let's see if David Gregory has the guts to ask Jack Bauer about "sloppy seconds". Imagine Jack Bauer trying to sit still while Helen Thomas goes on one of her diatribes.

You have to see the image, though, to get the full humor. It's great!

And speaking of 24, this season has basically flaunted the "president is worse than nixon + bush combined" idea to create a super-weak, super-crazy chief executive. It's singularly amazing that such a show would be on FOX.

Of course, I'm also the person who would gladly purchase a "Don't blame me: I voted for Palmer!" bumper sticker. (Having a FOX show star an african-american as a Democrat who won the presidency is amazing, isn't it?) Dennis Haysbert should seriously consider running for office: his physical presence is commanding and through his work on 24, and for Allstate, many voters would recognize (and implicitly trust) his voice automatically.

Hmm. Who else should enter politics from 24? Clearly, my current favorite character: Mike Novick. He's the last best chance to save this country!

This is amusing.

Much more, so, than say, a fake 43-sends-J&B (why are they always described as 'jenna-and-tonic' when 'J&B' is a much better witticism?) to Iraq to fight letter. That wouldn't be funny at all.