The Corporatization of Google

Buh-bye pr0n

The personal blog of San Francisco’s Violet Blue, a sex writer published in the San Francisco Chronicle and Valleywag’s sister site, has been removed from the Google index, along with several other adult sites. Tiny Nibbles, which runs a well-known annual list of the year’s sexiest geeks, does not show in Google’s search results, even if filters are turned off. Other sites affected include ErosBlog, a sex news site, and Comstock Films, which makes adult movies of real-life couples. The content’s all legal, and naughty, rather than degrading. Some word Violet wrote probably triggered a Google ban, inadvertently, but the search engine’s rules are opaque, as is the procedure for an appeal against deletion. You think there are other search engines, so that’s okay? There are no other search engines.

Personal pr0n, anyway. Bigger players such as Vivid and other more corporate-ish sex sites are still available of course.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough

From the “why didn’t I think of that?” Files…

Ever wondered how much dough is in a pint of CCCD ice cream and what it would taste like cooked? Well, now you have an answer.

The Xmas Death Trio

It was an interesting triumverate of deceased this year. James Brown, Frank Stanton, and Gerald Ford.

The Godfather of Soul, the father of news television, and … the inspiration for Chevy Chase’s best SNL bits. Hard to come up with a lasting Ford impression.

Joe Barbera (of Hanna-Barbera fame) also passed, but four legs breaks the Rule of Three, so I’m going to ignore it.

I’d write a long obit about James Brown and what his music meant to me (not to mention the world), but he’s way too busy getting a new pair of shoes in his afterlife of choice, teaching Rick James what funk is all about. Nothing left to say, outside of the bad jokes that keep popping into my head (e.g. the hardest working man in showbiz is now Kid Rock).

Hit it!

Best Holiday Movie Ever?

Discuss

How To Hide Your Porn... on a Mac

What with the appletistas taking over and all, I thought some of them might like to learn how to hide their files from casual snooping. Obfuscation isn’t security, but it might, say, keep your friend who is borrowing your laptop to check their webmail from opening your private full-frontal photoshoots featuring yourself, three goats, and a couple jars of peanut butter.

Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

Are you fucking kidding me?

Mariners to get Jose Vidro in exchange for Snelling, Fruto

The Seattle Mariners would acquire second baseman Jose Vidro in a tentative trade that would send outfielder Chris Snelling and pitcher Emiliano Fruto to the Washington Nationals.

Vidro, an immobile, injury-prone, washed up 2B (when you have a young, promising 2B already in the system, so the Vidro-2B will have to DH) who is owed $12M for an injury prone, highly talented OF and a med-high ceiling pitcher? FSM, Bavasi, that’s just embarassingly bad. Horrible. Beyond the pale.

I’m glad I’m not a fan of the Mariners or I’d have to go set something on fire right about now.

Gunga galunga

With Ramirez, Batista, Washburn, and probably Thomson in the fold… the Seattle Mariners could set the record for fewest K’s in one year in the modern era next year.

So at least they’ve got that going for them.

p.s. you stink, Bavasi!

'tis the Season

… to give everyone a Shocker 101 education. Fun for the whole family (or your partner, at least).

And there’s more, including a mug and a spaghetti strap tank top for that cute girlfriend of yours. The dark color shirts (black, maroon, green, blue) are selling like hotcakes.

Supplies are unlimited! Make sure you get yours today before they don’t run out!

(if you want, you can make your own stuff, too)

How to keep your home's appreciation in the family

Though the bubble has burst, our homes are still almost always going to be our single greatest asset. And when we sell those assets, our eyes get as big as saucers when looking at all the apprecation our lovely four walls have accumulated. However, there are some things that can significantly reduce the amount you will realize from that appreciation. Taxes aside, real estate agent fees are the biggest chunk. With a little extra work and/or creativity on your part, the agent fees can largely be avoided.

A typical home sale incurs agency fees of 6-7%, with half going to the selling agent and half to the buying agent. Selling and buying a home involves a lot a paperwork and is a total pain in the ass… but 7% is a steep tax to pay (on a $500,000 home sale, you’ll be paying $30,000 in agent fees). How can you avoid paying it?

To avoid the buyer agent fees, you could sell only to unrepresented buyers. That will limit your pool of available buyers, but it can save you some money. Essentially, though, I think paying the buyer agent fees is nigh unavoidable, which leaves the selling agent.

Traditionally, there’s the for sale by owner route. There are a number of websites that will let you list your house FSBO for a flat fee (as little as $399).

I think a great middle ground (and fast-rising option) is Redfin. They have a flat $2,000 fee like the FSBO sites, but also have experienced sales agents who will show your home and take care of all that onerous paperwork. That $30,000 in agent fees for your $500,000 home just became $17,000 ($15,000 for buyer agent + $2,000 for Redfin). You could potentially save yourself $28,000 if you find a buyer not using an agent.

And that, as my mom would say, is better than a kick in the pants.

I have no association or relationship with Redfin… but I’ll be using them when I put my house up for sale in the near future.

The difference between pros and hacks

Pros come ready to perform. Hacks forget the lines to their one song and flub even the simplest parts.

Fergie? You’re a hack.

Not as much of one as Jess Simpson of course, but still a hack.

Brady

I’m not a football fan by any means, but this is funny. It also made me reconsider my sexual orientation.

I don’t know how to quit you, Brady.

I’m a tight end
but I hope one day
to be your wide receiver
how I long for you to hit meeeee
in the slot

Genius!

Still lite blogging ... blame the partners

Today’s episode straight from Anonymous Lawyer is where the partner, after sitting on a report for 3 days, decides at 3pm on Friday to ask for a huge volume of work “by Monday.” As part of this, the person tasked with 99% of the work is the one who is paid the least, has no authority, and will under no circumstances be getting a bonus this year.

So, long story short, I told ‘em to stick it.