extensions

Strange Internet meme:

I am aware of all Internet traditions.

John McCain campaign, today:

John McCain is aware of the Internet.

Strikingly similar, no?

Apparently, right now on the House floor, two members of Congress are having a debate. Not unusual, you say?

They’re doing it on Twitter.

See techPresident for more.

It got me thinking, what if the Founders had twitter?

ThomJeff “When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which hav…” FUCK ran out of chara… 7 minutes ago from web

Yeah, probably wouldn’t have worked out so well.

NPR’s BPP this morning had a segment on photobombing. And with one look at the photos featured here on this site, it’s easy to see this practice is completely and infectiously hilarious, worthy of Buzzfeed’s Internet meme status. What is it?

Intentionally turning up in the background of other people’s photographs with the goal of ruining them now has a name: Photobombing. I do this daily, unintentionally, walking along Canal Street to work, but the art of the photobomber is appearing in the background at just the right moment and with just the right face.

Curiously, it’s not the only definition out there. Wikipedia actually lists another definition: “the act of attaching a numbered series of photographs to public places.” The person behind this scheme has a website, where he explains in the FAQ how he planted his photos, and what to do if you find them.

I’m more interested, though, in the first definition. While hilarious, it’s also a bit strange, because the joke here is assumed. You really don’t get to see the look on your “victim’s” faces when they realize you’ve ruined (or enhanced…) their photo. It’s a joke in the potential, and, as everyone knows, pranks like this are funnier when you get to share in the laughter.

Is a whoopee cushion, or today’s high tech version, still funny if you’re not around to hear it?

So while it’s funny to think you’re going to show up looking ridiculous in someone else’s picture, you’ll never see it realized. It’s probably only a stoke of luck that you’d ever stumble across it posted on Facebook, or some other site. Maybe this makes more sense if this thing takes off, and we see photobombing sites appear, where you can see the fruits of your labor posted somewhere.

Oh hell. No sense overthinking it.

If something’s funny, it’s funny.

If you haven’t heard, there’s a terrific little game that’s started up on Twitter. Via Jason Kottke:

Last night, folks on Twitter began to contemplate what will happen if Barack Obama wins the nomination. The meme seems to have begun with Andrew Crow’s vision for the future:

When Obama wins… unicorns will crap ice cream and pastries

Kottke created a great microsite, that circles through many of the best tweets.

For what it’s worth, here’s mine:

When Obama wins, Bill Clinton will explain to us he was saying Obama was the stronger candidate all along…

Heh heh.

[Update]: Andrew Crow’s blog post explaining how it started.

[Update 2]: Credit where due — I had no idea what paparrati was talking about at first. Paparrati is much cooler than me!

I attended an event tonight, part of a lecture series from the folks at The New School for Social Research. And while the discussion was great — “Daniel Levy (SUNY Stony Brook) and John Torpey (CUNY Graduate Center) discuss the constructive and obstructive uses of memory in contemporary debates focusing on human rights and progressive politics” –what the heck is up with sociologists and their cell phones?

No less than five times did cell phones go off during the first hour!

I know cell phone technology is all “advanced” and “complicated,” but, seriously — putting it on silent is right above “Changing Channel On TV” and right below “Bookmarking In Your Browser.”

Really, it’s not that tough.