A real life story to get me over the Wednesday blues….
“A naked man was busted in Kennewick, Wash., for allegedly masturbating while chasing a garbage truck. John Foster says he chased the truck because he was upset that the driver had looked at him. Foster was charged with public drunkenness.” [NY Post]
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Experts and amateurs have been talking about how Oprah Winfrey’s support of Barack Obama might have hurt her ratings and damaged her standing as the reigning queen of daytime television. If this is true, was her Obama campaigning worth it? Two economists from the University of Maryland say yes — Winfrey apparently has superior mind control over one million of the people who voted for Obama.The economists, Craig Garthwaite and Tim Moore, developed complex numerical formulas to calibrate the might of Oprah’s star power, based on book sales, TV ratings, voter turnout and other factors, to determine that she put 1,015,519 votes in the Obama column.
Who knows if this has any merit, but I think the moral of the story is that being friends with Oprah is never a bad thing. [PS]
Popularity: 18% [?]
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Sick of prostitutes and their customers infesting their communities, Oklahomans are videobusting them and posting the results on YouTube. This one catches a Lowe’s delivery driver picking up a hooker in a residential neighborhood and retiring to the back of his truck for a playdate. It’s the work of a one man citizen journalism campaign by Brian Bates, who’s been at it in OK since 1996. It seems in the 12 year he’s been at it, he hasn’t run out of material.
Via Consumerist
Hold up….The Smoking Gun has this to say of the Video Vigilante:
An Oklahoma man who has gained national exposure for his “video vigilante” campaign to expose street prostitution in his hometown was arrested yesterday for allegedly paying hookers to ensure that they serviced customers in an area where he could easily film the illicit trysts. According to the below Oklahoma City Police Department report, Brian Bates, 34, orchestrated the public encounters so he could peddle the resulting videotape to media outlets (some of Bates’s surveillance tapes are offered for sale on his web site). In his dealings with prostitutes, Bates was choosy, investigators contend. For example, if a john was a “regular,” Bates asked prostitutes to give “specific signals” so he would know not to bother rolling tape. Investigators also noted that, like any good auteur, Bates “gave direction to the prostitutes on how to complete the act with a high probability of success,” as well as tips on how to spot an undercover cop. Bates was hit with a felony pandering charge and a misdemeanor count of aiding in prostitution. The pandering rap, which is usually reserved for pimps, carries a minimum two-year jail term, and a maximum of 20 years in the stir. In a statement posted this morning on his web site, Bates called his bust a “shock to me and my family,” adding–rather hopefully, we think–”I hope this will all be worked out in the coming days or weeks.
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So, Paris decided to get in on the action. Why not? If Tyra can do it so can Paris. And where Tyra’s attempt is grotesque, Paris approaches it in a well timed comedic fashion!
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While many of the apps in Apple’s (AAPL) iPhone App Store are useful, some are utter crap. And the latest, spotted by John Gruber, is an insult to all the well-meaning developers that Apple made wait/are still waiting to get into the iPhone developer program.Behold: “I Am Rich,” a $999.99 app from Armin Heinrich, which just displays a red gem on the phone’s screen — nothing else.
“The red icon on your iPhone or iPod touch always reminds you (and others when you show it to them) that you were rich enough to afford this,” the app’s information page says in iTunes. “It’s a work of art with no hidden function at all.”
The upside for Apple: $300, or 30%, of all purchases. The downside: Good luck enforcing that “all sales final” policy on this scam.
(Source)
Popularity: 16% [?]
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