Obscure Box

All these reports from the US media on the presidential campaign (enough already) has brought to light a new meaningless media cliche. Along with “it remains to be seen” and “only time will tell” is another phrase that allows a reporter to say something when they’re really adding nothing to a story. The US media [...]

Just doing the usual lazy spell check using Google to see if I’ve spelled “parodying” correctly. The number one search result took me to one of the many YouTube videos looking at what happens when you add coke to raw pork, “What REALLY happens when you add Coke to raw pork”. No obvious mention of [...]

News on the net this week that the domain name america.com is to be auctioned off. It’s expected to fetch anything up to US$7-million if the owners can be believed. America.com was appraised by independent evaluators like Duff & Phelps, Sedo and Afternic within a range from 3.5 to 7.3 million US dollars (files available [...]

Ever thought those TV phone polls and competition lines were dodgy? Well Britain’s ITV network has been fined a total of £5,675,000 (about A$11.8-million) for a series of phone poll scams. The BBC’s report “Ant and Dec return comedy prize” (Friday 9 May 2008) says the comedy duo are “absolutely appalled” after they were given [...]

I’ve never heard of of a place called “Dismal Swamp” but it tops the list of “The most unfortunate suburb names in Australia” (Friday 9 May 2008) as reported on LIVENEWS.com.au. The South Australian suburb is in Wattle Range Council’s area, just north of Mt Gambier, but rates not a mention on the authority’s website. [...]