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November 28, 2005

Say it ain't so, Joe

I love my DVR for many reasons. But, as a former print person who always marveled at what broadcast people could get away with, I think the ability to hold people more accountable for what they say on the air has to be among my favorite aspects of these wonderful machines. With that, I give you the observations of a reader of ESPN.com's Sports Guy column, who is shooting some of the fish in a barrel known as Joe Theismann's comments:

(Speaking of Theismann, here's an e-mail from Brendan in Indy: "With just around 1:00 left in the 3rd Quarter and the Texans facing a 4th and 4 from the 4 yard line. Down 31-14, the Texans lined up like they were going to go for it. At which point Joe Theismann says 'the Texans are going to go for it, and I love that call' following by the Texans calling a timeout and the game going to a commercial break. When the game returns, the Texans are kicking the field goal and the announcers are arguing about the decision to kick the field goal, with Theismann arguing FOR the field goal. I thought that maybe I had misheard who had said they loved the call to go for it, so with the beauty of TiVo I was able to go back and watch it again, and sure enough it was the great Joe Theismann! He really is creating arguments with himself!")

November 03, 2005

The Big Brother insurance bot

This came into my inbox today. It got me thinking about other uses for it and how media companies might benefit. It also creeped me out a bit.

Get $50 for participating in a research study.

As a valued Progressive Direct customer, we're inviting you to participate in an innovative research study. The purpose of this study is to help us reduce the cost of car insurance. And you’ll earn $50 just for participating.

How it works:

Let us know you'll participate by visiting us online.

We’ll send you a TripSensor –- a matchbook-sized device that easily plugs in near your vehicle’s steering column. Just plug it in, drive as you normally do, and forget about it. In six months, we’ll ask you to unplug the TripSensor and send it back to us, and we'll send you $50. It's that easy.
The data you provide are for research purposes only, and will not, under any circumstances, have an effect on your current or future car insurance rate.

Then I had a chat about it with a good friend, who is as addicted to all things online as me...

FriendOfChad: oh hell no
FriendOfChad: that cant be real
FriendOfChad: :-(
Chad: oh yes it is
FriendOfChad: omg
FriendOfChad: thats it i want to move to NH
FriendOfChad: and live off the grid and never be heard from ever again
Chad: that thing works in NH too, i'm sure
Chad: you're screwed!
FriendOfChad: damn
FriendOfChad: lol
FriendOfChad: yeah
FriendOfChad: hmmm...
FriendOfChad: maybe i can hook it up
FriendOfChad: to my bicycle
FriendOfChad: and screw with their data
Chad: or a city bus
FriendOfChad: HAHAHAH
FriendOfChad: ya
Chad: or an airplane
FriendOfChad: lol