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The Online Reputation Gap

Adrian Chen · 04/03/11 01:57PM

A pristine Google results page is the season's must-have online accessory. "Online reputation managers" offer to scrub your internet footprint of revealing pictures or embarrassing blog posts—for a hefty price. We are entering a brave new world of social media status differentiation!

Wearing Designer Labels Will Make You Rich and Powerful

Adrian Chen · 04/02/11 04:56PM

Everyone knows people who buy designer clothes are shallow assholes. But it looks like everyone is a shallow asshole. People apparently hold other people in higher regard simply if they're wearing clothes with a designer label.

James Franco's Twitter Shut Down by The Man

Adrian Chen · 04/02/11 03:13PM

Don't you hate when you're an omnitalented actor/poet/artist/rebel sex god and The Man forces you to conform to his close-minded ideals? Squares who worship the dollar as their only God have forced James Franco to shut down his Twitter account.

Everyone Wants a Piece of Rebecca Black's 'Friday'

Adrian Chen · 04/02/11 01:12PM

Rebecca Black's "Friday" is so terrible that… her mom and the production company that made the song and video are fighting over it. A "Friday" legal battle is brewing, and it's not about who should be sent to Music Prison over the song.

Now There's a Whole TV Show About People Lying on the Internet

Adrian Chen · 04/01/11 06:34PM

Catfish is a pretty interesting documentary about a guy who found out that someone he was talking to on the Internet wasn't who he thought she was. (Gasp!) Now MTV is developing a pilot focused on "social network users who purposely misidentify themselves and the repercussions that occur." So, it's the MTV version of that famous New Yorker cartoon with the dog.

What's Opening in Theaters This Weekend

Richard Lawson · 04/01/11 06:15PM

This week there are no movies coming out. April Fool's! There are lots of movies coming out! Movies about a creepy animated Easter Bunny, some sad adult superheroes, sexy gun-shooting criminals, and a murderous rubber tire. Seriously on that last one. No fooling.

Lindsay Lohan's 911 Call Released

Maureen O'Connor · 04/01/11 04:47PM

Charges for Lindsay Lohan's alleged assault of a Betty Ford Center employee Dawn Holland have been dropped, and now we've been treated to audio from the 911 call that started the mess. Turns out Lindsay called the cops because she was scared of Dawn.

Will Haley Barbour's Wife Let Him Run for President?

Jim Newell · 04/01/11 04:41PM

Running for president is perhaps the most surefire way to destroy your family life and depress your close relatives forever. Just imagine if your spouse came in and said, "I've decided I want to run for president." Does anyone ever react positively to this announcement? "Oh great THANKS A LOT, FUCKO," seems like the appropriate response. Because within 24 hours, the national news will find and play that S&M porno you shot in college, on repeat. "Does America want a president," the news anchor will say, "whose spouse is a whore?"

The Disposable Subway Riding Glove Is Completely Idiotic

Brian Moylan · 04/01/11 04:33PM

From the Products We Don't Need file comes Metro Mitt, a little plastic bag for you to put over your hands while holding the pole in the subway. It's supposed to make your commute more sanitary. God, this thing is stupid.

Barack Obama Can Just Ignore White Voters Now

Jim Newell · 04/01/11 03:09PM

Even when Democrats' fortunes tumble spectacularly in the short-term, the party can always remind itself that national demographic trends favor them in the end. Many, many old white people will die soon enough. This generation's youth voters are lopsidedly liberal. Meanwhile, Hispanics — who've voted strongly for Democrats in the last two elections after mainstream Republican rhetoric took a sharply nativist turn in 2007 — will occupy a larger and ever growing percentage of the American population. Throw in reliable support from 80-90% of African Americans, and the Democratic party could be dominant in the not-too-distant future.

Why Reality Show Reunions Are Horrible

Brian Moylan · 04/01/11 02:19PM

Yesterday I remarked how sad I was Jersey Shore was over for the season and someone replied, "No, there's still the reunion." Screw that. The only thing worse than your favorite reality show being off the air is the inane reunion special.

Donald Trump Lands a Fox News Gig

Jim Newell · 04/01/11 01:22PM

Sublime television clown Donald Trump's pretend presidential candidacy is chugging along splendidly as it rains gold, laughs, and a deeper appreciation for the surreal across this great nation. It's fun to write about, it's chilling to read about, and it's lucrative for Donald Trump. His Celebrity Apprentice ratings are up, he's getting more headlines than any other "real" GOP presidential contenders, and now he's landed another television gig. This why he's running a pretend presidential campaign, of course, and the con should keep bearing fruit until he suddenly "drops out" of the race to spend more time with his latest family, during sweeps week.

American Idol: Two is as Bad as One

Madeleine Davies · 04/01/11 12:59PM

The ax fell twice on American Idol last night, whittling our bruised and bloody band of sing babies down to an uneven nine. Of course, they couldn't let the two fallen contestants slip quickly and quietly away. No, first they had to chew the scenery a bit with even more side acts than usual. The time of the single group number is over and now the Idol hopefuls are being broken down into groups of twos, threes and fours to sing and, presumably, breed.

YouTube Did Not Think Through Its April Fool's Joke

John Cook · 04/01/11 12:55PM

It's 1911 on YouTube! That's YouTube's April Fool's gag—push a little "1911" button on the screen, and you get an old-timey version of your video, complete with a piano-roll soundtrack. This joke is not appropriate for all videos.

Cindy Adams Would Like to Give You a Lesson on Fashion

Brian Moylan · 04/01/11 12:52PM

Pants are too droopy, no one dresses up anymore, boys are dressed like girls, girls are dressed with boys. No, these aren't the latest posts on the Things Old People Like To Complain About Tumblr page. They're the complaints gossip dowager Cindy Adams included in a screed about Manhattan street style today:

Artist Vomits Paint Onto Canvas, Literally

Maureen O'Connor · 04/01/11 12:34PM

Mille Brown is the Jackson Pollock of acid reflux. She's a performance artist who drinks colored milk, then vomits it, then sells whatever she vomits onto. Brown started vomiting rainbows in 2007, allowing herself to dribble colorful upchuck down the front of her shirts, then selling the shirts; she has since progressed to vomiting onto white canvases, which provide "more longevity" and "room to experiment with pattern and color." The above video depicts a 2010 performance for Nick Knight's ShowSTUDIO.com. The website lists the resulting canvas, "Nexus Vomitus," for sale at £1500, or $2400. [ShowSTUDIO via Buzzfeed]

Afghan U.N. Workers Killed During Protest Of Pastors' Quran Burning

Jim Newell · 04/01/11 11:45AM

Several U.N. workers were killed Friday in the northern Afghan city of Mazar-i-Sharif. Reports indicate that a demonstration against the burning of a Quran by American pastors turned violent. There are conflicting reports about the number of people killed, and a U.N. spokesperson has issued a statement confirming the attack, while calling the incident "still confusing."