Whipping Therapy

Instapundit reports on a piece in Pravda about the salutory benefits of whipping.

Russian scientists recommend the following course of the whipping therapy: 30 sessions of 60 whips on the buttocks in every procedure. A group of drug addicts volunteered to test the new method of treatment: the results can be described as good and excellent.

What he doesn't mention is that this therapy is available for his and your enjoyment in New York City or any other large U.S. city. Of course, the principal spas here that offered whipping therapy, such as The Lure and the Spike, were shut down during the Giuliani administration, as part of the Disneyfication of the city (and gentrification of the meat-packing district). However, smaller establishments (and an annual street fair) still purvey both the service and the equipment, so if Glenn would like to try this popular pasttime, I'd be happy to send Helen a flogger. and an instruction manual.

(p.s. Hey, Glenn - how do you like those new Amazon fly-over popups?)

Posted by BradRubenstein at 07:19 PM | TrackBack

Marriage Equality in NJ - the opinion

The actual decision of the New Jersey Supreme Court in Mark Lewis and Dennis Winslow, et al. v. Gwendolyn L. Harris, etc., et al. (A-68-05) is 90 pages long, but fortunately the Clerk provides a summary, which in itself is interesting. My favorite:

11. The State does not argue that limiting marriage to the union of a man and a woman is needed to encourage procreation or to create the optimal living environment for children. Other than sustaining the traditional definition of marriage, which is not implicated in this discussion, the State has not articulated any legitimate public need for depriving committed same-sex couples of the host of benefits and privileges that are afforded to married heterosexual couples. There is, on the one hand, no rational basis for giving gays and lesbians full civil rights as individuals while, on the other hand, giving them an incomplete set of rights when they enter into committed samesex relationships. To the extent that families are strengthened by encouraging monogamous relationships, whether heterosexual or homosexual, the Court cannot discern a public need that would justify the legal disabilities that now afflict same-sex domestic partnerships.

If my reading is right, the entire court agreed that at least a structure providing equal rights must be provided, under the NJ constitution, and gave the legislature 180 days to create it, either by allowing marriage of same-sex couples, or creating a separate-but-equal civil unions structure.

Three of the seven justices of the court took the stronger position that the constitution required that same-sex couples had a constitutional right to state-sanctioned civil marriage.

Posted by BradRubenstein at 06:28 PM | TrackBack

Apps out the Ears

There are a ton of cool web applications being demonstrated in at the Web 2.0 Kongress this week. I think I'll just post links to a couple of the ones that strike my fancy. Sort of like a mini-carnival of web 2.0 apps. To begin:

• Here is a flash demo interesting open-source collaboration package, called Zimbra. It has integrated mail, calendaring, task organization (looks like an online Palm Pilot to me), and collaborative document writing. They claim VoIP integration, but I can't tell what that means. Hat tip: Jörg Bienert.
• NetVibes.com - a fresh AJAX interface for integrating things like favorite news feeds, pictures, videos, a personal calendar, social networks, and so forth Feels like "My Yahoo" on steroids. Hat Tip: Bob Stumpel.
• Lijit.com - blend of social network (think friendster) and recommendation application (like what, del.icio.us?). The idea is to limit social bookmarking to a network of individuals you trust regarding particular topics. It mashes with google, and is newer than new. Hat Tip: Stan James.
• Bulldock - This may not be released yet, but it looks like an RSS newsreader with a text-to-voice interface, which sounds very convincing, in german, english, or french (at least that's what I heard at the demo). Hat tip: Oliver Merx.

Posted by BradRubenstein at 06:44 AM | TrackBack

Watching tv, attending conferences, blogging

I'm sitting in the Web 2.0 Kongress, watching this video which was included in the talk by Jörg Reimann, from BMW.

It's pretty funny.

That I can have this on my blog right now, as I'm listening, speaks to the power of these new apps.

Of course, so does the fact that Google just bought YouTube for $1.65 Billion.

Posted by BradRubenstein at 06:29 AM | TrackBack

Talking about Web 2.0

A number of interesting talks going on today at Web 2.0 Kongress here in Frankfurt.

I spoke on some of the services we provide at Blog Carnival, which I hope provided some specific grounding to the occasionally theoretical discussions about tools and communities.

Posted by BradRubenstein at 06:15 AM | TrackBack

It's The Community

Charlene Li, of Forrester Research, is quoted in the NY Times regarding the $1.6 Billion price tag that google is said to have put on potential acquisition target YouTube.com

"YouTube figured out what Google and Yahoo and Microsoft and all the others in the marketplace didn't," she said. "It's not about the video. It's about creating a community around the video."

I think she nailed it. I'm giving a talk next week at the Web 2.0 Kongress in Frankfurt, specifically about Blog Events and Communities, and I'm thinking very much about these types of things these days.

The basic problem is we've spent a lot of time gathering and indexing and recommending and reviewing stuff, and now we're seeing the expressed need to build and sustain relationships through which we can make sense of all that stuff.

Without the relationships, it's all so much noise and hype.

Posted by BradRubenstein at 09:21 AM

How not to do scandal

So, the Republicans are melting down over the Foley scandal, and I notice this in the NY Times, deep inside an article on new congressional races that have suddenly been put in play:

In other races, the Foley case has created an unfavorable backdrop for Republicans. In Pennsylvania this week, Representative Don Sherwood, a suddenly endangered Republican, bought time on television to offer an apology in response to allegations that he had abused his mistress. Analysts for both parties said the sweep of outrage over Congressional misbehavior had weakened Mr. Sherwood and forced him to deal directly with the issue.

I was just reading along, and all of the sudden a congressman is abusing his mistress. It is like we skipped several steps. I feel cheated because we didn't get to wallow in the scandal that he had a mistress. Poor form.

Posted by BradRubenstein at 09:10 AM | TrackBack

Mister Softee!

The Mister Softee ice cream truck comes around my neighborhood often, announcing its arrival with the characteristic caliope music known as the Mister Softee jingle. Everyone around here knows the tune, and what it means. What I did not know is that there are actually words to the music (© 1960 Mister Softee, Inc.):

Here comes Mister Softee,
the soft ice cream man.

The creamiest, dreamiest soft ice cream
you get from Mister Softee.
For a refreshing delight supreme,
Look for Mister Softee.

My milkshakes and my sundaes and
my cones are such a treat.
Listen for my store on wheels
ding-a-ling down the street.

The creamiest, dreamiest soft ice cream
you get from Mister Softee.
For a refreshing delight supreme,
Look for Mister Softee.

S-O-F-T Double-E Mister Softee!

Posted by BradRubenstein at 09:40 PM | TrackBack