A New Government Website

"Richard Blumenthal removed Vietnam from the Places I've Been Application"

This parody of an Obama Facebook news feed, which was published by Slate magazine and lampoons political "friending" and "unfriending" in the midterm elections, serves as a good reminder that the O'Reilly sponsored 2010 Gov 2.0 conference will be starting up tomorrow, which is devoted to the use of social network technologies and computational media by government agencies.

I will be speaking at the keynote kickoffs in an Ignite-style "lightning" talk, trying out a form of digital rhetoric that is new to me.

I will also be interviewed on the Kojo Nnamdi show at the local NPR affiliate in Washington D.C. tomorrow afternoon.

Thanks to Jeff Brazil for the link!

Fiction Truer Than Fact

Who can resist this piece from The Onion: New Social Networking Site Changing The Way Oh, Christ, Forget It Let Someone Else Report On This Bullshit? For those who follow how newspapers cover social media every day . . . and do so in a totally perfunctory fashion, we appreciate how spot-on this parody of media cynicism really is, from the talking-head academic expert to the man-on-the-street portrait of digital youth at its most unthinking worst.

See Ian Bogost's write-up at "Endless String of Meaningless Buzzwords" for more about media non-events.

Stick Figures without Happy Faces

This fake social advertising campaign from Cleanternet.org, which provides a tongue-in-cheek plug for Internet-blocking technologies, uses an infographics style that has also begun to appear in real public service announcements. It is the product of designer Alexander Lehmann, who blogs here. In addition to commercial digital art for films like District 9, Lehmann also does less politically tinged motion graphics and typography films.

Check out his other online "campaigns," such as "You are a Terrorist," which makes the case for ubiquitous surveillance.

Thanks for Ren Reynolds for the link!

Downfall's Downfall

Okay, I've written about the "Downfall meme" a lot on this blog. (Here is one example.) Now, apparently, YouTube takedowns by the owners of the intellectual property rights to this German film about the last days of Adolph Hitler are now on the verge of forbidding the hundreds of subtitled parodies on the web.

Check out Slate magazine's coverage of "YouTube vs. Der Führer: Why you shouldn't blame the video site for removing all of those Hitler videos" for more about the latest developments in attempts to police these remixes in the face of their even greater proliferation.

Looking Pretty in Geocities

Obviously, I love web generators and the kind of interactive paradigm of both automagical creativity and constrained stupidity that they represent. I've written at least one peer-reviewed scholarly article, which plays homage to the genre. Now, here comes the Geocities-izer, which promises to "make any webpage look like it was made by a 13 year-old in 1996." Geocities may be defunct, but its aesthetic lives on. Look at how much better my digitalrhetoric.org page looks.

Don't Give Up Your Day Job

Usually I find the Google April Fool's Day hoax at least an attempt at funny. Sure Google Romance, CADIE, and the Gmail Autopilot were certainly funnier than the overly corporate Virgle prank, but even Virgle had some geekitude going for it with all the Mars talk and science fandom send-ups. But this year's Topeka prank was just stupid and unfunny. It didn't even say anything particularly clever about the ubiquity of the Google name, and it felt like the worst kind of product placement. And the fact that so many cities have failed in their wireless initiatives without big corporate backers and that so many civic institutions and forms of governance are eagerly outsourcing their IT to Google hardly makes this gag about the slipperiness of the public and the private much of a laughing matter. As a spoof complete with city proclamations that makes light of the failure of government broadband, I don't think America really wants to get this particular joke.

Rodent Kill

A recent item in the New York Times celebrates how "A Satirical Site Skewers Chávez and Politics" in Venezuela. El Chigüire Bipolar or "The Bipolar Capybara" doesn't seem as subversive -- or as original -- as the Times represents it to be. The first webisode of their anti-Chávez Flash animated series makes relatively predictable jokes about alcohol use and gags that pander to homophobia. And a lot of the other material is characterized by bad Photoshop and predicable editorial cartoons.

Personalized Response

The Onion has been doing a nice job mocking the world's most profitable search engine company. In "Google Responds To Privacy Concerns With Unsettlingly Specific Apology"

Acknowledging that Google hasn't always been open about how it mines the roughly 800 terabytes of personal data it has gathered since 1998, Schmidt apologized to users— particularly the 1,237,948 who take daily medication to combat anxiety—for causing any unnecessary distress, and he expressed regret—especially to Patricia Fort, a single mother taking care of Jordan, Sam, and Rebecca, ages 3, 7, and 9—for not doing more to ensure that private information remains private.

Monday's apology comes after the controversial launch of Google Buzz, a social networking platform that publicly linked Gmail users to their most e-mailed contacts by default.

"I'd like nothing more than to apologize in person to everyone we've let down, but as you can see, many of our users are rarely home at this hour," said Google cofounder and president Sergey Brin, pointing to several Google Map street-view shots of empty bedroom and living room windows on a projection screen behind him. "And, if last night's searches are any indication, Boston's Robert Hornick is probably out shopping right now for the spaghetti and clam sauce he'll be cooking tonight."

If that's not enough mockery of the Mountain View company for you, you can also check out this video about the high security "Opt Out Village" compound, where those who want to protect their privacy can give up modern communication and trade.



Thanks to Ava Arndt for the links.

All Things to All People

This send-up of the latest Windows 7 advertisements takes the logic of user-generated content to its even goofier logical conclusion.

What Would Hitler Say?

Worming Your Way In

This Onion story beautifully parodies TV stories about computer security and cyber-threats and the role of experts in moderating public fear.

Installing for Time

While we are on the subject of gendered humor, thanks to Maiya Williams for forwarding this popular chain e-mail item about male partners and their technical flaws, which can be found archived on the web here. It uses the genre of the install/uninstall query beautifully.

Dear Tech Support,

Last year I upgraded from Boyfriend 5.0 to Husband 1.0 and noticed that the new program began making unexpected changes to the accounting software; severely limiting access to wardrobe, flower and jewelry applications that operated flawlessly under Boyfriend 5.0. No mention of this phenomenon was included in the product brochure.

In addition, Husband 1.0 uninstalls many other valuable programs such as DinnerDancing 7.5, CruiseShip 2.3, and OperaNight 6.1 and installs new, undesirable programs such as PokerNight 1.3, SaturdayFootball 5.0, Golf 2.4 and ClutterEverywhere 4.5. Conversation 8.0 no longer runs, and invariably crashes the system.

Under no circumstances will it run DiaperChanging 14.1 or HouseCleaning 2.6. I’ve tried running Nagging 5.3 to fix Husband 1.0, but this is all purpose utility is of limited effectiveness. Can you help, please!!!!

Dear Jane:

This is a very common problem women complain about, but it is mostly due to a primary misconception. Many people upgrade from Boyfriend 5.0 to Husband 1.0 with no idea that Boyfriend 5.0 is merely an ENTERTAINMENT package. However, Husband 1.0 is an OPERATING SYSTEM and was designed by its creator to run as few applications as possible.

Further, you cannot purge Husband 1.0 and return to Boyfriend 5.0, because Husband 1.0 is not designed to do this. Hidden operating files within your system would cause Boyfriend 5.0 to emulate Husband 1.0, so nothing is gained. It is impossible to uninstall, delete, or purge the program files from the system, once installed. Any new program files can only be installed once per year, as Husband 1.0 has severely limited memory. Error messages are common, and a normal part of Husband 1.0.

In desperation to play some of their “old time” favorite applications, or to get new applications to work, some women have tried to install Boyfriend 6.0, or Husband 2.0. However, these women end up with more problems than encountered with Husband 1.0. Look in your manual under “Warnings: Divorce/Child Support.” You will notice that this program runs very poorly, and comes bundled with HeartBreak 1.3. I recommend you keep Husband 1.0, and just learn the quirks of this strange and illogical system.

Having Husband 1.0 installed myself, I might also suggest you read the entire section regarding General Partnership Faults [GPFs]. This is a wonderful feature of Husband 1.0, secretly installed by the parent company as an integral part of the operating system. Husband 1.0 must assume ALL responsibility for ALL faults and problems, regardless of root cause.

To activate this great feature enter the command “C:\ I THOUGHT YOU LOVED ME”. Sometimes Tears 6.2 must be run simultaneously while entering the command. Husband 1.0 should then run the applications Apologize 12.3 and Flowers/Chocolates 7.8.

TECH TIP! Avoid excessive use of this feature. Overuse can create additional and more serious GPFs, and ultimately YOU may have to give a C:\ I APOLOGIZE command before the system will return to normal operations. overuse can also cause Husband 1.0 to default to GrumpySilence 2.5, or worse yet, to Beer 6.0. Beer 6.0 is a very bad program that causes Husband 1.0 to create FatBelly files and SnoringLoudly wave files that are very hard to delete.

Save yourself some trouble by following this tech tip!

Just remember! The system will run smoothly, and take the blame for all GPFs, but because of this fine feature it can only intermittently run all the applications Boyfriend 5.0 ran. Husband 1.0 is a great program, but it does have limited memory and cannot learn new applications quickly.

Consider buying additional software to improve performance. I personally recommend HotFood 3.0, Lingerie 5.3 and Patience 10.1. Used in conjunction, these utilities can really help keep Husband 1.0 running smoothly. After several years of use, Husband 1.0 will become familiar and you will find many valuable embedded features such as FixBrokenThings 2.1, Snuggling 4.2 and BestFriend 7.6.

A final word of caution! Do NOT, under any circumstances, install MotherInLaw 1.0. This is not a supported application, and will cause selective shutdown of the operating system. Husband 1.0 will run only Fishing 9.4 and Hunting 5.2 until MotherInLaw 1.0 is uninstalled.

I hope these notes have helped. Thank you for choosing to install Husband 1.0 and we here at Tech Support wish you the best of luck in coming years. We trust you will learn to fully enjoy this product!

The Girls in the Office

I'll have to say something about Steve Jobs' rhetorical performance today handling the debut of the iPad eventually, but for now I think it is worth posting this MadTV parody, pointed out to me by Sue Gautsch.

Update: The New York Times is making this connection as well in "iPad Name Conjures Up More Than Intended," and Ian Bogost is criticizing the toilet humor in "The Sanitary Handheld."

Pray to Play

Mass We Pray, supposedly from PrayerWorks Interactive, actually leads to a trailer for the upcoming videogame/literary adaptation of Dante's Inferno, which has been praised by Ian Bogost and which I played at Comic-con this year.



Thanks to Marc Van Gurp of Osocio for the link!

Direct Line

This parody of digital parenting practices combines old stereotypes about Jewish mothers with ironic commentary about the absence of audiences for many social network posts in a "zero comments" age.

For Old Times Sake

Okay, other bloggers may be tired of the Downfall meme, but I feel compelled to include every iteration created in response to an electoral contest, corporate failure, consumer revolt, or current event. Here's a hyperbolic one about Obama's back-to-school speech.

Update: And, there had to be a version to commemorate the Taylor Swift/Kanye West dust up.

Just a Friendly Mom

Thanks to Darren Purcell for spreading the word about this video that parodies the surveillance obsessions of contemporary parents and the number of moms who friend their own children for self-interested ends. This send-up of the technology parenting expert on broadcast news isn't that far from reality, unfortunately, as self-appointed authorities try to cash in on moral panics about online predators and cyberbullying.

Tweet Elite

Tweeting Too Hard is a site that provides "recognition" for "self-important tweets," where users can recommend asinine Twitter postings that can be voted up or down the rankings by giving "back pats" to the tweet. Obviously many of the "All-Time Top" listings are parodies, but "Random" and "Newly Added" seem to show the postings of genuine people.

Rhetorically, there are a number of interesting aspects of their "About" page. For example, they accept the possibility that they would merit to criticism themselves for their own online practices.

We acknowledge the twivial nature of ourselves and of the Twitterverse. We pay our dues to the twansience of our thoughts and our existence. And we do not twolerate egotism or pretense. Think before you tweet. Welcome to TTH.

They also frame their discourse as "good-natured" fun in which their mockery is supposedly aimed at promoting social inclusion rather than exclusion.

There’s always that person at a party that is trying way too hard. Well, Twitter is a party and those people are here, too. Actually, it could be you.

Tweeting Too Hard is the place to submit, vote on, and chuckle self-righteously at tweets that are just too much. Self-importance, pretense, braggadocio—it’s all here and it’s laid bare for the scoffing.

We all know someone who is due for a good-natured tweet-roast. So get to it. Click the big green submit button and make the world a better place.

(Thanks to Bitch Ph.D. for the link, via Twitter, of course.)

Back to Africa

Virtualpolitik friend Christopher Soghoian passes along the Kenyan Birth Certificate Generator.

As someone who has written extensively about web generators as a form of political satire, both in my book and in this article, this provides a great comment about the ease of altering documents in the digital age.