It’s not a river turned to blood or an infestation of locusts and frogs, but slowly—one by one—a series of plagues including photo memes and video buffering has deluged the Digital World. CollegeHumor warns us of
10 of these plagues of the Internet … although they may have already struck.
I’m more wary of the creepy
return of Furbies, a late ‘90s rip-off of “The Gremlins” character Gizmo that once plagued children’s Christmas lists.
A plague sweeping television—at least as far the Culture and Media Institute is concerned—is TV content that pushes the boundaries, and HBO’s mockumentary series “Angry Boys” is pushing the conservative organization to its limits. A sketch from the comedy program
depicted a young girl sucking through a bright pink, penis-shaped cup, an act that the right wing group likens to “child pornography.”
Meanwhile, fans of more tasteful entertainment will probably feel at home at Paris’ famed Louvre museum—despite the many Baroque nudes and risqué pieces—which is now offering tours guided
by way of a Nintendo 3DS console.
Over the weekend, “
Madam Secretary” Hillary Clinton got a little risqué in Colombia, where the former First Lady
was photographed dancing at a local club and even tossing back a brewski. You go, Hillz.
Retailers are attending to some foreign affairs as luxury stores lavish attention upon Chinese tourists who are
inclined to spend more on posh brands while shopping abroad than in their own countries. In fact, some labels have even added Mandarin-speaking staff.
The amount of money consumers are willing to drop on lavish products and services is often dependent on their earning power. In its latest issue,
Parade looks at nearly 50 peoples’ earnings from the past and compares them to where their careers and salaries stand today. Not too shabby,
belly dancer.
Of course, with any job comes the responsibility of paying taxes. And so, as tax day 2012 looms,
here are some freebies that a number of brands and restaurants are offering to alleviate the stress.
Starbucks isn’t on the list of tax (day) breaks, but the company is giving back with its “
Community Card” program, letting its
rewards members help determine how $4 million in donations will be allocated among 124 local and national nonprofit organizations.
Groupon is also in the spirit of giving back. It’s celebrating Earth Day with a
relaunch of Groupon Grassroots (formerly G-Team) and its Groupon Challenge partnership with Crowdrise, a company co-founded by actor Edward Norton.
Meanwhile, Facebook is making another
purchase partnership of its own. The company that
bought Instagram last week for $1 billion has now
acquired TagTile, a mobile-based customer loyalty startup.