Felonious Munk Presents: Stop It B! Episodes 1-3
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Episode 1: No Homo
27th Mar2011
0 Comm
26th Mar2011
Freeway x Statik Selektah – The Flow (Video)
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26th Mar2011
Fake Smithsonian Ads Highlight Hardcoreness of Historic Figures; Museum Not Pleased
Gucci Mane Feat. 50 Cent – Recently
Jenny Burrows and Matt Kappler teamed up to create “Historically Hardcore,” a lovingly crafted series of ads for the Smithsonian that one-up the exploits of modern-day rockers and rappers with tales of historic figures, well, being hardcore.
The ads are not official Smithsonian copy, however, but were a portfolio project for both artists. At that, over the past few days they have stirred up a ton of interest in history and in the Smithsonian online, particularly among the younger audience they were trying to reach with their light tone and contemporary references.
Mission accomplished, right? The Smithsonian didn’t think so. Burrows writes that shortly after the ads went viral and she began receiving requests from local media outlets, she got in touch with the Smithsonian to make sure they were square.
Well, they were less than pleased about the attention the posters were getting and requested that I take them down immediately. Honestly, i don’t blame them. If someone put something out there with my name on it, I wouldn’t be too happy about it either, no matter how awesome it was.
I immediately complied, getting rid of any trace of the museum’s logo, name, and building on the posters and my portfolio site they were posted to. I’m not really one that goes around trying to piss people off. Especially government-run facilities.
As Burrows points out, the Smithsonian’s reaction is understandable from a branding perspective, but it is really a shame that it pushed away free, effective ads that engaged young people.
The other ads below: (more…)
26th Mar2011
25th Mar2011
Betcha Cant Do This: 3 Minute Kettlebell Workout
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25th Mar2011
25th Mar2011
Hackers Release Trove Of Emails About Bank Of America And Its Mortgage Practice
Hacker group Anonymous (aka OperationLeaks on Twitter) just released what they say is a trove of damning documents on Bank of America.
You can find them here: bankofamericasuck.com
Remember, at this point, we can’t verify whether they are legitimate or not, but Gawker’s Adrien Chen, who has sources within Anonymous, suggest there’s something real to the leaks.
Anonymous says the emails deal with BofA’s mortgage practices, but the source is not an employee of Bank of America proper — the source is a former employee from Balboa Insurance, a firm which used to be owned by BofA.
As you will see below, we believe that the evidence that is supposed to be so damning is a series of emails showing that employees of Balboa asked for certain loan identifying numbers to be deleted, and they were.
Anonymous said late Sunday evening, however, “this is part 1 of the Emails.” So perhaps more incriminating correspondence is to come. And to be honest, these messages could be incredibly damaging, but we’re not mortgage specialists and don’t know if (more…)
25th Mar2011
Do the Japanese Use Mixi Like Westerners Use Facebook?
Based on my experience with Mixi and Facebook, there are a number of differences between the two, probably due to both cultural and technical differences. I touch on this in this related article on the problems with Mixi.
Platform: It seems like a majority of people use Mixi through their mobile phones, updating their status, writing their blogs, and adding/uploading photos. While Facebook users are increasingly using their smartphones to do the same, I would say that the bulk of the users are still accessing it via web (computer).
Blogging: Mixi’s main feature used to be the blog, so this at least was more emphasized than Facebook notes. Mixi blogs tend to be more personal than Facebook notes, more like a diary than a notice or an advertisement, but usage highly depends on the person. Some people used to write multiple times a week, or even daily; however, this no longer seems happen with the introduction of more quick update features like Mixi voice.
Relationships: Some users on Facebook seem to take advantage of it to keep family in touch. I don’t see much of that on Mixi, maybe because older generations are not on it as much. In addition, people occasionally write diaries about their girlfriend/boyfriend issues because they are either not on Mixi or connected to them.
Status updates: Users of both platforms have migrated to using the Twitter-style status update feature once the idea was (more…)
25th Mar2011
Russell Simmons’ RushCard: Not the Best Deal for Consumers?
My philosophy on banking is very simple: You shouldn’t have to pay money to access your money.
That’s why I get a bit annoyed (OK, a lot) when I see aggressive marketing campaigns for celebrity-endorsed prepaid cards — these loadable pieces of plastic targeting consumers who may not have access to a traditional bank account. Yes, they offer some convenience for the 25% of Americans who are unbanked or underbanked. But in exchange, prepaid cards charge exorbitant fees. Why not just educate people on how to bank smart and avoid fees through the use of fee-free FDIC-insured banks and credit unions? They do exist.
Lately these cards have been all abuzz. Earlier this year the teen-marketed Kardashian Kard came under criticism (including mine) for its “predatory” fees; shortly after the famous sisters — whom the card was branded after — abandoned the deal.
Now another celebrity’s fee-laden prepaid card is making headlines: Russell Simmons’ RushCard, a prepaid Visa debit card, which he launched in 2003. (To be fair, Simmons is not just slapping his name on the card like the Kardashians; he’s an investor who says he pioneered the prepaid card space.)
| adria.richards’ Flickr |
The RushCard monthly plan costs $9.95 per month, has a one-time activation fee of $3.95 to $14.95 (depending on which type of card you choose), and a $2.50 ATM withdrawal fee (after using up your two free withdrawals per month). It’s pretty much in line with the norm for these types of cards; a recent Consumers Union survey found that (more…)
25th Mar2011
S.D. Governor Signs 3-Day Wait For Abortion Into Law
South Dakota Gov. Dennis Daugaard signed a law Tuesday requiring women to wait three days after meeting with a doctor to have an abortion, the longest waiting period in the nation.
Abortion rights groups already have said they plan to file a lawsuit challenging the measure, which also requires women to undergo counseling at pregnancy help centers that discourage abortions.
Mr. Daugaard, who gave no interviews after signing the bill, said in a written statement that he has conferred with state attorneys who will defend the law in court and a sponsor who has pledged private money to finance the state’s legal costs.
“I think everyone agrees with the goal of reducing abortion by encouraging consideration of other alternatives,” Mr. Daugaard, a Republican, said. “I hope that women who (more…)
25th Mar2011
Steelers RB Rashard Mendenhall Backs Adrian Peterson’s Claim Of NFL Slavery
While some, like Packers RB Ryan Grant, have taken exception to Petersons statement Grant makes the point that there is, you know, still ACTUAL slavery in the world Steelers RB Rashard Mendenhall sees Petersons point. Writes Mendenhall on his Twitter page (this transcript, by the way, is presented unedited and strung together over about 10 different updates):
@AdrianPeterson: Anyone with knowledege of the slave trade and the NFL could say that these two parallel eachother. If you look back and disect what I said, I ddnt say that the NFL was slavery, I said that they parallel eachother. Look up the word parallel. This means that they’re not the same thing, but they run the same course. These paths will never cross, but they mirror eachother. I could break down how, but (more…)
24th Mar2011
The Saturation of Mixtapes
In a week span, the internet rap community had deemed March the month of Mixtape Madness. Seemingly every waking moment a Twitter post went up when a rapper dropped a project, acclaimed, nudged to mild skepticism or panned. Most within the inner circles of blogs, rap pages and zines have pegged this sort of saturation on the general attention deficiency of the listener in recent years but we can also blame that on the artists themselves.
This past week has yielded releases from Pac Div, Dom Kennedy and more while the world (or a section of the hip-hop fanbase pie) waits for a mixtape from suburban hero Mac Miller. It’s the odd sense of dependency on music that we have since the dawn of (more…)
