Scraps

Ad agency Mullen chose to focus on Zappos’ famous customer...

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 11:39:16 -0800

Ad agency Mullen chose to focus on Zappos’ famous customer service for their new ad campaign. The twist is, behind the puppets and comedy are recordings of actual customer service calls. Mullen’s making of video explains how they basically pranked Zappos to get the audio for the ads. The results are funny, fresh, and true to the experience of calling Zappos. Awesome stuff.

Zappos pranks itself for new ads

Jaguar Momma And Cub on Snuzzy

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 10:12:02 -0800

Jaguar Momma And Cub on Snuzzy

How childbirth caused my PTSD

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 08:15:00 -0800

How childbirth caused my PTSD:

Twenty-four hours later, clear-headed but still not dilated, I told my doctor I didn’t believe the induction was working, that I wanted to discuss other options. But before I knew it, he began painfully separating the membrane guarding my bag of waters.

“He isn’t examining me,” I yelled at my husband. “He’s doing something.”

In a hushed tone, the doctor asked the nurse for the hook, a mechanism that breaks your water.

“Why did you do that?” I asked when it was done. “I thought we were going to talk about it!”

His voice was cold, flat. “You’re not going anywhere,” he said.

(via notemily)

apsies: awomansplace: Turning to Clinton — her husband’s...

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 15:56:32 -0800

apsies:

awomansplace:

Turning to Clinton — her husband’s erstwhile rival for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination — Obama kept up the good cheer.

“Let me thank my dear friend Senator Clinton….no, Secretary Clinton,” Obama said. Realizing her mistake, she allowed an exaggerated pause.

“I almost said President Clinton!”

That got a rise out of the group, which cheered and laughed as Clinton smilingly waved away the mistake.

—via Reuters

I'm in the market for new web hosting. Anyone have a recommendation or warning?

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 15:37:00 -0800

Currently I’m with Media Temple and there has been far, far, too many incidents lately. It’s slow, my mail gets stuck sometimes, and downtime the last few months has been fairly ridiculous.

So, who do you use? Who have you used that you wouldn’t?

"In the United States, the study shows that female employees still tend to be concentrated in entry-..."

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 14:36:00 -0800

“In the United States, the study shows that female employees still tend to be concentrated in entry- or mid-level positions, and that the biggest barrier to female leadership isn’t parenthood or opting out (as conventional wisdom would have it), but “masculine or patriarchal corporate culture” and a “lack of mentors.” Women still make 78 cents for every dollar a man earns in the United States, according to the National Committee on Pay Equity—an inequity that is repeated the world over—and one that is often blamed on motherhood. (As The Economist recently put it, ”it’s motherhood, not sexism” that is holding women back.) But as this study and a slew of recent evidence shows, the problem is far bigger than motherhood alone. A new Catalyst survey shows that young MBA graduates make some $4,600 less than their male counterparts from the moment they step foot in the workforce; U.S. education data shows young women, a year out of college, bring home just 80 percent what their male colleagues do, regardless of profession. “Young women start in jobs that are lower paid, with lower status, and they have less job satisfaction overall,” says Herminia Ibarra, a professor at INSEAD, the European Institute of Business Administration, and one of the study’s authors.”

- Whatever Happened to the Gender Gap? (via Newsweek)

I expect far better from the Economist. The opinion piece they ran declared workplace sexism dead:

Motherhood, not sexism, is the issue: in America, childless women earn almost as much as men, but mothers earn significantly less.

I…just…am angered by this. Who decided that women are the only ones who raise children? Obviously we give birth to them but I seem to recall that there is another person necessary to that process. Stay at home dads of the world need to start stepping up to help disprove this ancient idea that women are the only ones who raise kids. Also, I believe that earning “almost as much” does not equal earning the same which indicates that sexism isn’t dead anyhow.

Ok, now that I’ve ranted about that, I would like to rant about this:

The same imbalance can even apply to the Web, where the founder of a popular copywriting Web site, “Men With Pens,” revealed late last year that “he” was actually a she. “It’s a fact that the majority of business is conducted by men,” James Chartrand (she continues to use her nom de Web) told NEWSWEEK. “So I assumed, if I choose a male name I’ll be viewed as somebody who runs a company, not a mom sitting at home with a child hanging off her leg.” (Chartrand said her business doubled once she began using a male name.)

In the original interview Chartrand confides that her pay rate doubled when she adopted the male name. Doubled. Oh hello sexism, good to see you.

The faces behind the famous hands - America's top hand models « TheBigMoney.com

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 14:08:40 -0800

The faces behind the famous hands - America's top hand models « TheBigMoney.com:

zehnuhr:

Headshots of some hand models and the hands that made them famous. The hands of one of the models even replaced Megan Fox’s hands – you know, the toe-thumbed ones – in a Motorola commercial. (via kottke)

"Culminating a year’s work, a panel of educators convened by the nation’s governors and state school..."

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 14:02:58 -0800

“Culminating a year’s work, a panel of educators convened by the nation’s governors and state school superintendents released a set of proposed common academic standards on Wednesday. The standards, posted on the panel’s web site, lay out the panel’s vision of what American public school students should learn in math and English, year by year, from kindergarten to high school graduation.

“I’d say this is one of the most important events of the last several years in American education,” said Chester Finn, Jr., a former assistant secretary of education who has been an advocate for national standards for nearly two decades. “Now we have the possibility that, for the first time, states could come together around new standards and high school graduation requirements that are ambitious and coherent. This is a big deal.”

…

Alaska and Texas are the only states not participating in the standards-writing effort. In keeping his state out of the movement, Gov. Rick Perry argued that only Texans should decide what children there learn.”

- Panel Releases Proposal to Set U.S. Education Standards (via NYT)

"House Democratic leaders said on Wednesday that they would no longer dole out budget “earmarks” to..."

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 13:47:12 -0800

“House Democratic leaders said on Wednesday that they would no longer dole out budget “earmarks” to profit-making companies, wiping out one of the most lucrative and controversial means of awarding no-bid contracts to private firms.

The ban is the most aggressive step yet in a three-year effort in Congress to curb abuses in the awarding of earmarks, which direct that federal money be spent in a very specific way. The move follows criminal investigations, ethics inquiries and political embarassment linked to the use of earmarks.

If the ban had been in effect last year, it would have blocked some 1,000 earmarks, many of them for military contractors that received multi-million-dollar contracts, leaders of the House Appropriations Committee said in announcing the decision.”

- House Leaders Bar Earmarks to For-Profit Companies (via NYT)

"Women and girls are one of the world’s greatest untapped resources. Remember the proverb, ‘Give a..."

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 13:24:59 -0800

“Women and girls are one of the world’s greatest untapped resources. Remember the proverb, ‘Give a man a fish, and he’ll eat for a day, teach a man to fish, and he’ll eat for a lifetime?’ Well, if you teach a woman to fish, she’ll feed the whole village.”

- Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (via caraobrien:apsies:kaytee)

robot-heart-politics: equalitopia: TV shows with gay...

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 11:31:23 -0800

robot-heart-politics:

equalitopia:

TV shows with gay characters could lose Florida tax credits

A new bill being considered for Florida could mean that television shows or films with gay characters within them that are shot in the state could miss out on vital tax credits because they are not deemed “family friendly”.

Current state law grants tax credits on productions considered “family friendly” - with no smoking, sex, nudity or profane language.

The proposal by Republican Rep. Stephen Precourt of Orlando would expand the field of disqualified productions as those that include any “exhibit or implied act” of nontraditional family values and gratuitous violence.

Stephen Precourt told the Palm Beach Post that shows with gay characters were not “the kind of thing I’d say that we want to invest public dollars in”.

thedailywhat: Buy This: Sci-Fi Ray Gun Jesus Fish from Etsy...

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 10:59:50 -0800

thedailywhat:

Buy This: Sci-Fi Ray Gun Jesus Fish from Etsy seller Zom-Bot Labs.

Vinyl decal. $5. Also available in satin silver.

[superpunch.]

THIS.

davidmaddox: thedailywhat: New Music Video! She & Him -...

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 23:27:52 -0800

davidmaddox:

thedailywhat:

New Music Video! She & Him - “In The Sun”

First single off the duo’s sophomore effort, Volume Two — in stores 3/23.

[pitchfork.]

This is delightful!

Mozilla steals design from firm after getting an estimate for the work

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 23:19:09 -0800

Mozilla steals design from firm after getting an estimate for the work:

(via clientsfromhell)

whitehousephotostream: P022110PS-0480: President Barack Obama...

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 17:01:11 -0800

whitehousephotostream:

P022110PS-0480:
President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama dance together during the Governors Ball in the East Room of the White House, Feb. 21, 2010. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

This official White House photograph is being made available only for publication by news organizations and/or for personal use printing by the subject(s) of the photograph. The photograph may not be manipulated in any way and may not be used in commercial or political materials, advertisements, emails, products, promotions that in any way suggests approval or endorsement of the President, the First Family, or the White House.

Husbands and Husbands This video is only a minute long. You...

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 16:48:11 -0800

Husbands and Husbands

This video is only a minute long. You won’t regret watching it.

Watch what happens when a little boy named Calen meets a pair of husbands for the first time. He talked things out, asked a few questions, and things just seemed to click in his head for him.

Let’s quit with the ignorance and fear and play ping pong. (rb)

(via haleycrain:definatalie:gooseppie:imsvsims)

This is the cutest thing ever!

jaredm: Panic Blog » The Panic Status Board HTML/CSS:...

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 11:31:26 -0800

jaredm:

Panic Blog » The Panic Status Board

HTML/CSS: Neven says, “This baby is all WebKit candy. The only images here are the icons. The rounded corners, the gradients, the animation – all CSS. Learn -webkit-transform and love it!

This is too awesome.

think4yourself:amomenttothink:[via i.imgur.com] THIS.

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 12:10:54 -0800

think4yourself:amomenttothink:[via i.imgur.com]

THIS.

think4yourself:whisperedwordsoncanvas:fightfirewithariot:bigwords...

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 11:57:34 -0800

think4yourself:whisperedwordsoncanvas:fightfirewithariot:bigwordsandbighearts:(via sayitasyouwant)

section9: inothernews: Kathryn Janeway is pleased that another...

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 08:07:25 -0800

section9:

inothernews:

Kathryn Janeway is pleased that another Kathryn has won the Best Director Oscar.

Captain Janeway was the shit.

I <3 Captain Janeway!