mrshl | blog

Having been in law school for the past three years, I didn’t watch a whole ton of TV outside of The Daily Show and Colbert Report. But now that I’m done, I’m making a decidedly retrograde resolution. I’m going to try and watch more television. I’ve got time on my hands and the DVR is fired up. I’ve even got HBO. But I confess, I’m still a little bewildered.

The main problem I’ve had is that I’m not sure what to watch. I know almost nothing about the current state of TV. My only other regular shows include Jeopardy and Grey’s Anatomy, which I only started watching because my lady digs it so much. In recent years, I’ve missed the boat on quite a few popular shows: The Sopranos, 24, Desperate Housewives. Recently, I’ve also missed a few sci-fi gems I know I’d probably love (e.g., Battlestar Galactica, Heroes). I want to start watching these shows, but I’m already a year behind.

I’ve been throwing my life away.

But with the new Fall shows starting up, I’ve got a chance at redemption. Which brings me back to my central question: what new shows should I become obsessed with? Because this is me, I naturally started my research using a super-fancy new Web site called MeeVee.com. MeeVee is TV guide with a bit of Netflix or Last.fm thrown in. In addition to personalized TV listings that blow Yahoo away, you also get some other useful features:

• Save favorite shows or interests to your own ”channels.” For example, I have both “football” and  Aqua Teen Hunger Force listed as interest channels. You can right click on almost anything and add it as a favorite. Your favorite channels are then highlighted in their own section within your guide.
• Create profile page. Similar to Netflix or Flixter, your personal page includes a picture, username, and age, along with your interest channels, reviews, and TV show ratings. Like Last.fm, MeeVee uses this information to calculate your compatibility with other users on the site. Weirdly, there’s no way to add friends, but they just recently added this feature, so look for it in the future.
• Lots and lots of video. MeeVee, isn’t just a guide to television. It’s got links your episodes of your favorite shows online. The Community Section grabs content from video sharing site and organizes it by show. Want to watch clips of Buffy or CSI on YouTube? The links are there.
• Insight from television “experts.” I’m not sure whether expert is the right word, but the MeeVee blog is a good place to start for someone like me who has no real idea what’s on TV. There are helpful links to a bunch of other TV blogs as well.
• Context is key. Each show or interest has its own page on MeeVee, complete with links to video, blogs, and upcoming episodes. Check out CSI’s page.
• Get MeeVee on your Myspace or cell phone. This seems a bit excessive, but it’s there if you want it.

So what am I watching? My choices are easier because I don’t watch sitcoms or reality television, but I’ve still consulted out a couple of Top 10 lists (here, here, and here). I think I’m set to watch Bionic Woman, Chuck, and Moonlight (vampires!).

Got any better ideas? You tell me what to watch.

Unless you want the site to spam your pals. I’ve received three invites from the new social network that’s built around Web games. I was wary of the first one I received, because the guy who sent it is not someone who normally invites people to anything. I’ve since received two more invites from some mutual friends of ours who must have signed up in response. Well, it turns out they didn’t sign up because the site is cool. Quechup spoofed their email addys and spammed all their pals!

At some point during Quechup’s registration process, the site uses your Gmail or Hotmail address to spam all your contacts with “invites” to Quechup.  A quick search reveals a lot of people going through the same crap.

Here’s a sample of the Quechcup angst:

During the signup process, Quechup.com suggests it search your address book to check if some of your email contacts have already signed up as well, so as to give the networking process a head start. We’ve seen this before with bonafide websites like LinkedIn or Facebook (which, incidentally, i do vouch for, since they have never sent me any spam nor sent mail on behalf of me without my consent - so far, that is). So call me gullible, I gave it my details and indeed, found a couple of people already on the site (amongst whom the woman who had invited me).

What the site doesn’t mention, however, is that each and every address in your address book is invited to join as well, as if you agreed to it.

I smelled fire when I received invites at some of my other email addresses, and quickly checked the mailbox I had used to sign up to Quechup.com. No less than 395 out-of-office replies awaited me there. By the next morning, I had received about 500 other replies, asking what this was all about, ridiculing me for being so stupid or actually spewing abuse for sending that email. I have since activated my own out-of-office assistant, with an apology in the message.

What is even more troubling, in my opinion, is that the site then goes on to search for any offline mail clients, such as Outlook or Outlook Express on your PC and suggest doing the same search with the address data it finds there. As I don’t use any offline clients, I didn’t use this “feature”. I can only shudder at the effect that would have, and what other havock sites like these can wreck in your email client.

I have deleted my own membership. If you or anyone receive an invitation to join, from me or anybody else, I advise you to delete the email. I am trying to find out if I have a legal case here.

I am deeply sorry for the harrassment and the inconvenience. My sincere and humble apologies. Now, go back and berate me…

Yesterday marked a milestone of sorts for me and my del.icio.us account. I’ve now saved more than 1,000 links with the social bookmarking service. It’s become an integral part of my internet experience. I couldn’t imagine trying to keep up with the ever-changing Internet using only Firefox’s or IE’s built in bookmarks organizer. Instead, I use del.icio.us and the Firefox plugin that integrates seamlessly into the browser.

All my research. All my favorite sites. Available from any computer. Backed up on any computer. It’s perfect.

And if you’re wondering what number 1-0-0-0 was, check it out.

Strip Generator is a site that lets you create your own Web comics. You use their pre-defined humanoids, objects, and text bubbles, edit them however you wish, and presto. You’re a web comic genius. I put together the strip above in about 5 minutes. Someone with a bit more talent, but not a lot of time or know-how, could probably do much better:

There are other “do your own comic strip” sites out there. But they’re mostly not very good. Certainly, Strip Generator has them beat on several fronts:

• Strips actually look like web comics.
• The flash editor is superb. The tools aren’t complicated, but they’re generous. You can do just about anything you want with the simple text/graphic editor and the library of humans, beings, and objects.
• You don’t have to register, but if you do, you can save your strips to a running blog. All strips are embeddable and readers can comment.
• The site design and copy. I wouldn’t ordinarily single out a Web site like this for its general savoir-faire, but everything about Strip Generator suggests a love for Web comics, and an understanding of the medium. They truly want you to enjoy creating a pro-style comic. It’s just really well done.

Anyway, try it out. It’s fun.

Mashable points to a new social networking site for people into buying used undies:

MyPantyStore.com launches with ambitions of being the world’s largest used panties marketplace. This new adult social networking site lets users create a personal profile and list their panties and other personal items for sale. Buyers can browse listings of panties for sale as well as post private messages with sellers. The site uses a feedback system to ensure quality and help prevent fraud.

There are hundreds of websites offering used panties for sale, but mypantystore.com aims to make it easy for anyone to sell their panties and create a marketplace where panty buyers and sellers can make friends and interact.

The founders say “It’s like eBay meets MySpace only the focus is on used panties”.