Minority Opinion by Gino Ruggeri

• I have always detested the word meme, and not just because it was coined by Richard Dawkins, though that certainly helps”

  One of many gems in this great article on the ‘Meme Generation’. Dunno why I picked that quote in particular, given it’s just subjective snide humor, but really, the rest of the article is a fantastic observation into the culture of memes, media and meta-humour. Recommended.

• Here’s another good one – on the frequent fliers who flew too much
• From an former employee, this provides a great dissection and history of Amazon’s low margins business strategy
• A wonderful deconstruction of “first world problems” condescending attitude
• Studies show that ‘Moral Realism’ may lead to better moral behavior
• From the writers perspective: How much should ebooks cost?
• Great title: The Pope’s Dove of Peace attacked by Seagull of Irony
• What’s the price of copyright crime in New Zealand? Only $617
• Oh man, the original artwork for all 12 Watchmen covers will soon be up for auction
• I have zero knowledge about the film, but I love the design of Young and Wild‘s end credits
• Cleaning work at Rome’s Colosseum has turned up 2000 year old graffiti
• North Korea is now properly on Google Maps and here 4 interesting ‘must-sees’; Informative, though zero external links to the actual maps/locations. I’m really starting to despise this trend of closed system hyperlinks on blogs. (update: this one‘s at least links out with it’s list and be sure to check out the awesome user reviews)

Banksy gifs

• Get a bad review? Sue them… How to Piss Off a Theatre Critic
• The two-year editors battle over Sir Mix-a-Lot’s Baby Got Back page
• The Political Awakening of a Republican: ‘I Had Viewed Whole Swaths of the Country and the World as Second-Class People’
• Why wood pulp is world’s new wonder material
• A week on after the Department of Justice’s ruling and E-books are already getting cheaper
• On that here are 375 Free eBooks to download to Kindle, iPad/iPhone & Nook
• Google VP says Apple v Samsung verdict was a “wake-up call”
• From Foreign Policy: How America’s biggest corporations became cyber vigilantes
• The childhood gamer in me is pretty excited over Chris Roberts returns to space sims

And here’s a super cut of memes over the years. It’s titled ‘A Mess of Memes’, but the jury is still out on that pluralisation.

Asperatus clouds over Scotland via The Cloud Appreciation Society

• Olympic opening ceremony: Ai Weiwei’s review
• South Korea’s Im Dong Hyun:the ‘blind’ Olympics world record setting archer
• There Are Four Olympic Athletes Without Countries To Represent
• The Greatest Chris Brown Album Review of All Time: ‘No Stars Ever’
• Music Labels Won’t Share Pirate Bay Loot With Artists
• Computer confirms: All music sounds the same these days
• Strong evidence that a real name policy would fail to improve comment systems
• The New York Times is Now Supported by Readers, Not Advertisers
• Celebrities and their Unnecessary Public Apologies
• From Forbes: “The porn industry as I knew it is dead. And it appears a new industry has arisen.”
• Heath Ledger’s Joker was probably inspired by Tom Waits (gets an automatic yes from me)
• Where Did John Wayne Get His Walk?
• Ancestry.com Claims Obama Is Descendant of John Punch, First Enslaved African-American
• Mitt Romney follows up insulting London with straight-up racism in Israel
• Horror Hospital: The Most Shocking Photos And Testimony From The Dawood Military Hospital Scandal (warning: very graphic)
• Fall, Mortality, and the Machine: Tolkien and Technology
• Climate change study forces sceptical scientists to change minds
• The 50 Best Socially Awesome/Awkward Penguin Memes