At first I thought I was reading an Onion headline: ‘Phone texting reveals sensitive new “metrotextual”.’ But, alas, this comes from Reuters, so it can’t be a joke. The article says that men have become quite comfortable texting other men with “x’s” (which is a shorthand for ‘kiss’) as a sign-off. According to the article and a T-Mobile research study, “nearly a quarter of men (22 percent) regularly include a kiss on texts to their male mates.” I call BS, or not. Who knows, it may be true. But then it goes on to claim that 1 in 10 men over the age of 55 also do the same. For reals? Seems fishy to me. A clinical psychologist, Ron Bracey, was quoted in the article as saying, “the advent of mobile phones and social media means more communication is done non-verbally, and through this it seems men can more easily share their feelings with others — especially their male friends.”
So, let’s presume 25% of you guys are actually signing off with a bromantic “x” in SMS’s to you male pals. Is it because you’ve always wanted to share your dude love, but have only just now found a safe way to do it? Personally, I feel like the “x” is a fairly innocuous sign-off symbol and doesn’t have much deep meaning at all. Hell, I’m not sure the symbol has ever signified anything more than a bit of whimsical flirtation at best. Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against the symbol – in fact I appreciate it. To me, the “x’s” and the “o’s” have always been a friendly coda, the norm in the Internet age when tapping out “sincerely”, “love”, or “with kindest regards” on our keyboards or thumb-pads has gotten too laborious or unnecessary. And that’s not meant contemptuously, it just is what it is – a norm.
What gets me, though, is the odd progression of this metrosexual/metrotextual meme. Poor actual homosexuals are now left with a comical linguistic association with men who put too much gel in their hair, wear argyle and send cellular love around the world with “x’s”. That seems a bit unfair, trivial and trite. Maybe we should instead call these men enthusiastic-dressers and x-texters respectively, and drop these plays on words respectfully.
My MINI sat waiting for me in the snow this morning with a peculiar outgrowth of snow on the passenger side. Oh, that goofy Colorado snow! My new tires kicked butt today – the car drove like a champ on the ice and snow and I made it into work safe, sound and prompt.
The above graphic is not real, lemme say that first. But if the ISPs had their way, they’d love to sell you this. And this is why net neutrality, the set of proposed rules to keep all Internet traffic equal, is so important. Because the Internet should not be like cable. The Internet should be like, well, like the Internet – a conduit of equal opportunity. [via Gizmodo]
So, the GOP has a brand new site, eh? It’s a pretty slick design with plenty of righty-tighty propaganda. But I couldn’t help notice the similarities with another fairly well-known site:
Art Director: “I know, let’s just take a proven political site and slap some red on there.”
Client: “Brilliant. And make sure the ‘Donate’ button is all shiny and glossy.”
Art Director: “I like where you’re going with this.”
So, now that the election is over and all, I guess the GOP felt it was high-time to join the whole Web 2.Whatever/Social Media/UGC bandwagon and flex its contemporary design muscles – with the help of a bit of cut and paste.
In a matter of moments (10/20/09 @ 11am MDT), Tony Stewart will sit attached to a real polygraph and spill the beans on his feelings about Whoppers. And, while he’s at it, he’ll answer a slew of visitor-submitted questions. And he’ll have to do all of this truthfully. Watch Tony under real pressure: TruthAboutTony.com.
Mom sent along a shot of their new puppy, which they’ll pick up on Nov 1. He is absolutely adorable, and I know he will get away with murder. I’m not sure if Mom and Dad have thought of names yet, but based on the photo, I’m casting my vote for “Theodore Rudolf Goodwin III, GBE”. That’s the most formal and blue-blood puppy pose I’ve ever seen.
The front range has bee gorgeous every day this fall, and I managed to grab this shot on my evening commute earlier this week. This state is beautiful in the fall.
And in Advertising news, Pfizer has put the Viagra account up for review. Finally. I’m so sick of the thousands of e-mails I get every day for V!agra and I can’t believe it took Pfizer so long to pull the plug on McCann’s shenanigans.
I did read, also, that if the account stays up for review for more than 4 hours, they’ll have to consult a doctor.
In case you missed it, here’s Letterman’s incredible confession and his recount of the grizzly extortion story. Pretty remarkable stuff for network (you see this kinda stuff on cable all the time – haha).
