meme wars
So six different people have forwarded us the Weight Watchers Recipe Cards, and we've received the wacky interpretations of the Ready.gov's emergency "Visual Guides" only four times. Which means the recipe cards have it! (For now, at least -- a few straggler forwards could make all the difference.)

how about "bloggy-back riding"?
A direct quote from the genius that is Cardhouse: "03mar15. I was thinking about people who want to create their own weblog, but don't want to be involved with the set-up, etc, and I figured if you're really lazy you could just start your own weblog in the comments section of someone else's weblog. I call this concept a 'virusblog,' because everything needs a name." Hahaha!

Now what's the name for the practice of lifting an entry from someone else's blog, slapping some quotes around it, and pasting it into your own? "Blog Burning"?

Light 'em up, ladies!

Jobs for the Mobs
Hey all you underemployed tech workers out there! Sorry, we couldn't resist. Anyway, if you're looking for a job and having no luck, the problem might be your approach. In this week's article, our newest Webmonkey, Greg, looks at the current market and then offers some tips to help you find the job that's out there waiting for you. Yes, you.

When they're not trolling the sidewalks — iBook aloft — searching for free WiFi, we all know that the unemployed tech messes spend time hanging out in coffee shops updating their blogs. Well, if you live in Boston, you can do both. Wicked pissah! I'll have a twelve pack of crullers and a dark roast, triple cream, triple sugar. Hey, I was born in Boston and my dad works for Dunkin Donuts, so I'm allowed. Get off my back.

Chat for Earthlings
If just plain old instant messenging bores you, this news should cheer you up: Microsoft has released a new version of its instant messenger client with streaming video capability. If you've got a webcam, and a fast enough connection, now you can exchange video with any buddy running the MSN messenger 5.0 client. Yahoo added video capability to its Yahoo Messenger software a few months ago, but AOL still hasn't announced any plans to add video goodies to its AIM client.

If you're a faithful Webmonkey reader, then you've probably heard of Trillian. For the uninitiated, Trillian is a multi-protocol chat client that lets you connect to multiple services (AOL, Yahoo, MSN, ICQ, and IRC) using only one piece of software. You can even see all your buddy lists in the same window. The Trillian client is also skinable, but other than that, it's pretty much no-frills. So you shouldn't expect video capabilities anytime soon, but you can expect rock-solid stability and the standard assortment of useful features. A free version and a "Pro" version are available.

It's just a guess, but I like to think that Trillian is named after the character from Douglas Adams' Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy. You know, the woman that Arthur struck out with at the party on Earth only to bump into her aboard the Heart of Gold when he and Ford are saved by the ship's infinite improbability drive? Now, maybe I was too young to get the inferences, but were Trillian and Zaphod Beeblebrox an item? Well, Adams' official site says that they were boyfriend/girlfriend, which gives me pause. I always thought that she could have done better. The dude's got two heads and a whole heap of attitude! Whatever.

robjet d'art
Not only did Webmonkey not-so-secret crush Rob Cockerham get interviewed on All Things Considered (that's right, some scrolling required!) a few weeks ago, but his guerilla anti-target-marketing Safeway card project just got picked up by the New York Times (that's right, registration required!). And yet, in the midst of all this ever-expanding fame, Rob still managed to find the time to conduct exhaustive viscosity tests. How does he do it? No, seriously, how?

San Francisco is a Switchy town anyway
We heard some great news over the weekend. As this article points out, Apple Computer is planning on opening a store right in the middle of downtown SF's shopping district. We say: It's about freakin time! The closest stores to us right now are down in silicon valley and San Jose, not exactly walking distance. This new store will be plop in the middle of our beloved Union Square, and directly in front of the bus stop where you can find the Webmonkey editors Evany and Mike waiting for the 30 Stockton or 45 Greenwich bus line every single morning.

Have you ever been inside an Apple store? They're made of this sleek frosted glass walls, black pipe-and-grill railings, and black vinyl composition tile. The people are always helpful and quite knowing (which in computer store speak means that they actually know what operating system the machines are shipped with), and quite stylish with their matching black polo shirts. Anyway, the real draw is the abundance of expensive toys. iPods, iBooks, cameras, trackballs -- you name it!

We did a quick search and found out that another store is supposed to open at the same time in Japan. Soon these Apple stores will be everywhere... like McDonalds. Two G4s for two bucks?

what's going on?
Did you know that Mike has a new article up at Webmonkey, "Internet2 and You," and it's all about the exciting new better, stronger, faster net that's already in the works? That Jay updated his "Web Hosting for Under Ten Bucks" article? Or that HotBot is hosting a Hack HotBot skin-design contest that you totally need to get in on, I mean it, totally? Oh, OK. Great.

south by southwest
OK, first of all, I just, for the very first time (this is Evany), realized that SXSW is a Hitchcock reference. Decaf sucks!

Anyway, some of our friends and former Monkeys have already started the migration south by southwest, and it's not too late to join them! The trip to Austin is worth the trip, if only for the bats.

Blastoff Soundoff
So did you hear that we may not be able to play with model rockets anymore? Yeah, seems kind of silly. Of course, there are several voices out there who think that allowing just about anyone, children included, to walk into the local toy store and purchase explosives without regulation is the part that's silly. But all you really need is a library card and a well-stocked hardware store... I should stop right there.

If you are a vertically inclined individual who happens to live in an area that's basking in super nice weather right now (San Francisco anyone?), why not explore the delights of water-propelled hobby craft?

Memories of Mister Rogers
As the radio woke me this morning with the sad news of the passing of Mister Rogers, my sleep-rotted brain instantly flashed on one of my all-time favorite memories of the man who could talk to trolleys and make puppets come to life with a simple, "meowmeowmeow, King Friday." One Sunday morning, years in the past now, I was absently chewing my Golden Grahams and clicking through the channels of the television when, just for one sparkling second, the screen filled with the puff of a dandelion and then I heard the soothing, almost medicating voice of Mister Rogers saying, with the awed reverence that other people reserve for gods or movie stars, two magical words: "Sooooo fuzzzzy."

That fond memory of channel surfing and finding sudden, unexpected gold sparked another dim recollection: Dude, do you remember URouLette, the random page generating site? Ha, those were the days.

Good bye, Neighbor Rogers. You made a difference.