The Intertubes: VLES Allows For Real Fake Experience of Cool New York No One Can Afford Anymore

Virtual Max Fish

VLES does not stand for very lesbian, rather it means Virtual Lower East Side. What it is, is a Viacom owned Second Life-like world that uses the hip coolness of New York City's Lower East Side to promote bands. But can you have cybersex there?

More importantly, will the rents spiral ever upwards replacing all of these denizens with well-heeled Wall Streeters who are another market crash away from oblivion? If some of the lovingly recreated venues like Max Fish and Katz's Deli go the way of CBGB, will they be erased here too?
Frankly this isn't my idea of cultural landmarking, and the idea of this neighborhood as a distinct melange of cultural influences has already been superceded by the relentless march of gentrification. I look forward to VWilliamsburg.

The Interwebs: CNN.Com's Tabloidy Headlines of The Day -- Playing Doctor, Shooting Sister

Today's best scurrilous, sleazy headlines brought to you by CNN.com, your source for exploitation.

Music: Sleevefacing The New Shorthand For We are So Cool

Sleevefacing is the height of interweb snobbery. The implication is that we are so cool we have vinyl record collections and we're gonna rub our embrace of yesteryear's tech in yo' face through the series of connected tubes known as the internets. Hah!

Of course the pics and YouTube vids of people using their album covers in nifty ways do seem an awful lot like fun...and vinyl gives a warmer fuller sound than MP3s or CDs. OK fine, here's a video of how to sleeveface -- you too can look like a hipster from Williamsburg:

The Interwebs: CNN.Com's Tabloidy Headlines of The Day -- "Skip blush -- or die", diamonds for Mardi Gras, budget blowing sadness, and more!

The Interwebs: CNN.Com Tabloidy Headlines of The Day

Starting today I will be posting the day's best screen grab of sensationalist/dumb/exploitative/wtf? headlines from CNN.Com . The idea for this originated with Gawker, via Slate. Here's Gawker's hilarious rundown of endless bad CNN.Com headers. Their inspiration was a piece on Slate.com by Jack Shafer.

The point is that CNN.Com is so tabloidy it makes the New York Post look like The Economist. Or something. The network itself is not far behind.