Library of Congress's Flickr Expose

I am addicted to the LOC's new Web. 2.0 initiative! Their archives have amazing human interest and historical photos of American life. It's a remarkable collection that everyone should browse through when you have a moment.

Two little girls in a park near Union Station, Washington, D.C. (LOC)
Originally uploaded by The Library of Congress

The photostream can be seen here on Flickr.

Their collections are really a testament to all of the things Web 2.0 stands behind: sharing, collaboration and creativity.

I've "fave"d a few of the LOC's images already, and I am certain I will be doing some more in the future. They are encouraging comments and tagging in order to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the photos in their archives. Fabulous!

2 is Better than 1 Kraft Single (Double?)

Kraft Introduces New Kraft Doubles For Couples

NORTHFIELD,IL—Kraft officials claim that this is the first adjoined-cheese product that's both practical and sexy. Kraft Doubles — jointly wrapped slices of American cheese specially designed with couples in mind.

Ok, Kraft. Just say what really happened here. You want to save money on plastic and save the environment. You recently laid off half of your plastic wrapper inspector workforce. You want to compete with the traditional heart-shaped box of candy come February 14, but are finding it difficult since processed cheese is a hard sell to romantics.

But please, don't try to convince me you had couples in mind when launching this ridiculous product. In fact, according to you (Kraft!), only 8 percent of your regular consumers have spouses.

And I don't believe anyone will gain a spouse by using Kraft.

Now, not only will you have to peel the sticky, orange mass away from it's protective cellophane sheath — you'll have to pull the slices away from each other. YUCK!

This Just in — Failure is A-Okay

Failure Now An Option

WASHINGTON —A recent poll revealed that 64% of Americans are comfortable with coming up short, while 43% are content to try only once rather than try, try again.

Stop trying! Everyone else has.

Snow Pricklies

I got out of work early today so here's a photo I took with the extra time. It ended up snowing and sleeting several inches — and here is what resulted outside. I thought this looked strangely like a leaf. It's the underside of a tree branch taken from my balcony.



Maybe I'll be off tomorrow and really be able to take some good ones.

Balls to the Walls

Pop-Ups I Want to Pop Up

Can I just say, "Wow!"

Orbitz.com has created innovative, approachable web advertising -- something that the web industry has labored over for years. I have been approached by their interactive advertising games several times over the past week or so and I love it!

Most frequently, I come across the pop-ups while on newspaper Web sites boston.com and usatoday.com, and have invested my time in such games as mini golf and a game called Stacker that is something like Skiball meets Connect Four. View game here -- although I'm not sure the permalink works.

After a few clicks on the pop up you are directed to the Orbitz site, but can continue playing at your leisure. There are even levels to master.

Bravo, Orbitz. Online advertising just got a little more tolerable and a whole lot more fun. I am getting increasingly tired of those Netflix ads. (Not working.)