Have you ever been cruising through your Facebook News Feed and wondered to yourself, “Is it just me, or is this post completely ridiculous?”  It’s not just you. The founders of Lamebook, Matthew Genitempo and Jonathan Standefer, and their strong following are definitely with you. Matthew and Jonathan appreciate the hilarious photos, status updates and conversations that take place on Facebook so much, they decided to document them on Lamebook starting in April 2009.  Since then, these two Texan graphic designers have updated fans with daily posts of the funny–often unintentional– posts that make it onto Facebook. In addition to checking out Lamebook, fans can enjoy join over 19,000 others by “liking” their Facebook page or follow them on Twitter, where they have more than 21,000 current followers.

Q:  When and why did you start blogging?

A: The idea for Lamebook was born from a few beers and a little bit of
frustration in October of 2008. Matthew and I were just hanging out one
night, talking and joking about all of the dumb content we would see on
our Facebook feeds and decided to start cataloging them just for fun. So
we finally launched the site in April of 2009 and were really happy with
the response.

Q: How do you think your blog stands out amongst blogs of the same genre?

A: We are the original blog to feature all of the funny and bizarre posts
from Facebook and we think the quality of our content and the design of
the website is much better than other copycat sites. (more…)

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

MSNBC host Rachel Maddow quoted LBAN blogger, Steve Benen of Washington Monthly’s Political Animal in last night’s episode. In addition to the quote, she called Benen “The Smartest Politics Blogger in the Country.”

Here’s the quote:

And while that’s certainly good news, it probably won’t come as a relief to vulnerable House Republicans. Remember, they knew ending Medicare would be unpopular, they knew Democrats would never go for it, but they voted for a budget plan that scrapped Medicare anyway. Some of those GOP lawmakers almost certainly didn’t want to go along, but they stuck their necks out and voted for this ridiculous agenda because their leaders asked them to.

A month later, those same leaders are moving away from their own idea, leaving their most vulnerable members with nothing more than attacks ads to look forward to.

Congrats, Steve!

The oldest maxim on Wall Street is ‘buy the rumor, sell the fact’.

The longer version: markets often effectively discount information long before a nugget of news becomes official. When rumors have abounded and the actual news finally becomes official, the party is over and the market subsides toward its prior level.

So it’s striking to see that tweet volumes Sunday night trended steadily up into President Obama’s announcement of the death of Osama bin Laden, then tapered off.

Was this because everyone went to bed, or because Twitter ‘info trading volumes’ conform to Wall Street’s favorite rule?

Another angle on the entwinement of Twitter and trading here. And more background on the evolution of speculation on Sunday night.

Have you met baby Sophie Lee yet? She’s been making the rounds this week, starring in a heart-warming new spot for Google Chrome that is pulling the heartstrings of the technorati:

Tim Nudd, AdWeek (AdFreak):

…it shows a father using Google products (all accessed through Chrome) to create a scrapbook of his daughter’s early years. Google says it’s based on a true story, although it used actors for the spot. Still, nicely done by Google Creative Lab and Bartle Bogle Hegarty.

Shawn Hartley, AdPulp:

How many parents of little ones watch this and think they might start writing to their kid(s) via a destination email account?

Matt Brian, The Next Web:

With many computer owners not knowing they are even able to download a new browser for their machines, Google is hoping that the sentimental value of its campaign can increase visibility and ultimately downloads.

Jeff Sass, Dad-O-Matic:

Google has a winner with it’s current ad for Chrome, as a Dad’s love and pride for his daughter is brilliantly expressed through the thoughtful and personal digital history he creates for her, leveraging Gmail and other Google products from within his Chrome browser.

Tug McTigh, American Copywriter:

Holy schnikes is this awesome. If you’re a parent, you will not be able to hold it together. Fine, fine stuff from Google. And that closing line, “the web is what you make of it” is terrific.

But little is being said about all the layers of technology between us and Baby Sophie. Clair Caine Miller of the New York Times reports that this is part of Google’s “the Web is what you make of it” campaign. But in this day of techno-ubiquity, doesn’t this prove that we are what the Web makes of us?

In his essay, “It Will Shock You How Much It Never Happened,” Chuck Klosterman says this about our relationship with TV advertising:

We’ve become the ideal audience for advertising—consumers who intellectually magnify commercials in order to make them more trenchant and clever than they actually are. Our fluency with the language and motives of the advertiser induces us to create new, better meanings for whatever they show us. We do most of the work for them.

Somehow this relationship has not been as amicable when it comes to online ads. We block banners with browser plugins, get annoyed by half-page auto-expanders, and poke fun at contextual ads. Commercials get extra life on YouTube, TV specials and dedicated praise sites, while online ads appear today, and drift off into pixelated oblivion tomorrow. Until now.

We couldn’t help but notice a new trend of online ad warehouses. From Facebook’s ad testing ground, to what is essentially a rest home for banners that treat online executions with the same sort of dignity as their television counterparts, here’s our roundup:

Facebook Studio

In a move that garnered mixed reviews from the ad world, Facebook stepped into the online advertising arena last month, with a site that houses ad creative, case studies and awards. It’s integrated with Facebook Connect, allowing users to “vote” on their favorite creative by “liking” it. It seems like a site that would only be popular with industry types but with 31k “likes” for the site itself, you’ve gotta think it’s being used by non-ad people, too. (more…)

According to its “About” page, “EcoSalon is the conscious culture and fashion website.” Publisher and Editor, Sara Ost lives and works in the San Francisco Bay Area, where she pries herself away from her laptop and EcoSalon just often enough to check out the latest restaurants and hike in the beautiful hills of Marin. She was educated at Pepperdine University and is originally from the Seattle area. Sara and the rest of the Ecosalon crew can be found on Twitter where they are followed by a range of eco-friendly organizations from @WWF to @MotherEarthNews, and on Facebook where they post updates and host contests.

Sara Ost, Publisher and Editor of Ecosalon

Q: How did you decide on the name for EcoSalon?  Could you elaborate on the meaning behind the site’s motto “Have a Heart”?

A: The name credit  goes to a flash of brilliance from one of our founders. You know immediately what the perspective will be (“eco”) and the retro concept of an intellectual gathering (“salon”).

“Have a heart” is about living consciously, fearlessly and fully. We believe green will not go mainstream unless we start with the heart. All the problems we face, from social to economic to environmental woes, will only be resolved when we live in a more conscious way. This doesn’t mean touchy-feely or warm-fuzzy. Having a heart takes courage.

Q: Were there any unexpected joys or pains you experienced when you started blogging?

A: Oh, yes, lots. Pains I didn’t expect: the literal physical pain in my hands from very long hours at the laptop. New media is relentless – you don’t put the edition to bed and go to bed, too, you work nonstop and the goalposts are always moving. For me that’s thrilling, but it can also lend itself to things like constantly apologizing to your friend for not returning her phone call…for a week! There are irreplaceable joys, as well. I’ve had the great fortune of becoming connected to so many talented and good people, personally and professionally, who inspire and push me. Blogging creates an ecosystem of ideas, competition, collaboration and creativity that is breathtaking at times. (more…)