Random

I am told that buying an engagement ring is even more stressful than mustering the gumption to propose.

Choosing the right ring is an expression of who you are and what you feel. It can leave you a wreck, feeling like you should check into a halfway house for spiritual guidance.

An enterprising online jewelry brand called Ocappi would like to give you a chance of survival, an opportunity to finally impress your lover beyond standing next to her at a party and grinning like a stuffed fish.

Ocappi will send six rings of your choice to your home, so … Read more

Steve Jobs was always a fine salesman.

The people at Funny Or Die involved in making "iSteve" -- a movie of his life -- are similarly inventive.

I was breathlessly sent a link this morning to the teaser trailer for this movie. It promised: "The trailer for iSteve, Funny or Die's Steve Jobs movie with Justin Long is finally here."

That, it is. But it's quite a minimalist trailer.

There are few real, well, pictures.

There are words, however.

"Genius left unchecked can lead to ruin," says someone.

"You gotta ride … Read more

A decent shrink costs at least $100 an hour.

A decent pair of shoes can cost you the same and they last a lot longer. They understand you better too.

Surely, therefore, we shouldn't be surprised that more than half of all Americans admit that if they want to feel better, shopping is their chosen Xanax.

With just a click or two, you can be clicking your heels and forgetting the awful lover who told you that this was surely forever before becoming surly last night.

I have on my screen the results of a survey performed by TNS … Read more

Naked bodies are everywhere these days.

Why, even Vevo is participating in the promulgation of topless women in the new Robin Thicke music video. It was even on YouTube for a short while.

It's perhaps wise, then, to admire Playboy's post-modern confidence in launching a new iPhone app that seems to have decided that nudity is anything but new.

As the Los Angeles Times disrobes it, Playboy realized that Apple's app store bodyguards wouldn't allow an app that featured such threatening items as nipples accompanied by smiles.

So the legendary bunny-pushers put their ears together and … Read more

Selling TVs is hard.

Especially if the medium at your disposal is, well, TV.

Most look somewhat the same. Most seem to do very similar things, which is make "American Idol" look and sound better than it really is.

So one can understand Samsung feeling a touch hamstrung in trying to make its Smart TVs look astoundingly intelligent.

In this case -- thank you, Business Insider for finding this -- not only is the budget seemingly enormous, but so are the ambitions.

There are two ads that feature so many themes and special effects that you have come … Read more

Those venal, vegetable-munching lefties at Google have struck again.

Just when they should have been doodling away to celebrate a religious festival of bunnies, colorful eggs, and lots and lots of chocolate, they go and place a large picture of recently deceased venal, leftie Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez on the home page.

At least, that's what certain irate and passionate humans thought when they raised their objections about Google's Easter doodle celebrating labor activist and very devout Christian, Cesar Chavez.

Their passions overflowed to such an extreme that some even threatened to perform acts of unspeakable shame and … Read more

We're in an Apple store.

All the employees are terribly agitated. They're wearing green. Is it St. Patricks' Day? Not quite. It's a new ad -- sent to me by reader Marrec Selous -- that tweaks, pokes, teases, and tickles at Apple's softer parts.

The ad is on behalf of a British cider called Somersby. And the excitement within it mirrors that of an Apple product launch.… Read more

Who would you like most to see on your street, your television, or your cruise to the Bahamas, staring at you with one wicked eye and one distracted?

I fancy that more than one person might say "Newt Gingrich."

An intimidating presence at the best of times, please imagine how he might look wearing Google's new and currently taste-challenged glasses.

You may only have to imagine for a short while. For the Republican presidential candidate and famed historical consultant was a winner in Google's lottery to find explorers for its Google Glass.

I am grateful to … Read more

I'd like to help you work out your frustrations today.

There again, you have so many -- at least judging by the comments section here -- that I don't really have enough time.

Instead, then, here's an ad -- thank you, Techdirt, for exposing it to me -- that will help you be at one with your feelings about your high-speed Internet and cable provider.… Read more