Viral nature of memes kills lazy comics

GQ Magazine's 10 things that you need to know carried an interesting story on how text messaging in a theatre performance meant that after a comedian tells a new joke it has a shorter shelf life.

The viral mechanism by which memes are spread means that a new joke can get a laugh one night and barely a ripple of a response the next night.

Is this the real reason why Jim Davidson was reportedly declared bankrupt?

Scientists also claim that it would be cheaper to send a man to Mars than make Jimmy Tarbuck funny. The story also featured in The Metro.

On the subject of laughs this faux blog of Steve Jobs is the bomb.

The Five Rs of iPod Support

iPod, do you?
Originally uploaded by Carlos Noboro.

Thanks to Troy at Smalldog Electronics' Tech Tails email newsletter for sharing the five things that you need to do if your musical friend is unhappy:

1. Reset your iPod.
2. Retry with a different USB port.
3. Restart your computer.
4. Reinstall iPod and iTunes software.
5. Restore your iPod

If these don't work its time to call in the professionals or send it back to Apple under warranty.

Photo by Carlos Noboro via flickr. This is a nice take on the transparent screen meme that had been running on flickr last year.

Four Things

Drew B has linked to me in a blogtastic game of tick called four things. In this people who have been linked to name a number of different items in groups of four and then link to four other blogs that they know of that could continue this one.

In typical Wired reader style, this concept of an idea that can be communicated is called a meme (and memes are often written about in digerati circles).

Classic memes that non-geeks would have heard of include the Frankie Says series of t-shirts and No, but Yeah, but No dialogue from Little Britain.

Why four?

Three or six are the perfect numbers according to a discussion between Lee van Cleef and Clint Eastwood in The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. Wikipedia couldn't shed any light on it either.

Four jobs I've had

PR operative - at present
Foreman - heading up a shift team on the bitumen plant in the UK's second smallest oil refinery
DJ - up north, before the young people started getting back into guitars, freebase cocaine and heroin
On the line - in a meat packing plant

Four movies I can watch over and over

All the Presidents Men

The Dollars Trilogy (particularly For a Few Dollars More)

The Usual Suspects

Silmido

Four TV shows I love to watch

I don't have a television but I do have a soft spot for vintage shows, here's four that came to mind:

• Callan
• The Phil Silvers Show
  
• I love Lucy
• McCloud

Four places I've visited on holiday

• Dublin
• Leiden
  
• Ibiza
• Paris

Four favourite dishes

• As my mate Griff would say 'a big bowl of fuck-off' (a ramen noodle dish from Wagamamas)
• A decent Irish fried breakfrast with proper black and white pudding and a side serving of soda bread
• Rhubarb crumble
• A well done tuna steak
  

Four places I've lived

• Liverpool
• Galway
• London
• Huddersfield

Four sites I visit daily

It would actually be a hell of a lot more than this but: Slate.com, Wired.com, RTE.ie and ThinkSecret.com

Four places I'd rather be

Liverpool, with my mates, record shopping, sat in front of a range enjoying a turf fire

Four people I'm tagging

Ian Wood, Rainier PR, Tom Coates and Simon Willison