Detroit? Are you sure they said Detroit?

The Detroit Free Press pointed out a NY Times story that put together a list of 53 places to go in 2008. Why would they have any interest in pointing this out? Well, Detroit was 1 of only 6 U.S. cities to make it into the list. Yes, right now I'm listening to hear if anyone has fallen off of their rocker. They site the new hotels (the casinos of course and the Westin Book Cadillac makeover) and the newly renovated Detroit Institute of Arts as the attractions to come for.

While I think the hotels are very luxurious and the DIA is probably a site to see, Detroit just doesn't come to mind as 1 of the top places to come to for a vacation. I don't feel like people plan their time around Detroit, but rather Detroit plans it's time around people who happen to be passing through. This list of 53 has locations around the world. Do you think someone in another country plans to visit?

I hope Detroit doesn't become known for it's casinos and nice hotels. There is so much more history and charm than that. The sports, the music, the auto industry. Although, it's probably better than being known for your crime and decay. Detroit will hopefully crawl out from under the shadow of those stereotypes.

No joke...

A new book and website is out that recounts the personal stories of 7 mothers who lost children due to suicide caused by bullying. The Detroit Free Press has a story about one of the mother's in the book who is trying to raise awareness in schools about the effects of bullying.

It's a very interesting and sad story. Even though I was one of the biggest guys in school, I was still tormented during my school days. I was never down to the point of suicide, but I could definitely see how kids could be affected by these situations in their own schools. I just pray parents and teachers are aware enough to help these kids before it happens again.

Let's go Tigers!

The Detroit Free Press reports the Tigers will reach the attendance mark of 3 Million people this year. It's quite a change from just 2 years ago. So far, I've attended 3 games this year and if I'm lucky, I might make it to another one before the season is over. If we're even more lucky, maybe there will be some tickets available in October. So, in an act of redundancy, Let's Go TIGERS!!!

My computer, mags, and music, but no passport...

An interesting blog post on CNET.com News today that talks about air travel without an ID. It turns out, you are not legally obligated to show your ID during your security check at the airport. Not only can you choose to not show your ID, it usually gets you to the front of the line while they perform the more "thorough" secondary check.

While confrontation is not my cup of tea, I really would like to try this out sometime. I'm not some advocate that wants to buck the system or fight for my absolute rights, but if it gets me through the process faster, why not. On the other hand, I don't feel like telling them I don't have it when in fact it's on my person. So I have to have some expectation I will run into resistance if I try it out. Is it worth it, to be the "rebel"?

Hey, you can't do that...

So, here's an interesting story. Viacom is claiming copyright infringement from a user on YouTube for posting a show from VH1. You ask yourself, "So? What's new?" Well, what's new was, the user had posted something original to YouTube, and VH1 took the clip from YouTube and put it on their VH1 show. All he was doing in return was posting the show on YouTube to show his original work. I know, that's a lot to take in.

Let's put it in perspective. I video myself and put it on YouTube. VH1 finds my video, then puts it on their show and calls it "Fair Use". I in turn, put the show that shows my YouTube video, back on YouTube, and they tell me I can't do it.

It looks like there is a legal battle over it all. Go check out the story for some more info. All in all, you say potato, I say patato. You know?

Advertising can be so good...

I found an article on ESPN.com that tells us about the ad campaign for the Dallas Stars showing up on billboards around the city. Here's a couple of the messages that seem to be catching someone's eye:

"The only thing our refs shave is the ice."

"One game a week? Is the N in NFL for Nancy?"

"Maybe baseball should stop using the word sacrifice."

Those are some pretty funny ads. Nothing like digging on some of the other sports to show how tough your sport is. Too bad America doesn't appear to care about hockey. Maybe these ads will help a little.

It's true, isn't it?

A story on cnet news blog posted the following headline:

"Say what? 'Nobody reads newspapers anymore' allegedly gets columnist fired"

Apparently this columnist didn't run this one by his editor's before it went to print. Although, it's probably not the greatest thing in the world to talk about down swing of the industry you're working for, but isn't he correct in his statement? We're pretty much getting the news delivered on Sunday's, and that' not so I can sit down and read it, it's because we like to get the ads and coupons that come with it. I get most of my news from the internet. It's turned into a ticker world.

Wired Magazine had an article in their most recent issue that highlights what newspaper and media companies are doing to make it on the internet. It's quite interesting how difficult at first it was to get their employees to buy into it.