Anyway, VF also bought Timberland and, by proxy, Smartwool. They absolutely tanked both brands.

AI is "fuck you; got mine" technology.

Instead of having handfuls of locally-owned television stations you could pick up by antenna or a cheap cable subscription offered by your local cable TV provider, we have apps on apps on apps all owned by Disney, Netflix, Apple TV, Amazon and Comcast, with local stations being owned by huge conglomerates that are effectively franchisees.

At least it's truly a la carte, which was something cable and satellite providers could never correctly implement.

Actually, I wrote that and realized a few seconds later that that's not actually true.

If you want to watch The Office, some footbaseketball thing, Shrinking and Real Housewives of $CITY, you've got to get Peacock, Hulu, Apple TV, and the "All-Access" packages from MLB, NBA, and/or NFL, with all of them being independent monthly subscriptions ON TOP of your Internet plan that add up to being way more than your old cable or satellite subscription + premium channels. All of those apps come with tons of filler and studio titles that you probably won't watch, just like the "thousands" of channels stuffed into the cable plan you got just to get access to the big networks, sports and HBO.

This outcome was obvious the minute Netflix got out of DVDs and into streaming. And it's so much worse IMO.

It was somewhat better when the streaming studios were dumping entire seasons of content, but they've been walking that back now too.

People will bet on absolutely anything; gambling is as old as time itself.

> Wagering was generally legal under British common law, so long as it did not to lead to immortality or impolity.13 Bets about the outcome of events in war, over the death of political leaders, over court cases, or between voters over election results were illegal on these grounds.14 In the Victorian and Edwardian periods, the British government increasingly attempted to limit gambling, especially among the working classes. The Gaming Act of 1845 made gambling contracts and debts unenforceable in court (but otherwise liberalized what amounts could be wagered); the Betting Houses Act of 1853 outlawed the operation of betting establishments other than private clubs; the Betting Houses Act of 1874 cracked down of the advertisement of wagering; and the Street Betting Act of 1906 made acceptance of wagers in streets and public places illegal.15 Despite the legal uncertainty in the late 19th and early 20th century, the Fleet Street press reported on election wagering at the London Stock Exchange and at Lloyd’s in markets for Parliamentary “majorities.” [^0]

[^0] Rhode, Paul W. “The Long History of Political Betting Markets.” KU School of Business, 2012 March. https://users.wfu.edu/strumpks/papers/Int_Election_Betting_F...

Massively influential guy to hip hop, but what a shame.

I hate this timeline.

"Ow! My Balls" was less about the Jackass part of it but more about the "numbing your brain and consuming mindless entertainment" commentary. Reality TV fits this category extremely well. See also: Housewives of _x_.

I was in LA for the week recently and went to see a Dodgers/Angels exhibition game at Dodger Stadium. $27 for the nosebleeds at the best stadium to sit high up at; easiest $27 ever spent!

Except it wasn't that easy. Though the tickets were purchased through mlb.com, I ran into trouble logging in once I got to the stadium. Couldn't for the life of me get a verification code. Doing the walk of shame to concessions crossed my mind, but this wouldn't have helped none since there was already a couple at the window who were getting help from the person working the booth...on how to get the tickets through the app.

Fortunately I got the verification code and was able to get my tickets shortly thereafter.

Queue my frustration when I ran into the EXACT SAME FUCKING THING when I went to see a show in Chicago some time later. Only way to enter was by downloading some ridiculous-ass app to get my tickets. Couldn't even get them by email. Couldn't even get them by website!

I wasn't expecting to yell at clouds this close to my 40s, but I really guess it do be like that.