• by George Simpson , Featured Contributor, April 11, 2005

If the Mountain Won't Come to Muhammad: The May issue of Martha Stewart Living just coming off press now declares that ankle bracelets are the newest "must-have" in fashion. Accompanying the story are photos of a variety of new bracelet styles, including one 3 by 4 inch device with serial numbers stamped visibly on the outside. "Ankle bracelets come and go as a fashion statement," says the story, "with demure gemstones seeming to endure. Yet now is the time for a more fabulous statement; time for something big and bold that says 'Here I am!'"

"South Park? Huh?!! I Was Watching PBS, I Swear!" In a recently released Kaiser study, computer use and TV didn't seem to affect grades, but more time playing video games and less time reading were linked to poorer grades. About half of kids have a video game player in their rooms; more than two-thirds have TV sets.

"What Do You Mean You Don't Have an Ombudsman?" A Wharton legal studies professor puts blogging right up there with the printing press when it comes to sharing ideas and disseminating information. "This is not a fad," says Dan Hunter. "It's the rise of amateur content, which is replacing the centralized, controlled content done by professionals."

"Hello Re-Write? Find Me Some of Those Bloggers Who Work for Free." Last week the National Enquirer fired much of its editorial staff. Only four out of the existing 49-person staff remain. Meanwhile, parent company American Media will launch a five-issue test run of Celebrity Living Weekly in late April.

They're Behind That File Cabinet in Los Alamos. Bank of America Corp. disclosed recently that it lost digital tapes containing the credit card account records of 1.2 million federal employees, including 60 U.S. senators.

"Remember That Time You Went Topless in Cancun?" For former Vice President Al Gore's new interactive cable TV channel launching in August, audience members will be encouraged not only to watch, but also to shoot, edit, and upload their own digital video segments to the channel's Web site. If the editors and Web audience like the segments, they will then be broadcast to the channel's potential viewer pool of 19 million.

No Wonder You Still Can't Park at the Mall. According to a survey by Arbitron and Edison Media Research, the number of Americans who made a purchase from a Web site in the past week has more than tripled to 14 percent this year from 4 percent in 2001.

Might Want to Cut Out the Close-Ups of the Cheerleaders. In spite of being launched 12 years ago specifically to reach younger audiences, ESPN2 viewers having a median age of 44, compared with ESPN's 38.

Why The Magazine Industry Is in Trouble. At the end of March, Entertainment Weekly sent out their weekly issue with five different covers, featuring the various stars of "Desperate Housewives" and asking readers to pick their favorite. Entertainment Weekly then followed that the next week with covers of six different "Star Wars" characters. An EW spokeswoman says, when they have multiple covers, they simply can't keep track of which sells best. They just hope they all sell.

Why the Internet Industry Is in Trouble. Hackers have compromised databases belonging to LexisNexis' Seisint division and stolen information such as passwords, names, addresses, Social Security, and drivers license numbers on at least 32,000 people. ChoicePoint Inc. acknowledged in February that hackers had access to data on 145,000 people.

Why the TV Industry Is in Trouble. The Seattle-based National Eating Disorders Association is taking Showtime's new reality show, "Fat Actress" to task for making jokes about anorexia, bulimia, and binge eating, saying it is dangerous to do so. Showtime responded in a statement: "'Fat Actress' is a fictitious program loosely based on Kirstie Alley's experiences in an unforgiving industry where her weight has been viewed as an insurmountable obstacle to her career. The fact that Kirstie Alley has decided to speak out about the absurdity of Hollywood's standards and demands is in itself inspirational."

Not to Mention: Roughly 43 million Americans record TV programs using a TiVo, another type of DVR or a VCR.