Weekend plans.

In 2003, a young developer noticed that friends in college signed up for AIM exclusively and left it running most of the time. The reason? They wanted to use the program’s status message, which allowed them to type a short note telling their online buddies what they were doing, even when they weren’t at the computer. Messages like “gone shopping” and “studying for my exams” became commonplace.

“That was the beginning of the trend toward Facebook, people having somewhere to put their thoughts, a continuous stream of consciousness,” said the developer, who worked in the MSN Messenger unit. “The main purpose of AIM wasn’t to chat, but to give you the chance to log in at any time and check out what your friends were doing.”

Remember that?

Hey buddy.

As truly long-suffering readers know, I’m a fan of Metro-Goldwyn-Meyer’s production logo. But I was not aware that five MGM lions filled that logo: Slats, Jackie, Tanner, George, and Leo.

Slats, the silent chiller above, is my new favorite.

Wilshire and Fairfax, Los Angeles; 1920.

Via.

“I don’t think I can even talk about what I was doing for work back then. I had a couple different scams going on; one was super wholesome and one was vaguely illegal. But I don’t need my mom calling me up asking about what I was doing from 1997 to 1999.”

Ruscha, via Renee.

Another way of looking at it, suggested by California NORML Director Dale Gieringer, is that we should expect legal pot to cost about the same amount as “other legal herbs such as tea or tobacco,” something perhaps “100 times lower than the current prevailing price of $300 per ounce—or a few cents per joint.” This would make pot far and away the cheapest intoxicant on the market, absolutely blowing beer and liquor out of the water. Joints would be about as cheap as things that are often treated as free. Splenda packets, for example, cost 2 or 3 cents each when purchased in bulk.

Free markets, free minds.

I just turned 26.

I’m Losing My Edge/ LCD Soundsystem/ LCD Soundsystem