Best of the Web: October 1, 2010

Best of the Web: October 1, 2010

Top Ten Oddball Unlikely Celebrity-Branded Products; UN to appoint space ambassador; ‘Shame Games’ put India behind China; The wiki way; Trashy film cleans up Cairo.

October 1, 2010 11:19 by Rasha Reslan

Top Ten Oddball Unlikely Celebrity-Branded Products

Celebrity products: if you seen it once, you’ve seen it a thousand times before. Whether it’s Victoria Beckham’s new fashion line or the Olsen Twins pre-school merchandise, the products celebrities endorse tend to be an extension of the work they are so famous for. But every now and then, we come across a product that just doesn’t seem to fit the profile pushing it. Examples? From the new perfume Lady Gaga is set to launch next year, to Hulk Hogan’s restaurant for all things pasta – aptly named Pastamania, an echo of the famous Wrestlemania in which Hulk appears. Here, Time magazine lists ten of the most unlikely products promoted by some of America’s best singers, wrestlers, actors and athletes.

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The wiki way

The wiki-way of the internet is the closest cyber example of Marx’s notion of ‘from each according to his ability, to each according to his need.’ Wikinomics, a term coined by cyber gurus Tapscott and Williams, is all about the way in which worldwide collaboration is getting cheaper and easier. Because the web gives amateurs access to world-class communications tools and worldwide markets, it makes it easy for large groups of people who have never met to work together. This article explores the way wikinomics affects various industries: those that are embracing the change like the car industry, and those that are suffering as a result of it like the newspaper and music industries.

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Shame Games’ put India behind China

By anybody’s standards, the build up to this month’s Commonwealth Games has been a huge embarrassment. But what does it mean for India? In this interesting commentary, Bruce Einhorn takes a critical look at the implications of the high profile problems suffered by the Delhi event. He asks what it means for India’s reputation internationally (bad), and uses the great Chinese dragon as a comparison (it’s much better).

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UN to appoint space ambassador

An intriguing video and a short article about the task a Malaysian astrophysicist has been handed, seemingly appointed by the United Nations to act as the first point of contact for aliens trying to communicate with Earth. It’s a Sci-Fi nerds dream come true, Kipp just hopes she’s not being paid too much, as we can’t imagine there is an awful lot to do.

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Trashy film cleans up Cairo

Meet Iskander. She made a film about garbage. Well, garbage collectors really. The New York-based cinematographer released her debut feature “Garbage Dreams” after she had become intrigued by the livelihood for the world’s largest community of garbage collectors in Egypt. The film follows the lives of three teenage Zaballeen (Arabic for garbage people) boys as they embark on their careers in the trash recycling business, just as the city begins deploying multinational waste management firms that are threatening their community’s traditional way of life. A fascinating insight into a seldom seen world.