Fun & Games

Wow. It worked.

Before the campaign to get the 30 Rock star on Twitter was even a flicker of a virus spreading across the Internets, Tracy Morgan is up and tweeting.

New York-based celebrity sighting Web site OMGICU started the campaign earlier this week, after noticing that Morgan was one of the people their users most reported spotting. Morgan "is someone who just really resonates with people, and his sense of humor and his sensibilities are so well-suited to the medium," OMGICU founder Hugh Dornbush told the Wall Street Journal's Digits blog.

We know it's the real Tracy Morgan because it's got that official blue "Verified Account" ribbon thingy that Twitter personally hands out to big machers. (We can only imagine how that phone conversation went: "Hello, Twitter headquarters." "Hello. This is Tracy Morgan. I need you to put that blue Verified Account ribbon thingy on my Twitter page. Also, please send over two dalmatians to keep my cat company.")

In any case, props to OMGICU for getting the big man tweeting in record time. Now, if we could only get them to work on that ex-boyfriend we're totally not stalking....

It's for the children. Thank you.

Via AgencySpy

Microsoft wants to take down Google with its Bing search engine.

Now it seems that the software giant wants to take down Apple with its new smartphone.

But will it work? Judge for yourself with the video below.

We don't put ourselves in the "schadenfreude" camp, but we do think this parody encapsulates a little something about the resistance of some in the newspaper world to recognizing what's happening to their industry.

Enjoy.

(Via FishbowlLA)

For your viewing pleasure heading into this Fourth of July weekend: "Fireworks," a fabulous stop-motion animation video by PES.

The Burlingame Museum of Pez Memorabilia has run aground with the mothership. Pez Candy Inc. is reportedly suing the Peninsula's paen to its product because it looks too legitimate, of all things, and might fool some folks into thinking its working under the authority of Pez.

To add insult to injury, says Laughing Squid, they've requested that the museum's seven-foot Pez dispenser -- recognized by Guiness as the largest dispenser of Pez in the world! -- be eliminated. Also at issue are the Obama and McCain dispensers the museum put up for sale last year.

"The museum has been opened since 1995 and is said to be the only place in the world were you can see every Pez dispenser ever made," writes Laughing Squid.

If there's a civic riot in the offing over this, at least we can be assured that it will be tasty.

It's only Tuesday, but we all need some light in our lives. Thus, the latest from CollegeHumor.com: Web Site Story. Bonus points if you catch every name-dropped Bay Area company.

This has nothing to do with media in the Bay Area, nor even with any of the broader topics we consider near and dear to our BayNewser heart (social media, interactive storytelling, the future of journalism...).

But, still, we thought our Bay Area readers might enjoy this: In honor of Dick Cheney's new contract to pen his memoirs, the Washington Post is inviting readers to propose the book's first paragraph.

Their sample goes like this:

"Undisclosed Location, Inauguration Day, Jan. 20, 2009: Well, the baton is passed. Our work is finally done. Eight years, one devastating terrorist attack, two wars and one recession later, it's finally time to relax. It's been an amazing ride. George and I can certainly say, 'We did it our way!' Or really, if you want to get technical about it, my way. Well, best of luck to this new crew. They're going to need all the help they can get. Or as I was saying to Lynne the other night, it's going to take an 'extraordinary rendition' to get us out of this mess. And with this bunch coming into office, you can bet it's going to be torture. Ha-ha!"

Goodness. How very... predictable? Come on Bay Area folks, we have full confidence that the nook of the woods that produced the likes of The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, Oh the Glory of It All, and Salon can do better.

The Post's terms: Email your submission to pagethree@washpost.com by July 2. Include your name and city of residence. They'll publish the best.

We will, of course, try to refrain from pointing out how quaintly old school it seems to request submissions by email and then print them in one's dead tree edition, when we could all be enjoying the wit and verve online this very moment.

So we have this one request: If you do pull yourself away from Pride this weekend long enough to pen some purple prose, please post it here, in the Comments, after you hit send on your email. We can't wait to see what you come up with!

Photo credit: World Economic Forum (Flickr)