The Dirty Underwear Files

This from Engadget this AM:

Isabodywear underwear fends off cellphone radiation

The briefs are purportedly constructed with threads made of silver, which the company claims will fend off harmful cellphone radiation; moreover, in an effort to really prove just how effective these undergarments are, it suggests that phone calls originated within the confines of your new underwear simply won't connect.

I've been wondering what the buzzing in my pants was, and it turns out that Mr. Weasel has been trying to call Angelina Jolie's cell number. Not only is it irritating, but as Ms. Jolie is now in France for the Cannes Film Festival, expensive as well...even the wrong numbers (did you know Jacque Cirac is considering opening a Dunkin' Donuts franchise in the Versailles...well, you never know how much you can believe from a dick...Mr. Weasel has gotten me into trouble before). You know, when I first looked at that picture above I thought it was the reincarnation of Ahmed Ertegun introducing a crotch-based version of the iPod. I quickly swilled a cup of coffee and it all started making sense...

So all this below-the-belt talk allows me to segue seemlessly into thoughts on "transparency" on the Internet, which has been on my mind since the Wired article on radical transparency a couple of months ago. I read it on a plane — natch — where no one was nakked. Anyway, here's the nut graf (sorry...had to be done) from the story:

The Internet has inverted the social physics of information. Companies used to assume that details about their internal workings were valuable precisely because they were secret. If you were cagey about your plans, you had the upper hand; if you kept your next big idea to yourself, people couldn't steal it. Now, billion- dollar ideas come to CEOs who give them away; corporations that publicize their failings grow stronger. Power comes not from your Rolodex but from how many bloggers link to you - and everyone trembles before search engine rankings. Kelman rewired the system and thinks anyone else could, too. But are we really ready to do all our business in the buff?

Well...I am typing this in my jammie bottoms and an old Colorado IDPA State Championship shirt...but still, it weighs on my mind since I am, even though aged, an Internet Person. The principle of transparency means, in short, that you know more about me than I know about you. Television has only exacerbated the situation...I have the oddest personal conversations with people I don't actually know. I know it comes with the territory (and the checks, to be perfectly frank), but it's still relatively strange.

It is, however, the future, and not just for me. Lately I've been advising people to follw the Wired dictates and take off the proverbial pants. In Gun World, Springfield Armory has a pretty cool blog — they've done a great job of keeping IL gun owners involved in the fight to salvage something from the Chicagonista antigunners who run the state.

My favorite gun industry blog is from ace revolversmith Grant Cunningham, who is as we speak finishing up my Ruger SP-101. It's funny, interesting and articulate, which leads me to believe he's having it ghostwritten, him being a gunsmith and all. I'm trying to imagine how a blog from my pal Bill Laughridge at Cylinder & Slide Shop would read...probably like a script from the late, lamented Deadwood.

I also note with sadness that my fellow gun blogger Publicola has decided to call it quites for awhile. Read his eloquent note and you'll understand totally about Internet transparency. Most people can go their entire lives without once having to open up and explain a difficult decision, much less explain it while wearing jammie bottoms and a t-shirt to a whole universe of strangers.

Before I go swill down another gallon of coffee in the hopes of getting my heart to start beating, here's a pice worth reading on the pressures on the D.C. mayor, Adrian Fenty, in the wake of Parker, from the Washington Post:

Gun-control advocates are quietly acknowledging that Fenty (D) is in a difficult spot. Across the country, many of them and their attorneys have been meeting in conference rooms to analyze the potential damage that could be done nationwide if the D.C. law falls apart. Some fear that an adverse Supreme Court ruling could lead to more gun lobby challenges and the collapse of tough gun regulations in New York, Chicago and Detroit. Other potential casualties include federal laws that require background checks for gun buyers or ban the manufacture of machine guns for civilian use.

I wish I was as sanguine about Parker heading upstairs as some of my activist brethern (and sistern?) are. I received a long and thoughtful email from revolversmith Hamilton Bowen, himself a lawyer, that echoed my misgivings:

Until and unless the complexion of the court changes a bit in our favor, I'd love to let this dog lie. Too much is at stake to risk a hearing in the current court. Ginsberg and Stevens are probably the next two to leave the court, alive or otherwise, but chances that Bush will get a shot at a respectable replacement are low, thanks to Mr. Leahy who now runs the Senate Judiciary committee. Remember how unimportant is was for the Republicans to win last fall?

Thanks for messing up my otherwise pleasant afternoon.

Always happy to be of service, Hamilton! BTW, I haven't forgotten the question I was asked a couple of weeks ago after the Cooper Memorial...if I was to run for the NRA Board of Directors, what platform would I have? Fair question, and I've been workign on it. Should be presentable int he next few days...

MORE COFFEE!