Jason Calacanis, A-List blogger and founder of Weblogs Inc. (the company behind the enormously popular Engadget) has written a post stating some general rules for link baiting him. Follow these rules, he says, and he’s very likely to link back to you.

Basically he expects people to stroke his ego a bit before bashing his usually controversial opinions. He recommends citing his past accomplishments, mentioning his bulldog, or displaying attractive pictures of him before he gained weight.

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An SNL video has been circulating the interwebs called Don’t Buy Stuff You Can’t Afford. The title basically says it all: an expert explains the most important rule of personal finance — spend less than you earn.

The funny part is that the people listening to the pitch don’t want to believe it. They’re dying for the finance guru to tell them how to buy everything they want right now.

The joke works because it reflects real behavior. A product can be an obvious scam, but people will rush to buy it because they enjoy believing pleasant lies. People pay for the pleasure of being deceived. For a brief period they can believe in an easy answer. The best part of the purchase is waiting for it to arrive, full of optimism and excitement.

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I’ve just gone live with a new design. If you’re reading through a feed reader come check it out.

The basic structure of the site is the same, but I’ve upgraded the presentation to reduce wasted space and make it easier on the eyes.

Please let me know if anything looks broken. I’ve tested it a bit, but not for all platforms. I’d also love to hear any other feedback on usability or presentation. I’ll continue to tweak it for the next few weeks until it’s the best it can be.

Well, the StumbleUpon community has read my post on how to become a top user and started discussing my tactics.

Also, I’ve been taken off the Top Stumbler page. I haven’t received a notice but I’m inclined to believe the events are connected. It will be interesting to see how my StumbleUpon traffic is affected.

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On Sunday afternoon I went with a couple friends to see the Quentin Tarantino/Robert Rodriguez double feature, GrindHouse. Although it isn’t Tarantino’s best work it did not disappoint. By that I mean that it was phenomenally edgy and violent.

During one particularly gruesome scene, with guns blazing and blood splattering, I suddenly became conscious of how excited I was and how much I enjoyed that feeling.

I’m not proud of it, but I like watching violent movies. Not for the sake of violence itself. A movie with nothing but violence would be terribly dull. But violence combined with compelling dialogue, violence that I can believe, now that’s entertainment. The popularity of filmmakers like Tarantino and Rodriguez proves I’m not alone.

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Everyone knows social media sites like Digg, Reddit, and StumbleUpon can drive massive amounts of traffic to your website. IF you can get on the front page.

The problem is that most submissions drop like an anvil through the new queue without getting more than one or two votes.

I can’t tell you how to become a power user on Digg or Reddit. I’ve had some luck with those sites but no consistent success, and I have a feeling it takes more effort and social networking than most webmasters want to do.

What I will tell you is how I’ve used StumbleUpon to drive nearly 80,000 visitors to this website without dramatically changing my web browsing habits or pestering people to vote for me.

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We know what we need to do to reach our goals. But we still aren’t doing it. We’re checking our email 50 times a day. We’re browsing the web without any particular purpose. We’re watching TV or a movie or playing video games or chatting with friends. We’re doing any of the dozens of things we do to avoid constructive effort.

We do this because these activities are more enjoyable than work. They’re easy and there is no risk of failure. You don’t have to perform when surfing the web. You just enjoy the ride. Who knows, maybe you’ll even learn something valuable.

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When I heard the news of Mr. Vonnegut’s death this morning it aroused a rare feeling. It wasn’t sadness. I cannot imagine a human being more prepared to pass into eternity than Mr. Vonnegut. A more accurate description is a combination of awe and nostalgia. Awe of the fact that such a man ever existed and nostalgia for the time when I first experienced his work; for the person I was then and for the impact he has had on my thoughts in the ensuing years. From the outpouring I have read today, I perceive this feeling is shared by many others.

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I read a post today titled Why Kids Do Drugs. The point of the article is contained in this passage:

Kids do drugs because they realize that adults have lied to them about it. If they are to discover the truth, they have only one course of action: Do drugs.

Yesterday I heard a story on NPR in which children were asked what they thought about drugs. Each child parroted back, with conviction, all the same false information I believed at their age. They said things like “you’ll die” and “you’ll lose all your friends.”

What will these kids do when they find out it’s not true? Drugs. When it is discovered first-hand that drugs aren’t so bad what, then, what will these kids do? More drugs.

Of all the things kids are told about drugs, the truth is blatantly omitted. Why? Because people are afraid to publicly say anything about drugs that isn’t 100% negative. They’re afraid of having their words twisted and their reputations ruined. And these fears are justified because society is terrified of the truth.

Why are we afraid of the truth? When did it become unmentionable?

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