today’s breaking news? no, not the fact that the rwandan hutus called an end to their rebellion, finally denouncing the 1994 genocide of 80,000 of their own countrymen. oh, no. the top story is all about terri schiavo’s death. no doubt that the pointless media circus and political meddling surrounding her—and her family’s—struggle will continue on without her, arguing over private family matters as if there was some great debate.

how sad that her last days will be remembered not for her, but for the political activists who escalated a personal issue into something that the government had no right to interfere with.

if I had a nickel for everyone who laughed at me for picking michigan state to make the final four, I’d have… 25 cents. probably should’ve told more people.

seriously though, no one believed they had it in them. it was always “kentucky’s gonna spank them” or “duke will clean up that bracket”… stupid duke fans.

but if you look at who the spartans lost to this year, it all makes sense. #2 duke, #19 wisconsin, #1 illinois, and george washington. the other two losses—iowa and indiana—you can chalk up to the competitiveness of the big 10. speaking of which, michigan state ended up #2 in the big 10, behind illinois, so maybe people didn’t think much of the conference.

they’re wrong.

top to bottom, the big 10 was one of—if not the—best this year. just look at ohio state’s turnaround this year. I can’t help thinking that had it not been for the self-imposed ban on postseason play, the bucks could’ve made the second round if they were selected… and then they would’ve gotten crushed by the next team, because their bench sucks. hell, they could’ve cleaned up in the nit if they would’ve been given a chance.

marketing and pr is a tricky business if you don’t know how to play. coca-cola and nike pretty much invented the rules. sony is so good that—to this day—they’re still convincing the uninformed to buy their mediocre products. and at the top of the heap sits apple, thanks in no small part to the ipod. though apple has had missteps in the past (and the present), their spin machine right now is so phenomenal that they’ve been able to persuade hundreds of thousands of people that random play is a “feature”.

which is why for apple’s competitors, no matter how cool you try to play it, you’re always going to be struggling to catch up. for example, when the ipod shuffle was first released, creative’s ceo had this to say:

“So I think the whole industry will just laugh at it, because the flash people—it’s worse than the cheapest Chinese player,” he added. “Even the cheap, cheap Chinese brand today has display and has FM. They don’t have this kind of thing, and they expect to come out with a fight; I think it’s a non-starter to begin with.”

strangely enough, they thought it was so cheap and crappy that they decided to develop a new mp3 player recently:

Releases Apr 04/05. The MuVo Mix 512MB is an incredibly easy-to-use MP3 player. It directly plugs into your USB port so no software or cables are needed! It also features Shuffle playback so you can enjoy your favourite songs in random order everyday.

hmm… no FM, no display, and “shuffle” playback. sounds vaguely familiar.

ever hear the urban legend where two guys found a finger in their food? well, unfortunately for a woman in san jose, this is no legend.

Santa Clara County Health Officer Dr. Martin Fenstersheib said today the woman was horrified “due to the unpleasant sensation of having this (object) in her mouth.”

But he said the finger had been cooked at a high enough temperature to kill any viruses, including hepatitis or HIV, and it was unlikely that she will suffer any health effects from her experience, aside from psychological trauma.

so aside from the fact that she just bit into someone’s finger, she’ll be just fine. nice job on the PR.