It was brought to my attention by a possible advertiser that we had no clearly displayed privacy policy on our site. So I added one today. Please take a moment to read it through. I think i covered all the basics.

Longtime readers will remember our extensive coverage of last year's Contagious Media Showdown. An experiment in creating viral or contagious ideas, contestants competed over the course of a few weeks to see who could get the most traffic, links and buzz to specially created websites. The competition yielded Crying While Eating, Blogebrity, Ringtone Panties and a host of other new and different ideas. It was a fascinating experiment, and we looked at a lot of the sites in some depth (search our archives for the keyword “Contagious” and you'll find them all).

Now, the competition is back, this time under the patronage of Adriana Huffington and AOL, and I'm really not too sure what I think of that.

Actually I do, it makes me want to puke.

Only two prizes will be awarded this year - one simply for highest traffic, and one for the entry that is the most original in the eyes of a panel of celebrity judges, including those icons of viral media, John Cusack and Nora Ephron (I kid you not). What's more the winners get to - gasp - have dinner with The Huff herself.

So, no value for Technorati rank, no value to Alexa penetration, no actual measurement of buzz at all. Very naive, and in some ways a betrayal of everything that last year's competition set out to prove - that you didn't need big corporations or AOL to create an online phenomenon.

Oh, and here's the kicker - reading the fineprint, creators who come up with the “Next Big Thing” are signing over exclusive online rights to the idea to AOL until June 2007.

Somebody at Eyebeam.org just sold their soul to the Devil.

Now, this may be a good example of Losties looking too deep for clues but here's a screengrab from last week's episode that only HD viewers would be able to see. Is this just a production error (or more innocently something the production crew never thought about anyone ever seeing?) or are we looking at a clue showing us that Lost is taking place sometime in the future?

Also, what's up with Jack's tatoos?

- I would've posted this instead of linking to it, but I'm prett sure Scara would've yelled at me.
- After watching the newest SNL short, I'm thinking Chronic of Narnia was fluke.
- And the 50 most loathsome people of 2005...You had me for a while, but even I cringed at #13.

Last week: Scott McClellan to the press...The President does not know Jack Abramoff, nor does the President recall ever meeting him.

This week: From The Washingtonian...We have seen five photos of the President with Abramoff or his family. One photo shows the President and Abramoff shaking hands at a meeting in the Old Executive Office Building, where a bearded-Abramoff introduced Bush to several of the lobbyist’s native-American clients.

To any Bush supporters needing more proof that George is a liar, and the worst thing that's ever happerned to the United States...give it a minute.