The CSM has a list of the top 10 “culture magnets,” where in our fragmented world, all of us still somehow manage to connect. I won’t disagree with most of them, but “online hangouts”? That’s like saying we all connect because we all have living rooms. Can’t pick one hangout? Then it’s not a real magnet — it’s part of what’s fragmenting things.

Most shocking to me was this figure: the typical Oprah book club book gains $80 million in sales. I was figuring it maybe gave you half a million additional sales — about $15 million. Still a damned lot of money, but less than a fifth of the real number. No wonder Frey can’t be too terribly upset about all the goings-on. And no wonder Oprah gave it a rest for a while — that’s some kind of pressure. (via Kottke)

If my son had bought an iPod Nano instead of a regular iPod, he would have been all over this thing: the Tunebuckle.