Internet funnyperson Choire "Awl" Sicha (previously) has a new gig: New York Times advice columnist; Sicha is not fucking around either: "The only circumstance in which you can ask this woman out is if she sends you a literal ink-on-paper invitation to do so, like, in calligraphy and maybe with a seal stamped in wax, which would be awesome. — Read the rest

At The Awl, veteran headline-writer Choire Sicha deconstructs how headline-writing has been transformed by the search for SEO-optimized traffic boostfulness.

Josh Dzieza profiles The Awl, the Internet's best.

Founded in 2009 by Choire Sicha and Alex Balk, The Awl stands counter to the prevailing trends in the media industry, commenting skeptically on the conventions of the wider web while running a mix of stories that are both wide-ranging and unabashedly specific: writerly reviews of the previous day's weather, deconstructions of minion memes, tirades against negronis and the Moon, personal essays, deadpan lists, poetry.

Choire Sicha reports on Mediaite managing editor Jon Nicosia, who turns out to be a con artist, Zachary Hildreth, with form. The "confession". The fallout. On the internet, no-one know you're a dog. But if they never see you because of "black ops", well, you'd think some suspicion would kick in… [The Awl, Mediaite, Gawker]

David Rakoff, best known as a storyteller, author, and a regular contributor to the radio programs "This American Life" and "Fresh Air," has died of cancer. The news first appeared on the website Third Beat. Rakoff wrote beautifully about the experience of going through treatment here, in the New York Times. — Read the rest

The rebooted Battlestar Galactica was great at first, then got bogged down as it became clear no-one involved had any idea where things were headed. Choire Sicha offers the essential viewing guide to watch from beginning to end without the crap bits. — Read the rest

Choire Sicha: "I GIVE TSA PRECHECK AN A+++ IN AWESOMENESS. Though I also give it a D- in 'Constitutional and Human Fairness Issues.'"

Should the same crime deserve greater punishment if motivated by racial hatred or bigotry? At The New York Times, former editor Bill Keller says no, with the murder of Treyvon Martin as his entry point to the issue. He thereby instantaneously won the argument for his opponents, explains Choire Sicha. — Read the rest

"[W]hat's been pretty seriously under-covered is this past weekend's amazing outburst of out-of-control NYPD tactics on Occupy Wall Street," writes Choire Sicha at the Awl, along with a roundup of links and videos illustrating just how out-of-control those NYPD tactics are.

• David Pierce at The Verge reviewed the LG Nitro HD. The lowdown? Don't bother, because better stuff is on the way.

• At Ars Technica, Ben Kuchera loves Serious Sam 3, a "hardcore, difficult, and lovely" FPS. — Read the rest

The Awl's Choire Sicha is looking for a sublet in New York; this worst-of from Craigslist sublet listings paint a pretty awful picture for shared accommodation in the Big Apple.

• "Couples/420/cigarettes/drinking totally ok, but NO PETS."

• "Room DOUBLES AS A MUSIC TEACHING STUDIO from 9:30 AM – 9:00PM ON WED, THUR & FRIDAY so you would need to be out during these hours on these days."

Newsweek has published exclusive! photographs of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange enjoying Christmas in the Bail Mansion. Photos: Robert King / Polaris.

(via Choire Sicha)

Brendan I. Koerner's "Now the Hell Will Start" follows the true-life story of Herman Perry, a young black playboy from Washington, D.C., drafted into the Army and shipped to the Indo-Burmese jungles to build the Ledo Road, a Sisyphean attempt to connect Allied supply depots with China during World War II. — Read the rest

In Plenty magazine, this feature about the Chinese government's high-tech "weather modification" efforts for this summer's Beijing Olympics. The big idea: keep the sun shining, through all that smog. Snip:

One thing worth considering when you tamper with nature is what sort of nature you're tampering with.

The consistently brilliant Choire Sicha at Gawker breaks! news! that "cat macros," aka "Kittah," aka "LOLcats," aka cute clip art that people stick funny text on for the purpose of eliciting laughter and online social bonding — well, The Gays have taken over this last bastion of internet innocence, as is their dastardly wont. — Read the rest

Choire Sicha deconstructs wildly contradictory headlines related to the Asian disaster. "I'm all for opinionated reporting and interpretation, but this I find this actually quite disturbing and very sad, particularly when one gets a whiff of agenda in the headlines." Link

Winning films created in last year's edition of the 24 hour Moviemaking Madness competition will be screened tonight in LA. I covered the event last year for Wired Magazine, together with Gawker'sl Choire Sicha. It was probably the zaniest, most surreal 24 hours of my life. — Read the rest

Vincent Gallo is evidently selling the film production package he used to shoot the "outstandingly bad" movie Brown Bunny on eBay. The listing is a characteristically Gallic stream-of-consciousness screed. Current bidding stands at $86,800 for a kit that includes Stanley Kubrick's legendary Barry Lyndon lens. — Read the rest

Choire Sicha of Gawker points us to an upcoming tech-art happening in New York City — a "custom version" of the geek art piece "Balldroppings" will be installed at TKNY's Compact-Impact show in Manhattan; January 16, 7pm @ 21 Ave B. — Read the rest

Item! The blogosphere is all aflutter.

(1) Elizabeth Spiers, "snark queen" editor of Nick Denton's New York-based Gawker blog is said to be on (insert Dr. Evil air-quotes) vacation (/air quotes). Jeff Jarvis says:

She has been hanging around New York magazine, getting a co-byline on the Intelligencer this week (imagine if you could hear her voice there — it'd be better than a return to the good old days of the column that really started smart local gossip).