That Pic Sure Makes Your Email Scam More Believable, originally uploaded by andycarvin.

I just got this email in my in box. It's obvious scam mail, of course, but I love how they've added a stock photo of global office workers to make it more convincing that a "British finance security company" needs my assistance in processing $35.5 million.

Video I shot today of the Swedish royal ship Vasa, which sunk off Stockholm during its maiden voyage in 1628. It was salvaged in 1961 and was processed for years using water and preservative chemicals until it was given a new home at Stockholm's Vasa Museum. It's the best preserved 17th century ships in the world, and one of my all-time favorite museums.

Was this children's book inspired by the Twitter fail whale?, originally uploaded by andycarvin.

I was at a bookstore in Pittsburgh a few days ago and saw a book called Billy Twitters And His Blue Whale Problem in the children's section. Given that Twitter shows a picture of a whale being lifted up by birds - The Fail Whale - whenever it crashes, I wonder if this book was inspired by that art. The book was published in June 2009, well after the Fail Whale was well established as an Internet meme. Anyone got the scoop on this one? Alas, I was too busy chasing Kayleigh up and down the aisles to get her to sit down and read it with me. :-)

Why Did CNN Use This Pic of Madonna Giving the Bird?, originally uploaded by andycarvin.

I wonder what CNN.com was going for when they selected this photo of Madonna to accompany their story about someone getting killed in a concert stage construction accident. -andy