Web Shorts

NPR won’t post heated Simmons-Gross talk
NPR smackdown? In a departure from its usual policy, National Public Radio will not be posting a tense interview between “Fresh Air” host Terry Gross and KISS lead singer/bassist Gene Simmons on its web site. NPR.org typically publishes excerpts from Fresh Air interviews, but Simmons denied them permission, according to a message on the NPR web site. During the heated exchange earlier this week, Simmons, who is best known for his onstage tongue-waggling and black-and-white makeup, called Gross a “boring lady” who is “studious and reserved.” Gross dished it out as well, accusing Simmons of being obnoxious and lacking a sense of humor. Simmons’ salvos came after Gross responded less than favorably to his sexual braggadocio. He boasted that he wore a studded codpiece because his manhood would be too much for Gross to handle, and that he’d had 4,600 lovers and counting. The interview’s tone borrowed more from Howard Stern than from Gross’s usual quiet, respectful approach.

FuckedCompany.com sells e-commerce tools
FuckedCompany, the curiously successful web site where people post gossip about dying dot.coms, is going to start offering e-commerce tools. Phillip Kaplan, FuckedCompany’s proprietor, told CNET News that his low-cost software products, which are all based on tools he devised for running his own online businesses, represent a way for entrepreneurs to actually make money with their internet companies. One of the tools is based on AmazonScan.com, which tracks book sales and updates the stats hourly. Kaplan plans to offer it for free, at least at first. Additionally, Kaplan will offer a small-scale ad-serving platform, aimed at businesses that are too small to afford services like DoubleClick or L90. In many interviews, including one with Media Life, Kaplan has expressed ambivalence as to whether or not FuckedCompany will survive, but he has continued to introduce new web sites and services nonetheless.

Rock band launches computer game on web site
To keep their U.S. fans at bay while they strut across the international stage, Detroit rock duo The White Stripes have launched a computer game on their official web site, www.whitestripes.com. The game, Stripeout, will also be available on British music sites NME.com, MTV.co.uk, Playlouder.com and the BBC's Radio 1 site starting Feb.11. Users are urged to practice on the downloadable version first before matching their skills with others online. The highest scorers from each site after three weeks will meet in a grand prize showdown, with the winner receiving a box of goodies from drummer Meg White and singer and guitarist Jack White. Others will have to content themselves with seeing the Stripes on their U.S. tour starting March 29 in Cleveland, Ohio.

ABC News cuts off Yahoo’s video
Disney-owned news site ABCNews.com has ended a deal in which it furnished streaming video news to internet portal Yahoo. ABCNews had been providing streaming content to Yahoo for the past two years. However, ABCNews.com has arranged for a more lucrative online news video content deal with RealNetworks. An ABCNews.com spokesperson told Reuters that the RealNetworks deal was closed on terms more favorable than what Yahoo had to offer, leading Disney to realize how much its ABCNews.com streaming video might really be worth. All Yahoo has to say about the change is that ABCNews had approached the company, saying that its needs had changed and that it was reevaluating its streaming video strategy.

Emails soothed people after Sept. 11
Email is coming into its own as a medium that people fall back on for emotional support, according to a poll carried out by the UCLA Center for Communication Policy. What’s more, the events of Sept. 11 demonstrated the first widespread application of its new role. More than 57 percent of email users, or 100 million people, transmitted or got messages expressing support or worry related to the Sept. 11 attacks. Thirty-nine percent sent messages of support, and 38 percent received such messages. Twenty-three percent of American net uses received sympathetic email messages from another country. Still, the comforting messages lacked urgency, as just 18 percent inquired specifically as to the fate of victims. Additionally, UCLA researchers determined that much of the message exchanging would not have occurred over the phone, even if phone lines had not been jammed.

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