...For The Ride Home: Anderson Cooper has himself a new show, what the 'like' button really means and rest in peace Greg Giraldo

Why Phil Collins today, you ask? Well, after writing that Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame post yesterday, the lovely people at the Hall decided to follow us on Twitter (something you fantastic friends should do as well!). This, in turn - and because we are nice people - led us to start following them. The result? Well, today those fine people tweeted that on this day in rock history, Mr. Collins joined Genesis! That's right. Little did the world know that 40 years ago on this very day, the history of music would forever be rewritten as one (if not THE) greatest band in the storied history of the musical universe would undergo a lineup change. It's such a landmark day, you know. It's also a rainy day (at least at The Unusual Suspects world headquarters). And I like that. No. Wait. I love that. Rainy days are my favorite, and if I could only come across one during which I didn't actually have to work, my mind could be at ease. But alas, that's what we grown-up people do. Work hard for the money. Whether or not it is raining wherever you are, we suggest taking a few minutes to click on a link or two, check out our take on the latest and greatest NFL prank and cuddle up with a nice, loving lover. Because nice, loving lovers are the best. They really are.

Anybody out there see yesterday’s comments from Bubba Watson about this year’s Ryder Cup? Check this out and I dare you to tell us you aren’t rooting for the United States now. (ESPN)

Oh, wow. Don’t know if this is the right move. The Boston Globe will begin to offer two Web sites – one you have to pay for, the other will remain free. (Boston Globe)

Anderson Cooper is going to have a daytime talk show. And I’ll bet it’s good. (New York Times)

Recession-proof style. What more could you want? (GQ)

I admittedly know absolutely nothing about this kind of stuff. So this, to me, at least, is interesting: What the “like” button means in regards to Web traffic. (CNN)

So, someone from The XX is already putting out a solo album? Damn. Who do these dudes think they are? (Pitchfork)

Greg Giraldo died yesterday. That’s sad. (People)

Spencer and Heidi: Love perseveres. (TMZ)

...For The Ride Home: Alanis is pregnant, Arcade Fire rule the world and yes, 'Inception' was stolen from Donald Duck

My God, she's a doll, isn't she? Saw her on Jay Leno's show last night, and in a rare move by celebrities I tend to like, she came through and lived up to expectations. The following was brought up by my roommate after walking in to see me watching her: Is it too bad that the best role she'll ever get (Up In The Air) already happened? My answer: No. She's proven herself on some level already (A Tony Award and an Oscar nomination), and she seems to have a level head on her shoulders. So, with the exception of the upcoming "Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World," I think there may be nothing but goodness in her future. Oh. And she's a doll. Welcome to Wednesday. I was up way earlier than normal this morning, and found myself sort of lounging around a hot August afternoon. I now come away feeling guilty for doing such a thing. I should have ran, walked, swam, drove, anything to be outside. But alas, I am now, at the very least, caught up on sleep. Or, well, I hope I am. Tweeted this last night, so all other reflection on the friendly between the United States and Brazil will be passed over this time around. The only real thing to add is that I do believe Bob Bradley will be out by the end of the year, if not month, which is what some outlets are saying. The United States just didn't look good. You, though. You can look good, should you follow a few of the below links and have yourself a wonderful Wednesday evening.

Alanis Morissette is pregnant. Here’s hoping her kid says “Thank You” whenever she yells “You Oughta Know” something about being “Ironic.” OK. I tried. (Us Weekly)

Why TBD is important. And no, TBD is not a sexually transmitted disease. (Recovering Journalist)

Wow. Dude working in the pressroom brings guns to work. For some reason, this isn’t surprising to me at all. Silly press people. (Providence Journal)

OK. So Jennifer Lopez will not be a judge on “American Idol” now. Hello, Kara. How are you doing? (The Huffington Post)

Oh, what a mess they have at my beloved New York Jets facilities. The more this goes on, the more Rex Ryan will get out of hand. (USA Today)

The new Arcade Fire record debuted at No. 1. Hipsters promptly start burning copies of CD in the streets. (Pitchfork)

Hey, look! Norah Jones is going to play Farm Aid. Who’s in for a trip to Milwaukee? (Pollstar)

Read/heard about this earlier in the month, but if CNN picks it up, it must have traction, right? Was “Inception” inspired by Donald Duck? Way too many jokes to make here. (CNN)

Back To The Future

Early this week I did something I’ve never done before: I bought a laptop. And while this may seem like no big deal to most of you, I’ve always taken a bit of a hard-line stance against these machines – mainly because the cost to benefit ratio seemed positively ridiculous to me. But in the wake of stories like these, paired with the fact that my wonderful wife wanted one for some classes she’s taking, I figured now was as good a time as any to take the proverbial leap into 2005.

And of course, I bought the laptop right before I read the aforementioned article.

Such is my life.

But all in all, I’d say I’m happy with the purchase so far. We ended up going with a Toshiba Satellite something or other that was a steal according to the online reviews I looked up prior to (insert link to consumer reports post from a few weeks ago). The laptop was only $299! And in a rare stroke of good fortune, I checked a few days after I bought it and the same model went up to $369. Nice.

After looking at a couple different places, I bought the laptop at Best Buy. I would say my experience was good overall. I knew what I wanted before getting there, told the kid in the laptop section what I wanted and that I was in a hurry, he tried to sell me an extended warranty and the services of Geek Squad (two minutes tops), I declined, paid and was on my way.

The only hiccup was that I was paying in cash, which is apparently a new concept there. The kid ringing me out had to have a manager confirm that he counted my $316 correctly – and of course it took five minutes or so for a manager to make her way over to us. Really? You’ll let this kid sell high-tech equipment, talk about warranties and finance options but he can’t count less than $500? Lame.

And another question – I looked online for awhile the other day and I just can’t figure it out: When you buy a new computer from Best Buy, what EXACTLY does Geek Squad do? Last night I spent an hour or two setting our preferences, uninstalling the useless pre-set programs and favorites (who chooses that stuff anyways?), installing the anti-virus and networking the laptop to my wireless connection. Is that really worth $129 or whatever it costs? The only thing I haven’t done yet is create a Recover disk, and I’m sure Windows 7 will walk me through it pretty simply.

But I digress. There are obviously millions of people who would rather not spend the two hours setting it up, so Geek Squad, I suppose you win. Although I’m actually considering buying stock in the company just so I can get a peek at what they actually do. I picture this back room full of nerds playing cards and looking at Playboys from the mid 90’s, laughing at all the people who pay to give them their computers to work on for 15 minutes then sit on a shelf for a day and half.

Final question: Anyone know where I can get a cheap copy of Microsoft Office? Just kidding! I really don’t need Bill Gates’ legal team tracking me down.

See you at 4 p.m.., friends. Ride Ride Ride.

Consumer Reports and the iPhone 4 in a steel cage match

Today is one of the few dark days in the typically sunshiny Apple world. The technology superpower took a pretty stiff uppercut to the chin as Consumer Reports just announced that it can’t recommend the iPhone 4 due to a signal problem with the phone/web browser/mp3 player/game console/camera/video camera/time waster (did we mention phone?).

Specifically, Consumer Reports’ engineers found that the phone’s signal decreases significantly whenever the user touches a spot on the phone’s lower left side. The report did mention, however, that the phone has the best display and video camera of any phone ever.

So why does this matter to me, the simple blogger with an outdated LG EnV 3 (which I love by the way)? Actually, nothing. Based mainly on price, I will probably never own an Apple product other than my trusty outdated, clunky 30 GB iPod. I use a Mac at work for graphic design, but that’s about the extent of it (and I didn’t pay for it of course).

Then why post about the shortcomings of this gadget, you ask? My response: Forget about the iPhone – I want to talk about Consumer Reports!

Consumer Reports has almost gone the way of the buffalo in the current era of user reviews and social media, hasn’t it? Whenever we make any purchase worth mentioning, almost all of us research the products on the Web before making our decision. I’m so “thrifty” (cough “cheap” cough) that I research purchases as little as $50, to ensure I'm getting the most for my money.

But the difficulty of researching products/services online is the lack of accountability of the users. How much can we really depend on the opinions of Weirdo1117 or CraigsListKiller96? Isn’t it always in the back of our minds that maybe it’s a disgruntled ex-employee leaving the negative reviews and the marketing director leaving the positive ones?

Consumer Reports though, those dudes don’t mess around. They are downright scientific in their testing – and now, with this latest review of the “infallible” iPhone 4, it’s clear that they’re pretty objective too. I mean who in their right minds says anything negative about Apple?

Oh wait, Adobe just did that. Hehe.

So… User Reviews vs. Consumer Reports. The war continues, but today my friends, Consumer Reports is celebrating a victorious battle. Thoughts?

Come back on Thursday for a good time, winkwink. xoxoxoxo

...For The Ride Home: Larry King says goodbye, Eminem sold way more records than you thought he would and Robin Williams as The Riddler?

This song came on this morning while I was out for a run. Haven't heard it in years, and it was an absolute delight to hear it again after so long. Once saw them on a three-band bill at an outdoor amphitheater. They opened the show. Vertical Horizon was second. And Third Eye Blind was third. I lost about 75 dude points after admitting that, I understand. Too bad these guys went away, actually. They were a little different than the other lame-rock groups. The slower song was the bigger hit, but this tune has a bit of a tounge-in-cheek feel to it that's fabulous. Anyways, welcome to Wednesday, or as some may say, the last day of June. NBA free agency begins at 12:01 tonight, and where will all of those young superstars land? It shall be interesting to see how it plays out. Early thought: If LeBron goes to Miami to play with Chris Bosh and Dwayne Wade, he will be a five letter word that I am not allowed to type on a blog that has such young eyes. In any case, before any of that drama comes to fruition, take a look at a few of these links to get you firmly over the hump that Wednesday always provides.

Eminem sold 741,000 copies of Recovery in its first week. That’s awfully, awfully impressive in today’s fickle music world. Can’t imagine another record will top that this year. (Rolling Stone)

Oh, wow. Blogger writes about how good it is to hear about a story regarding heterosexual molestation from a priest as opposed to homosexual molestation. Outrage ensues. (D Magazine)

The media industry really is in trouble. Playboy cuts jobs to save $3 million a year. (Chicago Business)

A vote for Jurgen Klinsmann to become the next United States National Men’s Soccer Team coach. (Fox Sports)

It’s true. Verizon will carry the iPhone in 2011. AT&T stores around the world are immediately put up for sale. (Christian Science Monitor)

Robin Williams wants to play The Riddler in the next “Batman.” Good luck. (Showbiz Spy)

Erin Andrews is going to stay at ESPN. College coaches rejoice. (USA Today)

Larry King’s show is finally coming to an end. Here’s a look at some of the man’s worst moments. (The Hollywood Reporter)

...For The Ride Home: Lollapalooza after-shows, beat reporters have no spine and don't forget about tonight's NBA Draft

Imagine my happiness when I realized this record finally came in the mail yesterday. Shuffling it into my CD player in my car on the way to work, I arrived with a smile on my face, thus proclaiming to everybody at work that there was a smile on my face and the reasoning behind a smile being on my face. I said this then, and I shall repeat myself now: If you can't smile after listening to this record, you don't know what music is. I cannot begin to put into words, or a blog post, or a column, or, well, yeah, you get it, how much I root for these guys. There was never, ever a time when you heard a bad story about any of them. ANY OF THEM. Nobody ever accused them of doing anything wrong, ever (aside from writing tunes that ended up being the absolute biggest songs in the world, and yes, I'm sure you were annoyed). They are all now married. All now grown up. And all now still making music as a band together. Nobody thought they were bigger than the others. Nobody spoke out about "other interests." Nobody was caught coming out of a club stumbling drunk at 15-years-old. Nobody was rumored to have an affair with some type of mistress. None of that. They were once the biggest act in the world and then they went away. And that's it. Now they've released the official album of the summer of 2010. Goodness, you have to love that. OK. I'll get off my soapbox now and offer a few links for you wonderfully pretty readers. Hopefully, you enjoyed our breaking news in today's earlier post, and hopefully, you will enjoy our second installment of "Blogspot Banter" tomorrow. Until then, enjoy your Thursday, have a banana and spend time with your elders. They know more than you.

Forget the actual Lollapalooza festival. Check out the after-shows featuring Minus The Bear, The National, Devo, MGMT and The New Pornographers. (Alternative Press)

Italy, the defending World Cup champions, were knocked out of the tournament this morning. Great headline: Italian loafers. (Fox Sports)

Boy, this magazine really stumbled upon a gold mine with this Ed Rendell story. Yesterday, he addresses affair rumors, today he talks about meeting up with a prostitute. (The Philly Post)

Interesting. A vote for the notion that a beat reporter would have never used the McChrystal quotes in fear of “burning bridges.” (Press Think)

Five reasons not to buy the latest iPhone. Not listed? Reason number six – Because cell phones are the death of us. (Yahoo)

Jen Anniston has been told to stay away from Branjoilina. Oh, come on. But she’s so cute! (Showbiz Spy)

Don’t forget: The NBA Draft is tonight. The Cleveland Cavaliers, who have no picks going into it, are trying to maneuver their way into tonight’s festivities. (ESPN)

Kim Kardashian is dating Miles Austin. Does this mean the Cowboys will win this year’s Super Bowl? (New York Daily News)

Whoa. Had the highest of hopes that once the divorce news broke, nobody would find much wrong, and we could all just live with the fact that a separation happened amicably. That’s clearly not happening. Al Gore accused of sexual assault. (People)