Crikey

No drugs for primetime Hughesy. Comedian Dave Hughes has traded off the comic value of his bong-smoking, dole-bludging days for years, but it seems The 7pm Project only likes the dole-bludger bit. When quizzing Hughesy on plans for big cash payments for relocating the long-term unemployed, and what he’d have done do with $6000 in his unemployed days, Hughesy replied “I might have bought drugs …” Someone quickly pressed the dump button. Judging by the footage though, the only vaguely damaging part escaped the dumping, since the full sentence was “I might have bought drugs with it to be honest, but that was then, not now …” — Amber Jamieson

Let’s fight the copyright agaaain. Hit YouTube remix of The Time Warp, featuring Tony Abbott as Dr. Frank-N-Furter, has been removed from the website, apparently due to copyright issues with the show’s writer, Richard O’Brien. You might remember that Crikey had the ALP ad as its Video of the Day earlier this month. If you’re desperate to view the troublesome video, it is still available on YouTube (under a different user, and who knows how long it will last?).

In an equalising move, the Liberal ad Drivers Seat featuring the “changing faces” of the Labor Party has also been suspended, because of heavy criticism regarding the depiction of Julia Gillard running over a child in a car. Labor’s newest ad, ending with the tagline “Don’t risk Tony Abbott”, is way less fun than the rollicking tunes of the Tony Abbott Time Warp. — Crikey intern Jasmin Pfefferkorn

Tony Martin on Bryon Bay, books and bombing out

“Every year the nation’s authorati descends on Byron Bay to take part in a kind of Woodstock for book club members. I feel like my invitation is some kind of mistake but, reassuringly, I spot Akmal Saleh’s name in the program amidst the Rodney Halls and Cate Kennedys.” — The Scrivener’s Fancy

Swingly onto the scene

“Swingly… it’s already shaping up to be one of the more interesting search-related start-ups of 2010 …  it should ideally look and feel like a typical Q&A site, but much faster.” —  Mashable

From beach to broadcast

“Lara Bingle is re-inventing herself — yet again — as a breakfast radio jockette — the model … is in line to cover Jackie O’s maternity leave on Sydney’s 2Day FM.” —  Herald Sun

News Corp becomes Republicans biggest corporate donor

“The News Corporation, controlled by Rupert Murdoch, contributed $1 million to the Republican Governors Association this summer” —  NY Times

RIP WWW

“Two decades after its birth, the World Wide Web is in decline, as simpler, sleeker services — think apps — are less about the searching and more about the getting.” — Wired

Sky goes bananas over the ‘ABC gorilla’

“The CEO of Sky News Angelos Frangopoulos … said in January that the ABC is “transforming into a taxpayer-fuelled broadcasting gorilla with a huge appetite for territory, more public money and control over public policy”. —  The Australian

The chronicles of Tweets

“Twitter has launched a new section of its website called Twitter Tales, a collection of ‘examples of great Twitter use [that] will also likely inspire others to use the service in innovative and interesting ways’.” —  Mashable