Free Republic

Animated GIFs have transcended their obscure 1990s roots to become a key part of day-to-day digital communication. Some, like Orson Welles clapping or Michael Jackson eating popcorn, have become instantly recognizable shorthand. Others, like Sean Spicer disappearing into the bushes—itself a remix of a popular Simpsons GIF—serve up political satire. The GIF does double duty as both expression and as badge of digital literacy. Not bad for an image standard that pre-dates the web itself.

"Our old friend Michael Mele died today after a five year battle with liver cancer. He was 56. He’ll be laid to rest next Wednesday in Lancaster County, PA." - David Katz

Bad news for those of us who were using Compuserve's French web site to get fast access to Agence France Press (AFP) French language newswire. Compuserve and AFP have discontinued their hosting arrangement (http://hosting.afp.com/clients/compuserve/francais/der/), which allowed almost instantaneous access to the AFP newswire. It was a great source for breaking news, often beating AP, Reuters and other competitors. Compuserve users in France are now directed to AOL's slower version of the newswire packaged for Internet sites, which virtually all of the other French web sites carry. The articles are more detailed, but not hot-off-the-wire like the Compuserve-AFP site was. And...