Here’s a taste of the story.

Experts predict that the penultimate catastrophe will occur at approximately 7:15 p.m. Thursday night, when the social networking tool Twitter will be used to communicate a series of ideas so banal they will instantaneously negate the three centuries of the Renaissance.

Actually, we get this. We get this in a big way. Only this week we witnessed a marketing concept so banal its greatest conceit was the company responsible thinking we might actually believe the scenario being presented to us.

And if you think what we speak of is Microsoft’s Windows 7 marketing videos… well, you got it one.

So the question of the day is this. What would you nominate as humankind’s greatest cultural, technological or social shame? Please try to rise above “Apple’s hockey-puck mouse”. Dig deep, people. Dig deep.

[The Onion]

Not one—The New Nation, a newspaper from Bangladesh—but two—the Daily Manab Zamin, who ran the story in Bengali—published the whole story quoting the “Onion News Network, Lebanon, Ohio.” They reprinted the whole thing, starting with the headline: Conspiracy Theorist Convinces Armstrong Moon Landing Was Faked.

Their excuse: “We thought it was true so we printed it without checking.”

Frankly, I understand them. After all, if it is in in the internet, it must be real.

What is even more worrying is that there are a couple of Gizmodo readers—now banned—who actually believed the whole thing when we published it as a joke, and then used it as an argument in the story of Chandrayaan-1’s image on the Apollo 15 landing site. [Wired UK]

My favourite line on Twitter: “You just pick a name that’s very common and after it you add the year your son or daughter was born…just make sure that you spell everything wrong and swear a lot.” [Thanks Cameron!]

Google Opt Out Feature Lets Users Protect Privacy By Moving To Remote Village

Like all the best Onion pieces, this video takes the bizarre and scary concepts we ignore despite being right in front of our faces, and spells them out in blunt, hilarious language. As the “Google Exec” says, “If you don’t want to give us complete access to your most private thoughts and feelings, that’s fine! You can just toil on the hinterlands, and die young.”

But my favourite part has to be the consistent juxtaposition of Google’s bright happy basic colours on all the terrifying privacy guards and equipment. On the other hand, even if this horrible airless prison was real, I’d probably still get excited about the next Android phone. You win, Google. You win everything, ever. [The Onion]

“Oh my God, I can’t believe how much faster you can get online with this,” said Delaney, who exited the store holding a cupped hand up to her ear and yelling into her wrist about how wonderful the new phone was. “The reception is so clear, and you can pretty much get a signal no matter where you go.”

“Hold on a sec,” continued Delaney, suddenly shaking her hand up and down. “I think my battery is dying.”

Like I said, exactly. [The Onion]

[The Onion]

Think about it. The more all these people work in all those weird countries, the more clothes there will be, and the cheaper the manufacturing will result. Result: Increased profit margins for manufacturers, free entertainment for those workers/slaves/kids slaves no matter about where they are, and exactly the same quality for your jeans, shirts, jackets, and sneakers, at the same price.

See? ! Everyone wins! [The Onion]

What makes these so great is just how close to real they look. Trust me, I’ve seen plenty of absolutely idiotic products with iPod docks in them, and the iFeast isn’t the dumbest. As for the Kleen-Stride, well, aren’t there slippers designed to clean your floors? In any case, these are awesome and a good way to gauge just how your fiancé will react to your legitimately crappy gifts in the future. [Kleen-Stride and iFeast]