Comments on: Pssssst! Hey buddy! Wanna buy some crystals?

Pssssst! Hey buddy! Wanna buy some crystals?

soyjoy — Mon, 14 Apr 2003 14:02:30 -0800

Who Is J. Hutton "Jovan"? Good question, since on every other page on this site he calls himself "J. Hutton Pulitzer," with a prominent Joseph Pulitzer quote to imply he's family. See, he "changed his birth name ... to shake the hold he felt his "Family Name" had over his life." Gosh, was it that, or maybe the fact that under his real name, J. Jovan Philyaw, he's the bozo behind the huge CueCat boondoggle? You be the judge! After all, 'J. Hutton has created many "first".' And look at his impressive company headquarters! Oh wait, that's just an office building that remains unnamed on this page. Still, you can take his word that "The Pulitzer Collection represents Gods' devine communication of Himself and beauty to humanity." (via Dallas Observer, via Romenesko)

By: mr_crash_davis

mr_crash_davis — Mon, 14 Apr 2003 14:08:50 -0800

From the site: "J. Hutton Pulizter is proud to announce he is nearing completition of two new books!" Let's hope Pulizter's proofreaders are nearing completition of his web site.

By: soyjoy

soyjoy — Mon, 14 Apr 2003 14:23:01 -0800

Yeah, the typos, even when talking about God (or is it "Gods"?) seem to suggest a very quick slap-together, but even more fun can be had counting the number of times, and different ways, he links to the same page of Computer World Heroes finalists from the CueCat's early (still in high-bamboozle) days, as evidence of all the great things he's created and all the accolades received for them.

By: zpousman

zpousman — Mon, 14 Apr 2003 14:24:39 -0800

At least he's modest.

By: rcade

rcade — Mon, 14 Apr 2003 14:25:04 -0800

I got a year's free Internet access from Jovan's show, NetTalk Live, when he was still affiliated with a local ISP in Dallas called InternetAmerica. He used to have this great porn star mullet haircut, and for a while was known simply as "Jovan." If I were an investor, I can't imagine a person I'd be less confident giving money to.

By: gwint

gwint — Mon, 14 Apr 2003 14:37:30 -0800

Since 1987, J. Hutton Pulitzer has been rewriting Media, Marketing, Entertainment and Publishing history. Indeed.

By: LinusMines

LinusMines — Mon, 14 Apr 2003 14:45:24 -0800

J. Hutton's obvious "Invention and Passion Gene" If it's as tumescent and purple as his website's prose, I'm outta here.

By: rusty

rusty — Mon, 14 Apr 2003 14:48:05 -0800

That picture, according to the image name, is of the Providence Towers in Dallas, which is where the address says he's located. This page for another tenant has a different picture of the same building. The address says "Suite 400E" which anyone ought to recognize as an office within a big office building, and not uncommon at all. The guy's a tool and a fraud and all, I agree, but like Communism, the office building thing is only a red herring.

By: mr_roboto

mr_roboto — Mon, 14 Apr 2003 14:55:47 -0800

Check out this alternate-universe history of the :Cue:Cat:.

By: punilux

punilux — Mon, 14 Apr 2003 15:09:53 -0800

I remember, as a UK subscriber, being briefly annoyed that my copy of Wired didn't come with a cover-mounted CueCat. Only briefly...

By: mr_roboto

mr_roboto — Mon, 14 Apr 2003 15:38:30 -0800

Oooh! I think I found some plagiarism! On the "Pulitzer Collection" page, there's this spiel about Michelangelo: There has never been a more literally awesome artist than Michelangelo....not so much being terrible as being awesome. This is lifted, with a minimal rearrangement of sentences, directly from the WebMuseum's Michelangelo page; second hit on a Google search for "Michelangelo". The rearrangement makes the text significantly less coherent. Material at the WebMuseum is under a Creative Commons license, which Pulitzer, or Jovan, or whoever, has violated by failing to attribute the quotation. In addition, Jovan has failed to note that the material on the "Pulitzer Collection" page is available under a Creative Commons license, which I'm pretty sure is an additional violation of the license. Maybe I'll email the museum about this... Jesus, I just Googled the stuff on Edison, and it's from the Encyclopaedia Britannica. I'd be suprised to find an entire page on this site without an instance of plagarism.

By: y6y6y6

y6y6y6 — Mon, 14 Apr 2003 15:50:31 -0800

tumescent \Tu*mes"cent\, a. Slightly tumid; swollen, as certain moss capsules.

By: moss

moss — Mon, 14 Apr 2003 16:14:08 -0800

as certain moss capsules Hey!

By: Dean_Paxton

Dean_Paxton — Mon, 14 Apr 2003 16:15:37 -0800

Sounds like a man after Kimball's heart. Meet the new hustle, same as the old...

By: FormlessOne

FormlessOne — Mon, 14 Apr 2003 16:27:27 -0800

The CueCat was great...once you figured out how to use it for something rewarding, that is, and ditched the spyware...er, software that came with it. There's quite a bit of code out that allows you to make use of the CueCat as a really cheap UPC barcode reader in your own apps.

By: yhbc

yhbc — Mon, 14 Apr 2003 18:53:12 -0800

Or as a wicked cool pez dispenser.

By: soyjoy

soyjoy — Mon, 14 Apr 2003 18:53:36 -0800

rusty - yeah, it seems like a cheap shot, but look at the photo on the right: That's the lobby of Providence Towers (it couldn't be on the 400 level), but it's captioned "J. Hutton Pulitzer - Business With Meaning!" to further push that grandiose envelope. It's a small thing, I agree, but for me it pushed it over the top.

By: dejah420

dejah420 — Mon, 14 Apr 2003 19:24:22 -0800

It's a small thing, I agree, but for me it pushed it over the top. Yeah, I'm here in Dallas and have been in that building...that shot is from near elevator banks, looking towards the entryway. And yes...he's a dweeb.

By: thatweirdguy2

thatweirdguy2 — Mon, 14 Apr 2003 21:10:12 -0800

My friend's toilet seat wouldn't stay up. Not a huge deal except on nights of much beer drinking and the inevitable pissing... drunken pissing with one hand while holding up the seat with the other hand makes for a wet floor. So, we tied the trusty CueCat around the towel rack over the toilet and through the toilet seat to keep it up. Only useful function we found for it.

By: LeiaS

LeiaS — Mon, 14 Apr 2003 23:51:34 -0800

I used to work at the tv station whose studios Jovan used to film Net Talk Live. Oh boy, was that man mocked.

By: pekar wood

pekar wood — Tue, 15 Apr 2003 04:46:41 -0800

CueCat today.