This past week, we watched the internet indulge in questionable activities that have brought up the age old question: “Is this racist or not?” And for others, the more complex “Am I racist for thinking that this is racist?” After the jump, you will find three exhibits of potential internet racism, and at the hand of Apple, Microsoft, and McDonald’s no less. Help us decide! Read More »

And the award for grossest lede goes to: “Here is one thing you probably do not know about Jared Leto: He is a hugger.” [via MTV News]

Game on, Gates: Microsoft is going to take down the iPhone. Or at least they plan to try. [via WSJ]

Scarier than Nuclear Wintour: Not a chance. But still, the Viscountess of Vogue is a fashion force to be reckoned with. [via NYO]

The new Tonight Show logo: Would you want it on a tee? Or a mug? Yeah, we didn’t think so. [via TV Squad]

Your mom will be happy: Cirque du Soleil will bring a new show to the Beacon Theater next year; they also plan to do something at Radio City Music Hall to trick tourists looking for the Rockettes. [via NYT]

The worst sequel ever?: What do we like even less than Shia LaBouf in Indiana Jones? Shia Lebouf playing a greedy Wall Street trader. [via EW]

Mahmoud Ahmandinejad is a total copycat: And apparently a rhymer as well. Yes We Can Iran. [via Guardian]

Bonus link: Dickensurl.com

Videogum does. G4TV does, too. Shockingly, Sasha Frere-Jones seems to be staying out of it. Watching it makes us want a set of glow in the dark towels and a life that’s set to a SongSmith-created soundtrack. But we’re weird.

Books: In Don DeLillo’s novel Falling Man (2007), a man dressed in a suit and tie plunges headfirst from a Manhattan skyscraper just weeks after the attacks of September 11, 2001… Is it possible to create art out of horror without being exploitative and tasteless?” [Commentary]

Dance/Opera: “Miami City Ballet will forgo live orchestra and perform to recorded music for the second half of its 2008-09 season to save money.” [AP]

Design: “The dutch company Sustainable Dance Club in collaboration with Paullides and the Technical University Eindhoven has invented a way for clubbers to go out and party and be less waistful. Their solution? A Sustainable Dancefloor.” [Design Spotter]

Film: “Julian Farino, best known for his work on Entourage, is in final negotiations to direct Oranges, an indie comedy being produced by Anthony Bregman. ” [THR]

Music: “No matter what Heather DeLoach does for the rest of her life — short of, say, becoming president — she will always be known as the ‘Bee Girl.’ Hell, maybe even if she becomes president. And that’s just fine with her. ” [MTV]

Television: “Italians tuning in to their state TV network this week had a rare chance to see Brokeback Mountain, the tale of true friendship between two straight cowboys.” [Guardian]

Theatre: “A recent Austrian production of Friedrich Schiller’s Mary Stuart featured a surprise ending: The prop knife for the final scene, in which a character stabs himself in the neck, was replaced with a real one.” [Daily Telegraph]

Visual Arts: “The Republic of Peru has quietly filed a lawsuit against Yale, officially turning a nearly century-long dispute over the rightful ownership of Inca artifacts into a legal battle, the News has learned.” [YDN]

Web: “Currently Principal Researcher at Microsoft Research, Bill Buxton writes a regular-ish column for the Innovation channel here at BusinessWeek. In the process of working on a new piece, we got to emailing about how innovation can flourish in a downturn. Bill made the point that industrial design in the U.S was born between 1927 and 1929, i.e., right on the eve of the great depression. Now-legendary designers such as Henry Dreyfuss, Walter Dorwin Teague and Raymond Loewy all flourished in this time and as Bill noted, ‘Firms employed these folks because they brought real value. It was about survival, not visual lollipops.’” [BusinessWeek]

Last night Microsoft and Common launched their new ’80s inspired T-shirt capsule collection — which takes the cheeky name SOFTWEAR by Microsoft — with a low key party that featured DJ Biz Markie on the decks and a cameo appearance by Jeremy Piven. The colorful cotton tees, which will cost you about $32, will be available later this month at select boutiques nationwide.

What we’re wondering is: