Seattle superhero Phoenix Jones has  been unmasked as Benjamin John Francis Fodor — which I think will make it easier for women to track him down and beat him with a shoe, as in the video below. Once his identity became public, did Captain America ever have to deal with this?

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The people at Google were kind enough to note Gumby creator Art Clokey’s 90th birthday with today’s Google doodle. (The video below shows how it runs.) Here’s a brief overview of the creation of this Google doodle and of Gumby. Gumby has brought me lots of enjoyment over the years, right up to this day, so I appreciate Google’s recognition of Mr. Clokey.

This set of slides from Business Insider provides the single best explanation I’ve seen of what’s happened to the U.S. economy over the last 30 years, and why protesters — and those of us who agree with the protesters — are protesting. It’s a good, and useful, 5-minute education. Basically, all the fairness has left the system.

Thirteen years ago, David Byrne’s performance on the show Sessions at West 54th Street proved definitively how much he didn’t need the other people from Talking Heads. This video of “Making Flippy Floppy” serves as Exhibit A. The band is electrifying: I think the backup singer is terrific, in energy, look, enthusiasm, and vocal colors, and the keyboardist brings several good new textures to the song, but then, every member sounds great. On a personal note, I have to say that David Byrne’s dance moves here speak directly to my soul. I encourage you to watch the entire video — including the final minute where he explains to host Chris Douridas his thinking behind the choice of those clothes. To this day, David Byrne is always thinking.

In recent years, movie studios and exhibitors (movie theatres) have been at war over when it’s appropriate to release a movie for digital distribution. Exhibitors, obviously, want people to go out to the movies; if the same movie is available within weeks  — or, worse for them, day-and-date of release — they fear that people will stay home and watch them there.

Now the same drama is playing out in comics. DC’s “New 52” line is available day-and-date for digital reading, with comics store owners still unsure how that’s going to play out; my own local comics shop owner told me he’s hopeful that if people buy their DC titles electronically, they’ll buy them from his online store, where he’ll get a one-third cut.  Retailers I met at this summer’s San Diego Comics Con felt like angry villagers ready to storm DC’s castle.

Now this:  Barnes & Noble is pulling all the DC graphic novels because DC’s parent, Warner Brothers, has entered into an exclusive digital deal with Amazon, meaning that, say, “Watchmen,” will be made available for the new Kindle Fire — but not for the B&N Nook.

Where will all this wind up? No one knows. Digital delivery — of music, of books, of movies, of information, of mail, and more — has already destabilized countless industries (including the post office). Expect more of that.

Leaves me wondering why a certain President can’t do this.

So one of “the 1%” died recently — that being Mr. Steven P. Jobs — but the left isn’t angry at him. Here’s one person’s theory about why, and it rings true to me.  No matter what the laughably ill-informed Herman Cain says, the people in the streets aren’t anti-capitalism. They’re just pro-fairness, and they’re tired of getting ripped off by their own system.

Remember when in April of 2010, Gizmodo got hold of an accidentally left-behind iPhone prototype, which proved to be the iPhone 4, ran with the story, and suffered Apple’s response? (I wrote about it here.) Now former Gizmodo editor Brian Lam details his behind-the-scenes email and telephone exchanges with Steve Jobs, and comes away with a little regret. Even though my opinion hasn’t changed that Gizmodo was in the right and Apple was extremely in the wrong (seizing the writer’s computer and files), this is well worth reading for what it says about Jobs, and the impact he made on one technology fan.

Is it fitting that St. Croix is running a promotion that enables you to wear Steve Jobs’ favorite style of mock turtleneck, and will donate $20 to cancer research? Or is it tasteless? Or, hang on, is it… ironic? Given that Jobs never asked the personal permission of Einstein or Lennon or Warhol or Gandhi or anyone else to promote the “Think Different” campaign, and now his spirit finds himself in the same boat.

Perhaps, ultimately, we’re all commodities.