Another week, another… Well, I can’t say dollar any more since WP’s in-house ad service doesn’t seem to be showing ads. Anyhow, I’ve been a little torn between here and et geekera which probably means posts are or will get a little thin between the two blogs. If you want to write for either site to make my life a little easier get your name out there and have a little fun at the same time, you can email me at thelowdown [at] live.ca.

As for today’s links, let’s start with Canadian model Michea Crawford.

For a while, it looked touch and go as to who would win the US Presidential election but Barack Obama pulled it out. What really helped him stretch his lead early in the campaign was that Reddit AMA. It was a big risk but it paid off with a big reward. (BuzzFeed)

The petition to have America build a Death Star got enough signatures to require a response from the White House. They responded in absolutely epic fashion. (The White House)

Alabama won their 15th national title in college football last Monday. The game was the highest-rated program in cable TV history and the BCS TV deal is worth hundreds of millions of dollars. So where does all that money go? (The Fiscal Times)

After the jump, a big change at Gawker, the science of Serenity and changes coming soon to YouTube.

AJ Daulerio is out as editor of Gawker.com. Despite being Gawker’s best editor ever in terms of traffic, people are still asking did he jump or was he pushed? (New York Observer)

Have you heard about the zumba teacher who also ran a prostitution business out of her studio in a small town in Maine? (Vanity Fair)

We all know how one of our favourite characters died in Serenity despite being a leaf on the wind. One Firefly fan asked if how he died was actually possible. (Scientific American)

What happens when a media reporter becomes a story reported on by the media. Deadspin media reporter John Koblin talks about when ESPN boss John Walsh’s false assertions made him the story. (Gelf)

The NHL lockout wasn’t even officially over when the Leafs turfed Brian Burke. Most GMs and intelligent hockey media folk say Burke wasn’t given enough time to right the ship. Does that mean the Leafs pulled the trigger too soon. (McIndoe)

Before the lockout ended, NBC took legendary hockey commentator Mike Emrick off water polo duty and had him surprise players at a youth girls hockey game. (Awful Announcing)

To prove that you can bet on anything, bookies in Taiwan take bets on the life expectancy of cancer patients. (Sports Grid)

Video has surfaced of Valve’s tech demo for Half-Life. Even though the tech demo was from about a year before commercial release, there is quite a difference between this and what we got. (PC Gamer)

The lead writer of Dragon Age 3 is avoiding the official BioWare forum because it’s too negative. (Kotaku) While I can appreciate not wanting to see yourself angrily criticized by angry fans, I think Gaider is missing the point. If there are many people who are very angry about something, it might be worth examining to see if a change is needed. The BSN is full of BioWare diehards, not the CoD kids who want to pwn noobs. These are the people who loved this company when it was an independent making great games. They want to see BioWare return to the glory days of KOTOR and the original Mass Effect. It’s tough love. If the top dogs at BioWare don’t like it, they should never have made a good game in the first place.

Some big changes are coming to YouTube next month. They’re actually pretty useful and will make the internet much more efficient.

In what must rank among the best pranks ever, a guy pulls the driverless car prank at fast food drive-thrus.