What are the 10 worst Web glitches of 2008 so far? Well, since you asked …

The variations on the Nigerian scam are pretty entertaining and some spammers exhibit a true sense of humor, but that image above — a screenshot of a piece of spam I received the other day — pretty much raises the bar for entertaining spam.

Anyone who opens that .zip file gets exactly what they deserve.

"People have this illusion that all over the world, all of the time, all kinds of fantastic things are happening. When in fact, over most of the world nothing is happening."
—David Brinkley

I’ve been trying to spend a bit of my August whittling down that four-foot-tall pile of magazines in my office. In some cases, this means actually reading some of the articles in them.

This one’s about a month late, but it’s so good I had to share: The New Yorker’s review of Mamma Mia!

My favorite bad review of all time was of a Long Island restaurant about which the writer said: “The dining experience is like falling face-first into the sand at Jones Beach with your mouth open.”

Critic Anthony Lane never quite reaches that magnificent level of pure dismissal, but he comes close with lines like, “The legal definition of torture has been much aired in recent years, and I take ‘Mamma Mia!’ to be a useful contribution to that debate.”

Leonard Pinth Garnell would be proud.

LinkedIn groups has always been something with more potential than actual value. Sure, anyone can create a group so that a profile has a snazzy badge on it, but what does a LinkedIn group really offer beyond that 60-by-30-pixel seal of honor? Not much.

That’s about to change. Here’s an email from LinkedIn to group managers, sent yesterday:

First, thank you for managing your group on LinkedIn. We sincerely appreciate the time and effort you devote to your members, and we know they value it. Together you have made Groups one of the top features on LinkedIn.

This Friday, we will be adding several much-requested features to your group:

>>>Discussion forums: Simple discussion spaces for you and your members. (You can turn discussions off in your management control panel if you like.)>>>Enhanced roster: Searchable list of group members.

>>>Digest emails: Daily or weekly digests of new discussion topics which your members may choose to receive. (We will be turning digests on for all current group members soon, and prompting them to set to their own preference.)

>>>Group home page: A private space for your members on LinkedIn.

We’re confident that these new features will spur communication, promote collaboration, and make your group more valuable to you and your members. We hope you can come by LinkedIn on Friday morning to check out the new functionality and get a group discussion going by posting a welcome message.

Sincerely,
The LinkedIn Groups Team

Now LinkedIn needs to teach group managers how to manage forums … how to keep discussions on topic … how to deal with trolls … how to create home pages …

The good news is that smart, focused business discussions can be a great thing when done well. The bad news is that a lot of junk discussions are going to take place. Ultimately, groups will be as valuable as the efforts of those who manage them and participate in them.

I’m confident, though, that this is going to be a great move for LinkedIn in the grand scheme of things. Let the conversations begin!