Near the top of my list of the dumbest things I've heard today, Macworld reports that MacAddict is being relaunched as Mac|Life, thanks to some genius at Future US, the humorous and handy Mac-themed magazine's current publisher. The Macworld article points to a recent job posting on the SF Bay Area craigslist for a new Editor-In-Chief, which confirms the "rebranding" and indicates that the newly named mag will be on the stands in Spring 2007.

I haven't followed any of the goings-on over at the-magazine-soon-to-be-formerly-named-MacAddict, so I don't know what's prompted this name change, but I am pretty convinced that it's still a bad idea. Aside from the fact that it ticks off Shawn King, who leads the similarly named Your Mac Life, the long-running Mac radio webcast, it makes the mistake of putting a silent "|" in the middle of the name! I hate that. It's fine for a logo or title treatment but you can't just go around inserting random characters into names that you want to roll off people's tongues. MacAddict was a perfectly good name and fitting for its readership and fans. And according to Wikipedia, "As of June 2006, the magazine has the second largest audited total circulation in North America among Macintosh-focused magazines (with a rate base of 110,000), after Macworld, as well as the second-largest audited newsstand sales." Why mess with a good thing? Will that "|" really boost circulation even more? I think not. As for the confusion in having a Mac|life and Your Mac Life in the same niche market, it appears the lawyers are about to get involved, based on this statement King gave to Macworld. "We're not happy about the name change. They've know about us and the similarity of the names is too close for comfort." We are consulting lawyers as to what our next move will be."

And every time a lawyer's phone rings, an angel gets his wings.