Spiders Lair

Alas, An Update.

2009-01-27T08:36:00.003-06:00

So, once I became a twitterholic, I kind of abandoned this poor old blog.
While Twitter is great and way more addictive and way more interactive, it obviously has a different purpose than the traditional blog.
In the times when I might have truly benefited form writing and putting my thoughts down on paper, so to speak, I haven't been.
The last few months have been hell. Not because of anyone or any situation in my life, but because of my stupid brain. I've developed something I consider existentialgeneralizedhypochondriaanxiety disorder. Somewhere in that jumble lies the truth, but I don't know which is the most prevalent.
I've been convinced I have heart disease, an imminent heart attack, lung cancer, a brain tumor, a failing kidney, and more. Though logic would dictate I would likely have signs of such problems, the anxiety supersedes all of it when it takes hold. Every muscle spasm, random ache or pain, headache or heart palpitation is amplified and is screaming at me through a megaphone. They all mean imminent death. I've been afraid to be alone because I don't want to die by myself. I've had numerous panic attacks.
On top of all of this, I've started to question the purpose and meaning of life. Life is so incredibly damn short. Unfairly and tragically short. I don't want to poof out of existence so quickly. I don't know where we go after this life, and I don't know whats out there in the universe. What is our purpose here? Why are we cursed with sentience, cursed to know our own lives are fragile and ticking down every second of our existence until we're extinguished?
Despite my fear of all things medical, I made an appointment with a doctor, and am now on some antidepressants/anti anxiety medication that I'm hoping like hell can put my mind at ease to some extent.
Unfortunately, at the Doctor's Office, I had to list my family medical history. My grandfather died of colon cancer, my grandmother of a heart attack. My other grandfather has had several heart attacks, a triple bypass, a defibrillator implanted, several skin cancers. My other grandmother has a thyroid problem and is now going crazy. My mother has high blood pressure and diabetes. In great grandparent and further back land, we have additional heart attacks, leukemia and other cancers, and a host of other diseases that took their lives before reaching any kind of average life expectancy. Despite all of this, at least my father seems to be a fairly healthy person.
This all made me realize the cards are stacked against me, and added to my depression.

Last night, I was thinking in the moments before drifting off to sleep that I want to do whatever I can to try to change my life for the better before I become another story in the family of what ailment killed me too soon. I want to become a healthy person. I want to lose weight. I want to get in shape. I want to exercise every day. I want to eat only healthy foods. I want to do everything possible to live as long as possible so that when the day comes, I can be sure I died of some inevitable genetic flaw or old age, and not because I helped myself and my bad genes into an early grave with the way I lived my life.

Lastnight, I had a strange dream. I dreamt that I lived in a large town square. The buildings were all old and run down, and the sky above was gray. Throughout the course of the dream, I hired crews to come in and remodel and rebuild the square. By the time the dream was over we had made the square look new and wonderful and revitalized and the sky was blue. I think this dream was a nice metaphor for my desire to rebuild the way I live my life.

Wishlist

2008-12-13T21:09:00.003-06:00

Since we all agreed to make one to make life easier, here's mine:

Austin Powers Collection - Blu-ray
The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor - Blu-ray (Avail Dec 16)
Planet Terror - Blu-ray (Avail Dec 16)
Interview With the Vampire - Blu-ray
Signs - Blu-ray

Moshi Voice Activated Alarm Clock
Titanium Spork
Original Ring Thing (size 11)

How Do You Avoid Making Good On Your Promise Of Free Dr. Pepper?

2008-11-23T13:18:00.002-06:00

Simple really.

If you're Dr. Pepper, you simply make sure your website cannot handle the traffic and is basically inaccessible during the 24 hour promotion. Pretty clever actually.

Fail Blog / Engrish Funny

2008-11-18T09:26:00.004-06:00

So I have to share my 2 new favorite sites.

Fail Blog

Engrish Funny

You're welcome.

I Think I Have A Disorder

2008-11-14T00:49:00.002-06:00

After my panic attack, or whatever the heck it was, I began doing a lot of reading up on similar and related psychological disorders.
I can say that since the panic attack I have become obsessed with thinking something worse is wrong with me. When I'm distracted on work or talking to someone or watching TV, etc. I feel just fine, but when I'm alone with just myself and my hyperactive mind, I become obsessed with checking my heart rate, checking my pulse, breathing deeply and/or coughing to see if anything feels different, checking my temperature and on and on and on. The process of doing this does cause me to stress out, and my heart rate increases from normal (around 80 to 100) when I start checking all this junk to about 120 (slightly above normal resting). Once the obsessive behavior diminishes and my stress level lowers, it goes back to normal. I have actually made my pectoral muscle quite sore over the last week from constantly feeling my heartbeat.
The thing I realized in finally consciously observing this behavior in myself is that this is not an isolated incident. I have frequently self-diagnosed myself with all kinds of issues and then obsessed over them when they were in fact non existent to begin with based off of a simply muscle ache, an upset stomach, a twitch, and on and on.
I was first thinking generalized anxiety disorder seemed to cover most of my behavior, but I think hypochondriasis seems to be the top contender. I guess it might be a combination of both. Heck, for all I know that self diagnosis could be me doing the same exact thing I was describing above.
I can say however that discovering these patterns and behaviors in myself and reading up on these disorders and reading the symptoms and causes has made me breathe a huge sigh of relief that its something that can actually be identified. Reading about them kind of gave me a light bulb moment about myself.

The New Enterprise

2008-11-12T12:34:00.006-06:00

Here it is:(Click to enlarge)

After months, nay, years of anticipation, JJ Abrams finally released a picture of the new NCC-1701 as re imagined in his new take on Trek. I personally think this new design is beautiful. Classic Trek purists and canon cops the world over are shitting themselves and frothing savagely at the mouth at this 'abomination' which has "raped their childhood" (actual quote) which I am finding quite amusing. For people who have embraced the essence of Star Trek, one large part of which is open mindedness, acceptance of change and evolution, they sure are screaming from their mom's basement about how angry this change makes them and already writing the new film off as garbage.
To me, the thing doesn't really even look all that different! The lower half has been streamlined and given a more modern look, but overall, I think most non fans, which in large part is the target audience of this new movie (fresh blood), will see it as simply the Enterprise, but not like the old one which looks like it was made from paper plates, spray-painted paper towel and toilet paper cardboard tubes and popsicle sticks.This version is what the purists want on the screen. I think if they did that, the entire movie would be a laughing stock. That design is from the 60's, and I don't see how anyone living in 2008 can think a design from 45 years ago can be a true and current vision of our future.
Heck, even the designers of that tube-and-saucer concoction changed it up as soon as they were able to get a movie budget which would allow it.

Panic Attacks: Like Death But Without The Death

2008-11-10T15:05:00.005-06:00

So early last week I had my first real clinical panic attack. Not like a 'OMG Panic attack! LOLZ!' but more like 'Holy Shit I think I'm having a heart attack and I'm going to die!'

To be honest, I at first thought that it was some kind of heart attack, and I remember thinking how sad it would be for that to happen at only 27. After it passed, I got online and pretty much every symptom of a panic attack that one can exhibit, I had experienced.
Heart feels like it stopped, then heart was racing, flush, then burning up, sweating, can barely move, everything feels like a dream and in slow motion, electricity shooting all through my body, tingling all over.
I even had a nagging involuntarily spasming eyelid muscle 2 days prior, which apparently is a precursor.

While the initial attack was brought on seemingly at random, I found out in research that the first attack can set up a kind of positive feedback loop where one gets so worried about having another panic attack that they work themselves up into having another one. I can indeed agree with this, as anytime afterwards that I've had the slightest tingling in my extremities, felt flush, had an elevated heart rate ( even when warranted, like from physical activity) or felt kind of out of it, I freak out and think I might be starting to have another one.

The truth is, I would prefer to go to the doctor to make sure for a fact that that's all I experienced, even if just for peace of mind, but being broke and health insurance-less kind of makes that cost prohibitive.
Even if it was only a panic attack, it served as a sort of wake up call that I need to start taking better care of myself. I've been trying to eat more fruits and vegetables, stay away from junk and fast food, take a multi vitamin and get more sleep.
I do know that both my mother and at least one sister have dealt with panic attacks that felt just like I described mine. My mom was even rushed to the hospital the first time thinking she was having a heart attack.

Here's to hoping it was just a one time thing.

Yes We Can

2008-11-05T02:15:00.003-06:00

And Yes We Did.

I have to say, I found both Senator McCain's concession speech and President-Elect Obama's acceptance speech both very touching.
I think McCain seemed more like the McCain that many Republicans said they felt was missing throughout his campaign. I think if he had been as eloquent, kind and insightful throughout his campaign, things might have turned out differently for him. I am saddened by the behavior of his supporters at his gathering however, as I think it showed a tremendous amount of disrespect for Senator McCain that his speech was marred with boos and angry words at the mention of Barack Obama, and I think you could tell it was irritating and saddening McCain that his supporters were setting a bad example for his party.

Obama's speech was very touching, and seemed to have a bit of a somber note. Whether that was from the realization that he is now in charge of grabbing the wheel of this nation as it sloppily hugs a proverbial cliff in many regards, or because of dealing with the loss of his grandmother before she saw this momentous occasion I'm not sure, but it was a very well prepared speech. I think he conveyed a sense of community by saying this was our win, this was our nation.
In contrast to McCain's supporters, the attendees at the Obama celebration conveyed a sense of respect for McCain and his campaign when they were mentioned during his speech.

At the end of the day, I was proud to have both participated in and witnessed a truly historic day for our great nation.

Brainwashed Idiots: Confirmed

2008-10-31T12:07:00.004-05:00

I have confirmed evidence that Republicans (at least the vocal online type) are idiots.
In an attempt to get many viewpoints, I regularly visit news organization's websites whether it's CNN, Fox News, or MSNBC. It's no secret that Fox points so far right they couldn't look left to save their lives, and I regularly look at their article's comment sections.
One particularly funny manufactured Anti-Obama article today was talking about how Obama asked 3 reporters who's newspapers endorsed McCain to not fly on his campaign jet anymore. The article does accurately state that it's because of additional staff needing room on the plane.

Now, here is the typical Republican commenter's post (excluding the racist comments or the ones calling him a terrorist)

Comment by steve mieczkowski October 31st, 2008 at 1:01 pm

Just another instance of the Thug Obama camp flexing thier muscles. WAKE UP AMERICA, this is what we have to look forward to if The Chosen One wins.

______________________________________________________________

Comment by Zeke October 31st, 2008 at 12:58 pm

Obama is obviously a tyrant in the making and this is just the start of it. This man can not be the next President of the US. If he can censor the media what do you think is next?

______________________________________________________________

Comment by Tasha October 31st, 2008 at 12:58 pm

ABSOLUTELY!! 100%!! A clear vision of what is to come if this “LIAR” is elected as our president. He will ban everything and ANYTHING that does not support his corrupt idealisms. WAKE UP AMERICA!!!!

_______________________________________________________________

Okay, so you get the idea. Multiply these comments by 500, pepper in racism, cries of communism, socialism, terrorism and religious intolerance and you pretty much get a sense of what the comments section on that article looks like.

This had me laughing my ass off. Why, you may ask?

It appears that none of the turd fergusons even bothered to read the article.

Being Fox biased, the title of the article was an Obama attack, as was most of the content, then at the end of the article, the last 2 sentences also say that John McCain has done the same thing to reporters on his plane in the past few days.

Oops! Silly Republicans. Were you saying those things about Obama, or McCain? Care to change your point? Care to clarify?

Fight | Unite

2008-10-28T12:27:00.005-05:00

I've been listening to both Barack Obama and John McCain's speeches today, and here is a brief summary of both.

McCain:
"Fight! I'm a fighter! Lets fight! I'll fight for you! I'll fight you! Maverick! Fighting Mavericky Maverick! FIGHT FIGHT!"

Obama:
"Unite! Unite! There is no blue or red America. There is one America! Unity! Lets be as one! Unite!"

I have to say I like Obama's 'closing argument' speech more than McCains. His seems a bit... divisive.

An Honest Question

2008-10-26T00:50:00.003-05:00

Let me start off by telling you about what I did this evening, because this question requires a bit of back story. I went to my parents to visit while my sisters Kristy and Kelly were there this weekend.
My sister Kristy and I went outside to look at my paint job on my car, since she didn't get to see the finished result when it was being painted (by her husbands body shop) since they left for vacation at the time. Upon seeing my Obama bumper sticker, she told me:

"I cant believe you have that man's bumper sticker on your car. I ought to rip that off."

Okay, now I was intrigued. I asked why she felt that way, and the answer floored me.
Apparently, her church regularly preaches to them that Obama is a Muslim terrorist, and the Antichrist. He's plotting to destroy America from the inside, planted by the Muslim extremists.
Yes, you heard me right. This is being preached by a church.

This raises a couple questions for me.
Number one, why on earth is this church taking it upon themselves to be spreading this kind of misinformation and slander?
The real question I want to ask I'll get to in a moment.
Needless to say, I tried my damnedest to convince her that the church was spreading propaganda, but I don't know how much damage I was able to undo.
Through this conversation, we eventually landed on my argument that even if Obama were a Muslim, what difference would that make. I made the point that America is made up of Christians, Jews, Muslims, atheists, agnostics and a whole colorful rainbow of creeds. What would be the problem with a little Muslim boy or girl who lives in the Unitest States wishing to grow up to be President someday?
The answer I got really made something in my head kind of click, and I can't really explain how it made me feel.

Because they would believe in a different god than her god, and that would be wrong.

Myself not being a person of religion, I don't know the answer to this, and I know most anyone who is reading this who knows me is not a person of any strong religious ties either, so I ask this in the hope that maybe some anonymous reader who is could answer it for me.

Does being loyal to a certain religion in this day and age make you intolerant of other religions?

I really want to know. Myself being agnostic I understand that there are many deities worshiped by many different groups, and thats okay. What I really do want to understand though is if being religious and dedicated to one group makes you see others as 'wrong', or if this is simply another product of the apparent radical approach that my sisters church takes in 'teaching' their congregation?

Why Do Republicans Think Every One Is Out To Get Them?

2008-10-20T12:30:00.014-05:00

In other words, why are they such whiny little bitches? Such professional victims?

Heres some of the things I've read about recently:

Republicans are outraged at the joke from this weekend's Family Guy where Stewie was wearing a Nazi uniform and a McCain pin. The matter is amplified by the fact that it was their 'only fair and balanced news' Fox's network show.

John McCain is outraged that Barack Obama has raised over 600 million in private financing because he says that much money (which Obama earned fair and square after rejecting public financing which McCain took) will inevitably lead to corruption.

The Liberal Elite Media (CNN, NBC, MSNBC, CBS, ABC... everything but Fox News) is out to get them, and they're outraged. They are 'in the tank' for Obama and it's part of a giant conspiracy to elect Obama.

Colin Powell has been transformed from a respected retired official to a 'pathetic worthless horrible man who's only backing Obama because they're both black'.

The entertainment industry is out to get Republicans by all banding behind Barack Obama for some kind of large conspiracy.

Theres way more, but It's all getting mixed up in my head into a giant right wing hairball.

I hope they know they are making themselves look like gigantic crying babies. Ugly babies, too.

If you're ever bored, head on over to foxnews.com and read the comments on one of the several sure-to-be-there anti-Obama headlines. The conspiracy theories and whining is great for a chuckle. ;)

Check out this gem of a comment from "nosocialist" on the article about Obama's record campaign fund raising.

"Obama supporters please take off your blinders and see that we're not upset about the amount of money he raised. Surprised? Yes. The fact is that we know most of Obama's supporters are lower income, lower education level because they're voting for the handouts which leads us to believe that the money is coming from shady sources. That's all. Show us the list of donors is all we're asking. Feel free to keep sending in your $150 dollars, it's your welfare check to spend as you see fit."

Here's another goodie in the same article that has nothing to do with the content of the article, but is just spewing made up crack induced frothing. This one is from 'sausage30a'

Obama’s October Surprise: He is a citizen of Indonesia, and of the Islam Religion. At 10yrs of age, he went to Hawaii, and became a naturalized citizen, and was able to get a US Passport. He was registered under the name of Barry Sotero-Indonesian-Islam Religion/Date of Birth 1961. He attended primary school in Indonesia. One has to be a native born US citizen in order to be president. That’s why Arnold cannot run for President either. Why is the State Dept. not investigating this? Our community will not vote until Obama can produce his authenticated Birth Certificate with a raised seal on it. You can run for the Senate/Congress but not President. He needs to show us who he really is. This might be the “straw that broke the Islam Camel’s back. Why is the media not researching this? Do you want to be the cause of a major hysteria in this World? Katie Couric, Bob Shaeffer, why did you not ask this important Question? Where is Obama’s from? Tell us please. There might be DNA out there to prove he might not be a native born candidate, and possibly a reward for his captor. Was Larry Sinclair, his lover, part of this cover-up plan?

Mixed in between all these right wing circle jerks are more Republicans who have to audacity to say the Democrats are creating a divisive society by their comments and attitude during this election, completely ignoring the raving mad republican shit balls peppering down all around them. Stupid stupid Republican fuckers.

You know what assholes? I like to think I'm an open minded person who tries to see from multiple perspectives, but it's your divisive diarrhea mouthed comments that have divided me off from any desire to seek to understand your positions and ideas. At least for now.

I can safely say that after reading these and hundreds of similarly minded comments, my sticking to the Democratic ticket no matter what for as long as I am a citizen of this country has been galvanized. I wouldn't in a million years want to be on the same side as these paranoid, hate filled, close-minded anal warts.

Yeah, I know. responding in anger to anger and stupidity doesn't solve anything and lowers me to their level and makes me fall for their trap or whatever else other life lesson I can't think of right now, but I'm in an eye for an eye kind of mood right now.

Who Are These People?

2008-10-16T08:56:00.003-05:00

I saw a video this morning that dissolved a small piece of my pride in being an American.
Before you watch this, keep in mind it's a report filed by Al Jazeera, a Middle Eastern media conglomerate who've had their fair share of controversy, but the people they're talking to are real Americans.

How much of America do you think the people in this video represent? I seriously felt a little ill.
How can this infected festering puss boil of dubmfuckery be fixed?
I'm seriously at a loss as to how you can fix stupidity. And if you can't fix it, how do you ensure that it doesn't get passed on to a new generation?

Republican Hatred (Theirs, not mine)

2008-10-14T09:33:00.004-05:00

Okay.

So for all intents and purposes, I consider myself, at least for the time being, a political junkie. The TV is generally always tuned into CNN. I know the Right Wing consider everything other than Fox News evil-corporate-biased-liberal-devil-death-anti-
McCain-hate-media, but I see a lot more republican strategists, independents and non-partisan guests on CNN than I've ever seen on Fox 'News'. I also see CNN calling out Obama on issues just the same as McCain, but I digress.

What I really wanted to talk about was the ignorance of the people attending the Republican campaign trail. I've read and watched numerous reports over the past week of attendees at Sarah Palin rallies yelling gems directed at Barack Obama such as:
"Kill him!"
"Hang Him!"
"Terrorist!"
There was also the largely publicized video clip of a dumb old woman standing up and saying directly to John McCain that she was afraid of Obama because he was 'An Arab'. John respectfully snatched the microphone away and corrected her retardedness, but afterwards some journalists caught up with the woman who said she still believed he was 'An Arab' and he was "A Muslim because his father was a Muslim, so he has some Muslim in him"
Not only does this woman consider 'Muslim' - a religion, and 'Arab' - an ethnicity interchangeable, not only does she still believe these ethnicities/religions are true of Obama after being corrected by McCain himself, but she's mailed out hundreds of letters to people telling them this information, which she says she 'found at the library'.

Just Wow.

Now, I know. Go America. Christian Christian Rah Rah Rah! and all that, but I'm also disturbed by the fact that these psychopaths are automatically associating a religion and a race to evil. I feel really sad for Muslims and especially Arab Muslims living in the United States right now. What ever happened to the melting pot that was America? It seems the oil is having a hard time mixing with the water in this stoup (Thats for you Ryan).

I know that Democrats are seen more as the progressive and forward thinking bunch, and Republicans are seen as a more traditionalists and evangelicals, but what's with these Republicans carrying around so much misinformation and hatred. Is it just built into the Republican base, or is it being helped along by Sarah Palin, and to a degree John McCain's polarizing speeches they've been giving?

To be fair, I have not seen really any footage from a Biden or Obama campaign stop where all the outlandish spectacles of hate for the other party are on display, but is it because there really isn't any laughable insanity on the left side, or is all the media truly left-wing? Anderson Cooper said last night that they'd soon have cameras meandering around some Biden rallies to see if this shiteous behavior exists as prevalently as it does on the McCain campaign, but I'm having my doubts.

My guess would be that the God fearin' folk who are afraid of anything that isn't white, cross wearing and in bed by 9PM are an integral part of the Republican party, and they're simply behaving as they normally do.
One ray of hope is that, at the moment Obama is enjoying a 10 point lead, and the number of registered Democrats in the United States outnumbers Republicans.
Slowly but surely, I think this nation is beginning to open it's minds and it's eyes.

What are your thoughts?

2008-10-12T20:42:00.001-05:00

can you spot the cat?

Posted via Pixelpipe.

2008-10-10T15:21:00.001-05:00

img_0005.jpg

Posted via Pixelpipe.

Vote For That One

2008-10-08T13:36:00.006-05:00

My Thoughts on the 'Town Hall' style presidential candidate debate:

Obama spoke in terms and mannerisms which I think resonated more with 'joe six pack', unlike Sarah Palin, who's attempt at speakin' to the average American means droppin' the g's off every word. You betcha!

McCain seemed old (obviously), tired, and angry.

When McCain gave a big smile after cracking one of his lame jokes that no one laughed at, it scared the hell out of me.

I don't know how many times I heard McCain utter "My Friend", but I most certainly am not.

I don't care what context McCain meant it in, but calling Obama "That One" seemed akward and rude.

When McCain told an audience member that he (and many of the viewers) probably never heard of Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, I thought that was rude. He acted as if he was assuming regular people had not heard of these companies. I felt talked down to.

There was a point when Obama stood up and started retaliating against some of the McCain mud slinging drivel when Ryan and I both were yelling at him to shut up and sit down. You could see his likability drop on the CNN voter meter thingies at that point. People don't like angriness, which McCain seemed to bring a lot of.

Overall, I think that Obama won the debate, unless you watch Fox News.

Sacred Right

2008-09-25T08:56:00.004-05:00

(Just for clarification, while this post may mention ballot issues for specific states, it is neither about religion nor politics, but rather civil rights)
So I've been reading about issues on the CA. and AZ. ballots regarding gay marriage. In CA. 'they' want to overturn the recent allowance of gay marriage as well as legally nullify any recent same-sex marriages in the state.

In AZ. they have proposition 102 which would amend the AZ. Constitution to add that only marriage between a man and a woman could be legally valid and recognized in the state.

The argument that I most frequently read about in favor of these propositions is that (aside from the lack of practicing separation of church and state) marriage is a sacred right between a man and a woman and should not be extended to "alternative lifestyles".

I have a proposal that I think would help those people make their hetero-marriage sanctity even stronger. Ban divorce. If you enact a ban of divorce, it would be the ultimate commitment to showing me you hold marriage as a sacred right, and it would let me know you are serious when you say it is.

The sad truth is, half of all the supremely sacred heterosexual marriages in this country end in not-so-sacred divorces. Meanwhile, loving gay couples are not allowed to share the legal or spiritual benefits of marriage which many heterosexuals take for granted. This is not fair.

Lets pretend that gay marriage were allowed in the U.S. (like it is in most other countries). How would it hurt these opponents? I'm not going to murder them with my marriage license. I'm not going to rape them with my family health care option. Why do they care so much?

It baffles me.

Random Vitriol

2008-09-23T01:30:00.004-05:00

My God Mediacom. You've been slowly raising my bill for several months (don't think I haven't noticed) and over the last 2 weeks your internet speed has become something akin to a dirty cat box. What the hell gives? And can I pretty please have more HD channels? I think the extra magical 15 dollars my bill has randomly gone up recently warrant at least that.

I think iTunes gets off on making me feel specialtarded. Would you really think setting it up so music put into a specific folder is automatically added to your iTunes music would be that difficult? Yeah, me either. But, after I spent 15 minutes trying, I gave up and went to File>Add File To Library. I am missing something blatantly obvious, right?

Take this poll.

Take the poll

Free Poll by Blog Flux
I have a headache and I'm going to bed. LaAAAaaame.

Chevy Volt Toyota Prius

2008-09-17T10:53:00.008-05:00

Take a look at this sleek and sexy piece of concept car unveiled a couple of years prior. This was the concept for the Chevy Volt, which promised to usher in a whole new era in electric car goodness.

Sexy aesthetics aside, the Volt promised to revolutionize the (mass produced) electric car by introducing a whole new set of rules for creating and using energy. You actually plug this one in for starters. The lithium ion battery delivers approximately 40 miles running only on that, which Chevy claims covers about 75% of commuters trips to and from work. After the battery is depleted, there is a small gas engine which does not drive the vehicle, but powers the electric engine.
Said engine will deliver somewhere in the vicinity of 300 miles on a tank of gas, and will average about 2 cents per gallon (Using $3.60 gas as a benchmark). Compared to the regular average for vehicles which is 12 cents, that seems pretty snazzy. Another interesting talking point is that it only sucks about as much energy from the grid as a refrigerator in a years time.
One thing that remains foggy is the price. Speculation puts it somewhere between 30 and 40 thousand bucks.
Now, the main reason I wanted to write about the Volt. I give you, the final production model unveiled this week:

Wait, what? I think if you told me this was the next refresh of the Toyota Prius, I'd buy it. I've nothing against the Prius, mind you, but this looks nary a shadow of its conceptual glory. What happened here? I know, I know. Concept cars always outshine their final production models, but this thing looks like a 3rd cousin of the concept car. Definitely not a direct offspring.

Eh. At any rate, look for them in 2010.

P.S. Heres a B.D.O.T.D. (Thats Blu-ray deal of the day) for those interested. Tower.com shows Iron Man as shipping within 12 hours when you order it. The movie is not set to be released on Blu-ray until September 30th. Tower has also been known to ship movies ahead of the scheduled release dates. I placed my order this morning. I'll let you know if it ships.

iVideo of iBubble

2008-09-12T02:08:00.002-05:00

Tony, I know you asked about a picture, but as it turns out, glossy black plastic is hard to photograph:)

I have made this video instead:

iBlemish

2008-09-11T16:31:00.003-05:00

I called the Apple iPhone number last week and they had me send in my iPhone. They replaced it with a new one which seems to be working, but has an ugly aesthetic flaw, a nice bubble looking thing molded into the back of the plastic backing next to the Apple logo. It's driving me nuts because I'm one of those people that freaks out when anything of mine gets a scratch or blemish. Oh well. I doubt they'd replace it again for this reason. I guess a working iPhone with an aesthetic flaw is better than a flawless one with buggy hardware/software, right?

Lipstick on a Pig

2008-09-11T00:10:00.007-05:00

You ~~dumbass, fucking~~ silly Republicans. I have not been as interested and involved in politics as I have been in the last year, so you may need to clue me in here.
Is the whole professional victim thing a usual Republican tactic, or is this their newest trick?
I am referring to 2 news articles which have been making the rounds over the past few days.

Firstly, Obama, speaking about John McCain and his voting the same as Bush 90% of the time made a reference to a phrase we all know and have probably used, "You can put lipstick on a pig, but it's still a pig.

To which the McSame camp began crying and screaming that this comment was a sexist remark somehow aimed at Sarah Palin. They called is outrageous and unprofessional and are demanding an apology. I don't know about you, but that comment in no way, shape, or form seemed aimed at Sarah Palin, and even if it had been, so what? The phrase is a commonly known and used phrase to symbolize false change, not promote sexism.

It gets better. John McCain back in October of last year used the same phrase in reference to Hillary Clinton's health care policies.

But WAIT. Its gets even BETTER!
Back in March of this year, Sarah Palin was asked what she thought about Hillary suggesting that she may have been treated differently as a female candidate. Here's what she had to say about it.

Oh, really? Mrs. Palin, I suggest you take your own advice and shut up about a comment Barack Obama made which had absolutely nothing to do with you in the first place.
I think this sexism claim by the Republican party is absolutely hilarious, especially when there's the video's of McCain and Palin to counter it plainly available for everyone to see. It seems to be they are trying to lure in undecided women voters who might feel the need to stand up for poor sister Palin, victim of sexism. I hope the women (and men) of this country can see through this ridiculous game the Republicans are playing. They also throw the sexism card out like a safety net any time anyone questions anything about Sarah Palin.

The second bit of Republicrap is involving Oprah.
Yes, she has clearly been a visible supporter of Barack Obama, but he's not been on her show since before announcing his candidacy for president.
Once he made the announcment public, Oprah stated she would not have any candidates or their VP's on her show until after the elections.
Well, because Sarah Palin is a woman, and because Oprah's key demographic is obviously women, a bunch of Republicans think Sarah Palin needs to be on the Oprah Winfrey show. Oprah has reminded everyone that she is not going to have Barack Obama, Michelle Obama, Joe Biden, John McCain, Cindy McCain, or Sarah Palin on the show until after the elections. This has infuriated a section of Republican women and organizations enough to boycott Oprah's show for 'showing favoritism', when she clearly layed down the rules about not having any candidates on her show long before anyone outside of Alaska knew who Sarah Palin was.
They are trying to paint a picture that because she is a Barack Obama supporter, she is unwilling to have Sarah Palin on her show, clearly not paying attention to her rule stated above.

While there are a (very)few issues where I do side with the Republicans, on the vast majority of issues I do agree with the Democrats. I've lately been trying to keep an open mind about both the donkey and the elephant and not be one sided just for the sake of being on a side, but the displays above just make me feel like throwing up in my mouth a little.

Thinking About Proton Collision Gives Me A Large Hadron

2008-09-10T10:34:00.004-05:00

Tony - Yeah, I read that the first test was only protons going one way.

I have been reading people's reactions to the news on abcnews.com's article about the powering up of the collider and how the world didn't end. It's interesting to hear people's intriguing thoughts, and also hear how ~~retarded~~ abstract some people's thinking is on the matter. Here are a few gems:

Most of the technology that we take for granted today is a result of people who have ideals and who are curious about the world around them. Lets not forget that they are responsible for dragging us out from the dark ages and allot of people are still mad about that because they see it as going against the will of god. Like what do they know what is the will of god. From some book written by a bunch of credulous goat herders. We would not be were we are if it were not for these evil scientists and their heretical blasphemous scientific endeavors. With out them there would be no space programs, industrial revolutions much less the military industrial complexes. We would still be burning witches and lamenting over our state of poverty. But hey those were the good ol days of old time religion.
Posted by:
redneckthinker 11:27 AM
Mark As Violation

People are dying every day of cancer and AIDS and THIS is where we aim our focus?
Posted by:
Casabby2 11:02 AM
Mark As Violation

So what are they trying to say, do I need to start paying my bills again?
Posted by:
BD2266H 10:53 AM
Mark As Violation

I am amazed at why religion comes into play with this at all!!!It really shows that people who don't have science eduaction are afraid of things they don't know anything about, keep it up, its amazing.This isn't going to create a black hole, do you even know what that is? Its going to help explain nonelectromagneitc interactions for the standard model of particle physics. Maybe people are just offended that the Higgs Boson is nicknamed the "God Particle".
Posted by:
wastememphis 10:49 AM
Mark As Violation

You people are missing the point. When the machine is really fired up it may swallow the planet...or we can just wait for Palin/McSame to do the same thing.
Posted by:
mych201 10:34 AM
Mark As Violation

The farther we push forward into science, the more I'm convinced God is just some fat kid with an ant farm and a magnifying glass.
Posted by:
turtlemouth 9:17 AM
Mark As Violation

I almost wish that it would've blown up and sucked up thousands of people into it. Then, maybe scientists would learn their lesson that spending $8 Billions dollars on a pretentious ego-stroking project would be better spent on the hungry and poor in our world. In fact, look how much NASA spends per year on sending their toys into space. That money could be better prioritized as well even if only to lower tax payer dollars.
Posted by:
fastrivers 8:46 AM
Mark As Violation

fastrivers - The last of these "pretentious ego-stroking" accelerators resulted in the creation of the internet that you are now using as a medium to rip on these big "wastes" of tax dollars. Go back to your cave...
Posted by:
wolfmanman 9:03 AM
Mark As Violation

duh ... of course it didn't work ... you can't recreate what God has done ... YES i'm one of those spiritual people that don't believe in this "stuff" (for lack of being able to use a more appropraite word) ...
Posted by:
lifesense08 8:40 AM
Mark As Violation

What? The world did not end? What went wrong?
Posted by:
rustl28 8:20 AM
Mark As Violation

Ooo! Ooo!! I've got a theory for the origin of the universe! It's really good! Check it out!...(clearing throat)...In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth...
Posted by:
musicman6500 8:19 AM
Mark As Violation

Trying to recreate the start of the universe is impossible unless you are God. Big bang theory = zero, God = one. Nice try!
Posted by:
suzietip 7:25 AM
Mark As Violation

It's a shame this wasn't done in the U.S. Again we fall down on the scientific front. Next we may very well have Palin/McCain (reverse order intentional)and we will truly be in the dark ages. Protons? Neutrons? gosh doesn't that go against the whole "from the rib of Adam" theory? Ahhh yes, isn't religion wonderful? To all the scientists out there, just say you are researching god, it will remove any barriers in place. That is how they sold television to the fanatics in Saudi Arabia. They told them that prayer could be broadcast. Too funny.
Posted by:
wirey-one 6:45 AM
Mark As Violation

Some secrets of space are best left alone and not meant to be discovered.
Posted by:
thorin106 6:19 AM
Mark As Violation

Kiss Your Candyass Goodbye

2008-09-09T11:25:00.004-05:00

I guess the world will be ending in less than a day.
Thats right, the Large Hadron Collider goes online tomorrow. Oh noes!!
Can you believe they are actually receiving death threats from people afraid it will rip a hole in the fabric of space-time or open up an unstoppable black hole?

The most interesting thing I've read is that the LHC will be the first thing built by humans capable of creating time-travel. Therefore, when it is brought online, it will create the first jumping off point from future travelers to stop in and say hello. The theory says to expect visitors from the future shortly after starting up the machines. Causality be damned I guess. I hope none of the future visitors runs over their grandfather or anything.

Here's what I think will happen:
The Collider will be brought online and smash some particles together at 99.999% the speed of light. After which, some data about the event till be collected and analyzed, and we will learn more about the laws of physics and the creation of the universe.

But you know, black holes and such sound funner I guess.

Spore!

2008-09-07T10:02:00.002-05:00

I didn't even realize Spore was out yet, but I just got an e-mail from EA games to remind me. How nice of them!
I think I might go pick it up today. I decided to look around on youtube at what some people have done with the creature creator, and sifting through all the penis and vagina creatures, I did find a few gems, like this creature, 'Rectal Exam'

Okay, this one owes is existence to the penis creatures who came before it, but I love the idea, and the title, 'Albino 2 legged elephant'

Time keeps on slipping/again

2008-08-28T13:06:00.006-05:00

I know I've written about the phenomenon before, but I'm still always amazed at the apparent ability of time to speed up and slip by at an ever increasing pace. Things I 'need to do' or 'need to start doing' zip far beyond their deadline undone.
I think when you combine this with a lack of effort, it can create an evil concoction.
Take getting in shape for instance. This singular objective is a top-of-mind awareness for me. I literally am thinking about it constantly. I always make the best of plans to start exercising, start walking, start eating healthy, start a low carb diet again, and on and on.
The problem is implementing these actions. I set a time line and an objective, but the ideas never leave the start line and by the time I remember I haven't started, the goal is so far behind I set out to begin creating a new one, only to leave that one stranded in time as well. It's truly frustrating and I wish I knew how to change my paradigm to that of someone capable of achieving personal goals.
I was at a photoshoot today at JCMG and I was paying more attention to the camera screen than where I was walking. I ended up hitting my head on a nice jagged extension arm of a piece of equipment mounted from the ceiling. I'm not sure if it was a camera or a light, but either way it hurt. I fully expected blood to come running down my face, but luckily that didn't happen. What better place to have some kind of laceration than a medical facility though, right? Thankfully, I just have a knot and a headache.

Ryan was talking about the possibly impending Debbie Downer known as Gustav headed toward New Orleans and all its ~~dumb people who don't know any better than to stay in parts of a city below sea level~~ citizens, when he mentioned Tropical Storm Fay. When he said something about "Remnants of Fay", I had one of those moments when you just know you've stumbled upon a fantastic band name. If I could sing and/or play an insturment and knew some other people who could sing/play instruments, I'd totally call us "Remnants of Fay".

This

2008-08-20T10:43:00.001-05:00

Is pretty much the funniest thing ever.
Infomercial queen Cathy Mitchell and Oscar nominated John C. Reilly together at last.

Update

2008-08-18T23:16:00.004-05:00

Smack my bitch up, I was able to perform an update to iPhone firmware 2.0.2 without a complete brickification unlike the last 2 times I did this! Yay!

Thanks Tony n' Mike for your feedback. I guess I'll try reinstalling iTunes since the new firmware didn't fix any of the shit that I wrote about yesterday. I guess my question there is, if I uninstall iTunes, then re-download and install it, will I still have my backups and purchases and all that junk? Will that be tied into my iTunes account?

I would love to have a mac, but unfortunately I'm still paying off my Alienware, so that prospect is a ways off.
I have tried syncing to iTunes on my mac at work, but it seems that even using my iTunes account, it says I can't be syncing it to 2 computers or something. Like I said, iTunes is a piece of shit IMO, and I may have just gotten confused doing that.

P.S. Wanna hear something funny? The 2.0.2 update, which is thought to be one made to improve reception problems it seems many are having actually made my service indicator drop by 2 bars at home and work. Go figure.

Another iRant

2008-08-18T01:24:00.006-05:00

I hate to write another iRant, but this time I'm wondering if anyone else is experiencing these errors, and/or what I should do about them.

I want to start off by saying that words cannot express how horrible of a program I think iTunes is. I have used a lot of different programs across a whole gamut of categories in my time, and I dub iTunes the iCrappiest.

My latest woes involve Apps. It seems if I purchase an App from the App Store on my iPhone, theres a 50/50 chance it will never show up on iTunes once I sync, not even when I go to "Check For Purchases". So, I have some Apps that only exist on my iPhone, and some that are on both my iPhone and my iTunes. So much for backing everything up.

Another annoying App problem is when I get the notice on my iPhone that an update is available to an app I have purchased and/or downloaded, this is often what happens when I open up App Store and tell it to download the update:
Strange, but okay, whatever. The only problem is, when I try to find the update once my iPhone is connected to my computer, iTunes shows there is no update for that program which my iPhone is telling me needs an update. This problem is only compounded when it is a program that will not show up in iTunes from the error I described before this one.

The last annoyance is this one:
(Click to enlarge)
This is an error I get SOME of the time when I attempt to sync the contents of my iPhone with iTunes. It says a whole plethora of programs could not 'install on the iPhone' because of an error.

All this shit I seem to be having to deal with involving iTunes/iPhone is really taking the fun out of owning an iPhone. So far, the simplicity factor of it all has been absolutely lost on me.

I have made up my mind that if this continues, or if I'm faced with another iNoyance to deal with, the precious iPhone is going to ebay-land. That really really sucks, but I cannot stand having to deal with constant problem after problem.

Does anyone know what may be causing all this AppCrapp? What should I do?

Worst. Service. Ever.

2008-08-14T09:20:00.005-05:00

So it's no secret that the Taco Bell on Missouri Boulevard is a worthless sack of monkey balls, but check this faux pas out.

Ordered:
Combo with Mexican pizza, 2 taco's; supreme, and a Baja Blast Mountain Dew + a cheesy chicken melt.

Received: No Mexican pizza, 2 regular tacos, a regular Mountain Dew + a fajita steak melt.

On top of that I was not given a total at the drive through nor did I have my order confirmed (obviously).

I was pissed off enough to contact Taco Bell via their website, but I haven't heard anything back yet. They're probably all cracked out hippies at corporate HQ, too.

Dang Ole' Danggers in Slogans

2008-08-07T13:18:00.004-05:00

I was playing with the Advertising Slogan Generator using the word 'dangger', and these are a few gems it randomly created:

Happiness is Dangger-Shaped.

Give the Dog a Dangger.

Half the Dangger, All the Taste.

You'll Look a Little Lovelier Each Day with Fabulous Pink Dangger.

It's That Dangger Feeling.

Does the Hard Dangger for You.

Mamma Mia, That'sa Spicy Dangger!

Double the Pleasure, Double the Dangger.

This Is Not Your Father's Dangger.

I am Stuck on Dangger, 'Cause Dangger's Stuck on Me.

Dude, You're Getting a Dangger!

I Can't Believe I Ate The Whole Dangger.

Ribbed For Her Dangger.

I've Seen The Future, and It's Dangger-Shaped.

Nobody Better Lay a Finger on my Dangger.

Gotta Lotta Dangger.

Go On, Get Your Dangger Out.

My iPhone is a Sexy Brick

2008-08-06T00:49:00.005-05:00

So I get home tonight and hook my iPhone up to my computer so I can update the firmware to the latest 2.0.1 which I read about today, and it's now just a sexy brick. I am stuck in some kind of infinite loop where it tries updating the firmware, then says there was some error and it needs to restore, then when I try to restore it throws up this message:

My iPhone has been rather crashy from the get-go, but this is just icing on the cake. I want to love it, but I dont think it likes me very much. I'm not sure what to do next. Do I take it back to AT&T? It's my only source of phone and now I cant use it.

Update:
After a few hours of trying over and over to get the restore to work in desperation, it finally took hold with a restore. Now, whenever I hook up my iPhone to my computer I'm presented with 2 options: Restore from backup or set up as a new phone. I can't get to any files or sync or anything. When I choose restore from backup, it starts the whole process again, only to take me back to the same damn screen with the 2 choices all over again. My only options being to set up as a new iPhone, I did that, but somehow it kept my e-mails and notes and settings, just got rid of my music and pictures. I seriously hate iTunes y'all. This has me pissed off enough to be considering returning my iPhone while I've still got my buyers remorse window.

Insult to Injury

2008-07-12T11:53:00.005-05:00

Gee. Glad I paid for Super Duper OMG Fast shipping.
________________________________________________

AT&T – Out of Stock/Back Order Notification

Dear Kody Belshe,

Thank you for your recent order, we value and appreciate your business. Please be advised that one or more items in your order are currently out of stock and on backorder. We are working hard to fulfill your order as quickly as possible. The estimated shipping timeframe for each item is listed below. We apologize for any inconvenience this might cause you and we appreciate your patience.

Order Number: XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Check the status of your order at any time via our website by clicking here or by calling our automated phone system at 877-782-8870.

Item Name

Item

Number

Quantity Ordered

Quantity Shipped

Quantity Back Ordered

Usually Ships In

Apple Iphone 16 Gb 3g Blk Phone

69114

5 to 7 days

Freight

88878

Special Order

AT&T = Whizbang Fizzledanggers (Updated)

2008-07-11T05:24:00.005-05:00

(Lexy, that title was for you)

I can has iPhone? No.

Mike, in case you were wondering where I was this morning (I don't have your cell # saved for some reason, only home #), I got up at 4AM this morning and hopped online before I was going to get ready to go, and read on macrumors.com that good ole' AT&Taint aren't allowing current customers to get the iPhone today unless they qualify for the standard upgrade pricing.
Since I will have to pay the early upgrade price, I'm pretty for sure they don't want my business today. I'm sitting here right now (it's 5:30) trying to get confirmation of this, but several people have all said the same thing.

Thanks AT&T! It's not like I've been a customer for over 6 years and paid you thousands of dollars or anything. You go get those new customers. Go get 'em!

Update:
So, it turns out, you shouldn't believe everything you read on the internet. While it turns out a lot of AT&T's were treating existing customers like cock monsters this morning, just as many were playing fair including the one here in Jefferson City. Unfortunately, they sold out of iPhone within an hour, as did most stores from what I hear. Talk about being unprepared (Or was the iPhone a bigger hit than anticipated?) Anyway, I signed up for the lame-ass direct fulfillment, which means one will be shipped to the AT&T store for me to pick up within a few days, and I even had to pay shipping. Balls, that sucks. At least I'm guaranteed one though.

Barack and Hillary, Sitting in a Tree...

2008-06-27T10:44:00.003-05:00

Ok. so I know that Barack and Hillary want to convey a sense of Unity, hence their campaigning together in Unity, N.H. today, but I think the image above, chosen as abcnews.com's headline photo almost looks like they're about to get a little too united. Anyone else agree?

I dunno. senator on senator action just doesn't do much for me.

Funny

2008-06-18T17:49:00.003-05:00

So I was looking at treadmills/ellipticals/stationary bikes today online and I came across one that looked strikingly familiar. Anyone else see the resemblance?

On an unrelated note, you should go download the Spore Creature Creator.
Spore is a game thats been in production since forever ago and will be released this September, save for any additional delays. (There have been many thus far)
Creature creator lets you build animals, which you'll be able to use in the game once the full fledged version comes out. The creator is one of the most intelligent and intuitive programs I think I've ever used. The sheer level of customization is amazing. Spore allows you to grow a life form from single-cell all the way to advanced inter-stellar species, and is the brain child of Sim City and The Sims creator Will Wright, so this game is destined to be a mega hit.

Stop Me If You've Heard This One...

2008-06-14T01:18:00.003-05:00

Okay.

So, a Rabbi and a Priest walk into a, er AT&T store. The Rabbi, we'll call him Schmuel purchased a new cell phone just 8 months ago, but really fricking wants a new iPhone 3G, the iPhone data plan, the whole schmear.

How much is the Rabbi going to have to pay to get his chachka? Will it turn out to be more of an expensive toy if AT&T acts like a ganef?

I don't know the punch line, because apparently neither does AT&T. If you believe that I've got some unicorn farts to sell you.

Here is a list of the most likely price points for the new iPhone:

Come On AT&T. The cat's out of the bag already! Give us the frickin' deets!

I really want to know if the cost of getting an iPhone will be unacceptably high, or if it will be reasonable, but it seems no one at AT&T has a straight answer, though I've read several reports of reps saying about 5 different things. All this ambiguity about the finer details about the iPhone is leading to a lot of speculation and rumors.

Oh, and the Priest was eligible for a standard upgrade so he didn't have to worry about a thing.

Firefox: Do Not Want ?

2008-06-07T02:08:00.007-05:00

So, firefox has been behaving like a real Turd Ferguson lately, which makes me sad.
I started using firefox regularly (At home) about a year ago when I started using a Mac at work.
The only real problem I've had with it is it's frequent loading of 'nothing' pages. In other words, you click a bookmark or click a link and it takes you to a blank page. After that, you cant go anywhere without exiting the program and re-opening. Sometimes, even that doesn't work and you have to reboot the computer. Annoying as piss, but forgivable as it doesn't happen with every use. I'd peg it at about 25% of the time.
Well, yesterday Firefox decided to pull a new rabbit out of it's hat. Now, when I open it, all of my bookmarks, all of my plugins, skins, etc. are gone and it loads the whole "Welcome to Firefox, First Time User!!!!" welcome page bullshit. The first time it did that, and I though I'd lost all of my bookmarks, I was pissed. I learned where to recover them from a temporary backup thing that firefox creates daily, and thankfully that worked, but now I have to go through this process every time I start the fucking program. I've got the latest version, and I hadn't changed anything when this little gem of a problem flared up. Anyone got any ideas?
I certainly don't want to have to start using IE again, since its basically crap. Has anyone used Safari for PC? Does it work well?
I got my new camera this week. There is a ton of features and crap to try to learn on it, and I've barely started. I have pretty much just kept it on manual and been playing around with the aperture/ISO/shutter speed/focus settings so that I can get better at understanding what settings work best in what conditions.
Below are a few shots I've taken. They aren't anything 'thought out' in regards to composition, just seeing how the manual controls work and testing out the color correctness.

Fujifilm FinePix S100FS, You're so Dreamy

2008-05-30T00:38:00.007-05:00

I finally pulled the trigger on a camera tonight.
(Tony, this one may interest you if you are still undecided on what to get.)

I was torn between getting another Point & Shoot and a DSLR. I think I've kind of outgrown the whole P&S stuff, and have been learning about apertures and f-stops and composition and all that fun stuff, yet I didn't know if a DSLR was worth me investing in, simply because it might be more than what I need, and I certainly wouldn't be able to afford many lenses, nor would I want to lug them around.

I think I found the best of both worlds. The Fuji FinePix S100fs (Go ahead, say that 10 times fast)

This is a new camera on the market, and it's designed for people in just the dilemma I was in.
The body is very much modeled after a DSLR, and the lens is capable of a 28mm all the way to a whopping 400mm (14.3x) zoom. In DSLR terms, this is typically at least 2 separate lenses.

The 11.1 megapixel CCD sensor is different than regular point and shoots, being that it's much larger. Thats the big problem with P&S's, the small sensor gets crammed with megapixels and leads to high noise as you move up the ISO brackets, and can lead also to high artifacting in images. The S100fs has a sensor similar to DSLR's, and avoids this problem altogether.

This camera is equipped with full manual controls, as well as some presets, and has something unique to FujiFilm called 'film simulation'. These settings recreate images that mimic what you'd get using different types of film made by Fuji.

Some other key points are the ability to use the LCD or an optical(electronic) viewfinder, the LCD swivels for taking images at abstract angles, XD, SD, and SD-HC cards are supported, and RAW and JPEG image settings.

After reading a lot of reviews the only negative I could find is that images in bright sunlight with a dark contrasted subject can cause some noticeable chromatic aberrations (That purple outline between bright and dark contrast. CA is actually possible on any and all digital cameras, even the top tier DSLR's, but its easier for it to happen with the S100fs. Fortunately, should an image come out with this problem, there is a Lens Correction tool in photoshop which can fix it, as well as other dedicated CA touch up programs.

One other nifty toy I got to go along with it was a new SD-HC 8 gig card. That itself is not very cool, but the card has a slide out compact USB connector, so you can get photos on any computer with just the SD card. You can also use the SD card as a thumb drive.

Once I get the new gear and have a chance to play with it, I'll put up a review.

More on Religion

2008-05-29T19:31:00.007-05:00

I want to write an addendum to my previous post, partly in response to Tony's reply, and partly because I'm not completely fucking infuriated like I was when I wrote it.
Indeed, re-reading it now it is no better than the vitriol spewed at me by religious extremists, and I can see that.

One quality I hope those who know me well enough would say I have is an incredible amount of tolerance and open mindedness for all things. I think being a minority such as myself kind of requires that. Another thing you likely know is that I keep most of my opinions to myself, and the last post was a rare slip you're not likely to see on here again.

What I said below was more of a venting, as I do have respect for religion, and even if I don't personally derive any usefulness from it, I understand that others do. It is simply my opinion that I think we'd be better off without religion. Concordantly, there's a huge chunk of religions that think the world would be better off without homosexuals. Yin and Yang and all that.

The main reason for my post was just a burst of anger. Anytime something about gay rights, no matter how momentous or how trivial come up. I'm subjected to religious fanatics decrying something that is built into the very fiber of my being as a sinful despicable vile thing that should be categorized with the worst and most twisted abnormalities of mankind. It's guaranteed. I've cried so many times reading what they have to say, but this time I felt like lashing out. Every time they say I am living in defiance of their gods wishes or that simply being who I am is destroying the world they twist their knife into my skin.

As unfortunate as it may be, I think my distaste in religion was brought on by what religion thinks of me.

And, though most of you know this already, I consider myself agnostic. I believe that no religion on earth is correct (They cant all be), but that doesn't mean I don't believe some of them may contain certain truths. I believe in spirituality and the afterlife and perhaps a form of god, and I think that can exist on a completely different plane than 'religion'.

I'd like a BLT, hold the Religion

2008-05-29T09:31:00.007-05:00

If I could have just one wish, and we're talking a wish on a grand scale here - not a personal or private wish, I would wish for the destruction of any and all religious organizations on the planet.

Religion scares the hell out of me.

What prompted me to write this was reading some of the comments from people around the country today in response to the news of New York's recognizing gay marriages. New York and California have both made history in the last month by officially recognizing gay marriage as legal. This has set religious folk into a rabid frenzy.

How DARE those dirty, wretched gays try to DESTROY the sanctity of marriage. They forget that over half of all marriages end in divorce, that millions of children are born out of wedlock, and that marriage wasn't even religious in origin. They try to compare love between two people of the same sex with incest, polygamy, molestation, and bestiality. They say that recognizing a same sex couples marriage by law will lead to the destruction of our country and lead us all into hell. They dictate the wants and commands of their made up god to reflect their own personal hatred.

It's become very clear to me that religion is a form of brain washing.

Religion is responsible for the lions share of all wars ever started. Religion is responsible for hindering the progression of scientific breakthroughs. When science wants to make a bold push forward with advancing something as noble as curing diseases, regrowing limbs, improving the quality of life or exploring the wonders of our universe, religious fanatics are guaranteed to step in to stir things up because it scares them. It's not written in their fiction novel, the bible, and it may lead to proving their religion is a farce.

I recently read about a woman in France who was suffering from a rare and incurable form of cancer in her nasal passages. The disease caused her face to expand and distort in all directions, her eyes to fall out, her sense of taste and hearing to stop working, and left her living daily life in unimaginable and excruciating pain. She wanted the country to grant her the right to be euthanized because she could not bare the pain of living out her last stage of the cancer.
What did the good old religious folk think? They said that their 'god' has a path for everyone, and if she was meant to live her life in this way, she should be forced to see it through to the end because it was god's plan. Unfortunately, France agreed and the woman ended up taking her own life since she could not be allowed to die with an ounce of dignity still intact. The religious folks didn't like that either. That granted her a place on a boat straight to hell according to them.

There are 21 major religions in the world, and every one thinks they're right and the others are wrong.

Some believe that science and religion can form some kind of working relationship, but I disagree. Religion does nothing but hamper scientific breakthrough's by throwing up biblical red flags when something 'scary and new' comes along. Religion questions stem cell research and it questions space exploration. In a recent survey in the US, the majority of participants even thought nanotechnology was immoral. I'm sure most of them were religious folk. Good grief!
Religion is man-made. At what point in the proven evolutionary chain did God(s) come into existence? I'd say about the time that human beings developed the part of their brain which could imagine. In an attempt to make sense of life early on, people imagined a deity greater than themselves or their community, and developed additional imaginary beliefs around that, and here we are today. Playing this imaginary thing off as some kind of human truth.

I think human beings should exist on a level of decency and established laws, and take the religion completely out of the equation. It's done far more harm than good in my opinion. Fortunately, with each new generation of children born into this world, religion is becoming less and less of an important factor in their own lives.

Alas, I should not judge, so says the Christian's god, so I think I'll borrow their famous "Hate the sin, not the sinner.", and say Hate the beliefs, not the believer.

Happy MemOILrial day

2008-05-26T14:32:00.003-05:00

The Iraq war is only one war's victims to be remembered on this day, but since it's the latest and one of the most disgraceful...
Please honor the memory of those who are dying in the current war, which began on false pretenses and inaccurate intelligence, started by a man who was carrying on his fathers personal vendetta, in the name of controlling the second largest oil reserves in the world and creating prosperity for companies such as Halliburton. I know gas is expensive these days, but I wonder how much loss of life each gallon of gas costs?

To all of the men who will never see their children grow up, to all the husbands and wives who leave this world with grieving spouse/ now single parent, to all the mothers and fathers, sons and daughters being sent to slaughter by our country, I will remember you.

Let us please get a Democrat into the white house so we can end this.

Holy Ballsack Batman!!

2008-05-21T22:46:00.005-05:00

I was thinking my next blog entry would be a continuation of my last one. I was going to whine about how every show I like gets canceled, everything I collect or buy gets discontinued, every menu item at restaurants I like gets eliminated, and since the finale is upon us, every American Idol contestant I actually want to win gets eliminated.
I sat down for the finale tonight, excited because my favorite contestant, David Cook, of Blue Springs, MO. was head to head with Prince Gaspian Squinty Mc Smilesalot (David Archuleta).
Now, no Idol I've actually liked has made even made it into the top 4, so I was terribly excited for David Cook to be in the top 2, but didn't expect it to go any further. Hell hath no fury like teenie boppers, and thats David Archuleta's demographic.

So the final moments of the show tick away, the lights go down, and shit the bed, David Cook wins it! Holy Cockandballs!
For the first time, someone who I've liked and rooted for from the very beginning, AND someone who is a Rocker and not a R&B/Country/Pop artist has WON! (By 12 million votes!!!)
Congratulations David Cook!

CBS | Paramount | Viacom are Dicks

2008-05-14T11:04:00.002-05:00

I learned a valuable lesson today. Don't EVER invest interest in a TV show on CBS.
I was a fan of the dearly departed Jericho, which was canceled, then brought back due to an uprising of never-before-seen proportions, then swiftly canceled again last month.
Today, I learned that Moonlight, a show I was quite fond of has been canceled by the douchebags as well. Moonlight recently won the people choice for best new show, and has seen a lot of positive buzz recently.
What's interesting is that in both of these examples, the shows performed far better than many shows allowed to live on on other networks. Are CBS setting their standards too high based on ratings? Are they just upset that these shows don't bring in the ratings of CSI / CSI Miami / CSI Zimbabwe / CSI North Pole / CSI Candy Land / CSI Your Mom / CSI The Early Years?
The big lesson (that was supposed to be) learned during the Save Jericho campaign was that you can't rely on archaic and outdated Neilson rating systems anymore. CBS quickly learned that a very significant portion of Jericho's viewer ship was coming from their online site which allowed people to watch the show there, as well as from viewers watching the show in syndication outside of the good 'ole USA. How quickly they forget.
I got to thinking about my experiences with CBS and its parent company Paramount and its big daddy Viacom, and realized how much douchebaggery they've performed within my circle of interests.
They've canceled two of my favorite shows despite ratings other networks would be glad to have. They dropped Blu-ray like a hot potato during the HD Format war for an exclusivity pay-out, only to have to come crawling back just recently with egg on their faces. They dropped HD DVD like a hot potato when HD DVD began it's downward spiral, instead of honoring their scheduled releases (just like they did to Blu-ray)
They canceled Star Trek: Enterprise just when the show started to become really, really good.
Additionally, the CBS logo is ugly and outdated, much like their executives.

PS: Congrats to Tony T. on your iJob!

Paramount Blu it.

2008-05-01T00:37:00.003-05:00

Paramount finally announced that they are supporting Blu-ray with titles to back it up on Tuesday. After Universals unveiling of their upcoming Blu titles a few weeks ago, this finally means all studios are aboard the Blu train and ready to leave the station. (Except Weinstein, but they arent really 'major', and they will be releasing Blu 3rd/4th quarter)
In celebration of 2 upcoming Paramount titles which I'll be picking up for sure on June 3rd, I made these:
G'night!

Such and Such, and So Forth

2008-04-29T00:14:00.003-05:00

Does anyone else find adobe flash to be difficult and not very intuitive?
Maybe it's just 'cos this was my first day working with it. I generally pick up on new programs pretty quickly, especially ones with graphic or video functionality, but it took me half a day to learn how to make a photo slide show and a bouncing ball for Christ's sake. To make matters even funner, I have to have a website template done for a client by Friday complete with flash elements built into each page.

As far as the LG phone I mentioned before, it underwent some drastic changes when I realized most people would not like holding something perfectly round (as in disc shaped, not a sphere) in their hands while talking. My design still has the main feature and function that I was aiming at making, just a very different shape. As weird as it sounds, it almost looks like Darth Vader when you deploy the keypads. Heres a sneak peak of the front.
Sorry for the annoying watermarks, but I don't want anyone stumbling across my website and stealing the design. Not like it matters since I already submitted the design, but still.

Ryan and I finally watched Cloverfield tonight (ON Standard Def DVD. ::Shakes fist at Paramount::). I enjoyed the movie quite thoroughly. I understand theres likely a sequel which would take place during the events of the first movie, only told through the lens of someone very different, like a news crew. I think if they do that, they'll have to do it very carefully, or it would run the risk of easily looking like a boring re-hash.

Well, as they say in Chattanooga, I'm done blogging for the evening.

G'night!

Oh for posts sake.

2008-04-24T00:55:00.007-05:00

I really have no agenda in this entry. I just feel obligated to keep the cob webs off my corner of the interwebs.

Now that the weather is starting to warm up, we're learning just how sauna-like our townhouse gets in warm weather. It's especially lovely upstairs, where it's probably a good 15 to 20 degrees more miserable. You don't really care about that I'm sure, but I'm sitting here covered in sweat so I felt the need to bitch about it.

In other news:

LG is having a phone design contest (Link) which ends on April 30th. I have been thinking about what my 'dream phone' would be like, and have finally come up with a cool design idea which I haven't seen on any other commercially available phone. I think I'll call it the "LG Disc" or "LG Orb" or "LG Elipse". That should probably give you some idea of it's aesthetics, but I don't want to give away my design idea completely over the internet. Which name do you guys like best?

I've been itching to get a new camera, and I have had my sights set on the Sony Cybershot DSC-H50 megazoom camera for a while. It's available in May and it is just a step down from DSLR/pro level stuff. Then, I decided I might want to get a Sony Alpha DSLR-A350 which has a whopping 14.2 megapixels. Dell has a bundle which includes 2 lenses with the camera.

Well, today, I saw the coolest frickin' camera I've ever seen. It's called the Casio Exilim Pro EX-F1, and it has features unlike anything else in existence.
Here's a few tidbits: This camera can shoot an astounding 60 full sized images in one second. (JPG or RAW)
Most point and shoots can do maybe 1 pic per second, most DSLR can do 3 or 4 pics per second with the ultra mega top-of-the-line at 10 or so. This thing does 60. *&^%ing 60!
It also can do this cool thing where if you're waiting for some event to happen, you can depress the shutter half way and it's continually recording full sized images to it's buffer in a rolling cycle so that even if you accidentally snap the picture too late (or too soon), it captures the image you wanted anyway. This thing sounds like a machine gun firing when you press down to snap a photo. The dual flashes are sure to induce seizures, too.
Another cool feature is the motion sensor. You can set up a shot, say of a flower or what have you, put the camera in motion sensing mode, and just leave it for however long you want. Say a humming bird swoops in for some sweet flower action and BAM, the cam powers up and starts firing off its machine gun 60 images a second capture. And this is just the still photo aspects.
This thing comes loaded with sweet sweet video features, too.
It can shoot your vanilla SD 30FPS video like most all digital cams, but this thing can also capture 720P and 1080i HD video.
Here's one of my favorite features: High speed video capture. You can record 300FPS, 600FPS, and 1200FPS. (My Sony Handycam has a similar feature, though its probably locked in at 300FPS or less, and the quality is sub-par, and you are limited to like 10 second clips.) While as far as I can tell, your slow-mo vids are only limited by SD card space, there is a trade-off, in that the higher the frame rate, the smaller the resolution of the videos. Heres some samples:

300FPS

600FPS

1200FPS

There are some additional trade-off's for incorporating all the fancy new tech as well. The maximum image resolution is 6 mega pixels, which I don't necessarily have a problem with except that its a step down from my 8 mega pixel I have now. Also, to help cut costs, the view screen isn't the most flattering quality (The thing already costs $999). As bad-ass as this mother is, I think I might have to wait until the next iteration of it comes out with a few improvements, and hopefully a slimmer price tag.

Holy crap. It's quarter til' 2 in the morning. I have to go to bed. G'night peeps.

Haha!

2008-04-15T21:28:00.002-05:00

Tony and Mike, I think you'll get a kick out of this:

Wildly Popular 'Iron Man' Trailer To Be Adapted Into Full-Length Film

The Happening

2008-03-27T13:22:00.003-05:00

I just typed that post title in because I couldn't think of anything else to call it. That is, however, the name of M. Night Shymalahamaoughimoreileyanomahans's (sp) new film. I really don't know much about it, other than the title is kind of lame. It does appear to involve some kind of apocalyptic adventure, which I'm always up for, and it opens on my birthday.

I took the kitties to Weathered Rock Veterinary Clinic this morning to get them laser de-clawed. (Thanks, Mike, for letting me know where to get the procedure done locally.) I would've told Dr. Popp you sent me, but Thursdays are his day off apparently, so the other Doc will be performing the surgery. I just hope they don't laser off a foot or something. It ended up costing 140 per feline, but I think it's worth it to put them through less pain and less recovery time.

I got a new toy (fingerprint magnet) today. The Logitech Harmony One remote. It's their latest all-in-one universal remote. I was going to hold out until they released something with Bluetooth so I could control the PS3, but I found a work-around. I also ordered a cheap PS3 remote from amazon which comes with an IR dongle. All you have to do is plug in the IR dongle to your PS3, tell the Harmony One to assimilate the cheap PS3 remote's functions, and you're controlling the PS3 with the uber-remote. The only drawback is no power on and no eject for PS3, but you have to power it on to put a disc in anyway, so it's not a huge deal.

It Came From the Camera Phone

2008-03-17T13:16:00.009-05:00

The horror! The humanity!

The following collection of oddities are of images one would find while perusing through my camera phone's gallery.
Yup, it's a wheel fashioned out of meat from Hy-Vee

This is The Demon Bunny, available now at your local Cracker Barrel

Enjoy your stay at the glorious Herp Haven, courtesy of Pet-Co.

Not a big fan of Herp Haven? Relax! You can always come hang out at the Crab Cove, again courtesy of Pet-Co.

Technology these days... This drawer of a new fridge can hold sausage, cheese, and e-mail. (Photo taken at Best-Buy)

For when camouflage pants and overalls simply wont do, Furniture Factory Outlet has this magnificent camo-recliner.
"Doreen, go get me a beer"
"But honey, I can't find you. Where are you sitting?"

New Rules for Driving

2008-02-29T08:07:00.007-06:00

Happy Leap Day!

I'm sure you've all heard of 'new math'. I would like to share with you 'new driving'. This is the new rules for the average American driver. Please be sure to follow them to the letter.

1) Always add approximately 20% speed to any posted speed limit. If the sign reads 65, go 80.
2) Not using turn signals: It's not just for old people anymore! Turn signals are neither encouraged, nor required.
3) When a traffic light turns red, you still have about 5-10 seconds to get through the intersection. Everyone knows and expects this.
4) You always have the right of way. It's yours.
5) In cases of inclement weather, always increase speed accordingly. You don't want to be out in that nasty stuff any longer than you have to! Also, be sure to decrease awareness and alertness so the cold doesn't get you.
6) Remember, the roadway is yours. It was built just for you!
7) If you can't be distracted by talking on your cell phone while driving, please seek out another distraction immediately. Try eating or reading.
8) Bob n' Weave: The best way of getting through congested traffic is to bob and weave uncontrollably between every and any open spot between cars, even if your car doesn't fit. Remember: The road is yours, they'll make room, and rule number 2 is also very important here.

If you follow these simples rules, you too can be an average American driver!

Lastly, enjoy this onion.com video which covers some exciting new developments in driving.

Tired Of Traffic? A New DOT Report Urges Drivers: 'Honk'

Old Commercials

2008-02-24T12:10:00.005-06:00

Yesterday evening, I was compelled to look up old commercials on youtube. Here are some of my favorites.

I was quite impressed with this one, considering it was made in 1982 and was made without any fancy computer effects.

Poor Sony. At least they got theirs this time.

Huh. This one isn't really that old (2006), but one of the most inappropriate toy guns ever.

The inevitable spoof.

A follow up to my post below.

2008-02-21T01:04:00.002-06:00

Paramount silently issued a statement around 1:00am this morning stating their intentions to return to Blu-ray, with their tail tucked between their legs.
I now officially upgrade their status from "filthy sweaty taints" to simply "taints".

Even better than their status upgrade, this means that all 6 major studio's are now with Blu-ray. Let the fun begin.

Paramount = Taints?

2008-02-20T23:06:00.003-06:00

Ok, let me start off by saying the information I'm basing this rant off of is totally unproven, and could either be true, or false, but I feel like bitching about it anyway.

For the past 15 months, I've had an addiction. An addiction to the high def format war. Day after day scouring the interwebs, looking for any information about who did what.
Long story short, it ended on Monday.
Toshiba, the daddy of HD DVD called it quits. Universal Pictures, the staunchest supporting studio of HD DVD announced the same day they were going Blu-ray. Most retail stores began clearing out HD DVD products. Hooray! I can stop obsessing and simply start enjoying movies from all the studios in high def!
High 5 Warner Bros.! High 5 Disney, Fox, Sony, Lionsgate, MGM, and Universal! High 5 Para... hey wait. Paramount, where are you? Hey guys? Hello?

A quasi-insider has stated that Paramount, the same studio who mercilessly stabbed Blu-ray in the back last summer and ditched them for HD DVD, the now deceased format, is going to stick with said deceased format for now.
It was long rumored that Toshiba paid Paramount financial incentives to release exclusively on HD DVD for a period of 18 months, and the latest rumor is that Paramount is in no rush to join everyone else on Blu, because so long as they remain HD DVDeceased exclusive, Toshiba still has to pay them monthly installments per their initial contract.
Thats right, they're more concerned with sucking funds from Toshiba for the time being than joining the rest of the ENTIRE fucking industry and moving forward as one cohesive group to insure the proliferation of Blu-ray into the main-stream.
Keep in mind, as I said earlier, this may be entirely false, but it's the latest buzz. For all I know, they could come out tomorrow and say they'll support Blu-ray, but this whole rant is just in response to the current rumors.

So, for the time being, I declare Paramount Pictures filthy, sweaty taints. Paramount, you are indeed the perineum of Hollywood.

When I wake up in the morning...

2008-02-19T01:11:00.003-06:00

First of all,
Mike and Mary, I'm sorry to hear about Brandy. She was one of my most favorite dogs ever. My thoughts are with you.

Secondly:

It's 1:12 AM central time, and I'm going to bed. Toshiba is expected to announce at 5PM Japan time (2:00AM) that they are killing off HD DVD for good, recalling all HD DVD hardware for sale, pulling in all movies, letting Paramount and Universal out of their contracts, and sticking a fork in it.

Now, this better be how things played out when I wake up or I'm going to be pissed.
I better not wake up in the morning and they've tried to pull some heroic bullshit.
We shall see.

Update:
Yay! Bye HD DVD. See ya in hell.
Aww crap. No more format war. Now what am I gonna obsess over?

Follow Up: Wal-Mart Delivers HD DVD Gigantic Kick in the Toshiballs

2008-02-15T10:55:00.004-06:00

This is a follow up to yesterdays post, and this one is a HUGE kick in the Toshiballs for HD DVD.
In the course of this week, Netflix goes Blu-ray exclusive, Best Buy announces official Blu-ray endorsement and promotion, and now......

WALMART has stated that they are going Blu-ray exclusive. It's over folks.

Holy Sh!t, and Other Musings

2008-02-14T19:11:00.003-06:00

Well, I go away for a month and a half, and the whole damn format war nearly ends itself before I have a chance to make commentary! I know a lot of format war followers like to make reference to 'dominoes falling' when referring to successive blows between Blu-ray and HD DVD, but damn, Blu-ray has taken a leaf blower to HD DVD's stack of dominoes.

After Warner Bros. shift to Blu exclusivity was announced, it sent a ripple outward through the entertainment industry. Below is a list of developments which have occurred since the Warnerbomb:

2008-01-04: Warner announce they goes Blu-ray exclusive.
2008-01-08: New Line goes Blu-ray exclusive. 2008-01-09: HBO goes Blu-ray exclusive.
2008-01-11: Constantin Film goes Blu-ray exclusive.
2008-01-14: Digital Playground said they might go Blu-ray exclusive during 2008.
2008-01-16: Senator Home Entertainment goes Blu-ray exclusive.
2008-01-20: R&B Films goes Blu-ray exclusive.
2008-01-21: Trans World, one retailer with more than 800 stores starts to make more room for Blu-ray
2008-01-22: Grant's Appliances, one of the top 30 electronics retailers in the US, goes Blu-ray exclusive.
2008-01-24: SF Film goes Blu-ray exclusive.
2008-01-24: Scanbox goes Blu-ray exclusive.
2008-01-28: Woolworths, one of the bigger retailers in UK with 820 shops, goes Blu-ray exclusive.
2008-01-28: FS-Film have gone Blu-ray exclusive.
2008-01-30: National Geographic have gone Blu-ray exclusive.
2008-01-30: Sonic Solutions goes Blu-ray exclusive.
2008-01-31: Surround Records, former HD-DVD exclusive distributor, goes dual-support.
2008-02-01: Imation stops makeing HD-DVD-R/RW media and goes Blu-ray exclusive.
2008-02-04: BAC Films goes Blu-ray exclusive.
2008-02-04: Manga Films goes Blu-ray exclusive.
2008-02-05: OVA Films goes Blu-ray exclusive.
2008-02-07: Filmmax goes Blu-ray exclusive.
2008-02-11: Netflix goes Blu-ray exclusive. 2008-02-11: Best Buy, the number one retailer of high def media in the US announces that they will only promote, and heavily favor Blu-ray in their stores.
2008-02-12: Spanish film distributor Tripictures goes Blu-ray exlusive
2008-02-12: Scandinavian retailer Hi-Fi Klubben goes Blu-ray exclusive
2008-02-14: Spanish distributor Cameo goes Blu-ray exclusive
2008-02-14: Former HD DVD exclusive indie film company Opus Arte announces support for Blu-ray

I bolded some of the big ones. As you can see, things have begun picking up pace, and barely a day goes by at this point where some announcement of exclusivity or support isn't announced.

Since Warnerbomb, HD DVD has suffered a series of embarrassing losses in both software and hardware. They immediately slashed prices of all HD DVD players in the hopes that it would stimulate their drowning format, but the plan failed. Even with HD DVD players selling for as cheap as $150, the latest numbers for the week of February 10th show Blu-ray grabbed 65% of the stand-alone player market (The week after Warnerbomb Blu sold 85% of all HD players), and this is EXCLUDING the Playstation 3, which by the way outsold the Xbox360 last week in the US.

Aside from 2 weeks ago when HD DVD software had 26% share (fueled by a massive Amazon HD DVD software clearance....er sale) against Blu-ray's 74%, Blu has been in the 80%+ range of all HD software sold since the Warner bomb.

The latest developments came earlier in the week when HD DVD was hit hard in both nuts by Netflix and BestBuy. Netflix, the worlds number one online rental service announced they are going Blu-ray exclusive. Within hours, BestBuy, the number one HD media/hardware seller in the United States announced that their intentions were to heavily promote and recommend Blu-ray as the official HD media of choice in their stores. I truly think the only reason they didn't just come out and say 'exclusive' is because they want to sell through their remaining HD DVD stock before they give them the boot. BestBuy has favored Blu-ray for quite some time, so a press release to re-iterate that fact would be stupid. I think they basically wanted to make their stance official and help to speed along the adoption of Blu-ray without alienating current HD DVD shoppers at their stores.

So now, the industry is standing on one side of the line, impatiently looking at Universal and Paramount who are staring questionably at Toshiba, wondering what to do.
I honestly think this whole HD format battle will be completely over by the summer at the latest.

The latest rumor (From a reliable source no less) is that Toshiba plans to announce HD DVD as a non-viable technology within weeks and halt production. This would free Paramount and Universal from any contractual obligations they may have been toshiba'd into and allow them to join Team Blu (aka: The rest of the entertainment and consumer electronics industry)

Article: Toshiba to drop HD DVD, sources say

In other news. I've been low-carbin' it for about 3 weeks now. All is going well. Lots of pork rinds. Oh the pork rinds, and meat. Cheese. More meat. Yeah.

God Bless Michael Bay

2008-01-06T19:06:00.000-06:00

So, I spent the better part of this weekend glued to the computer. Bad, I know, but after the Warner news and with CES 2008 firing up, I couldn't help myself. It was like my fix I desperately needed to survive.
Anyway, Michael Bay has been an outspoken proponent of Blu-Ray for quite some time, and he was none to happy when Pay-amount Pictures dropped Blu, as he insisted that it affected the quality of his Transformers release when it had to be fit onto a lower bandwidth/lower capacity HD DVD with no BD option.

This is his latest ranting, and I find it hilarious! Enjoy.

"I know the look, color, and sounds on my own movies better they anyone in the world. I color-time every single image, and am there for every single audio tweak. I see my films in the editing and final process no less then a 100 times. I know ever single nuance. For some dick wads on these posts who think I can't make an informed choice on what format in the end, has the truer results for my own films. Well you where to shove.... My films finished in Blu-Ray are better - more true. Hd is better than DVD, but just not as good as Blu-Ray. So buying a Transformers Hd is still the best you will see this movie as of today. But when Paramount caves for Blu-Ray in the future - This will happen, then you will see Transformers one day finished in Blu-Ray and I will sure be able to tell the difference. Bay"

Warner Brothers: We're Blu, and So Can You!

2008-01-05T00:55:00.000-06:00

Sorry, Stephen Colbert for sort of ripping of your book name in this thread title.
I had kind of decided to avoid rantings about the High Def format war, since I know it may not be of supreme interest to some of you, like it is for me.
I feel compelled today though, to make an exception. Warner Brothers, the last major Neutral content provider for Blu-Ray and HD DVD has announced their exclusive support for Blu-Ray. WB holds approximately 20% of all films under their brand, and this effectively gives Blu-Ray exclusive access to 70% of all films. Reports are buzzing around the internet calling this the final death-blow for HD DVD, and I truly believe it is, barring some sinister scheme from Microsoft, though I think it would be too little, too late. Warner, not being douche hats like Paramount will be honoring their previously announced titles and winding down support for HD DVD as of May 31st, though until exclusive support kicks in June 1st, they will be releasing those HD DVD titles after the day-and-date release of the DVD and Blu-Ray versions of those films.
This news must've caught Toshiba and the HD DVD Promotions Group off guard, as they have canceled their much anticipated 2 hour HD DVD extravaganza this coming Sunday which was the prelude to CES 2008 which begins Monday. Ouch!
The last 2 hold-outs in ending the format war are Universal Pictures, who has been HD DVD exclusive since the start, and Paramount, which went HD DVD exclusive due to 'financial incentives upwards of $150 million' last summer. Many are predicting that Universal may follow shortly behind Universal in joining Blu-Ray, at least in dual-format support if nothing else.
Unless Payamount Pictures has some built in escape clause, they will be standing all alone holding a bag of shit until 2009.
I'm personally excited that it seems like this whole damn format thing has reached a turning point and may be ending rather swiftly.
Long live Blu!

Unspecified

2008-01-03T00:35:00.000-06:00

Christmas came and went. New Years came and went. All of it seemed to come and go so fast, as it seems most anything does anymore. I really enjoyed our little friends Christmas get-together. My family Christmas celebration was the weekend after Christmas and really helped to solidify the coming and going of the holidays. No matter how many other other get-togethers or parties, it just seems unofficial without time with the family. I seemed to connect with all of them a lot more than I generally do, which was kind of cool. I guess it means I'm growing up, though I thought I already did that. Eh.
My new years resolution, of course, is to lose this "lazy + junk food + quitting smoking" excess flab I seem to have amassed over the course of 2007. It really affects me on so many levels and I really need to take steps to get myself healthy. I guess to do that, I need to put the bowflex thats been sitting there like a pile of rubble together and buy something besides double quarter pounders.
I'm going to put together a low-carb shopping list and try to force myself to get the bowflex back into a functioning thing. My out of shapeness is starting to make me depressed. I think it has been for quite some time, but I've been suppressing it.

On a non-shitty non-depressing note, I found this video on Youtube. Please only watch if you're a fan of Star Trek: Voyager. This vid won best music video compilation at the official Star Trek convention in Las Vegas in 2007, and it is clips from Voyager matched up perfectly and beautifully with the words and meaning of the song. It's about Janeway wanting to save/protect Voyager.

A Little of This 'N That

2007-12-15T22:19:00.000-06:00

I haven't updated this thing in a week, so I felt obligated to do so, and I had some decent topics as well. I will split this up into sections, since they are all so unrelated.

Movies

Ryan and I went to see I Am Legend tonight. I had been looking forward to this movie for quite some time. Not only have I never read the book by Richard Matheson, but I have also never seen the other two films based off of it, The Last Man on Earth, and The Omega Man. While I did enjoy the film and thought the sight of seeing a place like Manhattan completely empty and on it's way to being reclaimed by nature, I thought the film did have some issues. The story begins after the chain of events leading to the end of civilization has already taken place, and slowly, through flashbacks we are given pieces of the puzzle as to what brought the whole thing on. I think Will Smith did a good job at creating a character who you could sympathize with, and one scene in the movie even made me cry.The only real problems I had were some pacing issues, and some of the special effects. The use of flashbacks was well done and they were intermixed at the appropriate places and times, but where the problems come in is with the last 30 minutes of the film. I think so much happens all at once that the events as they play out are not given enough justice and seem rushed. This also leads to an ending that seems rushed.

This film relies heavily on the use of CGI. Animals, effects, scenery, creatures. You will be hard pressed to find a shot that doesn't integrate some form of CGI into it, save for a few interior shots. While a lot of the CGI is well done, I think the protagonists rely too heavily on CGI where they could have taken more traditional approaches with the use of prosthetics/puppetry etc. Some of the CGI involving the creatures has a fair amount of that CGI'ish look too it, which makes it easy to suddenly feel removed from the believability of the film. I think traditional effects would have gone a long way with these creatures being believable, especially considering their origins.

This is the second film I have seen in the last month (The Mist) which is rare, considering that we seldom go out to see movies anymore, since we have a better setup for watching them at home. One thing that I find interesting is that of these two films, both have had very much what I consider a non-Hollywood ending. I have to hand it to the film industry. It is somewhat refreshing to see films that don't wrap it all up in a fun little package with a bow for you to walk out of the theater smiling and being happy. That's what we're all used to already.

Overall, I give this film 4 out of 5 spiders.

Time Flies

You know, the older I get, the more time seems to slip by faster and faster. I have especially noticed this over the last couple of years. The months and seasons just seem to pass ever more quickly. I read an article today which sheds some light on this, and it turns out, this is a natural process of the brain.

Researchers wanted to do a study on why things seem to move in slow motion during emergencies or times when the mind is in great distress. They performed a test whereby people fell 150 feet into a net, and they had them watch numbers flash quickly across a wrist-worn screen while doing so. The actual fall only took 3 seconds, but the subjects felt like they were falling 3 times as long. The researchers theorized that the brain operates at a faster rate, so they assumed that these subjects should have been able to interpret the numbers on their screens as they were falling, which under normal circumstances would not be readable.

It turns out that they could not read the numbers any better during the fall, even though they all felt like time slowed down. As it turns out, in times of great mental stress or stimulation, a part of the brain called the amygdala kicks in and begins recording an extra set of the memories already being recorded by other parts of your brain. This action creates very strong memories which are interpreted as being longer since they are more powerful than standard memories.

How does this all apply to time passing faster as you get older? Well, when people are young and experiencing things for the first time, the amygdala is called into action frequently, making the memories more impactful and giving the illusion of time passing more slowly. As we get older and have "seen it all", the amygdala does not kick in as often and our memory are only recorded once, and interpreted as time moving faster. I think this study is quite fascinating, and it's good to know there is a scientific explanation to the quickening of time we experience.

Well, that's it for me tonight. See you all later.

Vanilla, Ice, Ice Baby

2007-12-08T01:42:00.000-06:00

So the forecast for this weekend calls for ice mixed with ice. You know things are going to suck when you watch the evening news and the weather guy says to anticipate widespread and extended power-outages as a result.

I decided to take a bunch of work home with me tonight in case we end up entombed in some kind of ice palace and can't even walk outside come Monday.

Ryan and I are going to stock up on water and non-having-to-be-cooked items tomorrow. I hope it turns out to be nothing, but if it does turn out carppy, below is what it will probably look like:
Speaking of The Day AFter Tomorrow, I have that film on Blu-Ray and have yet to watch it. Maybe I'll give it a spin this weekend so long as I still have electricity. I hear it was a superb transfer onto High-Def.

Stay safe everyone and try not to get ice all up on ya!

-Kody

Randomosity

2007-12-06T09:23:00.000-06:00

Mmmmm. Randomisnessosityismishness. Yay, I made a new word. Call Merriam-Webster. Hey, if Rachael Ray can get EVOO in there, then I should be able to get that in too.

So I was at Hastings last-night and I picked up a new "Star Trek II The Wrath of Khan 25th Anniversary" Admiral Kirk action figure. Yeah, I collect toys, wanna fight? Yeah, I'm a Star Trek geek, wanna make something of it? Yeah, I know, I know, I'm supporting a Bribeamount/Vilecum property, but I'm still a trekker. Anyway, I was amused by the header on the back of the package before the description.

I recently upgraded my phone to a Sony Ericsson w580i, thus cranking my Sony

fanboy status up another small notch. It's kind of nice not having a big honking phone with a

full keyboard since I never used it anyway. It's nice to have a camera again too. Speaking of camera, it has a fun feature whereby it can patch 3 images together into a panoramic shot

. Here's a wide shot of my office. Yeah, it's a lovely shade of Jalapeno, wanna fight about it?

Ryan and I watched Pirates of The Caribbean: At Worlds End last night. While much better than part 2, it was still no part 1, and the ending sucked a small amount of goatballs. Maybe one goat ball. With POTC3, I officially joined the 40+ Blu-Ray Club, and for that I think I deserve some kind of gold foil leaf star sticker.

Speaking of things you watch (what a crappy segue), how about Heroes. How about that, uhhh, 10 episode season? Wasn't quite a long as, oh I don't know, the 23 episode 1st season eh? I know there is a writers strike going on, and I support all those poor homeless and destitute hollywood writers who need more money just to survive, but how about if we don't call the whole season quits and just have a break like they did last season? From what I've read, they had to significantly alter the story-line to condense season 2 into less than half it's intended episodes, and a lot of stuff was supposed to happen that I was looking forward to.

Thats all for today. See ya!

Catsmess Tree

2007-11-29T12:32:00.000-06:00

If only we'd caught them in the act, we would have had a nice candidate for a LOLCATS submission to icanhascheezburger.com

A google search on the topic did produce this humorous webpage which detailed one families adventures in Cat/Christmas Tree intermixing (Be sure to check the before and after at the end)
So when I got home from work lastnight, I noticed Ryan was in the bedroom with the door closed. I could instantly tell he wasn't happy and was directed to go downstairs and view the Christmas tree which I initially walked right past without noticing anything.
The cats had done quite a number on it. Many of the branches were off the tree, the ones that weren't were flattened, and the lights were disheveled beyond repair. Although kitties know not what they are doing (After all, a weird tree just sprung up in the middle of their play area from their perspective), I did not think Ryan could take another Christmas Cat-astrophe.
I had to build a better tree; a cat-proof tree.
After dis-assembling the whole tree, I tried experimenting with various ways of keeping the branches where they belonged, and eventually went out and got some zip-ties and carefully zip-tied each branch tightly into the middle metal pole thingy.
I also got some new gold lights instead of the white ones we had, and got those fastened to the tree, as well as the ornaments and the star. The whole tree is weighted down with our DVD holder book things too.
Now, the worst they can do is just smoosh some branches down, and maybe open a few presents that aren't theres (They opened the corner of a present) ,but hopefully the tree will survive the remainder of the holiday season upright and intact.

Happy Holidays!

Sky is Over

2007-11-27T10:12:00.000-06:00

I know, I know. Posting part of a song lyric in your blog is cheating, and generally may not be considered all that interesting, and I'm even treading on an old post, since I already discussed this album, but here I go.
My favorite song from Serj Tankian's 'Elect The Dead' is a song called 'Sky is Over'. As is the case with most of his songs, it is a very powerful song, while remaining vague and cryptic enough to make you wonder exactly what it means. I think he is referring to the dangers both politically/economically and environmentally of a nuclear bomb or nuclear attack.

"Even though we can't afford
The sky is over
Even though we can't afford
The sky is over
I don't want to see you go
The sky is over
Even though we can't afford
The sky is over

Behind closed eyes lie
The minds ready to awaken you
Are you at war with land
And all of its creatures
Your not-so-gentle persuasion
Has been known to wreck economies
Of countries, of empires, the sky is over"

What are your thoughts on this songs meaning? Hmmmm?

God's Special Friends

2007-11-24T22:28:00.001-06:00

So Ryan and I just got back from seeing The Mist. I had never read the short story, and I thought the movie was very very good, while the ending is going to be an appreciate or deplore it for many I think. While trying not to give anything away, I must tell you a valuable lesson I learned from this movie:

If you find yourself trapped in a situation with a group of people, be it zombie invasion, alien attack, vampire army, creatures from another dimension, or even a natural disaster, please, PLEASE for the love of God dispatch of the religous fundamentalists in the group STRAIGHT AWAY!

Thank you.

-Kody

Elect The Dead

2007-11-20T10:27:00.000-06:00

I'm sure most everyone is familiar with the band System of a Down, whether you like them or hate them(Ryan). You may not be as familiar with Serj Tankian, the front man for the band.While S.O.A.D. is on an indefinite hiatus, Serj recently embarked on a mission to release a solo album titled "Elect The Dead". The entire album was written, performed, orchestrated, and produced by Serj in his home studio. My review: Frickin' awesome.
I've always been a fan of music that does more than make me want to tap my toes or hum. I like my music to really make me think or to give me new perspectives or paradigms. Granted, I think we all gave our guilty pleasures , or 'fluff' music (Leslie and the LY's) that we enjoy, but my list of true favorites either makes me think deeper or tap into some primal emotions. Korn, Marilyn Manson, System of a Down, Linkin Park (especially their recent album); all of these bands have an exterior that many people never see beyond. Once you get past that and listen to what these people are saying, it is fascinating.
Getting back to Serj's new album, even the title has a profound meaning. He is saying that our current leaders do not have the strength or will to run this country and care for it's best interests. He is saying we need to elect the living, functioning ideas of dead leaders from our past instead of going with the dead, broken ideas of our living leaders.
The underlying message which runs throughout "Elect The Dead" is also very, very eye opening.
Our civilization is failing. Every day, our population grows at a more rapid rate and our resources to survive decrease at an equal pace. Human Society is not sustainable and will eventually collapse. We as a species need to decide what to do to survive. We, as intelligent creatures need to look at ourselves and say, "Okay, this whole civilization thing didn't work out. What do we have to live for. What do we have to do to continue on?"
Serj elaborated in a recent interview that 'civilization' has existed for about 10,000 years. Before that time, humanity still existed indigenously and was in touch with the Earth. They had relationship with it. Once civilizations blossomed and began rapidly expanding the relationship became all about taking from and exploiting the planet and losing that relationship with it. This behavior is scientifically destined to fail.
I have been chastised for taking an interest in 'doom and gloom' scenarios, but I truly find Serj's message frightening and astounding all at the same time.
The problem is so immense and far-reaching that it seems like all one can do is just watch the events unfold.
Below is Serj's video for "Empty Walls", the first single from the album. The video carries some very interesting messages about our (George Bush's) current war. I think the 'empty walls' has several meanings in the context of the song. I think it signifies the ignorance of our administration to see what is really happening. They're living behind safe comfortable walls apart from the turmoil. I think it also signifies the American peoples (lack of) understanding of the war and how it's only shown to us through the filters (walls) of the media. I think it signifies how we all tend to not see the bigger picture because we spend most of our time trapped inside the walls of our own minds.

The thing with Serj is, while he has his own messages and thoughts to convey in his songs, he likes to leave everything open to interpretation from the listener. I've heard other people say that the song is actually about the Armenian genocide and the Turkish government's attempts to cover it up for all these years (Serj is of Armenian descent), though the video would suggest otherwise. I've also heard that he doesn't necessarily always make his video pertinent to the song. What do you think the song means?

Leslie and the LY's

2007-11-19T10:46:00.000-06:00

I'm going to guess that unless you've heard me talk about her previously, you probably don't know who Leslie Hall is, or her band, Leslie and the LY's.

The band started at an open mic night in the little town of Ames, Iowa in 2004, and since then has gained an immense following on the interwebs.
While Leslie produces most of her songs using Apples Garage Band program, when she goes on tour she is accompanied by band mates to play various instruments.
I find the whole concept of Leslie and the Ly's strangely intriguing. The songs are totally unique and off the wall, but I think half of the charm is the quirky fashion of Leslie. She always performs wearing various incarnations of the gold spandex cat suit pictured above. If you visit her official site, you'll find she has a fascination with gem sweaters, and thusly has created a gem sweater mobile museum (which also doubles as her tour bus).
Below is an early music video for my favorite song (though not the studio version) from Leslie and the LY's, "Zombie Killer"
Enjoy!

Quote of the Day

2007-11-15T20:37:00.000-06:00

I watched the Project Runway season premier tonight. Though you can't really see it from the picture above, this dress had a big wad of colorful fabric shooting out of the back of it.
Here is how Heidi Klum described it:
"Her model looked like she was pooing fabric."
Best. Quote. Ever.

Colour like.no.other

2007-11-14T22:45:00.000-06:00

Hey. I don't know how many of you have seen the Sony Bravia ads below, but they are beautiful.

The first one with the paint was shot in Glascow, Scotland using eighteen and a half thousand gallons of environmentally friendly paint.

The second was shot in San Fransisco and used a quarter of a million colored rubber balls.

Both of them were made for the European market. I don't know why Sony never released them for the United States.

Come to think of it, I don't think I've ever seen a cool Bravia ad here. Eh, oh well. Enjoy the show.

Mediacom: Not Delivering On The Promise

2007-11-09T13:23:00.000-06:00

I have been a customer of Mediacom for several years now, so I think I've earned the right to say that they suck monkey ass. They don't suck monkey ass in a customer-service kind of way, but in the product they offer. I've actually had nothing but good experiences with their customer service, but damn, are they sucking ass with their product.
I, as you know, am a High-Def junkie. When we were getting ready to move, I decided to do a little research on other options besides Mediacom. I looked up Dish Network and DirecTV, and was astonished at the leaps and bounds they had made in their HD programming over the last couple of years. Both offer 70'ish plus channels of high definition programming, with the promise of more on the way. This made my less-than-a-dozen HD channels on Mediacom look downright embarrassing. Not for me, for Mediacom. I gave them a call, and told them I was incredibly dis-satisfied with their HD package, and they gave me a 25% service discount plus free DVR service for a year. Yeah, that's great and all, but it doesn't increase my HD viewing experience. Their explanation was something to do with the bandwidth for delivering HD (yank yank) versus what satellite can do.
Anyway, when we moved to the townhouse, we spoke with some third party for-hire maintenance man who said that they really didn't like us having satellite, and it would only be tolerated if some equipment was already on the premises, which it didn't look like, so I gave good old Mediacom a call and scheduled to have it transferred to the new place.
When the Mediacom guy came to get everything set up at the townhouse, he commented on what a nice job someone did setting the place up for satellite in terms of wiring and even noted there was a DirecTV on the roof already. I was pretty shocked.
Anyway, to make a long story longer, I made an appointment to have a Mid-America Wireless satellite installer come out tomorrow and look at the wiring to see if the place is indeed satellite ready. If it is, I then have to choose between Dish Network and DirecTV. I know some of you have one or the other. Which one should I get?
Either way, Mediacom are shetbags and I can't wait to get rid of them.

Blogger/Blogspot is a Piece of Shit?

2007-11-08T12:25:00.000-06:00

Okay. Now I'm pissed off. Not only is my whole blog displaying like clown vomit, and it has been all week, but I cant even add a page element. I've been trying to add a links list with links to my friends blogs and each time I get it all set up and hit save, it says that there was some kind of error. Blogspot, why are you a big piece of feces?

-Angry Kody

2 Guys 1 Cup

2007-11-08T09:02:00.000-06:00

I didn't have the stomach to watch the 'original', but this video contains a funny spoof of 2 Girls 1 Cup by John Mayer (naturally?)

PS: It beats the piss out of me why my blog displays like a train wreck in Firefox all-of-the-sudden. It works in Safari and Internet Explorer just fine. Anybody else have this problem?
-Kody

I am Legend, etc.

2007-11-04T21:01:00.000-06:00

Check out this movie trailer:

I'm pretty excited about it, and I cant wait to see it December 14.

And Lastly, I would like to offer a calm, fanboy free analysis as an alternative to my ranting and raving on recent posts.

Over the weekend, I read several reports of folks who rushed to Wal-Mart stores to pick up ther bargain bin HD DVD players, and the majority of them purchased standard definition DVD's to go along with it.

Lets think about this for a minute. We have 2 formats, Blu-Ray and HD DVD. Both of them are just over a year old, and for the most part fall squarely into the realm of tech enthusiasts and early adopters.

Disney and Panasonic, two very outspoken proponents of Blu-Ray have spent the past several months putting on a 'roadshow' to educate consumers about the benefits and experiences of Blu-Ray versus standard definition DVD's. They have reached tens of thousands of people.

This is a crucial step. People are hesitant to buy into a new technology, especially when some don't even notice the difference between Blu-Ray/HD DVD and standard DVD's. Those people are mainly those who do not yet have high definition displays. This battle for market share is indeed two-fold. You first have to get people into HDTV, then HD discs. The fact that there are 2 HD disc options really throws a wrench into the machine.

The other thing to consider is that this is all new technology. Both formats are new. Does it really speak well of a new technology if you can get it for less than some DVD players, DVD having been around for a decade at this point? For me this is one of the most telling signs that HD DVD is in serious trouble. As I stated previously, more expensive hardware is only natural for new technologies. Not only is this an accepted fact of consumer electronics, but it stimulates the whole tech industry, infuses it with new sources of income, and drives funding for further research and development of said technology.

Now, referring back to my first sentence, it makes perfect sense to me why this whole cheap player scheme seems destined to backfire for Toshiba. Not only is the average joe not expecting to get his hands on this new technology for bargain basement prices, he doesn't know enough about the technology to appreciate it or even know to pick up the appropriate discs. Not to mention, this price slashing over and over is not going to win any trusted consumer electronics brands into the HD DVD camp. Not when Toshiba is single-handily going against accepted industry moves on pricing and treatment of new technologies.

I think that the true picture is that A) Toshiba has a huge excess of these last-generation players and they need to clear them out and B) Warner Brothers has made it pretty clear that the 4th quarter of 2007 will determine where they will align themselves, as being format neutral is something they are no longer keen on doing. Toshiba and HD DVD knowing that they have been outsold by more than 2:1 by Blu-Ray all year thus far is making a last dithced desperate move to saturate the market with cheap HD DVD players to try to boost their software sales. I think Warner leaning one way or the other would be a devastating blow to the opposite team.

This move would more than likely boost Blu-Ray to an untouchable level, with them already controlling two thirds of all HD software being sold and having support of virtually all trusted electronics brands, as well as having more studio support already.

If HD DVD were to bag Warner Brothers (fortunately they have said they will not succumb to bribery unlike Paramount ) this would mean that the Studio support would be nearly an even split, though most agree Warner holds a huge stake in this format battle whoever they choose.

Lets get this 4th quarter over quickly in hopes that we may soon have a resolution to the whole debacle

CNBC

2007-11-02T14:58:00.000-05:00

Hey cool, I just got quoted on CNBC in this article:

Click

Jim Goldman, a technology journalist for CNBC wrote what I thought was an incredibly inaccurate and biased article about Blu-Ray vs. HD DVD, so I wrote him about it.
I guess you can't blame him for being biased. NBC is in bed with Microsoft and Universal, part of the HD DVD axis of evil.

Fun :)

Also, check out this audio interview with Blu-Ray Disc association's director Bill Sheppard regarding the BDA's response to Toshiba practically now giving their players away with the purchase of an Egg McMuffin (just watch, I bet thats their next move)

UPDATE: It's just too bad Jim Goldman used the word 'uniformed' when referring to my e-mail, when I clearly wrote 'uninformed'

Here was my original e-mail:

Hello,
I just wanted to tell you that your article titled "Blu-ray: Picture Gets Dimmer for Entertainment Format" has to be one of the most biased, inaccurate, and uninformed articles regarding this high-definition format war that I've read in the past 12 months. One glaring example would be your implication that Time Warner is exclusive to HD DVD, which is most definately not the case.

Thanks,
-Kody Belshe

-Kody (Hates HD DVD)

HD DVD Will Give You *Gonorrhea

2007-11-02T11:00:00.000-05:00

*Note: There is no proof that HD DVD will give you gonorrhea. This is an unsubstantiated claim from myself, a proven Blu-Ray fanboy.

Okay people. I have HAD it! As most of you know, I have become increasingly obsessed with the HD format war. I have pertinent-to-the-subject websites open all day at work, and frequently check them for news. I guess you could say I have an addiction. Why HD media? I can't really answer that. I'm a big movie buff, and a big technology and HD geek, and it all just coalesced into being obsessed with HD optical media. The problem is, there are 2 of them, when there really only should be one. Movie studios are divided, potential customers are confused, and the whole thing is just crawling along at a snails pace.
In the past, I have stated that I just want one format to prevail regardless and stamp this thing out, and that remains true, but I am on Blu-Rays side here, and I am so fed up, I'm going to come right out and say it. I think HD DVD needs to hurry up and fucking die. I'm through pretending to be compassionate about HD in general, I'm on a side, and I want them to win. To me, Toshiba and their HD DVD flunkies are like a bug that you keep stepping on and it just wont die. You need to find something big and heavy and just smash it. Come on Blu-Ray. Lets get this done.
What prompted this rant? Toshiba, in what I look at as a last gasp of desperation to me, has started selling their low end (no 1080p support, long load times, last years model) HD DVD player at Wal-Mart for $198, with a one day fire sale today of $98. Now there is NO WAY that Toshiba is making a profit on this. You can't tell me they can manufacture this thing for less than 100 or even 200 dollars, considering it was being sold for $500 initially just months ago. I believe they have effectively cut out ANY chances that ANY other manufacturer is going to want to make players for their HD DVD brand. Not when they know Toshiba will undercut them.
Toshiba is fucking up the system. New technology costs more. It always has. It always will. When some new format is introduced, players are going to cost more than what its predecessor was. Manufacturers know this, and that is why they have all flocked behind Blu-Ray. Blu-Ray will re-vitalize their income with new technology being sold at new technology prices, also helping to fund further innovations in that technology. Toshiba knows this, and knows that most Americans are cheapskates, so they are trying now to appeal to people who don't like to spend money on cutting edge products. People with the 'walmart' mentality. Well, I have news for you Toshiba. People who walk into Wal-Mart and cream their pants over a 98 dollar HD DVD player are probably going to go into sticker shock when they see that HD DVD and Blu-Ray discs usually cost over 30 dollars. They are used to buying $5.00 DVD's for their $60 DVD player. I personally think your plan is going to backfire when most undeucated masses buy these low end HD DVD players and buy regular DVD's for them, because your name, "HD DVD" is stupid and confusing. People will think it's sole purpose is to make DVD's look HD. At least Blu-Ray clearly gets the point across that its something completely different than 'DVD'.

Now someone might say to me, "Hey Kody, if you are so upset about all this, why not just support both?"
Well, I tried that, and had a horrible experience with HD DVD. I got the XBOX 360 add on and the Matrix Trilogy for HD DVD, and the discs would not play. I don't know who is at fault there, Warner Brothers for the discs or Microsoft/Toshiba for the HD DVD drive, but it all went back to the store. After that, I decided that if I really cared about Blu-Ray winning, all I would accomplish by supporting both formats is prolonging the war. Every HD DVD disc I bought would cancel out a Blu-Ray I already owned or would purchase.
Speaking of Warner Brothers, eliminating HD DVD, or them picking Blu-Ray exclusively(which is in consideration) would make me so happy. They currently release on both formats, but they encode films to the least common denominator (HD DVD) Basically, HD DVD has 20 gigs less storage capacity, a lower audio bit-rate and a lower video bit-rate than Blu-Ray. Warner scales down and compresses the film to fit on a HD DVD, then they port it over to Blu-Ray, where it could be done to a higher quality if they really wanted to, or didnt have to worry about making it fit on an HD DVD.
I now have 34 Blu-Ray movies. I am confident that with Blu-Ray leading in sales, technical superiority, studio support, and electronics manufacturer support, they will prevail. They just need to finish eradicating the virus that is HD DVD.
Wow. I haven't bitched this much in a long time. It felt good to get that off my chest.
And remember kids, Paramount are sell-out whores, and Toshiba are filthy taints.
Have a great day, and go buy some Blu-Rays!
:)
-Kody

PS: On a positive note, after Paramount (Whoramount) took the bribe to go exclusively HD DVD, everyone was banking on HD DVD FINALLY winning a sales week over Blu-Ray when Transformers was released. Oops. Didn't happen. HAHAHAHAHAHAAAA!

Douchebag Drivers

2007-10-10T08:21:00.000-05:00

I would like to take a moment to discuss douchebag drivers simply because I have seen 2 such specimens in the last 2 days on my way to work. Douchebag drivers are the ones who swerve in and out of traffic as quickly and recklessly as possible. The douchebag I saw this morning actually made about 10 lane changes in under a minute as they swerved in and out of traffic. The best part is, despite all their fast and furious douchebagging, you usually end up directly behind or beside them when you get to the off-ramp traffic light where you're going. Way to go douchebag. You win the race! Gold sticker! Everytime I witness a driver exhibiting their doucebaggery, I secretly wish to drive around a curve and see their car upside down and smoking or on fire with the passenger, or douchenger, ejected 100 feet from the vehicle (because you know they probably aren't wearing their seatbelt either)
Does that make me a bad person?

See ya!
Oh, and Paramount Sucks.

(P.S. Dawn, I will get those emotastic pics up, I promise)

Today was Ball-tastic!

2007-09-09T20:11:00.000-05:00

Hey everyone. I decided to try something new. I wanted to do a photo-blog of my day. Today, I went over to Lexy's Grandma's house to help make topiary ball wedding reception centerpieces, like the picture to the right. The only difference between the ones we're making and this one is that the ones we're making arent made of candy, don't have any glitter or gold garland, arent covered with rainbow colors, and arent ugly.

So our day began at Wal-Mart's ball section. Okay, it was the arts and crafts section, and my day didn't really start there, it's just when I started taking pictures. Anyway, take a look at Lexy's balls.

Next, we filled some silver spray-painted pots with styrofoam and then jabbed bamboo rods into them. Here's Mary jabbing a silver pot right now!

Then, all of the sudden, everyone did different things all at once. You go everyone!

Lexy and her Grandma Jean cut some bamboo poles.

You won't believe what happened next. Haggrid laid in his little cat bed and looked all cute. Also, his sister cat Hermione molested my head and tried to suffocate me and eat my hair. Awww.

This is Mary's new Toyota. Despite what it may tell you, it did not participate in making the topiary balls.

I decided to try some of the new special edition Halo 3 Mountain Dew. Appearently, a lot of people don't like the taste of it. To those haters I say this: Well, if you don't like the flavor combination of pancake batter, Sweet Tarts, frosting, cherry's and Mountain Dew, then of course you won't like it. But who doesnt like that flavor combo?

The grapevine that is twined around the bamboo has to be soaked in water before it can be flexible enough to use. Still, the result did look like a murder scene and made me cry a little, 'til I realized no one died.

Lexy's mom worked on wrapping the grapevine around the bamboo rods.

There was a spider there, but he was pretty shy. I think he said his name was Howie.

Decibell told me: "I R LAZOR CAT. I WILL SHOOTZ U WIF MY LAZOR EYES!" Then she did. I died, but only for a second.

Suddenly, all the topiary ball pots were painted, styrofoamed, bamboo rod jabbed, grapevine wrapped, and put away to be worked on again next weekend. Everyone lived happily ever after.

True Story. I was there.

PS: If you're like me, you love cats and lasers. Please enjoy these SNL digital shorts, Laser Cats and Laser Cats II

Carnivorous Plants, Iconic Killers, and the Chili Peppers

2007-09-03T11:49:00.000-05:00

So I was at Wal-Mart last night, and I happened upon a fresh batch of baby Venus Fly Traps. You know, at the plant section between the bread section and the seafood section, logically. That's one thing I love about Wal-Mart. You can be in the Mexican food aisle and they'll have an impulse buy display for tampons hanging there between the refried beans and the salsa. Always thinking, they are. Anyway. I picked up one of these baby fly-traps since generally by the time I find them in a store all the little mouths are dead and it just looks like a pile of dead brush in a little pot. I had a Venus Fly Trap once when I was about 9 years old, but my mom accidentally put an end to it's life with some bug spray which killed the flies which were fed to the plant, as best as I can remember.

You know, for being such a macho flesh eating plant, the Venus Fly Trap is quite needy. They require constant but indirect sunlight, a specific humidity and temperature, only rainwater (no tap or even bottled water), a very precise mixture of soils, and a few other less significant things which I didn't care to commit to memory. I thought the whole reason that they evolved the ability to eat living creatures was so they could survive in harsh nutrient depleted conditions. I guess I was wrong. So far, I've fed the little guy 2 spiders. I think I should give him a name. Anybody got any Ideas?

So Ryan and I went to see Rob Zombie's re-imagining of Halloween last night. I quite enjoyed it, but then I'm well known for embracing remakes of movies. Ryan on the other hand is having a more difficult time. Halloween is his all-time favorite horror movie, and he's much more critical of remakes than I. I enjoyed The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Dawn of The Dead, Charlie and The Chocolate Factory, King Kong, War of The Worlds, and Planet of The Apes remakes better than the originals. One notable exception would be the remake of The Fog, which was in my opinion a steaming pile of dead babies.

I am quite looking forward to JJ Abrams re-imagining of the Star Trek franchise next year with the new movie simply titled Star Trek. While much of the plot is shrouded in mystery, it is known that it will be taking place, at least in part, at a time before the original Enterprise began her 5 year mission with Kirk and friends. Zachary Quinto (Sylar) of Heroes fame is going to be playing young Spock, which I think is awesome. The only bad thing I have to say about this movie is that it is being made by Paramount/Viacom, which as you know are a bunch of sell-out ass-hat dirty rat bastard punk ass whore slut mofo P.O.S. traitor back stabbing sissy man bitches.

Have you ever had a band that you really liked, but you kind of stopped keeping up with them and any of their new stuff? I re-discovered the Red Hot Chili Peppers yesterday quite by accident. I was watching PBS of all channels, and they had a commercial which used their song "Snow (Hey Oh)" which I had actually never heard. It turns out it was from their 2-disc album from last year titled Stadium Arcadium, and I like quite a few songs from it.

Well, that's all for today. See ya!

-Kody

Oh God. He's Going To Talk About The HD Format War. (Paramount Sucks)

2007-08-31T19:45:00.000-05:00

For most of you, you can stop reading now as you probably have little to no interest in the High Definition optical format battle. It is after all only stealing a couple of percentage points away from DVD.

That last statement is exactly what is wrong with the whole situation. So we have Blu-Ray, and we have HD DVD. Both struggling to win over the DVD crowd with their crystal clear tack-sharp images and uncompressed sound, but because there are two formats, no one is interested. The market is growing, but very slowly.

The big reason for this is because there is a division of interests in both the electronics manufacturers and film studios over who will be the clear victor. Let's face it, there will eventually be one winner, and no one wants to be on the losing side. While my biggest wish for HD optical media is that there just be one major format, one clear winner regardless of who it is, I admit I am biased towards Blu-Ray, and have 19 Blu-Ray discs as well as a Playstation 3 (the leading Blu-Ray player)

As of right now, things break down like this:

Blu-Ray hardware Manufacturers = Sony, Panasonic, Hitachi, Samsung, Pioneer, Phillips, LG, Sharp, Lite-On, Mitsubishi, Loewe, Sharp, BenQ, and Daewoo.

HD DVD Manufacturers = Toshiba, Venturer

(There have been a few HD DVD players labeled 'RCA' and a few other brands, but they are just re-branded Toshiba players, as is the XBOX 360 HD DVD add-on)

You may have noticed the disparity between hardware manufacturers for both formats. Want to know why? Of course you do.

For, well, all of 2007 thus far, Blu-Ray has enjoyed a software sales lead of pretty much 2:1 or greater over HD DVD. HD DVD is the brain child of Toshiba, and Toshiba in response to losing in software sales lowered the prices of their hardware, again, and again. What happened then is no other consumer electronics manufacturer wanted to get involved because there was no profit margin in making HD DVD equipment if they wanted to compete with Toshiba.

Blu-Ray, while it's prices have dropped over the past year, is the more expensive format hardware-wise, and consumer electronics brands still gain a profit by manufacturing and selling their hardware. The 2:1 sales ratio has also helped Blu-Ray gain manufacturer support.

Now for the interesting part. Movie studios. This is the part where my true Blu-Ray fanboy roots may shine through the most in talking about.

Blu-Ray's big hitters = Fox/MGM, Sony Pictures, and Disney/Pixar

HD DVD's big hitters = Universal/NBC and Paramount/Dream Works

Dual Format Supporters = Warner Brothers

As you can see, there is quite a split between studios, and this picture would have looked different less than 2 weeks ago. I am referring to Paramount pictures, sleaze balls that they are. (See, I told you my fanboy would show through) Paramount pulled a high-def first 2 weeks ago when they announced they would be going from Dual-Format support, to HD DVD exclusive. Effectively, they dumped 2/3 of their HD supporters. I raise the anti-consumer flag of caution. Why would a company abandon two thirds of their consumers? Money. Though there is no direct proof (yet) speculation by many (Even posted in NY Times) is that Paramount was given some large financial incentives by HD DVD to drop support of Blu-Ray. Believe me, I promptly mailed a nasty letter to Paramount Picture's president.

This was the first time in the war that anyone flat out drop kicked their customers to the curb on either format, and I found their act despicable. At least Universal has stuck to their guns and stayed true to HD DVD, likewise for the Blu-Ray exclusive studios, and to Warner for releasing on both formats. I think Paramount has felt the consequences of their actions too. They have received heavy criticisms from industry insiders, as well as directors like Michael Bay, who initially stated he would not be involved in a Transformers 2 after the deal was announced.

I've really dragged this post out longer than it probably ever should have been , so I'll cut to the chase. The Paramount announcement stung me twice. Firstly, because it was the first time I'd seen a company flat-out abandon the MAJORITY of a consumer base, and it involved me directly. Secondly, it delayed the adoption of ONE single format. Many analysts had argued that this coming holiday season would likely spell a major victory for Blu-Ray, and help to identify very clearly a winner in the format battle, as Blu has the majority of electronics manufacturer support, and all but one studios (Universal) movies. These combined with a lot of heavy promoting would hopefully convince many fence-sitters to dive into Blu-Ray with confidence. The Paramount deal changed the whole landscape. While I'm still rooting for Blu-Ray, it is now being said that Paramount's move could help to drag the format war out for years to come as people fear getting screwed over by movie studios after they pick a format, only to have them drop support. If rumors of a pay-out to them are true, they let corporate greed screw over the HD world.

In conclusion, while I am a Blu-Ray supporter first, I just want ONE format in the end, be it HD DVD or Blu-Ray. Once this happens, there will be much more interest in the technology and a mass adoption, leading to more titles and big stuff too like Lord Of The Rings and Star Wars. All things considered, the path of least resistance to get there until 2 weeks ago was doing that through Blu-Ray, who was one studio away from having it all. And no, I wasn't asking Universal to go Blu-Ray exclusive, just neutral, releasing for both. This could have ended it right then and there.

In conclusion, Paramount Pictures sucks, and they are now on my short shit-list.

-Kody

Oy. I have a Blog.

2007-08-29T22:44:00.000-05:00

I've had several blogs throughout the years. Problem is, I usually trail off in keeping them updated in short order. Alas, another is born. (Cue dramatic soundtrack)
Yeah, to be totally honest, I'm just doing a blog because everyone else I know has one. Great lesson for the children yes? Aaah, sheep-mentality. So lets jump in shall we?
The building where I work was recently purchased by G&G develpment, who owns High 5 Communications. Not very exciting in and of itsself I know, but what it means is we can do fun things now, like paint a mural on the wall, which is exactly what I'm doing. I've been spending a couple of hours after work a few nights a week working on a floor to ceiling mural in what we've dubbed our 'think tank' room. It's basically going to be a room where we can have informal meetings with clients, or just get together to try to come up with new ideas and other such marketing shenanigans. I'll post a picture when it's done. It's a lovely scene of a field with a solitary fall-colors tree being illuminated by a strategically placed sunbeam against a blue sky with whispy clouds. Can you picture it? Are you there?

Anywhoo, thats all for today.

-Kody