There goes the neighborhood
So, I flip over from the DVD I was watching to CP24, and Stephen LeDrew is talking about social networking sites and, more specifically, Twitter. When old media tries to understand new media, the show's over. Remember the
Great Boston Mooninite Scare of 2007?
Well, there goes the neighborhood.... again.
Labels: cultural theory, tech
New 'puter
So, my old 'puter e'sploded today, and with a little help from my friend Paul, I built a new one from it's ashes. So, I christen thee the Phoenix!
Huzzah!
Labels: personal crap, tech
I'm tired, but I finally got a cell phone
This whole Sympatico fiasco has really worn me out, and I really don't have any fight left in me. Against my own personal sense of justice, I'm just going to roll over and take it, as it's not worth the stress it's causing me. It'll be a $70 sting to my pride, but it'll be over with.
As for the phone, it's a LG 150 from Virgin Mobile:
It's pay as you go, and really just a basic phone, but I really don't need much at the moment. I figure it'll be handy until I need something heftier. Right now, I figure it's the way to go until I get over being burned by Bell, and I don't really want to go Rogers at the moment.
Labels: personal crap, tech
Man, what a month and a Media Rundown
Well, the Christmas season is finally drawing to a close, and I survived another one in retail. I came close to not, especially when I lost my voice and was in a car accident, but I've got the 31st and 1st off and I intend to make the best of it... I'm going to sleep, damn it! Seriously, I haven't had a decent night's sleep in probably a month, and now I've got two days off to attempt to relax. Also, I'm only working afternoon's for the upcoming week, so I get ample sleep-in time daily.
That said, once I have more time, I'll probably start posting more. I've got an idea for a site that just summarizes the movies I've seen. It's sort of an in-joke with my co-workers.
Anywho, Christmas (and Boxing week) has brought me new media to consume, and consume it I have.
Watching: On DVD,
Blade Runner: the Final Cut,
Dangerous Days: The Making of Blade Runner,
The Simpsons Movie,
Horror of Dracula,
Batman Begins,
Mysterians,
Matango: Attack of the Mushroom People,
Varan the Unbelievable,
Live Free or Die Hard,
Smokin' Aces,
Children of Men,
Carnivale season 1,
The 36th Chamber of Shaolin,
Van Helsing (Ultimate Edition),
D.O.A. - Dead or Alive,
Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer,
Day Watch, and
28 Weeks Later. On TV, not much of anything, really. About to watch-
Shoot'em Up and
Doctor Who: Voyage of the Damned.
Listening (to): Various MP3s, and far too much Christmas music.
Reading:
Starships of the Galaxy.
Playing:
Call of Duty: Finest Hour,
Resident Evil: Code Veronica X, and
Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords.
I've also acquired a new MP3 player. A Samsung K3:
This is definitely a step up from my Sansa M250, and it got a lithium-ion battery as opposed to my constant supply of AAA. Yes, in a couple of years the battery is going to crap out, but since it's not an iPod and I didn't pay an iPod price, I really don't mind. I also think it's far sexier than an iPod, to boot. (It's also not a Zune either. Nudge, nudge.)
Labels: media rundown, personal crap, tech
I'm bored
I think I'll sue Vonnage for patent infringement. It seems to be the thing to do these days.
Labels: current events, humour, tech
Oh, those wacky European courts
(Apologies if this a little 'off', I'm still in the process of waking up. I might come back and expand on this when I'm more awake.)
In North America, it was Internet Explorer that set off the great anti-trust suit. In Europe, it's Windows Media Player.
While I'm not exactly Microsoft's biggest fan, even if I know people who work for the corporation, this is ridiculous. It's obvious that the suit was put forward by people who don't understand technology, but were manipulated by people who do. People who have a vested interest in Microsoft losing dominance.
How do I know this?
First, bluntly, you'd have to be an idiot not to get this.
Second, and simply, of all of Microsoft's sins, WMP is probably the least. Just like Internet Explorer, it's a red herring. Microsoft isn't trying to rule the internet, or media, by including these applications in the Windows installation, they're trying to make things easier for consumers. (For the record, they are trying to rule the internet and media, but not with the inclusion of IE or WMP.)
As evil a corporation as Microsoft is, they really do believe in ubiquitous computing. They really do want a better, easier experience for end users. It's not corporate spin, it's actually their guiding design principle.
It annoys me that lawmakers are going after Microsoft for the wrong reasons. Sure, they think they're going after Al Capone for tax evasion, but what they're really doing is going after O.J. Simpson for a moving violation.
Labels: current events, tech
This should be the final word on the HD format war
If you really care, and want a straight answer, read this:
The Digital Bits presents... The Soapbox: HD-DVD Buyers Beware (or... What Have You Done, Headgeek?!). It's The Digital Bits refuting Harry Knowles claims about HD-DVD, and that you really shouldn't listen to anything that comes out of the guys mouth. (Okay, that latter part is me trashing Knowles, but in the case of the format war, bank on it.)
Labels: media, tech
Shhhh....
A picture is worth 16 numbers:
This just occurred to me.
There's about a million sites out there that have posted this. If they go after all of them, each person could fork out $100 each for a legal defense, making that roughly a $100 million defence fund. If there's a countersuit filed for, let's say, a fairly conservative $10,000 each for punitive damages, that would make it a $10 billion suit against them. (Not that I'm suggesting that this should be the course of action, I'm just thinking out loud.)
Yeah, like the image says: A can of worms won't open itself.
(For the record, there's a reason why I haven't explained the photo, but if you Google the text in the pic, you'll figure out what it is.)
Labels: tech, web
Keepon Keepin' On
From
Geekologie:
Labels: tech
Ain't technology cool
This post is being done in Firefox as installed on a
2 gig SanDisk thumbdrive, with
U3 capabilities. I'm having a geekgasm, and it's almost embarrassing how much I'm grooving to this just because I'm running both Firefox and Trillian from my thumbdrive.
Labels: tech
Welcome Jay to the 21st Century
Well, I finally did it.
I got one of
these.
It's only a 2 gig, and not an iPod, but I'm basically just using it for low bit-rate recordings of Coast to Coast AM, and the occasional audiobook, so I should be able to fit a bunch of stuff on it. Right now, I've got the complete Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy radio show and three C2C shows on it, and I've only used about 400 megs.
This thing is great, and I can't believe that I've held off for so long.
Labels: pop culture, tech
For those of you who still don't get that the HD war has been won by Sony
Here's an article from
the Digital Bits, on Nielsen Videoscan's sales tracking:
The first official retail tracking data from Nielsen VideoScan seems to show Blu-ray Disc outselling HD-DVD in unit software sales by a more than 2 to 1 margin, and the gap is widening. According to data reported in Home Media Retailing (you'll find it on page one of the digital edition available on their website) for the week ending 1/7/07, Year-to-Date tracking indicated that for every 47.14 HD-DVDs sold there were 100 Blu-ray Disc titles sold. Just a week later, ending 1/14/07, the same YTD tracking indicated just 38.36 HD-DVDs sold for every 100 Blu-ray Discs sold. What's more, tracking by Nielsen VideoScan since the inception of both formats appears to indicate that Blu-ray Disc is quickly erasing the sales lead HD-DVD enjoyed as a result of launching months earlier in 2006. On 1/7, HD-DVD's lead was 100 discs for every 85.05 Blu-ray Discs sold, while just a week later on 1/14, that lead had been reduced to 100 HD-DVDs for every 92.40 Blu-ray Discs sold.
There. Got it now?
No?
What more do you need?
Porn is going to be dual format. Sony, Fox and Disney are Blu-Ray exclusive. Japan has a 96% HD market penetration for Blu-Ray. Now, it's shown that despite having a head start, Blu-Ray now outsells HD-DVD 2:1.
Seriously. What more do you need? A shovel to the head, perhaps?
Labels: tech
Oh, Bit-torrent, thou hast failed me
Well, I guess it's my fault for trying to find a copy of Traci Lords' album 1000 Fires, and all I could find was porn... which, I suppose, makes it kiddie porn since, apparently, ALL of her work was done underage. I've heard good things about the album, and I guess it's lost to time now.
Update: Heh, never thought to check Amazon, considering how they never seem to have the rare stuff.
Labels: music, tech
I just don't get it...
Somehow
this search brought up a link to my blog, yet when you do that search, it does not bring up a link to my blog. The thing is, I can totally understand why it would as I have talked about CatIII movies in the past. I just don't get how you'd get a direct link to here from there.
Update (like 2 minutes later...):
This search, however, puts me at #4. Stupid Yahoo.
Update (like 30 seconds later...): Of course, now that I did the latter search, the former search now brings up my blog at #4. Gah.
Labels: tech
This is definitely a step up from my Sansa M250, and it got a lithium-ion battery as opposed to my constant supply of AAA. Yes, in a couple of years the battery is going to crap out, but since it's not an iPod and I didn't pay an iPod price, I really don't mind. I also think it's far sexier than an iPod, to boot. (It's also not a Zune either. Nudge, nudge.)
It's only a 2 gig, and not an iPod, but I'm basically just using it for low bit-rate recordings of Coast to Coast AM, and the occasional audiobook, so I should be able to fit a bunch of stuff on it. Right now, I've got the complete Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy radio show and three C2C shows on it, and I've only used about 400 megs.
