Links of the Day

Sanctuary Ordered - The first HD web only series is being brought to the TV with an order from the Sci-Fi channel for 13 episodes. It’s also the first series to use live-action actors against virtual sets (similar to 300 or Sin City). The series will be brought to the small (larger I guess in this case) by the same team that does the web series, all vets from one of my favorite shows Stargate SG-1. The gorgeous Amanda Tapping will remain the star so I plan on tuning in. The production starts in March, no air dates released. (source)

Smash Bros. Brawl Videos - Many Smash Bros. Brawl videos which is coming stateside in March. I had pre-ordered the Wii game back in November, before the release date kept getting pushed back and almost canceled. Glad I didn't.

MacBook Air Guts - Click the link to check out the innards (with video) of the MacBook Air. I still don't recommend buying it, the price is too high, but the engineering is still admirable.

Cheat Camera Stabilizer Trick - A video how to in creating a very easy, portable and cheap way to stabilize a camera for taking pictures. It’s so good, yet simple; it should probably become standard to any camera setup.

Edwards, Guiliani Out, Nader In?

With Super Tuesday coming up, the list of viable candidates just got shorter. After yesterday's showing and running out of funds, Rudy Giuliani and John Edwards have called it quits for their campaigns. In the wings, Ralph Nader is now debating a comeback.
This afternoon, Rudy "9/11 Tourette's" Giuliani ended his campaign for the Republican presidential nominee and officially endorsed John McCain, the current front runner, citing "This is a man who is prepared to be president." Clearly he is hoping to get a cabinet position or the like but hopefully McCain knows he is too stupid and dangerous to give that kind of power to.

Citing inability to garner media attention and consistently in last place behind Obama and Clinton, Senator John Edwards also ended his run early today. He has not yet endorsed a candidate. It’s sad to see Edwards go but he wasn't going to win this time. Sadly the media is so busy conjuring their various stories about Clinton and Obama that most of the time they seemed to forget Edwards was running. Without the support of mass media (in good or bad terms) any chance to be elected goes out the door.

In addition to all the above, Ralph Nader has indicated he may once again try to run for president. I actually like a lot of views the man has, but at after 2000 he has just proven to be destructive then helpful. It can be easily argued that thanks to him fracturing 10% of the democratic vote in the 2000 election, he helped inflict 8 years of Bush on the world. If he had checked his enormous ego and endorsed Gore as everyone advised him to do, this world might have been a better or at least less war torn place. Hopefully this idea is just a pipe dream and he doesn't try and repeat 2000.

Now the choice in nominees has gotten just a bit simpler. For the Democrats it’s really a case of do you want you bumper sticker to say Clinton / Obama or Obama / Clinton. For the Republicans, it’s still a bit harder but comes down to McCain, Romney or Huckabee.

Lego Indiana Jones Sneak Peaks

Clearly I share the same love of Legos as the website Gizmodo does since I keep re-reporting their lego news. This time its about the upcoming Indiana Jones lego sets. The sets themselves leave me underwhelmed but I want a lego Indiana Jones.

A gallery of the sets is here.

TV Stuff of Note

Olivia Munn Go Boom - With the unintentional assist of baby oil and Kevin Pereira, the stunning Olivia Munn accidently wrenched her shoulder in a fall at the end of an episode of G4's Attack of the Show. As the video shows, she handled the whole thing very well. The girl is gorgeous, has a sense of humor, and she is getting better and better at her job. Which considering some of the hosts on TV put her in a rarified class.

Stewie Griffin Gay - For any fan of Family Guy, the idea that Stewie Griffin is gay is not exactly a shocker but apparently the hate group...I mean christian group The Parents Television Council didn't know it. Seth McFarlane has some choice statements about them and Stewie's gayness.

Young vs Schnabel - Apparently at the Director's Guild Awards, has been Sean Young made a full of herself hecking winner Julien Schnabel. The story has been told but now there is video (link above) that shows what happened. You will have to turn up the volume to hear it. I have to admit, now seeing the footage, I can't really blame her. The pregnant pauses where long, frequent and pointless. I got impatient just watching the damn thing. If you can't figure out what to say, shout out a quick thanks and get off the stage.

Movie News and Junk

Some movie related new came out today regarding Nightmare on Elm Street, GI Joe and Y The Last Man. Without futher ado.

New Elm Street - For some idiotic reason New Line has signed an agreement with Michael Bay's Platinum Dunes to re-do A Nightmare on Elm Street along the same lines as the recent Halloween, Chainsaw Massacre and upcoming Friday the 13th. Considering the lack of skill "re-imaginings" have been handled in the last decade or so, I am far less then thrilled with the idea. I pretty much completely agree with AICN's analysis of the situation, I am very worried but a good writer and director (not that idiot Rob Zombie) can turn me around. I just hope they remember its skill not gore that makes for a good horror flick.

GI Joe Casting - The casting for the upcoming GI Joe continues with Dennis Quaid (General Hawk), Channing Tatum (Duke Hauser), and Arnold Vosloo (Zartan) joing the cast. There is also a rumor that David Murray will play Destro. They join Sienna Miller, Ray Park, Rachel Nichols, Marlon Wayans, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Said Taghmaoui and Joseph Gordon-Levitt for the movie.

Y: The Last Man Trilogy - A rumor is going around that the comic book series, Y: The Last Man will become a move trilogy with the first movie covering the first 14 issues of the series. That series sadly ended its five year run today in an excellent final issue. Nice to see Hollywood catching up on some of these books considering by issue 3 I saw a movie potential (I should be a producer). The series is about the last man on earth (rest killed by unknown means) and his attempt to find his girlfriend while traveling across a world ravaged (or reborn) by the death of all males.

McCain Wins Florida, Giuliani Done

The major networks are predicting that John McCain has won Florida, making him the strong front runner for the Republican nomination leading into next week's Super Tuesday. Romney will cone in second, following by Rudy Giuliani. The win is an important one for McCain who some how has gone from nearly last to first place in polls across the country. More importantly, this victory spells utter defeat for Rudy "9/11 Tourette's" Giuliani who will probably end his campaign tomorrow and throw his support behind McCain. More then likely hoping to become either the VP nom or get a position within the White House that can help for another run in 4 to 8 years.

Personally I think the country dodged a bullet in the defeat of Rudy Giuliani whose campaign of terror and 9/11 is the last thing this country needs. He is dangerous and knowing he will no longer be able to push the red button brings a sigh of relief.

As for the sudden popularity of McCain. I just don't get it. His message in the last six months hasn't really changed. Yet because of one victory, its had a domino effect of additional victories. The plus side is McCain has found his voice from 2000, the candidate I like then. The problem is I can't forget the last six years where he pandered to anybody that would listen, often times reneging on his own beliefs (torture, campaign reform) in order to satisfy the so called "Base. For a few years, up until nearly mid 2007 really, his campaign was a mixture of "what Bush or the Base likes, I like." Apparently someone on his staff realized that for all their noise, the represent a minority of Americans and he has since re-asserted his previously held belief. However, for me the damage has been done. Anyone that can reverse their stance, especially something they experienced first hand like torture, is not worthy of our vote and should be held with a great deal of suspicion and distrust.

As for his winning, I don't think its because of his campaign promises. I think most Americans don't vote on a candidates record, beliefs or even religion. I think the voting goes a) by party b) by "chance of winning" c) by personality and d) finally some key issue they care about such as abortion. Most Americans are simply not informed enough to make a complex decision so its gets summed into one of the above 4 things in that order. In this case, a) is out because all the same. B, thanks to the press coverage makes most believe McCain has the win and since people don't like to vote for losers, they go for him. C and D are not even relevant at that point.

Ultimately for the Republicans' McCain is simply the "best" of the worst and that is simply pathetic.

Top 10 Lego Stop Motion Videos

Yesterday was the 50th birthday of Lego and now comes the top 10 stop motion Lego related videos that someone put together. All are worth watching but I like the building of the Death Star myself. Just because I want it. If only money wasn't an issue.

The videos are here.

News of Note to Me

Random stuff that grabbed my interest today.

FCC hands down $1.43 million fine for a NYPD Blue scene. From FIVE years ago. Yeah, its a bit pathetic at this point. Kevin Martin, its leader, should probably be fired for wasting tax payer money on such things, especially since most of it is driven by a form letter sent from the website of FTP or whatever that christian wacko group is.

Ironically, thanks to the attention this is gathering, the scene, which shows the lovely body and rear of the gorgeous Charlotte Ross is getting millions of hits on YouTube. You can check it out here. So at the least the bright side is her on the whole silly story. Government shouldn't be governing decency, especially someone as incompetent and in bed with the telecoms as Kevin Martin.

Another story is apparently the continued pathetic slide of Sean Young. You might know her from the re-issue of Blade Runner on DVD. For me, I just remember she had no problem getting naked in whatever film she showed up in and personally I wasn't that impressed with her looks nor acting. How she had any career, no matter how brief, was a bit of a head-scratcher to me.

Anyway, apparently at the Director's Guild Awards, she started heckling the winners and was escorted out. Julie Chen and David Letterman discuss it here.

Last is the discovery that supposed sex expert, writer, and seller of sex toys online and in late night TV commercials, Miyoko Fujimori, is the same Flower or Flower Edwards from multiple Skinamax movies that I saw over the years. I had a bit of a crush on her back in the early '00s when she was cranking out those movies. She was quite the exotic knockout and amazingly looks better then ever. If need a reminder, here are some links of note - IMDB profile, official site, toys, and other things. So where you go, the answer to where Flower is now - married, with kids, hotter then ever and doing online business stuff.

Happy 50th Birthday Lego

Lego has officially turned 50 today. The little brick of my childhood continues to rock and I wish I had the money to blow some cash on some of the awesome sets that are now available. As part of the anniversary, Lego plans to re-release the "Town Plan" a classic set from its early days that has a 50s gas station, town hall, cinema and will 3 golden colored bricks. Below is a little timeline courtesy of Gizmodo.

If interested in a little walk down memory lane, Gizmodo also put together a little picture reminder of some of Lego's best sets over the years. Some of which I actually use to own (such as Star Wars) before sold many of them. You can find that here.

Guillermo del Toro To Direct The Hobbit

The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed that Guillermo del Toro (Hellboy, Pan's Labyrinth) is in talks to direct J.R.R. Tolkien's the Hobbit. The plan is the release the movie in two parts, the first based on the book, the second using his annotations to bridge the gap between the novel and the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Each movie is budgeted for arond $150 million and will be co-financed by New Line and MGM. Peter Jackson will be co-writer and Executive Producer for the films. The goal is to release the films in 2010 and 2011.

Sadly this dashes hope that Peter Jackson will direct the films, as he is unable to do so do to commitments to The Lovely Bones and Tintin.

Lieberman Joins McCain Campaign

Boston.com is reporting that pseudo Democrat but really Republican Joe Lieberman is joining Presidential candidate John McCain's "state leadership team." I am thinking that McCain is hoping that Lieberman can help deliver a few states including Connecticut and is likely to use that as leverage to join the ticket as his running mate for VP.

Lieberman is the worst kind of Senator. Corrupt, no values, and will go with whatever he thinks will work in that moment of time. Lieberman being on the Democratic ticket in 2000 probably played a part in Gore's defeat and it wouldn't suprise me if he had played a huge part in Gore's decision to cave on the recount court case. I could support McCain. I liked the man I saw in 2000. Not so much in 2004-2007, but maybe he has returned. But like in 2000, if his running mate is Lieberman, I can not and will not support that campaign and can only hope for a McCain defeat as I feel that Lieberman is as much a danger to the country as Bush and Cheney are now and Ghouliani would be. (source)

It's The Middle Class, Stupid

The news reports keeping bringing up the phrase "It's the Economy, Stupid" in citing parallels between the Clinton presidential campaign of 1992 and the current. I think the phrase now needs to be even more specific, as in "The economy is the middle class, stupid."

If you look at any country in the world, what separates a thriving economy from a weak one is that country has a three class economy where the middle class is thriving. The health of the middle class is probably the single most important factor in determining the health of the national economy. That classes spending habits is the oil that keeps the economic engine going and the tendency of the Bush admin and the upper class to ignore that has been incredibly damaging to the strength of the nation.

Right now, the middle class is under siege with the housing crunch, the decreased dollar, high inflation and other economic problems. Joining the middle, the lower class is feeling the crunch even more as the cost of living is dramatically increasing across the board. Whether it’s a home, food, energy, or transportation, all of it has demonstrated double digit increases in costs over the last 7 years. None of it offset by increases in wages from companies that have enjoyed the Bush years of tax cuts combined with extravagant spending.

Congress has passed an economic stimulus plan that seems geared to help the middle and lower class. The plan calls for the $300 to $1200 check to each person in the country depending on income and number of children and if below $174,000 in income. It increases loan purchase limits and provides write off for businesses purchasing capital equipment. The plan seems to understand the important of the middle class. To bad it does nothing to address the problems that are causing the current economic recession.

The economy needs people buying lots of things they really don't need to live, such as iPods, TVs, cars and so forth. The theory behind these checks is the same one that drove the $200 refund back in 2002 - that people will take the money and blow it. What happened then will happen now is people will spend the money on meeting minimum cost of living issues and paying off debt. While good fiscal policy for the individual, it’s not so good for the economy. Giving people a check one day doesn't fix the problems that people face year round.

If Congress and the President truly wanted to fix the economy, they will have come up with plans that encourage the growth and stability of the middle class. Education plans to help elevate the lower class. Tax and incentive plans to help the growth of small businesses in the form of lower cost loans. Methods to reduce the deficit (rather then increase it) so the dollar regains some of its former value (but not all) so the cost of goods decrease. Methods to decrease the cost of living across the board, most especially the dramatic cost in health insurance, energy and food should be of high priority.

Finally something has to be done with how business treats their workers. Right now job security is a myth. Job wages and job growth is stagnant and loyalty is non-existent. If people don't have confidence in their jobs, they don't have confidence in committing to short term and long term spending.

What do you think will create greater confidence, a $600 check from the government, or $600 bonus or raise from your company for a job well done? What will get people to commit to the future in their spending choices, a vote of confidence from the government... or one from your boss? What is better for the economy, one $40 million bonus to a CEO or lots of smaller bonuses to employees beneath him? Any economic plan should encourage companies to invest in their people, not their CEOs. Any plan should attempt to encourage job security and growth, not just hope that people will just blow the money on a new toy. A plan that doesn’t strive to increase the size and stability of the middle class is a plan of failure.

The current plan is a band-aid at best, that exists simply to create a voter pleasing sound bite of "money is coming to you." It’s not a solution and what we need now is leaders that will create solutions, not digestible sound bites.

Bond 22 Gets A Title

The name for James Bond 22 has a name - "Quantum Of Solace". The title is from a short story in the "For Your Eyes Only" collection by Ian Flemming. Strange title but it doesn't follow the orginial story at all.

The story apparently starts one hour after the end of Casino Royale and involves Bond traveling around the world to stop a ruthless businessman and his organization from seizing control of the world's natural resources.

Reported new Bond Girls include Olga Kurylenko and Gemma Arterton (plays an MI6 rookie). Apparently filming has already begun as footage was shown one minute piece of footage with Daniel Craig.

Full report is here.

Bloody Omaha

Below is a video that shows just how far computers have come in the last 10 years by re-creating the famed "Saving Private Ryan" Normandy Invasion scene with 3 graphic designers, cars, costumes and props for them in 4 days. It probably took a lot of planning but the result is pretty impressive.

Spoof of Cruise's Scientology Video

Jerry O'Connell, in a bit of support for the WGA, helped create an excellent spook of Tom Cruise's Scientology video that is worth watching.

Giuliani's Florida Trouble

Giuliani, the once leading Republican nominee for President, is now seeing his chances of even being Vice President get dashed away as he is fallen from 1st to 3rd place in polls for Florida. His campaign has been bleeding with top workers agreeing to forgo pay in the effort to win the state. Simply put, its Florida or Bust for Giuliani and so far things are not looking bright.

The "vote for the winner" phenom continues as McCain now has the poll lead in Florida. Its like I keep saying, people vote less on the issues and more on who they think will win. Don't get me wrong, I am relieved that Rudy "9/11" Ghouliani will hopefully be out of the race by next Wednesday.

I think that history will mark the moment Joe Biden's comment on 10/30 debate (video below) as the beginning of the end for Giuliani when he said "There's only three things he mentions in a sentence: a noun, and a verb and 9/11. There is nothing else.".

His "9/11 Tourette's" is probably the one thing that killed any chance of his becoming president as his frequent and random use of the phrase in places it simply didn't belong actually made a joke of using the phrase "9/11". He made it a joke and even worse after people pretty much told him he was overdoing it, he continued with the behavior. We already have a bull in the China shop who refused to admit error with Bush, and one thing Ghouliani proved is he was truly Bush the Sequel.

If South Carolina truly cares about this nation, they will not vote for Ghouliani as this country already has suffered under 8 years of Bush, and can't afford another 4.

Heath Ledger Autopsy Inconclusive

The autopsy of actor Heath Ledger, who died yesterday, was inconclusive. The cause of death where more then likely be determined by a toxicology report, which unlike TV, cant take up to two weeks to get back.

There really isn't any new facts but alot of guessing going on.
- As of know, its not a suicide and if he did die of a drug overdose, all the toxicology report will prove is that cause of death, but not intent. In other words no one may ever know if it was accidental or intentional.
- At the time he had pneumonia and was not sleeping well. "Last week, I probably slept an average of two hours a night," Ledger told The New York Times. "I couldn't stop thinking. My body was exhausted, and my mind was still going."
- There was a $20 bill found at the apartment, but that's all it was. No drug residue was found on it.
- Pills (probably sleeping pills) where found, but not "scattered around."
- He was not found in Mary-Kate Olsen's apartment. According to CNN, she was called by a masseuse who was concerned but unaware of his condition. She dispatched a private security person who arrived after the police had since the masseuse realized he was breathing.
- Tragically, apparently around 1:00pm, a housekeeper entered his bedroom to change a light bulb in the bathroom and reported he was snoring at the time. So apparently time of death was between 1:00pm to 3:26pm

The more I hear the more then sounds like a tragic accident. He simple suffered a reaction to his medicine or in his sickness and lack of sleep, took to many pills. I am thinking he took pills and simply forgot he had and took more, causing the overdose.

MPAA College Number Inflated

The MPAA has admitted that the numbers it uses in its attempt to sell its case that college campuses should be policing their students online activities have turned out to be false. They use to claim that college file-swappers were responsible for 44% of the studios losses but now it turns out its only 15. They are calling on human error but thats quite a big error. Especially considering how they use the numbers to bludgeon colleges about how put upon the entertainment industry is by pirates. These numbers where also used to help fool a House bill that would require college campuses to spy on student activity and filter it as needed.

Not mentioned in the various online reports is what I consider an important fact. All the numbers about pirating and the cost comes from the companies themselves. The studies are payed for by the companies themselves. How the data was derived, the numbers used, the costs calculated, every bit of information used in these various headline grabbing reports are secret information that the RIAA and MPAA refuse to release. No report to my knowledge has ever independently collaborated their numbers. Long story short, they have a vested interest to inflate their numbers, to claim higher damages because it helps in their cause to force laws th funnel money to them rather then force geniune competition.

More Creepy Scientology Video

Another Scientology video has hit the web, this time its apparently a reach around to L. Ron Hubbard from various Hollywood Scientologists as they try to advocate the religion.

A snippet can be found here and the full 35 minute video here.

WGA, AMPTP Renew Talks

The WGA and AMPTP have finally agreed to renew discussions after about five weeks of silence. Part of the return is the WGA to take attempts to expand their reach into reality and cartoon writers. Those groups are not covered by the guild and apparently will remain so. Even more amazing is both groups agreed to not make public discussions about the talks until concluded. You think they might actually be serious this time?

In a related note, NBC chief Jeff Zucker announced that NBC will no longer pay for pilot episodes, citing the recession and the last 3-4 years of poor financial performance. The network and others under Universal have been making cost cutting measures over the last few years by increasing reality show orders, cutting programs (including my much loved Stargate SG-1) and decreasing staff. The move makes sense as often the networks will like a script, order and pay for a pilot, and then decide whether or not to place a series order. So all those pilots that they didn't use, its just wasted money. Nevermind that often the pilot isn't the shows best effort as it takes the writers and actors a little while to find their sea legs. Whether this will lead to better programming though is anyone's guess. My fear is it will lead to "safer" programming as the other networks join the bandwagon.

Heath Ledger Dead At 28

Heath Ledger, 28, was found dead today around 3:30pm in his New York Apartment today. He is probably most famous for his role in Brokeback Mountain, but has had a pretty successful career that started more or less with Fox's "Roar" back in 1997. In what will probably be considered his last role, The Joker in summer's The Dark Knight (he had finished the project) which would have probably catapulted him to a new level of stardom. He leaves behind his wife Michelle Williams and daughter Matilda Rose.

There is a lot of speculation online about what occurred and I will add some of my own but here is some information:
- Pills where found near his body.
- He was found at 3:00PM, pronounced dead at 3:30PM.
- Apparently he was naked in his New York apartment
- Mary Kate Olsen's name comes up to but I think she has an apartment in the same building, not found in her apartment.
- An autopsy is planned for Wednesday (but I think the toxicology report, that will show the drug use, will take longer).
- No note or signs of foul play was found
- Reportedly he has been tired and unable to get enough sleep.

Most people are saying suicide but I don't think any of the hallmarks or signs are there. I think this was a tragic accidental overdose on sleeping pills or anti-anxiety medication. Even though he was getting a divorce from Michelle Williams, his career was one fire, still had a daughter, was in a position to pick the cream of the Hollywood female crop. Sure someone could still be depressed on so forth but I am thinking that given choice between hating his life or just desperatly wanting some sleep and taking to many pills, the second options seems more reasonable.
Heath Ledger
April 4, 1979 - January 22, 2008

1Up Blog Entry on Gertzmann Controvery

The GameSpot controversy continues in little hiccups hear and there as editors are starting to quit CNET and the site. Recently 8 year long reviewer for the site, Frank Provo quit as did Editor Alex Navarro. Both inferred that the Gerstmann controversy and the merging of sales and editorial as the cause.

Sam Kennedy, a 1Up editor, recently posted a blog entry that does an excellent job of summarizing this whole mess, provides some behind the scenes insight on what causes the fiasco (the guy in charge of advertisement is also in charge of editorial content) and explains why this matters.

Be sure to read the entry entry here.

Sadly, its further proof that the once fantastic gaming website's content is up for bids to whoever want to pay for it. The sites behavior is clearly tolerated by CNET and more then likely duplicated on other CNET owned websites. In my opinion, as a result of this and other behavior, any and all content from CNET owned websites should be considered bought and they are no longer a source of reliable information.

Thompson Bails on Presidential Bid

Senator Fred Thompson has finally ended his run for the Presidency after losing in the South Carolina Primary. His desire to be President, with his delayed entry and general lack of interest has been a long time coming. We already has one idiot in the White House, nice to know at least another is out of the running. Now if only Ghouliani, I mean Giuliani would throw in the towel.

2008 Oscar Nominations

What do you know, the Oscar Nominations came out. I forgot all about it because didn't really see any films that resonated enough with me to care what rewards it gets or not. Below is a list of the top awards, with my random selection of who might win. I would do a should win thing but I haven't seen most of the movies nominated this year.

The awards are scheduled for February 24th, but the WGA has already indicated they will boycott the event and SAG has agreed to do the same. Unless something gets worked out, I am not sure what there will be to air.

BEST PICTURE
Atonement - WIN
Juno
Michael Clayton
No Country for Old Men
There Will Be Blood

BEST ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
Cate Blanchett in Elizabeth: The Golden Age
Julie Christie in Away from Her - WIN
Marion Cotillard in La Vie en Rose
Laura Linney in The Savages
Ellen Page in Juno

BEST ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
George Clooney in Michael Clayton - WIN
Daniel Day-Lewis in There Will Be Blood
Johnny Depp in Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Tommy Lee Jones in In the Valley of Elah
Viggo Mortensen in Eastern Promises

BEST ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Cate Blanchett in I Am Not There
Ruby Dee in American Gangster
Saoirse Ronan in Atonement - WIN
Amy Ryan in Gone Baby Gone
Tilda Swinton in Michael Clayton

BEST ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Casey Affleck in The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Javier Bardem in No Country for Old Men
Philip Seymour Hoffman in Charlie Wilson’s War
Hal Holbrook in Into the Wild - WIN
Tom Wilkinson in Michael Clayton

Apple's Best Quarter Ever

Apple had its best quarter in its history thanks to the iPhone with $9.6 billion in revenue for $1.58 billion in profits. Its things like this that made me wish I had money. I knew that Apple was going to ride high back in 2001 when I bought the first PC version of the iPod. Now I wish I used the money to buy stock rather then the device.

Indiana Jones Trailer Valentine's Day Love and Other Links

Paramount has confirmed that the official release day of the teaser trailer for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull will be Feburary 14, 2008. Probably the trailer will be attached to The Spiderwick Chronicles since its the only major Paramount release for the month.

In other links of note:
Format War Summary - Sums up the where and whys of the current HD-DVD vs Blu-Ray format war. Personally since I don't own an HD TV, I will stick with my DVDs.

Bush's Economic Rebate Plan No Biggie - Experts pretty much agree that Bush's love of the rebate and tax cut isn't enough to help the economy. No duh. The problem isn't a few hundred in taxes, the problem is thousands over the year in increased energy, food, and other costs of living with virtually no change in wages. If you want to see a viable plan, come up with something that will increase the value of the dollar and encourage consumer spending (such as wage increases and job stability). As it stands thngs are just too unstable for people to do anything but meet cost of living requirements and pay off debt (neither of which stimulate the economy).

Illustrated History of Scientology - If you want to know why people make fun of Scientologists, check out the site. The music is loud and sadly can't be cut off so hit that mute button first. After seeing this, you may wonder why they believe and my opinion is this history isn't common knowledge among Scientologists. I think the information is held back until the upper (and incredibly expensive to reach) levels of the religion. For the average Scientologist, they are told this is all lies and not to be believed and since most can not afford to reach the top levels of the religion, they are never informed that the "lies" are really truth. I compare it to being told the Body of Christ and the Holy Trinity for Catholicism. If your very first exposure to that religion was those two things, you would laugh your rear off but usually it isn't.

A New Frontier in Starcraft for 2600's Race Card

Trying to be goofy on the titles. Anyway, links of this and that once again.

Starcraft Update - After 10 plus years, Blizzard still keeps updating Starcraft, this time with an update I like. Following the instructions under the link, the CD is no longer needed if you get the occasional need to play.

DC's The New Frontier Review - Justice League The New Frontier is coming to DVD in March and its a cartoon movie I am looking forward to and based on the reivew it looks like it will be a good one.

History of the Atari 2600 - Probably more then you want to know in this multipart story about the Atari 2600, the machine that help create the video game market we know all love (or hate).

MacBook Air vs other Slim Laptops - For those that actually can afford to buy a laptop just because of its cool factor, Gizmondo has a nice chart that compares the current models.

Daily Show: The Race Card - The Daily Show once again takes the press to task for its tendancy to create controversy where none had existed. This time for the use of the "race card" in the democratic campaign for President. Its both a hilarious and sad commentary of just how pathetic the press has become.

Tom Cruise Scientology Nuttery

A new Tom Cruise video has hit the web and it shows just how nutty and egotistical the man really is. The video apparently is an indoctrination video in an attempt to show how important Tom Cruise and Scientology is to the world. Scientology, knowing bad PR when they see it, threw their lawyers at Defamer, who promptly rejected them. The video is apparently from the Freedom Medal of Valor speech that Cruise game. The award is a figment of Scientology's imagination and has no value beyond trying to seem more important.

For the entire video, click here.
Or check out some of the more bizarre clips here and here.
Or, just hit the top five "creeptastic moments" here.

MacWorld 2008

Once again, another megapost to summarize the happenings at MacWorld for 2008. Lot of new stuff announced during the keynote (video), some of it even cool but none of it really excites me. Without further ado, here you go a bezy of links and summaries care of Gizmondo and Engadget.

MacBook Air
- Thinnest notebook in the world, only 3 pounds, and other goodies
- Price: $1,799.00 (80 GB HD) or $3,098.00 (64 GB solid-state HD)
- Uses multitouch gesture pad that works similar to iTouch only doing it on the pad rather then the screen (video)
- Note that adding the solid state hard drive costs an extra $1,300 which will save on battery life which is about 5 hours.
- Battery nor harddrive is easily replaceable (think sealed body like an iPod) but if willing to drop $129 Apple will replace the battery for you.
- Does not have an optical (CD) drive so can purchase optional Air Superdrive for $99 that is 1.06 pounds, dual layer burner that encased in same aluminum the Air is.
- Since no CD drive, can you use Remote Disc to wirelessly install software to the Air from other computers' optical drives that are on the same network.
- Gallery here and here
- Video here and here

iTunes Move Rentals
- New releases are $3.99, older $2.99
- Once purchased, have 30 days to watch and 24 hours to finish but can watch as many times as want in that 24 hour period.
- All major studios on board
- 1000+ movies available by end of February
- Audio will be HD Dolby 5.1, HD picture max resolution is 1280 x 720 (rather then 1080p)
- TV shows not available for rental (only purchase), currently 100 movies are available now.
- HD Rentals made on Apple TV can ONLY be played on the ATV, not moved to computer or iPod so if want to be able to move the movie around, rent from your computer only.
- No mention if get credit if rent a movie then decide to purchase it (assume no).
- Fox verified that their DVD releases will include a free digital copy (started program with Die Hard 4) that will work iTunes, iPod, etc.

Apple TV Take 2
- Price drop: $229 (40GB) or $329 (160GB)
- Improved streaming and interface (video), no computer needed but can sync back to comp if want.
- Works with iTunes new movie rental program.
- Gallery here.

Time Capsule
- Wireless data backup server that works along with Leopard's Time Machine that can backup all Macs on a network automatically.
- Has USB port to act as print server. Supports up to 50 users (or computers I guess).
- price: $300 (500GB HD) or $500 (1TB HD)
- The hard drive isn't replaceable.
- Gallery here.

iPod Touch Add-Ons- Mail, maps, stocks, notes and weather, all original iPhone apps, now come to the Touch.
- Price: $20 for existing owners, bundled with new devices (so wait a few weeks before hitting stores so don't have to pay that extra fee).
- No price or memory change on the devices.

iPhone 1.1.3 Update
- Upgrade for iPhone now available (assume it will brick hacked iPhones).
- Adds SMS to multiple recipients, fake GPS using cell tower triangulation, hybrid view for Google maps, re-arrange home screen and add bookmarks and can display music lyrics.
- Works with iTunes rental program, and now has movie chapters, language tracks and subtitles.
- No mention of the SDK for the iPhone.
- Gallery here.
- Of note is 4 million iPhones have sold in 200 days giving the phone a 19% share on the smartphone market beating Palm, Motorola, and Nokia.

Overall, this year's MacWorld is much like CES. Just a ho-hum affair. No game changing hardware or software is coming out for the year. Nothing particularly compelling has come out either. The MacBook Air looks interesting but the price point etc is such that it just doesn't seem worth the money. If the average 6 pounds of notebook is too much for you, I think you have larger problems to deal with. The new iTunes rental program is interesting and if your the type that rents once in a blue moon, might be worth it. If your a frequent renter, I recommend sticking with Netflix. The Apple TV remains not worth the purchase. The deal breaker for me is still only supports iTunes centric codecs. Until it supports a wider range or just as good, auto converts (without effecting original file) when syncing, I will take a pass. Time Capsule is a good idea, backing up data to another drive is never a bad idea, but there are much cheaper alternatives out there. The iPod touch add-ons are good if plan on buying one anyway (but to me the price isn't worth it) but if already have one I would be very angry about the $20 surcharge. The iPhone upgrade is just a shrug worthy thing, existing mostly to try to break the hacked phones out in the wild.

So there you go, another MacWorld has passed.

Eras Links of the Day

I read somewhere that a good blog should be comprised mostly of links to other content. Since I am not much of a generator of orginial content, it seems like a good idea. So for a few weeks I am going to try and list a bunch of links of interest. Not so much sites, but articles on sites that I happened to find interesting enough to read in full so by that logic, worth posting about.

Gizmondo CES Joke - Apparently a Gizmondo reporter at CES played a joke on Motorola where they used a universal clicker to cut off their TV screens during a presentation. The reporter has been banned and the link is the sites response to the blogosphere's response (mostly negative) to the joke.

Best of CES 2008 - The best item in each category of tech at CES. I used to post about the neat stuff at CES but this year its just the same stuff (mostly TVs) that have been improved (and cost more).

Rachel Bilson - Not nude pics, just her looking hot.

Amy Adams and Hooters - Apparently Amy Adams, the redheaded hotness that Hollywood just recently discovered (but I remember from a West Wing ep) apparently did a stint at Hooters.

Interview with Todd Holland - He directed "The Wizard" that Fred Savage movie from the 80s. I remember it from my childhood as being awesome (so probably need to watch again to correct that belief).

Underworld 4 in Development - Even though Underworld 3 isn't done, apparently a 4th movie is also being prepped with Kate Beckinsale. The Hollywood response to her still amazes me. She has been around for more then a decade before "discovered" via Underworld and other movies for her absolute gorgeousness and as far as I can tell, the ONLY difference between her pre and post fame days is hair length. She is exactly the same except she let her hair grow long. In her pre-days she went with a rather unflattering tom boy look.

Julie Benz On Dexter and Punisher 2 - Julie Benz has gone brunette for Punisher 2 and has never looked better. Geeks might remember her from Buffy and Angel days.

Bush and Iranophobia - Apparently Iran is getting a little sick of President Bush's rhetoric on Iran. I am too actually. Even if Iran was a proven clear and present danger to the United States (its not), thanks to his idiocy we have neither the money (current war sponsored by China loans) nor the man power to actually do anything about it. Only a complete retard would even dream of opening a third war front and apparently that retard goes by the name of George Bush.

Terminator Ratings Success - The first episode of Terminator apparently did gung ho ratings business for Fox, with 18.3 million viewers. That will probably land it in the #1 or 2 spot for the week in viewers. I watched the show, not bad at all actually. Lots of entertainment value. The only problem I see is how long can they fight and continually beat the evil terminators before the villians become a joke of a threat.

McCain, Clinton Lead in Polls - While a certain segment might vote on the issues, party lines, or simply some character trait (his smile, looks, etc), some vote based on that person being a "winner" as no one likes to vote on a loser. As McCain's growing popularity is showing, based on a tiny election in a tiny state, suddenly he is the front runner for the Presidency. And all because he currently looks like a "winner". Its pretty pathetic actually.

Amber MacAruthur - If your a geek, you might be familiar with her. I have a bit of a crush on this geek goddess and podcaster. She was blond but returned to her natural brunette color after leaving her job at a canadian TV station.

A Media No Brainer

Lou Dobbs and CNN ran a poll the other day that asked an obvious question and got the obvious response (see pic below). To bad I doubt the election coverage will change. (source)

Open Wireless Network Good?

A commentary on Wired.com suggests that an open home wireless network isn't such a bad and dangerous thing people percieve it to be. His thinking is that the danger is actually quite small. Sure someone might hack you by sitting in a car by the street or they can just sit in a nice comfy Starbucks and do the same for many more users. Also, worried that someone might use that open network to download copyright content illegally and sue you? Well, as he put it, the odds are about the same as getting hit by an asteroid but it actually provides a defense as it will be difficult to prove that you did the download versus a leacher.

My advice in general is if you live in a home with a decent size yard, an open network is no biggie as a person would have to literally camp out in your yard to use it. If you live in an apartment or have a postage size stamp yard, going ahead and use a little security. If you don't want to fool with WEP, WPA, and other key based systems, a the very least enable MAC filtering.

The complete article is here.

Vader, Yoda in Soul Calibur 4

About the only thing that has come out that really grabbed my interest from CES is the below trailer for Soul Calibur 4 for the PS3 (which I don't own yet) that shows that Darth Vader and Yoda will be in the video game. They look pretty awesome too.

Penny Arcade also commented on it in a pretty funny strip.

End of Music DRM

Sony BMG has agreed to official start selling DRM-free MP3s through Amazon later this month. With this agreement, all of the four major music labels are providing DRM free music for the first time. DRM stands for Digitial Rights Management and basically its what prevent you from playing your music where you want, when you want. DRM-free music means what you buy is now yours to do with as you see fit (except share/sell to others). Hopefully this practice will continue with other digital content.

Clinton, McCain Take Election Lead

In a bit of a shocker, Hillary Clinton and John McCain pulled off an upset in New Hampshire. The polls and the experts where saying the primary would go to Barack Obama and Mitt Romney.

The election is important because it provides momentum into the upcoming votes in Nevada (1/19), South Carolina (1/26), and Super Tuesday on 2/5 when 20 states vote. This change in momentum, noticed on pretty much any news program, is the additional coverage it brings to a campaign, more ears listening to their speeches and issues, more money and the simple reality that people flock to "winners." People are not going to support someone that they think will lose an election. They vote for the "electable" candidate. A moronic idea, voting on who will win rather then the issues but that's human nature for you.

Also of note with this victory is how the polls and pundits got it wrong. On McCain, I don't think anyone has any clue how that happened but on Obama, the reason seems to be the Bradley Effect. Basically, in the effect is that people when asked who they will vote will say one thing but in the privacy and anomity of a voting booth will do another. So with Barack, that means that when asked by a pollster, reporter, whoever, will they vote for a black man or will they vote for Barack, the person will answer yes. They don't want to be labeled as racist after all. But once go to vote, where their vote is counted but no one really knows who they voted for, then they vote for a completely different person. Basically the usual conflict between actions and words.

I think this theory has legs. Its not necessarily racism but its difficult to explain why you may not have confidence in a black (or female) candidate without resulting in conflict so the decision is make to reply with the answer that will cause the least problems. This skews the polling results and so the pundits are surprised at what the voters actually do. I don't think the results are wide spread but even if only 10% of the electorate do the above, it can have a huge effect on what the polls say versus what actually happens. In this case a comfortable lead for Barack in the polls suddenly becomes victory for Hillary once the votes are actually counted.

If the Bradley Effect is true, this can cause problems for the Democratic Party. If voters are reluctant to vote for a black man but not admit it, its not a stretch to assume the same qualified for a female candidate. Exactly how many voters are going to simply refuse to vote a Democrat for President if they are black or female? 1%? 5%? 10%? more? How do you find out? Can you find out? Can they be pursuaded to vote Democrat anyway and if so how? These questions, more then the issues, politics, and promises may decide the election in 2008.

Writer-less A Daily Show and Colbert Report Still Good

They might not have writers, but "Th...A Daily Show" and "Colbert Report" where still excellent and informative. Both took on a very pro-writer's strike format for their first showings but still more entertaining then most programs with writers.

Return of The Daily Show and Colbert Report

For the first time in 2 months, the Daily Show and Colbert Report return to the air waves sans their writers. It should be intersting to how good (or bad) the programs will be without writers to prep their various skits and jokes. Remember that even Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert are bound by the WGA so they can not themselves write jokes for the show. They can ad lib things, they can suggest skits and the like but any prepared content that involves writing is prohibited.

Probably the big change will be guests will be given more time and more "remote" skits will be performed then normal. Since both programs only had actors on once in a while, the SGA not allowing members to appear on the programs will probably have no effect in booking of guests.

Good or bad, I am looking forward to their return. They must have things to say about last weeks Iowa Caucuses and tomorrows New Hampshire primary should provide plenty of fodder to fill out their week.

Golden Globes '08 Ceremony Cancelled

NBC has finally thrown in the towel and announced that its not going to air the Golden Globes ceremoney, therefore basically cancelling them. The reason is because of the WGA strike. Even though the awards are mostly actor rewards, the SGA has agreed to not cross the picket line so since no actors are going to the award show, what is the point of airing them.

Instead, NBC will air a modified schedule to replace its planned pre-show, then show programming for this Sunday. From 7-8 PM, Dateline will air with clips and interviews of nominees. Then 8-9 PM, a retrospective clip show. 9-10 PM will be the clip/announcing of the winners. 10-11 PM will be an "Access Hollywood" style thing on the various Golden Globe parties that normally start after the show. I guess going to parties about the show that no one is allowed to attend isn't considered crossing the picket line.

Personally I think NBC should just give up and do at most an hour of programming on the Golden Globes and just air repeats or sports in the remaining timeslots.