Leaked God of War III Footage - Over the GDC conference a little footage was shown of the title do next year. Suffice it to say it looks like more of the same violent game play as the previous games.
Stimulus Watch - Click the link for a great website that tracks how those billions of stimulus dollars are being spent on a city by city basis. When seeing it laid out in this way, it makes you wonder why Republicans kept insisting on their tax cuts when the new roadwork, bridges, roofs and other bridges seems to be better use of the money over the long term.
Republicans Reveal Their "Budget" Plan - In an attempt to counter being called the "Party of No", GOP Minority Leader John Boehner revealed their "Road to Recovery" plan. Oddly their "budget" has zero number. None, nada, zilch. It seems less of a plan and more of a written statement on why they don't like Obama's plan and their preference is lots and lots of tax cuts. More the more the better. So there you go, the Party of No is really the Party of No Plans.
MythBusters Big Bang - While recording an episode of Mythbusters, the gang's explosion of 500 pounds of ammonium nitrate blew more than the socks off of a mannequin. Instead they blew out the windows of some homes in the nearby town of Esparto. Sadly no clue when the episode will air but can't wait. If you don't watch the show, you really should.
10 Reasons Magazines Are Failing - A pretty good breakdown on why the days of magazines are numbered regardless of what they do. The main problems is always behind on information, little too concerned about offending advertisers, expensive, poorly designed websites, columnists generally suck, reviews lack detail on real world use, makes tons of errors and simply boring. I really can't disagree.
The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks Announced - The next DS game for Zelda has been announced by Nintendo. The release date is sometime 2009 so I expect around Christmas. The game is based on the cartoon look from Wind Waker but this time Link's mode of transportation is a train rather than boat and he has the ability to control other creatures. As the video shows, it is classic Zelda. Classic is good in this case.
Wii Update To Support SDHC - For those that love the Virtual Console, the issue of space has become an issue as the 512kb that the console comes with just isn't enough space to hold all those games. Well, Nintendo finally has issued a solution, available today for the Wii where SD cards of up to 32GB are supported for exporting off the consoles memory. A video below demonstrates the update.
Wii Arcade Console Launched - Speaking of the virtual console, a new expansion has been announced by Nintendo called Virtual Console Arcade that ports really old arcade titles to the Wii. The current ones available are Gaplus, Mappy, Starforce and Tower of Druaga. No clue what any of those are.
Final Fantasy Titles for Nintendo - One last bit of Game Developer's Conference info from Nintendo. This time the news that three Final Fantasy games. Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a Darklord is a WiiWare title and sequel to My Life as a King. Final Fantasy IV: The After Years is another WiiWare title, a port of the cell phone game sequel from Japan. Last is upcoming release of the original Final Fantasy game from the NES era on the Virtual Console.
Where The Wild Things Are Trailer - Never read the children's book and judging by the trailer I don't think I ever will. If you’re a kid the trailer is probably fascinating but it just reminds me of the people you see on the street is costumes holding signs for a local business. HD trailer at the link above.
The Big Takeover - A snarky but good look into what caused the failure of AIG that needed taxpayer bailout and why the bonuses are so bad. In general, the main bad guy is AIG Financial Products division led by Joseph Cassano who caused the company to buy all the bad debt that it couldn't unload and nearly caused its bankruptcy. He and his people are the same people that are supposed to get the $165 million bonus money. Yep, they nearly destroy a company and their reward is more money. Cassano was finally laid off but he was given $34 million in compensation and $1 million a month from AIG to consult. Basically Wall Street's version of policing itself is to hand out money freely to its biggest con artists. For all the Republican talk of why deregulation is required for all things, I give you AIG as a reason on why it’s absolutely necessary.
Colbert Tops NASA Poll - As a sign of the Colbert Nation strength, Stephen Colbert asked for people to vote for "The Colbert" as the name of the new wing of the international space station and they did raising him to the top spot over second place name "Serenity." A name I assume is from the Firefly TV series (and movie). Now the contest wasn't to actually name the module but simple pick a primary suggestion that NASA may or may not use. NASA has said its official determination will not be made until next month.
AIG To Rebrand - What does failed company do with a horrible reputation? Rename itself of course. AIG is going to spend some of its taxpayer money to rename itself to AIU Holdings Ltd and already started the process with removing AIG from its headquarters in New York. Sadly, a new name often does wonders for a company as the public quickly forgets what the old name really represented.
Bill O'Reilly Ambush Story - Bill O'Reilly is an ass. A huge idiot of an ass that is only outmatched by his ego. Someone dares to question him; he sometimes will sic his attack dog, a pathetic shell of a man named Jesse Watters. Jesse then goes out and follows you around as he tries to get a "gotcha" moment. Failing that he will suddenly ambush you maybe in your yard, at work, or on vacation as the story at the link indicates. From there he will ask a bunch of stupid loaded questions of the "Why did you eat your baby?" variety that gets heavily edited to make it seem like you dodging something. It’s basically a big "fuck you" to his audience because he knows most are simply too stupid to question what they are seeing. If you are on the receiving end of such behavior, simple say "Before I comment, can Bill answer questions about Andrea Mackris" Repeat that name over and over as Bill will refuse to allow any footage to air that utters that name. BTW, she was a women he sexually harassed and settled out of court with.
Politics of the Stimulus Bill - For whatever reason, Republican governors have chosen to refuse SOME of the stimulus money coming to their states. Most of it is just a token gesture, other wise they would have refused all of it. OF those returning a tiny portion includes Sarah Palin (R-AK), Mark Sanford (R-SC), Haley Barbour (R-MI), and Bobby Jindal (R-LS). A recent 2007 analysis shows that interesting enough, these red states tend to take more tax dollars then they provide. For example, for every dollar of tax money paid out by its citizens, it gets back $1.84, Louisiana gets $1.78, and Mississippi gets $2.02. Basically the general pattern is the more the state governors claim they should be independent of the federal government, the more they seem to depend on the government to function. Oh and for those that live in the states refusing some of that federal money, guess what part they are refusing? The part that would extend unemployment benefits and in some cases help in education. Funny how they claim it’s not moral reasons but then refuse money purely along party priorities.
Solving the Mystery of the Vanishing Bees - A long but interesting article on the disappearance of bees critical to many of our food products. It’s a complicated story but to (poorly) sum it up, scientists believe that viral diseases combined with climate conditions are killing them off and hope to create a cure for them. When or if that is possible is a critical question. If we think food is expensive now, if the bee populations continue to take hits, then we have not seen anything yet.
Fearful Goodbyes for BSG - While many were watching the final episode of Battlestar Galactica in our homes, the cast, crew and family were watching it at a screening in North Hollywood. Sad to see the show go but I imagine its influence will live on as time will be very kind to it and the shows place in television history.
Weekend Box Office - Nicolas Cage Knowing took the top spot with $24.8M. A number likely to nosedive considering the movies lukewarm critical response, depressing ending (but awesome CGI). I liked it but the public probably not so much. Second went to I Love You, Man with $14.4M but good critical and viewer response so likely to do ok for the next few weeks. Duplicity (boring) took third with $14.4M and proves that a famous star doesn't guarantee a movie like it use to and that Julie Roberts star has lost its entire luster. Race to With Mountain dropped 46.7% (normal) for a $13M take. Watchman, sadly, took another nosedive for a $6.7M take. Enjoy that movie; it will be the last expensive R-Rated movies studios will release for a very long time.
Pope: Condoms Bad - Could the Catholic Church be more infantile? His response to avoid getting AIDS is just don't have sex until marriage and don't use condoms. Technically, sure he is correct; the problem is it doesn't take human nature into account. Ironic considering the religion would even exist if not for human nature (re: original sin among others). I am all for abstinence education, just not the "only" part. Any approach has to take into account that people are going to do it anyway so take some precautions. It is not science, just common sense.
iPhone 3.0 OS Announced - For release at some point in the summer of '09, Apple had an event to provide some details on new edition of the software. Most of the new toys are under the hood for developers but a few new toys for laymen such as copy and paste, gaming over Bluetooth, music over Bluetooth, tethering, parental controls, voice memos app, improved stock app, landscape view for text, mail, etc, and improved search functionality. Click the link for the details.
Music Downloads 33% of US Sales - As a sign of just how stupid the war on downloaders is for the RIAA, the number of buyers of online music climbed from 28M to 36M in 2008. The consequence, of course, is 17 million stopped buying CDs altogether, which is where collusion and overpricing is where most of the profits for music companies came from. Now, on noes, quality is king when singles are primary form of purchasing. Of note though is overall music purchases have declined (relating to quality) but some of that has to do with increased means to get to music. For example Pandora doubled in size over last year and 50% of teens get music from MySpace, Facebook, etc. Personally, current music is mostly such crap that I have turned to older music for my listening pleasure so new purchases just not necessary.
7 Movies Based On A True Story (But Isn't) - Seven solid examples of why you should never believe "based on a true story" when looking at movie options. Pursuit of Happyness, the Will Smith movie, the guy more or less abandoned his child for a while and abused his mother. 21, the team was mostly Asian with the leader being a cross dressing professor. Lean On Me, Joe Clark was a principle at a school but test scores never improved, the school was not under threat from the state, and one year after the movie came out he resigned and a year after that the state did take over the place. In Rudy, the coach was the bad guy but in real life Dan Devine was the one that insisted Rudy plan and the reason the movie was made was because the real life Rudy spent years trying to get Hollywood to tell "his" story. Basically Rudy is a douche.
Apple DRM's Headphones - People make fun of Microsoft but at least they don't try to lock down the use of headphones. Apple officially has with the new Shuffle which requires either a chip or an Apple dongle to use third party headphones on the device. Considering that any new headphones would require a built in remote, it’s not entirely unfair. The problem though is that this means at least an extra $10 surcharge on any headphones on top of the $80 for the shuffle itself. So if you want to use something other than the rob me white headphones that come with the device you are looking at least a $30 if not more additional charge.
Weekend Box Office - Sadly it is official, Watchmen is dead on arrival with a whopping 67% decline which means bad word of mouth scuttled the film. While I thought it was good, fandom’s overall rejection along with mainstream mostly indifference to the film did it no favors. Sadly this means the lesson Hollywood has learned is don't listen to fandom. It is impossible to please them so don't even bother, just go for the more mainstream pleasing solution. It is a shame too as this experiment with comics will unlikely to ever be repeated and would have been if the film had succeeded. Anyway top three: 1) Race to Witch Mountain ($25M), 2) Watchmen ($18.1M), 3) Last House on the Left ($14.7M)
Aviary.com - Don't know much about the site, but its Terms of Use should be the new standard in readability. On one side is the legalese and on the other is a bullet point summary in laymen terms so you know exactly what you are agreeing to. Very smart.
MacGyver: The Movie - The 1985-1992 series may get a revival on the big screen, probably without original star Richard Dean Anderson. New Line has signed on to do the film with the De Laurentiis family and series creator Lee Zlotoff. There is no script, no budget, and no cast, just a general plan to try and do the movie. Time will tell if they will succeed but I hope they do.
"Sci-Fi Channel Changes Name To A Typo" - Love that very true title. Yep the Sci-Fi Channel is becoming the SyFy Channel with the slogan of "Imagine Greater". I am sure there is lot of corporate doublespeak for why but it comes down to ownership. The network can't trademark Sci-Fi but they can SyFy. From that can come branding on DVDs, toys and plethora of other things mostly free and clear of any legal entanglements.
Poor Jim Cramer. Nothing worse is being on the receiving end of an enraged Jon Stewart. The reason why is several. One is Jon very rarely expresses it as real anger (the last time was Crossfire) so it just builds. Another is he a real problem with journalism in this day and age. Specifically journalists’ current refusal to do their most basic job - seeking out the truth. Instead the simply regurgitate what other people tell them at face value.
Oh, a CEO says the company is fine! Then it must be because he has no reason to lie. A real journalist would ask a CEO their viewpoint after an investigation has found or not found anything. Sadly, investigation is the problem. Journalisms simply don't do that. Their idea of investigating is checking their email for a story that is practically pre-written, do a polish, make a phone call or two for comment and publish. If email suddenly stopped working, I don't think most journalists would even know what to do.
This doesn't even cover the TV talking heads. They rarely only know what the teleprompter and the producer whispering in their ear tells them to know. They are "experts" only in their head. This can easily be verified by their total inability to engage in valid follow-up questions or highlight contradiction in answers. They have a script, a basic opinion and that is the only road they know how to follow.
Which brings us back to Stewart. He truly and deeply believes in the role and power of journalism. He sees TV, newspapers, etc as a powerful force for good and I think it deeply angers him how that potential is now wasted. Everywhere are these talking heads whose primary goals seem to be self aggrandizement or maintaining the status quo instead of the primary goals as a seeker of the truth. If you look at the Daily Show over the last 10 years, its uses comedy is the tool they use to achieve that very goal every day.
Unlike the talking heads, Jon knows his subject. He drinks up the news and journalism so it isn't coming from a place of teleprompters and vague knowledge of the headlines. The result is he asks very valid questions that NO ONE has asked of CNBC and their so-called experts. They spent the last 10 years helping to dig the economic grave we are in, pretty much refusing to ask the questions that might have avoided this mess. Instead they chose to regurgitate Wall Street's wishes (see Santelli for proof) without questions or investigation. The interview below is a culmination of that outrage in wanting to know why day after day, year after year, why CNBC not did their job as journalists. Every single person at that network failed to do their job and the question of "Why?" has yet to be answered.
Journalism is supposed to be the watchdogs of government, commerce and the public. They are supposed to find the truth, to ask the questions that the public may not realize they should be asking. As the Bush years show, as Iraq, and now this have shown, journalists have clearly abdicated their role as our sentinels to the truth.
"Who watches the watchmen?" Apparently it’s Jon Stewart. I hope he does this more often instead of every four years.
Below is the full interview complete with cuss words so not safe for work.
Movable Power - Don't know why, I guess it’s the quiet genius of it, but really like the moveable power device. No clue on availability or price, but it’s a smart design that allows your power strip altered just in case a piece of furniture or the like is in the way. I can already think of a few places in my home that could use something like that.
New Arkham Asylum Trailer - New trailer for the upcoming game that looks pretty darn good. Unlike past trailers, this one seems to show in game play.
Mexico-US Border Citizen Guards - An interesting article about citizens monitoring the webcams that align some of the border. Personally I am all for walls and people keep a look out as too much of anything is bad and right now we have way too much uncontrolled illegal immigration. Everything in moderation is good (as the real estate burst has proven). Besides, the new problem has become a stream of drugs and weapons into the country from the border and I think the US has more than enough of that too.
Jon Stewart vs. Jim Cramer Summary - Most people have enough sense to simply ignore Jon Stewart when he skewers you as he and everyone else will forget about it within a news cycle. Not Jim Cramer. He kept the story alive for nearly a week appearing on NBC programs to defend himself and his network. Tonight that comes to head in an interview on the Daily Show that will be rather tame overall as Jon Stewart tends to ask solid questions but not demand solid responses. Anyway click the link for the videos that summary the whole mess.
Scarlett Johansson Signed Up for Iron Man 2 - The Black Widow has been cast and she will be played by arguably one of the most beautiful woman in the world. Ironically they are saying she signed up on a bad deal, apparently forgetting that signing up for multiple movies doesn't mean anything since the pay for each gets re-negotiated each time.
New iPod Shuffle - Apple has quietly released a new, smaller shuffle with more memory. It’s about half the size of the 2G shuffle with twice the memory (4gigs). It is sleek looking with a few caveats. One is price ($80, considering cost of memory should be $50 or less), and another is control is done via Apple's rob me white headphones which means a special (i.e., expensive just cause it’s Apple) dongle is required to use non-Apple headphones. I am going to take a pass. Click here for a video demo.
Obama To Reduce Earmarks - Whatever the party is, it remains the same - pork. Lots of it. While condemning it, they enjoy piling it on as the recent budget bill passed by congress proves (leftover bill from last year). Only 5 didn't, including John McCain, showing that at least some are capable of backing their words with action. Obama is going to sign the bill, but to mean a new call need to be made. One that Clinton and Bush asked for and one that Obama might actually be able to push through and that is the line-item veto. Let Congress pile on the pork...and then he can proceed to remove it.
Strange tax brackets - Now not sure reading the info at the link right but it appears that our progressive tax system tops out for anyone making $357,700 a year or more. So whether that person makes 400k or 400 million, the percent of tax owned doesn't change. That seems unfair to me and indicates that either two solutions are needed. One is create more tax brackets or my preferred method is come up with one percentage number that is applied to everyone's total income (wages, tips, stock, whatever) equally. The tax form shouldn't even be a page long. It should be a total of income, the tax percent number, the tax owed as a result and tax already paid. That's it. It should be so simple stupid that a 7 year old could do their parents taxes for a grade.
Another School Attack - At least 15 are dead after a 17 year decided to handle disliking his lot in life by killing as many children and teachers as possible before killing himself. Why these people simply don't quietly just end themselves without the hoopla I don't understand. It’s horrible and it makes you powerless. The drive for infamy that seems to drive many of these attacks should not be handed out and those that engage in it should have their name removed from the public record and forgotten as if they never existed. Give them a nickname but screw helping add to their "fame."
Bailout LexCorp! - For some humor, below is a video from Funny or Die with Jon Hamm as Lex Luther asking for federal bailout money as LexCorp is hurting from the various failed plans to buy/create land and kill Superman.
Office Depot Lies About Laptop Stock - As a consequence of spreadsheet management were idiots who only know how to read graphs define policy, managers and associates at Office Depot have resorted to lying to customers about stock to meet required metrics to keep their jobs. Basically the stores are measured on the amount of unneeded extended warrantees and tech support plans that they sell with their electronic equipment, especially laptops. Don't meet the metrics and jobs could be lost, something no one wants right now. The net result is a dance. If you are required to have every 3 out of 10 laptops to have a warrantee purchased, it’s in your best interest to stop selling laptops at a certain point until you meet or exceed that number. Based on corporate's own metrics, it’s actually to the advantage of a store to refuse to sell laptops that don't have additional crap purposed. After all, why sell 10 laptops without warrantees and possibly lose your job if you can simply wait and sell 10 with warrantees and get a commission and back pat for a job well done? Spreadsheets managers are doing America with their stupidity.
Watchmen Title Sequence - Probably the most imaginative and best use of a title sequence I have seen for movies in recent history. Worth a viewing even if not interested in seeing the movie.
Watchmen, The Studio Version - From IO9, a nice little example of how the studio process works. They essentially wanted an action happy, upbeat movie with a more explosive ending. Ironic considering most of the complaints about the movie seems to be focused on it being too faithful (except the squid) while not allowing the characters to "breathe". I noticed though that those that dislike the movie because of compromises made from the book are the exact same who hadn't read it in years. I read it the night before and to me memories are mudding the waters when people should try simply re-reading the book to refresh them.
Watchmen Box Office - The estimates said a $70M weekend and sadly the movie came short taking in an estimated $55.5M. That sounds good but with mostly average reviews and so-so word of mouth (I thought the movie was outstanding), the box office returns for the next few weeks will only go down. At this point overseas sales will make or break the movie as I am guessing the domestic gross for the movie will probably just touch $100M. The lesson, sadly, is a) fanboys don't make a movie a success and b) ignore the fanboys, pleasing them doesn't mean pleasing the mainstream audience.
Obama Ends Stem-Cell Ban - The idiotic ban on stem-cell research has finally ended. For some reason the right is under the impression that every stem-cell being used for research is somehow one less baby being born which is about the same as condemning women for having PMS since that is one less egg getting "flushed" away by nature. The cells are destroyed anyway, only now they might serve a purpose. What purpose? Who knows, that is the point of research. People forget that all the miracles of the last 100 hears often started with people just wondering if X was done to Y what would the result be? Despite Republican hatred of it, knowledge is a good thing and the quest to know more shouldn't be condemned.
Circuit City Closed - After 60 years the ex #2 retail chain has closed its final US store. The company should not have failed but bad upper management killed the chain and resulted in the loss of 34,000 jobs while the idiots that caused the downfall walked away with millions. If this is an example of the GOP's love of capitalism, suddenly socialism is starting to gain some luster.
Vatican: Rape OK - In a sign of just how backwards the Catholic faith and the Vatican is particular is, the church ok'ed the excommunication of a mother and doctors of a nine year old for aborting her rapists child. Now keep in mind, this is a nine year old. If that child had been forced to hold that possible baby to term, chances are close to zero of either surviving the experience. The mom and the doctors literally had a choice between death and death. Abort the fetus and the nine year old lives. Don't and both die. The Vatican, by upholding the excommunication, has in effect said it’s better that both die. Of course, the church declined to excommunicate the rapists (who impregnated another 11 year old victim). I guess in their lexicon, rape is fine, just don't get caught.
The Daily Show Rips CNBC A New One - Jon Stewart was at his angry best as the show tore CNBC and Rich Santelli a new one. Some are saying the cause was a cancellation but I think that was just the genesis of the idea. I think Jon planned on tearing into Santelli for his narrowmindness (home owners at fault for everything) that does the usual of absolving the banks for their own behavior over the economy. When that target backed out (now looking smart to do it), the below brilliant segment was created. On the bright side, it probably will lead to CNBC to decline to renew Santelli's contract as PR is good, but bad PR is frowned upon and the issue has now officially become bad PR.
New Wolverine Trailer - The trailer that comes with Watchmen is now available online. Click the link to see it. Overall not bad looking even includes a young Cyclops in one segment. The Marvel back story is very rich and tragic at this point for Wolverine; it will be interesting to see how much of that makes it to the big screen.
Heroes Get 4th Season - In a surprising announcement, NBC has announced that Heroes is getting a 4th season order of 18-20 episodes despite a nearly 30% decline in ratings. The apparently reason for the decision is despite the ratings dip, the show is still one of NBC's top-rated show. I am glad for the news but it shows just how bad a shape the network is in now with no meaningful end in sight.
A Boy and His Blob In Action - The original NES game is making a comeback on the Wii and it appears to be retaining a lot of the game elements that made the original game fun. Only problem I see from the video is the play controls are going to need a lot of work as having to constantly "call" your blog so he gets in just the right position is going to get old real quick. A little AI on the part of the blob wouldn't be such a bad idea.
Apple Refreshes Computer Line - Without any fan fare, Apple announced that it has updated its Mac Pro, iMac, Mac Mini and the Time Capsule to new specs and mostly the same prices. If you’re in the market for one it is good news, if you just bought one, my condolences.
Limbaugh, New Anointed Leader of the GOP - It is real simple if you’re a member of the GOP, don't insult rush or you have to kiss his ass for forgiveness. Supposed leader of the GOP Nation Committee Michael Steele made it known that he doesn’t support Limbaugh’s notion that the GOP's primary objective should be to have Obama fail. The fallout included Limbaugh tearing him a new one, his very public apology on CNN, and news that he could lose his job if he questions Limbaugh ever again. It is official - Rush Limbaugh is the voice of the GOP and determines the party’s agenda.
Auto Slump Continues - Sadly the automakers hit new lows as consumers continue to hunker down for the long haul since none of us (except the top 5%) are willing to assume that we will have a job from day to day or the resources to pay off big purchases such as a car. That isn't even the bad news for the auto companies. The real bad news is bottom probably has not been reached.
Watchman Review Round-up - A good summary of the mainstream media versus the online media when it comes to the movie. Online tend to be more aware of comics and superheroes so have embraced the movie while mainstream media's knowledge is limited to whatever movie they saw most recently. It seems depending on where you fall in that spectrum will dictate how much you like the movie. I just say go in wanting to be entertained and let the rest sort it out.
Narnia 3, Voyage of the Dawn Treader Sets Date - Fox and Walden Media have planted a flag on December 10th, 2010 as the intended release date of the next Narnia movie. The franchise almost ended but with a reduced budget and Fox's money things continue. At least someone at Fox has a brain and isn't trying to be too greedy. Prince Caspian failed because it simply didn't measure up to the summer competition but a Christmas release is traditional time for family and Oscar bait films making it perfect for movie goers looking for summer fair in the winter.
Amish Heater Review - Consumer reports tests the machine that while nice looking isn't worth the money. The "savings" is non-existent, the "magic" heat is generated from two 40 watt bulbs, and at its price it simple doesn't do as good a job as cheaper better space heaters. Basically it is expensive window dressing.
RIAA Layoffs Tomorrow - In what is probably an exaggeration, sites are reporting that the RIAA, the music labels corporate entity that exists to protect their archaic business model by any means necessary, is finally feeling the financial pinch as 100+ are laid off. Normally I don't like news of people losing their jobs but I have to make an exception for this group. The speculation is this is the beginning of the end for the group but I doubt it. The name may change but the goals and the waste will continue for this group. You can't keep crappy, useless lawyers down.
New Terminator: Salvation Trailer and Screenshots - New screenshots from the movie that includes the cast and posters can be found here. The trailer can be found here. It looks pretty good. The future is pretty dismal and as presented in the trailer the odds sure do seem long for the humanity.
Dow Drops Below 7000 - The market has hit 1997 levels now as more bad news from AIG which reported a record $62 billion loss. Sadly it looks like it may be best to just let everything sink so can finish hitting bottom because the outlook is not bright.
Midway Selling Mortal Kombat to Preserve Bonuses - In another sign of just how out of control the bonus system has become for company executives, Midway is very close to going under yet the leadership of the company set aside $3.8 million in bonus money to be divided by 29 upper management members if they reach certain benchmarks such as selling off their franchises at fire sell prices before the company goes under. At the same time this is occurring they continue to lay off employees and screw them out of compensation such as owed paid time off. Its crap like this you wish was illegal but isn't.
Rick Santelli, Bought by Koch - Remember that rant from very wealthy Rick Santelli on the Stock Exchange floor where he equated everyone being in financial trouble as causing their own problems and any attempts to help them is wrong? It starting to appear his "Chicago Tea Party" rant was not nearly as spontaneous as it appears. Moments after that rant, websites went live (on domains bought months ago by leading Republican spin doctors), video was disseminated and articles were posted up on the right wings blogs. Essentially Santelli's rant was the launch of a major GOP campaign to try and stop Obama's plan to increase the taxes on the top 5% (like Santelli and ALL of the GOP's top leaders and talking heads) and sell it as something completely different (like the "Death Tax" campaign which only affected the top 2% but not sold that way). Hopefully more information will come out and discredit Santelli so that his CNBC contract isn't renewed.
Wondercon Terminator Panel - A convention was held this weekend and as part of that Terminator: Salvation and Watchmen had their own panel. Click the link for the report which includes a description of footage shown and some info from the Q&As at the panels.
Weekend Box Office - Overall a slow weekend in a run up to the Watchmen release which will likely be a record breaking weekend. The only questions are how much momentum will week 2 bring. Madea Goes to Jail took first with $16.5 million, Jonas Brothers is 2nd with $12.7M, Slumdog, riding its Oscar wins took third with $12.1M. Taken sticks around at 4th with $9.9M crossing the $100M threshold.
Lego Mindstorm Ogre Tank - A cool video that shows off a fan made creation of a remote control Lego tank that fires off projectiles autonomously be scanning for a target then determining its left most and right most points so can find center for the strike.
