Links of the Day

Health Care Bill Signed into Law - Like it or not, a historic day occurred as President Obama signed into law (with 20 pins no less) the hard fought for Health Care bill, like most major legislation of the last two years includes a lot of Republican demands yet doesn't get a single vote of support. The GOP's continued ability to show a unified front of party first, corporate second and America's somewhere in the top 10 continues. The major portions of the bill do not even go into effect until 2014 so the current talking point of doom and gloom is amusing considering "the end" of the US is postponed by four years.

How I Ran an Ad on Fox News - With the help of Google TV ads, some money, a little creativity, and no concern on when it airs, you can have your own commercial for whatever you want air for as little as $100. As the video at the link shows, it is actually a simple process, probably the most difficult being creating the commercial. If the stats on the video are any indication, it doesn't seem the cost was worth the return but still amusing to know that now any bored person with money to burn can air their own message.

Nintendo 3DS Announced - Nintendo plans on releasing yet another version of the Nintendo DS, only this time with 3D effects that do not require glasses. It is expected the new system will be unveiled during E3 this June. The device is reported to have a thumb stick, built in rumble, greater battery life, and smaller screen size. If Nintendo holds to pattern, the system is likely to be released in Japan in mid December with a role out elsewhere in early 2011.

Special Comment on Health Care Hate - Keith Olbermann returned to Countdown after the death of his father and air a comment on the hate that has taken over the right's dislike of any health care reform. The GOP, working for insurance companies, has made every effort possible to kill reform. Not modulate it, not add good effective ideas, but flat out kill it. As part of doing that, they tapped on that very deep well of hate and fear that is a hallmark of the far right. To do this they equated reform as a sign that evil is taking over America with Communism...oops Socialism but treated the same. Once it takes over, Democracy will collapse, the world will end and bad stuff will happen to all those good people that are filled with all that hate and cowardice. The problem with tapping into fear to create though is it leads to loss of control and it begins to feed on itself. Once that cycle begins, it rarely ends well. I miss the GOP of old, the one that helped create moderate, non extreme ideas. That party doesn't seem to exist anymore, having died under the rule of Rove and Cheney and further fueled by the defeated and angry GOP that remain.

Links of the Week

Really have not come across much that I felt compelled to post about. I guess could have posted about the healthcare bill but it hasn't passed so what is the point. Here are a few things note however.

A Trailer for Every Academy Award Winning Movie Ever
A tongue in cheek trailer (with a some very attractive woman, wonder who they are?) that makes fun of the typical academy award willing film (but forgetting about war movies). Its mimics a recent meme of calling attention to the typical style of reporting and the like that occurs by actually naming what is occurring. Hard to describe but still amusing.


11th Circuit Eliminates Protection of E-Mail
This is an example of why it is a problem that old people who have less than basic knowledge of technology are the ones deciding the future of tech and its privacy implications. The 11th Circuit judges decided that e-mail isn't protected. E-mail used to be treated like postal mail, basically no one has a right to it without good legal reasons. Now the government can get a copy as soon as the email is delivered (which takes seconds from sending) because something about how email is stored, "disappears" and other nonsense that makes no sense. Long story short...if the government wants your email, they can now have it by simply demanding a copy.

Jon Stewarts Tears Glenn Beck Up
It is fun when Jon Stewart really gets angry about someone or a particular issue. When that occurs, you get gems like the video below where he tears apart the crazy that is Glenn Beck who is advocating that essentially any change from the status quo is evil. Not wrong, but evil as in Nazis, communism and killing people evil. His explanation has something to do with...well it just doesn't make sense but the gist is he is telling other very stupid people that it is evil and something should be done about it. Telling stupid people stupid things while demandng they take action usually doesn't go well. I think this spreading of stupid and dangerous ticked Stewart off so he spent 15 minutes (without a commercial break, almost unprecedented) making fun of the man and his nonsense. The result is hilarious and shows just how sad the Beck followers are.

Links of the Day

Tron Legacy Teaser Trailer - Click the link to view the trailer or download it in various HD quality sizes. It look is looking sweet with great mix of the old Tron design with new.

ABC News Fakes Toyota Acceleration Report? - Gawker media seems to have confirmed that Brian Ross of ABC News may have faked a recent report on Toyota acceleration. It appears the network used creative editing to indicate an on camera occurrence of the unintended acceleration that has plagued Toyota. So far, the reports have not actually been verified, relying almost exclusively on customer reports of events. In addition, the network relied on a study of Professor David Gilbert for their network. It turns out he is being paid by lawyers in a class action lawsuit against Toyota, so not exactly an impartial source for information which wasn't revealed in the news report. But then the press and transparency are foreign concepts nowadays. It turns seems that the car ABC used for the video was rigged with an electronic throttle that "was modified in a way unlikely to ever occur in the real world." That modification would then cause the exact same "unintended acceleration" to occur on multiple makes and models of cars including those from GM, Honda, Ford and more. Long story short, all indications are that ABC News falsified a story in an ongoing quest to scare their viewers into watching their news program. Click the link above for more information and video of how ABC's test may have been falsified.

OK Go's "This Too Shall Pass Video" - A fantastic Rube Goldberg machine that goes with the song. It seems to be one continues shot of a whole bunch of different and unique triggers go off to the song. Worth a watch.


Presidential Reunion - In a call for financial reform, a bunch of SNLers and Ron Howard created the below video as they reprised their various Presidential roles from their SNL years. This includes Dana Carvey (George Bush Sr), May Rudolph (Michelle Obama), Dan Aykroyd (Jimmy Carter), Jim Carrey (Ronald Reagan), Chevy Chase (Gerald Ford) and more. I doubt it will make a difference as reform is essentially dead with Republicans unwilling to accept any type of regulation for any reason and Democrats unwilling to fight Wall Street considering it has demonstrated a wiliness to make the argument that election choices may adversely effect stocks, something the public is susceptible to due to the recession. I do applaud the effort.

Funny or Die's Presidential Reunion from Will Ferrell

2010 Oscar Winners - The award season has finally drawn to a close after what seems like many months of Hollywood breaking its own arms to pat itself on the back. The finally tally is the Hurt Locker is apparently the best film of the year with six wins to Avatar's three. For reasons I don't really understand, Avatar didn't sweep the technical categories as expected. My best guess is actors, who are the largest voting bloc, reacted to genuine fear that the movie represented the next step in movie making where actors (and really the huge paychecks they like to get) will become obsolete. This was indicated with more than a few snarky comments during the program. As for the show, if you missed it, be glad as the opening number from the host extraordinaraire (but not Oscar host) Neil Patrick Harris was about the only thing worth watching.