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.

Justice League New Frontier Trailer

DC has released the trailer for the direct-to-DVD release of Justice League: New Frontiers. Its a feature length cartoon based on the graphic novel produced by Bruce Timm who created what is called the "Timmverse" with Batman: The Animated Series, Superman: The Animated Series, Batman Beyond, and Justice League Unlimited. Its supposed to come out sometime in March I think and personally I am looking forward to it and hope more come out. Also I hope that at some point a CGI Kingdom Come gets produced but not holding my breath.

Hellboy II Teaser Trailer

The teaser trailer for Hellboy II: The Golden Army is out. Pretty interesting trailer. I know I will be there on opening day. Below is a flash version of the trailer, but better resolutions can be found here. (source)
Hellboy II: The Golden Army trailer

Daily Show, Colbert Report Return January 7th

Comedy Central announced today that The Daily Show with Jon Steward and The Colbert Report will return with new episodes starting January 7th. The show went dark because of the ongoing writers strike.

From USA Today: In a joint statement, Stewart and Colbert said: "We would like to return to work with our writers. If we cannot, we would like to express our ambivalence, but without our writers we are unable to express something as nuanced as ambivalence."

From Variety, it appears that lot of the funnier features of the shows are going to remain on strike:

According to insiders, trademark features like Stewart's "Headlines" and Colbert's "The Word" will obviously have to take a break since they're heavily scripted.

Instead, it appears the shows will try to work around the missing writers (and the guild rules that bar anything that's traditionally the domain of scribes) by relying heavily on pretaped segments from the field.

In many of those cases, the segments are produced and edited by non-WGA members. That would still seemingly prevent correspondents who are WGA members from participating, but it's believed that some of the show's contributors are with the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, rather than the WGA. (In addition, "The Daily Show" has occasionally run pieces by individuals who are not regular contributors.)

Peter Jackson's The Hobbit Greenlit

Its official, Peter Jackson and New Line has worked out their disagreements and are now moving forward on The Hobbit, the prequel to Lord of the Rings. Actually the agreement is two Hobbit movies. The first based on the novel by J.R.R. Tolkien and the second serving as a bridge between the end of the Hobbit and the first Lord of the Rings based on the ancillary material in Tolkien's novels.

Jackson hasn't agreed to direct yet but I find it hard to believe he will not but the plan is to make both movies at the same time (similar to how the trilogy was done) starting in 2009 with release in 2010 and 2011.

The press release that makes it all official.

ACADEMY AWARD-WINNER PETER JACKSON AND NEW LINE CINEMA JOIN WITH MGM TO PRODUCE “THE HOBBIT,” EAGERLY-ANTICIPATED FANTASY ADVENTURE EPIC

NEW LINE AND MGM TO CO-PRODUCE AND SHARE WORLDWIDE DISTRIBUTION RIGHTS

PETER JACKSON AND FRAN WALSH TO EXECUTIVE PRODUCE TWO FILMS BASED ON “THE HOBBIT”

Los Angeles, CA (Tuesday, December 18, 2007) Academy Award-winning filmmaker Peter Jackson; Harry Sloan, Chairman and CEO, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (MGM); Bob Shaye and Michael Lynne, Co-Chairmen and Co-CEOs of New Line Cinema have jointly announced today that they have entered into the following series of agreements:

* MGM and New Line will co-finance and co-distribute two films, “The Hobbit” and a sequel to “The Hobbit.” New Line will distribute in North America and MGM will distribute internationally.

* Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh will serve as Executive Producers of two films based on “The Hobbit.” New Line will manage the production of the films, which will be shot simultaneously.

* Peter Jackson and New Line have settled all litigation relating to the “Lord of the Rings” (LOTR) Trilogy.

Said Peter Jackson, “I’m very pleased that we’ve been able to put our differences behind us, so that we may begin a new chapter with our old friends at New Line. ‘The Lord of the Rings’ is a legacy we proudly share with Bob and Michael, and together, we share that legacy with millions of loyal fans all over the world. We are delighted to continue our journey through Middle Earth. I also want to thank Harry Sloan and our new friends at MGM for helping us find the common ground necessary to continue that journey.”

“Peter Jackson has proven himself as the filmmaker who can bring the extraordinary imagination of Tolkien to life and we full heartedly agree with the fans worldwide who know he should be making ‘The Hobbit,’” said Sloan, MGM’s Chairman and CEO. “Now that we are all in agreement on ‘The Hobbit,’ we can focus on assembling the production team that will capture this phenomenal tale on film.”

Bob Shaye, New Line Co-Chairman and Co-CEO comments, “We are very pleased we have been able to resolve our differences, and that Peter and Fran will be actively and creatively involved with ‘The Hobbit’ movies. We know they will bring the same passion, care and talent to these films that they so ably accomplished with ‘The Lord of the Rings’ Trilogy.”

“Peter is a visionary filmmaker, and he broke new ground with ‘The Lord of the Rings,’” notes Michael Lynne, New Line Co-Chairman and Co-CEO. “We’re delighted he’s back for ‘The Hobbit’ films and that the Tolkien saga will continue with his imprint. We greatly appreciate the efforts of Harry Sloan, who has been instrumental in helping us reach our new accord.”

The two “Hobbit” films – “The Hobbit” and its sequel – are scheduled to be shot simultaneously, with pre-production beginning as soon as possible. Principal photography is tentatively set for a 2009 start, with the intention of “The Hobbit” release slated for 2010 and its sequel the following year, in 2011.

The Oscar-winning, critically-acclaimed LOTR Trilogy grossed nearly $3 billion worldwide at the box-office. In 2003, “Return of the King” swept the Academy Awards, winning all of the eleven categories in which it was nominated, including Best Picture – the first ever Best Picture win for a fantasy film. The Trilogy’s production was also unprecedented at the time.

For more information about “The Hobbit” films, please visit http://community.thehobbitsite.com.

AJC: Citizen Journalism Too Risky

Citizen Journalism is a term being used to describe the online proliferation of bloggers and other sources of news that bypasses the standard media outlets. The growth over the years has reached a point where those same media sources are starting to feel threatened as more and more the news is reported first by the "citizen journalist" before taken up by the major media outlets.

Often times this is mostly noticed in the realms of politics and star watching but more and more its spreading to all forms of news. The result is the media outlets must grudging use bloggers as a source of news. They don't like it, but they do it. Its rarely a week goes by where I read a story on the front page of CNN or Fox News that I had read on a blogger a few days before.

David Hazinski, a professor at the University of Georgia and former NBC correspondent, has decided that this represents a danger to media in the form of inaccuracies and deceptions, in article he wrote for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

The citizen journalist is not really a journalist as they lack the "education, skill and standards are really what make people into trusted professionals. Information without journalistic standards is called gossip." He feels to prevent this, media organizations must create standards involving citizen sources, clarify and reinforce their own standards, and universities must "certify" citizen journalists "much as volunteer teachers, paramedics and sheriff's auxiliaries are trained and certified."

Obviously I disagree with these notions. The idea that delivery of news requires special training seems ludicrous to me. News is news, regardless of source. We have all seen what "real" journalists with "education, skill and standards" leads to: all day reports about Michael Jackson going to court, D-list actress overdosing, and little or no reporting on complicated issues such as the Iraq War or what the previous records (versus words) of candidates for President may have on our future.

If it can't be summed up in a sound byte, it must not be news. At least that seems to be the current standard. The rise of the citizen journalist resulted in a vacuum created when the traditional sources of news and information abdicated their authority when they decided the the sensational (infotainment) was more important.

Bloggers and the like can be a source of inaccurate information but one hopes that when "professional" journalists pick up the information, they don't just regurgitate but follow the same standards they have already developed for any source. That ultimately is what citizen journalism is - another tip, another source of news that needs the same confirmation of accuracy that would be necessary if it came in via a phone call or email rather then a blog. New standards are not needed, just the same standards applied to new sources.

I think Professor David Hazinski could better use his time not teaching his students to fear the citizen journalist but instead embrace them as new sources of information and news that can help them, not hinder them, in doing their job of spreading truth, on conducting investigations, and on restoring faith in a journalistic system that few believes in any longer.

Special Commentary: NIE and Bush

Keith Olbermann did another Countdown Special Comment yesterday, this time about the NIE report and how it contradicts the doomsday statements from Bush about Iraq. For the last few months Bush has been building up to creating a third front on his so-called War on Terror (really War For Haliburton) by invading Iran. He was been following the Iraq playbook from 2002 point for point, all of them various tactics involving fear by using such terms as "World War III" and "nuclear weapons." The tactics are predictable, they are dangerous, and as Olbermann notes, they show either an incompetent President or a "unhinged, irrational chicken little of a President." I vote for both. A full transcript can be found here. Video is below.

Speed Racer Teaser Trailer

The teaser trailer for Speed Racer is out. I can't decide if its going to be any good or not. The trailer didn't exactly excite me but then I was never a Speed Racer fan.

Abstinance Only Education Failing

For the first time in 15 years, the teen birth rate has increased 3%. Government health officials are calling it a statistical blip but experts believe the cause is the abstinence-only education pushed by the Bush administration that doesn't teach about contraception. At the same time, other reports do indicate that condom use has gone up among teens.

I have no problem with abstinence education, I just take issue with the "only" part of it. The idea that if you don't talk about having sex and just say no no no will fix everything is ignorance. Actually its dangerous and irresponsible. There are literally lives at stake and to not take every step is making sure that they are safe, be it no sex or covered sex, should be taken. All sex education should stress abstinence but no that teenagers will be teenagers and some will have sex anyway. So arm them with the knowledge they need to get pregnant and get STDs. Abstinence and contraception should be the education standard in this country. (source)

White House Illegally Deleted 10 Million Emails

A new report indicates that the White House deleted not 5 million, but 10 million emails beginning with March 2003 to October 2005. This covers such fiascos as the start of the Iraq War, Katrina, and the Plame-Gate. This is all illegal according to the Presidential Records Act of 1978.

Considering the almost of incompetence, deception, and possible illegal action that where taken in that time period I find it really hard to believe it was an accident. Its pretty clear the White House is hiding things.

Click here to read about it.

Pac-Man Christmas Tree

Its a Pac-Man Christmas Tree in Madrid. Always weird to see how far the influences of American culture goes. (source)

GameSpot Responds to GerstmannGate

Gamespot has provided additional information to the firing of Jeff Gerstmann rumored to be caused by pressure from Eidos for a bad review. The article, written by Tor Thorsen (with his personal commentary here), knows that the article may not be believed and judged as damage control, "Guess what? You're right. It is damage control, because--let's face it--GameSpot has taken a beating over the past week. However, just because it's damage control doesn't mean we're being disingenuous or misleading." A valid point.

The article takes a Q&A approach to the controversy that repeats most of the previous comments that have come out about the issue.

I recommended reading the full text here.

To sum up it, Eidos had no hand in the firing, they did express displeasure at the review but to sles, not editorial. The pulled advertisements where done as schedule as based on the buy days of November 17th to 29th. Jeff was fired on November 28th, the exact reasons unable to reveal. The text for the Kane and Lynch review was altered because the negativity of the review didn't match its "fair" 6.0 score. The review video was removed (on November 14th) because of quality from a faulty microphone and limited game footage and has since been restored (youTube version here). GameSpot is currently doing an internal review to try and restore credibility with readres but "at no point in its history has GameSpot ever deviated from its review guildlines".

So there you go, GameSpots position on the issue. I personally wouldn't mind hearing Gerstmann's side of the story but he is bounded by the same legal issue that GameSpot is. They could sue him, he could sue them, it could get messy.

The whole thing still seems suspicious to me and the various rumblings suggest that sales has more of a say in editorial then it should. For instance, an analysis by Joystiq of the changes made to the orginial Kane and Lynch review made "significant changes to tone and focus", "edits...seem shoehorned in to point out potential positives", and "further edits that circumstantially seem designed specifically to placate Eidos.

In addition, 1UP is reporting that "series of advertising vs. editorial issues on GameSpot -- Sony Computer Entertainment America came down on the site for scoring Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction a 7.5 just a few weeks prior to the Kane & Lynch incident -- and the Eidos Interactive situation was where they finally drew the line." The line apparently being Gerstmann as an example. I guess this goes back to the nebulous and undefined "tone" reasons.

Adding to that you have rumor of a mass resignations of GameSpot employed from a "devasted, gutted and demoralized" editorial staff because of "a lack of transparency from management."

Remember that and others are just a rumor but still jibes with other information on the net about sales interfering with management including a comment from Gerstmann "As for the future of game journalism, you asked if it's realistic for readers to expect a church and state separation between editorial and sales. Realistic or not, I think readers should demand that from a publication." He wasn't talking specifically about GameSpot but find it hard to believe its not a jab in their direction.

About the only conclusion you can draw is the water is mighty murky on how CNET, GameSpot and possibly Gerstmann conducts themselves from an editorially side. Since advertisments is a primary source of their revenue and management inevitiably coming from a sales background, its hard to believe that pressure isn't applied on a regular basis in some form or fashion and this was just a public spectacle of the dam bursting.

In the end, if GameSpot wants to save its reputation, full transparency is required with a clear and defined wall between sales and editorial. Probably in the best interst of the company to make sure the wolf isn't guarding the henhouse and make sure that those making the decisions on things of this nature cannot and will not be influenced by sales.

GameSpot Posts Gerstmann Firing Article

Gamespot finally released an official article about the Gerstmann firing. The article does not provide any additional insight in the controversy instead simply stating he is not with the company, they "wish him nothing but good luck in his future endeavors" and that "CNET Networks nor GameSpot has ever allowed its advertising business to affect its editorial content" while reiterating that legalities and company policy are preventing them from speaking further on the issue.

Based on the rumors and comments from across the web including past and present GameSpot employees, it seems that while article says there is a separation of church and state, that doesn't seem really true as it seems the editors are more then a little away of the impact their reviews have on sales, suggesting at the very least a rather sizable leak in the wall.

CNET's Buzz Out Loud podcast was the first CNET related site to break the silence which could be summed up as "[Human resources is] not going to come and tell us why a dude got fired." This after a two hour mandatory meeting allegedly about the podcast delayed the meeting. How you can have a two hour meeting but apparently share zero information is beyond me. Basically the hosts reiterate their support of CNET and feel "that CNET will never dismiss someone based on outside advertiser pressure."

Regardless, the article nor podcast is not reassuring and there is definitely something going on behind the scenes that can only have a negative effect on how GameSpot and CNET site editors perform their jobs. Read the sites but sadly the information contained within is buyer beware from now on.(source)

Gerstmann / Gamespot Controversy Update

Its Monday and sadly for CNET and it's site Gamespot, the controversy surrounding the firing of Jeff Gerstmann for the rumored reason of a bad review costing the site thousands in ad revenue continues unabated and seems to be getting worse. The internets exploded over the weekend with comments all over the place, Eidos forums shutdown, and many Gamespot employees past and present carefully providing their own opinions. A list of those can be found here, towards the bottom.

More importantly the mainstream press such as USA Today, The Mercury News, The Guardian, and Dallas Morning News is starting to sniff around the edges of the stories with their own blogs commenting on it. A first step for greater unwanted attention.

Now people have planned Blackout Monday, where people refuse to visit or link to Gamespot and CNET sites. Planned at the last minute, doubt it worked but doesn't means later plans will not. There is also a plan to protest at CNET headquarters in San Francisco from December 8th to 10th.

Gertsmann has somewhat commented further on this controversy with Joystick but remains mum on specific details due to legal reasons. Basically he says he was shocked by the firing, stands by his reviews, and determining what he will do next.

Basically this story isn't going away like CNET wants it to. They need to say something or do something to repair their reputation because at this moment the rumors say that reviews and information can be bought. That makes their sites worthless. I personally have stopped listening to their podcasts and stopped visiting their sites for this reason. I am happy to change my mind but the silence is deafening.

GameSpot Editor Confirms Firing Reasons

The gaming sphere has blown up in the last 24 hours because of the firing of Jeff Gerstmann for a bad review of an Edios title that cost the website thousands in ad revenue. Gamespot, CNET, and Edios have all refused to comment on the story accept to say they did nothing wrong but when pressed for details will switch to "no comment". The end result is readers have no choice but to assume that the line between site business and site editorially simply doesn't exist and that favorable news and reviews are available to anyone who wants to buy them.

Valleywag is now reporting that an unconfirmed Gamespot editor has pretty much confirmed the above assumptions in a post on their forums. The text is reproduced below.

We're very clear in our review policies that all reviews are vetted by the entire team before they go live - everything that goes up is the product of an entire team's output. Our freelancers are especially guilty of making snide comments, but those are always yanked before the review goes live, because everyone in the office reads these reviews and makes sure they're up to our standards before they get put up.

If there was a problem with his reviews, then it would've been a problem with the entire team. Firing him without telling anyone implies that anyone else on this team can be fired at the drop of a hat as well, because none of us are writing any differently or meaner or less professionally than we were two years ago before the management changed. I'm sure management wants to spin this as the G-Man being unprofessional to take away from the egg on their face that results after a ten-year employee gets locked out of his office and told to leave the premises and then no one communicates anything to us about it until the next day.

This management team has shown what they're willing to do. Jeff had ten years in and was fucking locked out of his office and told to leave the building.

What you might not be aware of is that GS is well known for appealing mostly to hardcore gamers. The mucky-mucks have been doing a lot of "brand research" over the last year or so and indicating that they want to reach out to more casual gamers. Our last executive editor, Greg Kasavin, left to go to EA, and he was replaced by a suit, Josh Larson, who had no editorial experience and was only involved on the business side of things. Over the last year there has been an increasing amount of pressure to allow the advertising teams to have more of a say in the editorial process; we've started having to give our sales team heads-ups when a game is getting a low score, for instance, so that they can let the advertisers know that before a review goes up. Other publishers have started giving us notes involving when our reviews can go up; if a game's getting a 9 or above, it can go up early; if not, it'll have to wait until after the game is on the shelves.

I was in the meeting where Josh Larson was trying to explain this firing and the guy had absolutely no response to any of the criticisms we were sending his way. He kept dodging the question, saying that there were "multiple instances of tone" in the reviews that he hadn't been happy about, but that wasn't Jeff's problem since we all vet every review. He also implied that "AAA" titles deserved more attention when they were being reviewed, which sounded to all of us that he was implying that they should get higher scores, especially since those titles are usually more highly advertised on our site.

I know that it's all about the money, and hey, I like money. I like advertising because it pays my salary. Unfortunately after Kasavin left the church-and-state separation between the sales teams and the editorial team has cracked, and with Jeff's firing I think it's clear that the management now has no interest at all in integrity and are instead looking for an editorial team that will be nicer to the advertisors.

When companies make games as downright contemptible as Kane and Lynch, they deserve to be called on it. I guess you'll have to go to Onion or a smaller site for objective reviews now, because everyone at GS now thinks that if they give a low score to a high-profile game, they'll be shitcanned. Everyone's fucking scared and we're all hoping to get Josh Larson removed from his position because no one trusts him anymore. If that doesn't happen then look for every game to be Game of the Year material at GameSpot.

Now this post could turn out to be false but it has an authentic feel to it. Its sounds like the actions a suit would make, where numbers are the driving force and not much else. Its also clear that CNET needs to provide a comprehensive response to this event and a course of action that can restore trust back in their websites. Obviousily the first step is fire Josh Larson for gross incompetence for even creating this pretty predicable PR disaster and the second is create rules that establish a seperation of editoral from sales. Anything less is an improper response to this controversy.

GameSpot Reviewer Fired for Angering Advertiser

Its kind of assumed concept in the world of journalism, whether online, TV or print and that's the journalistic endeavors are separated from the business and advertising goals. In other words, a company may buy advertisement but they are not buying good press. Its also assumed by many that is not 100% of the case and that business goals do leak into journalistic ethics (see Newsweek's love issue to Amazon) but at least its usually blatant enough that you can make a judgement call on what you are reading.

However, there are times when the entire facade is blown away and confirms our suspicions and further erodes the trust between journalists and their readers. That is the case with the controversy surround GameSpot.com who fired Editorial Director Jeff Gerstmann, a 10 year veteran of the company.

The theory is he was fired for his 6.0/10 review of "Kane & Lynch" which resulted in Edios pulling hundreds of thousands of dollars in ad revenue. Information leaked form someone working close to Edios is he was fired for "unprofessional reviews and review practices" and the "tone" of his reviews (whatever that means). Judge for yourself and read the review (here and here) and watch the video version below which was pulled from GameSpot.

Currently these theories cannot be confirmed. Gertzman briefly commented on the story by saying he is unable to comment, "This probably won't come as much of a surprise, but I'm unable to comment on the rumors surrounding my termination."

CNET, owner of Gamespot, did release a short statement that didn't address this controversy directly "GameSpot takes its editorial integrity extremely seriously. For over a decade, Gamespot and the many members of its editorial team have produced thousands of unbiased reviews that have been a valuable resource for the gaming community. At CNET Networks, we stand behind the editorial content that our teams produce on a daily basis."

The news of the firing came about last night as a result of an early release of a Penny Arcade strip that comments on the firing. Tycho later released a statement on the controversy. As a result of the strip, the news of the firing has blazed across the gaming websites everywhere with few pleased with the news. It even resulting in Edios closing their forums.

So to sum up, all that is known is that Jeff Gurtzmann from Gamespot has been fired. The theory is the cause is because of a bad review of a game that resulted in lost advertising dollars but the site owners are claiming the real cause is "tone" of his reviews. Edios, CNET and Gamespot have refused to comment directly on the story and will not allow Gurtzmann to do so either.

Why is this important? Well, this confirms that many of us suspect but don't want to believe, that advertisement dollars drive editorially content and can buy positive reviews of products. This has a chilling effect that post effects current employees of CNET's network of websites and also the readers of the those websites.

For the employees that provide reviews, articles and content for the site, I can't imagine that if you currently work for a CNET owned website that this doesn't have a negative effect on how you review and write about products and companies that do business with CNET or under consideration to do business with them. If Apple buys advertisement does that mean that CNET reviewers need to consult the business end to determine what the iPhone review should be? Oh wait, Nintendo just bought advertisement space, should the next game review for the Wii be a 9.5 or a 10? What if the advertisement arm is trying to pursue new business, does that mean reviewers have to check all reviews and stories through them to verify it will not effect the closing of a sale? If I was currently employed there that would be steps I would consider as not doing so apparently can cost you your job.

For the readers, its an issue of trust. When you look up reviews you want an honest opinion, warts and all of a product so you can make a sound decision. If its an article about a company and what its doing, you want the truth, not spin.

As of now, thanks to this controversy, you can not trust any of the content on Gamespot or any of CNET owned websites and publications. I include all of CNET because we simply don't know if this was a decision internal to Gamespot or is part of a company wide policy for advertisement revenue. Until CNET clarifies and explains exactly what happens (and allows Gerstmann to do the same), defines what the hell "tone" of a review means (because I don't see a problem in the reviews I read or seen), and makes it clear what steps it will take to keep the advertising arm firewalled from the content arm it is my belief that CNET and any of its websites can be trusted as a source of news, reviews and information as we simply don't know what has been bought off and what hasn't.

Amazon's Kindle Released

Amazon announced what it considers to be the re-invention of the book called Kindle (pics). The book is slightly larger but thinner (7.5" x 5.3" x 0.7") then your average paperback (6.9" x 4.2" x 1.2") and comes with a lot of bells and whistles that books don’t have like wireless access to new content via Whispernet (similar to a cell phone network), storage of over 200 books (thousands available, around $9.99 per), and ability to download newspapers and blogs (pricing varies), view email attachments and light web surfing (How to Video). All of this in a $399 device. Compared to most other eBook readers, the Kindle stands on its own.

Does the book need to be reinvented? Sure, why not if it’s an improvement. Based on this first version I don’t think the book has anything to fear. The eBook model doesn’t yet duplicate the feel of getting into a novel and reading faster and faster to get through the exciting story as times passes unnoticed by you. The theory is there with the “E Ink” display, but when you have to wait a second for a page to load, the momentum can shift. Time suddenly gets noticed and suddenly finishing the chapter may not be so important.

Then there is the cost. $400 dollars for the electronics that display the books contents (assuming no pics). Even with the discount of only $10 per new novel (versus $20-$30 it usually costs) that is a lot of book buying to recoup the “savings”. Then there is notion of convienance. I just don’t see people tossing this into a backpack the same way we do books. There is something to be said about the ease of being worried about your book breaking. Sure you will have hundreds of possible books at your fingertips but really how often is that really needed?

The screen is currently black and white, to mimic reading a book, but is that necessary in the digital age? Why not a color screen that can display pictures and content, with it switching to black and white as the books need it? Also why no backlight? One annoying aspect of the book is needing a lot of light to enjoy it (to avoid headaches) so why not make it easy to literally read a book in most conditions such as long car trips or say a wait outside on Black Friday?

All these quibbles aside the Kindle is a good first step in the reinvention of the book. The potential is there, whether its books that get corrected and updated on the fly, the ability to access information anytime, anywhere, or even a college student that has all their books for class literally in the palm of their hand. I could be wrong as don’t have $400 to find out first hand, but on the surface it seems this first attempt at the book 2.0 doesn’t seem worth it, not yet anyway. I will let the early adopters work out the kinks and look forward to Kindle 2.0 (which would benefit greatly from iTouch technology).

Top 10 Ways to Prepare for Black Friday

Using the idea from here, I decided to write my own list of how to prep for Black Friday 2007.

1. Research your deals.
Many sites now provide the Black Friday weeks early. The one I use the most is bfads.net. I also recommend getting your local paper on Thanksgiving Day so can verify those ads.

2. Determine what want and from where.
Reason I recommend this is a lot of places offer the same deals. For instance one place may have a DVD set for $18 but another for $25. So this avoid duplication of effort and figure out what places you want to hit in what order. Some stores provide price matches but they tend to suspend those rules for Black Friday deals so don't count on those.

3. Check for Online Deals
You have your list of much have items and their great prices, now check to see if can beat them online allowing you to avoid waiting in line or focus on new must have goal. In some cases, stores will only have online deals so be sure to create shortcut list and check them frequently on Thanksgiving Day. Just don't count on getting the item as you will not be the only one checking so still have a store waiting plan B just in case can't get what you want online at the price you want.

4. Prioritize your goals.
Stores open early, and with limited quantities so its literally the case of the early bird gets the worm. Unless your in teams or lucky you can't store hop successfully for those high ticket, low item deals. With most stores all having lines, you probably have only one shot at one store to get that huge deal so make it count.

5. Try to work with a team.
Teammates can help with the long lines and wait with tag teaming and supply runs. They can also help hit multiple stores at the same time increasing your chances of success. But remember that its generally one per customer so your bud shouldn't be eyeing that deal too.

6. Get plenty of sleep the night before.
Stores open early, but all that means is you have to get in line even earlier. The better the deals (and more likely the more limited the quantities) the earlier you have to arrive. That means no sleep as between getting up to prep and celebrate for Thanksgiving you may not get that nap that allows you to go from doing the family things to getting in line. Its possible as a result you might be up for 24 hours or more so just be aware of that.

7. Be prepared for the line.
You will have hours of waiting to go so you need some basic supplies. Dress comfortably and for the weather, you will be outside in the elements so add some layers. You can always remove layers but once in line its hard to add them. A blanket wouldn't hurt either. Entertainment is a must such as a book or a gameboy, but note plugs may not be available so don't depend on power for that laptop or DVD player. Be sure to fully charge everything to day before. Also standing is just painful and tiresome so bring something to sit on whether a fold up chair or cushion. All lines are different, don't rely on the kindness of strangers to hold your place during that the long wait so don't over do it on the drinks and food before heading to the store. It doesn't hurt to over prepare but you want to line just enough stuff that will get you through the wait (and pack up quick) but not necessarily require you to have to leave the line to get more. Once you get a feel for how the line is being handled (friendliness etc), trips to the car may be possible. Don't forget your list! It would stink to get there, wait it out, and then forget key items.

8. Leave the kids home.
Seems obvious but you would be surprised how many people will show up with kids and wait hours in line with them. No Black Friday deal is worth the hassle and aggravation to yourself and others in trying to control bored kids for hours or simply just trying to keep up with them. Its also irresponsible as its probably going to be cold. Kids also will divert you from your gameplan and push you to buy items you may not have planned on. To put it bluntly, they will get in the way.

9. Get there early.
Hopefully you have your list, your supplies and an agenda. But its no good if people already wrapped around the building because you showed up just before the store opens. So determine when the store is opening that day and show up even earlier. How early is hard to determine because it can vary wildly but generally the better the deal is the earlier you should show up. Also just how much is your time and effort with it to you to save those dollars. If your saving only 10 bucks maybe not, but if its a few hundred, maybe it is.

10. Be realistic and have fun.
Know going into this that you may not get some or any of the items that you want. Most of the best Black Friday deals are in limited quantities so things could sell out very quickly. Some stores give out "coupons" for the BF items before the store opens so keep an eye on that. If they run out of coupons to the first 10 people in line and your 40 back well you know that your probably out of luck. If your realistic in your goals you can plan better and handle the stress of waiting better. Most people take the waiting and shopping entirely too seriously for mostly unrealistic goals. This can lead to conflict and sometimes violence and really no sale is worth that. If you go in prepared but with proper expectations you can actually have fun doing this. The point is a good deal but also hopefully done in the spirit of giving and if your more stressed about the deal then the pleasure you hope to give then your missing the whole point of Christmas.

So there you go, my Top 10 list of how to prepare for Black Friday based on my experiences from last year. I achieved only a tiny tiny fraction of my goals but I fun in the effort and actually came away with some great presents as a result. Because I went into it prepared and in the proper mindset, it had fun and plan on doing it again this year.

Google's Android SDK Info

Google has released a few details on the SDK for Android, its mobile phone OS its developing in partnership with multiple companies. According to Engadget, the phone will support touchscreen, 3G networks, Java, threaded text messaging, and MPEG-4, h.264, MP3, and ACC file formats (common Apple and Microsoft formats, but apparently not divx). Also it can handle 3D games qith Quake used as an example. A demo of the OS (on a device reference model, not actual product) is below. The SDK can be downloaded here. Also Google has annouced the Android Developer Challenge with a pot of $10 million that will be divided among various winners.

Another iPhone Brick That Can't Call

Userfriendly posted a hilarious strip that covers the recent bricking of hacked iPhones that is sung to Pink Floyd's "Another Brick in the Wall."

Special Comment: Conspiracy of Torture

Keith Olbermann closed Countdown yesterday with another scathing indictment (transcript) of the Bush Administration. An administration that seems to know no ends of its depravity.

This special comment was triggered by recent revelation that Bush fired Daniel Levin for daring to disagree with him on American policy regarding torture. Levin was Justice Department official assigned with determining Bush Admins policy on torture. He decided that first hand knowledge would be helpful and experienced Waterboarding first hand. From that experience he declared it a form of torture, very much contrary to Bush's stance on it. For daring to disagree and not do what all other Bush minions do by simply regurgitating Bush's current opinion regardless of consequence or if its good for the nation. As has consistently been the case, for Bush the only thing that matters is what Bush's wants and the nation be damned.

The video can be found here. (couldn't find on youtube at time wrote this)

Legend of Zelda Commercials Compliation

If a fan of The Legend of Zelda through the years (I have em all), then here is a walk down memory lane via commercials some of which are pretty strange. Learned of the compilation via Joystick and edited together by Skullkid700.

Mario Bros Theme on Tesla Coils

Rather then rewrite a solid description from YouTube:

Twin Solid State Musical Tesla coils playing Mario Bros theme song at the 2007 Lightning on the Lawn Teslathon sponsored by DC Cox (Resonance Research Corp) in Baraboo WI.
The music that you hear is coming from the sparks that these two identical high power solid state Tesla coils are generating. There are no speakers involved. The Tesla coils stand 7 feet tall and are each capable of putting out over 12 foot of spark. They are spaced about 18 feet apart. The coils are controlled over a fiber optic link by a single laptop computer. Each coil is assigned to a midi channel which it responds to by playing notes that are programed into the computer software. These coils were constructed by Steve Ward and Jeff Larson. Video was captured by Terry Blake. What is not obvious is how loud the coils are. They are well over 110dB If you look at another You Tube video which is from a different angle, you can hear the echo off the building and get a better idea of how loud it is.

fast Food Calorie Counter

If you eat fast food, you know its unhealthy. If you don't, you have bigger problems. What may not know is just how unhealthy the food is. Fortunately Calorie Counter provided a nice guide to just how unhealthy the fast food is with a little best and worse (relative to each other) for each category.

For Fries, Sonic's is the best, White Castle and Dairy Queen the worse. Basic hamburgers its White Castle and Wendy's best, Carl's Jr the worse. In the other burger varieties, best is Burger King (whopper jr) and White Castle (Bacon Cheeseburger) and the Worst goes to Carl's Jr for the Double Six Dollar Burger and its 1520 calories and 111 grams of fat. Wow.

Lots more information can be found here.

Google Phone, I Mean Android Announced

Today Google announced the development of Android for mobile phones (press release). Android would be an open source Linux based Operating System for new phones that would allow easy development of applications that could work on multiple brands and types of phones as long as have the core OS. This would be a direct competition to closed OS's like Palm, Windows Mobile and iPhone. The expected release date of phones with the new OS is second half of 2008 and the SDK for developers will be available on November 12th.

So far 34 different companies have signed up for the Open Handset Alliance. This includes the top mobile carriers of At&T, T-Mobile, Sprint, and others from various countries. On the hardware side, Samsung, LG, and Motorola are also signed on. Nokia oddly staying out despite rapidly losing the cell phone race. Additional companies include Nvidia (graphics for phones) and Skype (voice over IP).

Its to early to say what impact this will have on the market but with the calibur of money and talent being brought to the table, its looks the "smartphone" will become the de facto phones on the market. What this means for Blackberries, Palm devices and the iPhone could be to make them obsolete as users will have the ability to customize their phones to fit their needs rather then work with whatever the developers think you need. The iPhone apparently was just step one of a mobile phone revolution.

I am personally looking for to the variety of choices that may come available. I wanted to possibilities that the iPhone was bringing to the table but as the locked down iPhone combined with being forced to do business with the craptastic AT&T was unacceptable at any price.

VideoSift Open Letter to Viacom

Videosift, a website that tracks popular online videos, has posted an open letter to Viacom and its owned network Comedy Central to work with the Internet. Viacom has started a policy where its most popular internet programming is only available through select websites and doesn't allow sharing via embeds and the like.

The result is no one can easily share the funny and insightful moments from their most popular shows such as The Daily Show, Colbert Report and South Park. Its their anti-YouTube policy of limited distribution from very limited sources. Something I think its idiotic and counter productive to advertising and selling the brand. Out of sight, out of mind is something to be avoided while Viacom seems to be embracing the concept. Personally because of the difficulty is sharing moments from Comedy Central, I simply don't bother to post about them anymore.

Here is the letter:

We love the Daily Show on VideoSift. The Comedy Central video embeds have been consistently some of the most popular voted content here.

So, it’s with a lot of regret - after an extensive community discussion- that we have decided to ban the submission of all Comedy Central videos.

The Internet does not respect national borders and your recent decision to block access to non-US viewers means that 30% of the members on VideoSift see a frozen screen when trying to view content from The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, South Park and other CC programs.

I’m sure you have very good reasons for taking this action - exclusive distribution deals with overseas TV networks, advertisements not meant to be globally broadcast etc. - but we ask you to reconsider your decision – and not just for the obvious reasons.

Programs like the Daily Show do more to create goodwill toward the US than the current US administration has ever done.

If the Daily Show can relentlessly skewer its nation’s politicians without fear of retribution - it gives hope to those living under despotic regimes that democracy isn't quite dead in the US.

Those of us living overseas see Jon Stewart as a face of America- and we like an America that is self-deprecating and willing to highlight her many mistakes. It makes it so much easier to forgive that way.

Of course, you own the content, and who are we to tell you how it should be distributed? Comedy Central has no obligation to send a political message to the rest of the world.

But there is another reason to allow international viewing that has more commercial appeal. When you block dependable access to your videos, you are driving people to illicit sources for their favorite content. (YouTube, Bittorrent etc.) We would try to monitor contraband
submissions on our site, but for you, policing this across the Internet will be like trying to drain the ocean with a teaspoon.

Comedy Central, please think globally and give us our Daily Show!

Respectfully yours,
The Rest of the World

PS. While you’re at it – can you prevent your videos from “expiring” after a few weeks?

Big Teleco To Rule It All

The 3rd US Court of Appeals upheld the FCC's deregulating of the Internet in regards to rules that revoke a requirement for the telephone companies to provide "nondiscriminatory" access to wire lines to consumers to competing Internet Service Providers. This means that the big teleco companies can tell the smaller companies to go to hell legally with massive bills for access.

As has been the case for the last 20 years, the call for "deregulation" has only led to the merging or elimination of competition so that only 3-4 companies are the sole providers. These providers often working together so the illusion of competition is maintained even though there really isn't. In the end, as it has always been, the consumers will pay the price as the teleco can dictate prices and you will have no choice but to accept it.