Shattering Some Myths

Like a clown I put on a show
The pain is real even if nobody knows
And I'm cryin' inside
And nobody knows it but me
-- "Nobody Knows", Tony Rich Project

I heard that on the radio last night and I didn't realize how sad and true it can be. Sometimes nowadays I kind of feel like that excerpt from the song, and it sucks that there's no logical explanation for it! Luckily, the person who it's regarding isn't around to read this post. Anyway, sorry but I just had to quote the song. BBC has a story on a study that found that illegal file sharers actually buy more music than other music fans. It's not a surprising trend for me because I've bought quite a few albums based on music that I've illegally acquired and rarely download music just for the Hell of it. Do you think the RIAA will ever understand that? The study also found that music lovers don't trust their cell phones enough quite yet to use it as an mp3 player, so I guess we'll have to wait a bit longer. The other myth I wanted to break today was that some printers actually embed a secret code in your documents to identify the printer itself due to government pressure. It's meant for nabbing counterfeiters, but it's still creepy. The EFF is starting research to help identify these manufacturers and need your help. I think it's very important to help them.

I wanted to start off the techie news with Motorola's new line of phones including the Moto Q (a Razr with a keyboard running on Windows Mobile 5.0), Ojo (a video phone), and Razrwire (as pictured on the left). I liked the Razrwire the best because you can protect your eyes and talk on the phone when you're on the go and if I had a better phone I'd totally get it. Beware of the next time you use a free hosting site because some of them are phonies that can put malware like keyloggers and spyware on your computer. Try to use ones that you've heard of before. If you're a web application developer then this article is a must read because it tells you how to port your IE applications to Mozilla. I'm going to bookmark that one myself for future reference. In case you haven't kept up with the shuttle news it turns out that the piece that fell from Columbia was a piece of insulation and so NASA is grounding the whole fleet until they can figure things out. Lastly, the LA Times has an incredible article about how the current controversy with video games is overblown and parents need to look at the kind of stuff they were exposed to as kids like high school football and such. Some video games may even stimulate cognitive development more than cheering the Astros and fulfill desires for real criminal activity.

I'm going to start out the movie news with some superheros. According to a supposedly reliable source, Thomas Hayden Church will be the Chameleon in Spider-man 3, which will help set up Kraven the Hunter for later film(s). I'm not sure what to make of this, but I hope Raimi doesn't lose steam with this one. There's also word that no-name actress Ellen Page will play Kittie Pryde in X3 and apparently they've already started photography at Alcatraz. At least the wheels are still turning. Universal managed to acquire the rights to Sony's successful video game God of War for a motion picture, and while the game looked awesome I just don't see how the story will translate well into a mainstream movie. I guess money talks though. AICN got an early review for Tim Burton's Corpse Bride and it looks like this will help bring his career back up to snuff again. Lastly, IGN has a couple of clips from Four Brothers for those of you interested in seeing more from it.

Now for a good old-fashioned Wednesday Mind Hump:

01. Ohmigosh! You're on the cover of the National Inquirer (or other trash magazine)! What is the headline? Give us an except for the inside story.
Local Indian Student Disobeys Parents and Starts Casual Dating. Blasphemy! =O

02. If it did make a sound, what sound would your head make when you shake it?
It would be kind of squishy, like squeezing one of those soft water balls when they're soaked with water.

03. You are lighter than air, you float. C'mon, introduce yourself - what are you?
Tinkerbell's gigolo? Or more realistically I could be like the Ghost of Christmas Present or something of that sort.

04. Your blog just won an award for being the best. What is it for? You've also been given an "award" for being the worst. What is it for.
For writing so many posts that are too bloody long! The latter award would possibly be for least creative blog name.