Friday, June 23, 2006

Propaganda From Telcos

Work really is pretty exciting now that I have two projects and I promised my boss that I'd be releasing one on Tuesday. This means that I won't be bored for a while, and after Tuesday I'll have finishing tackling the biggest hurdle of the summer: mastering the basics. There really has been a big learning curve. Anyway, my main topic today is going to center on this cartoon, so I suggest you watch it before continuing reading this paragraph. Done? Good. I was actually introduced to it by The Register, who poked fun at how the telcos corrected their "misconceptions" about the Internet. I can't believe that they'd stoop so low to actually lie about what their plans are. Anyone who thinks for one second that these companies care about anything but themselves and their piles of money must be high. I love how they paint this picture of an open web where there's no discrimination as if it's the end of the world, but their world (where they of course neglect to mention these special charges) is where sunshines and lollipops live. I can't imagine that people would believe that in order to make the Internet faster they need to end net neutrality, or that the geeks lobbying for it would want a worse Internet just to spite the telcos. It almost angers me to think that they would spread this nonsense, but it's not even necessary since so many people are grossly uninformed of this issue as of now. I hope that my readers at least understand the importance of this issue. If not, then check my archives or stay tuned for more developments on this battle.

Click to enlargeThat's one of just a couple of early screenshots from Leopard, and I just wanted to put it up because it looks so awesome. Opera is coming to the Nintendo DS real soon, and we already have a review of the beta. Apparently, it's really well-planned and fun, but I just wonder how many people will actually use it. The PS3 may be getting its own version of the PS2's EyeToy, and speculation seems to claim that it'll be used in games like Minority Report for some of the futuristic effects seen in the movie. The source of the peripheral news is pretty solid, but they later stuff doesn't seem as surefire. If you've been to the million dollar homepage before then you'll really get a kick out of this, which is a building based off the same idea. If you know what Ajax is then you may be intrigued by Fjax, which combines Flash with Ajax to help process data. I'm behind on learning these new web technologies, but they really do sound fun. Lastly, I've brought up what's gone wrong with the next generation of DVDs before, but here's another list of the top ten reasons why they've already failed. I think the biggest deal is the #1 reason because it seems like they've been trying to race to be the better format rather than working on making things really polished and easy to use/understand.

The movie news item that I enjoyed the most today was a rundown of the Spider-man 3 trailer, and it makes me want to watch it not once, not twice, but like ten times. I guess that I'm just too much of a fan since he's my second favorite superhero of all time. Speaking of superheroes, IGN has some pictures from the premiere of Superman Returns. Shaq made it to the premiere, but I wonder if they would've invited Dirk Nowitzki instead if the Mavs won? If you're more interested in Pirates of the Caribbean though, they have some new shots from that flick as well. The premiere of Dead Man's Chest is actually tomorrow though, and you can catch that live on MSN if you care to. I think showing these premieres live is an interesting idea, but it's only good if they have interviews and clips from the movie as well, which I'm guessing MSN will shoot for. It has now been confirmed that the director for The Watchmen will be none other than Zach Snyder, of Dawn of the Dead remake fame, as was earlier speculated on. I like what I've seen so far from 300 so I have no reason to believe that he wouldn't do a good job on this one. Lastly, if you really want to see pictures from Evan Almighty, then USA Today can hook you up.

Now for Friday's Feast:

Appetizer
On a scale of 1-10 with 10 being highest, how much do you like your job?

About a 6 right now. It's getting better, but I need to get a couple of projects under my belt before passing real judgement on it.

Soup
When was the last time you think you were lied to?

A few hours ago when I was playing soccer and everyone kept saying that it was "the last goal" for three goals. At 9:00 PM on a Friday, you just want to go home and chill.

Salad
Share some lyrics from own of your favorite songs.

"It's hard to believe that there's nobody out there
It's hard to believe that I'm all alone
At least I have her love, the city she loves me
Lonely as I am, together we cry" - Under the Bridge, Red Hot Chili Peppers

Main Course
What do you do/take when you are in pain?

If you mean headaches, just Tylenol. I don't have them often though. For problems on my skin, like bites and scrapes, which are more common, I use some Cortizone.

Dessert
Fill in the blanks: My __________ is very __________.

heart, weary

1 comment:

ribbiticus said...

the peppers are one of my faves too! good feast! mine's up! ;)