Games, Games, Games

I just thought that the last line of that strip was absolutely hilarious; you may or may not agree. I think that this will be my last post until Sunday because I will be going to Schlitterbahn on Saturday with my brother and some cousins and so we're going to spend tomorrow night in San Antonio. Anyway, do you like the title? It was meant to be a play on the Jay-Z song "Girls, Girls, Girls" because the big news today is related to video games. I know I bragged about the cool trailers I saw from the E3 press conferences a few months ago, and now IGN has digitally remastered them for your viewing pleasure. The Killzone and Vision GT ones are definite must-sees. I think that the one genre of games that gains the most mass appeal is sports, and I just have to mention SSX On Tour because it sounds so cool since it also features skiing. It's the one bright spot in this video game slowdown and worth a look even for casual players. The last thing was that the 20-year-old who killed three cops did not get leniency for claiming to be influenced by Grand Theft Auto but of course Jack Thompson disagrees. I don't know how it's possible for one guy to be so dumb. How the Hell can a video game train you to actually kill cops?!

I'm going to start out the technology news with a couple of followups from recent events. Remember the money Microsoft won from that lawsuit against the "spam king"? It turns out that they're going to use $5 million to continuing fighting spam and $1 million of it to aid public computer training in New York. I'm pleased that M$ isn't completely evil. I know I mentioned that Google excommunicated ZDNet and I find it funny that the UK division is frantically apologizing and trying to get on Google's good side. I hope it'll work because it makes them sound like a hurt puppy. If you're interested in installing Mac OS X on your PC (or maybe a friend's if your already a Mac owner), then there's a whole guide to it over here. This isn't sanctioned by Apple, but it's a neat experiment nonetheless. Lastly, FedEx is suing a poor guy because he put pictures online of his furniture that he made out of FedEx boxes! He had just started a new job and couldn't afford new furniture so he just made some and it looks pretty cool but FedEx isn't amused. They should've used him for a commercial or something instead.

I'm going to start out the movie news with multimedia once again. A lot of people don't know the history of the upcoming movie Serenity, but now MSN has an inside look at how it got started to get you pumped up for the flick. Yahoo has the trailer for a movie called Jarhead that looks great regarding Operation Desert Storm and it stars Jake Gyllenhaal and Jamie Foxx. Don't forget about Gunner Palace by the way. The trailer for Aeon Flux is less exciting because I'm split between whether it will be a fun action movie or a cheesy Matrix knockoff, but I'm leaning towards the latter. We'll see what happens. IGN has an exclusive clip from the documentary that indie movie watchers have been talking about, Grizzly Man, that's sure to pique the interest of fans of March of the Penguins. Fortunately, all the remaining news I have is totally exciting. Robert Rodriguez sounds really pumped to work on Grind House with Quentin Tarantino and is apparently already hammering out the scripts with him. It would be a crime for all you Longhorns to not catch him when he comes to campus next month. The last thing is a huge interview with Bryan Singer in which he talks more about the story of Superman Returns and his insight on the characters is really refreshing. He may just put life back into an old superhero.

Now for some 3x Thursday action:

1. Name 3 pet peeves and explain them.
Nails on chalkboard is a big one because even thinking about it hurts my head. I can't stand it when people don't use turn signals when there are other people around. If it's a deserted road I can understand but when you're on the freeway it really is necessary. The last one is people who keep their shoes on inside homes, particularly mine. Why would you bring your dirty shoes on someone's clean carpet?

2. Name 3 things you would like to do before the year is up.
I want to get an alpha version of my program to help in learning Latin, become much more cut (my body I mean), and I'd like to go to San Marcos to finally do some good clothes shopping.

3. Name 3 things you'd like to accomplish before you die.
I want to get married (I'd like to be a family man), I'd like to help create an actual video game, and I want to play in a real band (even if it's just at church or something).

Bonus Question for Comments: Name 3 of your favorite movies.
Too easy: Kill Bill, Fight Club, and Donnie Darko. That's not my top 3, but they are 3 of my top 10 that are most prominent to me right now.

Volvo Excitement

I GOT A CAR!!! I'll put up actual pictures of it in the near future, but until then you'll have to just settle for that one I found online. It's that exact color, but the tires are brand new and the rims are alloy. It's a 1996 Volvo 850 Turbo! I know that it sounds old, but it purrs like a kitty and it's a real smooth ride. It has 98,000 miles on it, but the owner took real good care of it and did all the necessary maintenance. Plus, it's full loaded! It has a black leather interior, bucket seats, power seats, power doors, power windows, alloy wheels, a sunroof, a computer system (that tells MPG and such), climate control (for the driver and the passenger), a seat that remembers all my settings (including side view mirrors), and a 5-disc CD changer in the trunk (though I have to get the magazine cartridge for it). Coming from a '90 Maxima, the alignment and braking is awesome and the way it hugs turns is unbelievable. On top of all that, it's a turbo! It redlines at like 6000 RPM, and the engine is real pretty (I'll snap a picture of that as well). I'm totally excited and feel really blessed to finally have my own vehicle (almost as if I was on 'Pimp My Ride'). If you want to do some driving of your own from the comfort of your home you should check out Drivey to get an idea of how smart computer simulation can be.

The actual tech news today isn't too bad. In this article, Google almost gives its own personal endorsement of Linux as it claims how much easier it was to get along with than a proprietary platform. Apparently, they'd have to ask Microsoft when they wanted to make changes to a Windows-based system and so using Linux just makes good sense. If you're interested in building a business of your own on open source software then all the information you need is right here. If you need to download a distro, you can find the right torrent over at ibiblio. Back to Microsoft though, they're going to squeeze all the cash they can out of the Xbox by requiring accessory makers to pay them royalties and become authorized. I think the amount may change depending on whether they want to display the Xbox logo, but the article is a bit vague. Either way, I'm not sure I agree with their logic. Lastly, the government is now pouring money into biometric technology to help control the borders, and it could also help fight fraud elsewhere. I wonder how soon it will be for this technology to mainstream.

I found the best movie news today to be the new trailer for Domino, which I'll remind you is directed by Tony Scott and written by the incomparable Richard Kelly. It even features a few actors I didn't know were in it. You can also catch some new pictures here. Another trailer worth looking at is the upcoming Asian flick Duelist, and while the trailer is in Chinese it doesn't require words to looks aesthetically pleasing. If you really want more videos to look at, iFilm has some footage from Comic-Con, which is of course over now. SIGGRAPH is now going on though and Disney is showing off what they have to offer in the near future, and it would appear for the most part that they're expanding their horizons. If you're wondering what happened with The Island, there's an analysis of its failure here. I think it was partially lukewarm reviews coupled with a weak box office and marketing campaign. AICN has some reviews for Wes Craven's Red Eye, and unfortunately it doesn't sound like the great horror film I was expecting; just more of the same. Lastly, pre-production has begun on a movie called Hereafter centering on the tsunami disaster from last year. Am I the only person who thinks that it's a little too soon?

Before I get to the meme I just want to mention that the Fed has once again raised the federal funds rate by 25 basis points. Why? Because of increases in spending, a strengthening labor market, and a core inflation rate that looks like it will go forward. If you plan on taking out a loan I'd do it now before it goes up (which it will continue to do).

Now for my favorite meme, the Wednesday Mind Hump:

Say What? is a "complete this sentence" challenge. The challenge? Below is a list of common cliches and/or some lesser known sayings. Your mission should you decide to accept it is complete the sentence with your own crazy ending.

On your marks, get set, HUMP!

01. Friends are lost by ... getting too involved with a girl.
02. Better to bend than ... try squating and risk falling down.
03. The man who can smile when things go wrong ... probably laughs at himself in the mirror a lot.
04. Commit a sin twice and ... you're probably not too afraid of the wrath of God.
05. A society grows great when old men become self-dependent rather than destroy the Social Security system and become a drain on society. (Note: I'm just kidding!)
06. A woman has the form of an angel, the heart of a serpent, and the eyes of a tiger!

Laptops for Kids

Just a little while ago, your humble blogger was attacked by a roach. I think it clung a towel we have in the kitchen and jumped onto my wrist. I'm not a fan of roaches so that really freaked me out and doesn't improve my impression of the vermin. I wonder why they even exist! Well anyway, CBS has kind of a crazy article about buying laptops for kids. Unless your kid is a child prodigy, I can't see that as being a good idea. It's so unbelievably easy to run into the wrong stuff online and it will likely only serve to spoil the kids. What will they do on it besides chat with friends and play games? Study?! Hah! I've used that excuse a hundred times back in the day. There's a difference between monitored home use and unrestricted transient usage. If you give it to a high school student he'll probably end up being new to puberty and downloading porn. So my verdict: be careful. None of this was a problem back when I was growing up since I had to work out of Windows 3.1 and DOS learning commands from when my brother would type them and just playing some demos that we had lying around. Then e-mail started with Juno, and the Internet didn't spring up until I was almost done with middle school. I learned a lot sure, but computers were much cleaner back then for kids.

I'm going to start out the technology news with good news for those tight on cash like me. We may soon see $20 cell phones with the advent of single-chip technology from Bangalore, India that could reduce cell phone production costs by 30%. I guess its only fitting that the development took place in India with the fast growing user base there. Microsoft will not be needing cheap cell phones, however, as they have just won a big lawsuit against the "spam king" for a handsome $7 million. I'm glad that someone is doing something about spammers. Many of you know that Discovery landed successfully this morning in California and now NASA has released a podcast from onboard the spacecraft. I wonder if it's authentic or if they simulated it? How would we know the difference anyhow. In an effort to standout, Yahoo has discovered that its search engine spans over 8 billion more documents than Google does! To counter, Google has added wildcard functionality to all queries on their search engine (including questions). A lot of people use search engines that get the best of both worlds though to compromise. Lastly, Amazon seems to be looking more towards entering the DVD rental arena, but it's not really for sure yet. All we know is that they're still looking for good labor for the project, and if it's still available next summer I may consider them more serious for an internship.

Today's movie news is a day of trailers. I know I linked the foreign trailer for Oliver Twist a little while ago, but now we have a trailer in English and it looks like it won't be bad but will feel as long as reading David Copperfield. Charles Dickens must've loved to talk when he was alive. There's a website up for Nicholas Cage's next movie, The Weather Man, and it includes a trailer that looks pretty good. I think he's a really underrated actor and I hope this one does turn out well. The last trailer I wanted to mention was for an indie horror flick called The Dark Hours. The trailer is a bit confusing, but it doesn't look like another dumb teen oriented horror film and it won an audience award at an International Film Festival. Don't expect another Batman Begins out of David Goyer in his adaptation of The Flash as the producers says that it follows a different tone and may be a return to more cartoonish films for the writer. We have confirmation that James Franco will reprise his role as Harry Osborne in Spider-man 3, but we still don't know whether or not he'll emerge as a villain or not (though most of us suspect that he will). He doesn't have a script yet himself, but apparently the main shoot will start in January. Meanwhile, the role of the mutant known as Leech has been cast for X-men 3, and the propaganda continues as to how dedicated Brett Ratner is to the project. Superhero Hype has an interview with the director of Ghost Rider, and it sounds like he's on the right track with the film. Some people are skeptical from the leaked footage, but I'm optimistic. Lastly, AICN has another great (and terse) review for The 40-Year-Old Virgin, and I have still yet to run into a bad review for it.

The Ten on Tuesday meme is back, baby:

10 Best Current Actors/Actresses
10. Christian Bale (he's really coming up)
9. Jodie Foster
8. Kiefer Sutherland
7. Uma Thurman
6. Bruce Willis
5. Johnny Depp
4. Al Pacino
3. Julia Roberts
2. Tom Cruise (screw the Tomkat nonsense, you know he's good)
1. Brad Pitt

New Blood in the Search Arena

Good news: I managed to get most of the most important number off of my cell phones last night over about 30 or 40 minutes of continually turning on and off my phone once it was fully charged. I'm almost entirely convinced that the problem is a defect in the phone and so I'll have my brother's old phone (which is color) by this week's end. Anyway, the title of this report doesn't exactly refer to a direct competitor of Google, who are still incommunicado with CNet, Yahoo, or MSN. So what's the deal? IBM has been working on WebSphere OmniFind to search the unrestricted data on a computer. They're not alone in this endeavor so I wonder if it will ultimately stay open source or what. It's an interesting concept based on what they call an Unstructured Information Management Architecture and they could go potentially go pretty far with it.

I think I'm going to start out the nerd news with a robot. Researchers in Tokyo, Japan have created a robotic arm that can catch high-speed projectiles. They even have a video there and it's amazing how quickly and precisely it can move. Going back to CNet, they're continuing their top 10 series with the top 10 technologies we miss. The list includes the old Napster and the loud keyboards, which I have to agree with as well since they improve accuracy. I stand opposed to the proposal to extend Daylight Savings and this article about electronic devices not being able to adapt just bolsters it. Now to conclude with some video game stuff. The cartoonist over at VG Cats had a really interesting e-mail banter with Jack Thompson, who is one of the more outspoken attackers of violent video games. I love Scott's sensible reponses and the whole think just shows what a jerk Jacko is. The New York Times has a pretty good article on repetitive game sequels, such as Madden and GTA, and I actually haven't gotten the latest version of either though I have liked previous iterations. In all fairness though, it can't be totally awesome every year.

Today's movie news is exciting because one of my dreams is coming true: Phillip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy is getting closer to being made. I only got through the first book but it was amazing and relatively unknown director Anand Tucker is supposedly in talks for directorial rights. Meanwhile, the more popular Harry Potter series has gotten a PG-13 rating for its fourth movie, which is just continuing the clear trend of the movies getting darker and better. Stay psyched until we get more information. There's a pretty weak rumor out there about another trilogy for Resident Evil, but I can't see that being true unless Resident Evil: Afterlife does really well. Lastly, JoBlo has some pictures and clips for the upcoming Disney movie Valiant in case you're looking for a fun family flick.

Now get ready for some Monday Madness:

What would you do in the following situations?

1. The store clerk undercharges you for an item you purchase?
Unless it's a significant amount, I wouldn't really care. I doubt they'd lose much money off of it or care. It'd probably be more trouble than it's worth to go back and fix it, and it could be a result of some sale I'm unaware of (as is frequently the case at Best Buy).

2. The cashier gives you change for a fifty dollar bill when you only gave her a twenty, and you don't realize it until you're out the door?
Now that's a significant amount and I wouldn't feel right about leaving with that money. I'd definitely turn back and try to give back $30.

3. You see your best friend's husband/wife with another woman/man at a neighborhood restaurant?
I'd definitely tell him about it. Even if it's just a family member or married friend of hers, I still think it's better safe than sorry.

4. Your 15 year old asks you if you ever tried an alcoholic beverage before you were of legal drinking age (and you have)?
Assuming I get to that point, I would. I drink right now but always responsibly. The fact that my parents have allowed us to drink in family setting has reduced my desire significantly to get piss drunk and so I know my limits much better.

5. You find a one hundred dollar bill laying on the floor of a department store?
That's tricky. I honestly don't know what I'd do. I'd like to think I'd give it to the store, but then what would they do with it? I'd probably look around first though for sure and see if it could belong to someone nearby.

Remotes Are Nice

I had a pretty fun Saturday night so it's weird that my Sunday night has been so averse. The main reason this night was not good to me is because my phone has gone from bad to worse. It works, but the screen doesn't. Hence, unless a Sprint store can help me out I've lost all my numbers. Please pray for my Samsung A460! If it eats my numbers I will murder it gruesomely. The title of this post probably sounds dumb, but I just had two articles about remotes that I thought were neat. The first is a technology that allows you to control a human being via a remote controller through wiring in ones vestibular system. It's exhilirating and scary at the same time. It could be used to enhance the experience of playing video games, but it couldn't it also be used to control a person in bad ways? Interpret that as you may. The other thing is the idea of using clickers in college classrooms to poll or quiz students in large classes. It could greatly help the instructor get an idea on progress in certain areas and spurn discussion, but the price is an issue for students. Still it's a pretty neat idea and I think that within 10 years from now it'll become pretty big.



The other tech news today isn't too bad. A company in Colorado has invented glow-in-the-dark lightbulbs to provide light even in power outages. It's a real neat idea, though it does sound like an oxymoron. Cnet is running an article on the top 10 flops from the dot-com boom, and it really does bring back some memories. The FCC has decided to expand the CALEA from forcing phone providers to allow wire-tapping on phones to forcing broadband providers to allow for insecure backdoors to their customers. The point of this is to give the FBI more power, but it's really taking things too far and I agree with the EFF's stance against it. Lastly, the New York Times has a pretty extensive article on hackers using their skills to essentially extort cash from companies. They threaten to rip up operations if a large sum of money isn't paid to them, and I can't emphasize enough how disgusting I think it is to get money so dishonestly using what one has learned from others in good faith.

The movie news isn't too bad this weekend. The Dukes of Hazzard ended up dominating the box office with a weak $30 million gross. I guess it was no surprise that it would go to the top given how well the publicity machine has been working, but I'm more surprised that March of the Penguins rose to 7th and I actually want to see it. While Batman Begins has fallen off the chart, the buzz regarding the sequel continues and it seems as though the rumor regarding the possibility of Steve Carrell being the Joker is false. I guess the role wouldn't fit him, but I just think he's hilarious and a great actor. The writer of the first movie, David Goyer, claims that The Flash will be his last comic book adaptation, but I suspect that Christopher Nolan could twist his arm into another Batman movie. All I have left is some multimedia. There's a trailer up for the next Elijah Wood movie, Everything is Illuminated, and it looks like it could be pretty good though the trailer didn't really depict that very well. IGN has a clip from The Transporter 2 for all you action freaks out there. There's also a new trailer for Tom Yum Goong that sounds pretty awesome but was down at the time of this posting. I suspect that it will be back soon.



Before I get to the meme I have to mention my regret for the death of Peter Jennings. It was just announced minutes ago, and it's sad to lose such a great journalist. He lost the fight to lung cancer, but I think he'll be a legendary news anchor nonetheless.

Now for some Unconscious Mutterings:

I say ... and you think ... ?

1. Complexion::Skin
   
2. Teach::Learn
   
3. Back to school::August
   
4. Months::Time
   
5. Nominate::Candidate
   
6. Favorite curse word::The F Word
   
7. Concerned::Scared
   
8. Better::Healthy
   
9. Escalate::Brinkmanship
   
10. Unveil::Reveal
    

Hookah Fun

The reason why I'm doing the Friday post on Saturday, once again, is depicted on the left here. I'd never tried it before, so my brother and a couple of our cousins decided that we should go to a hookah bar. We followed the recommendation of another cousin of ours and landed at some teenie bopper place with 14 year old girls freak dancing with each other and a DJ who was never around. When I first went in there I felt kind of guilty, like I was doing something wrong. What's so bad about it though? It's perfectly legal (though some of the people there were underage). Hookah shisha isn't as addicting as cigarettes (or weed for that matter), and it's smoother so it doesn't mess up your lungs quite as badly. Not that it's good for you or anything, but it's much less damaging than cigarettes because it's heated and not burned. If any of you haven't tried it and are planning on it I should mention that one hookah (with one pipe) lasted the four of us for three hours! The girls weren't getting as much smoke as my brother and I were, but I think even if they were it would've lasted us a couple of hours and it only cost $8 (plus $5 cover each for the crappy DJ). Let it be known though that I never have and never will smoke anything else but hookah. Anyway, it was good stuff overall.

I referenced a Wikipedia article above so it's only fitting that I start out my tech news with word that they'll be tightening standards over at Wikipedia. I guess abuse was inevitable. I ran into a really good editorial about how we shouldn't hate Microsoft. I dislike M$ more for their business practices than their products, but that article does bring up some great counterpoint for haters of M$ software. Google is looking for a few good chefs to feed their employees and that makes me wanna intern there even more! That menu is so mouth-watering. BusinessWeek has an interesting article on receipt fraud that makes me wonder why people go to such great lengths to be dishonest. If only they used those talents for something better. Lastly, Economist.com has a surprisingly well-written article about the debate on violence in videogames and is really quite objected. The best line was the following:

"So games are inherently good, not bad? Actually they are neither, like books, films, the internet, or any other medium. All can be used to depict sex and violence, or to educate and inform."

Not too much movie news today so I'll go straight to the good stuff. You may remember a lawsuit filed against Sony a few years ago regarding false advertising for their movies and now the result is a $5 refund to customers of those films. I doubt anyone actually would keep their stubs to such crappy movies, and if you didn't then that's alright because the money will just go to charity. Apparently, we can look forward to another Stephen King movie adaptation from Frank Darabont, but this time it's based on the novella The Mist. Quint finally put up a review of Broken Flowers, and it sounds like a good movie that just too slow. Given that I didn't like Sideways I should probably wait for this one to come out on video. Sin City is out on DVD and VHS for those of you who didn't catch it in theaters (or who absolutely loved it) featuring some collectible covers. For the same reason I'm waiting on Kill Bill though you should wait on this one: no worthwhile special features yet. Lastly, IGN has a set visit for The 40-Year-Old Virgin and it serves as a great preview for the movie, which you should all be excited to see.

Now for the Friday Fiver:

1. Do you play any sports?
All I play regularly is intramural stuff for NSC. I enjoy playing soccer, basketball, football, and racquetball the most.

2. Do you exercise on a regular basis?
As the people on my AIM buddy list know, I go to the gym nearly every day. I'm only there for 40-60 minutes, but I'm usually pretty tired by the end of it so I think I do alright.

3. Name one person that raises your blood pressure:
George W. Bush (for obvious reasons)

4. You need to go up two floors in a building: do you use the stairs or the elevator?
Obviously the stairs unless I'm really hot and the stairs have no a/c. Other than that I don't see the problem using the stairs.

5. One thing that makes you go "Hmmmmm"?
Does 'The Daily Show' count?

Learning From Open Source

Every once in a while I decide to spotlight open source software, and today is one of those days. Paul Graham (of Hackers & Painters fame) put up a great post about what businesses can learn from open sourcers. This is probably one of the best articles on the good parts of open source that I've seen, and its only flaw is in not exposing the troubles with open source software development. The most obvious pro is that these people are amateurs who are highly motivated by their own desire to work on the programs. Motivation is a key principle behind productivity. Speaking of productivity though, it's easier to work at home than in an office because it's more conducive to work in most cases and less obtrusive and uncomfortable. Then there's the whole concept of building software from the bottom up rather than having ideas trickle from the top. He writes a lot about all these topics, but it's definitely a worthwhile read if you don't know much about open source concepts. I don't know how big it will end up getting, but I can definitely see a lot of geeks getting excited about it.

In today's nerd news, Yahoo! has launched a trial version of its audio searching software. The application is designed to seek all kinds of music and speeches and such online and it looks like they've finally managed to beat Google to something. Speaking of Google, if you're a website owner or developer then you'll want to look into the Google Hack Honeypot to protect against attackers using search engines. If you're a P2P freak but you're scared of downloading a virus from the RIAA then you should use Credence, which works on Gnutella to discern bad files from good ones. I guess it was bound to happen, and I think it's kinda cool. If you're easily impressed by movie technology then you'll want to read about stereoscopic 3-D glasses that, much like the visualization lab at UT (in ACES), display different images to either eye to simulate 3-D in what you're seeing on a screen and is very cool. I'm going to close up with some video game stuff real quick. While Sony is marking a few new games to be Greatest Hits, analysts are investigating the possibility of Sony delaying the PS3 until 2007. Nothing is official at all regarding that, but if the Xbox 360 starts off weak it would make sense for them to hold off for a better roster of launch titles rather than rushing it. They may even drop the PS2 price to $99!

Given how crazed everyone is about Harry Potter with the release of the new book I thought it was necessary to put up a picture showing how old they've become in this fourth movie. You can see a few more new pictures over here from the Goblet of Fire movie. If you really want to see some more pics, JoBlo got some exclusives from Elizabethtown. I don't know how many of you remember the old TV show The Adventures of Lois and Clark, but the actor playing Superman (Dean Cain) is apparently slated to make an appearance in a few episodes this next season in Smallville ala Christopher Reeves (as a background character). There are a few other big guests also slated, which is surprising since it's a teen show. The best piece of movie news today is really this long interview with Frank Miller that asks almost everything you'd really need to know from the man. It's a fantastic read for Sin City and/or graphic novel fans. I rarely ever say this about a movie but Little Manhattan actually looks really cute and if you check out the trailer at Yahoo! Movies you'll see why. It was totally not that easy to find a girl when I was growing up (or at least in Houston I suppose). They also put up the Rent trailer if you're really into musicals. Lastly, Mortal Kombat III is slated to start filming in Baton Rouge, Louisiana as soon as they can get the set built for God only knows what reason. I don't have anything against the state, but that movie just sounds like a bomb waiting to happen.

Now for the 3x Thursday:

1. Do you consider yourself to be a competitive person? Why/why not?
I consider myself pretty competitive, but I always try my best to not be overbearing. Shoving yourself in someone else's face is definitely not cool unless you're obviously just messing around.

2. Are you a work-a-holic, or is 8 hours a day enough for you? What's your reasoning behind it?
I do a lot of work for school (probably more than most people on average), but it's only because I don't like to fall behind. The more I get done the more at ease my mind is. Otherwise, I just feel disappointed in myself. I still get to have fun on the weekends though so I think that it works itself out.

3. Is it important to you to have a lot of money, or is it enough to pay your bills and eat and buy the stray nice thing here and there?
I'd like to think that it's a happy medium. I've spent my whole life up to now living the latter way, and while I don't want to go out to fancy restaurants every night or anything I'd just like to have money to spend when I need to. For example, I want to get an mp3 player now but I don't know if I may need that money for something else and since I'm not steadily working yet I know I shouldn't get it.

Bonus Question for Comments: What is your ideal salary?
Probably $60,000-$70,000 would work out pretty well for me. I'd take $40k-$50k as starting though when I graduate as long as I'm not somewhere with a real high cost of living (like L.A. or New York City).

Oh, and it's very possible that I may not get Friday's post up until Saturday morning so just take the necessary precautions for that.

Doing P.E. Online

I love that little robot dude (Pintsize). With regard to the post title though, I do not mean typing faster to burn calories. Apparently, students can fulfill their gym requirements for school nowadays by reporting on their physical activity online. I think it's a very interesting idea. On one hand, I had to suffer through gym class (I was out of shape at the time) for two semesters and I hated it because we didn't do anything. Sometimes we would play soccer in middle school P.E., but I didn't like working out in the middle of the day. On the other hand, kids who are unable to participate in normal P.E. class activities can do what they can do on their own. It also gives them a wider range of activities. However, I'm skeptical of parents honestly certifying these things. I'd really rather that gym coaches actually do something. I learned very little in those classes and they were rarely fun. I wish we would've played more football and basketball because then maybe I wouldn't suck at them so much!

I'm going to start of the techie news by giving a shout-out to UT, which has won a case against spammers. The online dating service in question claimed that UT was infringing on their rights by blocking all their mail, but the Court of Appeals ruled against them (I'm surprised it had to go that far). Yahoo launched a new blog ad service to compete with Google's AdSense program, and I wonder how they'll be able to fight for market share. Google is already pretty well established, but anything is possible. Cisco.com has been hit by hackers and is warning customers that their data may have been compromised. That sounds like a pretty big breach and will really hurt them I'm sure. In a rather random move today, the Mozilla Foundation created the Mozilla Corporation as a for-profit organization to continue the development of Thunderbird and FireFox. They claim that nothing will change with the products, and I suspect that they're really just looking to expand. Lastly, Ars Technica has a pretty useful review of Mighty Mouse for those of you interested. Their gripes were pretty weak so it sounds like a good mouse.

I'm going to start off the movie news with the best item for today: Samuel L. Jackson has agreed to star in and produce both (or so I understand it) a live action movie adaptation and cartoon show adaptation of the Japanese comic franchise Afrosamurai. Can you imagine anyone better for that role? Some other great news is that Harrison Ford has approved the script for Indiana Jones 4 at last. It'll supposedly be ready to be submitted for a greenlight this fall and I think movie geeks everywhere are thrilled. Now for the not so good news: Four Brothers sucks, apparently. The reviewer did seem a little biased, but it doesn't surprise me that it's a standard revenge flick though I expected a bit more. Quint claims that The Chumscrubber was good though and so I'll try to catch its limited release by the end of the month. If you miss buddy action flicks then you'll be pleased to know that Ryan Reynolds and The Rock are teaming up for Blowback. I think it's a strange pair, but it could turn out well I suppose. Lastly, Owen Wilson has been talking to Ben Stiller about doing a sequel to Zoolander, but I can't see it really being any better than the original, which was a little too dumb for my taste. He has some other projects to work on for now though, so I guess he's looking into the far future.

Just a couple of real quick things before I close up here. I'm starting to get excited about the new 007 game, From Russia With Love, and IGN has a few new movies that make it look really cool. Definitely worth a look for gamers. If you want a fun game to play online, check out Peekaboom.

Now for a Wednesday Mind Hump:

01. Using the letters F-R-I-E-N-D, tell us qualities you think are important in a friend.
Fun, reliable, innovative (what quality starts with an i?), entertaining, nice, and dashing. Not the most opportune letters ironically.

02. We all have quirks -- what makes your bestfriend quirky?
I'm not sure which one of my friends is really my best friend, so I guess I'll use the one I considered to be so in high school and say that his overbearing ability to be nice is quirky.

03. Complete these friendship quotes with your own crazy thoughts ...

a) Love is blind. Friendship is everywhere.
b) In prosperity, our friends ... are still with us.
c) One who looks for a friend without faults ... is a jackass.
d) Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another ... "I can help you with that."

Keeping Sources Secret

The incident with Karl Rove was a pretty big deal just a couple of weeks ago and while the issue has cooled down the aftermath is still very much in existence. Was it right for the government to demand the writer to disclose sources to the CIA? On one hand, it's in the interest of national security while on the other it violates one of our most fundamental rights. It seems like kind of a contradiction. So now, newsrooms are trying to use technology to ease their normal sources into trusting them again. I'm pretty glad that they're doing this because when you look at history the best journalists have a lasting impact on the actual history of our country. Would Nixon not have been in office longer if Watergate hadn't been uncovered? What would've happened to Mark Felt had they known that he was the leak? The American public had a right to know about something like that and so these newspapers really need all the anonymity security that they can get their hands on. You think they'll ever incorporate biology with it as well? Biometrics is a clear-cut use for biology in computing, and locking their data up by their fingerprints could become a whole new barrier.

This project for class is taking up a lot of my time so excuse my brevity with the tech news. Apple has officially announced that they will be breaking their trend of single-button mice with the Mighty Mouse, which features a clickable scroll wheel. This wheel can actually go 360 degrees, and will probably be the source of much gloating from Mac users. An editor for Windows IT Pro is suggesting that people boycott IE 7.0 because of its lack of sufficient standards support, but I really think that we should wait for its release before burning Gates at the stake. Meanwhile, MSN is quietly making way for its start page to compete with Google's personalized home page deal. It looks pretty barebones at this point, but simplicity is the key after all. Wired did an interview with a black hat badboy who found a serious vulnerability in Cisco IOS and got in big trouble for talking about it. Lastly, it looks like BitTorrent is having a good bit of luck getting companies to use the technology to distribute media in the midst of clarifications from the Supreme Court of what's legal and what's not. Kudos to them, they deserve it.

The movie news seems to be dominated by imagery. Some behind-the-scenes pics have surfaced from Marie Antoinette on someone's LJ, so Sofia Copolla fans will want to check those out. The Leaky Cauldron acquired some spanking new pictures from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire from very random scenes, but any new stuff from that movie is always welcome. IGN got a few exclusive shots from The Brothers Grimm, which you may have started noticing commercials for nowadays. Regis Philbin has signed on to voice the part of Mabel in Shrek 3 in a relatively small role. That article also revealed that there will likely be a fourth movie as well, which I was unaware of. If you're on the edge of your seat to see the Dukes of Hazzard this weekend you may find this new clip amusing. Lastly, I have some superhero news. The villain in the next Punisher movie will be Jigsaw and the first trailer for X3 is expected to be released this December (which seems way too soon for anything worthwhile to be shown). Speaking of X3 though, there's word that Kate Nauta is up for the role a seductive mutant in the movie and comic book geeks everywhere are cringing in shame that this mutant is being included rather than deeper characters from the series.

This week I'm going back to the Tuesday Twosome:

Respect...

1. What two things that are necessary for you to respect someone?
Being honorable and intelligent.

2. What two things do you think people respect you for?
My honesty and my diligence.

3. Who are two people you respect the most and why?
If I'm limited to only living people I'd probably have to say my parents. They had to do a lot for us to have good lives here and made some very touch choices.

4. What two things can cause you to lose respect for someone?
Lying or disloyalty.

5. Is respect important to you? Why or why not?
I think it's very important because having respect for one another is what keeps people civilized. I like to think that I give people the same respect they give me.

The Legality of Illegal Technology

That title may be a little misleading, but I just found two articles that seemed to intertwine and I was having trouble putting into words the sentiment I wanted to express. In recent months the distribution of TV shows has become a high-profile problem, but I didn't realize the trend of media providers using the Internet to show extra content alongside some ads to keep them free. Some of you may have already used MTV Overdrive, AOL Music (the Live 8 stuff), or the video updates on CBS News. The importance of this is that it's beginning to legitimize the Internet as an effective vehicle for media backed by workable business model. P2P networks have come to be associated with legal troubles nowadays, but a new kind of network (Freenet) uses darknet principles to allow for the sharing of data anonymously. The purpose of this truly is to stave off political oppression (I wonder if China's situation was an inspiration for them), and if it becomes big it could be an important step to showing that P2P doesn't have to hurt business and can be used to help people like its supporters claim it can.

What is illegal no matter how you slice it though is online auction fraud, and ZDNet has an interview with the man behind eBay security against such scammers as the first in a series of interviews against online crime. It's a pretty educational read for those of you who use eBay (so that means virtually everyone). Those of you keeping up with the IE saga may want to know about the standards it's supporting, but it will still not pass the Acid2 Test because apparently some of its items are a bit difficult to comply with. As long as this version is less buggy though I'll be happy. Those of you programmers who are loathe to write comments in your code regularly should at least read this post outlining some very basic tips that I think are very useful. Lastly, if you're intrigued by Linux but have been sucked in by Windows you may want to look into Xandros. Apparently, this OS makes it easy to maintain both platforms and I may have to try it when I have a bit more time.

I actually have a project to do for History class (which I'll likely write about very soon), and so I'm not going to drag the little movie news out there today on too much. I'm still very much interested in The Constant Gardener and so I was glad to learn of a brand new trailer. Another movie I've grown to become interested in is called Thumbsucker and though it seems to be part of a trend of smart teen angst movies I want it to be good because of its great cast and really neat trailer. I just hope they don't try too hard. A rumor at AICN has surfaced suggesting the strong possibility of a movie about a young Indiana Jones. It's hard to imagine why they'd want to do this and Indiana Jones 4, but could they be one in the same? Another presumption movie geeks are making is that Sin City 2 may already be underway. That's only based on a statement from Brittany Murphy on her excitement to return though, so it may also mean nothing. Lastly, some new pictures from Corpse Bride have gone online including this one:



This week I'm going back to the Monday Music Mambo:

01. What song(s) come to mind that mention a girl by name? Example: Oh, Sherry by Steve Perry
"Delilah" - Tom Jones (sad I know, but I heard it a couple of days ago so it easily came to mind)

02. What artist(s) or song(s) come to mind when you hear the word girl? Girls Just Wanna Have Fun by Cyndi Lauper
I wanted to say that one! I guess I'd have to say "Oh, I Feel Like a Woman" by Shania Twain.

03. Do you and your girlfriend (or your girl friend) have a song? If not, go ahead, designate one now.
*sniffle* No Comment :(

04. Let's have a little fun with rock-n-roll.

a) Name artists or groups whose name resembles rock? Example: Rolling Stones Or name songs which contain the word rock (or something similar) in the title or the lyrics.
I guess Smashing Pumpkins doesn't count? What about Queens of the Stone Age? And as for song names: "Like a Stone" by Audioslave.

b) Name songs which contain the word roll in the title or lyrics? Proud Mary - "rollin' on the river"
"I Wanna Rock and Roll All Night" by Kiss.

A Modern-Day Brain Drain

I went to a Hindi movie theater near my house (the one on West Bellfort) to see a Hindi movie since I haven't seen one in such a long time. This one is actually inspired by The Godfather series and is called Sarkar. Bollywood has definitely made some big advances, but their cinematography is still at least 10 years behind where we're at today. Anyway, it was indeed a noble effort and I was pleased that it had its own story rather than being a carbon copy of the Copolla classic so Bollywood fans may want to consider seeing it. What I'm really here to talk about though is the mass migration of jobs to Google and Yahoo. You may associate the term "brain drain" with the Cold War and the Soviet Union's nuclear arms development program, but in the early 90s it was actually also used with reference to Microsoft's clutch on the programming job market. Just like the issue of outsourcing I do think it's important to realize that the media is exaggerating this topic to a certain extent, but it is true that Google and Yahoo look for the cream of the crop and are very competitive about it. I think within a year we'll see a slowdown of this rapid growth and both companies will eventually settle into what Microsoft is today but hopefully to a much less evil extent (evil as in their business practices). I hope I can still find something worthwhile when I graduate in that case though!

I'm going to start off the tech news by getting the other piece of Google news out of the way. The company was smart enough to file a patent for advertising on RSS in 2003, and so now they whole all the cards in the possible evolution of advertising. Some people find this to be bad given the good image Google has maintained among nerds, but they're not dumb enough to pass up a good business move like that. It's only fair that I mention Microsoft's business move of its own in incorporating HD-DVD drivers with the Xbox 360. Only later models, when the HD-DVD is fully ready, will include HD-DVD drives, but the importance of this move is that they're marking their territory against Sony. The next time you stay at a hotel, be wary of the fancy TV features because it could pose a huge security risk. They use infared, which is simplistic in nature and as such is quite easy to hack. Findings like these are thanks to sniffers, who are hired by companies to test the integrity of their systems and sounds like it could be a fun job. Not sure if it's a route I'll ever take, but I am intrigued nonetheless.

We have quite a phenomenon to start out the movie news with: Wedding Crashers has magically risen to the number 1 spot. This is more about the box office weakening than the movie gaining steam (though the percent change actually went down) since it only brought in $20.5 million with Willy Wonka raking in $16.4 million and all the new movies behind it. Still, quite impressive for an R-rated comedy. I know you're tired of Serenity trailers (yeah, right), but there's yet another one and though it has very few new scenes I still think it's the best of the American movies. There's also a trailer for a movie that you probably haven't heard of featuring a certain hobbit called Green Street Hooligans. I think it's a welcome change for the actor's movie career. I usually don't support romantic comedies, but Moviefone has a trailer for Prime and it features Uma Thurman and Meryl Streep so it may actually be good. Maria Bello and Maggie Gyllenhaal (of Donnie Darko) have now joined the forthcoming 9/11 movie project. Stay tuned for more on that film as I'm sure it will develop quickly. Lastly, I have to show you the poster for Into the Blue because Jessica Alba is in a bikini:



I actually have a few miscellaneous items I'd like to mention. A senator from Delaware is pushing legislation to impose a 25% tax on porn to further efforts against child pornographers. The tax wouldn't do much other than help fund the fight against crazy pervs, but I do think it has a chance if it was lowered a bit. A heated debate has begun regarding the fate of leap seconds, which may seem negligible but apparently have caused issues for computer programs that can only take 60-second minutes. I'm siding with the scientists here on the issue though because time should go by the sun and not by lazy people. Lastly, the economy seems to be doing much better than in the second quarter with less inventory in factories and steady expansion in several sectors.

I've gotta conclude here with some Unconscious Mutterings:

I say ... and you think ... ?

1. Risks::Rewards
   
2. Abdominal::Pain (I really killed them today at the gym)
   
3. Radiant::Beautiful
   
4. The usual::The grind
   
5. Mix and match::Jelly beans
   
6. Wireless::WiFi
   
7. Remedial::Learning
   
8. Mile::8,
   
9. Long lost::Love
   
10. Only one::God
    

The Factory Willy Wonka Made

Again, I'm a day behind. *shrugs* What can I say? I went to see Charlie and the Chocolate Factory last night and so now I have a scrumpdidlyumptious review for you all. In my younger years I was an enormous fan of Roald Dahl and own several of his books. I have read both Wonka books, but I don't remember enough about them to say how true to the books this movie is so I'm just judging the movie as I saw it. I've read some unimpressed reviews for the movie and I just don't get why people didn't like it. I thought it was a wholly enjoyable and unforgettable experience. Here is a movie to remind people just who Tim Burton is again. I can't stress enough how great the casting was on this one. I thought using Deep Roy to be all the oompa loompas was a bit strange, but it added a bit of dry humor to it that I kind of enjoyed. Speaking of the oompa loompas, I actually liked these songs better than in the original movie because they were more humorous and less childish. Johnny Depp was amazing as usual and did quite a good job at showing the absent-minded nature of Willy Wonka as well as his awkward disposition towards children. Freddie Highmore was the other big star of this one and I can't imagine anyone doing better than him in the role of Charlie. I was a bit disappointed that they chose to skip the scene where Charlie screws up, but it's no big deal and may have made the movie too long at that point. The sets were great, the dialogue was witty, and the cinematography had a vintage charm to it. I give this movie a high recommendation with an A+.

IE7 beta kits are already out there and now we have some reviews. This review gives you a good idea of how it looks and it sounds like they really are trying to take a big step here. I'm relieved at the effort they're making and you can get a second opinion here. They're going to need all the improvements they can take with FireFox hitting 75 million downloads. Back to Microsoft, BBC is running a very provocative article on the possibility of M$ dabbling in open source with its own distribution of Linux. I don't know that they'll ever take that step, but with the kind of talent they have I think we'd all like to see what they could do. Lastly, Joel Splosky put up a new post on usability testing with Morae, which is a cheap way to set up a usability lab with some webcams. I just think that's really neat and something to read for my coding readers.

The movie news today is very sparse, which is good because I haven't had lunch yet and I'm a little hungry. Bryan Singer put up a new video journal entry regarding the pre-visualization process on Superman Returns and it's just invigorating to see a director working with such vision. There's also a new entry in the video blog for King Kong featuring the pick-ups (they're in post-production now) and it features most of the main actors. The official theatrical trailer for the U.S. for Serenity is now online and seeing all this footage from the movie makes me want to watch Firefly. There used to be a trailer up for Ghost Rider, but it was taken down because it wasn't meant to be released and was only for Comic-Con. I didn't hear good things about it so hopefully it was just too early for a trailer. Lastly, I think it's weird that Nicole Kidman is slated to be in a remake of Invasion of the Body Snatchers since it just doesn't sound like her cup of tea. Then again, she has been in quite a few remakes as of late.

In the spirit of Friday, here is Friday's Feast:

Appetizer
Name 3 people whom you admire for their intelligence.
David Johnson (old debate coach), my brother, and Glenn Downing. The last one will probably change, but it was just cool to learn CS from a guy who knows his stuff so well.

Soup
What's the last food you tried that you really didn't care for.
I had some Popeye's chicken on Thursday that I could've done without. Maybe it's just knowing how fattening it is that makes it bad. The biscuits were totally badass though as always.

Salad
If you could rename the street that you live on, what would you want it to be called?
I don't really know. Wysteria Lane? Pinto Street? I've never really thought about it.

Main Course
When was the last time you were genuinely surprised?
When my dad let me drive their new Hyundai Santa Fe. So much easier to drive than my '90 Maxima.

Dessert
Share a household tip.
Apparently, hydrogen peroxide is a great agent for getting blood out of clothes. My aunt shared that tip with me.

Limits of Web Browsing

Sorry about the tardiness of this "Thursday" post, but I was at my Uncle's place babysitting once again and his nephew at to do some work on here so I decided to wait until morning for a post. I think some of us forget where the web has taken us. It's crazy to think back to its humble beginnings and then look at it again today. It has soared to such great heights and the ease of using stuff like Flash and PHP has created some gorgeous pages compared to the crud we saw 10 years ago. My first site sucked, too, I'll admit that. I didn't even design this layout (as most bloggers don't their own blogs) and it looks good. There's so much more content out there. Could there really be boundaries? According to the guys behind Google Maps, yes. They spoke at an Australian web development conference to support the use of cutting edge web technologies. Did you know Google Maps used to be a C++ application that was to be downloaded? Yet, they managed to use XML and VML to put it online for everyone. With Google Earth you have the stuff they couldn't do on the web because browsers don't offer access to computer information, but I find it fascinating when people push the envelope like this in such a constrained development environment like the web.

You didn't miss a whole lot of nerd news yesterday, but I'll go over the higher points. Some crafty Japanese scientists have unveiled their female android, and it looks really good. I find it weird that one of the guys mentioned that giving it human-like qualities was important for its sense of presence, which sounds like a lead-in to AI. If you're more interested in getting light in your house without the UV though you should check out this article. According to their research, it could save a lot of electricity (particularly in the North) in the daytime, especially in offices. Microsoft has earned a minor victory in its suit against Google with a judge granting a temporary restraining order on the employee from working on any duties similar to those he was involved in at M$, which sounds like it would mean he can't do anything but I understand that they have to get everything settled out first. They should be more worried though about the dude who cracked Genuine Advantage in 24 hours with one line of code. Vide software dealers seem to be in agreement that it's not to anyone's best interest for HD-DVD and Blu-ray to compete and have outlined the important traits for a new format. I'm still sold on Blu-ray because of backwards compatibility with DVDs and that PS3s play them. Lastly, a very stupid elderly woman is suing Take Two because she was dumb enough to buy San Andreas for her 14 year-old grandson when it was rated M and didn't know about Hot Coffee. If she wins I'll truly lose all faith in the law system because she's the one in the wrong! It was rated M!

The movie news today is slightly better I think. I want to start you all off with the brand spanking new trailer for Lord of War starring Nicholas Cage, Jared Leto, and Ethan Hawke. I have high hopes for it being a worthwhile action movie because I love Cage. AICN has a review of Dukes of Hazzard hailing it to be a great summer movie full of funny moments and fast-paces car chases, and I hope that it delivers. Apparently though, it's been modernized so don't expect it to be just like the classic series. Quint over there reviewed Sky High and since he liked it I'm sure that it's another one of those kids movies that a whole family can go to without pretending for the little one's sake to enjoy. Given the recent flops from Universal (Cinderella Man) and DreamWorks (The Island), they've been in talks to merge and that may be a good idea for them. Because Rachel McAdams is hot and Cillian Murphy is a talented actor I just have to plug these new shots from Wes Craven's Red Eye in hopes that the movie will pique your interest. Lastly, feast your eyes on the new poster for a movie that's becoming a cult hit before its release, Serenity:



Now for a late Thursday Threesome:

Onesome - If You - If you were given a million dollars, what would you do with it?
Buy a lifetime supply of booze and ice cream. Or, I'd pay for all my college, then get my masters, then get my doctorate, and then cruise off to Cali to find a job in my new Ferrari. Oh, and I'd probably take girls out on dates to fancy restaurants and such.

Twosome - Have To - What is it that you have to do today? Or is there something you're dreading to do this week?
Do a bunch of reading for school because I have 3 tests on Monday (two of which are open book) and of course play some guitar. I'm dreading this week all the cleaning I have to do Saturday afternoon for my dad's birthday bash.

Threesome - Go Away - Where's that place you've been imagining to take a dream trip to lately?
I miss New York City, but I've been craving to go to London or L.A. for a long time now. I know a lot of you may not like L.A., but I'd really like to see for myself. I could always travel to other places on the coast and hit up the beaches.

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.

Apple Being Weird

Have you ever watched the Jerry Springer show with the volume off? I was glancing at it at the gym this morning in between sets of an exercise I was doing and one second I saw a pretty good-looking lady talking, the next time I look she has a breast exposed, and the last time I look she's fighting a guy and an older woman. I just thought it was a funny progression of events. Anyway, something must be jacked about the water over at the Apple camp because despite the move to Intel chips they will not offer OS X to PC machines. Why? Past experience taught Jobs that it would hurt them financially, but the problem is that he now has to compete with Windows and Linux rather than just M$, and so he should've re-examined his strategy. The chipset won't even be x86, it'll be Mac specific. The problem with this is that it doesn't really put them as ahead of Linux as they would've originally been had they ported the OS to Wintel systems, and so I don't see how the expect to gain market share. It looks like just another upgrade for Apple loyalists. At least they've officially announced the Mac Mini and iBook (which will feature Bluetooth) upgrades.

To continue the tradition of Microsoft news today I have for you a great article that covers some of the basics of Windows Vista for those of you who have had trouble keeping up with the plethora of articles building it up. The article isn't much, but it's better than trying to keep up with their weak attempts to compete with Google's mapping services. Oh, and Virtual Earth was, in fact, just using old maps and not purposely excluding the Apple base. The Google freaks out there can bask in additions to their personalized home page. I haven't forgotten about today's most important news though: the launch of Discovery. I listened to the launch on the radio this morning on the way to school while I'm sure many of you were either asleep or at work yourselves and it really was a glorious feeling because of Columbia.



Today's movie news is dominated by multimedia in general, starting with a first look at Lex Luthor from Superman Returns. Kevin Spacey looks good in the role, but Michael Rosenbaum seems to have the perfect Lex image (though Spacey is the better actor of course). If you're more interested in magic than superpowers though, there are some hunky pictures of Daniel Radcliffe over here. I wonder if teenie bopper girls actually find him that attractive. IGN got its hands on the teaser trailer for Doom and I can't help but get the feeling that they're throwing money down the drain here. There's a better trailer out there for Zathura though. I'm still not all that interested in it, but I have to admit that it's a pretty trailer. Because I loved Guy Pearce in Memento I just have to mention his leading role in Death Defying Acts, which is a quasi-biographical movie on Harry Houdini and sounds like it could be interesting alongside major hottie Rachel Weisz. Classic TV series Voltron is now slated to become a major motion picture from New Line Cinema, thought I don't suspect that they'll add a whole lot of substance to it. Lastly, Michael Bay seems to be taking the flop of The Island pretty badly and is at a loss to explain its failure. It may not be an awesome movie according to reviewers but I'm sure it's great popcorn entertainment.


Just a couple of short things left. The video game industry is filing suit against an Illinois law charging a $1,000 fine to retailers selling rated M games to minors, and I can't see any reasoning to oppose the law. I really can't see the ESRB doing a lot currently to prevent the sale of those games to the underage. The other thing is this hilarious article about nerd gangsta rap, which sounds like it should be right up my alley.

Now for some Tuesday Twosome action:

1. Name two things you enjoy about the beach:
The hot girls and building sand castles.

2. Name two things you dislike about the beach:
The salt in the water makes it hard to do a whole lot in the water other than mess with the waves, and it's way too easy to get sunburnt without enough protection (even for a brown man).

3. Name two things you "must have" at the beach:
Drinks (water and/or alcoholic beverages) and towels (the beach is no fun without getting in the water after all).

4. Name two of the best beaches you have been to:
Pensacola and Quintana at Freeport (I haven't been to many beaches, yet).

5. Are you going to or have you visited a beach this summer? What other plans do you have for the rest of your summer?
We went to Quintana in early June (you can see the post in my archives for June about it where I have a picture of my feet). For the rest of the summer I need to finish my summer school, probably do a website for this company, and hopefully get a lot of C++ programming done even if it's the death of me.

Quality Programmers Over Quantity

Don't you hate it when you tear off the skin from an old wound? I took a nasty fall on my knees about a month ago and one healed while the other went into an odd state. Now, a part of Elton is on my car door's speaker. Anyway, I'm running late tonight because I saw the Astros slaughter the Phillies 7-1. I didn't want to go originally, but seeing the four homeruns was damn cool. Anyone else think baseball is a little too long? What I'm really here to talk about though is a new post from Joel Splosky about why it's more important to have the best programmers than an army of mediocre ones. I think people all too often see programmers as machines who don't really expend much more effort than another programmer, but our brains work differently and some are just better at it than others. Just because you throw more manpower on a project doesn't mean it'll do better because with so many people involved it could convolute the code and end up taking even longer. It's better to keep it with a smaller team of badasses. I hope to be one of those coders one day.

Since you're so used to hearing about Microsoft in the tech news I'm obligated to mention that their Virtual Earth application has left out the Apple campus, but I think it's just an old satellite image since they also still have the twin towers. In more important news, Yahoo is taking over Konfabulator and making it totally free in the process! This is definitely a good thing as they'll want to foster the development of more widgets and a richer API, and even Mac users will benefit from it so I applaud Yahoo for the move. If you'd like an easy way to chronicle your life then you should look into a study at MIT that gave its subject cell phones that could act as a life diary tracking their phone usage and sleep schedules and such. They ended up with a ton of data and possibly something that may someday become a mainstream product. Another thing that may become big someday is ads in video games, and one company is launching full motion ads in a sci-fi game called Anarchy Online. This could either be the start of a revolution or a flop. If you're interested in video blogs you should read this article at the New York Times, which is pretty short and relatively cool. Lastly, take a look at the world's smallest mp3 player, the mobiBLU DAH-1500. It sounds like it's pretty decent given its size.



I'm about ready to go to bed so I won't dawdle with the movie news, and I'll start with some video footage. Sky High is a movie I haven't talked much about but I think it has potential to be the first decent kids' movie in a while and now you can see the first 10 minutes over at Movies.com. If you're more interested in a grown-up movie though, IGN has the first four minutes of this coming weekend's new action movie, Stealth. I didn't watch all of either footage, but from what I saw it looked like Sky High will be a little better. Yahoo! Movies has a new clip from Four Brothers that may tickle your fancy more and I still think of it as a movie to keep in the back of your head. I know we don't have much Transformers footage to go off of so far, but at least we have an interview with Spielberg to show how into it he really is. I think I might be a little more intrigued in his newly named upcoming film Munich. Anyway, it's more than we have for Southland Tales, but more cunning fans would have found out that the storyboard is actually online at an appropriate URL. There's also a strange website up for Sarah Michelle Gellar's character in the movie, and I consider the poem there a must-read. Mel Gibson is trying to make another movie in a foreign language, but this time it's called Apocalypto and is entirely in Mayan. I somehow don't see how it will compete against Lady in the Water like Disney wants it to. Lastly, I just had to mention the cute pictures that IGN has from March of the Penguins.



Now for some Monday Madness:

1. What kind of storm is the most scary to you?
An electrical storm sounds scariest, but the scariest one I've experienced is probably a tropical storm.

2. In your opinion, what is the perfect outdoor temperature?
In the mid to low 70s I would think. I think that some nights in Austin in the fall are that nice, but it's unfortunately not part of our usual weather pattern down here so I couldn't give an exact temperature.

3. Would you rather experience thunderstorms or snowstorms?
My instinct is to say snowstorm since it doesn't snow here, but I know that it causes more road trouble so I'd have to say thunderstorm.

4. Share a weather-related experience with us...feel free to include pictures!
I got trapped in a bus for a few hours during a bad Houston flood my senior year of high school. It was sadly also the bus driver's birthday! It was a pretty scary experience, but it was nice to see Houstonians coming together. My dad was stranded trying to get home from work and someone who lived on that street passed out water bottles and snacks to the tired drivers. Now that's a dude who's going straight to Heaven.