New Winamp plug-in let's you copy music from iPod to computer

A new plug-in recently released for Winamp allows you to manage your music for your iPod through Winamp instead of iTunes. It includes a feature that would let you copy songs from your iPod to your computer's hard drive - something that iTunes does not let you do. It works with all versions of the iPod, but some problems using it with iPod Shuffle have been reported. I just might have to try this, it sounds like a really good thing if it works as advertised.

Star Wars Episodes VII - IX, fact or fiction?

I read this article in the Houston Chronicle yesterday, and I really don't know what to think about it. The article is mostly about the opinions of Gary Kurtz, producer of Star Wars (AKA Star Wars Episode IV - A New Hope) and The Empire Strikes Back. He says, "There's enough material for three trilogies... It wasn't that nine films were going to be made. It was to give you an idea of how much material was there." Kurtz also mentions in the article that there was "talk" of expanding the story and doing 12 chapters. Now, obviously his views differ from those of George Lucas - in fact, Kurtz ended his association with Lucas after Empire, partially because he was displeased with revisions like incorporating what would have been the climax of Episode IX, a showdown between Luke and Emperor Palpatine, into Return of the Jedi. "The idea was that the Emperor would be hinted at and maybe seen occasionally but there wouldn't be a final confrontation with him until the ninth story," says Kurtz. So there you have it. Lucas is on record now as saying that he never intended to do sequels, and only did the last 3 movies in the saga first because he never thought anything would come of Star Wars, and he wanted to be sure to get that part of the story told in case he never got to do the rest.
Anthony C. Ferrante, editor in chief of Cinescape, believes that the movies will continue, saying "I would lay money down that his heirs 20 years from now decide to continue the saga". Who knows - I guess it could happen.

The Force is strong with this one...

It's not an official tally, but the estimated take for midnight showings of Star Wars Episode III - Revenge of the Sith is $16.5 million. Just for the midnight shows. Once the full first day tally is in, it stands a good chance of beating the current single day box office record holder, Shrek 2 ($44.8 million - on it's fourth day of release, which was a Saturday). We should know the official first day take by Monday at the latest.

What a surprise - Star Wars - Episode III has been leaked to file sharing networks

Well, this ought to surprise just about no one - you can download Episode III via BitTorrent. And no, that's not a link to actually download the movie (that would be illegal), it's a link to a CNN story about it. Apparently copies were being distributed via file sharing before the movie even opened, and the copy of the movie has a time-stamp - which suggests that it may have come from inside the movie industry versus some dude with a camcorder shooting it. If for no other reason, check that article out for the "Test your Star Wars Knowledge" link near the bottom. I got 10 out of 10, it's pretty easy though.

Thoughts I had after seeing Episode III

1. FINALLY - a good prequel!
2. Damn, Anakin - killing younglings is NOT cool!!
3. It's almost 9pm, I have an hour drive home and I have to be at work at 6am tomorrow - but I want to stay here and watch it AGAIN!!!
4. No, seriously - FINALLY one of the prequels is good, and I'm happy!

That's just a few of the thoughts I had after seeing the movie, but suffice it to say that it was as good as I'd hoped it would be, and I will definitely be seeing it again. A lot goes on in this movie, and I need another viewing (or 12) to take it all in. It's certainly not perfect, for example the dialogue between Anakin and Padme is still not very well written (but is MUCH better than some of the dialogue between them in Episode II (like the I hate sand... speech)), and there are still some things that need some explaining (like, for instance, how come R2D2 never tells Luke that Vader is his dad - or shows any hint of recognition toward Yoda?). But, that said, it's a satisfying end to the prequels. Very dark and definitely not for young children (although there were quite a few at the show my wife and I saw last night), I can wholeheartedly recommend this to fans of Star Wars - it's the movie we've been waiting for, boys and girls - go see it!

Arrested Development renewed for next season

Well, here's a bit of really good news - Arrested Development will return for another season. I'm really glad, it was looking pretty grim when this season got cut down from 22 episodes to 18, and then no one was saying anything about whether or not it would be picked up. So this was very welcome news!

Episode III - I'll be seeing it in only 10 and a half hours!

And I'll admit, I'm excited to see it. Now if only I could make time move much MUCH more quickly... I'll be posting tomorrow with my thoughts on the movie. Here's hoping it's not another disappointment!

Short (unfortunately) update

Work really sucks, and it's kicking my ass - I really wish I could find a better job. Unfortunately, nothing better has presented itself - the search will go on. So anyway, that's enough whining - here's an article with updates about the new next generation consoles from Microsoft (Xbox 360), Sony (PlayStation 3), and Nintendo (Nintendo Revolution) direct from E! Online's coverage of E3 in Los Angeles - and by clicking the other links I created too.

iPod go boom!

Well, I guess this story goes to show that iPods + water + screwdriver = trouble - Australian teenager tries to repair iPod after it goes through wash. So, if you get your iPod wet - DON'T try to fix it yourself, for god's sake!!

Microsoft to offer PC maintenance service

Microsoft has announced that it will soon offer a new PC maintenance service, Microsoft OneCare. Dennis Bonsall, group product manager, says "[OneCare] really is targeted at those consumers who don't have a solution to take care of their PC today". The expected product will incorporate both security and maintenance software with the security features of the service to include anti-virus, anti-spyware and firewall protection. Maintenance services would include disk cleanup, file repair and hard-drive defragmentation. The product is also expected to offer a data backup utility. OneCare will first be tested by Microsoft employees, then a larger test will be run using 25,000 consumers over the summer. So basically it's a competitor for software like Norton SystemWorks and other products like it. I suppose it's at least something that would help get people thinking about using something like this on their PC, even if they don't use Microsoft's. And that would be a good thing in my opinion.

Happy Birthday, Pac Man!

Yes it's true - Pac Man turns 25 years old this year. CNN Money's Game Over column has an article all about it, including a photo gallery of Pac Man over the years. Wow, 25 years - I'm really feeling old just thinking about it!

The force has great power over the weak minded

John Challenger, CEO of the outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas is quoted in this New York Post article that he believes opening weekend absenteeism due to Star Wars Episode III - Revenge of the Sith could cost employers as much as $627 million dollars. He arrived at this estimate using attendance for the first two days of Attack of the Clones (9.4 million people in 2002) and using average earnings per day of $130.60. Which seems kinda high to me - that's $16.32 an hour if you assume an eight hour day. But anyway, I'm thinking more people will see it than they are estimating, so the numbers might still work out to close to that figure. I tell you what, if I thought I could get away with it - I'd call off work. But I'm such a hopeless Star Wars fanboy, I'm afraid that I'd never be able to get away with it.

New rival for Apple's iTunes Music Store

Yet another rival online music store was announced yesterday, joining the ranks of iTunes Music Store, Napster, WalMart Music, Sony Connect, etc. - Yahoo announced the launch of Yahoo Music Unlimited yesterday. Looks like it'll be $4.99 a month for unlimited downloads ($59.88 billed annually). It's not compatible with iPod (of course), but their music player (called Yahoo Music Engine) apparently can be used with one, although right now it would be harder than using iTunes. There is one neat thing about it - you can develop plug-ins for Yahoo Music Engine, so maybe the ability to add functions to it would be a good reason to use it. Worth watching and seeing what can be done with it at least.

Jon Stewart = funny

I'm sure that's no surprise if you've seen The Daily Show, but my wife and I saw Jon Stewart live last night at the Palace Theatre. It was a great show, super funny!! If you get a chance to go see him live, do it - you'll thanks me later.

Chappelle's Show suspended, bitch!

Looks like it's a no-go for the expected May 31 premiere of season 3, Comedy Central announced Wednesday that Chappelle's Show is suspended, and production has been halted. Here's a New York Times article (subscription required) written today and an article from E! Online written Wednesday. Sad news - I was really looking forward to the third season. Dave's publicist Matt Labov denies rumors that the reason for the delay is because Dave is in rehab, and Comedy Central has no information on when (or if) new episodes will be seen. Bummer.

Successful boot of Linux kernel on a Nintendo DS

They've done it - the folks over at DSLinux.org have successfully booted a Nintendo DS to a Linux kernel, and been able to run a shell (SASH) and some text games. There is still a lot of work to do, but this is good progress!

Did you ever wonder how a lightsaber works?

Well, Howstuffworks.com can answer that question for you! Check out How Lightsabers Work for answers (sprinkled with a lot of humor, especially in the Using Your Lightsaber Around The Home section).

Kevin Smith's review of Episode III

You can read it here, but WARNING - spoilers!!! Reading this, written by a HUGE fan of Star Wars, really gets me more excited about this film. God, I'm really hoping it's as good as Kevin says!!

Episode III a "bloodbath" which deserves it's PG-13 rating, says AP writer after screening

In this article from BBC News, Associated Press writer David Germain is quoted as describing the action in Star Wars Episode III - Revenge of the Sith as "relentless", and "It includes sequences more dark and disturbing than anything previously seen in the tragic Skywalker soap opera." Germain attended an advance screening at George Lucas' Skywalker Ranch home near San Francisco on Tuesday (lucky bastard). All I have to say about this is, what did he expect? We already know from the original trilogy that the Jedi are massacred by Anakin Skywalker, who becomes Darth Vader, and it makes sense that the movie shows us how his final fall from grace and transformation from good to evil occurs. It should be a darker movie - it has to be to be any good and be true to the over-arcing storyline. As long as there's no Ewoks and little to no Jar-Jar Binks, this could be the best out of the first three episodes. I guess we'll see on May 19th...

Orson Scott Card's thoughts on the end of Star Trek

Sci-Fi author Orson Scott Card has weighed in on the pending end of Star Trek : Enterprise, which will result in there being no current Trek series on television. You can read the article here - I don't know if I agree 100% with his view that we don't need Star Trek anymore, but he's got a point about the storytelling being better on current shows like Smallville and Lost.

Movie review : Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

My wife and I saw Hitchhiker's Guide yesterday, and I'd love to be able to say it was a great movie and I loved every minute of it, but I'm afraid that I cannot. The movie began well enough, explaining that humanity was not, as it had long believed, the most intelligent species on Earth - but was in fact only the third most intelligent. The second most intelligent species, the dolphins, had long had it's attempts at communication misconstrued as elaborate tricks for our amusement. And it's final message to humanity, "So long, and thanks for all the fish", appeared to us to be an elaborate triple backflip executed to punch a ball. So far, so good - this is all lifted verbatim from the book. After the voice of the Guide has related this information to the audience, a long musical number involving dolphins doing tricks while a song called "So Long and Thanks For All the Fish" plays takes over - and that's the point I knew this movie was in trouble. Why ruin the beautifully crafted absurdist humor Douglas Adams crafted into the tale of the dolphins final message to humanity before leaving the soon to be demolished Earth by turning it into a ridiculous musical number? I asked many similar questions throughout the film. In fact - I don't remember laughing at a single joke or comical situation in the movie. I was really disappointed, and won't recommend it to anyone who enjoyed the book, unless you just need to satisfy some morbid curiosity about how far wrong the filmmakers could get Douglas' work. My wife even commented later that "We should have gone to see XXX 2 - State of the Union". I couldn't have agreed more.

FDA approves diabetes drug made from...LIZARD SPIT?!?!?

It's true - The Food and Drug Administration approved the new drug Byetta on Friday. Derived from the saliva of the Gila Monster and known chemically as exenatide, it's the first drug in a new class of medications for Type 2 diabetes. Currently it would be used along with older diabetes medications, not on it's own. Byetta would be injected twice a day, and is an "incretin mimetic," meaning it mimics the action of the hormone GLP-1 (Glucagon-like peptide 1) that's secreted by the gut to begin insulin production after a meal - but only when blood sugar is high. The drug is a synthetic version of a protein found in the saliva of the Gila monster that works similarly to the human GLP-1. Adding Byetta triggered about a 1 percent drop in patients' HbA1C levels in the studies run by the manufacturer, which FDA metabolic drugs chief Dr. David Orloff stated is "consistent with blood-sugar lowering caused by other diabetes drugs."
Always good to hear of advances in the field of diabetes, since I am a diabetic - right now I've got good control of my sugar and my HbA1C results on my last test were good, but it's nice to know that another helpful drug will be available if I need it down the road. Although I certainly don't look forward to injections twice a day!

Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy : Mostly Harmless

That's a comment in this review of the film version of Douglas Adams book/BBC Radio series/TV show The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. The review also states "The film version of (Hitchhiker's) is faithful to author Douglas Adams' legacy. The trouble is it’s simply not especially funny." I'll let you know what I think after I see it - I'll be seeing the movie tomorrow.

Serenity movie trailer!

Almost forgot this one - if you loved Joss Whedon's TV show Firefly, then you've going to think this is just as cool as I do - the trailer for the big screen version of Firefly (the movie is called Serenity) is out (watch it here), and it looks outstanding! Another cool movie to look forward to - it'll be out in theatres September 30th.

Proof that I have the BEST wife ever

And it's true - I do have the BEST wife ever, and even though there are many reasons why it's true, I'll point out the most recent one - last night she got me a Sony PSP. I've wanted one ever since it was first just a rumor, and was pretty bummed that I couldn't get one once it was available here in the US. But now I've got it - and I can try out all the cool PSP hacks out there now! See, what did I tell you - she's the best!

New trailer for Batman Begins

Or as I like to call it, Batman Begins...Not to suck again! You can watch the new trailer here - it's really cool!! I just can't wait till June 15th, I really think director Christopher Nolan is on the right track to make a movie that satisfies fans and redeems the Batman franchise. I, for one, am really excited - I can't wait to see it!

First picture from Superman Returns

Click here to see the picture of Brandon Routh in costume (site's kinda slow, may take a bit to load) and you can click this link to read a USA Today article about the movie. Not sure about that costume, it looks a little odd to me - like it's digitally rendered. We'll see what it looks like in the actual film (slated to open in June 2006).

The return of The Screen Savers

They're back - the first of (hopefully) many new episodes of the new The Return of The Screen Savers is available from Leo Laporte's website. It's a podcast recorded in 56kbps MP3Pro format. Use this direct link to download the podcast to listen to it. Here's a description from the mind of Leo Laporte himself - "Join Patrick Norton, Kevin Rose, Robert Heron, and me for 34 minutes of Skyping fun as we discuss driving in the dust, cell phones, Kevin’s new webcast, systm, and the demise of TechTV. We plan to do this weekly with a rotating cast of characters." Here's hoping this continues to run for a very long time!!

Now this is some serious Buck Rogers sh*t right here...

Researchers at the University of Washington and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle have successfully placed mice into a state of near suspended animation, research that could lead to the kind of deep hibernation used for long space voyages in many sci-fi stories and movies. I heard the story NPR's All Things Considered did yesterday (here's a link you can use to listen to it yourself) and the lead investigator of the study, Dr. Mark Roth, also noted that the research might ultimately lead to new ways of treating cancer, and preventing injury and death from insufficient blood supply to organs and tissues. So, who knows? Sometime soon, maybe Fry will finally get to the year 3000 after all!

New Google feature - My Search History

This is cool - Google has released a new feature called My Search History. Currently it's in beta testing so you have to have a Google account to login to it (if you have Gmail, you've got a Google account). Once you're logged in, go to the Google homepage and you'll have a My Search History link at the top. Kinda fun, isn't it?

[EvilGeniusLaugh]Mwah HA HA!!![/EvilGeniusLaugh]

Ever have the desire to, you know, destroy the EARTH?!?!? Read here for info on how to do just that...(tongue firmly in cheek, of course)

Wireless hotspot - or car?

How about both? Tor Amundson came up with a way to create a mobile WWAN (Wireless Wide Area Network) by incorporating Verizon Broadband Access (a wireless internet service) and a Linux computer to make your own access point that you can put in your car. More info and the do-it-yourself instructions are here.

Nintendo's next-gen console to be kept under wraps

Nintendo's next generation gaming console (codenamed Revolution) may not be shown at E3 (Electronic Entertainment Expo) this year. Apparently Nintendo believes that rivals might try to steal some of the "revolutionary" new ideas incorporated into the console. An interesting move, seeing as both the PlayStation 3 (PS 3) and Xbox 360 will be shown at E3.

Arrested Development - Why aren't you watching?

The best comedy on television, the outstanding Arrested Development, is in danger of being cancelled, but FOX decides to pick up That 70's Show for another season? And as further proof FOX has no idea what it's doing, they recently resurrected the terrible Tru Calling. Read this article for more info, including deserved high praise for the show and it's terrific cast.

Fake blog sites infecting people's computers

Well, this is just a crappy thing to do - bogus web log (blog) sites being used as traps to infect visitor's computers. The firm Websense noted in a recent study that it has found hundreds of blogs created for this purpose, and warned that the viruses/malicious software found on some of them could get past traditional security measures such as anti-virus scanners and anti-spyware programs. The article notes that the perpetrators would creating a legitimate looking weblog, loading it with keylogging software or viral code, and then sending out the address of it through instant messenger or spam e-mail. So, as Websense's research Director Dan Hubbard is quoted as saying, "These aren't the kind of blog websites that someone would stumble upon and infect their machine accidentally - The success of these attacks relies upon a certain level of social engineering to persuade the individual to click on the link." There is some comfort in that, and in the fact that best estimate is currently 200 bogus blogs out of the estimated 8 million blog sites out there. As a blogger myself, I think it's a really horrible thing to do (of course) - but how do you stop it? Getting a blog started these days is incredibly easy, you get decent amounts of storage space to host whatever you will be putting on your blog through a good number of hosting companies, and you can remain anonymous very easily. So it would be really hard to police this the way things are currently. Could it lead to more stringent policies at the blog host - like collecting and verifying information from someone before they can start a blog on the service? Or does that start to hit up against First Amendment rights? Maybe it's just as simple as personal responsibility for now, since these sites are reached via spam email. So, in other words, if I'm savvy enough to not open unsolicited spam and click on a link in it, I'll be fine. Let's just hope the jerks behind this don't get smarter and find even craftier ways to do this.

Firefox website visits on the rise

I thought this article had some interesting statistics about visits to the Firefox website. Site visits have increased in the 9 months that they've been tracked by Nielson/NetRatings, up 237% within that period. Male visitors accounted for 71% of the site visits, and women 29%. Good to see that more people are visiting the site and getting more info about Firefox, maybe this will lead to even more people dumping Internet Explorer!

Time to fire up Windows Update

All you Windows users out there - it's time to browse over to Windows Update once again. The latest batch of security patches are available, check this Microsoft Security Bulletin for more info.

Solar Death Ray!!

Ah, the things you can do if you've got enough time on your hands... Check out the Solar Death Ray site, the Target Gallery is full of pictures of objects put in the destructive path of the mighty Solar Death Ray - including a AOL CD! I personally cannot think of a single better use for AOL software than this, the inventor of the Solar Death Ray deserves a medal!

A dubious distinction : Spammer sentenced to 9 years in jail

A Virginia judge sentenced "e-mail marketing businessman" Jeremy Jaynes to 9 years in prison on Friday. That make him the nation's first felony prosecution for sending junk e-mail. The case is under appeal (of course), so the sentence is currently postponed pending the result of the appeal. He was prosecuted under Virginia's anti-spam law (which had taken effect two weeks before the trial), states sending unsolicited bulk e-mail itself is not a crime unless the sender masks his identity. Jaynes sent out at least 10 million e-mails a day with the help of 16 high-speed internet connections, and used the alias "Gaven Stubberfield" to send out most of his mail. At the sentencing, Jaynes told the judge regardless of how the appeal turns out, "I can guarantee the court I will not be involved in the e-mail marketing business again." Oh good - I totally believe him, don't you? Regardless, that's one spammer down and 97 million left to send us offers for Viagra and penis enlargement and all that other junk.

Let the PSP hacking begin!!

The first PSP hacks have begun to be widely circulated around the web, including one dreamed up and realized within 24 hours. Robert Balousek needed just a day to get IRC (Internet Relay Chat) working on his PSP, more info and how-to at his site PSPIRC. Other hacks include a hack to transfer TV shows recorded on TiVO to your PSP, an eBook reader, and a viewer you can use on your PSP to read comics downloaded from the internet. The hacks use the browser feature of the game Wipeout Pure, so you'll need a copy of that to try these out.
In other PSP news, Sony has announced that it sold 500,000 units in the first two days of the North American release. Not bad!

Gmail storage space increased

If you have a Gmail account, you probably already know this - it was no joke, Google really did increase their user's storage space from 1 GB to 2 GB. It's kinda cool watching the counter on the Gmail page counting up all day yesterday and today. Currently it's at 2051.585 and rising! The official word from Google is "Our plan is to continue growing your storage beyond 2 GB's by giving you more space as we are able...we want Gmail to keep up with our users and their needs. From Gmail, you can expect more." Nice!!! Now - what do I do with those 50 Gmail invites I've got??

Run Linux on your Nintendo DS

You read that right - run Linux on a Nintendo DS. The DS Linux development group is nearing an alpha release that will do just that. To run Linux (or other software) on the DS will require use of a passthrough device - a device that basically bypasses the DS operating system and runs programs off of a modifyed GBA cart. The development community came up with a device, called PassMe that fills the bill. Also, another development project is trying to bring Linux to the Sony PSP - PSP-Linux.org. Looks like they are looking for developers. See what happens if you give geeks a new toy to play with? They band together to come up with something really cool!

April Fools!!

Lots of websites do fun things on April Fools, like change the page layout, play tricks on their readers, invert colors, make fake announcements, or do other funny things. But this is just too good - the ladies who write The Fug Blog have decided to go in a new direction, The Hug Blog. Very funny!!

The history of Mozilla Firefox

Ever wonder how the current Mozilla Firefox we know and love came to be? Read this article for the whole story. (The site was posted on Slashdot, so it's getting hammered right now - might want to try it later.) And remember, if you haven't done it already - Get Firefox!

Problems with the Sony PSP?

It seems that there is a potential problem with Sony's new (in America) PSP - dead pixels in the display. Contrary to rumors floating around the Sony message boards Sony will replace defective units, but you have to send it to Sony Computer Entertainment - America (SCEA) and they'll send you a replacement. So you'd be without it for a week or so. Pretty annoying - but it doesn't change the fact that I want one.
In other PSP related news, here's an article that will show what the PSP looks like opened up. Needless to say, try this at your own risk - you'll void your warranty if you open your PSP. Then where will you be if you start having trouble with dead pixels?

It's time for the Official Star Wars Fan Film Awards

The time has come to vote for your favorite Star Wars Fan Film - you can watch them all and then cast your vote (if you are a member of Atom Films.com or don't mind signing up). I watched a couple of them so far, and I thought Sith Apprentice was pretty funny, and Anakin Dynamite was also amusing.

Now this is just silly

As part of their Plays For Sure campaign, Microsoft has launched a webpage to help you pick the 'correct' MP3 player for you. It advises that "a player that uses flash memory to store music has distinct advantages over a player that uses a hard disk. Simply put, flash memory players have no moving parts, meaning that you can take them jogging and your music won't skip" and "Don't get locked into one online store...You might have to shop at more than one store before you find the song you're looking for." Unsurprisingly, it's 6 tips would exclude the iPod as a good choice for consumers. Now, I've had troubles with iPod, but my wife and I both use one at the gym without even experiencing a skip, and I've never had problems finding music on the iTunes Music Store. So I can tell you from personal experience that those claims are false. Not that I'd ever really trust Microsoft anyway...

Rise, Lord Vader

OK, I admit it - I'm a Star Wars fanboy, and I've watched the trailer for Episode III 5 times already today. I've also changed my PC wallpaper to this Darth Vader one. Yep, I am JUST that geeky...

What'll they think of next?

I sure could have used this clock this morning - Clocky. Developed by a research associate at MIT Labs (not Muppet Labs like you'd expect), Clocky will roll off the nightstand and hide from you after you press the snooze bar. After your snooze time is up, the alarm goes off again and now you've got to get out of bed and hunt for Clocky to turn it off. It looks pretty silly, but if it gets you out of bed on time then maybe it'd be worth it.

Update to Mozilla Firefox released

An updated version (version 1.0.2) of Mozilla Firefox was released yesterday. The release includes an important patch to a recently discovered flaw that could be exploited by a malicious file or program. So if you haven't yet - upgrade!

Spam industry sustained by bad e-mail habits

Here's an interesting article from the BBC News about e-mail spam. Apparently, according to a research study quoted in the article, nearly a third of e-mail users have clicked on links in spam messages - and one in ten users have bought products advertised in spam messages. And this is the primary reason that spam is still around - because it still works. This is very bad news, very bad news indeed.

Keep up the good work!

Mozilla Firefox continues to eat into Microsoft Internet Explorer's share of web browser usage - dropping IE under 90% market share. Firefox is at 6.17%, and rising - but we can do better. Tell everyone you know - Get Firefox!

George Lucas plans to re-release Star Wars - in 3-D

Interesting announcement - appearing at ShoWest in Las Vegas, George Lucas and a group of other Hollywood directors including James Cameron, Robert Zemeckis and Robert Rodriguez promoted the latest in 3-D technology, Lucas going as far as stating that he will re-release the Star Wars films - all of them - in 3-D. He stated that he hoped to re-release Star Wars Episode IV - A New Hope in time for it's 30th anniversary in 2007, and then re-release the rest one per year. Part of the presentation included a screening of clips of Episode IV and Episode II that had been put through the new 3-D treatment by the Agoura Hills, California based firm In-Three. And director Peter Jackson (who joined the others via a pre-taped segment, recorded in 3-D) screened portions of The Lord of the Rings that had undergone the treatment. Lucas was quoted as saying "When you see some of this test footage, it's shockingly good, and you can see how people would want to go see it. It means we can repurpose a lot of old movies, and at the same time it really gives a whole new dimension to the movies we're making now." So, the question is - is this legitimately for the promotion and enhancement of the technology, or just a chance to grab more money?

Mozilla cancels release of Thunderbird 1.0.1

Mozilla announced yesterday that they've cancelled the anticipated 1.0.1 release of their email client, Thunderbird. Their browser, Firebird, is currently on a 1.0.1 release. They said they will work on the next release of Firebird (1.0.2), and the fixes that would have occured in Thunderbird will be added to it's next release (also 1.0.2). So, what does all this mean to the average user? Nothing really - things will work fine till the next release. No announced date, they'll only say that "Release candidate builds of Firefox 1.0.2 and Thunderbird 1.0.2 are expected soon."

A look at Sony's PSP

I really want one of these - here's an article all about the Sony PSP. It's available starting next Thursday, should cost about $249. It plays games and is capable of showing movies using Sony's high capacity (1.8 GB) Universal Media Disc (UMD). The first 1 million US units will come with a Spiderman 2 disc. It's got Memory Stick, an IR port and 802.11b wireless built in - plus you can connect it to a PC using it's USB 2.0 port, and if you add software to your computer for Sony's Connect online media purchasing service you can download music directly to your PSP. Eventually Sony's Connect service will have video content offerings as well - the service is going to be re-launched later this year to support those kinds of content downloads. Folks in Japan (where PSP has been available for the last 4 months) have figured out a hack to allow you to download content to PSP without paying for it, so I'm sure someone here will figure it out also.

Be careful what you say on AIM, you never know who might be eavesdropping

Apparently AOL has changed it's terms of service for AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) that give AOL the right to use anything and everything you send through AIM in any way they see fit, without informing you of it. Here's an article written about it on another blog. This is worrisome for most, but I'm not personally concerned since I'd never have a conversation through AIM that I'd be worried about someone seeing. If you use AIM for communication that needs to be secure and private you are a fool - it's NEVER been a secure communication tool. If you just chat with friends or family and don't send sensitive information via AIM, you shouldn't have to worry about this at all. That said, this change is still bothersome. The section of the new terms of service that states "by posting Content on an AIM Product, you grant AOL, its parent, affiliates, subsidiaries, assigns, agents and licensees the irrevocable, perpetual, worldwide right to reproduce, display, perform, distribute, adapt and promote this Content in any medium. You waive any right to privacy." is just a horrible invasion of privacy if you ask me. Think there's any hope they'll change their mind about this?

My brother - luckiest man alive!

My brother works for a audio-visual presentation services company - basically they develop and produce events (incorporating stage lighting and decoration, audio, multimedia presentations and many other services) for clients such as Microsoft, Burger King, various automakers shows at the Detroit Auto Show, and other events. Sure, you say, that's cool. But why is he the luckiest man alive, you ask? Well, the recent event he's working on is for Burger King and their partner in a new promotion - Lucasfilm. My brother's company will be doing a big event for Burger King, part of which involves a screening of Episode III before it is released in theatres. That in and of itself is very cool, but there's more. To setup the event and coordinate all the different aspects of it, he'll be attending a meeting with executives for all parties. Held at Skywalker Ranch (Here's another link with more pictures and additional info about the ranch). Now that is cool - I'm very jealous!

Survivor : Palau casting scandal

Don't know if this is true or not, but I wouldn't put it past the producers of Survivor - Wanda Shirk, one of the first two people eliminated this season, has raised allegations that 7 contestants originally cast for the show were cut and replaced with professional models selected by the producers. The interview is online at tvguide.com (you need a subscription to their site to read it), or you can read an article on realitytvworld.com about the whole scandal, and how CBS is, of course, refuting her claims. In the article, CBS spokesperson Colleen Sullivan tells Reality TV World that "Wanda's allegation is simply untrue. I spoke with casting and not ONE modeling agency was contacted." So I guess it comes down to who do you believe, CBS or Wanda?

Is Apple the new Microsoft?

This article poses the question, and it's a valid question. All I can tell you is, in my experiences recently - they aren't the company they used to be.

Big Brother is watching...

Tadayoshi Kohno, a doctoral candidate at the University of California San Diego has authored a research paper outlining a way to 'fingerprint' a computer remotely, allowing someone to track it no matter where it connects to the internet. Here's a link to an article on ZDNet Australia that summarizes his findings. Application of his technique could be used to "help track laptops as they move, perhaps as part of a Carnivore-like project" or "obtain information about whether two devices on the Internet, possibly shifted in time or IP addresses, are actually the same physical device." He also states that "For all our methods, we stress that the fingerprinter does not require any modification to or cooperation from the fingerprintee." Kohno and his team tested their techniques on many operating systems, including Windows XP and 2000, Mac OS X Panther, Red Hat and Debian Linux, FreeBSD, OpenBSD and even Windows for Pocket PCs 2002. Whoa. A little disturbing to think of the possible ways this could be used against people by government agencies, or evil hackers though. The 'fingerprint' technique can even sniff out PC's that are behind a NAT (Network Address Translation) device like a router, so there's no way to hide from it, apparently. Maybe nothing to worry about, but it's like I always say - Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean that people aren't out to get you.

Online Gallery from the New York Public Library

The New York Public Library is creating a new online gallery of over 275,000 images digitized from it's collection. It contains illuminated manuscripts and vintage posters, rare prints, photographs and historical maps, plus illustrated books and much more. It's being optimized to handle the likely very high traffic to the site, but it'll be available here once it's ready. You can read more about it here. This looks like it will be very deeply cool once it's up and running.

Star Wars Episode III trailer news

In case you haven't heard yet, the 'full release' trailer (with over 2 minutes of footage from the movie) for Episode III will premiere during the March 10th episode of The OC. Then it'll be shown in theatres starting March 11th before Robots. It'll also be available at starwars.com right after The OC, but only if you're a starwars.com Hyperspace member. It'll start showing on starwars.com for non-members of the 14th.

Oh, this sounds like a bad, bad idea

A new product showcased at Microsoft's TechFest on Wednesday was a robot teddy bear prototype, designed to help parents monitor their children. It would incorporate a wireless internet connection and a camera to allow a parent to observe their child online, while the bear's head swivels around to keep an eye on the child thanks to a facial recognition program. Scary idea, if you ask me. I don't think I'd be keen to trust my kid to a Microsoft product - but a lot of these things at the TechFest never really make it to final market products, so who knows if this will ever be available on store shelves near you. I kinda think the idea of a robot child monitoring system itself is a bad idea, my parents didn't have to much trouble monitoring me when I was a child, and they did it the old fashioned way. You know, actually being there - in the same house. Heck, even in the same room sometimes! I know, that's just crazy talk, isn't it?

The Amazing Race season 7 premiere

Wow, it's very cool to have another Amazing Race so soon after season 6 ended, and the new seventh season kicked off with a overall pretty cool 2 hour episode last night. I'm still not remembering specifics about every team (that takes a few weeks), and I'm not as annoyed at Rob and Amber as I thought I would be (but I'm still not a fan of the stunt casting on TAR). I kinda liked Ryan and Chuck (my wife and I nicknamed them 'Boomhauer', cause they've got that same accent and fast speech pattern), the first team eliminated - which is a depressing parallel to last season, when I thought Avi and Joe could be fun Racers and then they were the first team eliminated. We'll see how the next few weeks go, I'm hoping that this season ends better than last. In a disturbing development, they had an ad soliciting Racers for next season, and they're looking for families of four. Not sure how I feel about a Family Edition of TAR...

Babylon 5 movie deal dead

According to the series creator J. Michael Straczynski, the dream of a Babylon 5 movie is over - a post to the newsgroup rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5.moderated (reprinted at this link to JMSNews.com) lays out just how close it was to becoming reality, and that now it seems like a movie version of the series will not come to be. Sad news indeed - I for one had been really hoping that this movie would get made.

Sin City the movie!

This movie looks like it's going to be really really cool - go here to watch the trailer and here to check out the official site.

You want some cheese with that whine, Michael?

Apparently Michael Gorman, President of the American Library Association, is not fond of bloggers. He also smacks Google around in that article, talking about an op-ed piece he wrote for the Los Angeles Times called "Google and God's Mind (December 17th, 2004)" in which he "question(s) the usefulness of Google digitizing millions of books and making bits of them available via its notoriously inefficient search engine." Well, I'm rather surprised that the Dean of Library Services, Madden Library, California State University doesn't like Google, or blogs. Because if I can read blogs (some of which have actual good information and/or valid points on world affairs) and search Google for information and for books - why would I even need to step inside a library again? So yeah, I'm not at all surprised. But to call Google "notoriously inefficient" seems just a little harsh. Maybe he's just bad at it, and has to take it out on those of us who can actually use Google to find what we are looking for more quickly and efficiently than we could by going to the library. Now don't get me wrong - I'm not against libraries, and I think supporting and funding libraries is important. Maybe a better way to approach the "Blog People" as he calls them would be to start a discussion of ways their worlds can merge - libraries and Google and blogs all working together. I can think of one of the "Blog People" who helps libraries all the time, Pamela Ribon. She runs Pamie.com, and she's spent tons of her time organizing book drives for libraries. It's very cool how they do it, the library creates a wish list on Amazon.com of books they'd like to have, and people go to those wish lists, buy a book or two, and have them shipped to the library that needs them. Now how's that for integrating libraries and "Blog People"?

Second season of Battlestar Galactica to premiere this summer

SciFi announced yesterday that the second season of Battlestar Galactica, which has been getting good ratings for them, will begin airing this summer. Good news - and it's also confirmed that the entire cast will be returning. They're scheduled to shoot 20 new episodes, and production will begin next month. A quote from the story states that "The series, which premiered on Jan. 14, has been averaging over 3 million viewers per episode and has quickly become SCI FI's highest-rated original series and has received unprecedented critical acclaim." That's also good news - I really like it, and I hate it when good shows that I like get screwed over. The show is also apparently very popular among file sharing folks, ranking 9th on the list of top 10 most downloaded shows. Even if you don't get into the whole file sharing thing, you can go to the Galactica part of the SciFi site and watch the first episode legally - and commercial free!

So... tired...

Wow am I tired right now - stayed up too late last night I guess. Don't you hate it when you are really tired, and it seems like every question someone asks you is just the most insipid, most inane, just plain DUMBEST thing anyone has ever asked? Now imagine that situation magnified a thousand fold - and you've got an idea how bad a mood I'm in right now. When you feel wiped out, tired, and really crabby? Yeah, that's not the best time to be talking to a bunch of mouth breathing morons. It reminds me of an old saying "Never argue with an idiot. They will drag you down to their level, and then beat you with experience." So true, so very true. Bah, this sucks. Maybe I just need some more coffee...

UPDATE : SPOILER ALERT : Episode III screenshots

Here's a link to a mirror site where the pics are still viewable - for now...

A FINAL(?) UPDATE : 2/25 @ 8:04am At last check, this site was down, and the one linked below was back up. And the working one has some GIF images of a couple of the lightsaber battles - very cool!!

SPOILER ALERT : Website with screenshots from Episode III

Not sure if this site is still up, or if it's just getting crushed because it was linked on Slashdot this morning, but here's a link to site reporting to have 80 screenshots from Star Wars Episode III : Revenge of the Sith. Apparently they say there are more screenshots to come - if the site is ever reachable.

Star Wars : Episode III slated to open the Cannes Film Festival

After months of negotiations, a deal was struck between George Lucas and festival administrators to have Episode III : Revenge of the Sith as the opening film of the 58th Cannes Film Festival, which starts on May 11th. Rumors are that Ewan McGregor will attend. But if you don't already have an invite - you'll have to wait till the movie opens on May 19th like the rest of the world. Maybe we'll get some reports from people who saw it at Cannes - let's hope they say it's worth seeing!

C'mon America - we can do better!!

Apparently we aren't downloading enough pirated TV shows - the UK leads the world in TV piracy, at 38.4% of the world's TV downloads. It seems people in the UK love their peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing, ans love using BitTorrent in particular. America comes in 3rd, with a paltry 7.3%. America strives to be #1 in so many other avenues - why not this one, right?

Where has the time gone?

It's been one year (and change) since I wrote the first post on this blog, and in that time I've had 2,596 hits on the site and written almost 170 posts. The only thing I'd like to see change is the amount of people browsing to the blog using Firefox - only 12% of the hits were Firefox, and 83% were Internet Explorer (Mozilla, Netscape, and Safari account for the other 5%). But hey, Firefox 1.0 has been downloaded 25 million times, so the more people using it the better - and that percentage will just continue to move the right way. Here's to another year - thanks to all of my readers (yes, both of you) for making the first one a great one!

NapsterToGo copy protection defeated

The new Napster and it's NapsterToGo unlimited download for a monthly fee service have been dealt a blow by their users - they've figured out a way around the copy protection built into the song files. I suppose it was just a matter of time before a crack was found, but that was surprisingly quick!

Not that it's a surprise, but...

The NHL has announced that it has officially cancelled the 2004-2005 hockey season. And in the process becomes the FIRST major North American professional sports league to lose an entire season due to a labor dispute. Sad news, but the way the talks were going (or rather, not going) it was not really going to end any other way. NHL commissioner Gary Bettman was quoted as saying "I have no choice but to cancel the 2004-05 season," adding "This is a sad, regrettable day that all of us wish could have been avoided." Agreed. But when you've got the owners demanding a salary cap, the players saying "No way" and then when they finally bandied about offers on a actual cap - couldn't come to an agreement. Players say "We'll agree to $49 million per team" and owners come back with "Nope. $42.5 million". And they'd both come down already - the players were saying $52 million and the owners wanted $40 million. Darn it, they were so close. And even if they had come to an agreement, this season would have been pretty much over - what would they have done, go straight to the playoffs? I guess hockey fans will have to hope something happens in the interim before next season is supposed to begin - or the whole NHL might just fold and cease to exist.

New trailer for The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy

There is a new longer trailer for The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy available online - if you go to Amazon's page, it's viewable right within their main page. It shows actual footage from the film, and it's a pretty good look at what the movie will be like. I'm getting excited for this - can't wait till April 29th!!

Yahoo! Toolbar now available for Firefox

In case you care - a beta version of the Yahoo! Toolbar is now available that is compatible with Mozilla Firefox. I'm personally ambivalent to this, I didn't use the toolbar in Internet Explorer, and I won't use it with Firefox. But, if you found it useful before you made the switch to Firefox (You have switched, right? If not, click the Firefox banner on the sidebar) - now you can have it back.

Good news for fans of the new Battlestar Galactica

Look like SciFi Channel has renewed Battlestar Galactica for a second season. They've aired 5 episodes of their original 13 episode order, and the last episode earned good ratings - 3.2 million viewers. Which is more people than watched the last episode of the soon-to-be-gone Star Trek Enterprise. I really like the new Galactica, so I happy to see it's doing well and SciFi is keeping it around. The series creator, Ronald Moore, has a blog space you can go to on SciFi's Battlestar Galactica page - it's worth checking out. Lots of cool info about the series and the direction he wants to take it in, some behind the scenes info too.

I just love free songs!

It's time for the Apple/Pepsi iTunes Music Store promotion again - get a free song on one out of three bottles of 20 oz. Pepsi products. And yes, you can check the bottle to see if it's a winner same as last year.

Oh well, at least it wasn't Jonathan and Victoria...

It's official - Freddy Holliday and Kendra Bentley are the winners of The Amazing Race. I was really really hoping that Jon and Kris would win - but it just didn't happen. Oh well - at least the next Race is only 3 weeks away!!

If you use Windows, be sure to go to Windows Update on Tuesday...

13 security vulnerabilities in Windows will get Security patches on February 8th. Or be prepared to get hit by whatever viruses are out now (or are currently being created) to take advantage of these latest security holes in Windows. As a wise man once said - "To be forewarned is to be fore-armed"...

Napster's plan to take on iTunes

Yes, you read that right - Napster. They're still alive and have just announced their plan to take the iTunes Music Store on. It's called NapsterToGo - basically unlimited song downloads to a compatible portable MP3 player for a monthly fee of $15. But - the Apple iPod is not compatible. So I guess we'll have to see how this works for them, since they don't directly support the most popular MP3 player out there.

Not quite sure if this is brilliance or stupidity...

A sixteen year old kid has been charged with a misdemeanor for hooking up a keystroke logging device to his teacher's computer. He's a student at Clements High in Sugar Land, TX. The dumb thing he did that got him caught was offering answers for sale to other students. School district police (who knew there was such a thing?) referred the case to the Fort Bend County District Attorney's Office, which has charged the teen with breach of computer information, a Class B misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $2,000 and up to 180 days in jail. Oopsie! I'd say the teacher isn't really observant, but these things are really small and unobtrusive - apparently the one he used is about the size of a pen cap and connects between the keyboard port on the PC and the cord leading to the keyboard. Who'd think to go rooting around back there looking for something like that...hmmm, maybe I should check MY work computer!

State of the Union

Don't care about the State of the Union address, like me? Well, do what I did - watch JibJab.com's Second Term cartoon! Keep counting down, Countdown Clock - man, I can't wait till that thing hits zero...

Finale of The Amazing Race airs next Tuesday

It's coming down to the wire - the two-hour finale of The Amazing Race will air Tuesday February 8th on CBS. It's been a great season (especially since Jonathan and Victoria got the boot), and I'm really hoping that Kris and Jon win. They have really run a good race, and have had a great attitude throughout the race - got a little down last night during all the trouble they had with cabs in Shanghai - but ended up pulling out a 3rd place finish for the leg. Can't wait for the finale - but the wife and I are bummed that we can't go to TARCon again. TARCon is a big party thrown at the end of each season by some of the fanatics over at Televisionwithoutpity.com, and it's going to be held at Play By Play, the sports bar inside Madison Square Garden just like it was after last season ended. It's a huge party - a lot of past and present Racers come by, as well as tons of fans. And occasionally, Phil Keoghan himself makes an appearance. Oh well, eventually my wife and I will get to go to a TARCon, we hope!

Have you ever played Price Is Right...on WEED??

So when I'm home from work on Monday and Tuesdays I like to watch The Price Is Right. Sure, it's a guilty pleasure, but I've been watching it for years and I'm not about to stop now. So anyway, on the show today, a college kid gets called to "Come on down!" and be a contestant. The first thing he makes a bid on, he tells Bob Barker "I've waited my whole life to do this" - and bids $420. Oy. Of course, he's not even close. Next time up, he bids $1420. Oh, hardy har har. Of course, he's wrong again. Next time up - it's the last chance any of these people have to get up on stage because it's the last round - and he bids $420. AGAIN. And of course, before he did it, says "I guess I have to bid $420, Bob." And, also of course, he's wrong. AGAIN. For a stupid pot joke. God, what a tool. I'm pretty sure Bob didn't get it, but from the reaction of a lot of the audience members, they sure got it. Wonder if they were high too?

Fame! I wanna live forever...ah, who am I kidding

I'd never ever heard of webpronews.com till a couple days ago, when I found out that I'd been quoted in it. My post on Saturday about the ruling against Jeffrey Lee Parson was quoted liberally in the article (big thanks to rio for the comment that brought it to my attention). Weird to see something you wrote linked to on some other website like that, kind of cool as well! And it's increased traffic to the site - 24 hits yesterday alone. I know that doesn't sound like a lot, but I'll take whatever I can get. So, thanks all for stopping by, and thanks to webpronews.com for the exposure!

Check it out!!

Look over at the sidebar - nope, below the archives... below the iTunes banner... you see it? The Official George W. Bush "Days Left In Office" Countdown Clock from Backwardsbush.com!! Gotta love the ingenuity of some people - it's what makes America great.

So, boiling him in oil was out of the question?

A Federal judge sentenced Minnesota teen Jeffrey Lee Parson to 18 months for modifying the Blaster worm and releasing it to, in Parson's own confession, "launch a distributed denial-of-service attack against a Microsoft Windows update Web site as well as personal computers". U.S. District Judge Marsha Pechman said in her ruling that Parson's neglectful parents were to blame for the psychological troubles that led to his actions in the summer of 2003. Parson made a statement and apologized to the court and to Microsoft, saying, "I know I've made a huge mistake and I hurt a lot of people and I feel terrible." He will still have to pay restitution to Microsoft and to people whose computers were affected in an amount to be determined at a hearing set for Feb. 10. Okay, sure, that'll be a bite for a 19 year old kid, but I personally think that maybe a better idea than subjecting him to prison time would be making him work for Microsoft for 18 months. Have him use his l33t ha><0r 5ki11z (that's "elite hacking skills" for the leetspeak challenged) to rid Microsoft's buggy bloated Windows code of problems. Maybe such work would be beyond his ability, I don't know - but I think it's more useful to the thousands of affected Windows users to have an operating system that is protected against such problems than having the kid pay a fine and go to jail.

This bites - thanks a lot, MGM!

This is just terrific. All of MGM's theatrical "wide screen" DVD releases for the past few years have, in actuality, been pan & scan versions with the top and bottom cut off. SO, MGM is now in a class action lawsuit. Here's a link to the PDF file that lists all the affected movies. Jesus, now I've gotta go through all my DVD's and file a claim - this sucks!!

Long live Firefox!

Quite high praise is heaped on the coolest web browser around, Mozilla Firefox, in this article from Wired. It's no secret that I use Firefox and love it, I've written about it before and suggested people make the switch. If you haven't switched yet, what are you waiting for? Click the Firefox graphic on the sidebar - you won't be sorry!

Academy Award Nominations

The nominations are out for the 77th Annual Academy Awards, and does anyone think that Jamie Foxx won't win Best Actor? Cause I think he's a sure bet. Ray was an outstanding movie, and he was amazing in it. I also thought it was really cool that The Incredibles is nominated for Best Original Screenplay - it's a bold move to nominate an animated movie for one of the big awards. It was also a bold move on the Academy's part to not nominate The Passion of the Christ for Best Picture or any acting awards or for Best Direction. This was a very cool move in my opinion - although I didn't hate The Passion, I didn't think it was as incredible as a lot of people who saw it thought it was. I could only watch it once, not several times like some people. And I thought it was overly violent, drastically so - and it really wasn't necessary. The extreme violence changed the tone and impact of the film, from a movie about a man who struggled with the enormous expectations laid upon him (whether you believe Jesus was the son of God or not, if he was a real man and the things that he went though are true - he was under some incredible pressure and stress) and turned it into a movie about a guy who gets terribly, violently, sadistically beaten for hours and hours. I kind of felt like Kyle from South Park while I was watching the movie, sitting there covering up my face during the torture of Jesus. So I guess it's sort of cool of the Academy to not reward that kind of film. What do you think? Leave a comment and let me know what you think of the nominations, good or bad.

Some info on the next generation of game consoles

According to this article, the next generation of game consoles (Sony Playstation 3, Microsoft Xbox2 (code name Xenon) and Nintendo "Revolution") are expected to be arriving within the next 18 months. The studio General Manager of EA Europe, Rory Armes, says they have already received development kits for the Xbox2, and says "We know maybe what the PS3 will do, but we can only guess". It's always an exciting time in gaming when right before the new console get released and the rumors are flying - should be an interesting 18 months!

Good news TAR lovers!!

CBS announced a few days ago that the next season of the Emmy award winning The Amazing Race is set to premiere on March 1st - just 3 weeks after the current season finale. That's a really quick turn around, I think they're hoping to capitalize on the good ratings the show has been getting. And there's a rumor going around that Survivor : All Star winner Amber Brkich and her fiance Rob Mariano (runner-up of Survivor : All Star) will be racers next season. Don't know how I feel about that, but hey - at least it's not Rupert Boneham.

(The last?) UPDATE : The Great iPod Debacle

I got a chance to talk to the representative from Apple's corporate office a couple days ago. He wasn't very helpful, and it was kind of a shame. I informed him that the general manager of the Apple Store had contacted me and offered a $50 iTunes gift certificate, and that I thought that would help me feel a little better about things but I wanted to know what he could do from a more corporate standpoint. And he basically said the same things the store manager did, and didn't really offer anything else. I also mentioned to him the problems I've had with my laptop since the whole problem - see, my laptop hard drive has now completely crashed since I did all this adding and removing software to try and fix the old iPod and adding and removing iTunes and songs to try and fix it. I certainly can't PROVE that it's related, but it's one hell of a coincidence. He just sort of blew it off, saying that I could have used my iPod to back up the data on my hard drive. Ummm, right. That's a brilliant idea - back up files from my laptop to my iPod... except the old one DIDN'T WORK because it's hard drive died (so anything I would have backed up onto it would be lost anyway) and I don't think I trust iPods as storage devices now to ever try that in the future. What a crap answer. Oh well, I guess I'm just out all the songs I lost minus the $50 they gave me, and all the irreplaceable data on the laptop hard drive (although I'm hopeful I'll be able to get some of it off - I'll have to wait and see). Plus, of course, my time and trouble to make three trips out to the Apple Store. Oh well, I guess you live and learn, right?

UPDATE : The great iPod debacle

So I get home last night to find a letter in my mailbox from Apple's corporate office. When I get in the house and open it, it's from a representative of Apple offering to work with me if the problem is unresolved, and giving me his number. I called but he wasn't in - so I left a voicemail for him. Hopefully I'll actually get a call back. But then, later that evening, I'm eating dinner and the phone rings. The wife answers it, then hands it to me - and it's the manager of the Apple Store at Easton on the phone! He's calling in response to the copy of the letter I sent to him(I sent copies to Steve Jobs, and the Exec VP of the iPod Division, and the Exec VP of the Retail Division too). He did at least apologize, and offered me $50 to use at the iTunes Music Store, which is cool - but he also kinda tried to point fingers at the one tech at the Apple Store who was actually helpful (and fixed my problem), and I didn't think that was very cool. Anyway, we'll see if the guy from Apple calls me back. More updates to come, possibly...

The Dude abides...

This is pretty funny - Lebowski Fest West 2005. They've been doing Lebowski Fests since 2002, and have pictures from past Fests on the website. Maybe his Dudeness himself will be there...

Flaw in Internet Explorer exploited

A known flaw in Microsoft Internet Explorer has been made even worse. The flaw used to require some user action, like the user dragging an image from one part of a Web page to another before it was able to affect the computer - but no longer. Now the flaw can be exploited with no user interaction. Making Internet Explorer an even bigger security risk. If you haven't yet, maybe now is a good time to Get Firefox!.

Casting the new Superman movie

It was announced a few days ago that Kevin Spacey and Kate Bosworth would be joining the cast of director Bryan Singer's new entry into the Superman movie franchise. So, Spacey will be Lex Luthor, Bosworth is Lois Lane, and newcomer Brandon Routh was already cast as Clark Kent/Kal-El/Superman. I'm interested to see what Kevin Spacey can do as Lex Luthor - and he's done his best work ever in another Bryan Singer movie (The Usual Suspects), so it's a great thing to have them work together again. I don't know about Kate Bosworth - I haven't seen her in Beyond The Sea (with Kevin Spacey), but she wasn't that great in that surfing movie Blue Crush. I haven't seen any of her other movies, so I'll just have to reserve judgment for now. I'm really hoping this movie is great, it's been a long time since the Superman movies were great - it's definitely time!