Is Viagra causing blindness in some users?

If you use Viagra, watch out - it might make you go blind. The FDA is investigating reports of varying degrees of blindness reported by a small number of men who use Viagra. No hard (no pun intended) evidence has been found that shows that Viagra caused the blindness. The men affected are suffering a condition known as nonarteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION), which causes a rapid reduction of vision and can, in the most serious cases, lead to blindness.

Dr Howard Pomeranz, co-author of a report on this condition published in the Journal of Neuro-ophthalmology in April, said that Viagra had long been linked to sight problems. Viagra was known to cause temporary color changes in some men's vision, he said, but NAION was a much more serious condition. Serious indeed - imagine all those little old men on Viagra, now walking around blind with a hard-on! (OK, maybe DON'T imagine that...)

Will satellite radio be coming to the iPod?

There have been rumors about Sirius satellite radio coming to iPod, but now it seems that negotiations are going on about how to share the subscription fee. The technology part should be easy, it's all about the price negotiation at this point. Could be a cool thing to have on an iPod, I think.

Airport security screeners will soon be able to see you naked

Makes me not want to fly very often - Homeland Security Department is preparing to install and test high-tech machines at airport checkpoints that will see through clothing. The technology is know as backscatter, it uses X-ray imaging technology to allow a screener to scan a body. And yes, the body image is detailed - "Well, you'll see basically everything," said Bill Scannell, a privacy advocate and technology consultant. "It shows nipples. It shows the clear outline of genitals." Creepy. So, does that mean that a huge number of perverts are going to try to get jobs as airport security screeners now?

If nothing else, the fanboys will be excited

Apparently George Lucas has an idea of another Star Wars movie - and it would be a prequel to Episode I. A scooper for Cinescape related to them his tale (use this link to read it and some other movie rumors), he apparently met George Lucas in Hawaii recently and asked him a few questions. Most notably, "I asked him if STAR WARS was going to end with this next installment and He said, "'Star Wars' will never end. My involvement may, but the story will go on....""

Then the scooper (credited in the article as MK) asked, "What do you think would be more interesting.... telling a story prior to PHANTOM MENACE or after RETURN OF THE JEDI?"

To which, Lucas replied, "No question about it, prior to PHANTOM MENACE." He said, that if he did ever do another storyline.... that he would do one of when the Jedi regained control of the universe from the Dark Lords (there were many of them) 800 years before PHANTOM MENACE. And a young Jedi named Yoda was instrumental in the effort.

Now I think it goes without saying that this is a rumor, it isn't fact - and there's no real way to confirm it (unless Lucas come out publicly and says it's true). Personally I think it's not true, and that George Lucas is personally done with Star Wars movies. He has talked publicly about the animated Star Wars : Clone Wars TV series, and another live action Star Wars TV series in development that he will have some involvement with. He's also working on Indiana Jones IV (he mentions that in the last article I linked). So it looks like Lucas will be keeping pretty busy - he probably wouldn't even have time to think about another Star Wars movie for a few years at least. So it sounds like just another internet-fueled rumor to me.

Which Star Wars character are you?

C'mon, haven't you always wanted to know? I've seen a couple of these online, but I think this one is the best (plus it plays the Star Wars theme music) - The Ultimate Star Wars Personality Test.

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.