Caption, please

Too Much Coffee Man: The Opera

Sometimes the world is just a glorious place. First Mr. Lee singing about booze to a superhero, now TMCM: The Opera. If you live in or near Portland, OR, keep an eye out for tickets.

Saruman at AA Meeting

Oh, Christopher Lee. We love you you.

This is a movie that some how made it under my radar. The Return of Captain Invincible.

In case the lyrics are hard to make out:
Mai tai say that i'm old fashioned,
tres vin ordinaire
that i want a fresh manhattan
with white anglo-saxons everywhere?
a black russian's no pink lady
give her a singapore sling.
and moscow mule is not your baby
so highball the vodka, and name your sting
be a big shot, with a bullshot
be a schwein mit der wein
have a short, or a port, or a snort, of any sort.
asti spumante . uno chianti.
Are divine!
I got some economic hocks,
a gin and tonic on the rocks.
where angels fear to tread, i say-
choose your booze! let's hit the red-eye!
think of young deanna durbin,
and how she sung on rum and bourbon.
or enhance your luncheon hour
with a planter's punch,
and a whiskey sour
if you feel like a wreck,
try a horse's neck
or a sherry with a cherry in the new fun size-
If you don't name your poison
i'll have to get the boys in
the spirit of adventure opens ones eyes
if you don't name your poison
i'll have to get the boys in
and you'll never see another tequila sunrise
Live happily ever after
with a chablis and some laughter.
between the sheets is lovely
with a dizzy blonde and a bottle of bubbly
there's nothing sicker in society
than a lack of liquor and sobriety
so! down the hatch. here's mud in your eye!
take a bracer with a chaser, wash it down with rye!
bottoms up, stirrup cup!
it'll put you in the pink.
And all you have to do is
Drink, drink, etc

Dig it! Digg digs itself into chaos!

or The Trouble with Societies

I am fascinated by how people interact and how different "systems" affect these interactions. This is why I enjoy Survivor and such. I really enjoy watching when a system starts to show its flaws. This is why I just adore the internet.

For example, the whole MySpace fiasco right now. You make a system that is borderline anonymous, has an extreme amount of freedom and is open to anyone, eventually it will be abused. As I've said over and over, it is much easier to break something than it is to create it. So its no surprise that people with use MySpace for hate or for trolling for children or whatever.

So lets look at Digg. I you aren't familiar with Digg, it is a tech news site that tries to function without an editorial system. Or rather, all of the users are the editorial system. They submit all the stories and they "vote" on which stories are worthy. If the masses agree, the story makes it to the front page. The benefits to this system are great: news can be aggregated to users attention rapidly, users feel like they have involvement in the processes, stories are filtered through an almost true democratic system and not through what what a hand full of folks might thing is interesting.

But it negatives are also large. A lot of garbage has to go in to get gems out. Since it is user submitted and any user can submit, you get a lot of garbage. Inaccurate stuff ("Comet to hit Earth on May 25th!"). A lot of non-tech related stories, mainly of the standard viral internet type stuff, but also politics, gossip, etc.. A touch of religious arguments (mainly stemming from Creationism/Evolution debate). A lot of duplicated stories. When BootCamp was announced there was a flood of stories submitted on the topic, and they haven't stopped. Most of them recycling the same information, over and over.

And then there are people who submit their own blog, usually a blog that is just linking to a different blog where the real story is. Usually these are young blogs, with out much content. But the "Digg Effect" (similar to the "Slashdot Effect") is a powerful draw. A story/link that makes it to the front page of Digg will create a huge amount of traffic (often crushing smaller sites in its glory), so I understand to temptation. Heck, I've been tempted but I have not had anything nearly worthy of it.

Now it is clear that Digg is ripe for abuse, but they to have methods to keep things under control. Don't only can you "digg" a story, voting that the story is interesting, but you can also "report" it, marking it as inaccurate, spam, bad link, duplicate, old news, or just lame. These are like anti-diggs. But unlike diggs that show a number next to the story (approximately 50-80 diggs to get to the front page), you don't see the count of these anti-diggs. They remain secret. Much of the system remains secret. There are algorithms operating behind the scenes figuring out if something is worthy of being elevated to magical front page status. I truly don't understand how it works, but my assumption it takes into account the amount of diggs a story gets, the rate at which it gets diggs and how many anti-diggs it gets. A story can also be entirely removed (automatically) if it gets enough reports. Enough people mark something as inaccurate, it will go bye-bye.

But the biggest flaw, the flaw with any system that gives users a feeling of ownership and control, is that people will find things that make their control feel less than complete. And that has happened. I won't go into it in detail, but a series of irregularities were noticed and then reported on by other sites (Slashdot, forevergeek, etc). Digg responded. This of course then led to a flood of stories submitted to Digg about digg's own abuse. Most of these stories are then rabidly anti-digged by users, which leads the posters to believe in more editorial abuse. And the cycle continues.

I have no idea if there is editorial shenanigans going on. I really don't care. Doesn't affect me. The interesting thing is how protective of people's freedoms, true of just perceived, people get. In addition, the competitive nature that the internet brings up in people. Yes, it feels good to get a submitted story t the front page, a sense of approval and accomplishment. Some people will try to do this by "cheating" (creating fake accounts, etc). And out of 250,000 registered users on Digg, there will be plenty of people who attempt to abuse it and many will succeed.

I'm not bagging on Digg for all this. It is the nature of the beast.

BootCamp, Apple, Microsoft and Dvorak

(For those of you who don't live and die by Apple news: BootCamp is a little utility for Intel-based Macintoshes that allows you to partition your hard drive and install WindowsXP on it. What this means is that when you turn your Mac on, you can hold down the option key and it will give your choice of starting up Apple's OS X or WindowsXP. And it runs XP wonderfully... although there are some minor quirks. You can't run both at the same time, but by restarting you can switch from on to the other.)

So I have had BootCamp running on my MacBook Pro for a week now. And I do love love it. Not that I use Windows for much. I have a couple of games and occasionally something pops up on the web that I want to check out (like Cloud), but I still spend the vast a majority of my time on the OS X side of my partition. (I only gave Windows 15GB to play in). But it works like a charm. Heck, it can run Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion at decent graphical levels... although it does get a bit hot so I try not to play for long stretches. I've even put FlyAKite onto Windows so it's less ugly.

(An aside: Using BootCamp was a total breeze, if the standard installing WindowsXP lengthiness issue. It has been eons since I've had to sit through a Windows install. What is it about Windows install that gives me the willies? Is it just that I felt dirty putting Windows on my purdy Mac? Or is it that I remember the days of Blue Screens of Death? Anyway, I've heard of people having problems installing it, like discovering their wireless keyboard didn't work midway through the install or installing XP on their OS X partition. But Apple's instructions are pretty darn clear on this stuff. Print the instructions. Read them through. Follow them to a tee. But I like instructions. And BootCamp is also beta, so beware.)

One of the questions that is floating around geek circles is "Why did Apple do it?" Everyone knew it was possible. In fact, some folks had done it only a week before Apple released BootCamp (although without all the drivers needed to run the graphics cards, etc.). But the speed at which Apple released BootCamp makes me believe this had been the works for a while. So after so many years of Apple being so removed from Microsoft, why open the doors now?

I have no idea if Apple switching over to Intel chips was part of this plan or if BootCamp was an offshoot of the Intel switch. I assume the latter. The Intel Core Duo chips were ready to push things fast (and less power hungry) then the G5s were. So once the switch was made, it took no time for people to get XP to boot on Macs. Apple could have just let this be something that could be done but that they ignored. But they didn't. They swooped in and did it right and, in no small way, put their stamp of "Okay" on the whole thing.

Some have said it was to grab a large chunk of the Windows users out there. Well, certainly not at this point. The average user is not going to go through the BootCamp process. Nor are many going to make the choice of a new computer based of this, unless they were are ready leaning Mac anyway. I have developer friends (especially web developers) who HAVE gone out and bought new Macs. These are folks who love Macs already but have always had to have Windows PCs around to test stuff. And, at this point, it is not going to pull in hardcore gamers, because while Macs can play games, they are certainly not great game machines for the price. They can build better game machines themselves.

If in the future (say when Leopard, the next big version of OS X, comes out), OS X can easily run Windows (and, heck, Linux or whatever) at the same time and it's built it (either to install yourself or come with it straight from Apple), then you may see more folks making the move. The Macs have always been higher end machines. If the average user goes online to search for a new computer, and sees Macs for $1,300 and a dell for $700, they are going to think long and hard if they need to Mac extras. Because Windows does work so why would they need both operating systems? (And, yes, you can get a MacMini for $700, but that is with no monitor or mouse or keyboard. Purchasing all those from Apple bring it up to almost $1,500.) The same goes for most businesses.

(There is a way to run both OS's at the same time: Parallels solution. Apparently it works pretty well.)

But BootCamp does add a lot of value to the Intel-based Macs. There is no denying it. Even if you have no desire to ever run Windows, having the option is nice. There are always things in an operating system one never uses. For many, this will be one of them.

Now, there are some folks who are saying that Apple is doing something extremely drastic. John C. Dvorak for one. After Apple announced the switch to Intel, he put forth that Apple was (perhaps) going to ditch their own OS X and switch over to Windows. Do be honest, I never understood his logic. But I suppose anything is possible. Starbucks may be moving to Folgers as far as I know, but I just can't see why they would.

Now, post BootCamp, he's put forth a new theory.

He say that "a cloud is rising over Mac OS X and its future," although he never really states what that cloud is. OS X is flying pretty high right now. It's very stable and full of features. WindowsXP is getting long in the tooth (released in October, 2001) and the next version, Vista, has been delayed. And Vista is looking a lot like the current version of OS X (Tiger), which has been out for a year. Microsoft's Vista is expected out in November, 2006, for business editions and January, 2007, for consumer editions. The next version of OS X (Leopard) will probably be out in early 2007. No one is sure what PCs will even be able to run Vista. Then there is the security debates. I am making no claims that OS X is perfect, but it looks pretty good compared to Microsoft's os.

I do agree with Dvorak that BootCamp is testing the waters. All of his points n that are valid. I am sure they are watching the reaction to it, and seeing how interested people are in it. It was a quiet announcement and there is no where to be found on Apple's front page.

But then Dvorak's proposal is, to save itself, that Apple should make OS X opensource. Not just allow it to be run on any old machine, but to be toyed with by everyone. He drops this 'solution' (a 'solution' looking for a problem in my eyes) at the end of his article. He concludes that this "would make the battle between OS X and Linux the most interesting one on the computer scene. With all attention turned in that direction, there would be nothing Microsoft could do to stem a reversal of its fortunes."

Now, don't get me wrong. Linux is great, but it is still something that you have to like tinkering with. Is the average user looking for that? Or are they looking for a stable, robust os and a phone number to call if they have a problem? Apple releases their os to the masses, to be pitted against Linux, to have a hundred different versions out there to chose from, it leaves Microsoft as the one person out there with an 'official' tag. Apple is managing OS X great. Linux is needed because Microsoft has allowed Windows to become a bloated mess.

Besides, OS X is based on opensource. So I'm not even sure what Dvorak is saying.

There is no denying that more people would use OS X if it were opened up to 'standard' PCs. But one of the reasons Macs are nice to use is that there are standards. You don't spend time searching for drivers and tweaking your machine just to get it to run application whatever. Yes, it removes flexibility, but 99% it works. It would also cut deeply into Apple's sales of their computers. Because, as I said before, people will buy something if it is cheaper. And if John Doe buys his first OS X computer and it doesn't work, it is just going to lessen Apple's brand image.

Remember, Apple did this in in mid-90s. And it didn't work. Admittedly Macs OS at the time had some big issues and wasn't nearly as stable as OS X is.

Now, because we know that OS X now runs of Intel-based computers, it seems likely that someone will figure out how to make it run on non-Apple computers. That's fine and there is no reason Apple should fight it. Nor should they make any attempt to support it or license it. Let the consumer purchase OS X from Apple and handle it themselves. Third parties could even handle putting OS X on non-Macs. There is just no reason for Apple to facilitate it.

Okay, I'm rambling. Let's just say I disagree with Dvorak and wonder about his motives for such a sloppily thought out article. He does get name for himself by making these sort of statements. I just which he'd tell us WHY Apple should do this.

Back to the question of "Why is Apple doing this?" Well, perhaps just because they can. Unless Vista kicks serious butt or Leopard seriously bites, BootCamp is not going to pull current OS X users over to Windows. It may pull a few Windows users over to OS X but not tons. But now that Intel-based Macs can run Windows and it is relatively easy and it does add a lot of value to Macs... why the heck not?

Memory, Loss, Regret

I watch Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind again last night. It's been a while since I've seen it. It really is one of my favorite films but I've had good reason for avoiding it. But I haven't been able to sleep, so I crawled into bed a slipped the DVD into my computer and watched.

I don't think there has been a character that I've related to more than Joel. With in the first few points strike to my core. Do I have anything worth saying? How can I don't be alone when I can't make eye contact with a woman? Why do I fall in love with every woman who shows me the slightest amount of attention?

How is it that things slip so far apart?

And, now, I just want to forget. But I don't. My mind slips across memmories, some sharp glass, others sweet and comforting.

I can't even remember how many times I cried last night. Not hard painful ripping of my soul, but gentle quiet tears.

How much time do I have, how many chances?

The movie ends on a beautiful note, an moment of acceptance. I just can't see that moment right now.



On a brighter note, I will later talk about Me, My MacBook Pro and Loading Windows.

I knew it.

Cheese is good for your sex life.

I suppose it all has to deal with moderation, of course.

Attractin' the ladies

Well, as April arrives many tech-esque oriented websites have decided to try to move beyond men. Many have redesigned their sites.

It appears to have started with Slashdot.
But then it extanded.

Airliners.net
Planet Half-Life
Firebal 20XL

A bit of clue in the tube

This come up all the time: "Male contraceptives."

Besides spreading the responsibility, it would be nice for men to have an option. I realize there are issues. Condoms of course have major benefit (disease and so forth), and what woman wants to put their reproductive roulette in the hand of a man (although the reverse can be true too).

So, news of a study going ahead in India, um, excites me. Ten to fifteen minute procedure, last up to ten years and reversible. Injects a gel into the ol' sperm tube. When you want it reversed, inject something else that dissolves the gel.

Sound great!

But...

In 2002, when enrollment in the Indian study was halted, more than 140 men were already using RISUG. Concern about side effects and insufficiency of safety data caused a temporary suspension of the project. However, expert panels subsequently concluded that the major side effect -- several weeks of non-painful scrotal swelling in about a third of the subjects --was not enough to stop the study.

33% chance of scrotal swelling. Mmmmm.

The power of the customer

Chevy (in some sort of tie in to The Apprentice) has a neat little "edit your own ad" contest over on their website. I suppose you could take it seriously, especially if you actually wanted to win.

But I went my own way. I call it "The Tahoe: Size matters."

Here's one from someone else: "Can't Get Out."

I don't think this is what Chevy was thinking.

Ah, Disney

Yes, this is my second Disney related post but this may be their best short film ever.

Attack Plan!

Bitchin' About Disney... but with respect

Found an interesting blog for those who find amusement parks fascinating. Imagineerebirth.

Time Wasters

It's been awhile, I know.

I have some thoughts that I hope to get down later tonight or tomorrow. Until then go here: Samorost and then Samorost 2.

From the makers of Grand Theft Auto... PONG!

Rockstar Games makes Table Tennis game

This is the most brillant move ever. Here you have Rockstar Games, (in)famous for videogames that are innovative, expansive, massive, complex, with tons of gameplay options. Also games with excessive violence, sex and brutality. So what to they do for their first game on the next gen cconsoles?

Table Tennis. Ping Pong.

Besides the irony (made all so more brillant becaus ethe game is not ironic), it works on lots of levels.
Gives them an entry into the sports game market.
Broadens their brand.
Lets them work on a very simple game on the new gen hardware. Worrying about how to get simple things right as oppposed to try to balance a huge game.
And offering it for a lower price point...
Brillant. Just brilant.

Brokeback

Yes, I know these are getting old quick.
Pointbreak Mountain

Brokeback Redemption

Brokeback Heat

I enjoy these mashups for showing the power of editing and music. And for teaching us that context is everything.

But, also, in a larger view, I find it interesting how the Brokeback Remix Trailer trend is making us re-look at male/male relationships in films, and perhaps in a culture as a whole. On one level these trailers are "humorous," but in there own way they are also touching and sweet.

My Reality T.V. Kiss of Death

(NOTE: You might as well skip this if you don't watch television or reality television. Seriously.)

So Amazing Race has started back up again.
I can't say why I enjoy this show so much. It just hits so many things I love. Travel, games, challenges, culture clashes, personal relationships. Unlike most "reality" television, it is more of a pure contest, less scheming and manipulation. Okay, there is still a lot of manipulation by the producers, but that is part of what intrigues me. How to the editors create an engaging/comprehensible narrative from 11 teams (22 people) running all over the place. They have to establish the relationships within each team and between teams, create tension of the race with pacing, deliver information about the challenges themselves and information about the locations and cultures.

A great example of this is in Sao Paulo, Brazil, while Ray and Yolanda are in the street putting together a motorcycle. A crowd of men gathers, loudly checkin' out Yolanda. Yolanda is oblivious, but you can see Ray fuming but sticking to task. They are working together as a team and working well, but tension is building.

What I enjoy most is watching how Americans experience new cultures in such a haphazard way. I am always amazed by cluelessness and ugliness. Have they watched this show?

Anyway, I always have my favorites. Usually I pick parent/child combos, especially father/sons. No father/son groups this time. There is the mother/daughter team of Wanda and Desiree, who are my third favorites. Desiree is from NYC, and I am usually fascinated by NY teams.

My fourth faves (oddly) are Dani and Danielle, two Staten Island gals in matching pink suits. The seem totally clueless and absolutely positive.

My second faves are BJ and Tyler, who the other teams refer to as "The Hippies." They are your standard iconoclast (horrible word), San Fran, Burning Man, nothing should be taken to seriously type folks. Again I am drawn to teams that are enjoying themselves and enjoying the experience.

And my number one favorites are, of course, David and Lori, the nerd couple. You have to root for the happy nerd couple. And they are from Manhattan, Kansas, so they get points for that.

Now, for the teams I hate. As always, it is the whinny, driven couples with the one person being overly domineering. This year (as usual) it is the males who are jack-asses.

Lake and Michelle, married for 13 years. Lake is clearly "passionate" and "expressive", which means he is going to get angry at every challenge and hoot and holler at every little victory. And most likely snap at his wife at every chance he gets. Two signs they will continue to incur my wrath: (1) Leaving the starting line, Lake doesn't read the clue instructions closely and calls the airlines from a payphone to get reservations (against the rules, in this case). This is the very first clue, minutes after the race has started. When Michelle notices his time wasting mistake and points it out in a particularly snappish way, Lake says, "Yeah, that is a mistake I am partially to blame for." Partially?!? (2) After choosing to build the motorcycle, Michelle questions the choice (and does so in a whinny doubtful way). Lake's response? "DON'T SECOND GUESS ME!" Nice.

Then there is Monica and Joseph (with matching "MO JO" shirts...ick...). Joseph isn't too bad, but he does react badly to Monica's shortcoming: defeatism. As they are getting to the first airport, just after the race has started, she looks like she is on the verge of crying that they won't get on the first flight. If she is going to start to break down at that, I wonder out she'll be the first time they get lost....

My last comment is about the old couple. I love the old couples. Life long bonds, infinite care and love for each other, perspective. But as always, they state that "brains" are their strength and that is what is always their downfall. Last night it was Fran and Barry walking right past the clue box repeatedly.

Chiditarodhttp

So Chicago is having their first shopping cart race on March 4th. First, New York still has the best name. The Chiditarod? Okay...

I do appreciate the food drive aspect. I think that needs to be implemented here. More logistics, but still a good idea.

They don't seem to embracing the sabotage aspect. Or at least they aren't listing it as an actual prize. The only reference to it is in the rules:

Can we try to prevent other teams from winning?
Everyone enjoys some good competition...

Now, I would love to just head up their and witness the event as a C.O.B.R.A. rep, but that is the night of the C.O.B.R.A. party / 2007 planning meeting. Anyone in the NYC area who'd like to show up for that, drop me a line.

Malaysia Bigfoot Watch

I have missed all the news on the Malaysia Bigfoot fever that has been going on. But listening to the BBC last night there was a little mention that the Malaysian government is trying to make it harder for foreigners to go into the jungles to search for the mysterious beast. Not to protect Bigfoot, but to make sure a Malaysian finds him first.

But since the evidence is things like this "footprint" (which seems to indicate that Bigfoot is a 15ft stub-toed chicken), I don't thing he world is going to be missing much.

Mangled Universes

I have to say that this explains a lot.

Mangled Universes

Now, this idea is probably flawed, but it is yet another thing to worry about.

OR it explains how this last year went for many of us.

Ah, blogs

This was sent to me from Papa SixSider: Blog of J.L. Picard.

Funny thing is I was just thinking about how the Bible would read if it was written as a blog.