Did you see it? I wonder if all those who opposed this ad feel silly now. This furor was just as pointless as those on the right throwing a fit over President Obama's address to the school children of America.
Here is a very poor quality version of that ad
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDwHywPk4kI]
Global warming - solved The reclusive Bill Watterson speaks
Want an addicting flash game? I know I'm late to the party, but first-person Tetris is teh awesome
I thoroughly enjoyed this
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hopI32yit8]
I really want an e-book reader. I read at a pretty good clip, not nearly as much as some people, but enough that a Kindle, or a Sony e-reader, or yes, even the stupidly named iPad would be a good investment for me. Twice in the last year I have received, Legally and for free, books in an electronic format. (In both cases they were PDFs) In both cases, I would have liked to read the books but have not. The reason I didn’t read them is that it would take a ream of paper to get them off my screen and I don’t want to sit at a computer to read a book. I should be able to have a more comfortable posture while reading. So far, the body of this post belies the title. I am saying that I want an e-book reader. So what are the reasons why I will not be buying one?
Pay close attention to this, publishers, because I am no the only one who feels this way. (In fact you could easily have learned this lesson from the music publishers, but you won’t) Digital Rights Management ruins everything!
I do not want to lease my books. If I buy a kindle edition of a book, it only works on my kindle. So, if it is stolen, or broken, or lost and I want to replace it with a different brand, or if I choose to get a different device because something newer is better, I would have to buy that book again to read it on the new device.
I want the ability to give a book away. It is not unusual for me to read a book, and then if I enjoy it, pass it along to a friend or family member. There is one book that I have given away 4 copies of in the past 2 years. With DRM, I cannot give that book away.
I want the ability to sell books. I won’t even get into the necessity of used textbooks for college students here. I am only going to address the marketplace of used books. I am a regular at my local used bookstore. I don’t sell everything I read, but many books are simply not worth adding to my library. With a digital book full of DRM I have no option but to keep that book for all time. (Not really, I can actually only keep it as long as I have the compatible device) You received your price for that book already, It should then become my property to do with as I please; even if that includes selling it. And I believe used bookstores should embrace this as well and make marketplaces for selling used e-books.
I fully realize that publishers do not want me to have that power. I get it, if they lock the book down then that means more sales for them. In fact, I may be forced to buy a book many times if I refer to it often in class or periodically reread it. I can only assume that book publishers wish that libraries didn’t exist.
I also understand that publishers are worried about piracy. DRM does not stop piracy. I doubt if it even slows it down. What it does accomplish is making sure that your customers are going to be angry at you, because sooner or later they will want to change devices. I know that downloading a book without paying for it is stealing, and I am not a thief. I will be happy to pay for the books I read. I’ll gladly delete my digital copy of a book that I am selling, but I refuse to pay good money for a book that is locked down.
So readers, do you agree or disagree? Or do you think that the idea of an e-book is stupid
Each month I collect the interesting searches that bring people to my blog and share them with you unedited. They are simply cut-and-pasted exactly as they appeared. Whatever you see in parenthesis is my commentary.
I was a bit hard on the typos this month. But they amuse me
There has been a lot of news already about an ad that hasn’t aired. There have been protests from many groups, discussions on sports-talk radio, and now even Gloria Allred is planning to sue. (BTW – If you have Gloria Allred’s ire, you must be doing something right BTW – Gloria Allred’s Ire WBAGNFARB)
Unless you have been under a rock for the last week, you know that the ad I’m talking about features Tim Tebow and his mother and the story of his birth. No one I have heard commenting has even seen the commercial. The best I can tell, and I haven't seen the commercial either, the message is, “I’m glad I chose not to abort Tim Tebow.”
I have heard it referred to as anti-choice, anti-abortion, and pro-life. I have heard people complain that CBS should not accept any “political” advertisements. My thought however, is that the message of the ad is not inherently political. I don’t believe that anyone will say please make abortion illegal, or that anyone will be vilified. There will merely be the message that in this case abortion would have robbed the world of a Heisman Trophy winner and that abortion is bad. By the way, that is a message I have heard numerous times by those who are strongly pro-choice. Everyone [who doesn’t earn a living from them] wants to reduce the number of abortions. So the message shouldn’t be controversial.
So why is it so controversial? Because Tim Tebow is a Christian and is open about his faith. (I have previously heard debates about whether or not he should be allowed to put Scripture references on his eye black.) This is actually a promise from Jesus, “Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me.” The “persecution” of being so controversial is pretty minor compared to what so many Christians around the world experience.
I know this is one of those topics that makes people want to comment. If you comment, be respectful.
I love fishing, but if I ever reeled in something that looks like this I'd probably freak out. (Probably not gonna happen though since it's nearly extinct) This movie will probably be better than Transformers 2
This cannot be real. But if it is, it's pretty impressive
<rant>With all the talk about Avatar lately I've been wondering why movies count the amount of money they take in rather than actual ticket sales like every other form of entertainment. I mean seriously, records & books count units sold. TV counts ratings, not ad money taken in. Why do movies report money. Of course movies set records for box-office reciepts all the time. Movie prices inflate faster than any product I can think of. </rant>
Finally, somebody listed top movies by ticket sales
This is so brilliant and it is by far the best video I've seen this week. It only has one, but be warned -
it has a swear[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtGSXMuWMR4]
It's less than a week away
And I have been rewatching the series since Christmas. I'm only about halfway thorugh season 3 right now bu watching it again reminds me of just what a great show it is.
Like everyone else I have a list of questions that I hope is answered by the final season. I know that not every single thing I wonder about will be answered, but here are the 10 questions that I feel are most important.
Let me phrase them in the form of What’s the deal with…
So those are my questions. What did I leave out?
Finally, here's a promo to get you fired up.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5XTIZ26KseY]
I have never written a movie review before, but I think the phenomenon that is Avatar deserves some commentary. I realize that there are hundreds of reviews of this movie already online, so why not just add my voice to the noise. After all, isn’t that what a blog is for?
I chose to see Avatar in IMAX 3-D. I did this for a few reasons. Most significantly, I have never seen an IMAX movie before. But also because that is apparently the way Cameron intended the movie to be seen. So I’ll say a few things about the actual viewing experience. First, it was truly immersive. Maybe that’s just because the screen is as big as a house, but it did hold my attention completely. Also the 3-D was impressive. It really gave a depth of field and it had very few of those tricks designed to make me think how neat that the 3D is. I can only think of a couple. Although there was one scene where rocks were flying up and out of the screen. But scenes like that were the exception, not the rule. So it wasn’t distracting after I adjusted to what I was looking at. Also, I had no issues with headaches or motion sickness. For me the screen size and the 3D were enhancements.
Second to the viewing experience, the visuals of the film bear mentioning.
Avatar is visually amazing. That might be an understatement. Nearly everything in the movie was computer generated, but almost all of it looked real. The first movie ever in my life that amazed me visually was Return of the Jedi. I was amazed by that movie as a kid because it made spaceships and lasers and lightsabers look completely convincing. The next movie that had that effect on me was Jurassic Park in which dinosaurs looked completely real. After that technological jump, many movies let me down visually. The Star Wars prequels were all disappointing to me visually because so many of the effects were cheesy or objects that should be “hard” had an ethereal fake look to them. But visually, there was nothing disappointing about Avatar.
The animation of the faces was perfect. There were none of those creepy, dead-eyed, non-emotive faces that have been in similar movies. Everything was perfectly in sync and believable. You see the Na’vi and are convinced that they are there.
I was also somewhat awed by the imagination that thought up the plethora of animals, trees, flowers and landscapes that made up the fictional moon. The movie really is amazing artistically. It is hard to believe that the artistry came from the same mind that created such gems as “unobtanium”
Now we move on to the plot. There is absolutely nothing original about the story. You have seen it all before. Somewhere I heard it described this way Thundercats + Smurfs + Pantheism = Avatar. That is a pretty accurate description. There is also this famous summary where all the nouns from the movie Pocahontas are replaced with ones from Avatar. That is a good summary. The message; Don’t destroy the world. I know it is possible to make a movie both visually and dramatically compelling, just see the Lord of the Rings trilogy.
All movies have a worldview and all movies convey some message. But I have never felt bashed over the head with a message the way I was in Avatar. It is the most overtly religious movie I’ve ever seen. (I’ll grant you the independent church movies like Fireproof) The entire planet has a consciousness and so destroying a tree was tantamount to murder. There was nothing subtle about it. The pantheism screams out from this movie.
Overall I enjoyed it, and I’m glad I went to see Avatar. I am especially glad I saw it in the IMAX 3-D. However, I’m not going back. I don’t anticipate ever watching it again. The visuals are extremely compelling but not the story.
I for one am proud of the influence Martin Luther King Jr. on this country. Enjoy this video of his final speech autotuned. This autotune is not for comedy, but for tribute, and it is great. Also for my Southern Baptist readers, I recommend this article
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FbqNaIRW9vY]
I am ashamed to say I missed one of these A headline that headline writers dream about
I like fishing, but I've never caught anything that can be measured in Miley Cyruses (This story would be better if it was less Brittish. Lots of these celebrities are unfamiliar to me)
Obvious headlines - "Females more likely to test for Women's diseases"
These are awesome - Snakes on a Plane for the Atari 2600
I do not watch American Idol, but it continues to produce stars. Like this 62 year old Hip-Hop pioneer
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FeEGKKlszrQ]
Theodicy is a theology of evil. More specifically, it is a defense of God in light of the existence of evil. This post is not the place for me to expound upon my theodicy. I will say, however, that evil and suffering of all kinds (tsunami, terrorists, or tetanus) all exist because we live in a fallen world. I do not believe that any evil actions/events need a further explanation. Suffering happens.
Why blog about this today? Because of the earthquake in Haiti. We all have seen the pictures (the best I have seen are here) and they are heartbreaking. For so many of us we feel the need to understand why. The answer is, because we live in a fallen world. Genesis 3 makes it clear that the earth was broken by the fall and in a broken world, horrible things happen.
If you have a different theodicy, that answer may not be satisfactory. And for someone who does not have faith in Christ, or maybe doesn’t even believe in God, these events bring up questions. That is why every time some great disaster happens, some journalist asks some famous preacher why and said preacher gives some answer.
This time around that answer happens to have come from Pat Robertson. He wasn’t asked a direct question, but he felt the need to justify God by explaining why this happened. So he blamed the earthquake on the Haitian people. Robertson’s answer stems from his theodicy.
I don’t have time to go into why his answer is presumptuous at best and superstitious at worst.
For my Christian readers I will say this, you need to think today about why you believe evil exists because one day it will hit close to home.
If you are interested, I will write more about this next week.
Dear Transportation Security Administration Must we learn everything the hard way?
I don’t want to stand in a security line for 2 hours.
Also, I don’t particularly want to explode.
Fortunately these things do not have to be mutually exclusive. There is a solution to this problem. There are probably multiple solutions.
So far, however, the solution to our safety issue has not been a solution at all. So far what we have done is reactionary overreaction. (That is a phrase that just rolls off the tongue.) I suppose it is a problem inherent within the democratic process. All of our people in charge depend on being elected, which is good. However, it motivates them to make a show. What is important to politicians is that, even if nothing is actually accomplished, it looks like something important has changed so those depending on votes can be lauded for their efforts. Even in the face of very good evidence that what has been done is ineffective, politicians laud themselves because perception is much more important than reality when you need votes from a largely uninformed public.
In the case of airport security, however I think the show has actually made us less safe.
Borrowing from a recent conversation and this article by Cathal Kelly in the Toronto Star I would like to make three suggestions.
First, share information. No need to rehash all the mistakes from the underwear bomber. The fact is, if there was intergovernmental communication this wouldn’t have happened. There are probably 1000 programmers who could develop a sharing system that is both simple and effective. Abdulmutallab, the underwear bomber, could have been stopped by a FBI/CIA/DHS version of Digg.
Second, look at people. I don’t mean through the body scanner, I mean look at their behavior. Right now there is only one real point of contact in an airport, the person who looks at your boarding pass and driver’s license. And that’s not a very careful look because of the long line of people behind you. The other people in the security clearance are focused on the bags, facilitating shoe removal, and patting down Granny. One thing I know is this. If I was gifted at card counting, every casino in Las Vegas would know who I was as soon as I walked in the door. They would certainly keep track of me. And although all those casinos are in competition (allegedly, our government agencies are not) they would all know me. I understand that casinos are better funded than the DHS, but safe flights are much more important.
I’m not too overly worried about the body scanner because I know that nobody really wants to see me naked. In fact, having been to the beach, I know that we really don’t want to see almost anybody naked.
Third, crowds are inherently dangerous. Here is a quote from the above article “Lines are staggered. People are not allowed to bunch up into inviting targets for a bomber who has gotten this far.” Bombing 200 people standing in line at a security checkpoint is just as effective as blowing up the plane.
There needs to be some sort of speed pass system for frequent flyers. That alone would help alleviate much of the congestion at the lines. I ahve flown 6 times in the last 5 years so this suggestion will only help me by clearing out those people who really pile up the miles. But it only makes sense for there to be a system in place for those people.
I’ll end with a slightly more upbeat note. I actually believe that there is almost no danger of a hijacking on board an airplane today because of the events of 9/11. A plane full of passengers realizes that you cannot stab them all into submission. So the box cutters used in those attacks will not work. The cockpits are safer than before, and the presence of air marshals has helped.
This story is just so amazingly terrible. Also, I believe it could easily happen in the US The 00 decade in logos and icons. This thing is pretty neat
Of course everyone has seen this video this week
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2XymdmLQhE] Here's an interview with the lady who is now famous for it.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWR0_0YaEzI]
Maybe because it's so cold the energy from the creative part of my brain is being diverted to the part that keeps me comfortable. Or maybe I feel like I should be hibernating
Here's this week's high so far.
I Probably should have called this post "Jeremy Complains about the Weather"
I have been disconnected from the web for most of this week so this is actually something I saw on the web way back on Dec 17 2009. This video enhances the stupidest common thing on all the procedural shows. You can't make an image where there is nothing. At least on Flash Forward after 3 weeks, they admitted that they couldn't improve a security video image very much.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vxq9yj2pVWk]
Even though it's only Thursday, I skipped best web junk last Friday. This is a compilation of my favorite links and videos from my Friday posts. Enjoy Here is a hilarious and well-written rant about a flight on Virgin airlines.
They do totally look alike and so does this guy Joseph from my computer class last quarter
Best flash game of the year My best is 25 days
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5vrtZKvxWM]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X88Yi4EBTNQ]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAfQwDizpRo]
My favorite video of the year
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4wzmdHc5GIs]
[polldaddy poll=2397332]
These are my predictions for 2010. Feel free to make your own predictions in the comments
Last year I wrote a post making predictions for the new year. This is how I did. The Dow Jones and the price of gas will both be higher at the end of 2009 than at the beginning. The recession however, will continue through the year. Currently the Dow is up, and gas is up almost a dollar. Not sure how to determine if the recession is still on G..I Joe will be the highest grossing movie of the year. Just to hedge my bets I’ll say Transformers 2, Harry Potter, and Star Trek will all be in the top 15. I did okay on this one, they were all in the top 15. But GI Joe was #15 Transformers & Harry Potter were #1 & 2, and Star Trek was #6. Blu-ray player sales will still stink, though they will obviously improve over what they are now. They have improved, but “stink” is not a very measurable term so I don’t know how to call this one. I guess I probably would say I got it right The digital TV transition will go smoothly with no major hitches across the country Yep Twitter will catch on with “the kids” and people will see its usefulness Nope This blog will not reach 1000 comments My total comments are at 602 Someone in my youth group will become a Christian Yep I will weigh less at the end of 09 than at the beginning I weigh pretty much the same
In the comments, Ryan made the following predictions: UNC will win the National Championship. (Basketball) - happened UNC will get to a BCS Bowl. - Nope Carolina Panthers will win the Super Bowl. – They are out of this year’s playoffs. I assume Ryan didn’t mean the 09 Super Bowl which was won by the Steelers. Either way it was a bad prediction I will get a girlfriend. – Didn’t happen I will post 1000 comments on this blog – definitely didn’t happen
Geneva commented on my predictions: I agree with your Dow and Gas predictions, although, I think that is a gimme. – Got it I believe the recession is going to bottom out in the summer. – Still don’t know how to call this one I think Transformers 2 will be the number 1 earner. I also predict that all the comic book fanboys will be very sad with 2009s comic book movies compared to 2008s. – Bingo on Transformers I think a Blu-ray player will drop for less that 200 bucks, and people will start converting. – Christmas saw a lot of sub $150 players but people really haven’t started switching en masse I think the digital transition has already gone smoothly. – Transition day was June 12 so I don’t know what this comment was about “The Kids” won’t embrace Twitter. Myspace will end up making a spoof of Twitter, and they will embrace that. – The Kids didn’t start Twittering but the Facebook live feed is basically a cluttered Twitter clone, so that was a good prediction You will get a reasonable amount of comments. – Uh…comments were pretty far off of last year Agree - Yep I Believe you Will! - Nope
Tomorrow...My predictions for 2010
It is Christmas, enjoy time with your families today. And here's this video posted for the second year in a row. Consider it your Best Web Junk for the week. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Fe11OlMiz8]