Time to place my votes in the Blog Project:Three Final List!
Three Things to Do Before You Click Publish (and One Thing to Do After) by Jacqueline
3+1 Things Blogger’s Should Never Ever Do. by Arpit
3 Reasons Why I dont Like GMail by Nirmal
Top 3 Ways to Avoid a Crowd at Disney World by Winnetta
3 really simple ways to speed up your blog by Hans
Make your WordPress blog more Search Engine friendly by Shankar
There ya go folks, enjoy! For the original site, go here.
I got an email today from Dell about their new small business line, Vostro. Not quite sure what the name has to do with anything, but I don’t rightly care.
The whole point of the new line is to be geared to the small business, and in doing so, they have made two very tasty offers.
30-Day Money-Back Guarantee on hardware purchases.
If you’re not satisfied with your system within 30 days, just return it to Dell with no restocking or shipping fees.
I would need to see this in action to believe it, but I love the idea.
No Trialware.
Vostro systems come without annoying trialware, so you only get the software you want.
OH THANK GOD! For those unfamiliar with it, “trialware” is all that annoying software that comes on your PC when you purchase it . They try to suck you in with their tasty “30 Day Free Trials!” that you always forget to cancel and end up giving them some money for. I despise trialware, and this alone would make me consider going with the, oddly named, Vostro line.
Two lessons here for the world:
This is a good day for PC users, hopefully we will see more of this happening.
I often rail against the RIAA for their gestapo-style tactics against so called “pirates” (you know… like suing people who don’t even own a computer and then trying to gain illegal access to her child), but they also take out their stupidity on their supposed “friends”.
A while back I wrote about how they wanted to up the royalties for terrestrial radio, well, now they want more money out of XM and Sirius satellite radio if they are to merge. The reasoning is that both companies have invested in technologies that would allow people to record specific songs from their broadcasts. With this in mind, the RIAA feels they should have to pay both performance and distribution royalties as they will become like digital download companies.
Well, there’s a couple of problems with this reasoning (surprise, surprise).
- The companies INVESTED… not released, INVESTED. Nothing may ever come of it, so they are being penalized for merely pondering something?
- Did the RIAA ever collect royalties from radio station for people at home recording music from over the air? Nope.
- Does the RIAA forget that people get exposed to new music via air play? Are they trying to kill off radio completely?
I swear, they will soon just come door-to-door and go “Give us money… because we exist”. I am so flabbergasted by this group time, and time again. Is there no one to finally say “ENOUGH! You have enough damned money!”?
The other day I made my entry in to the Daily Blog Tips Blog Project:Three contest. The final list of entrants is now up, be sure to check them all out! I will be voting for my faves in the next day or two.
I watched the majority of Live Earth, and while most musical acts stuck to the core message of fighting global warming, there was one that seemed to miss the point completely; the Smashing Pumpkins.
Towards the end of their set, Billy Corgan, lead singer and founder, took a moment to promote their new album, Zeitgeist
Really, Billy, you felt this was the best venue to not only self-promote, but to also scold two billion people watching you on television around the world? I didn’t hear anyone else mentioning their latest projects. I didn’t hear anyone else taking this time to bring up online piracy. Nope, that was just you.
No matter what your stance on global warming is, it was the central point of the entire event, and of all the acts I watched, you were the only one I saw do this. Good job, Billy, really, way to show you got the whole point of the day. If you didn’t have anything to say about it, then just thank every one for coming out, suggest they take some literature home with them, don’t berate the entirety of the viewing public for the actions of what amounts to only a small percentage of the audience.
It just struck me as fairly classless.
Watching Live Earth on Bravo, and one of the commercials caught my attention. Holly Hunter was sitting there playing with an iPod and the message was if you purchase your music as a digital download, you save energy and pollution as there’s no transporting the music to the stores.
Well, yes, that’s true. I am all for as much of a green existence as possible, such as using CFL light bulbs, but this commercial just seemed oddly out of place to me. While most of them have been about recycling, did no one consider the economic impact of this line of thought? Yes, less pollution, but… less CD manufacturing, less hours for truckers, lower sales for the retailers… it just seemed very out of place with the other tips they’ve sprinkled through out this broadcast. The music industry is “struggling” (it’s open to interpretation), and now people are saying the solution is essentially to put music stores out of business?
As part of Daily Blog Tips Blog Project:Three contest, I thought I would give a short list, three items to be precise, of ways to get me to not want to return to your blog. Consider these helpful hints to keep your most precious commodity, your loyal readers, coming back.
1. In-Text Advertising – There is nothing I hate more than seeing those infernal double lines under random words in a blog post. Don’t get me wrong, I have no problem with monetizing your blog, I do it myself, but I think anything that pops up and obstructs your view of the actual post is a bad idea. I have never once clicked on one of those ads, and I never will. Your content is king; an ad popping up and covering your content makes no sense.
3. Frequency of updates – If you don’t update frequently, why should I bother coming back to check? If you can’t take the time to make an update, why should I continue checking for one?
Just a few tips to make sure your readers have an easy, and pleasant, time reading your blog.
There is a new piece of software out I am dying for called Bandwagon. So far it’s only for Macs, but what it does is for $24 a year, it backs up your iTunes library to an off-site server of your choice, such as Dreamhost. Mind you, if you are a current Mac user, and you do not have Bandwagon yet, they have a killer deal going on right now until July 31st. I’ll just copy what they say:
New customers:
* Purchase Bandwagon (important: use dh101 as your coupon code when purchasing)
* Mention this offer on your blog, twitter or pownce account plus post us a trackback or comment on this blog postExisting customers:
* Just mention this offer on your blog, twitter or pownce account plus post us a trackback or comment on this blog postOnce you complete the tasks above, send an email to dh at ridethebandwagon dot com and we will verify you as a customer. We will then send the DreamHost coupon code worth $119.40 within 24 to 48 hours.
Let Bandwagon bask in the glory of 148GB of free DreamHost space
So, for $24 you’ll get the Bandwagon service AND a year of Dreamhost… wow.
So, why do I care since I don’t use Macs yet? Funny you should ask! Bandwagon has said if we can get 500 signatures on this petition, they’ll build a version for Windows. I beg of you, I plead of you, think of how awesome this would be for those of us with huge iTunes collections. I’m at 116gb, I have more than enough room on my current Dreamhost account to save all that, I WANT THIS SOFTWARE! So, please… think of the children, SIGN THE PETITION!
Oh, this story is a killer. If states want to pass laws saying that all their local government buildings must use American flags made in America, fine, knock yourselves out. But, there are two problems with the rest of the story.
First off, we joined the World Trade Organization. As the story states, under those terms, we can not treat foreign made goods less favorably. Love or hate the WTO, I do not believe we should break agreements we made. That’s just me though. This could lead to much larger problems if any other member was to challange us.
Second is the Minnesota law specifically.
Minnesota has passed the strongest measure, a new law that goes into effect at year’s end requiring every Old Glory sold in state stores to be domestically produced. Violations are a misdemeanor, punishable by up to a $1,000 fine and 90 days in jail.
… jail time? You’re kidding me, right? JAIL TIME?!? Did we suddenly have an explosion of new jails I am unaware of, and we no longer have an over-crowding problem in our penal system? And can’t you just picture that first day conversation?
Inmate #1 “What you in for?”
Inmate #2 “Murder one. You?”
Inmate #1 “Selling an American flag made in China.”
Inmate #2 *scoots as far away as possible* “You can have any bunk you want, man!”
Seriously… jail time… for selling an American flag… does anyone see the hypocrisy here, or is that just me?
Maybe it’s just me, but I kind of LIKE the idea of foreign made flags. Think about it, someone working away in some foreign factory, spending each day assembling the symbol of our country, to me it’s like a silent ambassador.
Back in April I discussed the The New York Rescue Workers Detoxification Project program being run by The Church Of Scientology. In that post I quoted a letter written by a Steven Mona that was printed in The New York Post defending the program. My only comment about Mr. Mona’s letter was:
I hope it is helping, I really do, but the Church of Scientology is not who I would turn to for help. They are a cult, nothing more, and their methodologies have been called into question numerous times.
Well, Mr. Mona found my blog entry and saw fit to leave a comment on that post:
Steve Mona said,
on July 4th, 2007 at 9:25 pm
Since you saw fit to repost my letter to the NY Post I thought I’d add a few comments. I still know nothing about Scientology almost a year after I started and finished the detox program. I’m just wondering though. If Long Island Jewish Hospital was curing 9-11 Rescue Workers would you be worried they might be handing out the talmud? If St. Vincent’s Hospital was curing rescue workers would you be worried they might be giving us new testaments? As a member of a religion that is often misunderstood and maligned (I’m Wiccan) I can tell you one thing for sure, religious bigotry is religious bigotry. Disliking the religion you are maligning doesn’t give you carte blanc to saw what you want. You’re a bigot, simple as that.
I would like it to be noted I never attacked Mr. Mona, and I have no intention of attacking him, and he does raise some valid points.
First off, let’s address the program. On an entry from two days later, I talked about the program again. It specifically discussed this picture from the Detox Program website and how the program caused colored sweat and glass to come out of relief workers pores. My friend, Nikki, who works as a trace evidence collector in a CSI unit, left this comment bringing up all sorts of scientific questions (please excuse Nikki’s language… she got a bit… passionate about this, and all science for that matter):
First off… where are my independent studies!? All of this is only done by scientologists. And without verification by peers, this is not any sort of reliable science. (Fuckers! Scientology implies SCIENCE. I hate them, you know.)
Secondly, I actually beleive that whatever the hell they are giving these people to ingest as “vitamins†contains some sort of water soluable artificial dye. Eccrine (it’s a kind of sweat gland) chromhidrosis is a real medical issue and although rare, it occurs because of ingestion of dyes or drugs, or even occupational exposure to copper. So, colored sweat isn’t entirely out of the realm of possibility. (Niether are bowel movements that are blue or green for that matter – ever drink kool-aid or eat cotton candy or a lot of asparagus?)
Combined with the niacin they’re taking, which is actually a liver toxin in high doses, and the fact that they are MAKING them sweat through exercise and the 5 hour saunas… duh. I imagine you can force colored sweat with the right cocktail.
Niacin also causes skin burns which are used to con their victims into believing that the reddening of their skin is radiation, drugs, and toxins being purged from their system.
Toxins. Toxins being purged. Oh, you mean like, niacin?? That toxin? The one that youâ’re giving them? Right-o.
As for the glass shards, I’m sure that’s more bullshit. Ever sweat so much and become dehydrated enough that you form salt crystals on your skin? That’s my best idea so far… No one’s said how large these glass shards are. Although, I would expect that first responders whould have sweat some in their lifetime and put two and two together on that one.
It’s all bullshit. How can people be so blind? I mean, I know that they’re hoping for a cure to their ailments, but this is just ridiculous. They could seriously be hurting many of our country’s heroes!
Well, Mr. Mona, any answers to this? Have you researched Scientology and their history of abuse? I highly recommend Operation Clambake as a good starting point. Have you found any scientific studies backing up the programs claims?
Your examples of comparing Long Island Jewish Hospital and St. Vincent’s to the Detox program is like comparing apples and oranges. The two you mentioned use proven science, and not some questionable methods without any hard science backing it up. Yes, I am fully aware of holistic healing, but most of those are ancient teachings, not something that involves sweating for five hours.
Would I have a problem with them handing out their corresponding religious teachings? No. Why? Because they aren’t a made up “religion”, created by a hack science fiction writer. They are not religions that lock people in hotel rooms and starve them to death. They are not religions that charge tens of thousands of dollars so you can reach a new level. They are not religions that say in their introduction videos that not following their religions is akin to going home and shooting yourself in the head.
Scientology is a cult. End of story. They are only a “church” in the sense they filed the proper paperwork with the government to achieve tax exempt status.
I would also point you back to the original post. I clearly said that Scientology may not be being preached, I also specifically said to you that I hoped it was helping you. However, considering the sordid past of Scientology, any activity they take up is immediately suspect to me, and the claims of this program definitely reek of BS.
If an organization has a history of questionable deeds, wouldn’t you also question any new activities they undertake? This has NOTHING to do with religious bigotry, this has to do with a group who, since its inception, has used questionable tactics in every aspect of its operation. If they were a coalition of Oompa-Loompas, I would still speak out against them. This has nothing to do with being a “religious bigot”, it has to do with I don’t appreciate a group using the brave men and women who responded on 9/11 as a PR tool to improve their standing in society.
Again, Mr. Mona, if you feel better, great, but I wished you, personally, nothing but the best. Coming to my blog and calling me a “religious bigot” though is not appreciated. You have your opinions, I have mine. I’ve done my research over several years, and the entry covered both bases. I stand by the entry, and will continue to do so.
And one last note, something you said I want to address directly:
Disliking the religion you are maligning doesn’t give you carte blanc to saw what you want.
Um… *looks up at the URL… and the header on the page* That… seems to be my name up there… at least last time I checked it was my name. So, yes, I can say what I want here as long as falls inside the lines of the law.
I shall spend this July 4th doing… I think nothing. Maybe write… and take care of the dogs… I’m sure that’s patriotic somehow!
Well, the day has come. After nearly a year of whining, fearing, and dreading, the Transformers movie has been unleashed on the world. I know what you’re all waiting for, was it as I bad as I expected?
No.
It was worse.
This is totally ignoring the changes from the cartoon, the toys, the comic books, and everything else, this is judging it simply as a movie, and to be blunt, it is a giant mess. Poorly shot, a thread bare script, zero character development, and even poor make-up! There are several embryos of good ideas here that quickly get killed off by taking the movie in a totally different direction at a moments notice.
This is a typical Michael Bay film in some ways, and in other ways, it almost feels like he was overwhelmed by the enormity of the property. It appears he wanted to focus on the human aspect of the story so that the audience could relate to the story more, but his human characters come off as more caricatures and archetypes than the robots did. Characters are defined by one to two lines of dialogue at most, and are disposable and interchangeable. Even though a good chunk of the movie is devoted to the humans, they get the lions share of the first hour, you never care about them. You see some characters die a bloody death that have been there since the opening shots of the credits, and you couldn’t care less they are gone.
When all else fails, they added more characters! Yes, what would a movie with aliens, even giant robots, be without a “We-know-better-than-anyone-else” top secret government organization? Oh yeah, we had one, a group named Sector 7. Why not just make them part of the Defense Department since we already had those characters involved? Instead, John Turturro comes into the film as the gung-ho, pain-in-the-butt government agent. The poor guy is wasted, and he plays it so over-the-top, it’s downright painful to watch.
Then there’s Megan Fox as Mikaela, the hot bodied teenage girl that Shia LaBeouf’s Sam Witwicky is trying desperately to impress. Now, when we meet her, she’s the stereotypical girl who dates the captain of the football team, but just happens to have been taught cars by her dad. Okay, bit thin, but no problem. However, once Sector 7 is brought in, Agent Simmons informs Sam that his little girlfriend has a juveniele record, and her dad was a car thief. That’s how she learned cars. Um… the other explanation wasn’t enough? You had to muddy the waters, and take up even more time, by adding a shady past to her? What purpose did it serve but to burn more screen time? Yes, she hot wires a tow truck at the end, but she could have known that from the first explanation, you didn’t need to waste more time with a pointless story aspect.
It may seem like a small thing, but it is just one example of many I could give of how this movie wasted valuable time on silly matters that did nothing to further the story. Easily a half-hour could have been cut from this film and you wouldn’t have even noticed. As it was, there was an obvious cut scene earlier in the film between Sam and Mikaela that was missing as Mikaela thanks Sam for the fun time… that we have no clue what she’s referring to.
So what about the technical aspects, the true stars of the film? Well, I mentioned make-up earlier, which does qualify in my book, and all I will say is I would love to know why Sam and Mikaela looked oily in every single shot they’re in. Even before the fights, you just want to take a wash cloth to their faces in every scene.
As for the robots themselves, the supposed stars of the film… they’re a dismal failure. At times, they look impressive as all get out, but in fight scenes, due to all the dark coloring on all aspects of the majority of them, it just becomes a big ball of black. You can’t tell who’s who unless it’s Bumblebee or Optimus Prime in the fight as they are the only ones with distinctive colors. Otherwise, your guess was as good as anyone’s as to who was fighting who in the big fights.
And their characterizations are just pathetic. Jazz and Ratchet get next to no lines, Ironhide seems to whine a lot. As for the Decepticons, they get it even worse. Megatron doesn’t show up until the end, Starscream barely speaks, Barricade is just brute force, Frenzy will make you want to kill him, Bonecrusher really only has one scene, Devestator just rolls through, Scorponok doesn’t seem to have a reason to exist except to have one fight, Blackout barely spoke… they are more set dressing with no real personalities.
There were times I could feel a good Transformers movie trying to break out, it really was there under all this mess. I could feel that child-like giddyness of seeing toys and characters I loved as a child in a real world setting. The arrival of the Autobots, the Autobots escorting Bumblebee with the Allspark, even the scene of the Autobots hiding from Sam’s dad was good. Notice though, these are all scenes focusing on the Autobots, not on the one-dimensional human characters. If someone had reminded Michael Bay the movie was supposed to be about the actual Transformers, I think he would have gotten a lot further.
It really failed on every mark though. Even the humor was just a mess and badly timed. And it also led to me finally throwing my hands up. All I’ll say is it involves Bumblebee and lubricant… you’ll know it when you see it. I threw my hands up literally, and heavily pondered walking out. It was just that bad.
I know that no matter what I say, people will still see this movie in droves, but for me, it’s more about pure laziness and sloppiness that angers me the most about this production. It appears they knew they had a money maker on their hands, so why bother with putting in actual effort and turning out a quality, well rounded, production?
