Scripting for the Arrested Development has officially begun.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Arrested Development series creator Mitch Hurwitz and co-executive producer James Vallely havebegun writing the script for the long delayed movie.  Mr. Hurwitz has said in the past that this  wouldn’t happen until all of the main cast had agreed to return, so this seems to confirm that everyone is finally in place.

Jason Bateman, Michael Cera, David Cross, Will Arnett, Alia Shawkat, Portia de Rossi and Jeffrey Tambor all appear ready to return, and filming is expected to start in the spring of 2010.  Scheduling may be the only problem as Arnett is preparing a new series for Fox, Bateman is committed to Hancock 2 (blech … this sequel didn’t need to happen) and Cera has multiple upcoming projects.

No release date has been mentioned as of yet, but if the spring filming date does happen, a late 2010/early 2011 release date seems likely.

I leave you with one of my absolute favorite jokes from the series.

October 5th, 1969 changed the face of comedy history for it was the day the world was given Monty Python’s Flying Circus.

I honestly don’t know where comedy would be today without Eric Idle, Graham Chapman, Terry Gilliam, John Cleese, Terry Jones and Michael Palin.  These six men pushed the boundaries of taste, logic and even the basic structure of comedy to limits people couldn’t have even dreamed of.  If you ask just about any person working in comedy today, they will list Monty Python as one of their key influences, and rightly so.

For just as many people who love them, they’re are those who don’t “get it”, and I can honestly respect that, their particular brand of humor wasn’t for everyone.

I honestly can’t remember which skit I saw first, I just know it was in the late 1970′s and I was dumbstruck at the insanity of it even at the young age.  (remember, I was born in ’71)  I had already been watching Saturday Night Live since it debuted in ’75, and even at those young ages I could see how wildly different this British comedy was.  You weren’t sure if you were supposed to laugh or scratch your head, but in those early years I just laughed myself silly.

Over the years as I saw every sketch 50 times or more, I came to appreciate the show on so many more levels, and I also came to realize how it influenced just about everything we see around us today when it comes to comedy.  These men were, and are, brilliant (R.I.P. Graham), and comedy lovers everywhere owe them a debt of gratitude.

I’ve gathered up a few of my favorite skits from the Official Monty Python YouTube Channel, but I always encourage you to check out the source material.  Sadly the channel doesn’t have nearly all of my favorites (Dead Parrot, Upper Class Twit of the Year, Spam, Spanish Inquisition and so on).  After the BS I have been dealing with all day over the FTC, this was a welcome post to write, as I found I still laughed and smiled at every sketch I have posted below.

Every Sperm is Sacred (from The Meaning of Life)

Ministry of Silly Walks

Lumberjack Song

Stoning (from Life of Brian)

Black Knight (from The Holy Grail)

Always Look On The Bright Side of Life (from Life of Brian)

In a break from the normal Daily Edition format of just two of the Cynical Bastards taking on an issue, both Steven Hodson and Mark ‘Rizzn’ Hopkins join me today to tackle the subject of the FTCs attack on bloggers.

Yes, I edited the title of the episode, “Anyone thinking the FTC blogger rules are good are f***wads” because I opted to avoid the F-word in my title, but the exact quote, that came from my very own lips in the episode is that I said “f***tards”, and I stand by that.  If you agree with what the FTC has done, you are insanely short sighted and have zero ability to grasp the scope of what this foretells.

FTC Publishes Final Guides Governing Endorsements, Testimonials

FTC to Bloggers: Disclose Freebies or Face $11,000 Fine – ReadWriteWeb

FTC Values Sponsored Conversations at $11,000 Apiece. – TechCrunch

FTC Launches New Guidelines For Blogs – StarterTech

FTC Media Roundup: The Good, the Bad and the Indifferent – SiliconANGLE

FTC says bloggers must disclose payments and freebies when reviewing products or risk being fined $16,000 – Orlando Sentinel

Bloggers Must Disclose Payments for Reviews – New York Times

FTC to Fine Bloggers up to $11,000 for Not Disclosing Payments – Mashable

FTC regulates our speech – Jeff Jarvis

[Special] CobWEBs Daily Podcast: Anyone thinking the FTC blogger rules are a good thing are fuckwads – Shooting at Bubbles

The FTC brings out the nut crackers and centers out bloggers – The Inquisitr

Please do yourselves a favor and research this situation for yourself, and if you disagree with us, tell us so, but don’t be surprised if we call you a F***tard.

The Federal Trade Commission has made the first steps towards a scary, scary precedent, and if you aren’t careful, you could be next.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has updated its Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in advertising for the first time since 1980.  The new additions to the guides include endorsements by consumers, experts, organizations, and celebrities, as well as disclosing of “material connections” between advertisers and endorsers.  In plain English, this means that if you get paid to talk about an item, or you receive it for free, you must disclose those situations wherever you talk about them online.

Well, that is if you talk about it on the Internet, if you do the same in a magazine or newspaper, then you’re perfectly fine and don’t have to say a word.

You see, for years newspapers and magazines have received free items to review, but they have never been required to disclose the arrangement.  Do you really think movie reviewers pay to go all those movies?  Do book reviewers pay for the books they receive?  No, they don’t, but for some reason it is important that people know that those of us on the Internet who receive similar freebies are obligated to tell you because … well … we’re not really sure why, but if we don’t we could be facing fines of up to $11,000 per incident.

I have already written about this today at Tech.BLORGE.com and StarterTech.com, as well as having just recorded a podcast with Mark ‘Rizzn’ Hopkins and Steven Hodson about it that I will be posting later, and I have never thrilled to reusing a subject, but this is just too important to not be everywhere possible.  The StarterTech article in particular lists my major reservations over this, but it can all be summarized as I fear the precedent it sets.  It starts here, where does it go next?

My father asked me why I was so upset about this today as I don’t do reviews typically and it would have little to no impact on me, and I pointed him to one of my all time favorite quotes:

First they came for the communists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a communist;
Then they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist;
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a trade unionist;
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew;
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak out for me.

Pastor Martin Niemöller (1892–1984)

This speaks to First Amendment issues, and is actually why I imagine this could end up being challenged in the courts at some point, but for now it is just frightening.  The FTC thinks they are helping the American people, but this leads to one of Mark Hopkins’ favorite quotes:

The nine most terrifying words in the English language are, “I’m from the government and I’m here to help.”

Ronald Reagan

If you don’t speak out against this, then where will they go next?

The third trailer for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 aired tonight on television, and of course that means it showed up online pretty quickly afterwards.

While I’m primarily about playing the online portion of this game, there is no denying that this single player footage looks astounding. The scene of the guys going up the stairs in the shadows looks so close to real life that it is almost creepy.

And it certainly looks like the fight comes to the United States this time … whoa.

Come on Nov. 10th, hurry up and get here already!

In case you missed the other videos, here they are.

Modern Warfare 2 Teaser Footage

Modern Warfare 2 Trailer

Modern Warfare 2 Multiplayer Features Unveiled

Up to 30 articles this week … I remember when I used to stress over writing one a month when I worked for magazines.

Photo.BLORGE.com

• Samsung SCH-W880 is a camera with a phone it, not a cameraphone
• Fujifilm launches FinePix Real 3D System in the USA

SeanPAune.com

• President Obama Looking To Extend School Hours
• A Nightmare On Elm Street Trailer
• CobWEBs Daily Edition – This could awkward if overheard in a grocery checkout
• 2000th Post
• CobWEBs Daily Edition – It’s all Steve Jobs’ fault
• Rumor: Comcast Buying NBC Universal For $35 Billion
• CobWEBs Daily Edition – Behavioral ads – an itch I can’t scratch, Mark not so much
• Michael Bay Announces Production On Transformers 3; Fans Weep
• CobWEBs Daily Edition – Scoble shocks the tech blogosphere – Film at 11
• Scattercast Episode 63: Why Do We Always Reinvent The Wheel?
• David Letterman Victim Of Extortion Over Affairs With Staffers
• Man Arrested In Erin Andrews Peephole Video Case

SiliconANGLE.com

• Mobile Monday: Mobile App News for Week of September 20th

SitePoint.com

• 11 Domain Name Generators & Search Tools

StarterTech.com

• Spam Email Still Generating Revenue
• Apple’s App Store Downloads Top Two Billion
• Google And Rocky Mountain Bank Reach Agreement Over Mis-Sent Email
• Google Says Mis-Sent Email From Rocky Mountain Bank Was Never Read
• Top Posts For September
• Time Warner Wants To Start A ‘Hulu’ For Magazines
• CDC Predicts Swine Flu Could Bring The Internet To Its Knees

Tech.BLORGE.com

• Rumors circulate that Apple is about to refresh the iMac and MacBook lines
• Xerox purchases Affiliated Computer Services for $6.4 billion
• First free city-wide Wi-Fi network to shut down
• Rumors around the Apple Tablet pick up even more steam
• Cisco purchasing TANDBERG for $3 billion in cash
• Fox fires legal volley back at DVD kiosk vendor Rebbox
• Indian government pondering blocking Skype

The person behind the now infamous Erin Andrews peephole video has not only been discovered, but he is now in custody.

Back in July of this year, controversy erupted over the Erin Andrews peephole video that revolved around a popular female ESPN correspondent being filmed naked in her hotel room through a peephole.  At the time there was no indication of who had shot the video, but authorities did begin looking into it.

CNN is reporting that 48-year-old Michael David Barrett was arrested yesterday at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago, Il on a charge of interstate stalking.  It seems Mr. Barrett followed Ms. Andrews to at least two different hotels, and at a hotel in Nashville, TN he checked in after her and requested a room adjacent to hers.  It appears that this is where the video was shot through an altered peep hole.

It seems Mr. Barrett had originally intended to sell the multi-part video to celebrity gossip site TMZ.com, and in the end it was employees of that very site that assisted in tracking down the man.

If convicted of the charge, Mr. Barrett faces up to five years in a federal prison.

There is no word of any comment from Ms. Andrews.

It would seem that David Letterman has done some “creepy things”, and much to his chagrin, someone knew about it.

On last night’s episode of Late Show with David Letterman, Mr. Letterman revealed that he had been the target of an extortion attempt by someone who was later revealed to be Joe Halderman, a producer on the CBS series 48 Hours.   Mr. Halderman had attempted to blackmail Mr. Letterman for $2 million dollars over evidence had of the late night talk show host having affairs with staff members of his series.  Mr. Halderman threatened to write a screenplay and book about the evidence he had, and even after asking for the $2 million, he did not guarantee that he would no go forward with this projects.

Mr. Letterman worked with his attorney and the New York City prosecutor’s office to gather evidence about the case, and after three meetings with the gentleman, Mr. Letterman did give Mr. Halderman a fake check for the $2 million.  Yesterday morning Mr. Letterman went before a grand jury to testify in the case, and Mr. Halderman was arrested later in the day.

During the course of telling this story, Mr. Letterman did not allude to when these affairs with staff took place, but he did use several plurals that insinuated that there had been more than one.

In March of this year, Mr. Letterman married Regina Lasko with whom has been dating since 1986, and they have a 5-year-old son, Harry, together.

Mr. Letterman ended the story by saying these would be his only comments on the situation, which is not unusual as he is a notoriously private individual.

UPDATE: RadarOnline has learned that Joe Halderman lived with with one of the women that David Letterman had his affair with.  The New York Daily News was able to dig up that Halderman once lived with Letterman’s assistant, Stephanie Birkitt.  The affair is said to have ended six years ago, before Mr. Letterman had his son Harry, or married his wife.  He was, however, living with her at the time.  Ms. Birkitt is still employed by Mr. Letterman.

All of this is supposition at this time as to if it was Ms. Birkitt, but the evidence seems fairly strong.

Scattercast is 63 … and it’s feeling a bit political in here.

- Wi-Fi connected homes? Well, a Wi-Fi scale is a good start.

- Are extended school days really the solution?

- Perhaps we should just start with school uniforms?

- I finally comment on nationalized health care … I know, shocking.

Here’s

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for those who wish to download it, subscribe to Scattercast via iTunes.

Welcome to the fourth week of the daily edition of CobWEBs, the flagship podcast of the Cynical Bastards!

For those who don’t remember from the other episodes, this is a new format for the show as we are going to try giving you daily bite sized chunks of our patented brand of cynicism over everything in the tech universe. The show will have a rotating host schedule between Steven Hodson, Mark ‘Rizzn’ Hopkins and myself. You’ll always get two of us, you just never know which two!

Steven Hodson and I discuss all the excitement over Google Wave, and our utter shock at how Robert Scoble called it over hyped.  Apparently the apocalypse has finally come.

Push the big green button and have a listen in!

That cold shiver that went up your spine today was Michael Bay confirming work is beginning on Transformers 3.

Michael Bay today confirmed via his blog that pre-production has officially begun on the third film in the Transformers series.

Well its official: We have a great Transformers 3 story. The release date is now July 1st 2011. Not 2012.

Today is Day One. This morning started with an ILM meeting for five hours in San Francisco. Currently I’m flying with writer Ehren Kruger to Rhode Island to talk to Hasbro about new characters.

P.S. Megan Fox, welcome back. I promise no alien robots will harm you in any way during the production of this motion picture. Please consult your Physician when working under my direction because some side effects can occur, such as mild dizziness, intense nausea, suicidal tendencies, depression, minor chest hair growth, random internal hemorrhaging and inability to sleep. As some directors may be hazardous to your health, please consult your Doctor to determine if this is right for you.

Pain and Gain is right after shooting of Trans 3.

Michael

There had been some debate if the film would be 2011 or 2012 as Michael Bay had said he wanted to take some time off from the franchise, but obviously some thing changed his mind.

I must admit I have not yet seen Transformers Revenge of the Fallen, but from what I’ve heard about it, it sounds like it was possibly more painful than the first one, which is hard to imagine.  The biggest complaint I heard was that again the action sequences were impossible to discern who was fighting who, so I imagine the ILM meeting this morning was just a joy to sit on.

ILM tech: Well, we have made some big advances in the technology we use, and every thing will be crystal clear.

Michael Bay: Damn, really?  Can you dial it back a bit, make it a giant mess of pieces just moving around so no one knows what the hell is going on?

ILM tech: er…

As for meeting with Hasbro about what new characters he can use, does it really matter? Bay just changes up the characters and motivations as he sees fit, the only thing that remains the same is their names, and even their vehicle modes get messed up, so does it really matter? All it really tells him is what characters he is going to make unrecognizable to the fans and anger those individual characters fan bases.

Oh well, t-minus 21 months to even more pain.