Tonight it’s my turn to rant … malware SOBs …

Hey, Influencers … I have your influence right here!

Don’t take away my screen name, Blizzard!

(Links by Steven for some of the stories we discuss in this episode)

• How Fast Company Confused Ego with Influence – Brass Tack Thinking
• What Facebook and World of Warcraft Have in Common – Technologizer

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All of my life I have been a fairly lazy person in the physical sense.  I have never liked physical labor, and due to health problems as a child I couldn’t go out and play as much as other kids.  A good solid afternoon of outside play resulted in my being laid up for two weeks.  It was horrible.  So there is something I have never really dealt with before, and that’s weight gain from packing on muscle mass.

It’s been quite a while since I have written about my weight loss.  The last major post was when I broke through 100 pounds lost, and then I followed it up in Nov. of last year with a series about how to lose weight.  Since then I have been quiet, and there was a reason.

I was gaining weight back.

I got down to 278, a total of 122 lbs lost, but then I started creeping back up.  I blamed it on the holidays, but it just didn’t stop, it kept going up, and I couldn’t figure out why because I wasn’t eating that differently than before, and I was still working out, hitting the gym and so on.  So why in the world was my weight creeping back up on me and finally saw me climb back over 300 lbs to 305?  It was depressing me, and it was starting to just anger me more than anything.  I was getting discouraged and felt like giving up, but I kept going.

Then I started to piece it together.  I thought something had bit my leg, and I lifted my heel to look down at the back of my right leg and noticed something I had never seen before: muscles.  Not just a little bit of muscle, but like a whole lot of very clearly defined muscles.   Then I noticed my forearms and … veins?  When did my veins start showing?  And then one night while lifting weights in my bedroom, I saw my chest reflected in the glass of a picture I had hanging up as I was lifting the weights and … what the heck?  When did I get those muscles?

As I started to think back, I hadn’t been paying attention to my muscle growth.  Last August when I went to Boston on vacation I had just started bench pressing and was doing 95 lbs.  Pathetic, I know.  Just this week I moved up to 140 lbs on the bench press, and actually feel like I could probably move up to 145 lbs.  Last summer I was doing 290 lbs on the seated leg press and now I’m up to 350 lbs.  All of my weight work is considerably higher than it was last year at this time when I thought back to it.

I still wasn’t convinced I had packed on 27 lbs of muscle, but I knew there was one final test, and that was putting on shorts I hadn’t worn since last summer when I was 295 lbs.  I put them on and instead of being snugger at 305 lbs, they were looser.  I was finally convinced what I had actually done was put on 27 lbs of muscle … and now I don’t know what to do.

While I am loving the extra strength and stamina, it is still 305 lbs of stress on my heart.  I don’t care if its fat or muscle, 305 lbs is still 305 lbs.  The question is how do I balance this out?  I would be fine with keeping the muscle if I could just get more of the fat off, but it’s a tricky line to walk between the two.  So I am cutting back on the weight training some and increasing my cardio/walking in hopes of getting the two to equal out, but we’ll have to see what happens.

This is somewhat of a follow up to the whole series I did on weight loss because apparently too much of a good thing (i.e. weight lifting) can still turn into a bad thing no matter what it is.

I think it may be the end of the world as Steven compliments a company on tonight’s show.  I felt like checking his neck for a pod.

The big story of the night has to be the Facebook story no one is catching on to, but it could be one of the biggest things the network has ever done.  You need to know about this.

(Links by Steven for some of the stories we discuss in this episode)

• My day navigating the mobile world as customer, Sorry Telus it wasn’t fun – WinExtra
• Damn Telus that was fast – WinExtra
• Facebook looking to sponsor England FA team – talk about smack in the face brilliant – The Inquisitr
• AP Not Amused By The Woot Story, Tries To Play The Oil Spill Card – TechCrunch

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There are certain things in this world that seem assured. Of course the two oldest examples are death and taxes, but I would suggest the third would be there is always another James Bond movie on its way.

Well, number three is a big old question mark now.

James Bond 23 has been under some question for a while now due to the financial troubles at MGM, and these are the same issues that led to Guillermo Del Toro dropping out as a director on The Hobbit.  While it isn’t being said that there will never be another film in the series, there is just no known start to production or anything else related to the film.  The script has been done for some time now, and according to The Mirror, preliminary work had already begun on the film.

While it is fully expected that there will be another film, the delay in work could lead to key members of the production going on to other work, most notably Daniel Craig, the current actor portraying the title character.  While not one word has been said of his leaving the role, if the film takes too long to get rolling, there is probably an out in his contract to let him leave and pursue other work.

As big as the debt is at MGM, the smarter thing would probably be to sell off the rights to the series, but that seems unlikely at this time.

This may end up being the longest wait ever between Bong films, and considering how well received the last two films have been, it’s a shame to lose the momentum they were enjoying.

Come on MGM, get your act together and get Bond back on the screen!

Okay, yeah, this Moronic Monday hits just about every possible subject under the sun.  So, won’t you join us for a journey through the colon?

(Links by Steven for some of the stories we discuss in this episode)

• Grandkids via Twitter DNA – Oh Please God stop this stupidity – The Inquisitr
• Cloudy’s Phil Lord & Chris Miller Attached to WB’s Lego Movie – FirstShowing
• John Moore Developing Ice Road Truckers Film, Maybe in 3D – FirstShowing
• Bite Away – Electronic Anti Sting Stick – Random Good Stuff
• This new JVC “crystal” camcorder is for women only – CrunchGear
• Machine teaches men what it feels like to menstruate – Boing Boing
• Virtual Colonoscopy? There’s An App For That! – Neatorama
• TV Hat – Neatorama
• The End of the World is Near: FarmVille Groceries – Geeks are Sexy
• Mashable has jumped the shark – or is that jumped the puff – Shooting at Bubbles

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You know what I remember learning in school?  The importance of July 5th.  Oh how I remember those tests about the importance of July 5th in the history of the United States, and how every year we have July 5th parades and …

What?  What did you say?  What do you mean it was July 4th I learned about?  I mean, come on, it had to be July 5th since everything in the country seems to be closed today, and people are taking the day off all around me, so it had to be July 5th instead!

Yeah, by now you’re getting the point that I don’t get this.  Sunday was July 4th, the celebration of the birth of our nation, but yet everyone seems to think that means they can take today off since it had the audacity to fall on a Sunday.  How dare it.  I even know of one case where it wasn’t discussed if people could have today off, they just assumed it.

If today was July 4th, I wouldn’t say a word about it.  I chose to work yesterday, but that was my choice as I felt I needed to get some articles written, but I never for a moment considered today optional.  Even one of my bosses tried to tell me take the day off, as did my parents.  Sorry, it’s Monday, July 5th, it’s just another day of the year in my book.  There are no picnics to be had, no parades, no firework displays, just another plain old day on the calendar which means you go to work, and the world keeps rotating.

And, yes, I’m writing this from my office … where I even dressed for work because, well, it’s Monday.

It is now beyond a shadow of a doubt that Hollywood is completely out of ideas.

Running for five seasons from 1981 to 1986, The Fall Guy starred Lee Majors and was about a stuntman who was also a part-time bounty hunter … and it is now getting a movie reboot.

Excuse me while I go and curl up in a corner and begin sobbing uncontrollably.

Are there seriously no ideas left in Hollywood?  Have they completely gone dry and they feel that the only thing left to do is remake/reboot everything that has ever existed?  We’ve already had The A-Team, Spider-Man is getting rebooted after only ten years since the first film, and now we’re hitting insanely bad television shows from the early 1980′s that barely anyone remembers?

Hollywood?  I officially hate you.  You are incapable of putting anything on screen any more that even remotely resembles an original idea, and it’s just disturbing.  It isn’t like The A-Team is doing huge box office.  It cost $110 million to make, has done $69 million domestic to date, along with $46 million international for a total of $115 million.  Count in marketing and such and the film is losing money.  True, it will make up some ground in home video release, but it still isn’t exactly setting the film world on fire.  So it makes perfect sense to grab another half-assed property from the 1980′s for a film.

Oh, by the way, MacGyver and The Equalizer are also being eyed for movie reboots.

Okay, lets just get this over with, shall we?  I’m going to start eyeing the reboot rights to B.J. and the Bear.

Only 48 this week?  Wow, I must be slacking!

FunJug.com

• Beckett Eats Pop Rocks
• iPhone 4 Video – The Deleted Scenes
• FaceTime Commercial Parody
• Conan the Barbarian: The Musical
• Music Video for Drake & Jimmy’s Song “Tweet Tweet”
• AT-AT DAY AFTERNOON
• Facebook in Real Life
• Reading Rainbow Banned Book Review #3

iPhoneTouch.BLORGE.com

• Top 40 best iPhone 4 reviews

Photo.BLORGE.com

• Sanyo unveils 14 megapixel VPC-E1403

RememberingChristmas.com

• Summer Activities To Prepare For Christmas

SeanPAune.com

• Tucson Teacher Arrested For Inappropriate Relationship With 16-Year-Old Student
• The Time For Instant Reply In FIFA Is Now
• The Braindead Techcast Ep. 91: Moronic Monday right between the goal posts
• FIFA To Consider Using Video Technology
• The Braindead Techcast Ep. 92: A bullet to the back of the head
• Social Media Is On The Verge Of Making Me Vomit
• The Braindead Techcast Ep. 93: Don’t mention Klout around Sean
• Yeah, I Still Don’t Get This Whole Twilight Thing
• The Braindead Techcast Ep. 94: Welcome to our train wreck and lost segues
• Scattercast #102: Yep, No Sex In Space
• The Braindead Techcast Ep. 95: Techmeme Friday and we blame it all on the formula
• Andrew Garfield Cast As Spider-Man … Does It Matter?

SpookieBits.com

• Watch White Zombie (1932) For Free

Tech.BLORGE.com

• Chrome inches past Safari to become third most popular browser
• Rumor: Google hard at work on Google Me social network
• Hulu finally launches its subscription service, Hulu Plus
• Digg relaunch finally underway
• HDMI may already be a thing of the past

TechnoBuffalo.com

• Is The Microsoft Kinect Just A Fancy Playstation Eye Toy?
• An Infographic: Fear Google! The Power of Analytics & User Data
• Where Are The Big Name Titles For Move And Kinect?
• Apple Sells 1.7 Million iPhone 4 Units In Three Days
• Nokia N9 Prototype Shows Up On Video
• 160,000 Android Devices Activated Each Day, But Does Anyone Care?
• iAd Will ReFuel The App Store
• Stopping Porn Is The Reason For iPhone 4 Reception Issues
• Hulu Plus Finally Becomes A Reality
• Complaining On Social Media Can Get You Places, But At What Price?
• CBS May Finally Join Hulu … For A Price
• Kin 1 And Kin 2 Get The Ax
• Digg Takes The Wraps Off Of Its Redesign
• Game Review: Transformers – War For Cybertron
• Is Free Wi-Fi For Customers Becoming Mandatory For Businesses?
• The iPhone 4 Reception Issue Is Caused By A Math Error?
• Best Buy Employee Facing Being Fired Over Comedy Video
• Diaspora Social Network Project On Schedule Thus Far
• Internet Explorer Wins Back A Bit Of Market Share

Normally I would have been all over the casting news of Spider-Man, but then I realized something … I don’t care.

Relative newcomer Andrew Garfield was announced as the new Peter Parker/Spider-Man this week for the upcoming Spider-Man movie, and while normally I would have been discussing my thoughts on the casting, I just couldn’t bring myself to care this time around.  It isn’t that I no longer care about the character, because I actually do, but I am disgusted by the idea of “re-booting” the movie series so soon after the last three.

The first Sam Raimi film came out in 2002, the second in 2004 and the third was in 2007, but yet here we are preparing a “reboot”  to the series that will have us starting the whole story over again.  We’re taking Peter Parker back to high school (which makes perfect sense to cast someone who is 26 in that case), and totally erasing the three films we just watched.

A re-boot is something you do a couple decades after a film series ends, not just ten years (by the time it’s released).  Why bother getting invested in any story any more?  It’s just going to be rebooted in a few years.  Heck, there’s even discussion of re-booting the Fantastic Four movies already.

I was blown away by the first two Sam Raimi Spider-Man films, and even though I was less than pleased with Spider-Man 3, I was ready for the team to get back together for two more, learn from their mistakes, and right this ship.  With two more films we could have gotten deeper into what drives Peter Parker to constantly risk his life for a city that views him as a danger at times, we could have finally seen the Dr. Connors pay off (He’s the Lizard in case you didn’t know already) and we could have seen some of the lesser known, but still fun villains of Spider-Man’s rogues gallery such as Kraven the Hunter, Mysterio, Electro and so on.  But, no, we have to “reboot” the series, slog back to high school and go through the whole blasted process … again.

Here comes the spider bite … again.

Here comes figuring out his powers … again.

Here comes winning the heart of Mary Jane … again.

I’m worn out folks.  This reboot is just such a bad idea, and really is a slap in the face to those of us who supported the last three.  ”Thanks for spending money on those films … they no longer count!”  I think I will just continue to enjoy those films as their own little series, and probably ignore the new one.

Best of luck to Mr. Garfield, but for me, I just really can’t be bothered to invest any emotion into a series that will just get rebooted again in 2022.

Ah yes, TechMeme Friday.  That special day of the week where Steven and I just take on everyone … because we like going into the weekend with even more enemies.

(Links by Steven for some of the stories we discuss in this episode)

• Letter from Apple Regarding iPhone 4 – Apple
• Life and death of Microsoft Kin: the inside story – Engadget
• Apple Hopes to Re-enter the Living Room – Bits
• How Many Palm Employees Did HP Just Lay Off? – Digital Daily
• “Arc Touch Mouse” surfaces – Microsoft to launch multi-touch mouse? – Long Zheng
• Apple Lets Google Sell Targeted Ads – Wall Street Journal
• Pressure-Sensitive Drawing on iPad – Ten One Design
• Pirate Party to Run Pirate Bay from Swedish Parliament – TorrentFreak
• Twitter to Publish Shopping Deals Through @EarlyBird Account – ReadWriteWeb
• Mozilla: 2 billion Firefox add-ons downloaded – Ars Technica

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It’s episode #102 of Scattercast and this week is mostly about the fake shock people express over situations that so obviously do exist that they make me laugh.

Not much else going on this week as it was an odd night for recording as I had gotten huge news I can’t talk about, and we had just recorded the wackiest episode ever of Braindead Techcast.

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subscribe to Scattercast via iTunes.

… I don’t know what in the world happened tonight, but boy did this episode ever go off the rails.  It just kept getting worse and worse, and that just made Steven and I try even harder.

It has to be heard to be believed.

(Links by Steven for some of the stories we discuss in this episode)

• M. Night Shyamalan Finally Made A Comedy – iO9
• Updated: Email from Jobs on iPhone calling problems a “hoax,” says Apple – The Inquisitr
• Best Buy Trying To Fire Employee Over Those Hilarious EVO Versus iPhone Videos – TechCrunch

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