I've still got two more USB ports...

Admittedly, I have a small collection of USB gadgets. Plugged into my computer right now is a USB Logitech Trackman Wheel mouse, USB powered lava lamp, USB powered fish tank, Logitech USB webcam, Aiptek graphic tablet, my BlackBerry, and a USB powered cell phone charger for my bluetooth headset. The USB hard drive is at home and the USB DVD burner is in the serer room. Still, not sure I'd want to go for the USB Desktop Tanning Center over at ThinkGeek. It's one of those things that you have to wonder if it actually works and, if so, just how much damage it would cause the average geek. It's tempting to get just for the effect and that they're giving away free t-shirts right now if you spend $15 or more...

PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT: April Fools Day Boycott

April 1 - April Fools Day - has become somewhat of a metacultural event on the Internet. Blogs and even legitamate news organizations take it upon themselves to try and pass off the most outrageous lies as news for a day, in order to "have some fun" with the old holiday. I hate this tradition, and the always-increasing influx of new "residents" of the web means that every year many innocents are taken in by these well-documented lies. In protest, therefore, I will not be posting ANYTHING to Mod-Blog, and probably nothing to the Internet in general on April Fools Day. I encourage the other Mod-Bloggers to follow suit, though I in no way want to restrict their freedom. If hits-per-day drops off around these kinds of stupid stunts, maybe the major bloggers will get the point and stop posting stupidity when there is real news to talk about.

Feel free to spend today telling me in the comments or Shoutbox what a fool I am showing myself to be with this manifesto. ;-)

War on Christians?

Please. The only thing more disturbing about this new movement is the crowd that it is gathering. These are some prominent conservative politicians, and they should not be pandering to this crowd. Are there serious issues American Christians face? Of course. Are we under spiritual attack from our enemy? Of course. But to claim that there is some sort of organized persecution in America is beyond the pale. I couldn't agree more with what two critics had to say:

"Certainly religious persecution existed in our history, but to claim that these examples amount to religious persecution disrespect the experiences of people who have been jailed and died because of their faith," said K. Hollyn Hollman, general counsel of the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty.

"This is a skirmish over religious pluralism, and the inclination to see it as a war against Christianity strikes me as a spoiled-brat response by Christians who have always enjoyed the privileges of a majority position," said the Rev. Robert M. Franklin, a minister in the Church of God in Christ and professor of social ethics at Emory University.

To even label what American Christians face as "persecution" is a disservice to the Christians around the world who are suffering in ways that we cannot begin to imagine.

When one of these Christians at this conference have every bone in their hand broken just for owning a Bible (A women in Russia I met) or when Christians are rounded up and murdered in this country (As 300,000 around the world were last year) then we can talk about how horrible persecution is here in America. Until then, it does come across as spoiled children complaining.

Again, I'm not saying that there are not serious issues facing us, or that we should not be concerned about the eroding of respect that Christianity has seen. But to even infer that what we face in this country is in anyway akin to what Christians around the world face is patently absurd.

Thoughts on outside ideas and Christianity

You may want to head on over to Mod-Blog's "Faith and Politics" section in order to check out a post I put up today on the impact of outside ideas on Christianity/Judaism both in ancient times and modern times. It is a fairly long essay, so it did not seem to fit here on the front page.

This one's for Bowhunter

From the comic In the Bleachers

Spider-Man 3 Photos of New Costume

AICN is showing a picture from the new Spider-Man 3 film due out this summer. Apparently, Tobey is switching over to a black uniform reminiscent of the black costume from the comics that eventually was worn the villain Venom.

Apple Posts iPod Volume Limiter

Been reading all those stories about lawsuits against Apple for the potential for iPods to damage hearing? Well, it appears Apple is listening. They released today an updater which allows users to limit the maximum volume output of iPod Nanos and Video iPods. Good idea? Yes. And it again shows that Apple - unlike other companies - respects its customers. Why? Because they are not arbitrarily limiting volumes, but trusting their customers to make their own choices.

NY Toughs chew nails, CT Toughs fear kitty cat

Sigh. This story does not exactly make me proud to be from Connecticut. Fairfield is a town right near my own and apparently a large cat in town is terrorizing residents. Animal Control has even filed a restraining order against the cat, after it "attacked the Avon lady." I suppose any animal can be a wild, fearsome creature. But I can't help thinking if this happened to me that I would just give BowHunter a call.

The Adoption Fad Continues

It seems that the fad begun by Angelina Jolie is spreading to more and more people. What is that fad you ask? Having obnoxiously huge lips? No. Stealing other women's husbands? No. Being eerily crazy? No. Adopting kids from foreign lands? Yes. While I am a huge proponent of adoption and plan to adopt a child from Africa or India at some point in my life, I find it slightly disturbing that this is the new fad in Hollywood. If it were just adoption for the sake of adoption - because kids have no parents and really need them or because the mother is incapable of getting pregnant - then I would have no problem with it. But here it's adoption so that you have something to show off. "Oh, this is my Prada handbag, DKNY Jeans and my African child." I know that these stars will be able to provide for these children better than almost anybody in the world, but shouldn't the underlying reason for adoption be to take care of a child and not just to fill some personal (stylistic) void? I don't know, perhaps I'm making a huge deal out of nothing - but there's just something about this type of adoption becoming a fad that bugs me.

Star Wars Funny

Holding steady

Holding steady
Originally uploaded by nomad7674.

Divorced in your sleep?

Christian nations have their own wacky and strange laws, but this story is one of the weirder stories from the Islamic world.

Sohela Ansari told friends that her husband Aftab had uttered the word "talaq," or divorce, three times in his sleep, according to the report published in newspapers on Monday.
When local Islamic leaders got to hear, they said Aftab's words constituted a divorce under an Islamic procedure known as "triple talaq." The couple, married for 11 years with three children, were told they had to split.
The religious leaders ruled that if the couple wanted to remarry they would have to wait at least 100 days. Sohela would also have to spend a night with another man and be divorced by him in turn.

Here is hoping one of the more merciful clerics supports the couple's desire to stay together despite the "sleep divorce."

Kids tries to spend Spring Break in... Walmart?

The current fad of trying to be MIchael Moore by confronting popular corporations is getting old. But this one is at least amusing. A kid attempted to spend 24 hours a day at a Wal-Mart to see if their claim that they can provide everything one needs to live. He made it thru 41 hours straight before management wised up, and he ran out. In that time, he did find everything he needed at Wal-Mart except a shower.

Evangelical Youth Rally "Condemned" by San Francisco

I attend a church that calls itself Evangelical. I consider myself to - in fact - be an Evangelical Christian. And I have attended a number of youth rallys and large events. And I can't think of one of them that could be considered even vaguely offensive. There was one "seminar on rock music" which crossed the line a bit, but that was in a church and not endorsed by any Evangelical leaders. And every city that hosted those "youth events" were thrilled to have us around. We were respectful of property, brought money into the city, and generally were a good influence on the area in which we met.

Well, apparently San Francisco thinks differently as their city counsel (and a small number of counter-protestors) have formally condemned the event as "anti-gay and anti-choice." Sigh. I guess SF is now formally opposed to any opinions that in any way conflict with their own. Way to be open-minded.

CustomInk.Com is EXCEEDINGLY cool!

Many of you know that CRChair and I help to coach our church's Bible Quiz Team. For the last few years, we have relied on the poster now known as "BowHunter" to help us create our team uniforms. He used to work for a silk-screening company and was a consummate artist of the t-shirt and sweatshirt arts. But now he has moved onto bigger and better things, and thus we have had to fend for ourselves.

This year, we decided to try one of the new online services which allows you to design your own shirts online. After reviewing a few of them, I decided to try CustomInk.Com because their flash-based t-shirt design tool was the best (though it likes FireFox a lot better than Safari on the Mac). I was able to quickly use their internal tools to put together a unique design that met our needs, and had more than a little flair. It also had the advantage of providing better base shirts than in times past. Our final design is the one below.



But making the design and hitting "Buy" was not the end of the process. CustomInk.Com was great about communication as well. They called me the next day to confirm a few details (yes, I wanted the green in the logo to match the sleeves), but followed everything up with e-mails so I did not have to wait until I got home at night to check the answering machine. They also notified me when the supplier was out of my preferred shirt in all sizes, and negotiated with them to get what I needed. Finally, while they guarantee their shirts within 2 weeks, they actually got it to me within 10 days... in time for our next Quiz Meet! And the price was competitive with what BowHunter had gotten us previously from a local company.

We have yet to wash the shirts or see how they stand up over time, but so far I am VERY happy with CustomInk.Com and would recommend them to friends. And the ease of use may actually drive me to order custom shirts more often for family events, church events, etc. After all, now making t-shirts is as easy as ordering a couple of books from Amazon.Com!

The Lessons of Indian Independence on Iraqi Independence

The always introspective Peggy Noonan has been meditating on the process of Indian Independence, and how some bad decisions (specifically the partitioning of Indian to create Pakistan) have lead to a bloodbath. What can be learned from this?

The leaders of the day did not know that terrible violence was coming because of what I think is a classic and structural problem of leadership: It distances. Each of these men was to varying degrees detached from facts on the ground. They were by virtue of their position and accomplishments an elite. They no longer knew what was beating within the hearts of those who lived quite literally on the ground. Nehru, Mountbatten, Jinnah--they well knew that Muslims feared living under the rule of the Hindus, that Hindus feared living under Muslims, that Sikhs feared both. But the leaders did not know the fear that was felt was so deep, so constitutional, so passionate. They did not know it would find its expression in a savagery so wild and widespread.

This may explain a lot of both what went right, and what went wrong in opposition to common wisdom in Iraq.

FreeiPods.Com gets sued by New York Attorney General

If the pyramid scheme nature of FreeiPods.Com did not dissuade you from trying out that site, maybe some news from the NYAG will. They are allegedly selling selling e-mail addresses that they had promised would remain private. If you ask me, stay away from this one... or find a free one-time-use e-mail address to avoid being spammed to death.

Poor Microsoft Vista

It appers that the press is not being kind to it these days.

The new version of Microsoft Windows, called Vista, has slipped again. It was originally going to ship in 2003. Then 2005. Then 2006. Now in early 2007. I'm not surprised, having seen a demo of Microsoft's new programs at an "event" for tech buyers in New York last week.
The new programs are phenomenally complex, with scores of buttons and pull-down menus and myriad connections among various applications. A Microsoft VP zipped through a demo, moving information from Outlook to Powerpoint to Groove to some kind of social networking program that lets you see how your colleagues and your colleagues' colleagues rate various Web sites.
Meanwhile, 500 tech buyers sat there in the dark, their eyes glazing over from the sheer mind-numbing pointlessness of most of this stuff.

Note the not-so-subtle shout-out to Apple Computer at the end!

Intelligence Docs Confirm Iraq/Al-Qaeda Contacts

This story is being hawked as an embarrassment for the Russian government, whose ambassador apparently gave Sadaam a good deal of intelligence on America right before the Iraq invasion. But what I find much more interesting is the number of docs which detail a slowly growing relationship between Sadaam Hussein and Al Qaeda, and an agreement in principle to cooperate on missions against the US and US interests abroad. Hmmm... Perhaps the link between 9/11 and Iraq is a lot stronger than some would like us to believe.

Tearing up a Credit Card App may be No Help

This is scary. An internet prankster decided to test just how secure credit card companies are. He took a credit card application he had torn into small pieces, put it back together with scotch tape (poorly), changed the address and changes the phone number to a cell phone, and sent it in. It was honored and a credit card was sent to the new address with no complaints, and he was able to activate and use the credit card right away. Please note, the whole thing was done to simulate exactly what an identity thief might do. And no controls at the credit card company caught it.

It might be time to invest in one of those cross-cut shredders. Or maybe what the company I work for uses: a company that shreds documents, then incinerates them, then incinerates the ashes, then converts the ashes into blocks of building material so any stray times-new-roman characters are trapped inside of a brick in an unnamed building. Hopefully the credit cards companies are not accepting bricks for applications these days.

The problem with the Drudge Report

I am largely a fan of Matt Drudge as an unapologetic muckraker. He has exposed a lot of stories that otherwise would have gone buried in the mainstream media. And his site drives discussion across the Net, the Media, and the Nation. But sometimes, he goes too far. Consider this story. It is an off-the-cuff e-mail sent from a blackberry e-mail device between two friends... one of whom happens to be a Network Exec. It includes a frank expression of disgust, and a mild insult about the President. This is not the kind of thing that deserves to be reported as "news." It is a remark between friends.

PC out of control

A radio DJ has been fired for uttering a racial slur. This has become pretty common place in our society - someone says something racial and they get fired. The problem comes in that this particular DJ apologized right after saying the slur because it was an accident.

Lenihan had been heaping praise on Rice, who has frequently said she aspires to run the NFL one day but has more recently ruled out seeking to replace retiring Commissioner Paul Tagliabue.

"She's been chancellor of Stanford," Lenihan said on the air. "She's got the patent resume of somebody that has serious skill. She loves football. She's African-American, which would kind of be a big coon. A big coon. Oh my God. I am totally, totally, totally, totally, totally sorry for that."

He said he had meant to say "coup" instead of the racial slur.

I can understand firing somebody when they are obviously bigoted - say Howard Stern - but this guy was praising Condi Rice saying all sorts of good things about her and the slur slipped out - it was obviously out of context for the statement he was making. Nonetheless the station fired him because heaven knows we wouldn't want humans hosting radio shows.

Afghan to be killed for becoming a Christian?

Sigh. More proof that hoping for a liberal democracy in the Middle East is going to require a whole lot of work and cultural change.

Abdul Rahman, 41, faces a possible death penalty for converting from Islam to Christianity 16 years ago. He has been charged with rejecting Islam, a crime under this country's Islamic laws. Bush said in a speech that a young democracy is growing in Afghanistan, but he's concerned about the case.

This is one of those laws that comes straight from the Koran, but is not enforced in most modernized Muslim countries. Here's hoping Afghanistan decides that it wants to be "modern."

Amazon.Com Accused of Being Pro-Life

Ah, the perils of providing online convenience. Amazon.Com has a feature similar to Google's "Did you mean..." feature to help shoppers find spelling errors in user inquiries. It is based on both a spelling feature (checking search terms against a spell checker) and on an AI algorithm based on past searches. Well, apparently of late, typing abortion into the Amazon.Com search brought up "Did you mean adoption?" Pro-choice advocates are up in arms against this apparent "bias." Personally, if Amazon.Com did have a bias, I'd be more likely to buy from them. But that being said, this looks like a natural outgrowth of the AI algorithm to me. Many women in times of crisis considering abortion would also be considering adoption. Many philosophers seeking information on the ethics of abortion would also be seeking information on adoption as an alternative. You get enough people seeking the same things in sequence, conclusions will be drawn.

This will not be the last one we'll see in "Did you mean..." controversies. It is only a matter of time before we see more unexpected connections showing up.

Forget Keys Here's your RFID Bracelet

There are many things about RFID to be concerned with, but I have to say this is by far the most ingenious use of it that I have seen. At a resort on the Canadian side of Niagara Falls when you check in you get an RFID bracelet rather than a key. The bracelet not only opens your room door but allows you to charge various items to the room. It seems like an ingenious way of using the technology and it looks like they're trying to take on the possible abuses before they even start. Should be interesting to see how this goes over and what the bugs are that come out of the system.

Muslim Eye for the Jeans Guy

Quite a few websites are up in arms about an Italian company putting out a line of jeans specifically for Islamic buyers. They have reinforced knees and extra give for frequent kneeling, large pockets for all of the accessories that Muslims must remove while praying, and are stitched in green which is apparently a holy color. Many are seeing this as an unacceptable catering to a violent faith. But to me it just seems like good business sense. I can't help wondering if there is a demand for catholic clothing that supports kneeling while praying, or perhaps Protestant clothes with extra back support for the large amount of standing that goes on in the average Protestant service. This is truly an untapped market niche!

Bug Report: Firefox broke up my engagement

This has to be one of the strangest bug reports on record. I have seen my share of bugs in programs with unexpected consequences, but this one lead a woman to break up with her fiance when a quick search of "saved password" history showed he had been cruising online dating sites while engaged to marry her. We can speculate on whether or not this is a good reason to break up with someone, but I don't think we can debate that it is probably a one-of-a-kind bug report.

Scientology Blamed for Death

The pseudo-religion Scientology has been in the news quite a bit in the past year - between Crazy...I mean Tom Cruise...blasting Brooke Shields for taking antidepressants and Isaac Hayes leaving South Park because he was offended. Well, now it is being blamed for the murder of a mother who refused to give her schizophrenic son psychiatric drugs. The more I learn about Scientology the more I am concerned with it. It's not just that it's not Christianity - it's that the very foundations of it are so strange and illogical that it can only lead to bad things.

The next great Christian outreach

There have been many efforts over the course of time to adapt Christian outreach with popular culture. Most notable in my mind was the late eighties-early ninetys glam-rock group Stryper. Well now there is a new outreach that is equally brilliant - Christian Wrestling. Basically you take WWE and mix it with a little Jerry Falwell and this is what comes out. Not sure what I think about this one exactly, though I must say the idea is comical to me. Though enough people pay to watch wrestling, this could be a valuable outreach - provided the craziness is kept in check.

Ever wonder how they "made" ice for cold drinks before refridgeration?

The Straight Dope has the scoop. Some of it might be what you expect, but I'm guessing a lot of it will surprise you.

Just what the world needs: More IE

As many of Mod-Blog's readers know, I am a web designer. One of the things that makes designing for the web difficult is the differences between web browsers. More specifically the difference between standards compliant web browsers and Internet Explorer. I have cussed out IE more than once - and possibly even here on MB. Nonetheless, I was thrilled to discover that Microsoft plans to upgrade IE ever 9 to 12 months - because this could mean that IE will finally start acting like a web browser is supposed to act, though I doubt it.

Beware of Brown

I have a friend (who is also a reader of Mod-Blog) who recently learned the perils of dealing with PayPal and eBay when selling to the overseas market. But the bad customer service of PayPal is only one side of the potential problems you set yourself up for when dealing on eBay and similar services. Consider this horror story from a PCMag writer who learned how little protection UPS really provides when a package is damaged in transit. Turns out the receiver (i.e. the guy who ACTUALLY paid for shipping) has no right. Only the shipper has rights. Buyer beware.

This is not intended as a slight against buying eBay. It is a great marketplace and provides the opportunity to buy stuff that we'd never have thru brick-n-mortar stores, or even through flea markets that sometimes come thru. But it is important to understand the dark sides of eBay buying, before you are burned and do not understand your own rights in the matter.

How do you react to Windows on a Mac?

Be careful what you post

This article reminds us of a very important principle of the web and blogging. Never post ANYTHING that you would be ashamed to have an employer read/see. In addition to the usual criminal checks, it is becoming commonplace for prospective employers to "google" applicants. A poorly chosen blog post or Flickr photo or MySpace profile can easily cause a skittish HR rep to say "No."

Sigh. This is the cheap place

Sigh. This is the cheap place
Originally uploaded by nomad7674.

Ouch!

Gore vs Clinton in 2008?

Don't laugh. It could happen. Of course, it would be the ultimate opportunity for SNL to recycle old material.

However, party operatives believe former Vice President Gore can outdo Clinton through unconventional fund-raising on the Internet. By campaigning left of Clinton, Gore appeals to ardent anti-war Democrats. Gore's first presidential run in 1988 positioned him as the centrist candidate, to the right of eventual nominee Michael Dukakis.

One can not help wondering how the political landscape will change, however, if the Iraq War is over by 2008.

Wonder what that "stand-by" light is costing you?

Turns out that going Hybrid with our cars may not be the best way to make a dent in our foreign oil dependency. Cutting down on the power consumed by electronic devices in stand-by mode could do a lot for us.

In 1998 they released an initial study which estimated that standby power accounted for approximately 5% of total residential electricity consumption in America, “adding up to more than $3 billion in annual energy costs”. According to America's Department of Energy, national residential electricity consumption in 2004 was 1.29 billion megawatt hours (MWh)—5% of which is 64m MWh. The wasted energy, in other words, is equivalent to the output of 18 typical power stations.

I am not generally a fan of regulation, but any National Energy Policy should contain a line item to get this problem under control. Why focus on lower-power microwaves, when we can simply cut down on the power suck from when NOTHING is going on?

Were you aware the patent office is granting exclusive ownership to THOUGTS these days?

I kid you not. Check out this article by Michael Crichton.

Elevated homocysteine is linked to B-12 deficiency, so doctors should test homocysteine levels to see whether the patient needs vitamins.

ACTUALLY, I can't make that last statement. A corporation has patented that fact, and demands a royalty for its use. Anyone who makes the fact public and encourages doctors to test for the condition and treat it can be sued for royalty fees. Any doctor who reads a patient's test results and even thinks of vitamin deficiency infringes the patent. A federal circuit court held that mere thinking violates the patent.

This same line of law would allow the patenting of plot-lines for novels (imagine having to pay DIsney for any "Boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy wins girl back" story), of research avenues (having to pay Bayer to do research on Diabetes), and of methods of public expression (having to pay Greenpeace for protests involving hand-carried signs). This is patents gone berserk.

26 New Episodes of Futurama!

Billy West (voice of Fry from Futurama) has confirmed on his message board that a deal is in the works to produce 26 more episodes of the Matt Groening show Futurama. This is far beyond the "one episode straight to DVD" or "maybe a special on cable TV" talk that was coming previously. 26 episodes would be enough for a full season on Fox or Cartoon Network!

If we cold get new Futurama episodes on Fox, new Firefly episodes on Sci Fi, and new Greg the Bunny episodes on Comedy Central then I'll be watching a lot more TV. Of course, with my luck, they'll all be on the same hour slot.

Tax Time is Coming

April 15 is just around the corner, and it is time to figure out how you plan to deal with your Federal and State Tax debt. If you are like me, doing taxes by hand are doable but difficult. More-so as time goes on and you begin to actually accumulate some investments beyond what you can stuff in your mattress. I strongly recommend TurboTax which has been doing my taxes for about 5 years now. You may have heard of this tax prep software, but were you also aware that every CD sold in the stores has both a Mac and Windows version on board? And if you'd rather now download any software, there is always their online browser-based products.

Fun Time!

This is a very addicting game in the spirit of Tetris. Can't say I have been doing very well on it, but it feels like the kind of game that would not be hard to get good at. It is a Flash-based game, so everyone should be able to play it.

If you needed proof that Americans have too much money...

...look no further.

Everyone else is posting it, so...

...why not Mod-Blog? The contest to get Windows XP running on an Intel Mac has been won! The winner managed to get WinXP booted on the Intel iMac, Intel MacMini, and MacBook Pro with a hack that allegedly takes about 30 minutes to accomplish (which is good! Some contenders were multi-day affairs!) No response from Apple or Microsoft yet, but I am guessing the bean-counters are quite happy. Apple gets a new feature to sell boxes without having to support it, and Microsoft gets a reason to sell Windows licenses to Mac owners. Not much of a downside... unless WinXP is unstable on the Macs and thus gives the Mac computers a bad rep among switchers.

This should allow one computer to dual-boot WinXP and MacOS X. This is also the first step toward running Windows programs INSIDE OF MACOS X, so you don't need to ever leave, even to play popular PC games or run Microsoft Visio.

Philips Plasma TVs Recall

With the age of HDTV almost upon us (Can we really call something an "Age" when it will probably be replaced in 20 years?) many of my friends are exploring the alternatives including LCD TVs, DLP, and Plasma Screen. Well, be careful if you are leaning toward the plasma screen world. Phillips has had to issue a recall on their Ambilight Plasma Screen TVs. Ironicaly, it has nothing to do with the plasma. Apparently, the Ambilight feature (which projects color on the walls around a TV for a more theatric effect) uses capacitors which are arcing, causing a fire hazzard.

Clotting Substance Saves Lives

My family tends to clot well and quickly from wounds, but I have a number of friends who bleed quite freely when cut or scraped. A Wallingford, CT company has out a new substance designed to quickly stop bleeding from life-threatening wound by accelerating the clotting process. Apparently, the product was first developed for the military - in response to studies showing that blood loss kills 20% of all battlefield fatalities - and is finding its ways into the hands of first responders. The product is not without some risks - if it works too fast, it can get hot enough to cause second degree burns - but you can survive a burn while a gaping hold in your leg can be enough to cause quick death.

Request for an open debate: Security Cameras in Churches

My church has just taken a step into the modern era with a piece of technology I am admittedly ambivalent about: security cameras. After several incidents where unauthorized and unknown people appeared in the church after it was supposed to be locked up for the night, the Elders and Trustees decided a new security system was needed. They put in a new system with keycards and the works. But they also installed security cameras in common areas which record for 48 hours and which can be accessed remotely via the internet.

Now, I do not have a problem with the security system, per se. It makes sense that in our current world, we have to protect the people working in the church and even the "stuff" that God has blessed us with. There is a pastor's residence nearby in case someone desperately needs to get into the church or needs help. However, I do have a problem with the cameras. A security system is to protect. A camera is to record, and be used to prosecute, if needed. It is a semi-permanent record, which can be easily misused in the wrong circumstances.

To illustrate my point, I am going to use a few admittedly extreme examples:
+ A battered wife comes to the church for sanctuary from an abusive husband. Husband gains access to the camera footage and uses it to track her down.
+ A wrongly accused man comes to the church for help while fleeing an unjust judge. Church offers it to him, but police use the camera footage to track him down.
+ An ex-con comes to the church seeking counselling. He sees the cameras and decides not to walk through the doors, fearing the footage being used against him by his parole officer or other authority.

It seems to me that these kinds of people are exactly those who need the church the most, and whom the church has historically offered a sanctuary from the world. Aren't we threatening a valid and vital ministry of the church by installing these cameras?

What do you think? Am I onto something here? Or have I been watching too much LAW & ORDER?

Debit Card Thieves Caught!

A follow up to the story from this weekend. New Jersey official claim they have in custody 14 men responsible for the stealing of Debit Card numbers and pins from OfficeMax and others. This was the worst bank hack in history (according to most) and considered the most serious threat to the Debit Card system of all time. It remains to be seen what the impact on public opinion will be. But again, I would recommend sticking with pure ATM cards and credit cards, for consumer protection.

It's OFFICIALLY official: PS3 releases Early November 2006

There was a press conference last night in Japan where Sony finally admitted what everyone else knew: the Playstation 3 will not be released in the original "Spring 2006" schedule. Instead, it will release in "early November" simultaneously in Japan, the UK, and the USA.

This puts the PS3 in the same boat as the XBox 360 for potential supply problems, since all three major markets will be battling for the unit at the same time. Even more significantly, it gives Microsoft another 6 months to get a foothold in the Next-Gen-Console market, which could be long enough to ensure a #1 position for Redmond.

I hope not. I still plan to wait for the PS3, as I have resolved to never buy a Microsoft console. Besides, there are still no good Star Wars-themed games announced for either console. I'll keep playing Battlefront II on my PS2 and PSP.

Global Warming NOT Man-Made?

I am still not sure I even believe the Global Warming is more than a cyclical event in the Earth's history, but I was surprised to hear there is a major new paper out from Russia stating that any recent rise in temperatures MAY NOT be due to fossil fuels but instead something called the Tunguska Event in Sibera in 1908. The key to the theory appears to be new data that shows "global warming" did not begin in any significant way until the early 20th century (and not prior, as theorized by human-centric theories). The Kungstuka Event was a massive strike by a meteor or small comet which may have flung much dust, ice, and water into the atmosphere, changing the whole system of temperature regulation.

In honor of our mathmatically inclined readers....

HAPPY PI DAY! If you don't get it, remember Pi is often aproximated 3.14 and today is 3/14 in the American way of noting dates.

If crude oil prices are down, why is gas still going up?

If crude oil prices are down, why is gas still going up?
Originally uploaded by nomad7674.

And this is BJ's - the "cheap" place!

Hmmm... Is it only a matter of time?

PureNard, perhaps you may want to take note and put your law degree to use here? ;-)

Google inventing new navigation system for cars?

I have made no secret of how much I am enjoying my Garmin iQue 3600 with built-in GPS and routing software. Well, it appears Google is about to do us one better by releasing a new automobile navigation system which integrates GPS, Google Earth, and their other information mapping software to provide Volkswagen drivers with real-time routing, traffic problem alerts, weather, and other critical driving information. If they can pull it off, it is a great idea. My Garmin is wonderful, but it would be even better with the ability to route me around the worst parts of a snowstorm or warn me before I have reached the traffic jam that is 10 minutes ahead of me.

Great Quote

Usually we don't post hollywood gossip on mod-blog, but I found this quote in an article about the Jennifer Aniston, Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie debacle. Personally I think any guy who would leave Jennifer Aniston better have an incredible reason for doing so - granted I've had a crush on her since she first showed up on Friends. Anyway, onto the quote by Michael Douglas (of all people):

In an interview with the new issue of GQ, Michael Douglas tells the magazine that he doesn't have much hope for the future of Pitt and Jolie's romance.

"I don't know about Brad Pitt," Douglas said, "leaving that beautiful woman to go hold orphans for Angelina. I mean how long is that going to last?"

When I read that I just started to laugh - not sure why, but I thought it was pretty funny.

A Programmer's View of THE MATRIX

This is interesting. It is an attempt to explain the actions of characters in the three Matrix movies WITHOUT all of the philosophy, religion, and gnostic pretension of the dialogue. Frankly, it makes you wonder if it would have been more successful without all the goobledygook.

Camera Scammer is back on Yahoo

Three months after being exposed as a seller making use of fraud, high-pressure tactics, and illegally manipulating Yahoo ratings, PriceRitePhoto is back up on Yahoo! with a new name but the same old business practices. There appears to have been no real attempt on Yahoo!'s part to vet the business proir to listing it. How they survived losing nearly the entire 2005 Christmas season of selling, due to reports and actions by the NYS attorney general, I have no idea. But if you see the story "BarclaysPhoto" on yahoo, pricegrabber, or ebay, stay away!!!

Feingold must have hurt his head

So there is this whole wiretapping thing that has been known about for a few months - you might have heard about it. The legality of the wiretapping is questionable, some think it's legal others think not - so some committee is going to study it. Even with the legality of the wiretapping still under investigation, Sen. Russ Feingold unilaterally decided that A) it was illegal and B) the President purposely broke the law. So, because he's always right - and who needs a stinkin' committee anyway - he's decided that the President needs to be censured. Most of the other democrats in the Senate are saying that censure is the wrong move, which means this can't be the normal wrongheaded approach that most dems take. The only reason I can think of for him making this move then is that he fell off a truck somewhere and hurt his head because this is just stupid. Wait to see if the tapping was illegal before you start taking shots like this - because if he turns out to be wrong he's going to look like a bigger idiot than he already does.

BEWARE: Debit Card Users

You need to know about this!!! While the bank I work for appears to have gone unaffected, many of the nations biggest banks are being hit by bogus debit cards.

The unfolding debit card scam that rocked Citibank this week is far from over, an analyst said Thursday as she called this first-time-ever mass theft of PINs "the worst consumer scam to date."
Wednesday, Citibank confirmed that an ongoing fraud had forced it to reissue debit cards and block PIN-based transactions for users in Canada, Russia, and the U.K.

But Citibank is only the tip of the iceberg, said Avivah Litan, a Gartner research vice president. The scam -- and scandal -- has hit national banks like Bank of America, Wells Fargo, and Washington Mutual, as well as smaller banks, including ones in Oregon, Ohio, and Pennsylvania, all of which have re-issued debit cards in recent weeks.

"This is the worst hack ever," Litan maintained.

This is why I never allowed my banks to issue me a debit card, just a regular ATM card. And I use only credit cards for purchases, because you are protect d by law from liability for false charges.

AT&T Overcharging U.S. Soldiers in Iraq?

This is a potentially explosive story. AT&T had better act quickly to contain the damage control.

It’s bad enough that they overcharge domestic customers but we have alternatives. The soldiers don’t because, according to The Prepaid Press, AT&T has an EXCLUSIVE contract to put payphones in PBXes in Iraq and Afghanistan. But, you ask, can’t the soldiers get cheap calling cards to call the US? No! Because AT&T is using (abusing!) its position as monopoly supplier of payphones to block the 800 numbers necessary to use nonAT&T calling cards...Too bad the soldiers have to pay $.21/minute to call home on them.

The wholesale rate for calls to the US is less than one cent a minute. Skype charges about 1.5 cents RETAIL to call the US from anywhere in the world. You can buy prepaid cards almost anywhere in the world to call the US for less than two cents a minute. AT&T charges soldiers in Iraq twenty-one cents.

AT&T is not this stupid. Obviously, there is some divisional manager who is not willing to do what it takes to make upper management understand the PR danger here.

People wonder why I don't drink coffee

Of course, my part also has to do with not wanting to get addicted to it. I know far too many people who drink coffee constantly thru the day, just to stay functional. Then again, some days they ARE a lot more productive than I am.

Everybody hates Nomad!

Many of you already hate me for introducing you to the mysteriously addictive Woot! website which provides one great deal on a techie-item per day. Well, you may hate me MORE for introducing MacZOT which attempts to do the same with Mac-Only Shareware. (Hat tip to Wacko for the heads-up.) I am not horribly impressed with any of the deals there, yet, but the site is young and it is an interesting idea.

2005 Box Office off 7.9% from 2004

A powerful Hollywood lobbyist group is reporting that the box office was down 7.9% in 2005. Blaming competing interests for consumers time (television, video games, cell phones, etc.), the group still credits high marks to Hollywood for customer satisfaction. Personally, I think we all know why the box office was down last year. Except for a very few movies (Star Wars, Chronicles of Narnia) there was not much to draw the casual theater-goer into a cineplex. Next year should be better with the Spider-Man and Superman movies due out, but the lack of a few major summer movies really hit the bottom line.

I am glad there is no mention of piracy here. The few people I know who have downloaded movies from the Net did so AFTER the film had left the theater, and because despite all efforts they could not reach the theater at all.

iGame Over

Before this gets out, please be aware that this is NOT real despite the inevitable flood of hysterical blog posts. EGM allegedly have released an article on a new Apple product called "iGame" which would allegedly be Apple's entre into the portable gaming market, making a hybid of a GameBoy and an iPod, which would download games from the iTunes music store. Smart money is that this is a HOAX, and a April Fools Joke which got out early due to the nature of the internet.

I don't like the politics, but it made me laugh anyway

You're worth listening to why?

More than once on this blog I've lamented about celebrities speaking out about various things. My basic problem is that most celebrities barely know the difference between the Senate, the House of Representatives and SCOTUS - because after all they're out of touch and proud, yet for some reason we are supposed to listen to them banter on about constitutional abuses as if they're constitutional scholars. Finally someone far more literate has put the complaint into a thoughtful piece of journalism, thus allowing me to not have to think through any good arguments or make any witty banter.

Microsoft Origami = Ultra Mobile PC

For the last few weeks, Microsoft has been trying to build an iPod-style whispering campaign around a new product, code-named "Origami." No one would say exactly what it was, but a "leaked" video seemed to show a Tablet PC-style device, larger than a Palm or PocketPC, capable of surfing the web, playing games, and playing music. People were intrigued, but the inevitable question was "Isn't that just a Tablet PC in the end - a form factor which has completely failed to catch on?"

Well, now we have it from the horse's mouth. Origami is the "Ultra Mobile PC". Basically, it is smaller than a Tablet PC and larger than a PocketPC - aproximately 7 inches for the screen - with only a screen for input. It runs a "full" version of Windows XP, and accepts stylus and finger input. It has bluetooth and 802.11b/g built in, for wireless communication. The idea is that it is a computer you can take with you - like a student's notebook - to fill the nice of both low-end laptop and iPod.

Frankly, I have seen this form factor before in an old tablet PC I picket up on eBay several years back. IT seemed like a GREAT idea. Surf the web from the couch, small form factor for traveling, etc. Problem is (as Blackberry proved) a keyboard really is the best method of entry for e-mails and other text-based input. And the iPod size is about right for an always-with-you device. Thus, the UMPC is stuck in a space that is not optimal for any one function. Of course, that is the idea for a "converged platform" - the best compromise for the max functionality.

It could work. But color me skeptical. I think we'll find most folks gravitating up to a laptop, and down to an iPod/PocketPC/Blackberry, with only a few (mostly in Japan) finding the UMPC hitting the sweet spot.

Am I the only one...

...who finds the idea of the New York Stock Exchange being a publicly traded stock troubling? Up until now, it has always been a not-for-profit resource. Is it not a problem to have the NYSE trading its own stock on its own floor?!

Maybe CRChair can set me straight on this.

"The Daily Show" comes to iTunes

Proving that Apple TRULY understands their audience (or that Comedy Central does), both the Daily Show (with John Stewart) and the Colbert Report are coming to iTunes.

The sale of these shows is being handled a bit differently. You can buy a "multi-pass" for both The Colbert Report and The Daily Show for $9.99US. This gets you the current episode, and sets up iTunes to automatically download future episodes as they become available (up to 16 episodes). Think of it as a paid podcast.

These shows target the iPod generation most directly. Great idea. And I admit that I could see myself getting a "multi-pass", especially around the time of the presidential elections!

Do you get it?

This is one of those for the rare few whose redneck humor can be crossed with the bible knowledge.

X-Men III: The Last Stand

The early buzz for the new X-Men movies has not been very positive. There is a new director, it is being rushed into production, and it appears that it does not have the full backing of the studio. But I must admit that this new trailer for the film looks better than pretty much anything in the theater at present.

I am cautious. The WORST film I have ever seen (in terms of watchability) was the CAPTAIN AMERICA thing that came out in the 80s. (The worst film ever in terms of moral stuff was another one whose name I have blocked out for the sake of my own sanity.) So despite the recent spate of successes, superhero films are NOT guaranteed winners. (Just ask Halle Berry about Catwoman.) But I am more hopeful with this glimpse that at least it may be a fun FX extravaganza.

Wow, talk about "hard cases"!

I had heard general info about this case in Britain before, but never the whole story. A woman and her husband had IVF done to combine her eggs with his sperm prior to cancer treatment. They knew that the treatment would render her sterile, and wanted a chance to have a family afterwards. Then, after treatment was done, they divorced and the husband withdrew his consent to use the embryos. She sued, because she wanted to have a baby.

The British Supreme Court has just ruled that the husband is NOT violating any of her rights by withdrawing consent. She plans to take it to the EU "Grand Chamber" (kind of a EU Supreme Court) to appeal for the ruling to be overturned.

This is a hard case. On the one hand, I believe that life begins at conception, so the embryos are already living beings, and I do not want to see them destroyed. On the other hand, I do believe that the father should have say in whether children are produced... especially since under British Law he would have specific responsibilties to these children. I guess this is a case against IVF, because of the moral problems it raises. But either way, you have to feel for them both.

Andy Richter will Once Again Controls the Universe

Andy Richter has signed on to do a Pilot for a show for NBC. It is entitled "Andy Barker P.I.". It is the brainchild of Conan O'Brien. This will be richters first foray back into television after his show Quintuplets.

As an Andy Richter fan who actually got to know him post-Conan, I am excited to see that he is getting another chance. He and Norm MacDonald seem to be the two comedian/actors right now that most people agree are funny, but don't know how to use them in a TV series.

AirAmerica losing NYC?

According to the New York Post, Air America - the "liberal" answer to conservative talk radio - is due to lose its flagship station in New York City. Their lease with WLIB is due to expire April 1, and it apparently does not look good for renewal.

No word on exactly why the lease is not being renewed, but I am guessing it may be due to the lackluster ratings that we have been hearing about. If Air America can not maintain a listenership in NYC, how can they hope to drive discussion in the rest of the country?

XM no longer commercial-free on music stations?!

It is being reported that as part of a settlement with Clear Channel, XM Radio will no longer be commercial-free on all of its music stations. At the moment, it appears to be restricted to only 4 channels "Sunny, KISS, MIX, and Nashville" (none of which I listen to) but it may be a sign of things to come. Personally, if they start playing commercials on the FISH and the TORCH, I will probably leave XM Radio entirely. I already am questioning the value when I spend more time listening to my iPod and courses on CD in the car.

Of course, this was probably inevitable. Some of us older fogies may remember when the draw of cable television was that its channels were commercial-free. But that went the way of the dodo LONG ago.

How did Crash beat Brokeback?

It's an interesting question, that is worth pondering for at least 2 minutes. Many people will think that perhaps the Academy decided that they didn't want to back the "gay cowboy film". Perhaps Hollywood decided that they didn't want to totally alienate their audience. Or maybe it was good PR. That's the argument the author of this article makes and he makes a good case for it. Personally I was very happy to see Crash win and not just because I didn't want to see Brokeback Mountain win. Crash is actually a really good film that makes a very good point - and in comparison to the other films nominated in the category I'd rather the point of Crash be emphasized rather than the point the other films were making. Now that the Oscars are done, I hope that the entertainment community can move past Brokeback and start talking about some other films.

The answer to all relativists

I did not watch the Oscars...

...well, okay, CRChair made me watch up until George Clooney's "I am proud" speech. (At which point, we both became mildly ill and turned it off.) But I am glad to see that (1) Wallace and Gromit got "best animated film" and (2) Chronicles of Narnia got "best make-up."

Good job, family-friend-filmmakers!

Hear that sound? That's Bill Gates laughing in triumph.

Variety has up a long article based on a recent interview with the new CEO of Sony. Somewhere in the middle, they offhandedly drop the announcement that the Playstation 3 is definitely pushed off until "the holidays of 2006."

What does this mean for the average American gamer? Probably not a whole lot in the short term. The American release was always scheduled for Fall or Christmas of 2006. But it means that the American and Japanese markets will be fighting for supply at the same time. And it means everyone who was holding off on buying an XBox 360 until they saw the PS3, will now run out and buy an XBox 360 rather than wait another 9 months.

I am sure this will be "officially denied," but it has the feel of a real trial balloon. I think we have our answer.

Feeling pudgey? Soda may be to blame!

New reports out today indicated that the biggest cause of the the "obesity epidemic" is soda (sometimes called "pop" by the unsophisticated). They are claiming that it is imperative to get sugar-drinks out of the hands of consumers (and especially children) ASAP.

One of every five calories in the American diet is liquid. The nation's single biggest "food" is soda, and nutrition experts have long demonized it.
Now they are escalating the fight.
In reports to be published in science journals this week, two groups of researchers hope to add evidence to the theory that soda and other sugar-sweetened drinks don't just go hand-in-hand with obesity, but actually cause it. Not that these drinks are the only cause -- genetics, exercise and other factors are involved -- but that they are one cause, perhaps the leading cause.
A small point? In reality, proving this would be a scientific leap that could help make the case for higher taxes on soda, restrictions on how and where it is sold -- maybe even a surgeon general's warning on labels.

While I think "warning labels" would be extreme, I think this definitely justifies the folks in my area who fought hard to get soda machines out of the schools. My own parents only let us have soda on "spcial occasions" (birthdays, christmas) and even then mixed it with milk, so that we got less sugar and more nutrients. It seems they were prescient of the dangers to my health.

Time to go back to cutting soda out of my diet completely. Luckily, I like water and crystal lite.

I Stayed Up For This?

I'm just wrapping up watching tonight's episode of SNL, something I haven't done in at least three years. We've enjoyed MadTV lately and I usually just turn the TV off after that since we're both ready for bed. But tonight, I kept it on for some reason and switched over to what used to be the funniest 90 minutes on TV. But wow, I can't believe the show has an audience left at all. The only funny sketch came late in the form of Natalie Portman performing a vulgar rap track that was so over the top that I had to laugh, even if it was more than a bit of a guilty kind of laugh. Even FOB couldn't save this episode. They're one of the few punk/emo/rock bands with any originality or any talent. But it was lost due to the typically awful mix that is so sub-par, the SNL sound people should have been fired long ago for allowing such an awful sound to come from their stage weekly.

I remember more than a few nights watching SNL with Crchair and Sean and laughing..a lot. Sure, there were stinkers. But I'd be curious from anyone who has been watching regularly if this is the quality that the show has been running at for some time, or did I just catch a fluke episode that illustrated everything that annoys me about SNL?

Army to Investigate Tillman's Death

The army today announce that they will investigate to see if there was any criminal activity involved in the death of Pat Tillman. While I admire Tillman for his devotion to his country and his willingness to step away from a multimillion dollar football contract to serve his country, I have to wonder if there is an overemphasis on him over the hundreds of others brave soldiers that have died in the war on terror. The death of each and every American soldier is tragic and quite possibly heroic, but there has been all this focus on Tillman - what about the other ones? There are conspiracy theories about his death, and we all know how Americans like a conspiracy theory, so this story will no doubt fly through the press and because of that more focus will be put on him and taken away from all of the other soldiers that are working so hard in the fight against terror. Maybe I'm making a big deal out of nothing, but something about this overemphasis on Tillman really bugs me.

New $10 Bills on the Way

In an attempt to stay ahead of the counterfeiters, a new redesigned $10 bill is due out this spring.

Am I the only one who sees irony in this? There are now SO MANY versions of the various dollar bills that the average person now has little chance of knowing if the bills in his/her wallet are real or fake. Only companies that can afford scanning apparatus are likely to really know.

Cell phones more risky than expected on airplanes

CRChair and I have been flying a lot more these last couple of years, due to weddings of friends who have moved to remote and bizarre sections of the USA (like Sacramento). Being generally a rule-follower, I have been stricken by the number of passengers who flout the "no electronics during takeoff and landing" policy of the airlines, including one woman from one of our flights who was on her phone, hid it under her jacket when the flight attendant came around to check, and IMMEDIATELY pulled it back out to return to her conversation when no one was watching. (High powered business woman? Nope. Talking make-up and mai tais.) The attitude, even since 9/11, has definitely been that the ban is simply airline foolishness - possibly an attempt to drive travellers to the expensive airplane phones.

A new study suggests that this attitude is wrong and airlines might be right. It found that cell phone use - especially during the touchy takeoff and landing portions of flight - can cause significant interference with sensitive airline equipment. This brings into question a policy change planned for December that would allow cell phones in flight.

Early termination of your cell phone contract with NO fees? Maybe

The Roaming Hack blog at BlogSpot has up an interesting article on how to get out of your cell phone contract without incurring the HUGE fees associated with early termination. The method? Simple. Become unprofitable for your cell phone company. He has confirmed it worked for him with Cingular.

Check your terms of service and act quickly. This blog is likely to trigger Cingular and others to change their terms of service to assess fees for this kind of activity!

Students Suspended for viewing websites on home computers

20 students are being suspended for viewing a website on their own personal computers, at home. The students viewed a website that had threats against a fellow student. The school isn't saying that these kids made threats, they just viewed the website. The site was on an online community that shall remain nameless. Although I don't condone the content of the website, it is gross misuse of school authority to try and regulate what kids view at home. What if students were suspended because they participated in anti-abortion rallies. Or they were suspended for marching in a Gay Rights parade. This would be wrong in any case.

Return of the MPAA

Proving once again that free flow of information is not nearly as important as the dollar, the MPAA has sued several bittorrent sites, including one of my favorites. Here is the release from Isohunt.com

As Reported Everywhere, MPAA issued a press release that thay are now suing isoHunt.com, TorrentBox.com, and a number of other BitTorrent, eDonkey and Newsgroup indexing sites. I still have yet to receive a formal cease and desist letter directly from MPAA Legal, but all seems to indicate this is for real and it's only a matter of time.

This is somewhat a followup to the series of MPAA letters we've received a year ago.

At this point, it is still uncertain what they are actually suing us for, considering we have a thorough copyright policy outlining our stance and takedown procedures. It is sad that despite our best efforts in cooperating with copyright owners, in both disabling copyright infringing links to their works everyday while for others, helping them distribute their works globally and cheaply using P2P technologies, it is still not enough for the MPAA. Have they ever learned from the VCR or Napster? When will corporations stop fighting technology and learn to embrace it to benefit all of us?

To this end, us, isoHunt.com and TorrentBox.com, are forming a coalition together with other P2P operators being sued and yet to be sued, and if possible with the help of the EFF, we will fight for the right for technological progress and the legality of the search engine itself. It is too early right now to say what we need for help from you, but if the MPAA will not back down, I'm sure we are going to need your help. And no, we will not go the way of LokiTorrent or Suprnova.

Anyways, nobody panic, and let the torrents flow. If you like to talk to us live and chat with other fellows in the community, come chat on IRC on #isoHunt on P2P-IRC (SSL enabled on port 7000, you need a client like mIRC ). We'll update as we learn more.


UPDATE 26/02: Of all the P2P sites being sued I am in contact with, none of us have received anything directly from MPAA yet regarding their pending lawsuits. And so far we are not aware of any US court cases that has actually been filed yet against us.

UPDATE 28/02: It's official now, lawsuits have been filed against us and all the sites as mentioned in MPAA's press release. I have to say I am impressed by the depth of their legal research, evidently their lawyers have been watching us for at least a year, since we exchanged letters last year. However, their core accusation is false. We do NOT operate this search engine and other P2P services for the express object of infringing MPAA's copyrights, there are many other torrents of content we index that are not owned by the MPAA, copyrighted or non-copyrighted. We would comply with DMCA takedown requests, given sufficient identification. Which they did not.

We are looking for legal representation and working with the EFF. We will fight this, but we need your help. First, we need money. Estimated legal fees will be at least $20,000 per month. I will be opening a legal defense fund, you will see it on the frontpage here when it's up. Other than your financial support, which you have our best thanks, we also need media attention. Give us as much buzz as possible, or we will get buried in MPAA's "burn the pirates" campaign. We need to get our side of the story out, that we are willing to work with the MPAA and turn P2P into the new VCR. I have asked in a poll in the past, on how much is a TV episode download worth? Most of your responses varied between $0, with commercial, to $2. And I'm already working with a TV show producer who sees the potential of this. Why can't the MPAA?

So, if you know any news reporter, be it local or national, online or on dead paper, we are happy to talk! Please send all media inquiries to .

Could the MPAA be any more backwards thinking? It doesn't seem possible.

More on iTunes Movie Store

Apple Insider has up another article on the allegedly upcoming move by Apple into the movie space. Apparently, they are floating the idea of a subscription-based service - sort of a NetFlix for iTunes - over a model where you can own the movies you download and burn them to DVD. It appears they may be planning to ALSO allow purchased downloads, but even those will not be burnable to alternate media for use in DVD players.

I am a DVD buyer, not a renter, though I enjoyed NetFlix for a time. So this is not very exciting to me. I'd rather buy a DVD, and encode it myself for use on the iPod. But it could be interesting. And it might just entice me into the subscription model for movies like North Country which I would like to see, but do not care to own.

How do you define "stupid"?

Apparently, it should be defined as this guy. He is on a 10 year probation for having killed a 6 year old girl when he was 12. He got 5 years added on in 2004 for brandishing a knife. So what does he do now? He pulls a gun on a Dominos Pizza Delivery guy! Sigh. This guy should be locked up for his own protection, if not for society's.

MySpace.com banned from Rhode Island Schools

This step by Rhode Island schools seems like a no-brainer to me. MySpace has two basic uses: (1) wasting time and (2) making dubious social contacts. Neither matches up with why computers were brought into schools in the first place.

For those not aware, MySpace is a social networking site popular with teens, where they can have personal home pages, share music, make friends, and leave messages for each other. It has been in the headlines a lot lately because predators have been using it to hook up with teens, and several arrests have been made. The site is putting additional controls into place, but they may be too-little, too-late.

Prosper.Com: eBanking beyond PayPal

As a bank employee, I find this new website to be more than a little troubling. Because the idea of a direct lender-to-borrower arrangement might threaten my job? No. Because money tends to bring out the worst in people, and I can only imagine the kinds of complicated lawsuits and painful problems this site is setting its users up for. I hope I am wrong, but I suspect before too many years are out you will see this site attacked for...
1. Being used to launder money,
2. Being used to channel bribes to public officials,
3. Being used to direct money to terrorism,
4. Failing to release money to someone who needs it for life-saving medical procedure...
and so on. Banks are HEAVILY regulated to prevent misuse of financial systems. I hope Prosper.com has implemented at least half of those controls, but it looks like the kind of "quick, cheap, and easy" implementation you expect of the internet. i.e. Very efficient (which is good) but also very hard to control (which is bad).

Mod-Blog Review: Garmin iQue 3600

WHAT IS IT?

The Garmin iQue 3600 was the first Palm PDA with an integrated GPS reciever. It was Garmin's first Palm - released in 2003 - but it still remains the best one out there, and is competitive in features with the newer Palm PDAs released in 2005-2006. Since Garmin has released two other Palm PDAs since 2003 (the 3200 and 3000), the iQue 3600s can now be found refurbished for around $250, though it still costs around $500 new.

Features include a full version of the PalmOS 5.2.1 running on a 200 MHz ARM processor (which means access to the thousands of existing Palm applications), integrated GPS antenna (and ability to attach an external antenna), 32 MB of RAM, SD card for expansion (useable up to 2 GB), and a software-based Grafiti 2 area (so you can use the full 320 x 240 screen for maps or other applications). There is a flip-cover for the unit that rests flat against the front of the unit to protect the screen when not in use, and tucks flat against the back of the unit when it *is* in use. The built-in Garmin software includes routing (figuring out directions for you), finding points of interest, integration with the built-in Palm applications (you can route to anything in your address book), and more. It comes with a CD containing detailed maps for the entire USA (or Europe, if you should be buying from Europe.)

WHAT WAS MY EXPERIENCE?

I purchased my iQue from Woot.Com when it came up as one of their deals. After some arm wrestling with UPS (my driver decided the best way to deal with the blizzard of 2006 was to claim my house did not exist), I received it two weeks ago and have been using it constantly as my driving companion since then. The bundle I purchased (most of the refurbs are this same bundle) includes the unit, Maps for the continental United States (and some of Canada) on CD, PocketMirror for smooth integration with Outlook, a friction mount (basically a weighted beanbag mount, that locks into the unit and plugs into the cigarette lighter for power), and some extra software on the CD.

It has been GREAT. Mod-Bloggers who know me well, know that I have NO sense of direction. I always get where I am going in the end, but that is due to (1) a tendency to overplan my route before I go, and NOT deviate from it, and (2) a willingness to ask directions of strangers and look like an idiot. But now - with a 2 GB SD card installed to the unit to which I loaded maps for the entire country - I can simply refer to my iQue and ask it for directions to my next goal. The iQue includes visual prompts (including a scrolling map), voice prompts (so you do not have to read the maps), and will AUTOMATICALLY RECALCULATE if you go off route! That has been the best part, as once or twice I have taken a wrong turn or chosen to get to a highway thru an alternate route, and before I can think about it, the Garmin has already rerouted. The accuracy is not perfect - some local restaurants are located on the maps blocks from their actual position - but the iQue faithfully gets me to most locations, and when it is not spot-on, I can see my destination from where it thinks it should be. (And I can reset the locations to the real location anytime I want to.) The detailed maps also allow you to locate local "points of interest", which range from gas stations to restaurants to national parks to arcades to just about anything you may want to find. No more realizing on the highway that you are almost out of gas, and wondering how to get to a gas station before you run dry! Likewise, this function lets you find the best restaurants for your vacation BEFORE you go.

And if you have a preferred route (when travelling into NJ, we prefer the Tappan Zee Bridge over the George Washington Bridge) you can program in specific "via points" which the iQue will use when calculating the route.

And, of course, the iQue is a full PalmOS PDA, so I am enjoying having MyBible with me at all times, as well as the other excellent apps.

WHAT HAVE I *NOT* EXPERIENCED?

I am not a geocache enthusiast nor someone who does much hiking. However, the Garmin has built-in functions for off-road GPS location and the creation of waypoints. If you look up a geocache online, and enter the coordinates, you can use the iQue to get you close by car, and then walk the rest of the way. It also saves tracks and routes, if required, so you can retrace your steps and/or convert your track into a format that can be imported to a desktop mapping program for sharing.

WHAT IS THE BEST FEATURE?

Automatic recalculation of routes. If you go off-route (perhaps to get gas, pick up some snacks, or to get around an accident) it will calculate how to get you back on, without any prompting. (Yes, this feature can be turned off, if you'd rather figure it out on your own.) This can be married with a "Detour, X miles" feature if you come up against a major slowdown or accident. The route will be recalculated to get you around the disruption by going X miles out of your way.

WHAT IS THE WORST PROBLEM?

I have learned in the past when buying SmartPhones that marrying a Palm to other functionality always leaves you wish a unit with quirks. The iQue is no different. The iQue has spontaneously restarted (though not lost data) more than my past Palm Tungsten C, Palm VIIx, and Palm IIIc combined over their lifetime in the last two weeks (which is not saying much, since the others were rock solid and only restarted maybe 3 times each). It is sensitive to poorly-written software (avoid IQ-Bright, a program to control the backlight like the plague!!!) and to sudden changes in environment (it resets sometimes when I plug it into the friction mount, going from battery to charge).

The other problem with the iQue 3600 is the battery. The battery lasts a long time without GPS use, but with GPS active it drains in about 2 hours time. This is not a problem in the car - since the friction mount includes a plug for the car cigarette lighter - but if you wanted to use this for geocaching or hiking, I doubt 2 hours would do it. One workaround is the "Emergency Battery Charger" which lets you use 4 AA batteries externally to boost the battery time of the PDA. I own this add-on, but have not yet had a chance to use it.

WHAT IS THE BOTTOM LINE?

If you want a GPS for your car, there is NOTHING better out there for the price. A friend has an in-car TomTom navigator which has a lot better graphical features, but it costs around $1,000. Comparable GPS systems with a competing screen cost $500 or more. Add in a 2 GB SD card and you can wander anywhere in the USA without fear of getting lost. Add on the ability to keep full ebooks/bibles/games on there for the hotel room, and this is as close to a Star Trek Tri-Corder as we poor 21st century humans can get.

But if you are looking for a GPS for hiking, you may want to look for a solution with a better battery. Some of the newer Garmin Palm or PocketPC units - while actually having less functionality - have a much better battery life. Some of the dedicated GPS units - especially those with a black-and-white LCD - will have MUCH better battery life, and still fulfill all the requirements for a geocache or hiking trip. They are also much cheaper.

ANYTHING ELSE TO MENTION?

There is a lot of great add-on software out there for the iQue (or at least compatible with it). I'll have an article later in the week (or next week) listing out some of the best software and hardware add-ons for this amazing little PDA.