The War’s A Commin’

Transcribed as: Large call my cell which I as our specially filled out for about a at. Over at.

I Love Wikipedia

I decided to wikipedia John Dillinger. What I found was half amusing, half depressing. I really love wikipedia…. most of the time…. Just read the first main paragraph of the page in the screenshot. No time stamp on the screenshot but it was just a couple of days ago I promise.

I know it will probably be gone soon, so I suppose there’s no point in viewing the page to see if its still there, but if you’re still inclined just click here.

Below is a link to a video that I have long considered lost. I believe I was 15 at the time of its filming. Perhaps 16 at a maximum.

Back in the days when my friend Eddy and I used to publish a little site called Reefaroni, we got into the whole short internet video thing. This was back in the days before youtube, mind you, so we had to encode everything and host it ourselves if we wanted to distribute it.

The video isn’t too intricate, but it was definitely still worth a good laugh when I recently re-watched it. Thanks to Mark S. for digging it up from the depths of an old hard drive so we can all enjoy it once again.

And now here you have it: Bicycle Anarchy

This is a courtesy post for anyone out there who may want to take advantage of really really cheap calling.

Here’s what you will need:

You can figure out the rest.

As some of you may know (does anyone other than my brother read this blog?) the launch of Windows 7 is upon us.  As the software giant Microsoft is gearing up for the new OS’ premiere, efforts are being made to get people geared up like its the new xbox or something through the promotion of Windows 7 “launch parties.”  Watch this grotesquely filmed web ad promoting the idea:

The video is made complete with an extremely unlikely convergence of demographics.  You have your emo glasses guy who looks like he should be in an Apple commercial, the grandma who obviously wouldn’t care at all about an operating system update, the soccer mom, and of course, the token black guy.

Notice the shaky camera work and abrupt zooming in and out.  It’s got that whole “this looks bad so therefore it looks real” feel to it, a la The Office. As if the idea of a Windows 7 launch party wasn’t nauseating enough….

My favorite part is when the black guy recommends making the experience “personal” to someone in the party by doing something particular to them.  He continued to cite the example of how everyone at his party watched him transfer files for someone.

Wow.  Lets watch files transfer.  Yes!

On another note, I really do wonder about how the new Windows will be received.  I think it’s safe to say that Vista was the worst thing they put out since Millenium Edition.  It never managed to replace XP as the standard windows OS.  Windows 7 better have something good lying in wait (other than countless OS X ripoffs) if Microsoft is to curtail their ever slipping market share.  Personally, after Vista I’m just not very excited about anything Microsoft does, save the Xbox.  I’ve used the Windows 7 Release Candidate and wasn’t overly impressed.  It’s an improvement, but far from the best consumer operating system available.  I’d rather keep my box that used to run vista running Ubuntu (9.10 later this month!) and steer clear of the Windows 7 update all together.  The 64 bit Windows 7 Release Candidate didn’t work at all on it for some mysterious reason (32 bit did) and it exceeds the system requirements.  That really just did it for me.  Luckily, the dual core AMD 64 bit processor I have in it handles Ubuntu beautifully.  Videos play great (even HD) and it more than suffices for simple web applications and office applications (open office is included in the build distributed by Ubuntu).  My heavier duty stuff is delegated to my Mac, which is my main machine.  It communicates extremely well with the Ubuntu box network-wise, screen sharing is simple and works great, and what would have been a next to useless and virus ridden old computer is seeing some serious utility as a server spinning some pretty big hard drives, which is its primary use.

So instead of a Windows 7 launch party, I propose a “convert to Ubuntu” party.  Instead of boring your guests with file transfers, I recommend showing everyone how easy and effective it is to switch to open source, free operating systems running free and open source software, developed and maintained by a community of people (Ubuntu is a Zulu word meaning community) who care a lot more about security and stability than Microsoft.  The best news about it is, if you have a pc, you can run linux for free.

Give it a try. Ubuntu Linux

crash away, baby

I don’t even use the new Safari too much, but last night when I was using it an interesting thing happened. My only guess is that Apple’s claims of crash resistance in the new 64 bit Safari 4 are a little bit exaggerated.

I’m hoping Chrome premieres for Mac OS X soon, but until then Firefox is easily the browser of choice for the mac platform.

EDIT: Since the aforementioned crash, I have experienced nothing but stability and speed from the browser. I have to say that I may have rushed in to damning it.

Residual complaints: As a MacBook Pro user, I would like the people who created the multitouch trackpad to add a 3 finger swipe gesture for page up/down like firefox does. Its super convenient and would be simple to add. Also, theres no add tab button unless there is a 2nd tab open already. A bit weird huh?

You see commercials espousing the utility, convenience, and portability of netbooks more and more on television and other places, but just how futuristic are they?

The ability to compute on the go has been around for quite a while, a point that needs no elaboration. Nowadays though, with the advent of widespread access to EDGE and 3g networks (and 4g presumably on the way within a year or two) portable computers are entering a type of use not common previously. As we know from commercials, now you can sit on the dock by the ocean with your netbook being a condescending prick to the person next to you because you’re too busy browsing the web and video chatting with your homeboy to be a normal person.

My question is, why don’t people just get smartphones?

The Palm Pre, iPhone, New Blackberrys etc. All have similar capabilities to netbooks, which have a market niche for extremely light computing and web browsing. If you absolutely NEED the use of a computer with the ability to use the net anywhere, I personally feel its foolish to invest in a notebook that will only be good for light computing instead of getting a USB 3g adapter available for your normal notebook from all the same service providers.

Smartphones are getting so advanced these days, and considering dual core processors will likely be available in them in 2010, their abilities are only going to only multiply. I think that anyone would have a hard time convincing me that they NEED a netbook for what they do instead of using a smartphone or just getting a USB network adapter for access to EDGE and 3g networks.

On another note, the AT&T contract for exclusive iPhone service ends in 2010, and Apple in my opinion will likely make their killer app available to multiple networks, who will then have to compete with one another in terms of price and service.

Can you say tethering?

Internet connection tethering is written into the 3.0 operating system for the iPhone, but AT&T will not allow it for some obvious reasons, one of them being that you don’t have a real choice in providers. In europe and canada, however, certain providers (O2 for example) are allowing tethering as a way of offering a one up on the competition.

In a year or two when the iPhone is A) 4G capable, B) available on multiple carriers, and C) able to tether its internet connection through 30 pin connector (USB) or through bluetooth netbooks will be DONE. There will officially be absolutely no advantage in having one.

Google’s Chrome OS, recently announced, offers a stripped down operating system focused on performance and light mobile computing tasks like web and email. Tell me how this is at all different from other mobile OS platforms? (Android, OS X, Windows Mobile)

Google’s Chrome OS will ensure that your underpowered netbook will run smoothly, but in all honesty I have to say that this is not a very appealing notion to the tech-savvy. I don’t want to browse the internet on an abridged operating system ensuring that I can basically do nothing else.

In conclusion, netbooks and operating systems that pander to them are already antiquated and it is my opinion that they will die out before they gain widespread popularity, and deservingly so.

the Lost and Damned

Today I purchased the expansion for GTA IV – The Lost and Damned.  This game is further proof that Xbox 360 is the premier next-gen console to own.  Available through download only on the Xbox Live system, this game will take a long time to reach PS3 fans, if it ever even does.  This website’s name derives from a line an ammunation employeee in the San Andreas edition of GTA says after you’ve finished purchasing guns and ammunition.  I’ve always had a great affinity for this game series and the cathartically therapeutic playing experience.  One of my favorite parts about the game is riding on the motorcycles, which I’ve always thought deserved to be more prevelant on the streets of liberty city, vice city (the 1st time motorcycles were introduced), and san andreas.  This new expansion of GTA IV focuses primarily on biker gangs, which should make for an amazing game experience.

But for now, its carnage time.

There’s an old saying.  It goes something along the lines of “only at the Minnesota state fair.”

I recently attended the largest and most well attended state fair in the country.  The Minnesota state fair takes place on year-round state fair grounds in St. Paul near the St. Paul campus of the University of Minnesota.  I was there to see a band by the name of Trampled by Turtles.  We didn’t get to the right place in time to see more than three songs, but it was a good show nonetheless.  Afterwards, my roommates and I ventured around checking out some of the smaller bars with live bands on the fair grounds.  We came upon the venue in the video below, and we saw something none of us had words for.  We saw what must have been a clinic on every cheesey wedding dance move in existence.  This guy in the crowd was either tripping or completely insane, but it made for some great entertainment.  I took over 8 minutes of video of him, and trust me when I say he was going for much longer.  Notice how he faces the crowd almost the entire time.  He was making eye contact with us and almost pretending to be a part of the show.  Either way, enjoy this wonderful dance video.