News

Apple launched a few new toys this week. Among them, the new Photo IPod and the cool U2 iPod. In basic black, as I predicted.

The Photo iPod lets you look at pictures on its color screen and sports a longer battery life of 15 hours! Better than the old iPods but for the price, it should be.

The U2 iPod is cool but I don’t like U2 enough to shell out the bucks for it. Besides, I already have a few iPods around the house and really, I’m waiting for the gold encrusted ABBA edition anyway.

It is nice to look at though.

Also, CNET is reporting that the Virginia Tech supercomputer a.k.a System X, which is made up of lots of G5 XServes (1100 to be exact), has reached 12.25 Teraflops.

For those non-geeks in the audience, that’s a crap load of computing power. This makes it in the top 5 of supercomputers in the world. Look out NEC earth simulator, we’re coming for you!

Later.

According to “The American Conservative” magazine, which is run by, of all people, Pat Buchanon, John Kerry is the one they like for President. Well, like may be too strong a word. But they don’t want GW to be re-elected and that’s good enough for me. This has to be good in the fight to woo “undecided” voters too.

This, and the growing list of publications that actually endorse John Kerry and things are looking up. I feel a shift in momentum. Yes I do.

Later.

Three anti-spyware bills are working their way through Congress, and the FTC has achieved its first victory in its lawsuit against “Spamford” Wallace. On Thursday the US District Court granted a temporary restraining order against Wallace prohibiting him from exploiting Internet vulnerabilities to place spyware on computers. Wallace was given 24 hours to pull his software from the web.

PalmOne has officially announced the release of the Treo 650. Sprint has cornered the market on the hot phone through sometime next year. Sprint says the phone will be available by mid-November and cost around $500. Wi-Fi support will not be available at first, but PalmOne does expect to make a Wi-Fi card for the phone eventually.

Sprint also crippled the bluetooth implementation on their version of the 650. One more reason not to use Sprint. Besides, I am loving T-Mobile here in Los Angeles. Any ATT users out there? I advise you to switch. T-Mobile works so much better.

Meanwhile Google shares were up another 15% on Friday, topping $180/share at one point. Thanks to a strong earnings report on Thursday, two analysts are saying it’s worth over $200.

An AOL survey shows that 20% of home computers are infected with viruses. 80% are infected with spyware. Infected machines had an average of 93 different spyware programs on them. Technical experts from AOL and the National Cyber Security Alliance examined 329 computers in the survey. More than 70% of owners falsely thought they were protected from online threats.

The DOJ has given its go ahead for Cingular’s acquisition of AT&T Wireless. The merger now has to go to the FCC for approval. I wonder if they will get it? The merger will give Cingular 47.6 million subscribers, making it the number one wireless carrier in the US of A.

The tech industry received a big tax break on Friday. President Bush signed a bill offering $136 billion in corporate tax relief, including a reduction from 35% to %5.25 in the tax rate on foreign profits for US multinationals. The breaks have been criticized for encouraging offshoring of jobs, but the US tech industry lobbied heavily for them saying they needed the money for additional R&D and investment. Senator Feinstein’s amendment requiring companies to spend their tax windfall in the US was rejected.

And, Apple’s big press conference is today. Will they announce the new U2 iPod? We’ll see.

Mmm theme iPods. Interesting. Supposedly in basic black for the U2 one. Now, if I could just get a computer that color. A black 12″ powerbook would be cool. Or, maybe a black G5 tower. What can I say, I like black. Probably all those years in the movie business.

Later.

John Stewart on C-Span right after his appearence on “Corssfire”. Must see TV.

Also, the British Armed Forces have officially recognized a naval technician as a satanist, meaning that he can conduct satanic rituals on board the HMS Cumberland. This is a first for them, obviously. What can they say? The devil made them do it?

And, from the “what the fuck are they doing?” department:

It seems that hundreds of tons of high explosives are, ah, how do you say it . . . . . gone. At least according to the United Nations watchdog group, the International Atomic Energy Agency, that was keeping an eye on the explosives before the war.

My personal favorite quote from Melissa Fleming, spokesperson for the group: “Our immediate concern is that if the explosives did fall into the wrong hands they could be used to commit terrorist acts and some of the bombings that we’ve seen,” Fleming said.

You think? Oh, who was watching the explosives after the IAEA left Iraq? Why us, of course. Think about this when you go to the polls people.

Later.

My friend Courtney Jones is a talented film director and a good writer to boot. He posts an interesting article about film versus digital over at our other site.

Other than that, I am off to San Diego with the wife for her birthday. We are going to Sea World to see Shamu and the sharks. She likes sharks but has never been to Sea World so this will be fun. I hear they have a rollercoaster now or something.

Later.

Hunter S. Thompson and his take on politics these days. He has an interesting perspective and nobody says it quite like him.

And, here’s the followup regarding John Stewart’s “Crossfire” appearance. He handicaps his own work and it’s even funnier the second time around.

And finally, here’s a picture of some citizens exercising their right to free speech and telling it like it is.

Later.

Been busy this week but managed to see a movie and I have to talk about it a little. I went to see “Team America: World Police” and all I can say is f**k yeah! What a funny movie. I haven’t laughed that much in a very long time. I especially loved the jabs at Hollywood and actors who think that they have an informed opinion. It was a great time at the movies and went to great lengths to offend just about everyone.

I don’t want to get into the plot too much and spoil it for you but here’s a little bit. A group of actors join forces with a North Korean dictator who is planning a large terrorist attack. The only thing that stands in their way is Team America: World Police.

There are gun battles, martial arts fights, hot sex, explosions and even songs. And its all done with puppets. Yes, I said puppets. It’s a great idea and after a few minutes you don’t really care that you are watching puppets. What the puppets are saying and doing is so funny that you just go along with it.

I have seen thousands of movies in my life and I consider this one of the great comedies of all time. It works as a comedy, as political satire and as an adventure movie. And did I mention its all done with puppets?

Now, the movie is rated “R” for a reason. There is bloody violence, sex and lots of uses of the “f” word. It’s best audience is probably young males who will eat it up. I went with two male buddies of mine and we all loved it. You could try bringing the girlfriend or the wife but definitely, leave the kids at home.

Oh, I definitely recommend the soundtrack, especially for Team America’s rousing theme song: “America, f**k yeah!” and a tender love ballad about how much the hero misses his girl “just a little bit less than Peal Harbor sucked”. Yes, they even make fun of Michael Bay’s movie “Pearl Harbor”. I know, I was shocked too.

So, go out and see the movie and be prepared to laugh your ass off.

Later.

This is one of the eeriest things I have ever seen. Better than any Hollywood movie because its real. Be sure to catch the movie.

And, turning to the world of politics and fake journalism. One of the funniest guys on TV, John Stewart of “The Daily Show”, recently went on the CNN show “Crossfire” and basically handed the two host their asses. He charges them with “hurting” America and being “hacks”. He even calls co-host Tucker Carlson a “dick”. Finally, someone goes on one of those so-called “hard-hitting” shows and really speaks his mind. You go John.

You can watch the fireworks by getting it from bittorrent or watch it at iFilm. Or, for a good read, get the transcript.

Many others are commenting on this as well. Among them, Charles Taylor at salon.com. I think he gets it right on the money.

And, very important. In many states (California included) today, Monday, October 18th, is the last day to register to vote. To be able to vote your registration form needs to be postmarked by midnight tonight. Other states deadlines can be found here.

You can download registration forms and info from DeclareYourself.com. Physical forms are available at the post office, library or at your local registrar of voters. To find the location of the nearest registrar of voters, go to vote-smart.org

Don’t wait. Download the form, fill it out and drop it in the mail. This is too important this time to wait until later. So, stop reading this, get the form, fill it out and send it in.

Still here? I said go.

Now!

This should help you decide to get rid of your Windows machine and buy a Mac. 90% of computers (Windows computers that is) have some sort of spyware installed.

Remember, there is no spyware for the Mac and no viruses or worms or any crap like that. I know Macs are more expensive and that they are a closed system and their are fewer games and blah, blah, blah. The bottom line is that your time is worth something too. The time you spend removing spyware, scanning for spyware, dealing with spyware and even thinking about spyware is valuable time. If you were using a Mac, you would not have to even think about spyware and thus, would have extra time on your hands. You could then use could that extra time in more productive ways.

With all that extra time, who knows what you could achieve? You might invent a cure for spyware and market it to all the unfortunate lemmings that were still using Windows. It works for companies like Norton and McAfee. They make a ton of cash on anti-spyware, anti-spam and anti-virus tools. I like to use a quote someone told me once regarding the medical industry. There is no money in curing cancer. However, there is a crap load of money to be made in treating it.

Now, don’t send me hate-mail and tell me cancer is much more serious than spyware and that I’m a jerk for making a comparison like that. Of course cancer is much more important that spyware. Obviously. However, the point is still valid. Several companies stand to make a ton of cash selling tools that combat viruses and spyware. They never really seem to do the job all the way though, do they?

Their always seems to be a new virus or worm or spyware or whatever that can beat our anti-tools. I don’t even use anti-virus software on my Macs. Never have. Never had a virus either. Not in over fifteen years of using the Mac. But really, in the end, why do we want to even think about this stuff at all? It’s just a waste of our valuable time.

Maybe if more people started to take the plunge and go the Mac way Apple would lower the price because they could make it up in volume like Dell does? And, if more Macs were sold, software makers would start to make more software for the Mac. All it takes is for people to switch to the Mac. One at a time, inch by inch, we can all get more time in our lives. Life is too short to worry about spyware and the blue screen of death.

With all this spyware, viruses, Windows patches and other things that make Windows a pain in the ass, its just a matter of time. People will realize that a computer is a tool and that tool needs to help us do our work, not hinder us. Our time on earth is finite. Let’s use it wisely.

Later.

I’m a little hung over due some good wine last night at The Water Grill here in LA. Great food, great wine but a tad on the expensive side (ok, a little more than a tad). I really liked it but it wasn’t all that.

I still think Commander’s Palace in New Orleans is the best restaurant I have ever been to. Although, Arroyo Chop House ranks a close second (if you are looking for a steak). However, if you are a fan of seafood (especially the tuna) you could not find better anywhere else in Los Angeles.

Ok, on with the other stuff. Don’t try to BS these people. They know you are full of it.

And the FCC has its hands tied (at least according to itself) and won’t be blocking the airing of the anti-Kerry “news” program on the Sinclair Media television stations.

And, in better news that I am very excited about. Acclaimed author William Gibson has a new blog up and running. He’s cool and his books are very interesting indeed. Read them all, I have.

That’s it for a lazy Sunday. Now, I might even go watch some football.

Later.