Underground Media: Reloaded

Or so you'd think after watching the movie industry attack anyone who shows even the grainiest of bootlegs. Their latest target is the online video sites. It's all a game of Whack-a-Mole to them as the MPAA smacks one , and another pops up. Such is the ferocity of their assaults, you'd think they were starving in the streets. Somehow, I don't think so. In fact, I think they've had a record summer . To the tune of $4.1 Billion. I can't freaking believe it! They raise ticket prices, produce a record number of crappy movies with astronomical budgets, have a banner year in revenue and profit, and try to tear anyone who touches their content to shreds. The slimy bastards are having a non-stop drunken orgy and we're footing the bill. Reminds me a scene from Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas . It's hilarious that Youtube has it. I post it because it's appropriate, and to thumb my nose in their general direction. "I was in the middle of a f*c...

As I don't have a TV, I don't get to see many commercials. Even when I'm at Wxman's house watching the season finales of 4400 and Dead Zone, we still fast forward through all the commercials. However, after the shows, we were watching the Eagles/Redskins game, and I finally saw one. An HD commercial. A television commercial in high definition. The industry is WAILING about piracy, but they're springing for 30 fricking seconds of 1080i of a gecko walking around talking about............whatever. All I've got are crocodile tears for these fools.

Apple cuts us off "So, it's finally happened. Unhappy with other media players being better than iTunes, Apple have apparently decided to stop them from working with the new range of iPods.Who does this affect?This affects Linux users - there's no iTunes for Linux, so popular Linux iPod management tools like gtkpod and Rhythmbox will not work with the new range of iPods.Windows users who just plain don't like iTunes and perfer an alternative like Winamp, Ephpod or many of the other iPod management applications out there." ipodminusitunes: Apple cuts us off Blogged with Flock

"BUFFALO, New York (AP) -- When it comes to wolfing wings, Sonya Thomas is a whiz. The 105-pound competitive eater who goes by name "The Black Widow" bested a dozen beefy rivals Saturday night, scarfing 173 wings in 12 minutes to win the wing-eating contest at the National Buffalo Wing Festival."That's 5.17 pounds of wings," said Brian Kahle, spokesman for the annual Labor Day weekend event in the city where Buffalo wings were born. Thomas, 40, of Alexandria, Virginia, also held the festival's previous record of 161 wings in 12 minutes, set in 2004. "She's the crowd favorite," Kahle said. "It was 12 huge guys and her." Thomas has set numerous records in competitive eating events, including 37 hot dogs in 12 minutes; 35 bratwursts in 10 minutes; 11 pounds of cheesecake in 9 minutes; 44 lobsters in 12 minutes; and 250 Tater Tots in 5 minutes." CNN REMOVED THE ORIGINAL PHOTO. THAT SUCKS! I think it's the string of sa...

Yeah, I know it's old news . But it still brings a smile to my face. NBC decided to pick up their toys and leave Apple's playground. Very Cartman and Southpark-ish. Embedded Video People are speculating which party was more injured by the deal. Well, the last time I checked, NBC still has television as a distribution channel. And Apple doesn't produce a lick of content on it's own. But then again, I think they both suck for continuously giving consumers the shaft. Blogged with Flock

As someone who's been called "smug and arrogant" to his face by a former employer, I can certainly identify.  But, I hesitate to use the phrase for Mac owners.  I think the term "blissfully ignorant" better describes Jobs' cult.  And some of them are my best friends!  My own sister owns a Mac!  Observe the Mac-dude below.  Arrogant?  Or wide-eyed and misguided.  You decide... » Are Mac users smug and arrogant? | The Apple Core | ZDNet.com Blogged with Flock

As I get more and more into stock trading, I realize how much I actually don't know. About the companies, and about the mechanics and legality of trading. So, over the last year or so, I've immersed myself in stock and finance stuff. Marketplace Money , The Motley Fool and Money Magazine have been just a few of my resources. Then I found Wallstrip , "where stock culture meets pop culture." Good humor and good information. Give it a spin and let me know what you think. Blogged with Flock

I often find myself identifying with the libertarian end of the political spectrum.  Especially as I get older and more "dug in" in the family & kids sense of that phrase.  As an open-source/free software addict, I often find myself in debates with my conservative-minded friends about whether or not open-source equals communism or some wacky erosion of capitalism or democracy.  The article below sums up the concepts pretty well.  It's from the CATO institute, I believe.  A modern-day bastion of libertarianism.  Read on... "There's no reason that free software should make libertarians uneasy. To the contrary, it is precisely the kind of decentralized, voluntary cooperation that libertarians should be holding up as an alternative to the coercive power of the state. Free software is produced by volunteers donating their time, without a government program in sight. If that's not a libertarian success story, I don't know what is." Why Libertarians Sho...

GOOD COPY BAD COPY - a documentary about the current state of copyright and culture I've been meaning to post this for a while. It's a documentary about the collision between today's infinitely available digital media via the internet and the old-school politics of copyrights and intellectual property championed by the RIAA and MPAA. And the film is from Denmark, which is hardly surprising. The Danes and the Swedes are waaay progressive with copyright law. And weed-smoking. And prostitution. I'm KIDDING! The documentary is very well-done, informative, and surprisingly funny. Give it a watch and let me know what you think.  Did I mention that almost all of the examples in the documentary are hip-hop?  Oh yeah! Blogged with Flock

That's the question that Marketplace Money asks Andy Taylor, CEO of Enterprise Rent-A-Car . Every year, there were rumors that Enterprise would go public, but it never happened. And in this interview , Andy talks about the value of staying private. In a nutshell, you have no reactionary shareholders to contend with. Sure there are downsides to not being publicly traded, but Enterprise gets to do some things that other companies just can't get away with. Enterprise is HUGE now, and has changed from the old "value-driven" company that I grew up with. But I still think they're cool. And I'm sort of glad that I can't buy they're stock...