Freaky Friday

Dude, try my Scotch. It's like from California. (registration required - just an email address)
Ummm, no. If it's not Scottish, IT'S CRAP!!!

In other news from Scotland, the deep-fried Mars bar, a nutritionist's nightmare that surfaced in Scotland about a decade ago, is now an established part of the Scottish culinary scene, according to a letter published in The Lancet.

And we wonder why the rest of the world mocks our president. Somewhere Dan Quayle is doing a happy dance and John Kerry is slashing his wrists...

Britain made merry-making with drunken excess grounds for a steep fine during the Christmas season, with the government attempting to rein in a worrying and widespread problem of binge-drinking. Bah-Humbug mate!!

BERLIN (Reuters) - Adolf Hitler spent years evading taxes and owed German authorities 405,000 Reichsmarks -- equivalent to $8 million today -- by the time his tax debts were forgiven soon after he took power, a researcher said on Friday. Boy, this guy's rep just gets better and better doesn't it.

It's been a wild week around the office. A timely piece from Henry Blodget on investing mistakes. He should know. Now let's hope this doesn't apply to the mothership's new "partner". And, the branding issues have been solved! From, the "dang, why didn't I think of that first" category...

The demon spawn from Britney Spears. Don't hate the players, hate the spineless A&R guys & large corporate radio.

The History Channel's Weird U.S. is well, ... Weird.

Apple officially announced some kind of cellphone partnership which would result not just in a Motorola phone that is iTunes capable, but in something users could call a proper “accessory” to their iPod, chiefly one that Apple should have a large part in the interface and exterior design.

Buy fruit, get iTunes. Apples - get it?? Wacky marketing, huh??

Great, as if T-Mobile needs any more positive P.R. or momentum, along comes this piece. Why can't we have Snoop as our spokesman??? Fo shizzle!!
In other T-Mobile news, Missouri telcos to block T-Mobile calls. I swear we had nothing to do with this!!!

Just in time for the hard to buy for person on your holiday shopping list - a paper digital clock that uses heat to display on thermal paper. Let's see, what time did I last wipe....

More holiday shopping hints for the little Norm Abram in your life. As a parent, I heartily approve!

Add WiFi to your Treo 650! SD WiFi card drivers hacked. (This could be good)
Treo 650 hacked for use with Verizon. (Not so good....)

Whoa! This is wrong on so many levels. Redneck/hillbilly engineering at its finest.

USB Eye Massager is the latest-designed health care Product specially for the Person which long time use their eyes, Such as the Computer operator. Looks like they hired the 3 Stooges for the fingers design.

Sanyo’s first megapixel cameraphone (for the States, at least), the MM-5600, will also be able to play MP3s, stream videos, include a memory card slot, and pack in a speakerphone. Daddy like!!

Monday the 13th

iPod-esque video player with no DRM. Daddy like. $600 and its yours.

Talk about a guy who missed his calling. This home-made iPod ad is better than 95% of the junk out there.

Business Week's Best Products of 2004 in pictures.

Lexar's new USB flash drive. Nano-technology at its finest.

Merlin's List of Fives. This one hits way too close to home....

Fast Company's caustic take on holiday office parties. Where's David Brent when you need him?




Cable companies will expire your Six Feet Under recordings after 2-4 weeks
By Cory Doctorow
Cory Doctorow: Time-Warner is arm-twisting cable companies into agreeing to a scheme to automatically erase your saved episodes of Six Feet Under from your cable-company-provided PVR after a month or so. This is the danger of sucking up to the studios in the first place: they say, "Suuuure, we'll 'let' you build a PVR that will tape the shows you cablecast to your customers, but that permission is contingent on our ongoing goodwill. So if in the future we decide, for example, that your PVR can't record certain shows, or can't skip certain commercials, or can't store certain recordings for more than a few days, you'd better implement it. Or else. So what if your customers can't figure out why their PVRs don't work properly? That's your problem, pal."
Why do cable operators think they have to get a studio's permission to build a PVR? Since when do studios get to have a veto over the design of TV-recording technologies? In a way, I can sorta feel sorry for the cable operators, whose utter lack of spine has put them in a position where they have to face the wrath of angry, $70/month cable customers whose PVRs have stopped working because some Time-Warner exec's astrologer has told him that four weeks is the longest anyone can hold onto a copy of Six Feet Under without driving their business into the ground.
But I don't really have a lot of sympathy for the cable operators. It's hard to work up a big mouthful of warm feeling for a company that makes you feel like you were just traded to another inmate for 2 packs of menthol cigarettes. After all, if they hadn't sold us all out in the first place, they wouldn't be in this position.
A middle-level executive at Time Warner has approached several cable companies and broached the idea of restricting the ability of customers who use those company's Digital Video Recorders to record several popular Time Warner TV programs...
Viewers would be able to record an episode with their DVR, but there would be a time limit on how long it would be available for viewing. The executive was pushing for an expiration date that coincided with the premiere of the next episode. The consensus of the cable executives was that it needed to be between 2-4 weeks. Of course, you can just get around this problem by following the advice of Microsoft's senior DRM engineers and downloading your Six Feet Unders from a P2P network like Kazaa. They won't expire, you can watch 'em on any device, and you don't even need to sign up for a $70/month cable service. Link (via Copyfight)

Prisonbreaker used bow & arrow to fire cell phone into prison. Looks like Ted Nugent has new gig as a spokesman for Nokia..

Redneck dog toy to avoid this holiday season.

A theory in operations management and Starbucks' java-jockeys. What can brown do for you?

Complaint against Tyson over car damage dropped
A complaint against former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson for damaging a car was dropped after the vehicle's owner was reimbursed. Tyson was cited Tuesday on suspicion of criminal damage for allegedly jumping on the hood of Asaf Alikadich's vehicle outside a nightclub in suburban Scottsdale on Nov. 27.
Last time I checked, Tyson was in bankruptcy. Sure hope this guy got two forms of ID and a driver's license number on his check from Mike.

Best Business Books of 2004 from Fast Company.

assorted doo-dads

Jeopardy's "Daily Double" takes on entirely new meaning with this response from uber champ, Ken Jennings (requires windows media player)

This was on Extreme iPod earlier in the week.
"Peachpit Press has published a book featuring over 150 ideas for playlists, complete with links allowing readers to download the tracks in each list from Apple's iTunes Music Store.
"The iPod Playlist Book", available from booksellers at $14.99, was put together by author Cliff Colby in conjunction with two dozen music critics, journalists and radio DJ's, and covers a wide range of genres including rock, pop, hip hop, punk and latin.
As well as genre, playlists are organised by activity, making it easier to choose music for weddings, road trips, and other occasions. Readers can then visit Peachpit's web site for links to download the songs in each playlist from the iTunes Music Store."

No word from Peachpit Press if they are working on a book called "How to Think for Yourself"


This looks like a sure-fire winner for the holidays. A psychic desk that answers all your magic 8-ball questions and inflicts pain on the user. Truly the gift that keeps on giving.

So you think you know your U.S. geography? Give this a spin. It tells you within X amount of miles your placement errors. The audio's positive feedback is a nice touch too.

A walk down the Internet history lane here. The 100 Oldest registered domain names (e.g., ".com") Wonder if the bidding rights for tandy.com are available? I think TRS-80 is long overdue for a comeback.

A character study of 22 present and past cartoon characters. According to the site's author:

"I decided to take a select few of these popular characters and render their skeletal systems as I imagine they might resemble if one truly had eye sockets half the size of its head, or fingerless-hands, or feet comprising 60% of its body mass.

The festival of lights goes hip-hop. Outkast goes hassidic. Next up, the "Dredel Song" by Flava Flav.

As a telecom worker, I can appreciate this piece. I can think of a few employees I've seen from time to time who deserve to b-slapped with one of these notices... Download the .PDF, get out your scissors, and make a difference.

For the java addict on your x-mas shopping list, along comes a handy espresso machine review from Slate. Of course, you won't be able to enjoy the "ambiance" of standing in line at Starbuck's while the dolt in front of you hims and haws over the most basic of order and the employees stand around and talk with each other instead of cleaning tables or take your order.

The Passion of the Cash Flow.
LOS ANGELES (AFP) — Hollywood star Mel Gibson, flush from the huge success of his religious film "The Passion of Christ," has splashed out 15 million dollars on a private Pacific island, a report said.

From Wired News:

"Usually, PowerPoint presentations are dry affairs with someone in a suit trying hard not to vocalize the exact same information that appears on their slides. But what if a group of artists got hold of the software and competed with each other to see who could use it most imaginatively?"
Next up is a Maplethorpe retrospective with spreadsheets...

Peace out. Enjoy your weekend.

Four horsemen of the Apocalypse

First Dimebag Darrell (ex. Pantera member) is gunned down at a show in Columbus, OH and now Jerry Scoggins (sang the "Beverly Hillbillies" themesong) goes to the great big "swimming pools and movie stars" in the sky. Who's next? Paul Williams?

It shall be raining frogs shortly....

odds & ends

Propeller-Head Related

Apple/Motorola cell phone rumor - "I'd buy that for a $1"....

Apple Rumor #2 'O the Day. This one looks legit, though.

As if geeks didn't have enough problems getting dates already, now this. Next up, a comprehensive study on carpal-tunnel related to one-handed typing while Internet surfing ;-)

Can we all just agree to disagree on a DVD standard? I'm sure the lobbyists at Best Buy are cheering this one...

In addition, this iPod also solves African famine and comes with a complementary pair of Bono's ugly sunglasses. Seller accepts PayPal only.

Latest 100 podcasts

Political

Donnie & Dickie pay a visit to Kuwait and get an earful. Hey Rummy! How's 'bout following your own advice for a change?

Who says John Ashcroft wasn't an effective Attorney General? Play some more honk!!

"I'll have a blue x-mas" takes on a new life...

Sports

I guess since the NHL's on strike this will have to do for violence.

Priest Holmes is out for the year. Great. Somebody should tell Gunther the defense has been gone all year too.

Speaking of the Chiefs, looks like "Bad Moon Rison" has changed his ways.. NOT!!! And since we're on the subject ot "thug-life" sports stars, it wouldn't be complete without an Iron Mike Tyson entry. No anger management problems here...

I have to end this section on a positive note. And what better way then Mia Hamm-Garciaparra-whatchmacallit. Seriously though. I can only dream that my daughters follow in her cleats, er footsteps.

Misc.

Mmmm, bubble-wrap (must...pop....more....)

Top 100 Overlooked Film's of the '90's.

"The new Buicks are in early this year" - Jake Blues
OK, so this is the proposed design for the evolved VW micro-bus. Perfect for the baby-boomer Deadhead in all of us.. (requires Macromedia Flash 7)

Trim those side-burns hippy

I always thought George Steinbrenner was little off his rocker (maybe his turtlenecks are too tight and are restricting oxygen to his brain).

So let me get this straight; Facial hair = BAD Steroid use = Good
Huh??

Maybe Larry David was on to something...


p.s. Is anyone surprised that Giambi, Bonds, etc. would be involved with steroid use? Better yet, why is MLB suddenly outraged? This organization has basically the most lax drug testing policies of all major sports (ok, maybe snowboarding) and is such a bunch of good-ol boy owners with their puppet commissioner, anybody with an ESPN channel could have seen this one coming. In typical fashion, here comes the gov't reaction..

Irony - Pt. 1

So, I'm running the spell-check built in with the handy-dandy blogger software and this is what appears.



Either somebody forgot their homework or there's a coder with a sense of humor. Not sure which...

And so it begins...

Thought I would go the blog route instead of flooding everyone with random emails containing stories or videos that appeal to my twisted sense of humor. Which begs the question, "If you build a blog on the net and no one knows it's there, will they still read it?" Or something like that...

Anyhoo, I'll try and offer some quality insight and low-brow humor just to keep it all equal.