I hate it when people just throw a whole mess of links from different thoughts into one post (it kind of defeats the purpose of these nicely formed articles), but here are the left over browser windows I meant to write some comments about.
Benihana's of Death - Any time one goes to a restaurant where people are paid minimum wage to toss sharp objects in front of you, you know you are thinking there is a 5% chance something very bad will happen.
Murder was just murder - I never understood the thinking (or plays) about why when a person causes the unfortunate demise of another their motivation should matter. If someone kills someone because he dislikes the blue shoes they are wearing, throw the book at them just the same.
All the TV fit to watch - I'm making a note to this article (one of many) since once I work out a method/script to stream Divx to my ReplayTV it will be the bomb (if it is even worth it to that as opposed to creating a HTPC).
Why do you have to pay for quoting music and not other media?
From the dusty garbage bins of some studio - I don't care if Courtney is getting a cut, who doesn't want to hear Mrs. Butterworth and other tracks that Nirvana didn't polish up to put on an album?
Google on the forefront of trying to implement the idea we've all had, but no one could think of how to get the licensing for it (and/or how to pay for it).
I hope this is a typo, because if you have a story about how Flat-Panel TV prices will drop after the holidays in November 2004, you better not be talking about after Xmas 2005.
It's good to see that Milton Bradley is still doing crazy things in Ohio, especially now that I know where Copley, Barberton, and Cuyahoga Falls are.
From the I've had this link lying around and I'm finally going to close that browser window department:
I don't watch Monday Night football games unless my team is involved and this year I didn't even do that live. Please, ABC and NFL, your quest for parity has guarantee that any game that looks great one year is a dog the next. Have multiple possibilities for MNF games!
Anyway, I'm sure you have all already heard the controversy over how ABC decided to plug their entertaining show, Desperate Housewives, and spicy up their boring one at the same time.
Well, here is a link if like me you didn't see it live.
ESPN has Duke as a #4 seed in the initial Bracketology rankings. Make that a #4 seed in the Midwest behind Illinois, Georgia Tech, and Louisville. Are we really going to be that bad?
Granted, we have a big question mark at the point guard position. But we still have a couple of excellent big men, the best shooter in the country, a great slasher, and a potential defensive POTY.
I'm thinking we get a four seed with 8 losses, including a second round ACC tournament loss. I can't see it happening...
When a blog breaks an exclusive, you have to give it a link. In a story many might have missed, the second biggest fine of the year for indecency by the FCC was handed to Fox for a somewhat blurred out scene implying sex on "Married by America" (someone had a link to this when the ruling was given, but in summary while tactless and titillating, not indecent). So how many people had to complain to cause the 1.2 million dollar fine? Well, BuzzMachine wasn't as lazy as the rest of us and using a Freedom of Information Act request came to the conclusion it was a grand number of 3. Now it is obvious that Fox should not be rewarded for developing sub-quality programming, but we collectively have the ability to respond to such shoddiness - don't watch the program and if Fox is a smart company, they will cancel it (which is what happened). The fear is that rulings such as this one will result in channels not producing quality programming that need to be pushing the envelope. It is good to see that someone is being ever vigilant in alerting the citizenship to encroachments on our freedom. As always, the next step is to act.
We are a little late to the party on this one, but if you find yourself with an Internet connection, some time to kill, and a desire to discover what someone else thinks you would tell a female bartender if there were no repercussions - Beer.com has brought you the Virtual Bartender for such moments. They are truly on the forefront of Internet technology.
The technorati cosmo is already full of sites with the commands they've found to produce interesting reactions. After the jump is a few of them in no particular order and feel free to add your own in the comments (wow, someone really geeky should write a script to discover them all and categorize them).
Beer = Bud = molson
pitcher
math = calculus
kiss = make out
banana
shirt = topless
breasts = bra = tits
pants = strip = naked
ass = butt
lick
hummer
pillow
fight
dance
love
change
phone number
rub = belly
yoga
jump
hair
shoes
guy = man = kneel
lay down = sleep
lesbian = vagina = pussy = anal = fuck = penis = dick
Mike Nichols: Sacrificing the box office of Closer for the promise of unbelievable DVD sales (seen @ imdb)
I'm old, so old. I don't even know what the latest slang is anymore - I guess I am now part of the "general public". Actually, when you think about this example it is pretty obvious and not that creative - it must be so for the ad designer to admit their intent instead of blaming it on the dirty minds of New Yorkers. I'll let those who want to know more follow the link to the adrant's article.
Don't know anything about this game yet except the box score, but congratulations to Charlotte for their first win (and in only their second game). With a lot of people claiming to be experts proving to be idiots by predicting this team to be the worst ever, this game provides a lot of positive signs.
First, they won by scoring 111 points and they did it on non-spectacular 45% shooting. The biggest problem this team has on paper is scoring so this production is a very good sign. And it is not like one person went off - they had 5 players in double digits with 4 more scoring 6 to 8 - excellent balance.
Second, a lot of people thought this team was going to have problems with fouls and turnovers, but they bettered Orlando in both categories. I'll have to see the recap tomorrow to find out how they managed to foul both Francis and Mobley out.
Third, in a match up of the two top draft picks, both playing power forward, you have to say Okafor got the edge on Howard, though Dwight did have an amazing amount of rebounds for the amount of time he played. Doesn't really mean much since the two will be facing off plenty in the future, but it is nice to see the elder Okafor play decent in response to the slight of being the second pick.
Fourth, Orlando is without question the second best team in the Bobcat's division (though that is not saying much). The Bobcats really should have no trouble racking up some wins in their division, especially if they get to play Miami a couple of times when O'Neal is inevitably hurt. It's extremely unlikely that the Bobcats can make the playoffs despite how poor the East is, but I imagine they won't have the worst record either, never-mind the worst record of all-time.
One more thing, mark by words. With Jermaine O'Neal hurt and Ilgauskas due to break his foot at any moment, Primoz Brezec has a shot at being Shaq's backup on the All-Star team (at least if Ben Wallace is considered a forward). Admittedly, the man has no name recognition, but there is a good chance he could be a 20-10 man at the All-Star break, and how many centers in the East will have those numbers? Only the man in Miami. Yes, in a Kelly Tripucka-way a lot of his points will be a result of happenstance of being on an expansion team with no other scorers, but the man is a good player.
I believe it was November 2, 1988 (perhaps the 7th) when I went to the first professional sporting event in the history of Charlotte - that was 16 years ago now. It was an event that everyone believed would put Charlotte on the map, and it pretty much has though people still seem confused about the city's exact location (yes, Charlotte, NC). My memories of the night are pretty vague, but some parts stand out. I remember a great energy in the brand new building with a buzz that encompassed the entire crowd which I haven't seen since (yes, Cameron would be the most intense if it wasn't for the ring of people in the upper section there to sit on their hands and watch the gladiator fight thus bringing down the collective) and our seats were possibly the worst in the building - 2nd to last row, upper level, baseline extended. If I were back in Charlotte, I could find my commemorative ticket for the game in 2 seconds. The game was a blowout. A horrible, horrible blowout to a team that perpetually underachieved in those years, the Cleveland Cavaliers. A 40 point loss that ended up being the worst in the history of the Charlotte Hornets. But no one cared. The city was on the map and we were one town.
Today, the Charlotte Bobcats did significantly better in their first ever game, only losing by 7, 103-96. I actually like this team a lot and have high hopes for the future (yeah, not this year). I would like to see them play a more up-tempo, full court press kind of game because I have no respect for the skills of current NBA players and the team consists of plenty of young athletes, but to each their own. Thanks Bobcats and Bob Johnson for bringing some excitement back to the city and giving us something even more to be proud of. Go Bobcats!
An update on the purchase only I care about.
It is/was down to two candidates for my 80% computer monitor, 10% HDTV, and 10% DVD screen purchase I've been thinking about (and first mentioned here).
HP L2335 (monitor): $1570 total (EBay - $1295 plus shipping)
Sharp LC26GA4U (TV): $1520 (EBay - $1599 plus shipping)
*EBay prices are the "Buy It Now"'s for new units
The price difference between the two is pretty insignificant in consumer stores. The HP is smaller with higher resolution (1900 by 1200) while the Sharp is larger with less resolution (1366 by 768). I was pretty impressed with the HP in the store, but I have yet to see the Sharp anywhere (though Sharp is generally considered the leader in LCD technology). I really wouldn't want to purchase something this expensive on EBay, but I am amazed that all the "Buy It Now" prices are greater than those that can easily be found on online stores (admittedly, the price for this TV in a brick and mortar tends to be at least $2000). I mean, who prefers to purchase an item on EBay (though admittedly, I did it once)? As I've seen others do, I should "sell" this information on EBay for a few bucks.
What makes the choice even more interesting now, is that Dell has announced (chait via Gizmodo a 20 inch wide-screen monitor (1680 by 1050) for only $800. That is extremely tempting since it is at about half the price of the other two monitors I'm looking at. I'm hoping that they'll also announce a slightly larger monitor for not too much more, but that is extremely unlikely.
Oh well, back to numbers switching on a screen.
Update (11.10.04): Saw a couple of days ago the announcement of a 23 inch 'IT-TV' by Sharp (from Chait). Sharp claims to combine the best of both worlds (inputs, brightness, response time, etc.) in the display at a decent price ($1499 street). Tempting, but I still like bigger and better resolution. The first to create a wide-screen LCD at 1900 by 1200 (or better) that fills a 30" by 20" space (plus at a reasonable price) wins!
Yes, we don't talk about politics here - at least when it is not humorous, but I do have a pre-election night thought. As someone who has avoided the (hard) news and commercials for the last couple of weeks minimum. due partly to the fact that nothing new has been offered and partly because of the venom that has been spewed to this point, there is one wish - hope - on my mind. A wish that America will be whole after tomorrow. That the citizens of this nation and other nations support the individual who is elected to lead this great republic. Neither candidate has discussed in any detail how they plan to unite the populous (though admittedly, I have not been paying attention recently as stated before), but while I know there will always be disagreement and lively debate, may there be no hatred. I sincerely believe history will look back on this election with humor at our naivety, especially when many more elections have filled that span and time has marched on. May all Americans remember in their hearts the great ideals of this land that we all are striving for and at least attempt to support and help our representative through the pitfalls and great advances that are ahead.
Edit: Btw, thank you to Chipotle for my free Election day burrito.