Unhappy Endings

There's an episode of Star Trek: Voyager where the ship starts melting randomly. Also, the equipment, and the crew. All of these are important parts of the mission of Voyager: to get back home. So, naturally, they do everything possible to solve this. They eventually figure out WHY they're melting. They are not the real Voyager, they are a copy made years ago when Voyager landed on a "Demon" class planet, and leaving their home for such a long time has caused them to lose structural integrity. The original planet is too far away, so they scan the surrounding area for something that can match, all the while melting away. So this carries on for like an hour. until they eventually realize they are going to melt before they get there. Captain Janeway records the ships log into a relay beacon for posterity, before she, like the rest of the crew and ship, melt away. The relay beacon also melts away.

What the fuck, man?

My mom commented after watching that episode that it was completely contrary to the spirit of the original series. On Captain Kirk's Enterprise, the good guys always won, the bad guys always lost, and justice was served in nice simple one hour chunks (with room for commercials). The Voyager ep, on the other hand (Course: Oblivion if you're interested). is nothing like that at all. Good people do good things and end up obliterated anyway, and no record of their existence is left at all.

I guess I bring this up because I just watched an episode of House where they diagnose a woman with an auto-immune disease, and decide to irradiate her immune system to cure her. Then, once her immune system is gone, they realize "Oops, it was an infection after all," and with her immune system shot, the patient has nothing left to do but die. They reach this decision a little more than half way through the episode, and the rest is just Foreman (the one who recommended radiation) sitting next to the girl, watching her die. It's all very touching. It literally moved me to tears. But I kept hanging on, hoping against hope that House would find out that the disease that didn't look like an infection at the start really WASN'T an infection... But nothing happened. The girl died, and Foreman's only absolution came from his Alzheimer's suffering Mom, who didn't even recognize him.

Bad things happen to good people. I know this. Good people make mistakes, and hurt or kill people. I'm not going to deny that this kind of thing happens in real life. But when I'm watching television, I want to watch something that doesn't resemble real life that much. I want escapism. I want a hero to swoop in when everything looks its worst and make it better again. Not all of it, necessarily, but... well, more than just "Oh, House kept Wilson's ex's dog because he was guilty."

I'm just a sucker for an unhappy ending, I guess.

;_;

Look! Up In The Sky!

I finally got the video posting thing to work! Yay me! And I coudn't have picked a better movie to link with it. ^_^

PokeyMans!

So, yeah, Pokemon Diamond and Pearl launched today. Rough day at work, though not for the reasons I expected. I was anticipating a huge crowd of kids looking to catch them all, and I figured I'd spend all day running back and forth between the games case and the cash register. Unfortunately, fate had a different hand in store for me. The ad set up was horribly mis-managed, so (long boring technical rant you really don't need to hear - I was basically setting up signs to show what was on sale).

But after that got set up, I managed to spend a couple hours selling games. ^_^ One family in particular stuck out in my memory, partially because I recognized them from one of my mom's old Sunday School classes, though I don't think they recognized me (I was just another faceless adult to them... Sigh). Anyway, the interesting thing about their visit was that, while the older brother (maybe 8-10? I'm bad with names) was getting his hands on Diamond, the little sister (couldn't be older than 6) wasn't getting anything, it seemed. Instead, their mom was telling them that they would share. Now, anyone who's played a Pokemon game knows what a mistake that is. I actually got myself hooked on the game by borrowing James' old Game Boy Red Version and just seeing how far I could get (usually I'd get the 2nd badge before it was time to cut it out), but the point is the games have never supported a second save slot - and for good reason, considering the collectible nature of the game. I pointed this out to them, that they really couldn't share the game, and the little girl started tearing up. I swear, she looked like she was gonna cry right there because she couldn't play with big brother. Being the quick thinker I am, I asked if they wanted to go ahead and grab pearl version for her, and mom said "No, why don't you just watch brother play." That didn't seem like a good option, so I offered another thing. "We've got last years version available for $20." She could try that, and if she liked it, save her money and upgrade to the next one later. This seemed acceptable to everyone, so I grabbed Fire Red and Leaf Green (why on earth are they Players choice, but not Ruby or Sapphire?), little sister chose LG, and we had a happy family. ^_^

I'm good at my job, the way I see it. Target wants me to sell "Red Cards," which are Visa credit cards run by Target. If you get one, you receive a 10% discount on an entire day's shopping at Target, which can be a fair amount if you're buying, say, a big screen TV or a full set of patio furniture. But they're asking me to be sure to ask "EVERY" guest, and honestly, I don't wanna. I think it bothers the customer, because they usually either already have one, or they have enough credit cards and don't need another. So, I drop it when I get a no. I've heard tell that at least one of our "Team Leads" has a great record because, and this is pretty much true, he will not shut up about the "benefits" of the card until the guest gets one. That just seems rude to me, and it's not what I signed on for, I think.

Target feels it's my job to earn money for the company, by selling products, and also by getting those credit cards sold. On the other hand, I feel my job is to aid the guest in making the best decision and getting the best deal possible for them. More often than not, our goals are similar enough that they cross over, but I refuse to simply act as a mouthpiece for the corporation. It is my real and honest belief that if I give good guest service, people will enjoy coming to Target, and want to come back, even if our stuff is 13 cents more expensive than Wal-Mart (seriously, they have stuff for like 13.84 that's 13.99 at Target... And that's their "Low Price" X_X)

Anyway, enough rambling. I'm enjoying Diamond (Pearl is saved so Jackie can do the quest for herself, and we'll probably trade version exclusives and the like), though I'm feeling a little guilty that I'm JUST SHY of beating Emerald - I just got the 8th Gym badge today, and can probably beat the Elite Four soon. I may do that once I've beaten the first gym in Diamond, just so I can say I'm done... There's also the Battle Frontier in Emerald, and Battle towers in Fire Red and Ruby, so I'll have to see what else I can do in those areas. I'll probably need to train up a kick-ass team in 3rd generation, one I WON'T be sending into the 4th gen later on (once I've beaten THAT games Elite Four). So much to do...

In the mean time, here's my friend code: 1590 1166 1789 I've written it down here as much for myself as for all of you. Lemme know if you want me to add you for something. ^_^

Insert Star Trek Fight Music Here

(01:43:22 PM) effervescence: http://www.guardian.co.uk/crime/article/0,,2062486,00.html?=rss
(01:43:29 PM) effervescence: this is the most terrible thing ever
(01:43:33 PM) effervescence: and they didn't even sell any tickets
(01:46:14 PM) Kitty Kyriaki: I know, they should have at least uploaded it to youtube
(01:46:30 PM) effervescence: i'll bet its there somewhere
(01:46:32 PM) effervescence: if not
(01:46:58 PM) effervescence: wanna kidnap some children from a local playground and see what happens when you toss them in a ring with a couple of bat'leths?
(01:47:42 PM) Kitty Kyriaki: sure
(01:47:57 PM) Kitty Kyriaki: get your party van ready
(01:48:19 PM) effervescence: i'll bring the camera if you bring the candy

This chat has been brought to you by the association for making horrible things seem less horrible through comparison.

WTF?!

What the fuck is going on in this video? Its some ninja who makes card float in mid-air. I'm sure, like all magic tricks, theres some sort of chicanery involved, but I am obviously too tired to figure it out.

Random Linking!

Super Columbine Massacre RPG! I've talked about it before, but for whatever reason I never bothered to link it (or for that matter, to download it and try it myself. I'm not sure if I want to (I'm actually not sure if I can on my computer...) but I'll give it a spin over Summer break I bet.

Random Qustions

Question 1: I'm sure you've seen those videos of the Beatles being chased by crowds of screaming fans. Now, don't get me wrong, you want to be heard by the band, and especially during the concert, you need to make a lot of noise (just, please don't drown out the actual music, I wanna kinda hear what I paid to hear, not you asking Paul to marry you). So yeah, scream and yell all you want during the concert, and maybe while they're entering and exiting the building, with you standing behind the velvet rope. But when the guys are FLEEING the scene, do you really need to chase them? I think it's obvious they're trying to go away from the screaming.

And really.. what exactly did they plan on doing when and if they caught them? Sex? Right there on the streets of London? With 2000 other women? As said before, I'm not sure the Beatles were interested in that magnitude of pussy.

Question 2: How long are flags supposed to be kept at half mast? I'm sure it varies from event to event (President dying > Ambassador dying, and such), but isn't there at least a set time for each event? After Gerald Ford died, the flags in Austin were at half mast for like a month or more. I'm beginning to think that there is no set time for raising them. There are definite times for lowering them, but no one wants to be the first guy to say "Okay, who cares about V Tech any more?" and raise it back up. It's a rough job, but someone's gotta do it.

Meh, I thought I had another, but I'm out. Also, to anyone asking, no, my store does not have Pokemon in. Wait till Sunday. I know its hard, but we all have to do it, so suck it up.

Jeez...

Haloid

It's a mashup of Halo and Metriod! Wow, it's well made, though a REAL fan-wank. I love the fact that Master Chief can jump around like Neo. Never mind the fact that half of the choreography in that movie is ripped directly from the Matrix, almost frame for frame (bullet time and everything, synched up to the music even), just the idea that Master Chief could ever preform such an acrobatic maneuver is laughable. Halo is a first person shooter - you look forward, occasionally you jump. You don't do midair cartwheels, or kung fu melee combat, or THROW FRIGGING CARS AROUND. >_< I'll give Samus the benefit of the doubt on her moves - she actually DOES flip around in the games, but the whole time I was just expecting Master Chief to come out on top, simply because the video was obviously made by a huge Halo fan, more-so than a Metroid fan, anyway. I give it an A for effort, as far as the animation goes, but in terms of what you animated... HD Pong is still Pong, and Blu-Ray clarity on the Pokemon movie is still the Pokemon movie. Bleh.

I've also been watching The Power of Nightmares, a documentary on the rise of both NeoConservatives in America and Islamic Terrorists in the Middle East, and how both parties use fear and scare-tactics to attempt to control the masses. I think Grand Moff Tarkin said it best:

Governor Tarkin: The Imperial Senate will no longer be of any concern to us. I have just received word that the Emperor has dissolved the council permanently. The last remnants of the Old Republic have been swept away.
General Tagge: But that's impossible. How will the Emperor maintain control without the bureaucracy?
Governor Tarkin: The regional governors now have direct control over their territories. Fear will keep the local systems in line. Fear of this battle station.

If you're not afraid of something by now, you're not paying attention. The trick is to not be afraid of what they tell you to fear, but rather the ones who use fear to their advantage. Fear them, and do everything in your power to stop them.

I had a weird rant planned out, but the gist is a hypothetical situation. The Union lost the Civil War, and was eventually conquered by the Confederacy. For the next 140 years America was ruled by a tyrannical dictatorship until the European Powers decided to "spread democracy," expecting that freed Americans would all be the same, not noticing the differences between Red- and Blue-Staters, and then violence broke out between the two groups and.. well, anyway, that's what Iraq is like.

Lets do it again! In Iran this time, okay?

300 Pokemon

When I first clicked the link, I thought it was actually a video showing three hundreds of kinds of Pokemon. Instead, I got a trailer spoof. Much more entertaining.

Dammit, Youtube needs to let me embed.

"World of Warcraft Teaches the Wrong Things"

This is old, but I decided to link it anyways. It basically says that WoW teaches the wrong lessons, such as "time spent is more important than what was actually done" and "group play is better than solo."

Interestingly enough, I was linked there from a Pokemon thread dealing with EV Training in an open, Online envirnment. For those of you who don't know, EV training is the practice of beefing up a particular stat by having it battle only certain Pokemon. There are lists out there that tell you which monsters you should battle to give a boost in Attack, Defence, Speed, etc. It's a fairly time consuming process, and without a great deal of algebra (thankfully done by other people) completely hidden from view. So while it's fairly well-known in fanboy circles, to the thousands of grade-schoolers who don't check out Pokemon websites (i.e. the majority of the market-share) aren't aware of it. In the thread, I mention that to an uninformed viewer, an EV trained Pokemon battling a non-trained member will seem to be "hacked" because of the difference in power.

I dunno, it's late and I've got work in the morning. I suppose I'll end up with three teams, though, when I get my WiFi team ready:

1: A competitive, EV trained team (well balanced, pretty much the strongest set I can find).
2: An EV trained team of Ubers (all the legendary Pokemon that are already head and shoulders above the rest; considered cheap by most competitive players).
3: A goofy, non-trained "show team" (probably just 6 Eevee evolutions doing whatever I feel like).

Oh, one last thing, this guy Sirlin has some pretty cool things written on the rest of his site. I recommend checking it out.

NOTHING!

ABSOLUTELY NOTHING FOR CHRISTMAS! I'm just sad it's so short. I would have loved to see what else was going on.

Disaster

YouTube's been frustrating me lately. There's a video there where Bill O'Reilly and and Geraldo Rivera have a shouting match over immigration. It's pretty nuts stuff. I always thought of Geraldo as Bill's little buddy, after the way the two of them went after Comedy Central's fake news. But to see these people so angry over this... It's just frightening. My thoughts are that Geraldo was right (they're disagreeing; I HAD to side with one of them): the death of a girl to a drunk driver should not be used as a political springboard about immigration. Yes, Bill, he shouldn't have been here. And I'm sure that after this event, he's been deported. (If not, then shockingly, Bill's right too - immigration policy is a mess.) But to turn a tragedy for this family into a "Talking Points Memo" does a disservice to everyone involved.

Anyway, I looked on YouTube for some more videos of him. I'm still looking for the bastion of literate, smart, Bill O'Reilly fans. I'm sure they're out there. They must be. There's no way there's not at least one Bill O'Reilly fan-site out there. If you find it, please let me know.

Anyway, a lot of the videos I found dealt with the anti-War protesters. Bill doesn't seem to like them that much. But they got me thinking. What the hell do we do now in the Middle East? I think it's pretty clear that the war was started somewhat unjustly. "Iraq is arming WMD's." Not so. "Freedom is on the march." Just as long as they vote in the guys we like, right? The insurgents don't get to be free. So now the only justification for the War is "We had to get rid of Saddam."

You'll often hear conservatives criticize the Anti-War crowd with the jab "Would you prefer it if Saddam were still in power?" And they love to compare him to Hitler, even if the comparison is merely implied. I'm going to take a giant flying leap here and say the following: "I THINK EVERYTHING WOULD BE BETTER OFF IF SADDAM WERE STILL IN POWER." As politicians are now finding out, the population of Iraq is not as streamlined as, say, China, or Japan, or even the vastly divided United States. Inside of the European-drawn borders of Iraq, we have found the warring Sunnis, Shias and Kurds. And these guys HATE each other. So, why then, are we just now noticing this? Saddam kept them in line.

Metaphor time: Saddam was like a barbed knife, plunged in the chest of Iraq. Yeah, its bad. Its a fucking knife plunged in there. But you don't just rip it out. That makes things worse. The same thing happened here. Saddam kept three waring factions from killing each other through fear. Yeah, it's bad, but the alternative was worse. Obviously, the answer is "don't take out the knife". For whatever reason, people now-a-days don't want to admit they messed up. And because they believe they did the right thing, they refuse to accept that things aren't going well. Their logic flows such that doing a good thing = getting good results. And that makes perfect sense. Except, they DIDN'T do a good thing. They made a bad thing worse.

So, step one, then, in fixing this mess, is admitting that mistakes were made. Admit that removing Saddam was not the right solution. Maybe not publicly, but at least to yourselves. Realize that there IS a civil war going on in Iraq. You are not just fighting a small resistance group in its final throws. Once you move more in line with reality, it will be that much easier to fix the problems of reality.

Okay, theres an hour I'm never getting back. Time for homework.

Stardust, and Other Fictions

I found this trailer off Popurls.com, which I have to reccomend if you're ever bored and looking for something fun. It shows the top rated links from a variety of sources, such as YouTube, as well as cites like Digg and Reddit, which are user submitted and rated. I've found a bunch of interesting random articles there, and actually have it set as one of my home pages on Firefox.

I have never heard of this movie, Stardust, but it looks pretty cool. If nothing else, it looks like it might be worth a rental to sit down and watch with Clara or something. I don't have anything to add about the trailer itself that you couldn't gather from watching it, but I also thought it was cool that the main page had a link to the Resident Evil: Extinction trailer, which was fun when I saw it in theaters back a while. I think it's a well done trailer, starting with a cliche ad, then the sudden appearance of the Umbrella logo... Anyway, check that trailer out. I'll let you judge whether or not you wanna see the film, but I'm probably gonna. I enjoyed the first two, definitely. I haven't played the games for Resident Evil, but they're up there with Mortal Kombat as "Best Video Game Movies." Granted, there's not a lot of fierce competition in that category (Doom, Super Mario Brothers, Tomb Raider, I could go on and on...), but they were definitely enjoyable movies.

Sigh, so many tempting movies upcoming. Aren't there always, though? Aside from those two, I've got on my radar (in no particular order other than the order they pop into my head):

• 28 Weeks Later (Sequel to 28 Days Later, neither of which have anything to do with Sandra Bullock's 28 Days.)
  
• Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film For Theaters (I guess Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan made long titles funny?)
• Transformers (I'm obligated by sheer fandom.)
• Spider-Man 3 (Why is Spider-Man the only superhero with a dash in his name?)
• Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (Eh, maybe, maybe not...)
• Grindhouse (Awesomeness on top of awesomeness.)
• Hot Fuzz (I loved Shaun of the Dead -apparently I have a thing for zombies- but these guys have earned my viewership)

And I suppose theres more I'm too lazy to add in there.

Meh.

The Return

Hey, you all ready for bed? Brushed your teeth, washed up? Good, good. Oh, a bedtime story? Sure, I've always got time for one of those. And today I've got a great one for you. You see, today, on my way home, I saw a dragon. She was shining white, and enormous. It had to be the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. As I was stepping out side, she landed softly in front of me. "Hello, Greg," she spoke, with a voice that rang through my mind like a chorus. "My name is Leona. Come, let me show you my kingdom."

Now, I've never been one to turn down a dragon, so I got on her back, and found a nice little seat snuggled in between two of her vertebrae, right below her neck. She beat her huge wings and in a heartbeat we were among the clouds, looking down on the city, the whole state, and then, eventually, the ocean was rushing past beneath us.

Soon, an island came into view. It was a lush paradise, verdant and green, with dragons soaring through the clouds. Hundreds of dragons, in every color of the rainbow, and of every shape and size imaginable. Cerulean dragons playing in the water, emerald dragons darting though the trees, and crimson dragons soaring in and around the smoking volcano at the center of the island.

It was then that the whole island started to shake, and suddenly, the mountainside burst open. A huge black smoking dragon soared outward and roared a horrible roar that echoed across the island. All the other dragons looked at this dragon in terror. I turned to Leona to ask her what was going on, when all of a sudden, I knew.

In my head, memories filled in. Memories of a time long past, when this horrible dragon, Blackmaw, ruled over the dragons' island with tyranny and hatred. It was like this for centuries, until one fateful day, when all the dragons, as one, rose up and defended their freedom from Blackmaw. I saw the battle as it was waged, like it was yesterday. I felt Leona's sadness as she witnessed her friends being slain at the dragon-kings hand. I felt her triumph when the good dragons finally defeated in battle. And I witnessed in awe the sight of twelve dragon elders, near-gods themselves, sacrificed their power to seal Blackmaw in the volcano.

Now, the seal had been broken. No one knew why, or how, or what to do now. There were no longer twelve dragon elders who could seal Blackmaw away. The only outcome seemed to be defeat. Again, I felt Leona's sadness, this time not as a memory but a current emotion. Hope seemed to be lost amongst the dragons.

In frustration I reached for whatever I could to attack Blackmaw with. Even if the dragons were going to give in to his rule, I refused to go down without a fight. I began picking up rocks, and threw them at the black dragon with all my might. I felt somewhat dismayed as they bounced harmlessly of his ebony scales, but I did manage to attract his attention. The large dragon snorted, and turned to look at me. His nostrils flares and he puffed thick smoke in annoyance. His eyes burned into me like hot embers. I was paralyzed, partly by fear, and partly just in shock at what a powerful creature now stood before me, its powerful back legs extended as it prepared to take me out with a single breath of hot flame.

I could feel the heat emanating from Blackmaw's mouth, and prepared myself for the worst, when I felt a sudden bump. All of a sudden, I was mounted on Leona again, soaring away from Blackmaw. "Thank you!" I cried to her.

"Don't thank me yet," came the responce, "I'm going to need a favor from you, Greg."

"Name it." I was now willing to give my life to save the dragon who had fearlessly risked hers for mine.

We alighted at the top of the mountain. Rather than the black ash of the volcano I had seen from the ground level, at the peak was a verdant valley, filled with natural beauty. Right in front of Leona and me stood a chest. "Open it." Leona nudged me forward, and when I turned to look at her I was glad to see that hope had returned.

With a heave I pushed the lid off the chest. Inside I found a shimmering white sword. I picked it up by the hilt, and even though it was light, far lighter than it looked, I could still sense a great sensation of power emanating from the blade. Leona no longer had to vocalize her wish. With this sword, I would slay Blackmaw.

We rode out of the valley and dove down to find the island covered in flames. Water dragons who tried to put the fires out with bursts of cool water found themselves vulnerable themselves to a jet of flame from Blackmaw. Still, the dragons valiantly fought against Blackmaw. The hope I had seen in Leona's eyes now radiated throughout them all.

I stood on her back as we neared the great onyx beast, and took a soaring leap from Leona onto Blackmaw. The monster never even knew what hit him. I landed tip first, digging my blade deep into his ribcage. He let out an abominable scream, the ugliest sound I'd ever heard, before finally collapsing on the beast. His mighty lungs let out one last puff of smoke before coming to their eternal rest.

Dragons across the island sang my accolades. I stayed with them throughout the night, enjoying their hospitality and friendship. Eventually, as the sun rose the next morning, I bade my farewells to my new friends, wondering if I would ever see them again. Leona gave me a ride back home, and then vanished into the sky, too sad at the thought of leaving me to even hear me tell her goodbye. I wiped a tear from my eye, because I would miss her so much, but I still do have the happy memories of my adventure with her, and that makes me glad.

So anyway, that's why I missed your class play yesterday. Gnight!

Recursive Gaming

I found this funny enough not only to link, but to link via an IMAGE!

It's actually closer to 96.45%

And worry not, I'll have some real information here shortly.

"These Are the stakes"

I finally found it! The Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential campaign ad! The one where the little girl gets blown up! Oh wow, I've honestly never seen it before. Powerful stuff. Apparently it was so disturbing they only ran it on TV once. Good thing, too. I dunno if I would wanna watch that thing during every half hour of TV during an election cycle. I watched the network news while staying with my Dad during the 2006 midterms, and that was just terrible. I think by 2008 I'll just swear off TV entirely.

Did I talk about that, actually? My plan for the future? I don't think I'll get cable or satellite or whatever when it comes time for me to get my own place. Internet, yes, and a decent cell phone service, but no TV. I'll probably rather get "season passes" to things like you can do now on iTunes or the Xbox 360, and watch only the shows I'm interested in, and only when I want. Similar to my Zune Pass setup. I wonder if I'll be able to get some sort of "TV Pass" system, and if that would ever be cheaper than buying series individually. Let's see... shows I'd be interested in: Heroes, Lost, House, South Park (maybe), The Daily Show and the Colbert Report, Studio 60 if it's still on the air... I think that's really it, I guess.

Hrmm.... this comic seems like a good way to end the post.

All You Can Eat...

With Your EARS. Ew...

So yeah, Zune. Microsoft's iPod. I have never owned an MP3 player with more than a gig of storage. I haven't completely felt the urge, though I've got to say, wandering up and down the aisles of CD's at Target, the temptation grows. I can only imagine the terror that grips employees of Best Buy, Frys or (collective gasp) Waterloo Records. I've really become enamored with the idea of the Zune Pass. Assuming that per year, there are more than 12 CDs I would ever want to listen to, $15 a month works out to be a good deal. I also feel it would be convenient to just download any music I want off the Internet, without stopping to pay the piper or whatnot. I could even load songs to my 60 gig (do they make a 60? apparently not yet) music player, and not really listen to them if I didn't want to. I could bask in the luxury of having access to music that I hadn't pared down to less than 200 songs. I could even try listening to entire albums by artists, shock of shock. Or just make multiple playlists for multiple occasions, and not really have to worry about space or cost of legality. Naturally, I could do all this with equipment and services that don't have the word "Zune" in the name, but somehow the Zune plan and Zune hardware and Zune software working together seems like it would produce fewer headaches.

I ran this idea by a friend of mine, and the first thing he told me was "the sharing thing is useless", like that's a big reason to go with an iPod instead. I'll agree with him, theres really no one else around with a Zune, and the "three listens in three days" limitation kinda bites, though I can see the rationale for it. Of course, the Zune Pass means that, mostly, the limitation doesn't apply to me (I'm already "renting" the song anyway), but really, either way, I don't care about sharing. My question to him remains, though, how does a bad sharing plan make the Zune worse than something with no sharing plan at all? Surely the advantages must be noted that, though its currently a useless feature, the Zune does have WiFi connectablitly. And, for the same price as an equal sized iPod, I can see myself investing in the POTENTIAL of this magic uplink protocol.

The dream scenario, of course, is this: I'm walking through the mall at some point in the not so distant future, and a song plays over the intercom that I enjoy. I pull out my Zune, connect to the hypothetical mall's hypothetical wireless network, and transfer the song (or indeed, the whole album, and possibly other works in the artist's discography) directly to my Zune, adding it to my shuffle list, where it will pop up randomly and surprise me.

Speaking of added features, the thing also has a radio receiver. And it's got a widescreen (tallscreen?) display. I suppose the only possible downside to the device over Apple's offering is the Microsoft branding, but I've even found myself looking at the X-Box 360 with lusty eyes, and I've resigned myself to buying a new computer with Vista in the future. Microsoft may be evil, but they're good at being evil, so who am I to judge?

As near as I can tell, the only advantage the iPod has over the Zune, other than Kleenex level brand recognition, is the fact that iPods do not come in BROWN. iPods, like most other Apple devices, come in either black or white, or a Starburst-like assortment of colors if you buy one of the nano or mini or electron microscope models. The Zune launched in three colors, differentiating itself from the competition. They chose the iPod mimicing Ivory White; the edgy and cool Charcoal Black; and a color that can only be described as TURD BROWN. Seriously, BROWN electronics? Even disregarding the fact that it's the color of excrement (and it really is, shade and everything, like if you'd passed a white Zune through your colon), since when are we making brown machines? They didn't even do that when we were using real wood for cases. We painted them, so it wasn't brown. I mean, when you're rushing to compete with a product that defines an industry, you shouldn't make the case that your product is comparable to poop FOR THE ENEMY. Leave that to your half assed Wi-Fi implementation, please.

By the way, I picked up The WarSun Prophecies, the third book of Penny Arcade compilations, so this post may have been channeling my inner Tycho. I love the way the guy writes. And heck, he's even one of the more vocal independant (i.e. not Bill Gates) fans of the Zune.

But seriously, I got the idea to get one on my own, because the display model at work taunts me.

Uncomfortable Questions

So I found this awesome article online. Uncomfortable Questions: Was the Death Star Attack an Inside Job? I couldn't help but write a response (after I was prompted by my friend Dan to do so). The submissions form isn't working just now, but I thought I'd share my thoughts here:

Point by point here:

1) As anyone who's studied the Death Star blueprints will tell you, shielding something as large as a small moon is no easy task. Without a planetary based shield, the best you can do is a wide mesh of shielding, which will deflect most large turbo-laser blasts, and prevent ramming from any capitol-class ships. Unfortunately, at a scale as large as the Death Star, the magnetic has holes in it large enough for a snub-fighter to barely squeeze through, with maybe a little "bouncing"

2) Grand Moff Tarkin's over-confidence is legendary. His last recorded words on the station are of him turning down an offer to evacuate the station, even after top advisors aboard had discovered a flaw (see point 8). If it had been an inside job, and he was aware of the station's impending doom, wouldn't he have evacuated long before someone had ever thought to ask him? The delay in launching fighters was merely his own arrogance, and discounting the rebel threat as weak and insignificant. There is also evidence that he and (fleet command) Admiral Motti were not on the best of terms.

3) The individuals in Storm Trooper uniforms have easily been identified as the Rebels themselves, wearing stolen uniforms. There are numerous photographs of them with their helmets removed. They had been lured on board by the presence of Ambassador Princess Leia Organa, who was proving un-useful for interrogation. The Ambassador's dipomatic immunity ruled out execution as an option, so she was allowed to escape, and then she was tracked back to the true location of the rebel base.

4) The allegations that Darth Vader and former Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker are one and the same are completely unfounded. Sure, it's easy to make the claim that since you can't see his face, he must be the famed rogue Jedi Knight of the Republic, but any hard evidence about the Jedi died away in the purge. Any investigation into the Jedi Order during a time of war would be a gross misuse of resources.

5) Contrary to popular belief, Lord Vader's TIE fighter was not unshielded. It may have been the most heavily armored and armed one man fighter in the Yavin System that day. Also remember that Vader's primary role in the Imperial command structure was not an administrative one; he has been recognized numerous time for his willingness and capability in the heat of battle. Remember, this is the man who has been refered to as "The best starpilot in the Galaxy." Who better to lead the defense against the rebel forces?

6) Depending on your religious views, this was either an incredibly lucky shot, or one that was divinely guided. I really can't say more than that for fear of offending readers.

7) Again, this claim relies on the idea of point 4, that Darth Vader is truly Anakin Skywalker. Without that link, there are no papers documenting that Vader ever encountered the droids.

8) Finally, I need only refer you to the Death Star blue prints. The "two meter port" you mentioned in point 6 was the primary exhaust port for the Death Star, leading straight into the central core of the station. The missile obviously set off a chain reaction, a huge series of explosions that rocked the entire station until eventually detonating the main power core. As you can see on the newly released and cleaned up footage of the explosion, there is a bright ring emanating from the equator of the Death Star, similar to the one you see if your speeder's power core were to explode, only on a much larger scale.

Obviously, all the facts available back up the official story: the Death Star was destroyed by rebel terrorists. However, and interestingly enough, if one were to accept that Lord Vader were in reality Anakin Skywalker, and that the rebel known as Luke Skywalker is his son, then the case could be made that Vader set up the attack as an attempt to eliminate the higher-ups in Imperial command and get a promotion for himself. I look forward to seeing what Vader does with his newly appointed command ship, the Executor.

From what I could see, the original article was written from the point of view of an average Imperial citizen, or possibly an underground news reporter (I can't imagine that the Empire has free speech), and so my response was written from a similar point of view.

In other news, last night I got together with a bunch of classmates from Japanese to help each other complete the workbook. When we realized exactly the scope of that project, we decided it would be easier to just photocopy the pages we all needed. After test printing off two random pages (one twice, because two people needed it) we decided to just start off at the front and work our way through the book. Before we started THAT endeavor (btw, we need close to 124 pages done by Monday), we remembered that the teacher had given us an answer key for at least the first few pages. We decided to pull out the packet and see just how far the key went, so we'd know when to start. At about that point, we noticed that the guide actually had ALL the answers we needed, so copying the pages was just a waste of time and money, and we called it a night.

What's the point of that story? I dunno. Self-depreciation, I guess. I just found it an interesting little adventure.

Gah, I don't have time to write about how random and pointless this blog is... Maybe later, if you're lucky.

I've Been Busy!

Okay, not really, but kinda. I've managed to do two semesters in a row, without failing too much. (Yay!) I guess that's a little overzealous, I'm still in the second semester, but I am, as always (over)confident. You shut up, parenthetical notations. (u_u) Anyway, This semester I'm taking Japanese (again, it was the only course I failed last semester) along with Psychology (which I managed to brain fart my way into, because when I signed up for it I honestly thought it was Philosophy) Macro-Economics, and US History.

Those last two classes are taught by some guy from New York, as it turns out. You hear a lot about people being proud to be from Texas, and I suppose a lot of people are. Definitely, there are people like that, but not so much in Austin. Austin is the part of Texas that wishes it were in California. But New Yorkers are SERIOUSLY proud of being from New York. I don't really know why either. I mean, I suppose after 9/11, they can claim that they had planes hit their town, so that makes them tough, but they've had the same attitude the whole time. My teacher in particular, Dr. Jack Bucco, is REALLY proud of it. He's reminded us like 5 times, between the two classes, that he used to play baseball right across the river from Manhattan. It's weird, because it he's not really FROM New York. He's from Jersey City, New Jersey. That is, the part of New Jersey that wishes it was in New York. The same part that makes New Yorkers think New Jersey is nothing but a wannabe version of New York.

Oops, got on a bit of a tangent there. Anyway, so yeah, school's doing well. Also, I've gotten myself a job. Or rather, I regot my job at Target. Part time, with (hopefully) enough time between work and class for a little relaxation. I had my first full day yesterday, from 8AM to 4PM working the register (required training for stuff they should know I already know how to do), and then Japanese class from 545 to 8 that night. Yay 12 hours of nonstop work. Sigh. Still, I need the money, and it's not like its really HARD work. Especially once I get out on the floor where all I have to do is walk around and make sure stuff gets up up on shelves and customers (I mean, "Guests") can find what they're looking for. I actually enjoy that. Cashiering gets kinda boring, though. Either way, I need to get to sleep earlier than I did last night, or possibly find a time to take a nap. I was falling asleep in class just now. Not a good sign.

So anyway, the exciting news I have to share with you today: I have discovered the ultimate cure for hiccups. You see, it all started with a clinic scene from a recent episode of "House":

The patient is complaining about hiccups. House tells him it's fine, it'll go away on its own eventually, but the guy isn't satisfied. "Isn't there something you can do?" he asks. "I'd read about a new treatment for hiccups..." At this point, House notices that the guy is no longer hiccuping. "You don't actually have the hiccups, do you?" "*Hic*" comes the reply.

House walks out of the exam room and drops down the patients folder "'Drug Seeking Behavior,'" he notes. "What, for narcotics?" "Nope - ANAL STIMULATION."

So yeah, some guy was faking hiccups in hopes of getting something shoved up his ass. Now, don't worry, that's not the hiccup cure I'm recommending. But last night, my friend had the hiccups, and so I told her the story, pretty much the way you read it (I edited it some to make it more readable). After she heard the story, her hiccups were gone. I don't know how, or why. But that story about a bogus cure for hiccups is itself a somewhat less bogus cure for the hiccups. Exciting, huh?

Okay, I need a nap. It's good to be back though.

Edit: Also, Blogger changed itself around, so you may see a few new changes here, including the fact that I changed email addresses. It's a pain to switch over, though. ._.