Telling it like it is

For the love of..... Di$ney are trying the old DIVX hack again. DVDs that you buy that only play for three days. Supposedly it's to make life "easier" and "more flexible" for the rental market. Of course it's really aimed at getting you to buy the same frickin' movie three times. Still - at least the tech' behind it is pretty sweet - air-intolerant lexan plastic that warps the playing surface after 72 hours exposure to oxygen. Hmm . So what about all those Di$ney DVDs ripped open on Christmas day. Guess they won't play by the time the kids want to watch them.

Yeah! Our next-generation system just received type approval! So we'll be lining up outside the CEO's office for our bonuses for delivering on time, on budget and being certified on time then? ...... .... Meanwhile, back in the real world... :-)

Re-living the past here - a mate sent me all the copies of the Mary Whitehouse Experience radio show from the early 90s in MP3 form. Brilliant. Now if I could find the TV versions, it would be even better....

In other amusing corporate mofo type news, the RIAA have finally apologised to a University professor called Peter Usher, for having his own acapella music called "usher.mp3" on his FTP server. The RIAA in all their wisdom had threatened the guy with legal action for pirating Usher's latest single. Without checking first. Idiots.

Microsoft once again have egg on their face as well as a credibility problem. Last week, the iLoo press release cause internet-wide laughter as Microsoft announced an internet-ready portable loo. Yesterday, they claimed it was a hoax propagated by the UK office and "not in any way sanctioned by Microsoft". Now they've changed the story again and are saying that iLoo was a real project, but executives killed it after reading the news coverage. So they're in a lose-lose situation. Not only did they think up a ridiculous idea, but they then blamed somone else for it, then changed their story, then changed the story again. Where's the paperclip when you need him, Bill : "It looks like you're trying to save face. Would you like help with that?"

The Friends Of The Earth lunatics are at it again. They've approached the EU Courts because they say that carving pictures of horses into hillsides is illegal and damages the land and natural habitat of wildlife. Do these people have nothing better to do? We've had white, chalk horses in hillsides for millenia in the UK, and no tree-hugging lunatic is going to say otherwise. Bloody idiots. All it is is a long path - are they saying that paths shouldn't be allowed now? Sheesh. The story is here.

I Think we found the first bump in owning our new house. When we had the new water heater put in, we're not sure if the old galvanised steel pipe on the hot water side got disturbed. We're getting coloured water occasionally. The plumber says if its the pipe, it's the luck of the draw (which I suppose it is, even though I'd like him to be responsible). However, we're going to fault-find in the new heater first and see if something weird is going on there.

Three bombs have gone off in Western compounds in Saudi Arabia. The US reckon they bear the hallmarks of an Al Qaeda attack. Now that's curious isn't it? 602 days after Bush lost track of Bin Laden, and thus forgot about him, the Al Qaeda organisation seem to be intact and operating. But wait a minute. CNN told us that Al Qaeda was no more. Surely they weren't lying to us? It's so hard to indicate sarcasm on a web page.....

When travelling back to the US last week, the TSA snapped the locks off my suitcase because they wanted to look inside. From their website : If your bag is unlocked, then TSA will simply open the bag and screen the bag. However, if the bag is locked and TSA needs to open your bag, then locks may have to be broken. You may keep your bag locked if you choose, but TSA is not liable for damage caused to locked bags that must be opened for security purposes. Now wait just a minute. Surely they should check your bags with you present? I know the types of people that get hired for these security firms, and to say they can't be trusted is an understatement. The TSA want us to travel with our suitcases unlocked so the thieving bastards can rummage around inside at their own choosing. This, if you ask me, is pushing the security vs. privacy thing just too far.

I Just downloaded the second part of the "last renaissance" Animatrix short movie. Really well drawn cartoon, but scary as hell in the Matrix storyline. It covers the last days of the man-machine war and how we're farmed as energy sources. (shudder).