Tuesday, June 26, 2007
The Have Facebooks, and The Have Not Facebooks
LINK TO ARTICLE
I just read an interesting article on social class in America as seen through MySpace and Facebook.
Ostensibly, Facebook is for the upper elite. the Jocks, populars, and cheerleaders. Myspace is for the other kids, the freaks, and geeks, and...all the people I'd rather hang out with quite frankly.
Facebook used to be exclusive to Harvard University only, then all college, then everybody. Maybe that will make the red velvet rope-iness diminish. (And the bored, cool kids will have to find something else to do now; oh woe is the idle rich.)
I was reluctant to join Facebook (I was reluctant to join MySpace too), and am not near as active on there as I could be I guess. I'm there because of Keva and Dr. Tiki. heh
Very little mention in the article of Friendster except that ...they are a thing too... (paraphrasing). But if I had to guess, I'd say if Facebook is the popular kids, MySpace is the geeks and hipsters, Friendster would be for the Rod and Todds (from "The Simpsons" of the world) who do everything hipsters do, but with no irony and swear the christian rock is just as cool as the real thing.
So, what of this: Richard Dawkins Social Network?
Speaking of The Haves, and cool kids, and someone I'm glad I'm nothing like and not in her world:
For you 23 conspiracy wanks, Paris Hilton was released after 23 days instead of 45. I saw this on the News. The News. Not E!. MSNBC. OH, and some wrastler died too.
I just read an interesting article on social class in America as seen through MySpace and Facebook.
Ostensibly, Facebook is for the upper elite. the Jocks, populars, and cheerleaders. Myspace is for the other kids, the freaks, and geeks, and...all the people I'd rather hang out with quite frankly.
Facebook used to be exclusive to Harvard University only, then all college, then everybody. Maybe that will make the red velvet rope-iness diminish. (And the bored, cool kids will have to find something else to do now; oh woe is the idle rich.)
I was reluctant to join Facebook (I was reluctant to join MySpace too), and am not near as active on there as I could be I guess. I'm there because of Keva and Dr. Tiki. heh
Very little mention in the article of Friendster except that ...they are a thing too... (paraphrasing). But if I had to guess, I'd say if Facebook is the popular kids, MySpace is the geeks and hipsters, Friendster would be for the Rod and Todds (from "The Simpsons" of the world) who do everything hipsters do, but with no irony and swear the christian rock is just as cool as the real thing.
So, what of this: Richard Dawkins Social Network?
Speaking of The Haves, and cool kids, and someone I'm glad I'm nothing like and not in her world:
For you 23 conspiracy wanks, Paris Hilton was released after 23 days instead of 45. I saw this on the News. The News. Not E!. MSNBC. OH, and some wrastler died too.
Sunday, May 13, 2007
Over there!
I'm sorry, but i've been blogging more over at myspace.
http://www.myspace.com/actionfigure00
Interaction there is easier, though this is a better blogging platform.
You haven't missed much (though some). i've been pretty busy writing non-bloggy stuff.
http://www.myspace.com/actionfigure00
Interaction there is easier, though this is a better blogging platform.
You haven't missed much (though some). i've been pretty busy writing non-bloggy stuff.
Monday, January 15, 2007
Blu Balls
There is a home entertainment war a-brewin', though it might be off the radar of most of y'all. It has (or had) the potential to be a VHS vs. Beta type of situation. For those of you who still answer survey questions on MySpace like "have you ever kissed someone, or taken a drink" in earnest, you may need to go to Wikipedia to find out what I'm talking about.
This time the two competing formats are HD-DVD and Blu Ray. Both are flavors of the next generation of DVD that can deliver Hi def. content to your TV. They both have big names in the industry backing them, tons of money and resources, and though both have slightly different tech specs, neither, when looked at objectively, seem to tilt the scales as far as just being able to deliver better quality or usability.
The form factors (size and shape) of VHS and Beta were different enough that they could not have a hybrid machine to play both, and we may find this to be the case with HD-DVD and Blu Ray.
The disks, to the naked eye, look precisely the same. But at the teeny level, they are different. Radically different. The HD-DVD uses a laser very similar to current DVD players, but the disc itself is arranged differently, and the software is compressed differently. Blu Ray uses a laser that is, predictably, BLUE. The shorter wavelength allows the disc to pack the little pits much closer together. HD-DVD and Blu ray are different enough that producing a dual format player, would pose a challenge on a technical level. But the technologies are just a part of it. It seems the companies backing the two flavors are against a hybrid player as well because, "hey consumer, fuck you!" Note; dual players have been announced, but not delivered, and may never be delivered. And one company is even looking into a disc that is dual formatted by using substrate layers.
The release and implementation of these two formats have been...I think it's safe to say "disastrous" so far. The fit, finish, and quality has not been there. Players have taken up to a minute to load discs without any activity displayed. The picture has not been all that good. The menu systems are kludgy. And America doesn't care. Those who do remember the VHS vs. BETA crap want no part of anything simmilar. And they don't want to re-buy all their movies in a different format. Most TVs can't reap the benefits of the revved up disc resolution, and the conservative entertainment companies (I thought they were all supposed to be lefty liberals) are not releasing their best titles, necessarily. (Except you can get Serenity on HD-DVD). And to add insult to industry (pun!), the delivery times have been laaaaaaaate. by more than a year. And those few titles available have trickled out like a glacier in a mixed metaphor.
Most of the serious pundits backed Blu Ray. it seemed a better, or at least more innovative spec (but only slightly--and that was subjective). A lot of the HD geek sights I visit liked it, and Apple computer did as well (though they have hedged their bets and the Quicklime architecture can do both).
But there were a lot of Important things that happened last week. Apple had an expo. And even bigger for the electronics world was the Consumer Electronics Show...but strangely, the most important event that may decide the fate of HD-DVD vs. Blu Ray: The Adult Entertainment EXpo. I'm not kidding.
Adult entertainment goes where no one else dares to go. (Scrub that visual out of your head) If there is a delivery method that just hits the market, no matter how improbable or goofy a model it may be, the artificial-cherry scented ooze of pr0n will leak its pseudopodia into that...crevice.
Without pr0n, your internet would be a shell of what it is. The adult entertainment industry, also, chose VHS over Beta. There were other factors, but pr0n made it happen. And last week, those Lords and Ladies of sleaze chose HD-DVD.
Blu Ray, we hardly knew you.
This time the two competing formats are HD-DVD and Blu Ray. Both are flavors of the next generation of DVD that can deliver Hi def. content to your TV. They both have big names in the industry backing them, tons of money and resources, and though both have slightly different tech specs, neither, when looked at objectively, seem to tilt the scales as far as just being able to deliver better quality or usability.
The form factors (size and shape) of VHS and Beta were different enough that they could not have a hybrid machine to play both, and we may find this to be the case with HD-DVD and Blu Ray.
The disks, to the naked eye, look precisely the same. But at the teeny level, they are different. Radically different. The HD-DVD uses a laser very similar to current DVD players, but the disc itself is arranged differently, and the software is compressed differently. Blu Ray uses a laser that is, predictably, BLUE. The shorter wavelength allows the disc to pack the little pits much closer together. HD-DVD and Blu ray are different enough that producing a dual format player, would pose a challenge on a technical level. But the technologies are just a part of it. It seems the companies backing the two flavors are against a hybrid player as well because, "hey consumer, fuck you!" Note; dual players have been announced, but not delivered, and may never be delivered. And one company is even looking into a disc that is dual formatted by using substrate layers.
The release and implementation of these two formats have been...I think it's safe to say "disastrous" so far. The fit, finish, and quality has not been there. Players have taken up to a minute to load discs without any activity displayed. The picture has not been all that good. The menu systems are kludgy. And America doesn't care. Those who do remember the VHS vs. BETA crap want no part of anything simmilar. And they don't want to re-buy all their movies in a different format. Most TVs can't reap the benefits of the revved up disc resolution, and the conservative entertainment companies (I thought they were all supposed to be lefty liberals) are not releasing their best titles, necessarily. (Except you can get Serenity on HD-DVD). And to add insult to industry (pun!), the delivery times have been laaaaaaaate. by more than a year. And those few titles available have trickled out like a glacier in a mixed metaphor.
Most of the serious pundits backed Blu Ray. it seemed a better, or at least more innovative spec (but only slightly--and that was subjective). A lot of the HD geek sights I visit liked it, and Apple computer did as well (though they have hedged their bets and the Quicklime architecture can do both).
But there were a lot of Important things that happened last week. Apple had an expo. And even bigger for the electronics world was the Consumer Electronics Show...but strangely, the most important event that may decide the fate of HD-DVD vs. Blu Ray: The Adult Entertainment EXpo. I'm not kidding.
Adult entertainment goes where no one else dares to go. (Scrub that visual out of your head) If there is a delivery method that just hits the market, no matter how improbable or goofy a model it may be, the artificial-cherry scented ooze of pr0n will leak its pseudopodia into that...crevice.
Without pr0n, your internet would be a shell of what it is. The adult entertainment industry, also, chose VHS over Beta. There were other factors, but pr0n made it happen. And last week, those Lords and Ladies of sleaze chose HD-DVD.
Blu Ray, we hardly knew you.
Saturday, January 06, 2007
A man walks down the street in that hat, people know he's not afraid of anything.
I pretty much hate hats. They slide off, look awkward, and hide my hair that work so hard to make so pretty. But walking around every where downtown, I wanted something to keep a bit of the warmth in on occasion, not that I needed it this year.
So, I says to myself, "Self, if you know hats look goof on you anyway, you might as well go for the king of goofy, the hat Jayne's mom sent him in Firefly, "The Message."
Today, it and a my new snap shot digital camera came. So here is the unearthing.
Some notes before: If you're not a Firefly Fan, you will not care about this post. And, thank you for the hat and attention to packing detail from Heather. You can get your own Jayne hat at Wear with Style.
The Box.
it had labels from several ports of call some brown-coats might recognize.
and look, stuff inside!
and, my still-sick-self wearing it.
Jayne: (wearing ugly homemade hat) "How's it sit? Pretty cunning, don'tchya think?"
Kaylee: "I think it's the sweetest hat ever."
Book: "Makes a statement."
Jayne: "Yeah, yeah!"
Wash: "A man walks down the street in that hat, people know he's not afraid of anything."
Jayne: "Damn straight."
So, I says to myself, "Self, if you know hats look goof on you anyway, you might as well go for the king of goofy, the hat Jayne's mom sent him in Firefly, "The Message."
Today, it and a my new snap shot digital camera came. So here is the unearthing.
Some notes before: If you're not a Firefly Fan, you will not care about this post. And, thank you for the hat and attention to packing detail from Heather. You can get your own Jayne hat at Wear with Style.
The Box.
it had labels from several ports of call some brown-coats might recognize.
and look, stuff inside!
and, my still-sick-self wearing it.
Jayne: (wearing ugly homemade hat) "How's it sit? Pretty cunning, don'tchya think?"
Kaylee: "I think it's the sweetest hat ever."
Book: "Makes a statement."
Jayne: "Yeah, yeah!"
Wash: "A man walks down the street in that hat, people know he's not afraid of anything."
Jayne: "Damn straight."
Labels: Firefly, hat, Jayne, knitting, Serenity
Tuesday, January 02, 2007
UFOs? NIMBY?
via BOINGBOING:
UFO over Chicago airport
On November 7, a dozen United Airlines employees spotted a UFO hovering over Chicago's O'Hare International Airport. Airline officials deny any knowledge of the sighting but a supervisor from United did in fact call the Federal Aviation Administration's control tower asking whether anyone there saw the elliptical object or spotted it on radar. From the Chicago Tribune:
Like United, the FAA originally told the Tribune that it had no information on the alleged UFO sighting. But the federal agency quickly reversed its position after the newspaper filed a Freedom of Information Act request.
An internal FAA review of air-traffic communications tapes, a step toward complying with the Tribune request, turned up the call by the United supervisor to an FAA manager in the airport tower, (said FAA spokeswoman Elizabeth Isham Cory.)
Cory said the weather might have factored into what the witnesses thought they saw.
"Our theory on this is that it was a weather phenomenon," she said. "That night was a perfect atmospheric condition in terms of low [cloud] ceiling and a lot of airport lights. When the lights shine up into the clouds, sometimes you can see funny things. That's our take on it."
UFO over Chicago airport
On November 7, a dozen United Airlines employees spotted a UFO hovering over Chicago's O'Hare International Airport. Airline officials deny any knowledge of the sighting but a supervisor from United did in fact call the Federal Aviation Administration's control tower asking whether anyone there saw the elliptical object or spotted it on radar. From the Chicago Tribune:
Like United, the FAA originally told the Tribune that it had no information on the alleged UFO sighting. But the federal agency quickly reversed its position after the newspaper filed a Freedom of Information Act request.
An internal FAA review of air-traffic communications tapes, a step toward complying with the Tribune request, turned up the call by the United supervisor to an FAA manager in the airport tower, (said FAA spokeswoman Elizabeth Isham Cory.)
Cory said the weather might have factored into what the witnesses thought they saw.
"Our theory on this is that it was a weather phenomenon," she said. "That night was a perfect atmospheric condition in terms of low [cloud] ceiling and a lot of airport lights. When the lights shine up into the clouds, sometimes you can see funny things. That's our take on it."
Labels: Chicago, IL, Rockford, UFO
Sunday, December 24, 2006
people doing stuff
this site takes a random name and verb and finds pictures of them with goooooooooogle. people doing stuff
and you know them. you love them. they are the letters "asdf." and you're not the only one who lazily bestows these left hand home keys as a name to files you don't give two shits about. asdf film fest
and you know them. you love them. they are the letters "asdf." and you're not the only one who lazily bestows these left hand home keys as a name to files you don't give two shits about. asdf film fest
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
Birth and Death are the same thing in some Philosophies
I know this is precisely the wrong time in the life cycle of buddy christ to show this, but I found it on Trace's profile.
That's one angry bunny, yo.
And at the risk of keeping things at least a little not anachronistic, some of you have asked who the guy in the Santa suit is on that scooter on my profile? It is I. And Trace is responsible for taking that footage too. Here is a clip. It's harder than you think to drive one of those things when you cant' see the handles thanks to a fake belly and beard. You heard me fake.
Santa Tim on the Reindeer Replacement.
Bonus: You drop the bomb on me.
That's one angry bunny, yo.
And at the risk of keeping things at least a little not anachronistic, some of you have asked who the guy in the Santa suit is on that scooter on my profile? It is I. And Trace is responsible for taking that footage too. Here is a clip. It's harder than you think to drive one of those things when you cant' see the handles thanks to a fake belly and beard. You heard me fake.
Santa Tim on the Reindeer Replacement.
Bonus: You drop the bomb on me.
Monday, December 18, 2006
Holiday scent your home the old fashioned way. Get a Tree!
I know it's 11th hour, but if you still need to get a tree, my friend Doug's brother's got a tree farm up in Rockton. I hear that the rockford tree supply is scarce. His trees are pure and uncut (though he will cut...and bail and shake), street value of about 30 bucks. He'll hook you up, Holmes.
Keith's Trees
4325 Favor Road • Rockton, Illinois • 815.968.5903
Keith's Trees
4325 Favor Road • Rockton, Illinois • 815.968.5903
Sunday, December 17, 2006
Pictures taken by Keva of someone she admires, respects, and deeply loves
Well where do you keep yours?
This is my impression of Baltar from Battlestar Galactica*. Poor guy is always tetchy, teary eyed, and nervous and about to get killed. But he also gets to have a three way with Trice Hellfer and Lucy Lawless. Life has a way of evening out.
*Complete with student-film style blown out highlights and all that they have been driving into the ground in season 3.
Get out of my yard you damn kids!
Gimme that camera, Jive Turkey!
My nipples explode with lust.
First person to flip the camera off. ever
Some kind of 'Fu. Not particularly good for self defense.
The Tiki Gods must be appeased.
Muhalo! Tiki Gods!
And now for the photographer herself catching up on some reading.
This is my impression of Baltar from Battlestar Galactica*. Poor guy is always tetchy, teary eyed, and nervous and about to get killed. But he also gets to have a three way with Trice Hellfer and Lucy Lawless. Life has a way of evening out.
*Complete with student-film style blown out highlights and all that they have been driving into the ground in season 3.
Get out of my yard you damn kids!
Gimme that camera, Jive Turkey!
My nipples explode with lust.
First person to flip the camera off. ever
Some kind of 'Fu. Not particularly good for self defense.
The Tiki Gods must be appeased.
Muhalo! Tiki Gods!
And now for the photographer herself catching up on some reading.
Saturday, December 16, 2006
Will the last people who know how to read turn the lights off when they leave?
I've been a rockford proponent. As many people (often justifiably) attack the forest city, I am a rockford apologist. In particular, I have been a downtown cheerleader even before I lived here. But I'm tempted to cut and run.
You know how people make claims like "If Dubya gets reelected, I'm moving to Canada?"
Here's my breaking point.
New American Theater: closed.
That means Rockford is officially unlivable. I don't care if you liked it or not, the idea of a downtown of a biggish city not having something like it is stupid.
I'm gone.
Enjoy your tractor pulls, you drooling, dirt necks. You win. May I suggest closing down your beleaguered school system all together and opening more restaurants? Food service is all the next gen. of illiterate citizens can handle anyway. And it's already all there is to do in this city: consume. Consume and migrate east, and prefer former cornfields to downtown. Prefer gentrification to culture. Prefer "Sports Bars" (whatever the hell that actually is) to a good watering hole. The Sports bars are resembling asteroids: They all are unremarkable and look alike, and we discover more and more of them -- so many that we stopped giving them recognizable names and just start calling them things like "stellar body m-987-5." But instead I guess the naming formula would be "vague ethnic sounding name + modifier that suggests drinking + sports term with the words Bar and Grill appended on." Drinkagin McTouchdown's. yay.
In this position, the temptation is to flee north of the area you are unhappy with. But that wouldn't be Canada--I'm not unhappy with America (not enough anyway). I'm unhappy with Rockford, and the Park-insas are not an option. I know misguided souls who go to the 'burbs because they think rockford is lacking, but that takes win, place, and show in the "Deluded dumb-ass derby." Houses that all look alike and a White Hen Pantry don't cut it.
But somewhere.
I always held in contempt the people who blamed Rockford (or any city) for their lot in life. But now I dunno. I'm not so sure now.
This angry rant...well, I'm not mad, just disappointed. Every city has its suck. But why must Rockford demonstrate with such brutal detail the Frost poem "Nothing Gold Can Stay?" Gold. Right. What's the one under silver? I'd settle for that.
My rant is stilted, exaggerated, inflammatory, and inarticulate...just how I get when I am angry...so maybe not just disappointed. Disappointment is for victims, anger is the other thing. More proactive. More on that later.
It would increase the rhetorical impact if I didn't clarify that I'm not actually moving, but there's enough confusion right now.
You know how people make claims like "If Dubya gets reelected, I'm moving to Canada?"
Here's my breaking point.
New American Theater: closed.
That means Rockford is officially unlivable. I don't care if you liked it or not, the idea of a downtown of a biggish city not having something like it is stupid.
I'm gone.
Enjoy your tractor pulls, you drooling, dirt necks. You win. May I suggest closing down your beleaguered school system all together and opening more restaurants? Food service is all the next gen. of illiterate citizens can handle anyway. And it's already all there is to do in this city: consume. Consume and migrate east, and prefer former cornfields to downtown. Prefer gentrification to culture. Prefer "Sports Bars" (whatever the hell that actually is) to a good watering hole. The Sports bars are resembling asteroids: They all are unremarkable and look alike, and we discover more and more of them -- so many that we stopped giving them recognizable names and just start calling them things like "stellar body m-987-5." But instead I guess the naming formula would be "vague ethnic sounding name + modifier that suggests drinking + sports term with the words Bar and Grill appended on." Drinkagin McTouchdown's. yay.
In this position, the temptation is to flee north of the area you are unhappy with. But that wouldn't be Canada--I'm not unhappy with America (not enough anyway). I'm unhappy with Rockford, and the Park-insas are not an option. I know misguided souls who go to the 'burbs because they think rockford is lacking, but that takes win, place, and show in the "Deluded dumb-ass derby." Houses that all look alike and a White Hen Pantry don't cut it.
But somewhere.
I always held in contempt the people who blamed Rockford (or any city) for their lot in life. But now I dunno. I'm not so sure now.
This angry rant...well, I'm not mad, just disappointed. Every city has its suck. But why must Rockford demonstrate with such brutal detail the Frost poem "Nothing Gold Can Stay?" Gold. Right. What's the one under silver? I'd settle for that.
My rant is stilted, exaggerated, inflammatory, and inarticulate...just how I get when I am angry...so maybe not just disappointed. Disappointment is for victims, anger is the other thing. More proactive. More on that later.
It would increase the rhetorical impact if I didn't clarify that I'm not actually moving, but there's enough confusion right now.
