The breaking of the DVD Dam

Article = none , personal experiance


I bought some movies the other day.

• Spider Man 3
  
• Ghost Rider
  
• Pirates of the Carribean 3
  

And..just today , I also bought some movies.

• Live Free or Die Hard (Bruce Willis)
  
• Urban Justice (Steven Segal)
  

Why am I writing a blog article about my taste in movies , you may ask. Well, I'll be happy to tell you.

The one that jumps out most is Pirates of the Carribean 3. Why ? Because I distinctly remember it being advertised as being on Blue Ray only , and it would never ever ever be realeased on regular DVD you have to buy a blue ray player and then the movie and then you are locked into the blue ray format forever more ha ha arn't we so clever you putz !

Ahem. I bought it on regular dvd format.
The kind that plays on my old ancient non-blue ray player.
Ahem. I bought them ALL on regular old , we aint making movies for that anymore , ancient , regular dvd format. All of them.

The HD / blue ray dvd dam is broken now. No one can afford a 500$ + mistake , so no one bought into either format. They just waited, accept for one or two percent of the population who are rich enough to buy both players and then purchase movies from both formats and they don't care if one or both goes belly up because they're stinking rich.

But two percent of the viewing audience does not keep a big movie company afloat. And they have wages to pay , but the viewing public it costs nothing , heck it SAVES them money , to just keep their money in their pocket and wait. And wait. And wait. And we can out wait you.

And now both formats are dead. Because now that we see that you're releasing movies in the old dvd format and we don't have to blow no 500$ on a new player , we're not going to.

We win.

Blue ray AND HD formats are dead. They're just going to thrash a little bit and make a little more noise before they die. But really ...new movies on the old format ? Why upgrade.

Goodbye Blue Ray (or HD) . *sniff* we hardly knew you.

Bell to administer telemarketer do-not-call list

Article

You're going to have a private corperation like the Phone company administer this list ? Wow..like... how amazingly stupid !


The CRTC has picked Bell Canada to operate the National Do Not Call List, giving the company a five-year mandate to block calls from telemarketers for customers who request the service.

Bell will be responsible for registering numbers, providing telemarketers with up-to-date versions of the list and receiving customer complaints about telemarketing calls. The CRTC said it has not yet been decided how those complaints will be resolved, but that should be determined early in the new year.


Wow..you're going to give away lists of valid phone numbers to telemarketers ? Cheap ?


Certain organizations are exempt from the list. They include charities, political parties, opinion-polling firms, newspapers and organizations that have an existing relationship with the customer.


Wow... like .. every charity organization in the world is going to get YOUR NUMBER if you subscribe to this list ... wow. And existing relationships...umm...you have a phone right ? It's through Bell , the only provider in canada right ? I guess Bell gets to harrass you too ! . And of course their subsiduaries and affiliates. An nifty catch phrase that I have recently learned means "everyone and the dog who cares to pay them a little bit of money "...

Why are newspapers allowed to spam you ?

Yeah , we run a great newspaper ? It's called Debters Not So Anonymous , we're wondering if you'd like a copy because your name is prominently mentioned in it ? No ..well , while we have you on the phone lets talk about that 200$ you owe for your engagnement that didn't happen ... you still have to pay it back you know ...

Yeah , yo ubought groceries at the grocery store...so they can spam you ... oh you bought a CD at the record store , now they can spam you too ....

Oh ! You had the phone company change your phone number because you were getting all these calls... they updated the list with your new number and you STILL get those calls...

Anyone who signs up for this list is a victem waiting to be fleeced, and these guys are more than willing to do it.

Surgeons Actually Consider health first, money second

Surgeons fail to discuss reconstruction with breast cancer patients: study


Surgeons frequently fail to discuss breast reconstruction options with women who have undergone surgery for breast cancer, a new U.S. study suggests.


Let me respond to this in the words of my surgeon.

ITS AN EXTRA OPERATION , STUPID !!!!

And an unneeded one for the survival of the patient. Especially one with cancer who's probably going to have way too many operations in the first place ! (reads rest of article)

Pardon me. IT'S TWO EXTRA UNNECCESARY OPERATIONS ! First they rip skin off your butt to rebuild the breast, later on they come back to rebuild a cosmetic but non functioning nipple.

The only real use of such an operation is to transfer money from the patients wallet to the doctors at the expense of the patients health !

Only in the USA could such a study even be bothered with !

Your Private Credit Card Info = Non-Existant

Article

Retailers Face an Ominous Holiday Sign

Sales of women’s clothing, a traditional pillar of the holiday shopping season, are unusually weak so far this year, according to a major credit card company, an ominous sign for the retail industry.


And how did a major credit card company determine this ? Surely not by violating your privacy
and running all your purchases through a computer to look for trends , did they ? Nah , they
wouldn't do that , that would be a violation of privacy !


In contrast, sales of men’s clothing rose 4.5 percent during the first 20 days of the season, MasterCard Advisors said.


So ... how do you know what women and men are purchasing ? Why arn't you getting the two
mixed up ? Well..you see... they put a little tic mark beside either Mr. or Mrs. when they
fill out the credit card application ....


The credit card company issued on Sunday a midseason snapshot of the crucial holiday season, compiled between Nov. 23, known as Black Friday, and Dec. 12. The numbers in its SpendingPulse report are based on the purchases of its 300 million American cardholders, plus estimates of broader consumer spending through cash and checks.


You see son , you have to understand how the industry works. We do whatever you please, and
you have to lump it. Because you work for a living and don't have time for "eternal vigilance"
anymore , and we work for a living too , only our working for a living is to constantly
find new ways of chisling you. And we get well paid for it too. You do understand statistics like this are like gold, everyone wants a copy and is willing to pay lots for it.

It's MasterCard by the way. The information was buried deep in the article , but it was mentioned eventually.

So , how many white male computer techies living within a four block radius of this zip code have purchased computer related equipment in the last three months ? Can I have their names and addresses so I can send them "Promotional Materials" ? (spam ! ) I'll pay yah well !

((after DELL sold me down the river to Sympatico with all my personal information and everything , I no longer trust even big name companies. I don't doubt any company would hesitate at doing this , no matter how large))

Canadian Digital Rights Management

The Canadian Parliment recently withdrew a digital rights bill to rethink it , after a massive face book oriented protest with 20 000 + people signing up in a rather short period of time.

I suppose I should put in my oar , though it's far too late the crowd is way ahead of me.

DONT BAN COPYING DVD's !

Disagree. Those things are good for 30 years. you really have no need to copy them.

DON'T BAN COPYING MP3'S !

Agreed. In order to get an mp3 to my mp3 player , I have to first "rip" it from the cd , making one copy , and then making a second copy on the mp3 player itself. The copy on the mp3 player eventually gets tossed and replaced after I've listened to it too many times , but you get the idea. This is "Fair Use" and the canadian DRM bill didn't have that in it.

MAKE BREAKING THIS COMPANIES ENCRYPTION ILLEGAL !

Disagree. This basically lets the company deny you fair use. Some of the stunts that can be pulled with encryption are ...

• No copying of MP3's , even if it's legal to do so
  
• We can't guarentee the quality of your movie after two years, so it will stop working then !
  
• You can only play these songs on our one player and no other. Oh , and only on your copy if your player dies you gotta buy another player AND all those songs / movies / etc all over again !
  

I'm sure you can use your immagination to see how this particular clause can be used to impose any limitation the corporation in question likes, circumnavigating any fair use clauses or even common sense usage that the government would otherwise approve of.

COPY RIGHT THIS WORK FOREVER !!!!

Medicines are only copyrighted for 17 years, even in the united states. Why is the copyright on a song or movie forever ? I mean Stairway to Heaven was a nice song, but you do know that 1971 was over 35 years ago ? 35 years is way excessive for a copyrigth if you ask me.

NO MOVIES OVER THE INTERNET

Agreed. Give the ISP providers the right to block the transfer of movies across their network. They won't block their own services (rent our movie and no late fees ! it self destructs in 3 days anyways !) But this will block that insane file sharing that really has no justification

NO MP3'S OVER THE INTERNET !

Same argument as movies, I agree it should be blocked.

NOTHING SHOULD BE COPYRIGHTED , EVER !

I don't know what yammer head has been spreading this around, but it's nonsense. Companies do not blow 50 million dollars making a movie like star wars and then give it away for free. Not a happening thing. You want your nice stream of high quality movies (and MP3's and what not ) to continue , they have to get their money somehow.

But by the same token they shouldn't be allowed to gouge your lungs out. I think a limited copyright of 15 or 20 years is the way to go. Just like medical drugs.

AECL head resigns amid isotope controversy

The head of Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL) quit Friday, one day after the forced restart of a nuclear reactor responsible for producing more than half of the world's medical isotopes.


"I don't want to be the one in charge when that thing blows !"


The reactor was closed on Nov. 18 for repairs. That's when federal nuclear inspectors discovered that the facility had been operating without emergency power backup for its cooling pumps and insisted on upgrades before it could be reopened.


So what are you saying here , if someone cuts the power to the reactor it goes into some kind of China Syndrom because it has no cooling pumps anymore ? And you want to run this reactor in this condition ?


Harper announced Friday that Burns will be replaced on Dec. 31 by Glenna Carr, a former Ontario bureaucrat. Carr has served as the deputy minister of three Ontario ministries.


And the new person in charge of this faulty reactor with no battery back ups for it's cooling pumps is.... you guessed it ... a politician with no scientific knowledge at all !


Harper had previously laid the blame for the isotope crisis on the CNSC.

He said the "Liberal-appointed" commission put lives at risk by insisting the reactor remain offline until safety measures were installed.


"People are dying out there ! Turn the dang thing on , it won't blow I promise ! I'm a politician I know these things, don't listen to those technical people ! "




Article

MPs pass bill to restart urgent isotope production

Article


The House of Commons passed emergency legislation late Tuesday night to reopen an Ontario nuclear reactor that produces most of the world's supply of critical medical isotopes, even though the site has been shut down for safety maintenance.


Damb the Torpedoe's ! Full speed ahead !


"There will be no nuclear accident, " Harper answered him in the Commons.


Really ? You promise ?


The operator of the Chalk River reactor, Atomic Energy of Canada Lt., had said it expected the plant to be up and running by the middle of this month, but the safety commission was refusing to allow it to restart production until it resolved a host of safety issues.


So what does this legislation do ?


The Conservatives, facing pressure to solve the shortfall, introduced Tuesday's bill to get Chalk River back online by circumventing the Liberal-appointed CNSC.


Why do i get the horrible feeling CNSC stands for Canadian Nuclear Safty Council ?
Lemme get this straight. The world ran out of medical isotopes ,or is running low , and your only nuclear plant to make them is down for safety issues.

You're solution ? Disolve the saftey board , start the reactor anyways.

I have only one thing to say about decisions like this.

Schreiber allegations cut intoTory support

Article


The Mulroney-Schreiber affair is dragging down support for the Harper government -- especially in Quebec and Ontario--but doing little to boost the Liberals, a new national poll reveals.


And thats the whole purpose of it all.
It doesn't matter that Schreiber has been caught lying a few times.
It doesn't matter that these are all unsubstantiated accusations by a man who spent his life making a very good living lying his pants off.
It doesn't matter that when all is said and done Mulroney will be found innocent and the canadian government will have to cover his court costs ... again ! ... to the tune of a few more million dollars.

All that matters is that the smear campaign is working, and so the Liberal Opposition is very happy to let this two faced liar continue this public charade for as long as they possibly can drag it out.

Map that named America is a puzzle for researchers

Article

Ummm...thats an awful skinny america there off beside africa.
And it's shape isn't something I recognize as having much to do with any map I ever saw.
And why woudln't they stick an ocean on the other side ? Every other continent on the map is surrounded on all sides by water why not this new one ?

Impressed they got a few details right ... but it aint THAT close ! No need to dust off the old psychic ball excuses yet !

Why I love Bush So Much

Hmm... interesting Question

Lets Compare Bush with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad , the Iranian President , and see why I might prefer one over the other.

• Bush : Christian fundimentalist, but willing to let you believe your own religion.
  
• Ahmadinejad : Death to all Infidel Dogs !!!!!
  
• Bush : Bought off by a bunch of Texas Oil Tycoons
  
• Ahmadinejad : Pushed into power by a bunch of Imans who like to shout "Death to all Infidel Dogs !!!!!"
  
• Bush : Doesn't like Iran much , but is willing to negotiate.
  
• Ahmadinejad : "We're going to wipe Israel off the map."
  
• Bush : Against Health Care. Gotta have insurance, even if you're a kid. And if you have diabetes or some other childhood ailment you are Type 1 Uninsurable for the rest of your (short) life 'cause no one wants to touch you.
  
• Ahmadinejad : Thinks strapping explosive vests on 10 year old children and sending them off to blow up soldiers is a wonderful idea !
  

I could go on, but you get the idea.

Bush is a fairly corrupt , bought and paid for American president trying to secure oil for a country that believes it to be their life blood. I am not blind to this , or to his other crimes (Telling Canada to take a hike when the free trade agreement didn't go Bush's way didn't win any kudo's from me , let me tell you !)

But the fact is , we can live with him. We can work around him , and you can only be Prez for 8 years ...soon he'll be gone. And the american congress curbs his excesses, as they do any american presidents.

We really can't live or come to an accommidation with someone who wants to convert us to his religion. (Oops... you converted to the wrong type of our religion , we're going to go to war with you anyways now ! Don't you know there's two kinds of Islam , and if you pick one side the other side hates you forever and wants to kill you ? )

We don't really have a choice.

Iranian president declares victory over U.S.

Article


Ahmadinejad, who has called for Israel to be "wiped off the map," is able to refocus his fiery rhetoric on the United States at a time when he has faced growing criticism among Iran's political elite.

"This report tried to extract America from its impasse, but it is also a declaration of the Iranian people's victory against the great powers," he said in a rally in the western province of Illam.


Translation : Yes, thank you for clearing our good name , sorry about those remarks about wiping Israel off the map , and No , you still don't get to inspect our nuclear reactors to see if we're really making weapons or not , you'll have to continue guessing and issuing reports like this , never knowing if they're accurate or not.

US report: Iran weapons program halted since 2003

Article


In its latest National Intelligence Estimate (NIE), Iran: Nuclear intentions and capabilities, the US National Intelligence Council judges "with high confidence" ...

Translation : We think. Maybe.


...that Tehran halted its nuclear weapons programme in the third quarter of 2003 and is also confident that it has not to date restarted it. The halt appears to have been in response to increasing international scrutiny and pressure,

Translation : They stopped because the US started talking nasty and MADE them stop. The rest of the international community could'nt fight a war against Canada without US help.

but the country appears to be keeping the nuclear option open, the authors conclude.

Translation : But they're still trying to get something nuclear started.

Acknowledging that it is not known whether Iran intends to develop nuclear weapons in the future,

But you do know. He's publically announcing "DEATH TO THE ISRAELI'S" at every opportunity, and how they will be cleansed by fire. From the lips of the president of Iran himself , on the news and everything. Or does that not count ?


the report assesses it as possible, but unlikely, that Iran could be
technically capable of producing enough highly enriched uranium (HEU) for a weapon by late 2009, although a date after 2013 would be probably be more realistic.


Translation : Making Nukes are hard, they're gonna need more time.


Difficulty One :
It took me half an hour to find quotes from the intelligence estimate. Who buried it all so deep ? I don't like to talk about conspiracy theories, but those articles vanished really really quickly and none of the new ones actually have any quotes in them, they all just make Bush out to be a liar.

Difficutly Two :
Every yammer head and the dog is announcing what a great victory this is for Iran over Bush. Not america , but president Bush. Excuse me ? These idiots are not capable of making nukes BECAUSE Bush has been putting pressure on them since the beginning. And instead of congradulating him for a job well done you're hounding him for harrassing these "innocent" (DEATH TO ALL ISRAELI PIG DOG MONKEYS !) Iranians ?

Supreme Court a rough ride for Gitmo detainees' lawyer

Article


In a case that could determine the future of the controversial military prison, a lawyer representing 37 detainees argued "the time for experimentation is over" and the prisoners should immediately be granted habeas corpus rights denied them at Guantanamo.


I have a wonderful idea !

You can't take prisoners anymore if you go to war. Why ? Because you have to give them all the rights due to an american citizen. You need proof they actually did something wrong , and lots of witnesses , and no your own soldiers don't count because they're obviously prejudiced...oh ..your own soldiers and the enemey soldiers were the only people around ? Guess you have to let all prisoners go then. Too bad.

Oh ... since you're not allowed to take prisoners you're just going to shoot them all ? That's murder ! We're gonna put all your soldiers in your own jails and try them under your own courts.. and maybe get a few enemey soldiers who want to kill you to testify what bad people your soldiers are so they can all get executed.

Oh ..you're not allowed to defend yourselves anymore ? Oh thats really too bad now the world will be safe for liberals like me , no more war .. .hey ... who the hell are you ? Why are you pointing that gun at me ? We are peace loving people that don't hurt anyone !

*bang bang* *body falls to floor*
"Death to the Infidels ! " Runs off and starts shooting random innocent american citizens since the americans no longer defend themselves.

------------------------------------------------


Canadian terrorism suspect Omar Khadr is a party to the Supreme Court case, but his legal situation is more complicated than the other detainees because he faces charges before the U.S. war crimes tribunals.

"It's an important case for assessing the propriety of the administration's over-arching legal position -- that the judiciary has no role to play in the war on terror," said Lt.-Cmdr. William Kuebler, Mr. Khadr's lead military attorney.

"Our position continues to be that Canada can't rely on the American courts to protect the rights of Omar Khadr. The Canadian government is going to have to do that itself."

Maybe We don't want to.
Omar Khadr ? An obvious Middle Eastener immigrant found in Afghanistan shooting at american troops ? If he ever fell into Canadian hands they'd strip him of his Canadian citizenship and send him packing , what do you mean defend him ? Shoot him , maybe , defend him , not a chance ! We're on the other side of the war , those could have been Canadian troops that he was shooting at ! And you think we're gonna do squat for him ????

Calgary man loses $20K after eBay sale hijacked

Article


When Duraj complained to eBay, the company wrote him a letter saying someone had temporarily taken over, or hijacked, the seller's page, and that he would have to contact police and the FBI.
.
.
.
(RCMP Cpl. Louis)Robertson said he believes eBay is ignoring police and customers because it doesn't want people to know criminals have figured out how to abuse the site.




Online sites are for advertising. Nothing more. Don't buy jack from those guys if you can afford it, show up at the store in person. The prettiest, most wonderful sites are the ones most likely to be fraudulent , you understand.

Nice of eBay to say "tough luck buddy , we aint re-imbursing you a dime."

The Road to Ubuntu (or Leopard) - screw the OS, move your apps online with Google

Article


I've been trying to bend Gutsy Gibbon and Leopard to my will so I can abandon Windows, but most of my problems can be solved by embracing online applications like Google Apps


I cannot describe what a bad idea this is.

Google Apps , by the way , is a spread sheet and a word processor online that you can just get to by browsing to google.

The difficulty is Microsoft's nasty habit of issuing a patch , and then their competiters software stops working, and then they say "We didn't write it , we're not responsible for it, talk to them. " Deliberate sabatage , don't you know ?

You can't just forget about the OS , forget about windows, when you're using a competing product. They will sabatage you. And quite deliberately so. And so Google will sue, and it will drag out for YEARS , just as it did in previous cases of this. And then they will only barely comply with the courts verdict, so they'll be sued again , and that will drag out for more YEARS. And your great idea of using a competing product will probably sink down the toilet and go all swirly by then. Because you can't wait years and years and years to do whatever it is you're doing.

Cast off your microsoft chains, the only thing windows is good for is running games on. Switch to Linux of some kind (Stay away from Red Hat , Microsoft purchased those guys) and live free of your operating system deliberately sabataging you in order to make a sale.

Police president angered by Taser comments

Article


"It is unfortunate that you have chosen to venture outside of your mandate as Chair of the Standing Senate Committee on National Security and Defence, to comment on matters which are apparently, from your comments, beyond your area of expertise and understanding," wrote Cannavino.


People are dying , you yammer head ! And Taser's only excuse is "he lived for two whole minutes ! He was thrasing and screaming in agony for those two minutes, but he lived ! so it can't possibly be our device ! "

Can we fire this idiot ?
It is fully within the domain of an elected official to protect the general public.
It is not within the domain of an unelected union boss to say "lets keep on killing members of the general public and hope it's not our fault !"

Idiots ! Why don't you just start singing "Money Talks !" and make it obvious to everyone ?