u l t r a m o o k i e

I haven’t had much time at the kiddie playgrounds before Jacob started walking.  But, now that I have been to the playgrounds a lot more, there seems to be a rash (epidemic?) of parental stupidity.  Mainly, parents who think it is cool to get into fake vehicles built for kids.  What the hell is wrong [...]

I haven’t had much time at the kiddie playgrounds before Jacob started walking.  But, now that I have been to the playgrounds a lot more, there seems to be a rash (epidemic?) of parental stupidity.  Mainly, parents who think it is cool to get into fake vehicles built for kids.  What the hell is wrong with these parents?  What makes them think that it is cool to get in the foam-rubber boat with little Missy?  What makes them think that it is cool to get into the quarter-fed racer car with Junior?  Get the hell out of the kiddie vehicles!  Witness the stupidity:

Someone pleae kick the living crap out of me if I ever attempt any of the above dumbassness.  I thank you ahead of time.

Here’s the super secret iPhone 2.0 strategy.  I got it from Steve* himself.
Promise all sorts of new features before iPhone 2.0 software is available.  Fanboys go wild.
Rush iPhone 2.0 software out the door, when it is really not ready — it’s buggy as hell, crashes, and is slow.  People have to reboot their iPhones every [...]

Here’s the super secret iPhone 2.0 strategy.  I got it from Steve* himself.

Promise all sorts of new features before iPhone 2.0 software is available.  Fanboys go wild.

Rush iPhone 2.0 software out the door, when it is really not ready — it’s buggy as hell, crashes, and is slow.  People have to reboot their iPhones every day to keep it running — hey, just like Windows.  Fanboys rejoice as they have new software.  Fanboys go out and defend this shitty software because…well, they are Apple fanboys and Steve Jobs is their diety…and they must defend their diety.

Every few weeks bump the revision number of the software, but really don’t fix anything.  In the release notes, be as vague as possible — say something like, “Bug Fixes”.  Fanboys install, get the placebo effect, and go wild.  Fanboys cheer and are happy that Apple “fixed” something — when secretly, all Apple did was bump the VERSION_NUMBER constant in one of the header files and recompile the whole thing.

Meanwhile, try as hard as possible to fix the iPhone 2.0 software and get what would have been the real release out the door — you know, like any respectable software developer would:  Release a tested and fixed software sans any major bugs.

Thanks Apple for your backasswards way of releasing the iPhone 2.0 software.  I really wish I had stuck with 1.1.4 and waited things out.  Apple you’re becoming more and more like Microsoft.  With the iPhone 2.0 software, I kept thinking to myself:  “Crap, I should have waited for Service Pack 1 before I upgraded.“  Ironic, huh?

*Steve “Mookie” Kong, that is.

Are you really serious President Bush?  Are you really?  You want to lift the ban on off-shore drilling, but you will say…
“I readily concede it won’t produce a barrel of oil tomorrow, but it will reverse the psychology,” Bush told a White House news conference.
Hey, how about this sir:  Just tell the American public that [...]

Are you really serious President Bush?  Are you really?  You want to lift the ban on off-shore drilling, but you will say…

“I readily concede it won’t produce a barrel of oil tomorrow, but it will reverse the psychology,” Bush told a White House news conference.

Hey, how about this sir:  Just tell the American public that you’ll be spinning up the printing presses at the US Federal Reserve and that you will be handing out millions of dollars to each American citizen.

That money won’t really get out to the American public; but,  you know, “it will reverse the psychology” and help Americans spend more during this economic downturn.

That would be a better way about going at it than opening up for off-shore drilling, which will not help anyone.  And could potentially destroy our environment.  Stop trying to help your oil drilling buddies President, try helping the environment instead.

I don’t know what this says about what President Bush this about the American public.  Does he think that the American public is dumb enough to buy into this “off-shore drilling will lower the price at the pump” deal?  Or is the American public really dumb enough to believe that bunch of shit?

Sheesh.

The iPhone 2 has been announced.  Apple fanbois have thier credit cards out and their iPhone 1s on Ebay.  I’m sure the iPhone 2s will fly off the AT&T shelves, so whatever I am going to write here will not matter — and Apple fanbois can refrain from posting their comments, thank you very much.

Plastic [...]

The iPhone 2 has been announced.  Apple fanbois have thier credit cards out and their iPhone 1s on Ebay.  I’m sure the iPhone 2s will fly off the AT&T shelves, so whatever I am going to write here will not matter — and Apple fanbois can refrain from posting their comments, thank you very much.

• Plastic backing:  Ugh.  It’s so iBook!
• Same crappy camera:  Still no video recording.
• 3G:  The original iPhone should have come with it to begin with.
• GPS:  Same as above.
• iPhone 2.0 software:  Thank you Apple for releasing it for free for current iPhone owners.  I’m sure the same sentiment is not shared by your iPod touch users, whom you continue to screw over.
• The pricing switcharoo:  $199 is $200 less than the original iPhone.  But, the data plan costs $10 more per month — whether you are in AT&T’s 3G coverage or not.  That means by the end of your contract, you’ll have paid $40 more than a person with the original iPhone.  Not to mention, there are no text messages included with the more expensive plan.  If you want to get the 200 text messages that are included with the original iPhone’s data plan, add $5 a month.

Overall, I was not particularly excited by the new iPhone.  Sure, it’s nice to have the extra speed.  Sure, the real GPS is nice.  But, want to pay more just to get those two features?  No.  The biggest thing that turns me off about the iPhone 2 is the plastic back — it really cheapens the look of the phone.  Basically, the iPhone went from sleek MacBook Pro aluminum backing to cheap entry-level MacBook plastic backing — complete with your choice of black or white plastic.  I wonder if Apple will charge more for the black plastic iPhone — like how they charge more for the black MacBook.

So, this whole steroids thing is just plain stupid — I am not going to use the term “Human Growth Hormone” or HGH, because it is what it is: Steroids. Check out Andy Pettitte who came out and “apologized” this weekend. Here’s what he said:
“I didn’t do it to try to get [...]

So, this whole steroids thing is just plain stupid — I am not going to use the term “Human Growth Hormone” or HGH, because it is what it is: Steroids. Check out Andy Pettitte who came out and “apologized” this weekend. Here’s what he said:

“I didn’t do it to try to get an edge on anyone, I didn’t do it to try to get stronger, faster or to throw harder.”

Really? So, why did you take steroids?

“I did it because I was told that it might be able to help me.”

So, let me get this straight. You took steroids to help yourself. But, you didn’t take them to help yourself get the edge on anyone. Nor did you take them to help yourself get stronger, faster or to throw harder. So, why the hell did you take the steroids? What were you looking for the steroids to help you do? Fly like Superman? Leap over tall buildings? Did you take the steroids to help your health decline? Oh, I know, you took the steroids to help you become a better person!

No, actually, he took steroids because he thought it would help him heal faster from his injuries.  Isn’t that trying “to get an edge” on other players?  I mean, if your fellow player is injured, he sits his ass out of the game until he heals.  You sought a way to get an edge on him by using steroids to heal faster.  What a sad excuse.

Cripes! If you’re going to apologize, then do it right! Admit it: You, Andy Pettitte, took steroids so that you could get the edge on other players. You, Andy Pettitte, took steroids so that you could get stronger, faster or to throw harder. Stop being such a dumb-ass. And, please don’t think that people are stupid as you are — we can see through your act.  Apology not accepted.

Update: Disregard this post. Sony BMG has come to their senses and are going to be offering their non-DRM music through Amazon’s MP3 Store.
In what maybe the biggest backasswards way of selling digital music, Sony BMG detailed their plans on how they will sell DRM-free music: In retail stores only. What [...]

Update: Disregard this post. Sony BMG has come to their senses and are going to be offering their non-DRM music through Amazon’s MP3 Store.

In what maybe the biggest backasswards way of selling digital music, Sony BMG detailed their plans on how they will sell DRM-free music: In retail stores only. What the hell?

So, it is really possible that Sony BMG will be able to “sell out” of MP3s! Wow! That is just brilliant. Here’s how Sony BMG wants to sell digital music:

1. You decide you want to buy a Sony BMG album
2. You get in your car
3. Drive to Best Buy
4. Buy a $12.99 “Platinum Music Pass”
5. Drive Home
6. Log into the Sony website
7. Punch in the code from your card
8. Download music

That has got to be the most idiotic way of selling digital music ever. People buy digital music because it is convenient and easy to get (not to mention makes for an excellent impulse buy). By inserting steps 2-7, Sony has just eliminated the convenience and easy of digital music. And on top of that, they are charging a lot more per digital album than either Amazon or iTunes. Someone’s ass needs to get kicked for putting together such a “brilliant” plan.

Sony BMG feels “strongly that there’s a group that will enjoy carrying the imagery of an artist they love around with them, or sharing it with their friends.” Yea, you know what Sony BMG? With gas prices so high, I’d rather not buy your music than to pay $12.99 and gas to get a digital download. I could care less about “carrying the imagery of an artist I love around with me. Thanks, but no thanks.

Lets not forget about the unnecessary damage that is caused to the environment because of this scheme:

• The trees cut down to print the card backings
• The plastic cards that contain codes which are going to be tossed in the trash
• The fuel needed for the trucks to bring all this stuff to the stores
• The fuel needed for a consumer to drive to and from a store to buy a card

If only the management at Sony BMG “got it”…

I was reading this posting from JR about Netflix and their streaming video service Watch Now. JR was seemingly replying to this posting where the dude is encouraging people to kill trees in order to shout silently at a company. The dude wants people to print out little protest notices and stuff them [...]

I was reading this posting from JR about Netflix and their streaming video service Watch Now. JR was seemingly replying to this posting where the dude is encouraging people to kill trees in order to shout silently at a company. The dude wants people to print out little protest notices and stuff them into the Netflix return envelopes in order to “start a conversation in the company from the distribution centers all the way up through the management chain.” Uh, yea whatever dude. That’s like going to Wal-Mart and telling the working-on-minimum-wage cashier that you are digusted by the fact that walmart.com uses DRM. You how far that will get you? No where.  The same is true with these little printed protest notices.  You’ll get no where and you’ll end up killing trees to get there.

I complained in my earlier posting about the same issue: The DRM that Netflix uses makes the Watch Now service unusable for those of us who use Macs and Linux boxes. I was then reminded by a buddy of mine, Mike that this was not Netflix’s choice. Netflix has a business to run and they want to stream movies as part of the business.  But, if they are to stream movies, it is the movie industry that dictates just how the movies can be streamed. Don’t want to use DRM? Then you don’t get to stream movies. It’s like blaming Yahoo! Music or Napster for using DRM. If it were up to Yahoo! or Napster, they probably would not want to use DRM — why make things so complicated? But, it is the stupid RIAA that forces businesses to use DRM.

Dude from defectivebydesign:  Your logic is flawed and…well…defective by design. First, don’t encourage people to kill trees in an effort that will go no where. The people (or as I might guess, sorting machines) at Netflix will toss the little flyers without notice. Second, aim for the correct people. If you don’t like DRM: Blame the movie studios. Blame the music studios. They are the ones forcing businesses to do this. Get it right or shut up.

Now, if you really do want to let Netflix know about how they could be doing better…let me suggest a more environmentally conservative way of letting them know. Make a suggestion. Nudge Netflix to work with the movie studios to get rid of the DRM. Netflix runs a 24 hour customer service line (which they brag about). Give them a call. 1-888-638-3549. Ask why the service doesn’t work on your Mac or Linux box. Ask if you can get a part of your subscription cost back because you’re not using that streaming service. Ask if Netflix can work something out with the studios so that you can watch movies on your Mac or Linux box.  See?  You won’t be killing trees.  You’ll for sure get someone to talk with.  And, as with all customer call centers, your complaint about Watch Now not working on a Mac or Linux box will be noted.  When Netflix goes and reviews the problems being called in to customer support, they will take notice — why?  Because it costs Netflix money to staff csutomer support centers.  It costs Netflix to be taking all those calls.  If Netflix does not have to take a call, they save some money.  Let Netflix know, nicely that using DRM is going to cost them money.  That will definitely light up some conversations in the company.