Miscellaneous
Avatar vs. Pocahontas
Feb 27th
I saw the movie Avatar back in December. From a visual standpoint the movie was amazing. It was definitely worth seeing at the theater in 3D; however, over time I expect the film to be forgotten. Why is that? Well, the story is completely unoriginal. One could even say that Avatar is Pocahontas in space. Vimeo has taken the trailers from Pocahontas and Avatar and mashed them together. The end result is amazing.
Inevitably there’s going to be a sequel to Avatar and I’m looking forward to it. It should push James Cameron to come up with something memorable.
U.S. Census Mockumentary
Feb 16th
The U.S. Constitution requires a national census every ten years. It’s that time again and the Federal Government is spending our tax dollars on an ad campaign that doesn’t make a lot of sense. Even worse, they ran this ad during the Super Bowl. I understand that running an ad during the Super Bowl is going to reach a large audience; however, shouldn’t the ad convey more information than this?
I love pretty much anything by Christopher Guest, but a mockumentary doesn’t seem like an effective way to promote the census.
Newspaper Articles Are Too Long
Feb 10th
Michael Kinsley of The Atlantic has one theory as to why newspapers are dying like the dinosaurs. Kinsley blames length. Here’s a part of his article entitled “Cut the Story.”
One reason seekers of news are abandoning print newspapers for the Internet has nothing directly to do with technology. It’s that newspaper articles are too long. On the Internet, news articles get to the point. Newspaper writing, by contrast, is encrusted with conventions that don’t add to your understanding of the news. Newspaper writers are not to blame. These conventions are traditional, even mandatory.
This is something I completely agree with. In today’s information age long copy makes my eyes hurt. If I want to read something longer than a page I’ll pick up a magazine, but certainly not a newspaper. One huge mistake many journalists make is that blogs are the same as newspapers. The moment I see a blog with tons of copy I run for the hills. There are too many well written blogs out there that get to the point.
I’m sure there’s a niche out there somewhere for really long blogs, but there’s a niche for everything. The average American doesn’t have time to read a long entry. What I love about blogs is that information is summarized in a very easy-to-read fashion. It allows me to read tons of different sites on tons of different topics.
Iran Suspends Gmail for Citizens
Feb 10th
In another blow for freedom, Iran is launching its own email service and suspending GMail. I guess this will make it easier to monitor the population. After the riots last Spring it seems like Twitter will be banned before too long. As far as Google is concerned it’s not clear why Iran doesn’t like the company. Google donates almost exclusively to the Democratic Party. Shouldn’t the Islamic Republic love that?
Iran’s telecommunications agency announced what it described as a permanent suspension of Google Inc.’s email services, saying a national email service for Iranian citizens would soon be rolled out.
It wasn’t clear late Wednesday what effect the order had on Gmail services in Iran, or even if Iran had implemented its new policy. Iranian officials have claimed technological advances in the past that they haven’t been able to execute
Super Bowl Winner: Google
Feb 8th
Club Soda did a great job summing up the political ramifications of an actual Green Police. Last night’s Audi ad was great because it appealed to both groups. Please read David Roberts’ article today in the Huffington Post. The same site that brought the world Katrina Cannibalism has this take on the Green Police ad:
The ad only makes sense if it’s aimed at people who acknowledge the moral authority of the green police — people who may find those obligations tiresome and constraining on occasion, who only fitfully meet them, who may be annoyed by sticklers and naggers, but who recognize that living more sustainably is in fact the moral thing to do. This basically describes every guy I know.
In other words David Roberts is okay with a police state as long as it suits his political beliefs. This is the great thing about totalitarianism. Someone ultimately gets to be in control. Everything is cool until someone has a gun in your face telling you to stop emitting C02.
Anyway, the point of my post today is to discuss what I thought was the best advertisement last night during the Super Bowl.
Google’s Parisian Love ad is simple. Google’s service is simple. The ad told a story and the sole focus was the brand. From a marketing perspective it was perfect. Evidently Microsoft’s search decision engine Bing is slowly gaining traction. Google has never advertised like this before. Plus, the fact there was a Google ad and nothing for Apple must make someone unhappy.
New Layout…
Feb 6th
Obviously I’ve made big changes to the layout here. After using Dreamhost the past couple of years I changed hosts to Media Temple. Dreamhost was charging more than what I could get at MT. MT is much a better service.
I’ve also moved the side from Movable Type to Wordpress. I stuck with Movable Type as long as I could, but Wordpress is just easier to deal with at this point. I’ve spent thousands of hours customizing Movable Type, but I can’t keep it up anymore. Plus, Wordpress has an Android App that will make updating the site a breeze on the road.
I’ll make a few more adjustments to the site over the next few weeks. So far I’m very happy with the the change.
ricky gervais on conan
Jan 14th
I love Ricky Gervais and I love Conan O’Brien. Conan is all over the news thanks to the idiots at NBC and Jay Leno’s enormous ego. I’ve never liked Leno, but this whole scenario has turned my mild indifference to an intense dislike. Anyway, the video below Ricky tries to figure out what Conan can do once he’s forced off the air
epic fail: pat robertson
Jan 13th
Pat Robertson does his best Jeremiah Wright impersonation.
It’s a good thing we don’t take people like this seriously. Wouldn’t it be awful if the President had a twenty year relationship with someone who says stuff like the video above? Oh wait…
study: beat your kids
Jan 4th
Here’s another addition to the list of studies I thought I’d never see. I guess Proverbs 13:24 is correct. It seems disciplining your children isn’t so bad. Well, as long as your not abusing them.
According to the research, children spanked up to the age of 6 were likely as teenagers to perform better at school and were more likely to carry out volunteer work and to want to go to college than their peers who had never been physically disciplined.
But children who continued to be spanked into adolescence showed clear behavioral problems.
What is a parent to do if there adolescent child needs a good spanking? It’s kind of like a chicken and egg discussion. Do the spankings lead to behavior problems or do the behavioral problems lead to spanking? Anyway, my parents stopped with the spankings for me around 12 I think? Maybe a little younger. I think I turned out all right. I’ve never been arrested. Ultimately children need discipline. There’s no doubt a lot of our educational problems in this country boil down to parental issues.
at the end of the year…
Dec 31st
There has been plenty written about how rotten this year was and this decade in general. Of course I have a contrary view. Not just philosophically, but personally. I graduated from college in 2003. I was the first person in my family to do so and I paid for my own education. I’ve been fortunate to work for a fast growing privately held company here in Sarasota for five years. I have also married a wonderful woman.
Are there things to complain about? Certainly, but complaining is for losers. I consider myself lucky to live in the most prosperous nation on Earth during the most prosperous time in history. Could things be better? Sure, but things could most certainly be worse. The past years have seen tremendous technological innovations. Just think about a world without high definition television, high speed internet, smart phones, Google, Facebook, blogs, and GPS. I don’t have to think very hard. I remember 1998 very clearly.
Instead of worrying and complaining about our dire situation let’s be thankful. Why do our best days have to be behind us? If the past 100 years have taught us anything it’s that the future will always be brighter than the present.