From the NYTimes.com: Hollywood Producer Set to Make Shows for Xbox

Mr. Nocas said that about 10 million people had signed up for the Xbox Live service. Roughly 18 million of the game systems have been sold worldwide, he said.

10 million sounds like a decent number of people, but what percentage of them have actually buy media on Xbox Live?  I've bought upgrades to Halo 3 and one retro game- Super Bomberman and that's about it.  I joined Xbox Live for one thing- multiplayer gaming.

There are a few things about the Xbox 360/Xbox Live service that makes it a no go for me for video purchases.

1. The Xbox 360 sounds like a vacuum cleaner when it's on.  It's tolerable to play Halo 3 because I don't have choice, but I do have other choices for watching video.
2. Microsoft Points- Why does Microsoft have to its own currency?  It's a money grab because you have to buy your points in blocks.  And because of this, you always have points sitting there leftover.  Because of this, I buy as little as possible.
3. Portability- Xbox Live purchase aren't portable and I can't play them on my iPods.
4. Xbox Live interface clunky.  I'm always flipping through trying to find things that should be easier to find.
   

When I see my Xbox 360, I see one thing.  Video game platform.  Not a set top box.  Not in this incarnation of the Xbox.

It seems you'd have to be from Kansas not to be rooting for the Davidson basketball team yesterday in the NCAA tournament.  On the ticker at the bottom of the screen, Davidson was abbreviated as David.  Appropriate, except this time David lost to Goliath with Kansas going to the Final Four.

This was my first NCAA with a HDTV and it's absolutely amazing.  One weird thing.  Coming back from commercial breaks, the text graphics on the screen often were out of focus and slowly came back into focus.  I thought it was my eyes at first, but later I paid more attention to it and it was really happening.  Not really sure what that's about.  Otherwise everything else was crystal clear!

From NYTimes.com: Salmon Virus Indicts Chile's Fishing Methods

A virus called infectious salmon anemia, or I.S.A., is killing millions of salmon destined for export to Japan, Europe and the United States. The spreading plague has sent shivers through Chile's third-largest export industry, which has left local people embittered by laying off more than 1,000 workers.

But the latest outbreak has occurred after a rash of nonviral illnesses in recent years that the companies acknowledge have led them to use high levels of antibiotics. Researchers say the practice is widespread in the Chilean industry, which is a mix of international and Chilean producers. Some of those antibiotics, they say, are prohibited for use on animals in the United States.

Many of those salmon still end up in American grocery stores, where about 29 percent of Chilean exports are destined. While fish from China have come under special scrutiny in recent months, here in Chile regulators have yet to form a registry that even tracks the use of the drugs, researchers said.

It's a real problem that consumers don't know where their food comes from or what's been used in the process of creating it.  

From the AP on NPR.com: Dean Says Attacks Getting Too Personal

This is an interesting interview because Howard Dean has mostly been pretty quiet about what might be done to resolve the fractious campaign between Obama and Clinton.

About surrogates attacking:

"You do not want to demoralize the base of the Democratic Party by having the Democrats attack each other."

The supporters should keep their mouths shut about this stuff on both sides because that is harmful to the potential victory of a Democrat."

I definitely agree with this.  Too much chatter by the "surrogates".  For the most part, no one knows who these surrogates are until they say something that gets picked up by the media.  Do we really need to hear what Geraldine Ferraro has to say?  She hasn't been relevant in years.  Or Obama's advisor Samantha Power?

I felt that most of the attacks originally started with the Clinton campaign, but I feel like members of the Obama campaign has joined "silly season" too.  That's unfortunately the way politics are these days.

He said it is good for the candidates to debate controversies like the incendiary sermons by Obama's pastor and Clinton's different accounts of danger on a trip to Bosnia as first lady. If Democrats didn't deal with them now, he said Republicans will surely make use of them in the fall.

Unfortunately there's not a lot of debate about these issues except barbs being tossed at each other.  It's true though that these issues will be old hat by the time the Democratic nominee faces McCain.

I was reading an article about the grand opening of the Ascent, a new condo tower designed by Daniel Libeskind.

In the article they mentioned

"A ribbon-cutting ceremony held near the building's front entrance concluded with the release of white doves."

I was kind of curious about what happens to white doves after they're released since I've never seen a white bird out in the wild.   There's a good reason why.

From Slate.com: When Doves Fly Away

What happens to the doves after they fly away?

It depends on what kind of birds they are and how they're raised. Newspaper accounts don't identify the species released in Hiroshima, but white "peace" doves--the kind pictured in Picasso's famous poster--fare very badly in the wild. After centuries of domestic breeding, the white ring-neck dove is ill-equipped for urban survival. Bird rescue workers say that a ring-neck dove released in a city will likely starve--if it doesn't get hit by a car or eaten by another bird first.

From NYTimes.com: Clinton Seeks to Soften Impact of Misstatement

Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton tried Tuesday to put a softening spin on her misstatement that she ran from sniper fire at an airport in Bosnia as first lady, saying the comment was a mistake that "proves I'm human."

Great!  Mistakes prove you're human!  I wonder if Bill used the "proves I'm human" explanation with her!

Played Rainbow 6 Vegas 2 for the Xbox 360 last night and boy does that game make me motion sick.  I really felt like I was going to throw up.  It's the worst I've ever felt playing a video game.  I've had problems with motion sickness in the past playing Halo 3, but I ended up getting used to it.  I thought that my learned immunity to Halo 3 motion sickness would help me with all first person shooters, but I guess each game's motion is slightly different.

Here's more information on video games and motion sickness:
About.com: Video Games And Motion Sickness

It suggests ginger pills.  Might try it if I dare playing again.  It's either that or a motion sickness bag. :(

From the NYTimes.com: Clinton Says She 'Misspoke' About Dodging Sniper Fire

As part of her argument that she has the best experience and instincts to deal with a sudden crisis as president, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton recently offered a vivid description of having to run across a tarmac to avoid sniper fire after landing in Bosnia as first lady in 1996.

Yet on Monday, Mrs. Clinton admitted that she "misspoke" about the episode -- a concession that came after CBS News showed footage of her walking calmly across the tarmac with her daughter, Chelsea, and being greeted by dignitaries and a child.

This is what Hillary had originally said:

"I certainly do remember that trip to Bosnia, and as Togo said, there was a saying around the White House that if a place was too small, too poor, or too dangerous, the president couldn't go, so send the First Lady. That's where we went.

"I remember landing under sniper fire. There was supposed to be some kind of a greeting ceremony at the airport, but instead we just ran with our heads down to get into the vehicles to get to our base.

Hillary claims that she "misspoke".  Lied is more like it.  Bosnia was so dangerous that we sent Hillary, sixteen year old Chelsea, Sheryl Crow, and Sinbad on peace mission instead of the President.  Hillary is trying so hard to puff up her role as First Lady and to give herself Foreign Policy credibility.  It's already the second time that she's been caught doing this.

Hillary is consistent in one thing.  That she'll say anything to become President. 

This has all the markings of an April Fool's joke, but it seems like it might actually be real.

"This is a hoax," a tower spokeswoman said last night. "We have no idea where this came from. The whole thing is preposterous. There is no question of changing the way that the Eiffel Tower looks, even temporarily. We have plans for the 120th anniversary, of course, but nothing like this."

Nevertheless, a spokesman for David Serero architects, who declined to give his name, insisted that the company had been, "invited to enter a limited competition", and that, "we would not have drawn up such elaborate plans unless we thought that there was a genuine competition".

I have never found the comic strip Garfield to be funny, but every time I read Garfield minus Garfield, it cracks me up.  Truly addition by subtraction.

My car window's all fixed!  I called Jarrott's Auto Glass and they came to my office this afternoon and fixed my car window.  It was a 10 minute job and I'm good to go.  Having someone come by is pretty darn convenient. 

If you're curious, this little window is only marginally cheaper to repair than the rear seat window in front of it.  So the criminals didn't really do me much of a favor by breaking the small window.

Before:

Last night at 2:30AM, I heard a car alarm go off.  Car alarms are pretty common in the city, more an annoyance than anything else.  This one, sounded vaguely familiar, so I shook off my slumber and crawled out of bed.  I looked down from my third story window and saw a car with its lights flashing and its horn honking.  It was my car.

There wasn't anyone around my car and I couldn't see anyone running up or down the street.  At 2:30AM, my brain was still using sleepy logic at the time so I decided that I would turn off the alarm, relock the doors from the comfort of my bedroom and go back to bed.

This morning, I went out to check the damage and saw that the small rear window was broken and my ancient radar detector was stolen.  It was old, but trusty.  I have never gotten a speeding ticket since I've had it.  But, it was held to the window through this suction cup contraption that I had created since the original mount was broken.  They didn't take the mount and I doubt they'll figure out how to hook it to the window like I did!

My car is sometimes messy and I always joked that the security of my car was based on obscurity.  Security through obscurity.  Too much junk to sort through!  The criminals weren't up to the task of sorting out the junk car so it must have worked!

I cleaned the glass (car window glass breaks into a zillion little pieces) and taped up the window.  I had brought out a white garbage bag and a black garbage bag for the window.  I ended up choosing the white garbage bag, but the real star of the repair job was the clear duct tape that I had purchased.  I love clear duct tape!  I've already used it twice around the house for repairs that I should have probably used something more permanent!  It's just the MacGyver in me.

Happy Easter!

From TechCrunch.com: Charlie Rose Face Plants To Save His MacBook Air

He was carrying a newly purchased MacBook Air and made a quick (but ultimately flawed) decision while falling: sacrifice the face, protect the computer. "In doing so, he pretty much hit the pavement face first, unfortunately," they said.

Luckily the MacBook Air survived the fall. "The Macbook Air is fine, he showed us the blood stains on it this morning.

That's some serious MacBook Air love shown by Charlie Rose.

From NYTimes.com: China Tensions Sway Taiwan Election

China's suppression of protests in Tibet and missteps by the opposition Nationalist Party have made the Taiwanese presidential election on Saturday an unexpectedly close race. What once seemed to be an insuperable lead for the Nationalist candidate, Ma Ying-jeou, has narrowed considerably, politicians and political analysts said.

Taiwan wants no part of what China's dealing these days.  Tibet is just a reminder of what hugging a bear could get you.  Taiwan has been a de facto independent nation since WWII.  Taiwan is a democracy, China is not.  If the United States truly wants democracy around the world, why not start here and support Taiwan.

I love this "Last Supper" Battlestar Galactica promo picture.

Battlestar Galactica begins season 4 on April 10th.  At its best, Battlestar Galactica was the best show that I have ever seen on television.  Get filled in on the previous 3 seasons with this video summary.

From SCIFI.com: Eick: Bionic Is Dead

David Eick, co-executive producer of NBC's SF series Bionic Woman, confirmed to SCI FI Wire that the network has indeed canceled the show, though the network has not yet officially said as much.

I thought Bionic Woman was a total disappointment.  I was hoping for a lot more from David Eick, a co-producer of one of my favorite shows, Battlestar Galactica.  The story never really got off the ground and de-evolved into a bad version of "Alias".

From SCIFI.com: Caprica Gets Green Light

Set 50 years before the events of Battlestar Galactica, Caprica follows two rival families--the Greystones and the Adamas --as they grow, compete and thrive in the vibrant world of the 12 Colonies. Enmeshed in the burgeoning technology of artificial intelligence and robotics that will eventually lead to the creation of the Cylons, the two houses go toe to toe.

I'm sad to see Battlestar Galactica go after Season 4, but at least we'll get to see more of the BSG universe with Caprica. 

From the NYTimes.com: Can't Grasp Credit Crisis? Join the Club

A nice explanation of the Subprime credit problem that's driving our country into recession.

From NYTimes.com: Estimates of Iraq War Cost Were Not Close to Ballpark

At the outset of the Iraq war, the Bush administration predicted that it would cost $50 billion to $60 billion to oust Saddam Hussein, restore order and install a new government.

Five years in, the Pentagon tags the cost of the Iraq war at roughly $600 billion and counting. Joseph E. Stiglitz, a Nobel Prize-winning economist and critic of the war, pegs the long-term cost at more than $4 trillion. The Congressional Budget Office and other analysts say that $1 trillion to $2 trillion is more realistic, depending on troop levels and on how long the American occupation continues.

This is Bush's legacy, sticking the American public with a quagmire and a bill for 2-4 trillion dollars for a war that were fought for false pretenses.  There's no connection between Al Qaeda and Iraq and Iraq didn't have weapons of mass destruction.  The war has diverted attention from fighting terrorists that roam Afghanistan and Pakistan.  Instead of creating a new breeding ground for terrorists, shouldn't we have been out in force looking for Bin Laden?

From NYTimes.com: Chinese Rights Advocate Tried

One of the most prominent human rights advocates in China stood trial on Tuesday morning on subversion charges in a proceeding that lasted three hours and centered on whether his public criticism of the ruling Communist Party represented a threat to the state. A verdict is possible within a week.

However, a new examination of Chinese law enforcement statistics found that the number of people arrested in 2007 on suspicion of political crimes like subversion rose to the highest level in eight years. The analysis found that 742 people were arrested last year on charges like subversion, more than twice the number in 2005, according to the Dui Hua Foundation, a nonprofit group based in San Francisco that is involved in Chinese legal issues.

Mr. Hu has worked on many causes in China, including volunteering to help AIDS patients and participating in tree-planting campaigns. He is a prominent blogger who also disseminates information about peasant protests, dissidents and other issues often censored in the Chinese media.

The Freedom of Speech is a freedom that we take for granted here in the United States.  But this freedom should not just be an American freedom, but a freedom for all citizens of the world.  With the eyes of the world focused on Beijing for the Olympics, all countries should press the Chinese Government to improve its dealing on human rights issues.

Henry Paulson, Secretary of the Treasury has unintentionally created a new word for our economic situation- a "down-cline".  It was a mis-spoken word during an interview.  But, he goes on to say:

From Reuters: Paulson admits U.S. economy in sharp decline

"There's no doubt that the American people know that the economy has turned down sharply. So to me much less important is the label that's placed on it today. Much more important is what we do about it," he told NBC's Today Show.

So why not just call it what it is?  A recession.

From the Wall Street Journal: He Said, She Said: Hillary and Sinbad

Clinton has, throughout the campaign, talked about a harrowing trip to war-torn Bosnia as an example of the foreign policy experience that has prepared her to face future national security crises, should she become commander-in-chief.

"I remember landing under sniper fire. There was supposed to be some kind of greeting ceremony at the airport, but instead we jut ran with our heads down to get into the vehicles to get to our base," Clinton said.

But last week, the comedian Sinbad, who accompanied Clinton on the trip along with singer Sheryl Crow and then-first daughter Chelsea, said he remembers the landing differently. "I think the only 'red-phone' moment was: 'Do we eat here or at the next place?'" he said in an interview with the Washington Post.

Clinton has said in her stump speech, "We used to say in the White House that if a place is too dangerous, too small, or too poor, send the First Lady."

Sinbad scoffed at this statement as well: "What kind of president would say 'Hey man, I can't go 'cause I might get shot so I'm going to send my wife. Oh, and take a guitar player and a comedian with you."

It's stories like this that make me wonder if Hillary ever tells the truth without embellishment.  She's really reaching to make being First Lady a qualification for foreign policy experience.

I guess this teaser trailer for the new Star Trek movie has been out for a while, but I just noticed it.  I thought the movie was originally scheduled to be released in December, but now it's a summer 2009 release.  I can't wait!

This is kind of cool- "live" camera images of the Enterprise under construction.  J.J. Abrams has brought some of his Cloverfield style of viral marketing to Star Trek.  To see the images, adjust the slider until you get to 100%.  Supposedly the 4th camera shows a glimpse of the interior hallway of the new Enterprise.  I've been watching it now for a while and haven't seen anything yet.

I went to see a performance on Saturday night of Tan Dun's "Water Passion" at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music.  I really didn't know a lot about the piece, but I loved the music that Tan Dun had composed for the movie "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon".

It's a little hard to describe the piece, so I'm referring to an NPR story that describes it in more detail.

From NPR.com: View from the Choir: Tan Dun's 'Water Passion'

Performing for the noted composer presented plenty of new challenges for the singers, Lunden says. There were lip trills and overtone singing, and even more unusual sounds: growling and shouting, for example. And, Lunden recalls, "There were also passages of great beauty."

I was not prepared for the growling and the strange noises coming from the stage.  I found it distracting.  And I didn't find the music to be very engaging.

So the stage is awash in water, with 17 clear plexiglass bowls laid out in the form of a cross. Three percussionists "play" the water with a variety of homemade instruments.

Among them is David Cossin, who has performed the Water Passion since Stuttgart. "The main instrument is the water and there's everything from just dripping sounds, to playing the actual water with your hands in different ways," he says.

The use of water as an instrument was the one thing that I found interesting. But, I guess that means that I would have probably been better off watching Stomp or Blue Man Group.

I'm sure the performance was performed well, but overall it was just not my cup of tea.  There was good crowd in the hall.  I wonder what others thought of it.

From the NYTimes.com: Chinook Salmon Vanish Without a Trace

Where did they go? The Chinook salmon that swim upstream to spawn in the fall, the most robust run in the Sacramento River, have disappeared. The almost complete collapse of the richest and most dependable source of Chinook salmon south of Alaska left gloomy fisheries experts struggling for reliable explanations -- and coming up dry.

This is frightening.  When something that's been around for years and suddenly disappears.  It's a signal that something is wrong.  The problem is that there are a lot of questions and possible causes, but they're not exactly sure what happened.

Cincinnati has gotten a severe case of Ikea madness.  I was told by a West Chester official that Ikea had to turn people away on Saturday because they were over the capacity of 10,000 people.  West Chester allowed the capacity to be exceeded slightly during the grand opening, but now they need to enforce the code because of liability issues.  Customers trying to enter the store were denied entrance and told to come back later in the day.  It seems that main problem is that people were going in and not coming out for 3-4 hours. 

Amazing.

From the LATimes.com: Maybe Spitzer just needed time at La Costa

In fact, I'm not sure why going to a brothel is illegal but visiting a spa is considered classy. Because, really, a spa is just all the parts of sex that women like: candles, soft music, scented oils, questions about how you feel. How can it be psychologically healthy in a marriage for either partner paying to be touched in pleasurable ways? As a husband, I know I can't compete with a $100-an-hour shiatsu guy with an iPod full of flute music.

From Newsday.com

It seems like Bush believes that by avoiding the use of words like recession or torture, that somehow they aren't happening.  We aren't in a recession, but we are having a "tough time".  We're not torturing people, we're using "enhanced interrogation techniques".

From LATimes: Governor's high-flying commute draws flak

Schwarzenegger has eschewed living in Sacramento, preferring his Brentwood mansion and traveling back and forth in his private jet. Some question his concern for the environment.

After flirting briefly with buying a Sacramento abode for his family, then living alone for a while in a 2,000-square-foot hotel penthouse across from the Capitol, the governor has decided to stay nearly every night at his Brentwood mansion.

That's an approximately 780 mile round trip daily commute by private jet.  That's about 3 hours of commuting.

The governor's Gulfstream jet does nearly as much damage to the environment in one hour as a small car does in a year, according to figures compiled by the Helium Report, an online publication for buyers of luxury items.

Schwarzenegger doesn't have to do this.  He could have moved his family to Sacramento like every other governor before him.  The rich and powerful shouldn't get a pass because they can afford to do this.

I thought this following paragraph was kind of amusing in light of the Spitzer scandal:

The governor rarely sleeps now in the $62,000-a-year hotel penthouse paid for by a tax-exempt charitable foundation. But in the early years of his administration, Schwarzenegger spent most weeknights there, working late, receiving visitors and playing chess, former aides said.

So "playing chess" is what they're calling it these days.

From Foxnews.com: Hillary Had No Role in Irish Peace, Despite Bill's Claim

Recently, as only Hillary can do, she claimed that she was "deeply involved in the Irish peace process." Bill has also picked up the theme, citing her "independent" role in resolving the century-old conflict as "experience" with which to justify a White House run.

How odd that Hillary forgot to mention her pivotal role in Ireland just four years ago, when she wrote her $8 million memoir, Living History.

According to Hillary, while Bill met with the "various factions" of Irish politics, Hillary met with women leaders of the peace movement. Rather than discuss the difficulties of the peace process, Hillary focused on a teapot used by the women:

"They poured tea from ordinary stainless steel teapots, and when I remarked how well they kept the tea warm, Joyce insisted that I take a pot to remember them by. I used that dented teapot every day in our small family kitchen in the White House..."

Hillary seems determined to spin being the wife of the President as some kind of foreign policy credential.  As the article shows, Hillary doesn't even claim the accomplishments as "ours", but "Bill's", like she's just a bystander.  Being First Lady doesn't make you more qualified to be President.  Otherwise, why don't we just have Laura Bush takeover?

From NYTimes.com: Clinton and Obama Split Over Florida and Michigan

"The results of those primaries were fair and should be honored," she told the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce here.

Mrs. Clinton said last October that the Michigan primary was meaningless, but she left her name on the ballot. Mr. Obama and the other major Democratic candidates removed their names from the ballot in a gesture of good faith to early-voting states whose primaries were officially allowed by the Democratic Party. Neither candidate campaigned in Michigan; Mrs. Clinton won with 55 percent of the vote over 40 percent for "uncommitted".

So this Hillary's idea of "fair".  How are the results of Michigan anywhere close to being fair?  How can you count an election where the only two choices are "Hillary" and "Uncommitted"?  If you were an Obama supporter, would you even bother going to vote in an election where you'd have to vote "uncommitted"?

Hillary's sense of "fairness" is whatever gets her into the White House.   If you took this to any non-partisan arbiter, there's no way they would say that these elections should be counted as is.

A re-vote would probably be the best solution, but then the punishment against Michigan and Florida for moving up their primary would turn into a reward for those states as their votes would become the last two states to vote in the primary.

CNN.com has a good commentary about this: Florida, Michigan don't deserve revote

From the Cincinnati Enquirer: Ikea opening draws thousands

I love Ikea, but you won't see me around there for the next couple of weeks.  Not until the crowds thin out a little.

In honor of the grand opening, here's the website of Mark Malkoff, a comedian who lived in an Ikea for a week.  The videos are great!

Watching the mess of Eliot Spitzer, you can't help but feel sorry for his wife standing at his side.  Who is Silda Spitzer?

An interesting profile from the NYTimes.com: Her Next Job: First Lady of New York

From CNN.com (Video): Oldest man to run marathon

Can this guy really be 101 years old?  He's amazing.

From NYTimes.com : Batman's Burden: A Director Confronts Darkness and Death

It's enough to make a marketing executive cringe, that the word "dense" pops up in conversations with Mr. Nolan and his actors. But it's true: "The Dark Knight," which will be released on July 18, is jammed with characters, plot and action. It picks up where "Batman Begins" left off, with Mr. Oldman's police lieutenant, Jim Gordon, warning about the perils of escalation: that Batman's extreme measures could invite a like response from the criminal element. And sure enough, a deadly new villain, the Joker, emerges to wreak havoc.

In a political context this would politely be called an "unintended consequence." (Gotham as Baghdad, anyone?) Mr. Nolan doesn't deny the overtones. "As we looked through the comics, there was this fascinating idea that Batman's presence in Gotham actually attracts criminals to Gotham, attracts lunacy," he said. "When you're dealing with questionable notions like people taking the law into their own hands, you have to really ask, where does that lead? That's what makes the character so dark, because he expresses a vengeful desire."

It always amazes me that big budget movies are sometimes made without a semblance of a coherent story or character development.  Hearing Christopher Nolan talk about delving into deeper character issues is exciting.

From ABCNews.com: Clinton Remained Silent As Wal-Mart Fought Unions

In six years as a member of the Wal-Mart board of directors, between 1986 and 1992, Hillary Clinton remained silent as the world's largest retailer waged a major campaign against labor unions seeking to represent store workers.

It seems like Hillary's work as a director at Wal-Mart would have received more scrutiny during the battle for Ohio, especially with the union workers in the Northern part of the state.  This story is from the end of January and I never heard about it until today.  Maybe I just missed it.

From CNN.com: Girl seen in Clinton's '3 a.m.' ad supports Obama

Casey Knowles didn't much like a recent campaign commercial for Hillary Clinton -- even though she's in it as a sleeping 8-year-old.

After all, she about to turn 18 now and is a big supporter of Barack Obama.

From NYTimes.com: Dancers in the Crowd Bring Back 'Thriller'

By this week, the videos had together been viewed more than a million times, to the pleasure of the music company Sony BMG, which staged the scenes to promote the 25th anniversary of "Thriller," the Michael Jackson album that featured the zombie dance in a graveyard video.

This is pretty brilliant marketing.  Probably cooler than having Michael Jackson doing it himself.  Here are three of the videos referred to in the story.

From CNN.com: BBQ-smoker-turned-'Robocop' chases off drug dealers

It's a barbecue smoker mounted on a three-wheeled scooter, and armed with an infrared camera, spotlight, loudspeaker and aluminum water cannon that shoots a stream of icy water about 20 feet.

"He's a neighborhood vigilante," says Meredith, "and when he came up with this -- you know, I call it Robocop -- I said, 'Praise God.' "

Anita Beatty, the director of the shelter, is suspicious of the barbecue-smoker robot. "I just think the whole 'Robocop' spraying people is a little freaky.'

Forget about Street Fighter!  I'd love to see this as a movie!

Street Fighter is one of the greatest arcade games of all time.  A truly skill based game, the controls of Street Fighter were so precise that if you learned strategy and perfected the moves, you'd be nearly unbeatable.

As good as the game was, its story was razor thin, so I was surprised when they decided to make a movie of it.   Movies based off of video games are usually pretty bad, and Street Fighter with Jean-Claude Van Damme is no exception.  That's why it's doubly surprising to see that they're going at it again!  2009 will be bringing us Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li.  This movie does not bode well for the career trajectory of Smallville actress Kristen Kreuk who plays Chun-li.

From Business Week: Apple Goes Corporate

With shares down 35%, Jobs & Co. have a union between the consumer-friendly iPhone and Corporate America in mind

I think it's pretty safe to say that current share price is not one of the reasons Apple is trying to work on corporate markets.  Most technology stocks have been hit by the slowing economy and Apple has been affected a little more since it's tremendous run up last year.

William Markey, president of telecom consultancy RelevantC, is skeptical of Apple's prospects. "What's the business case for the iPhone? Being able to listen to music on your [work] cell phone?" he says.

After all this time, this analyst still doesn't get what the iPhone is about.  Music isn't the key to the iPhone's success, it's accessing the web.  With the iPhone, Apple is transforming the mobile internet like it did the music industry before it.  Before the iPhone there were phones that could access the internet, but not with the ease of use that the iPhone can.  Many of the phones were only capable of showing the most basic of pages designed with mobile phones in mind.

The iPhone was designed with the web in mind.  The large screen space and the software keyboard that pops up only when needed allows for the best web experience.  By removing the keyboard and creating a new gesturing language, Apple has stepped beyond just providing easy access to email like the Blackberry.  This is where the future of the mobile internet lies. 

From Fortune.com: The trouble with Steve Jobs

An interesting read.  Most revealing is that Jobs was skeptical of mainstream surgery for his pancreatic cancer so he employed an alternative treatment for his cancer for 9 months before finally having surgery. 

Vote to have Taipei included in the Monopoly: World Edition.

Right now, Taipei is currently leading the list followed by Gdynia and Szczecin. Gdynia and Szczecin?  You know, if you have a bad case of Gdynia, they give you Szczecin for it.

So you don't have to look it up in Wikipedia, these are two cities in Poland.  They must be having some kind of national campaign to get these two unknown cities on the map.