The Power of the Internet! Support Net Neutrality

ONE: Hit play and learn a bit about Net Neutrality from Will Wheaton, Mythbuster’s Adam Savage and a bunch of other people making more money via the internet than me.

TWO: Go to SaveTheInternet and do your civic duty.

(via Phampants)

Toy Story – The Wire Mashup

If you haven’t watched HBO’s The Wire, you’re really missing out. Ryan Hoffman and Dan Angelucci have created a nice little mash up of Toy Story footage and The Wire dialogue. The lips don’t match up, but it’s entertaining none the less. Watch as Woody becomes the Chief Asshole of the series and Buzz teaches the little green men to conglomerate.

(via: I Watch Stuff)

McDonalds is Poisoning Your Kids

Last night the Associated Press reported that McDonalds is being forced to recall 12 million commemorative glasses the chain sold to promote the most recent Shrek flem, Shrek 4: Forever After.

AP:

“The fast food chain said early Friday that it wants customers to stop using the 16-ounce glasses, which have been sold for about $2 each and were available in four designs depicting the main characters from the animated movie.

Cadmium is a known carcinogen that research shows also can cause bone softening and severe kidney problems.

In the case of the Shrek glasses, the concern would be long-term exposure to low levels of cadmium, which could leach from the paint onto a child’s hand, then enter the body if the child puts that unwashed hand to his or her mouth.”

Lets be honest here, Dreamworks should have stopped at two. At this point they’re just attempting to force sludge down your throats. Oh, wait, that was McDonalds, using children’s unquenchable desire for promotional trash to force feed cancerous sludge down their throats. Ah well, sorry MickyDees, looks like you’ll have to poison children the classic way, with your food.

You’ve Got to be Kidding Me: James Cameron asked to Help With Oil Leak Ideas

The people in charge are so inept that they’ve turned to movies to solve their problems with the BP Oil Leak.

From AP:

“The “Avatar” and “Titanic” director was among a group of scientists and other experts who met Tuesday with officials from the Environmental Protection Agency and other federal agencies for a brainstorming session on stopping the massive oil leak.

The Canadian-born Cameron is considered an expert on underwater filming and remote vehicle technologies. “Avatar” and “Titanic” are the two highest-grossing films of all time.”

They’re saying that because he was able to direct the camera men how to shoot movies underwater he has some mystical knowledge that the scientists don’t? That must be great for the guys who have spent decades studying in their specific fields- “Oh don’t worry Professors, the guy who directed that long boring movie about some old chick throwing a blue rock off a boat is on his way. He’ll know what to do! He can Imagine Good!”.

I don’t know what’s worse, the fact that they’re getting a director of Fictional Movies to assist with ideas on how to fix the leak, or the fact that this looks a whole lot like that movie poster up there.

(via CBS news)

update:

I’ve figured out whats worse – That if this is in fact life imitating art, the American public will likely believe it.

update 2:

Reuters:

Film director and deep-sea explorer James Cameron said on Wednesday that BP Plc turned down his offer to help combat the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

“Over the last few weeks I’ve watched, as we all have, with growing horror and heartache, watching what’s happening in the Gulf and thinking those morons don’t know what they’re doing,” Cameron said at the All Things Digital technology conference.

Well that was quick. Cameron has said that his ideas for handling the spill were “graciously” turned down by BP. Surprise surprise, he got turned down. I wonder if it’s because his ideas sounded something like – Hey, just make a robot to walk down to the bottom and send off a signal to the aliens down there to fix it.

I’m kidding, really.

It probably had more to do with him knowing people who work in extreme depths on a regular basis and not listening to the B.S. about why they can’t fix it. That and/or his proposal had to do with adding cameras and monitoring equipment, enabling the world to get a better view of the catastrophe. They aren’t even letting people take pictures of the beaches the oil has washed up on, what was he thinking?

(via yahoo)

Warner Bros. Being Sued for Piracy – Hello Mr. Pot

After years of chasing down people who’ve illegally downloaded their films, Warner Brothers is being sued for software piracy. Medien Patent Verwaltung, a company based out of Germany, claims they created the method of marking film reels that Warner Bros. uses to discern which theater had played a pirated film originally.

“We disclosed our anti-piracy technology to Warner Bros. in 2003 at their request, under strict confidentiality, expecting to be treated fairly,” MPV says in a statement. “Instead, they started using our technology extensively without our permission and without any accounting to us. However, we had taken care to obtain patents to protect MPV’s technology, and we are now in a position where we must assert our rights.”

In Warner Bros. defense, they are all the way in Germany. Hell, most small businesses I know of pirate the hell out of Microsoft Word and Microsoft is right here. I know this will get settled out of court, but I at least it gets some main stream press too.

(via TowerGaming)

Do You Recognize This Guy?

No? Well you should. His name is Ghyslain Raza and he’s a bad-ass Canadian. Raza is the president of the Patrimoine Trois-Rivieres and holds a law degree from McGill University in Montreal. That isn’t the reason you should know who he is though. Raza’s earliest claim to fame was a low-rez, less than two minute film of him posted to the internet by his so called friends.

Recognize him now?

That’s right kids, Ghyslain Raza was the ‘Star Wars Kid’. Don’t make fun of him though, after the release of that video, Raza, sued the parents of the kids who released the video. Why? Well Ghyslian understandably became depressed – dropped out of school – and entered a psychiatric hospital. It would have been a sad story if he hadn’t gotten his confidence back and returned to school. Good job kid, good job.

You can see the classic YouTube video here.

(via Cinematical)

Israeli Commandos Kill U.S. Citizen

Furkan Dogan, 19, a Turkish-American was shot and killed along with eight others when Israeli Commandos boarded a ship heading to the Gaza Strip. Furkan was shot four times in the head and once in the chest, all at close range according to a forensic report given to the Anatolian news agency. Furkan was born in the United States and moved with his family to Kayseri at the age of two, but still retained a U.S. passport. His body was returned to his family in Turkey today.

What the hell? Israel, the little niece of the Good ol’ U-S- of-A is shooting our citizens in the face? Israel’s response/excuse for the attack and deaths aboard the Mavi Marmara is that the passengers were attacking their soldiers. Have you seen what these people were using to attack? The small arms the passengers were wielding were nothing against fraking machine guns. Why shoot a 19 year old kid in the face? He could have easily been taken down with the butt of the rifle, but no, four bullets to the face was easier. Perhaps it was just to make a point to the world- Israel has no problem killing anyone at any age because the U.S. will never punish us for anything. I would never take a side in this absolutely pointless argument between the Palestine and Israel, they’ve both committed horrendous acts for whatever reasons they decide to believe, but come on, really? Really? Nobody is going to do anything about this?  At all?

You can read a more detailed article here, here and here.

(via Reddit)

Anyone in the Mood for a Broken Limb?

Alright I’ll admit it, I used to Rollerblade… a lot. Luckily for me, I eventually got a car and the skates have been sitting stored in a box somewhere for over a decade. I came across these the other day and could only think to myself, why? Who would be willing to wear these… (nevermind, I just had a vision of the Santa Monica/Venice boardwalk). These, “skates”, which will make you look like a person who just stole a disabled persons primary means of transportation, are called Chariot Skates. Each half will attach to your legs from the knee down and are supposed to make you feel as though you are skiing down the street or mountain or whatever other eXtreme setting you can imagine as they are supposed to accommodate rough terrains. They are listed at weighing in at 5.5 pounds each, so invest in the optional handbrake accessory if you feel that you’re man enough to handle the public humility which will follow your riding these. Check out their site for availability info and etc.

Mini Calendar for 2010

When I worked in an office I was always given one of those ginormous calendars to put on my wall and use for appointment tracking. In all honesty I wrote in it maybe three times as I rarely use analog writing devices anymore. If you’re like me, you probably only use it to check what day specific events are falling on, right? Well, there is no longer any need to waste valuable wall space that can be better used to mount posters of mildly SFW models, (or pictures of your kids and family if you’re into that type of crap). Grafish Design came up with The Small Calendar, and the method of usage is simple. Start with the date, say the 19th, then follow that column until you intersect with the desired month: March 19th will be on a Friday! Months are handily color coded for length, too. Follow the link to check out their page.

Link