This is a little video I recorded today in which I walk through my office and point out all my stuff. I got the idea from Dan Trachtenberg in TRS 113.

Wow. Following @feliciaday's tweet, I just read Michael Lynton's article "Guard Rails for the Internet" over at the Huffington Post, in which he talks about how the internet has harmed content creators. He says a mouthful. Where should I begin?

This is a guy who actually said I'm a guy who sees nothing good having come from the Internet. Period. He admits that freely in his opening paragraphs. But while he goes on to qualify his statement with I am not an analogue guy living in a digital world, I simply see a man who has no interest in adapting. If he could snap his fingers and have the internet vanish forever into a cloud of fragrant potporri, he would. Sir, having the money to own an internet company does not a "digital guy" make.

At this point, before I dive into my rebuttal, I'd like to address something he mentions as an aside. He mentions that the FTC just announced an inquiry into the impact of new media on the newspaper industry. Are you serious? Taxpayer money going into a study which will only tell us that people are now going online much more for their news? And that while older folks read newspapers more, younger people probably go to the internet first, TV second, and the radio if they're in a car. Isn't this one a no-brainer?

Using the word "theft" when talking about intellectual property has always felt to me like incorrect word usage. I'll grant you that the content creator(s) are deprived of compensation for the work they've done when a pirate obtains and distributes their work, but only with IP can a thief "steal" something without removing it from the possession of its owner. The fact that amoral organizations like the RIAA have blown the problem so far out of proportion in the past only decreases my sympathy.

I fully understand and support going after people who are copying and selling other peoples' IP. Go after the guy in the New York subway who's got a blanket laid out with copies of movies that are in the theaters. Go after the syndicate in Brazil that copies and sells thousands of music CDs daily. But don't sue the college kid who downloaded a Coldplay album. Don't sue the parents of a 9-year-old who downloaded a torrent of Resident Evil 5 that he couldn't even get to work. The RIAA were suing the small fish because they couldn't get at the major out-of-country operators who comprise the vast bulk of their piracy figures.

One of the commentors on that article offers the following quote from Robert Heinlein:

There has grown in the minds of certain groups in this country the idea that just because a man or corporation has made a profit out of the public for a number of years, the government and the courts are charged with guaranteeing such a profit in the future, even in the face of changing circumstances and contrary to public interest. This strange doctrine is supported by neither statute or common law. Neither corporations or individuals have the right to come into court and ask that the clock of history be stopped, or turned back.

I could never have said it better myself, and there is no lack of other retorts. What the CEO of Sony is really complaining about is his company's loss of profit from a changing business model. Ask folks like Jonathan Coulton, MC Frontalot, and Felicia Day how the internet has affected their creative careers. Personally, I wouldn't mind if every major production house went out of business. I'm sure that if that happened we'd have to say goodbye to huge-budget movies and TV, at least for a short time, but perhaps we'd see more self-funded projects like Clerks, The Guild, and Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog. That I would not mind.

The problems you normally think of about living at altitude are things like thinner air and lower oxygen. Before actually coming here, you tend to never worry about things exploding.

Well, things explode.

Buena Vista is 7,965 feet above sea level. Linda and I have long since adjusted to the altitude, but items that are packaged elsewhere don't adjust well. When we first moved to Colorado, we found that tubes of hand lotion and toothpaste we'd brought here from New York would squirt out uncontrollably when opened. Lower air pressure will do that. Since the contents of the tube were sealed at a lower elevation where air pressure is higher, there's more pressure inside the tube. When you open said tube, the pressure is relieved, and whatever's inside squirts out uncontrollably.

I had a new air-pressure related issue this morning when I opened a large container of coffee creamer at work. It was one of those jumbo shopping club deals, and when I unscrewed the plastic lid, the cardboard seal didn't hold out. Bang! Coffee creamer everywhere. They heard it at the other end of the building. Higher pressure inside, apparently.

Just caught these two videos this morning - actual clips from the new adaptation of V. I have to share.

And here's a third video from YouTube - the long trailer for the show.

It's really interesting to look at the products and services that are becoming obsolete as a result of the emergence of new tehnologies. It's been fairly evident for a number of years that newspapers are dying out. Although I don't have any actual statistics, I'd be willing to bet that the majority of those who read newspapers are older, and that they do it largely because it's how they've always been used to receiving their news and information. I'd be surprised if more than a handful of the larger newspapers around the country are still in operation by the end of my life.

Another technology which may not die off entirely but will likely become a niche market is landline telephones. Cell phone technology is improving, and VoIP services provide an inexpensive alternative. Running wires for telephones to every house seems much more expensive than setting up a single cell tower which can service far more customers. Linda and I have recently dropped our landline, and we don't really miss it. The fact that cell phones also provide free long-distance is an added plus. Sure, you have to worry about how many minutes you're using, but with in-network calling and friends-and-family type plans, you get a bunch of phone numbers that won't count against your minutes.

The final item that just came onto my radar as potentially endangered is cable television. With services like Hulu, Netflix, and YouTube delivering streaming television and movies over the internet, there seems to be less and less of a need for traditional television. If cable TV is to survive, everything will need to move to on-demand. People want to watch what they want when they want it. Linda and I dropped our cable when we moved to Buena Vista largely as a way to save money, but we're finding that we're not missing it. We still watch all our shows, and get Blu-Ray movies from Netflix in the mail. Now if only Sony updates the Playstation so that you can watch Hulu in the PS3 browser, I'll be all set.

Linda and I saw the new Star Trek movie over the weekend. As a Mother's Day gift, I'll admit that it ranks right up there with Homer giving Marge a bowling ball for her birthday, but in my defense, Linda did seem to enjoy the movie to the point where she's now wishing that there was a weekly Star Trek series with these characters and actors.

Overall, I really enjoyed the movie. I never was as big a fan of the original series as I was of Next Generation, and I don't think Linda's been as big a fan of any TV show as she was of Next Generation, but we liked it. As an aside, Lia has inherited Linda's Star Trek miniatures, and every night before she goes to bed, she's got to kiss and hug "Card", (Jean-Luc Picard) "Twoy", (Deanna Troi) and "Keeno". (The Klingon)

Let's first talk about the casting. I thought it was pretty well done. The least impressively cast role was probably that of Kirk. The guy (Chris something?) did just fine. Nothing too impressive though. I'd have liked to see at least one tidbit of the Shatner erratic pausing voice mannerism, but it was fine. I'm a fan of Zachary Quinto, although I stopped watching Heroes after season two. He looks amazingly similar to a young Leonard Nimoy, and he pulls off the role of Spock quite well.

The guy who played Leonard McCoy was simply awesome. My favorite character in the whole movie. He's irrevrant, emotional, and just generally pissed off about stuff. When he was talking, I was generally smiling.

The late-movie intro of Simon Pegg as Scotty was pretty good, and the trans-warp talk was a good bit of geekery that I'm sure those who follow Star Trek tech ate up like candy. I do really enjoy Simon Pegg - loved Sean of the Dead, and Hot Fuzz has grown on me. He makes a pretty good Scotty, although he might be better with a bit more hair.

The guy who played Chekov did the voice brilliantly. Minor character, so not much else to say there.

The Sulu was also pretty good. I got a chuckle when they revealed that his advanced combat training was fencing, thinking back to the famous episode with a topless George Takei toting around a foil. When he actually used the sword, they did go a bit over-the-top with the aerial sword attacks. Too much west side story.

I really enjoyed the tidbits that were included for fans of the original series, although I'm sure I must have missed some of them. And they really worked in quite a lot of comedy and did it well.

The last thing I want to talk about is a bit of a spoiler, so I'll preface it with this spoiler warning.

Although I know that some have complained about the time travel/alternate timeline plot, I thought it was a stroke of genius. It creates an entirely new setting with an unknown future, and leaves us with the same characters, albeit different actors.

Remember the old SciFi TV Show "V"? Looks like they're remaking it. I certainly liked the cheezy old show in the '84, but what excites me about this remake is that it's written in part by one of the writers of The 4400. In addition, it's got 4400's Joel Gretsch playing the part of a catholic priest. It's also got Elizabeth Mitchell from Lost, Alan Tudyk and Morena Baccarin from Firefly, and Scott Wolf who starred alongside Lost's Matthew Fox in Party of Five.

The original V miniseries was an allegory of the holocaust and Nazi Germany, but Peters told Variety that he won’t be duplicating that concept, though “the new V will still focus on what happens when the masses have blind faith in their leaders,” and it will still open with shots of enormous fleets of alien spacecraft hovering over the world’s major cities.

The new series centers on a Homeland Security agent, much as The 4400 centered on a pair of NTAC agents. I just wonder if we'll get a slow-minded rat-munching alien played by Freddy Kreuger.

Read more at ComicMix

Now that I've seen that people will comment on anything I write here, be it facial hair, hex keys, or toilet brushes, I've decided to write about something of substance. Although I don't have cable TV anymore, I've been keeping up on my shows via a variety of methods, all of them using my crappy internet connection. Now seems the time to discuss them.

I'm leaving off Dexter, since it's off-season, but that'd be at the top of any top ten list I'd have. As much as I'm tempted, I won't be making this a top 5 or top 7 list. I'll hit the shows alphabetically.

24 - While the show isn't as good as it was during the first few seasons, it's still very well done. The new trend seems to be that the first half of the show is good, but the second half drops off. They should rename the show "12" and just make it shorter.

Battlestar Galactica - I enjoyed the finale. Probably my 3rd favorite episode of the show, after "Exodus part 2" and "33". "Scar" was also a great episode, and I loved "Razor" - I wish they'd explored the Centurions more, as they were one of my favorite parts of the show. I guess the effects were too expensive for that.

Dollhouse - I've never been as big a fan of Joss Whedon as a lot of other folks I know - Never watched Buffy or Angel, and never got into Firefly - but I'm really liking Dollhouse. Linda and I are definitely addicted to the show. The past few episodes have just made the show better and better. I might have a new favorite.

Fringe - Fringe has been off the air for a while, but it's back on this week. I was really digging this show too. Walter the mad scientist is obviously the best character, but the plot is fairly cool too.

House - A standard in our house is... House. Hugh Laurie is just damn funny, and the show is well written.

Lost Why do people love this show so much? I just don't get it! After having caught up, we're now again four or five episodes behind. We'll catch up again I'm sure, but I couldn't tell you why.

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles - With the exception of the third movie, I love the Terminator franchise. I'm really hoping that Terminator: Salvation is everything that the third movie could have been. The TV show has its ups and downs, and a lot of the time it's too slow, but its good moments are very good.

This is too good. It seems that somebody has uploaded "The Cat Came Back" to YouTube.

I blogged about it years ago, and now it seems that in the interim, somebody has uploaded it. Watch this, and see if it doesn't bring a nostalgic smile to your face too.

"Now Old Mr. Johnson has troubles of his own..."

Thanks, DoomEngine.

Over the last week or so, some pretty damn funny stuff has happened at my place, so I figure I'll share.

Last week, Linda was doing here normal morning Wii Fit workout, and as usual, Lia was helping her "-size". (exercise) At one point, I walked into the room, and Linda was doing Wii Fit Hulu Hoop. While that music was playing, Lia had set down her animatronic stuffed pig on the floor and activated it. It was singing "Old Macdonald", and she was running in circles around it. Amidst a scene of such chaos, what else could I do but add to the cacaphony? I started singing The Star Spangled Banner in my best opera voice. Linda started laughing so hard that she could no longer hula hoop.

The second scene of hilarity happened this morning while I was giving Lia a bath. I heard crashing, banging, and all sorts of noise and looked out to see the cat bolting through the kitchen at breakneck speed, with the handle of a plastic bag around her neck. As she ran, air filled up the bag making it into a bit of a sail. The cat was downright terrified. She ran across the entire house, and we heard a crash far away in the bedroom. An instant later, she returned, fleeing the terrible Bag. I eventually caught her and got the bag off, but it was some time later before we stopped laughing.

We still can't find the cat.