So news has it that NetFlix is distributing movies via their new Watch It Now service. In light of this, I think I should go ahead and air my predictions.

It’s been rumored that NetFlix will eventually launch their own set-top box. This would be rather clunky as the last thing I need is a TiVO, a content-provider (Comcast or AT&T) set-top DVR, as well as a NetFlix box (assuming I don’t also want an AppleTV). It would also be extremely expensive for NetFlix to invest in their own hardware development that would most likely lag behind the competition. It would make much more sense to NetFlix if they banded with an already prominent STB provider and offered their service through it.

Content-providers would be in direct competition with their In-Demand services and are not likely to ditch them in favor of NetFlix. The only way the content-providers would be willing to co-operate is if they were desperate to cut corners. Apple is not likely to partner unless they control the environment to the fullest extent as Apple believes in this dogma that all electronics should be treated as appliances. That leaves TiVO. What a combination. TiVO lacks on-demand content and would probably be elated to off-load the content distribution to another provider. This is something that could be added relatively easy to their series 3 boxes.

So Scobble, I am afraid you are wrong, NetFlix is only beginning to fight. Only time will tell if this prediction comes true.

So the inevitable finally occurred; this year, retail outlets opened on Thanksgiving so that consumer-whores were able to overspend for the holiday season.

I shouldn’t call it the “holiday season” because it’s really Christmas and New Years. Seems everyone has really forgotten the reason why we buy gifts, why we get off of work, and why we “spread the holiday spirit.” Instead, everyone is more concerned with buying their Christmas gifts over a month in advance. This year, I started seeing decorations go up right after Halloween (very appropriate). In fact, the city of Plano put up their tree the week after. It’s only a matter of time before Black Friday becomes “Black October 30th” and then “Black Sunday” (day before Labor Day). Eventually, people will lose sight enough that we have miniature “shopping holidays” all throughout the year to celebrate a non-religious holiday. I find it ironic that people refuse to celebrate Christmas for what it is because they don’t believe, but they will be damned if they have to work or not give gifts out. My house does not celebrate Christmas until December; we do not focus on gift giving, we do not worry about putting up decorations, we do not worry about throwing large parties. We celebrate Christmas when it is Christmas to show our respects for the birth of Christ (whether you believe in him or now, it is still his birthday).

Anyways, the wife and I decided to go pick up a few deals today for ourselves. We stopped by Staples and Target (walking distance from our house) first and they were not very busy. Then we went to Fry’s to see if they had X-Files DVDs on sale (they didn’t). Our last stop was at Circuit City and it will likely be the last time I shop there. I picked up the Shield and had to wait for an hour and a half because the morons that run that store decided that the 3-4 checkout locations would be plenty for the Black Friday Mob (TM). Fry’s took a whopping 3 minutes. Circuit City, you just lost a customer who loves the items you sell.

Anyways, we didn’t buy any gifts but found that my Dad would want the Shield Season 1 box set since he’s mentioned it maybe 10 times. Two birds, one stone. Without further ado, here’s the loot we swindled:

• Batman Begins (Target): $4
• Elf (Target): $6
• Simpsons Season 4 (Target): $16
• Seinfeld Volume 1 (Target): $20
• Harry Potter, Goblet of Fire (Target): $4
• Monk Season 1 (Fry’s): $12
• The Shield Season 1 (Circuit City): $18
• SanDisk 1G SD Flash card (Staples): $15
• Charmed Season 1 (Circuit City): $18
• Pirates of the Caribbean (Target): $6

Some of you who know me in real life are probably thinking that I’ve lost my mind. In fact, in the last several months, we have gone legitimate. I only buy CDs and DVDs (at least I’m patient and smart about it); I do not contribute to the growing bootlegging issue in our counterculture.

Considering some of those normally retail for twice what we bought them for, we did pretty good. Best part: no rebates, no rain-checks, no camping out overnight, and only one bad store experience (due to management incompetence). Maybe in 2 or three weeks, I might start shopping for gifts, but we’re in no hurry.

There is a film available on the internet entitled Loose Change which presents several alternative theories as to what happened on that dreadful day back in 2001. Just with anything is history, there are always individuals who raise bizarre scenarios to tragic events which occurred, but can we really trust what was simply fed to us through today’s media? The truth will probably never really be known, but the film raises some interesting points.

Loose Change presents several theories as to why it could not have been a 757 striking the side of the Pentagon, and continues to talk about what could have caused such destruction. Such theories have been made as to make people think it could have been a missile, a smaller passenger plane, or even an A-3 Skywarrior.. If it was a plane that slammed into the Pentagon, where was the debris from the plane after the crash? Where are the markings on the ground of where it would have skidded its way to the Pentagon?

The film then moves on to the events which happened at the twin towers. Loose Change does not go so far as to lead you to believe that the planes were shot by a missile prior to impacting the buildings. What the film does state is that the planes alone could not have caused the towers to fall down. Prior to this moment, no commercial grade buildings of this type in history had collapsed due to fires alone. If it was true, then all three would have occurred on the same day, starting with the two towers, followed by building 7. On February 12, 2005 the Windsor Tower in Madrid burned for almost 24 hours, with the top ten floors collapsed, but the building did not collapse completely. So what did cause the towers to fall?

All through the morning of these events eye witnesses, police officers, fire men, and reporters all mentioned hearing and feeling secondary explosions. The lower windows on the towers had been blown out; marble panels in the lobby area had come off the walls, all allegedly due to an explosion almost 1300 feet up. Loose Change goes on to explain how secondary explosions caused the collapse, and not simply just the planes. After reading a few other articles, this portion of the film is not as quickly rejected.

The film saves its most wild tale for last. There is some controversy concerning the attacks on the Pentagon, fewer people seem to argue that it may have been secondary explosions which caused the towers to collapse, but the events which occurred with flight 93 just seems too far fetched. It goes into an elaborate plan where the flight 93 actually landed in Cleveland and its passengers exited the plane. It continues to suggest that the phone calls made were in fact faked, and discusses the probability of being able to connect a call made from a cellular telephone.

So after watching Loose Change I wonder what the motive behind its making was. Was it to provoke thought into the minds of people who simple accepted what was reported to them in conventional news media? Could it have been motivated by their loathing of President Bush? Or is it a masked plea to try and prevent the government from delivering the truth to its people? If it is the truth, why is it people here have constantly felt the need to question the legitimacy of the information being spoon fed to them?

Loose Change Movie
9/11 Truth Movement
Tower Collapse Analysis
9-11 Research
Prentagon Attack Errors
Loose Change Analysis

Disclaimer: The following is a free expression of my opinions and no one should take it seriously.

I wanted to post this but I haven’t had the will to until now. I wanted to say that the Oscars are so retarded. I think I’m the only one that thinks it is. Seriously has anyone ever watched these movies that are nominated? Be honest. I don’t think anyone’s even heard half of these movies that are nominated. If no one’s heard or even watched these movies, how do they win the nomination? Call me ignorant. Do the Oscar crew decides who wins the award? If they do decide who wins, what makes the audience think that the Oscar crew isn’t persuaded by the movie producers to let them win?? Lets look at some example movies:

• Capote: Never heard of till now.
• Hustle & Flow: Movie about crunk music. Don’t even waste your money.
• Brokeback Mountain: Movie about gay cowboys – Oscar bait. I don’t want to sound like a homophobe (I’m not) but I hate movies that are made so they can get Oscars.
• Walk the Line: Movie about Johnny Cash. The only audience that watches this are old people. It doesn’t even sound interesting. Even if it WAS interesting, its probably doctored, i.e. made up an event that didn’t happen
• Good Night and Good Luck: Movie in black and white about some guy on the radio played by George Clooney. If I wanted to watch a B&W movie, I’d go to Blockbuster and rent a movie made in 1960s. This will probably be a movie where your history/politics teacher makes you watch.
• Mrs. Henderson Presents – Mrs. Who???
• Transamerica – Sounds interesting, but still, NEVER HEARD OF!
• Pride & Prejudice- Finally, a movie I’ve heard of.
• North Country – Another one I heard of. Hot Charlize Theron plays one of those roles where she a non-sexually applealing woman. Wait a minute… haven’t she done that before with Monster?
• Syriana – Another Clooney flick. Yes I’ve heard of it. I’m beginning to think Clooney is in desperate need of Oscars so he acts/directs 2 movies so he can up the chances of winning. Hey! When you’re nominated 5? times, you’re bound to win at least one.
• Crash – I almost watched this movie. It sounds pretty good too. Maybe I should watch it.
• Cinderella Man – I don’t get it. How ironic is the title. Cinderella is a boxer!
• History of Violence – Allllmost watched it, but no.
• Junebug – no, never heard of.
• The Constant Gardener- This movie is the only one I’ve watched. It’s was actually pretty good because it portrays a corrupted business/secret’s even tactics. JUST LIKE the Oscars.
• Munich - Excuse me Mr. Spielberg, but haven’t you already made a movie like this? Schindler’s List?

Place your bets, call your shots, and give your local bookie a ring ~ its Oscar time. So in the spirit of making you the reader think I know more than I really do I am going to pick the winners for this year. Mind you, I haven’t seen a majority of these films, but I will try to offer brief explanation to my picks. With out much more to do…the nominees

Best Actor in a Leading Role

• Philip Seymour Hoffman Capote
• Terrence Howard Hustle & Flow
• Heath Ledger Brokeback Mountain
• Joaquin Phoenix Walk The Line
• David Strathairn Good Night, And Good Luck

Phillip Seymour Hoffman has been doing a fantastic job in a number of movies over the last few years.
He has gotten snubbed in the past and the judges know that he has, this year he is due, that is money.

Best Actress in a Leading Role

• Judi Dench Mrs. Henderson Presents
• Felicity Huffman Transamerica
• Keira Knightley Pride & Prejudice
• Charlize Theron North Country
• Reese Witherspoon Walk the Line

The Desperate Housewife isnt going to get it, and neither is the Monster Baller, Charlize Theron. This
year will go to the Legally Blond Reese Witherspoon for her role in the tale of Johnny Cash. *I have not seen
any of these movies thus far.

Best Actor in a Supporting Role

• George Clooney Syriana
• Matt Dillon Crash
• Paul Giamatti Cinderella Man
• Jake Gyllenhaal Brokeback Mountain
• William Hurt A History of Violence

Paul Giamatti chose a heck of a year to give a great performance in Sideways last year going up against Clint Eastwood, Leonardo DiCaprio, Johnny Depp, and Don Cheadle. He didn’t even get nominated, so this year he will taste the snub, Matt Dillon is my choice. He gave a heck of a performance in Crash playing the role of a seemingly racist LAPD officer, and has earned the statue. Hmm, so far I have given the Oscar darling of 2006, Brokeback Mountain a doughnut thus far, shall we continue…?

Best Actress in a Supporting Role

• Amy Adams Junebug
• Catherine Keener Capote
• Frances McDormand North Country
• Rachel Weisz The Constant Gardener
• Michelle Williams Brokeback Mountain

This is a complete roll of the dice, and well why not the Constant Gardener getting a little somethin’ somethin’?

Best Achievement in Directing

• George Clooney Good Night, and Good Luck.
• Paul Haggis Crash
• Ang Lee Brokeback Mountain
• Bennett Miller Capote
• Steven Spielberg Munich

Yup, Ang Lee is going to win this award for his work on Brokeback Mountain. For all the hype and
praise this movie has received I don’t see any other real competitor.

Movie of the Year

• Brokeback Mountain
• Capote
• Crash
• Good Night, and Good Luck.
• Munich

Oh, it hurts to do that because Crash really is a fantastic movie, and really is my *real* pick for the
winner, but I see the Broke machine leaving with one of the large awards it was nominated for. There seemed to be two major players with this one, Brokeback Mountain and Crash, both which have received hype as of late making it seem like a two film race. Wouldn’t it be funny if Good Night, and Good Luck won?

So there it is, let me know what you think if you comment before the awards start. If you post after, you can thank me for helping you make all that money with my predictions. Isn’t there some sort of percetage involved? ;-)

I was watching a video clip which happens to be in Quicktime format (.mov). I have to be honest and say Apple Quicktime is the worse piece of crap software there is. I will put the codec compression side of discussion alone and discuss the software side of Quicktime.

I wanted to watch this movie and download it on my hard drive. Not that big of a deal right? Wrong! The Quicktime plug-in requires me to be a “Pro” user to be able to download that video.

In order to be pro I had to buy the Pro version for $29.99. Heck no! Why are the Apple nazi’s making me pay for something I can download easily? I can easily go to my Firefox browser->File->Save Page As… This command will do exactly the same as the “PRO” feature that is in the Quicktime Plugin. Nice going, Apple!

Next woe: To watch Quicktime files, you need to download their “Quicktime Player”. Okay, that doesn’t sound so bad… BIG MISTAKE! The Quicktime Player download site bundles Apple iTunes in it! So if you download their player, they’ll automatically install iTunes in your system. Is this another method of spreading their iTune propaganda?
The download size of their software is a WHOPPING 34.8 MB!

If you are a poor soul who happens to install it, the software will steal your file extensions so when you open up your file, it’ll launch that instead of your older media program. I also have to mention that if you launch a .mov to watch it and you’re not a “PRO”, it’ll nag you every time to upgrade to “PRO”. This is nothing more than shareware.

In conclusion, I advise anyone if possible to avoid creating movies in Quicktime format. If you have Quicktime installed and would like to jump off the bandwagon, please uninstall it and install Quicktime alternative. It contains all you need to play mov files with less of the evil that is in Apple!

Yesterday, sunshine and I went to see the movie The Syriana. This is my review of the movie, or an attempt to do so anyways.

Okay, so the basic plot idea revolves around the middle east, oil scandals, and US government coverups. The story is very complex so I will try not to briefly explain it until the end.

George Clooney played Bob Barnes, an active CIA agent. Matt Damon played Bryan Woodman, an energy consultant. There are many characters in this movie but it’s difficult to explain who they are. The story revolves around 4 sets of characters and how their stories are intertwined. First there’s Bob, the CIA agent. Bob is fluent in many languages, including Farsi, which allows him to blend well in the Middle East. Then there is Woodward who is a successful consultant. It is difficult to explain who he is without divulging the story. Then there are the Iranian princes Nasir and Meshal. The current Emir (king) is about to announce which prince will take his command and this is the most pivitol story since a power stuggle may/will ensue.

As a whole, the movie was amazing. The ending was a total mind blower. As Clooney said, this story is a story that needs being told. Run out and see this flick as fast as possible. It is a bit erratic as there are so many characters to follow and so many details to peice together yourself. If you do not enjoy paying close attention to a movie (i.e. you are a mindless movie watcher) or 24 Grams or Traffic were too complicated for you, do not see this movie. Otherwise, I highly recommend it. Unfortunately, it does not tell a positive tale. The ending is bleek and the acts of conspiracy/corruption are despicable. If you did not fortell the NSA snooping, then you will most likely find this plot to be more fiction than non-fiction; otherwise, you are not likely to be surprised. Either way, I hope it helps prove to people that the government and oil industries are seriously corrupted and need to be cleaned up. If you still vote Republican after this movie (known REPs support big oil), then you either did not understand it, or were completely unphased. Maybe things will change for the better if the world’s oil supply runs dry.

As the NYTimes review stated, the director rewards those who pay attention. There are a few details you may want to know before seeing the movie that make following it easier. George Clooney is Bob Barnes. Tim Blake Nelson (on of the brothers from O Brother, Where Art Thou) is Danny Dalton. Farsi is the official language of Iran. Whiting is the older business man we meet after the initial scene (after the exploding car scene); he is involved with Connex.

Well, I decided to not write a lengthy spoiler and instead opted to provide a link to someone who already wrote one. This is also based on a book by Robert Baer titled See No Evil. Seeing this movie has inspired sunshine and I to buy this book and read it as soon as we can.