Absolute must read

Please read this essay. As many of you know I am just finishing my degree and this is my final paper. I'm really upset about my 61%. What do you guys think? http://www.eng.usf.edu/~dionson/ezzay/

MS responds, problems exageratted by blogs

I just spent a few minutes perusing the various sites reporting on the Xbox 360 issue. All of the stories go back to one site and one gamer. Not exactly overwhelming evidence. MS has already responded and admitted there has been isolated incidents.

Shitbox 360 problems already

Well the Shitbox 360 has been out for a couple of days now. While there aren’t dedicated hate sites quite yet from what I have been reading they aren’t far off. Apparently, and by apparently I mean I read it on the net so it must be true, Shitboxes are crashing and overheating all over the place. I have no interest in documenting these crashes suffice to say MS is having issues.

Here is what I love. Here we have a company that has been developing software forever. Here we have a company that is so instrumental in the computer industry they influence very heavily how hardware companies actually operate. I realize that in this industry this paradigm is the status quo, but it is still something to marvel at never the less.

Something else I love. The Shitbox 360 is a computer. I’m not the biggest geek in the world but my computer runs perfectly and I built it piece by piece. Yes I am simplifying things a little but I think calling the Shitbox 360 a fancy PC is a fair statement.

So back to my point. Microsoft done f**ked up now. I’m a guy who is (was?) about to buy two of these badboys and now I’m thinking I might just wait for the PS3.  If the biggest software company in the world can’t figure out, between them and their partners, how to build a computer then who knows what else might be messed up that we don’t even know about.

Imagine you are Bill Gates. You’re hanging out in your basement smoking a big fat one playing PS2 when your blackberry running the Palm OS rings and it is your buddy Ballmer (the guy who said they’d crush Google) who says: “Bill, we have a problem”. I would be so pissed. There is so much riding on this system and they don’t need any help when it comes to lack of credibility. I bet Billy is just ripping people to shreds right now. Seriously put yourself in Bill’s shoes and consider how pissed you’d be. We are not talking about a new Shredies box here. We are talking about the chance to take over one of the biggest emerging markets in the world; the gaming industry.

I actually get the chills when I think about how pissed Bill is at this very moment. More updates to follow.

When English is not English

I found this beauty on ctheory.net as I was prepping myself for my own cultural theory course beginning in Jan. While admittedly the content is interesting I do find it comical that the English below is really it’s entirely separate language that only exists in the small confines of academia – fantastic!

“Where and how to locate a digital aesthetic? In a sense the question, although unanswerable and reaching us from a recent but already faded past (circa 1993), is no longer of any value for theorists and practitioners of "new media" and "digital" arts. As an indication of both the lag and catch-up that culture, cultural practice and theorisation of that practice play with each other, the digital is itself located everywhere, if one is privileged enough to take advantage of the franchised globalisation of computing technologies. During the early 1990s, when a range of relatively new art forms such as CD-ROMs and terminal-based interactive installation exploded into cultural life, the self-conscious announcement of a genre of art work called "the digital" had some strategic, and aesthetic substance to it.”

- Anna Munster

Camaro's and cuts

The General is planning to build a new Camaro. This of course isn’t necessarily new news but the idea of the new Camaro being based on the Solstice platform, that is new. I can only imagine that little car with a V8 in it. Totally utterly useless and an absolute blast to drive! Strange how this stuff kind of creeps out right after GM announces they are cutting thousands of jobs. I’m sure it is just a coincidence. So anyway there are no details on this car but word on the street is it should be...on the streets sometime in late 2008.

GMC Canyon 4WD/Ext Cab Review

Exterior Styling
I really like the looks of this truck. I think it looks like a truck but I really appreciate how it isn’t overstated. If I had to do it again I would have purchased the model with the oversize factory fender flares….what was I saying about not being overstated?

Interior Styling
The interior of the vehicle is plain, maybe too plain. I don’t expect the interior to resemble a new Jetta but certainly a vehicle that was recently redesigned could have at least taken a few clues from the new G6. Like most new trucks (all?) I really love the suicide doors. My favorite little hidden gem however is the small but very useful toolboxes underneath the rear seats.

Engine/4WD
Not nearly the most powerful engine on the market but the inline 5 cylinder engine still produces a very healthy 220 horse and 225 ft lbs of torque. All the power is down low (like all trucks) making city driving an absolute pleasure. Gas mileage isn’t bad but I certainly wouldn’t brag about it. I have only had to use the 4WD once but it worked perfectly and got me out of a ditch.

Utility
I’ve never owned a truck before. Owning a truck is like getting a pass to a whole new world. Since getting the truck we look forward to loading the truck up on Sundays and dropping off the recycling. We have also had the pleasure of buying really cheap used furniture. So all of a sudden our gas guzzling truck has turned is into a couple of tree hugging greenies! We love it.

Driving
Excellent vision, great gear box, and more than adequate stereo (with MP3 capability). Like most trucks with beefed up suspensions the ride, when not under load, can be bumpy. Long trips could be improved with better seats.

Final Word
We love our little truck. It does more than we need and compared to others in the segment was very inexpensive. If we had all the money in the world we would consider a Tacoma or Ridgeline. However our Canyon is a second vehicle that will never do more than 12,000 KM’s per year for us. We are now in our third month of ownership and have logged about 2300 KM’s – so far so good. Buying a truck from the general also has other advantages due to the sheer number of units that get sold. Have a look at the available aftermarket parts for the Chevy S-10 to see what I mean. The Canyon has only been out for a few years and already there are a slew of aftermarket parts available. For many this will have no bearing on a purchase but for most traditional truck buyers this is a major consideration. It also helps to keep repair costs down.

King of Pop won't return to U.S. to live

New York — Michael Jackson will come back to the United States, but it's unlikely the King of Pop would ever make it his home again, says his father."He'll come back to visit, but not to stay, not to live," Joseph Jackson told The Associated Press in a recent interview.Jackson said his son, who was acquitted in June of child molestation, has received lots of threats in the United States. The superstar now lives in Bahrain and his lawyers have said that he no longer considers his Neverland Ranch in California as his home."They didn't treat him right here. I know if I was him, I wouldn't come back," his father said.However, the elder Jackson said he expects Michael to return to his music career — and hopes it would include a reunion with his brothers."I'm trying to motivate them to go ahead and do this record," he said of his other sons. "They want to do it, but they're too slow. They'd rather do it with Michael."Michael Jackson is working on a charity single for hurricane relief with stars such as R. Kelly and Snoop Dogg.

Extended Warranty - Consider it!

I can’t believe this is the first F&I (Finance & Insurance for your newbs) story I’ve written since Broley’s has started. Before I begin let me just say I should be seen as completely biased as F&I products are how I make a living. Not only do I distribute them but I train staff and set-up dealerships to sell them like crazy. There, disclaimer over.

Next time you purchase a new vehicle, which you should never do, consider the extended warranty. If you are buying used see how much the warranty is going to cost, more than likely the cost will be too high (there is a reason for that however!). When you are at the dealership and you are dealing with the F&I specialist they will at some point pitch you on an extended warranty program. They will give you a bunch or reasons why you should invest in the extended warranty (although they will never call it that): piece of mind, guards against inflation, resale, etc etc etc. All good reasons.

The reason you should buy an extended warranty is to protect yourself from the service department! How does a dealership make money? A properly run service department will cover all costs related to running the dealership. The sales department can be broken into two parts a) New and b) Used. The new car department will break even at best and the used car department will make a small to reasonable profit. That leaves the F& I department – this is the most profitable part of the dealership in terms of square footage, but in square footage only. Long story short all the moola is generated in the service department. The service manager and all their service advisors are paid on sales.

So here is the scenario. You buy a vehicle. You take it in for an oil change. When you pick it up they tell you your bearing are gone in the front and your #7 injector is jammed. They quote you $544 bucks. You are of course pissed. The average repair bill however is about $850 including parts and labor so consider yourself lucky. Anyway you have no warranty, you are a sucker so you pay.

Scenario number two is exactly the same except the customer has an extended warranty. What is the number one rule we extended warranty companies abide by? Any repair must come as a direct result of a customer complaint. This one simple rule ensures that when you come in for an oil change that is all you get. Conversely if you come in and think there is something wrong that problem will be fixed as well anything relating to it (as long as the policy you have covers it).

If you are buying an import you should definitely buy a warranty because they are so cheap and of you are buying a domestic you should buy one because I guarantee you will use it! Also remember that everything is negotiable. Good luck!

Good bye Grokster

Seven hundred and forty-three stories today, according to Google, about the demise of Grokster. Grokster was of course the best place to do the following: download porn, illegal music and movies. There are apparently other uses. Browsing through the various stories you can find quotes like this not so little gem:

"This settlement brings to a close an incredibly important chapter in the history of digital music," Recording Industry Assn. of America chairman Mitch Bainwol said. "This is a chapter that ends on a high note for the recording industry, the tech community and music fans and consumers everywhere. At the end of the day, this is about our ability to invest in new music. An online marketplace populated by legitimate services allows us to do just that."

If you have ever had the pleasure of listening to this music natzi Mitch Bainwol the above comments will be of absolutely no surprise. Let me just pull a few things out from this little piece of modern day poetry:

1. “…incredibly important chapter in the history of digital music.”

Newsflash everyone the history of digital music, although somewhat important in the digital revolution, will never stand side by side with things like European history, natural history, history of the human species, etc etc. Don’t make it out to be bigger than it is bitch!

1. “…chapter that ends on a high note.”

Hmmm…let me just Google up P2P or filesharing – ya just what I thought a million hits. If Grokster was a chapter than this is one hell of a long ass book.

1. “At the end of the day, this is about our ability to invest in new music.”

My personal favorite. God forbid music and art ever get beyond the greedy clutches of record companies and the RIAA. Record companies annihilate culture in their bid to get everyone listening to the same thing. It works. Don’t even pretend that you didn’t bob your head to that milli vanilli crap. We all did. Perfect example of the destructive power of record companies.


Do I totally disagree with where Mitch is coming from? No of course not. People work they need to get paid. Do I think Tom Cruise needs $400M per year to support his family and the scientology movement? No. While I appreciate sincerely what good actors can do very rarely do I see someone on screen I think is that much better than someone I see at a local play. Just like when I see a local rock group perform live versus U2 (great show, shitty sound). I don’t have the answers but there is some serious imbalance (which is IMHO due to our whacked out values) and I see P2P as a way of pushing back.

Rant over.

Trucknuts

Unbelievable. I read this over at the Auto Prophet. I live in Calgary Alberta where there is approximately 3.7 trucks per person and even I would have never in my life thought of this. Yes people ‘Trucknutz” are here. So for all of you guys who drive jacked up 4x4’s with your gunracks in the back this link is for you:

http://www.trucknutz.com/

and this one:

http://www.nutsfortrucks.com/

Seriously what is that all about? Are you really that inadequate that you need to hang a pair of silicon balls on your truck? Will this make your wife, or your child, or your mom proud? I should be all pissed about the Gomery report but I have silicon nuts on the brain. I might just pick up a pair because judging by the size of these babies I am inadequate.

Warriors goes Rockstar

I think I touched on this briefly before but I was just walking by (by walking by I mean browsing) a video game store when I noticed a poster for the Warriors video game. Being a huge fan I was of course delighted. Why wouldn’t I? A whole new generation will get exposed to my favorite cult classic hit.

Now the game is about to be released and a few sites have reviews and screenshots.

Now before we go any further if you haven’t seen the film go to your nearest independent video store and ask the dirty pervert behind the counter for a copy of ‘The Warriors’. He will know exactly what you are talking about. Be warned, by displaying any knowledge of the film (which is also popular in video store geek culture) the person behind the counter may think they’ve found a friend for life. Get the film, get out of the store, watch film, bask in glory, and return back to this commentary.

For those of you who are familiar with ‘The Warriors’ I refer you here.

The first thing you will notice is that the game was produced by none other than Rockstar games. These guys created the ‘Grand Theft Auto’ series and ever since have been raking it in just fast enough to pay for all the legal troubles they’ve been having due to some pretty graphic and adult content.

Now they are producing ‘The Warriors’ and completely butchering the whole concept of the film, which on a very basic level, is about finding yourself, finding home, and realizing who you are. For a full critical review read this.

Anyway the game is about getting home, and killing everybody in the way, that’s it. Every screen shot I see is of someone stomping someone else’s head. There is absolutely nothing below the surface, nothing redeeming and certainly nothing worth anyone’s time or money. When someone spends some time with it let me know how it is – just for critical review obviously.