Best Albums-Third Quarter 2008

Glasvegas-Glasvegas
Flight of the Conchords-S/T
Duke Spirit-Neptune
Jackie Greene-Giving up the Ghost
M83-Saturdays=Youth
Martina Topley Bird-The Blue God
Orson-Culture Vultures
Pepe Deluxe-Spare Time Machine
She & Him-Volume One
Sparks-Exotic Creatures of the Deep
Subways-All or Nothing
Switches-Lay Down the Law
Wolf Parade-At Mount Zoomer
Brian Wilson-That Lucky Old Sun
Primal Scream-Beautiful Future
Ron Sexsmith-Exit Strategy of the Soul
Spiritualized-Songs in A & E
Walkmen-You & Me
The Week that Was-S/T
Black Kids-Partie Traumatic
Dr.Dog-Fate
Paul Weller-22 Dreams
Fleet Foxes-S/T
Ladytron-Velocifero
Jakob Dylan-Seeing Things
Hold Steady-Stay Positive
Starling Electric-Clouded Staircase
Kings of Leon-Only By the Night
Dungen-4
Tricky-Knowle West Boy

Reissues:
Dennis Wilson-Pacific Ocean Blue
Billy Joel-The Stranger
The Replacements-Tim
The Replacements-Pleased to Meet Me
The Replacements-All Shook Down
The Replacements-Don't Tell a Soul
Robyn Hitchcock-Element of Light
Robyn Hitchcock-Fegmania!
The Coral-Singles Collection

Web Ditties-6/16/08

• Creature Creator Stan Winston dies- Ain't It Cool News
• Windows XP Era draws to a close- CNET
• Google's Billion Dollar Blunder (interesting way of looking at this)- CNET
• Will Firefox 3 set download record- CNET
• William Hurt to join Glenn Close on 'Damages'- Ain't It Cool News

Web Ditties-6/5/08

• Producers talk up the new season of Mad Men- E! Online
• Rainn Wilson answers Office questions- E! Online
• Scrubs the next Generation (I'm a huge fan, but not so sure about this idea. All I can say is that I hope that ABC gives more PR to Scrubs than NBC) - E! Online
• Clint Eastwood has his say on Spike Lee (finally someone tells it like it is..I'm so tired of listening to Spike's racist rants...and seriously, who really goes to his movies) - The Guardian
• Will Airlines start charging a Weight Fee? - CBS Chicago
• Amazon.com goes down for 2 hours (amazing to see how much just a few minutes offline can cost this company)- CNET

Web Ditties-5/31/08

• Radiohead and Prince at Odds over Pulled YouTube 'Creep' Cover- Pitchfork
• Teen Blames Drunk Driving Charge on Kiss with Drunk Boyfriend (Uhh, yeah. Another instance of a woman blaming her stupidity on a man)- Newsday
• Google gives a preview of new Android phone- Times Online
• Morrissey names new album 'Years of Refusal'- NME
• One of the last isolated tribes discovered in Brazil- BBC
• Was the alien video real or fake (more crazy folks around Boulder smoking the herb)- Rocky Mountain News

Web Ditties-5/27/08

• Windows Chief talks Windows 7 (well, I wouldn't really say that he really said anything about Windows 7...I think he more or less said that he wouldn't mention any details about the OS..funny)- CNET
• Is Apple considering a solar powered iPhone (appears that a patent has already been filed)- Times Online
• Vancouver couple arrested for putting their child up for sale on Craigslist- National Post
• Tarantino ready to start filming Inglorious Bastards (Tarantino and WWII...I wonder if they'll be any blood in this film??)- Ain't It Cool News
• Oprah's ratings tumble 7% (and all the men and the 2% of women who can think for themselves say in unison...Amen) - NY Times
• New Kobe video makes the rounds on the internet..hilarious

Cobra Commander's Day Off

I remember seeing these videos on VH-1's "I Love the 80's". This answers the question..what happen to Cobra Commander after the supposed dissolution of Cobra:

Web Ditties-5/6/08

• Rumors seem to point to Linked In purchase- Webware


• Craig Ferguson to take over for Letterman??- Times Online


• Lex Luthor to leave Smallville- E! Online


• Family Guy creator signs $100 million dollar deal- Reuters


• Pics of Dark Knight Villain Two-Face appear online (and are quickly pulled by the studio..good thing I grabbed it while I could).

New Dark Knight Trailer

This is the new Dark Knight trailer that was released at the front of Iron Man this weekend. I have to say that I am really looking forward to seeing this..it's been awhile since this has been the case. Heath Ledger is a far cry from Jack Nicholson's version of the Joker..needless to say.

Jimmy Kimmel vs. Matt Damon

I saw a re-run of this a few weeks back and came across it on YouTube. This skit from Jimmy Kimmel live with Sarah Silverman and Matt Damon is hilarious. I still get a kick out of it no matter how many times I see it.




Jimmy Kimmel's response to that clip was pretty damn funny too.

So You Think Laptop Encryption is Full-proof??

I am attending a technology conference this week and one of the speakers showed a very interesting video showing a study performed by some Princeton Univ. folks. This is very interesting and goes to show that even laptop encryption isn't full proof. Very interesting. I wonder why this hasn't gotten more press from the tech community??

Source: http://citp.princeton.edu/memory/

Abstract Contrary to popular assumption, DRAMs used in most modern computers retain their contents for seconds to minutes after power is lost, even at operating temperatures and even if removed from a motherboard. Although DRAMs become less reliable when they are not refreshed, they are not immediately erased, and their contents persist sufficiently for malicious (or forensic) acquisition of usable full-system memory images. We show that this phenomenon limits the ability of an operating system to protect cryptographic key material from an attacker with physical access. We use cold reboots to mount attacks on popular disk encryption systems — BitLocker, FileVault, dm-crypt, and TrueCrypt — using no special devices or materials. We experimentally characterize the extent and predictability of memory remanence and report that remanence times can be increased dramatically with simple techniques. We offer new algorithms for finding cryptographic keys in memory images and for correcting errors caused by bit decay. Though we discuss several strategies for partially mitigating these risks, we know of no simple remedy that would eliminate them.

Web Ditties-4/30/08

• Blockbuster going the retail path (so after bidding on a dying Circuit City without having the money, they are going outside of their boundaries..interesting)- CNET
• Apple going after low priced overseas iPod sales-Digital Music News
• Wal-Mart forcing record companies to drop CD prices ($5 CD's...makes you wish Wal-Mart had pushed their influence a few years ago..)- Digital Music News
• SEC goes after Google Board member (and ex Pixar CFO) for backdating-Digital Music News

Web Ditties-4/24/08

• Guillermo del Toro to direct 'The Hobbit' and sequel (so they did decide to break the Hobbit into two parts...it's called maximizing your profits..good ole' New Line..relying on these movies and the endless line Scary Movie sequels)- Yahoo!


• Apple's Latest Chip Gamble- CNET


• Late Night with Jimmy Fallon (sounds like it's a done deal to replace Conan..to be announced on May 11) - Fox News
  
• New Dark Knight Poster released (see below):

New GI Joe Movie Pics

Though this doesn't come out to Summer 2009, pics are already starting to leak out on the net. I have to say that the only cool looking character is Snake Eyes. I sure hope this turns out good.

Web Ditties-4/22/08

• Hot Wheels Celebrates 40th Anniversary-CNET
• Masturbation may prevent Prostate Cancer (so what do the Catholics and Baptists think about it now??)- Yahoo!
• Are Van Damme and Lundgren Planning a Universal Soldier Sequel (this is the funniest news of the day..yes, money must be tight) - Ain't It Cool
• Family Guy creators sue 20th Century Fox- Hollywood Reporter
• David Chase Doesn't have interest in doing future TV shows (like a college coach going to the NFL...they don't last long before scurrying back to TV) - Hollywood Reporter
• Jimmy Fallon Still the Favorite to Replace Conan- Variety
• Volvo working on 'the uncrashable car' - CNET
• Mysterious red lights appear over Phoenix sky (someone's searching for Britney) - KTLA

2008 Best Albums..Thus Far

I finally got around to pulling a list of albums that have stood out thus far in 2008. Whether all of these will make the year end list is yet to be seen.

• Vampire Weekend-Vampire Weekend
• Elbow-The Seldom Seen Kid
• Star Spangles-Dirty Bomb (yes, this was released in 2007, but they were dropped from their label and didn't have any kind of PR push)
• Los Campesinos-Hold on Now Youngster
• Robyn-Robyn
• Gutter Twins-Saturnalia
• Black Mountain-In the Future
• Teenage Prayers-Everyone Thinks You're the Best
• Drive By Truckers-Brighter Than Creation's Dark
• Gnarls Barkley-The Odd Couple
• Black Keys-Attack and Release
• The Long Blondes-Couples
• Jason Falkner-I'm OK You're OK (Yes, another 2007 release, but it has yet to be released in the US..still only an expensive Japanese release)
• Gary Louris-Vagabonds
• Jason Collett-Here's to Being Here
• Supergrass-Diamond Hoo Ha Man
• Kills-Midnight Boom
• Charlatans-You Cross My Path
• Raconteurs-Consolers of the Lonely
• Neon Neon-Stainless Style
• Nada Surf-Lucky
• School of Language-Sea From Shore
• Goldfrapp-Seventh Tree
• Hot Chip-Made in the Dark
• REM-Accelerate

New Heath Ledger Joker Pics Released

I have to say that I'm really looking forward to the 'Dark Knight' this summer. This and the new Indiana Jones are likely gonna be the highlights of the summer movie season. Some new pics of Heath Ledger as the Joker have been showing up on the web the past 2 or 3 weeks, but naturally, Warner Bros. has been removing them very quickly. I assume that Warner Bros. gave in and just went with the flow considering they were released to an Australian newspaper. According to interviews with Michael Cane, he stated that "Jack (Nicholson) was like a really scary old, nasty uncle with a funny face,'' Caine said. ``Heath's like the most murderous psychopath you've ever seen on the screen." Rumors are also abound that Heath's performance may be nominated for an Oscar....wouldn't that be crazy.

Please Visit your Local Optometrist

Web Ditties-4/10/08

• Did Cheney Go Fishing with a Naked Woman? (it's either Photoshopped or someone was having fun...I just don't see what his spokeswoman is saying..LOL) - McClatchy
• $100 cup of coffee...made of fresh cat droppings (suprisingly, with the amount of money people shell out for Starbucks, I doubt too many would balk at this..) -- Dailymail
• Natalie Portman dating Devendra Banhart (yes, actresses are really attracted to hippies..this is proof..or else she's mistaking him for Chewbaca)-- NME
• Opera browser previewed for Google Android (developers are also encouraged to work and modify the code)- Download.com
• HP ships USB sticks with malware (what customer service!!) - CNET
• Amazon feels sorry for those suckers that bought HD-DVD players - CNET
• Australia in the process of installing a 5,500 mile internet connection- CNET
• U2 enter studio and prep reissues for July - Billboard

Web Ditties-4/7/08

• Amazon Accelerates Its Move to Digital - NY Times
• Europe Takes Step Toward In-Flight Cellphones - NY Times
• Phorm-The All-Seeing Parasite Cookie - NY Times
• Jay-Z and Beyonce Tie the Knot- NME
• Feist and Arcade Fire: Big Winners at Canada's Juno Awards - NME
• Outlook for Scrubs is Bright - E!
• Warning: Google is in Your Driveway - Smoking Gun
• Inaccuracies Abound in Oliver Stone's 'W' - Hollywood Reporter
• Qsonix-Manage Up to 25,000 CD's Around the House- CNet

Web Ditties-4/3/08

• Selling your vote for Dave Matthews tickets (switching from Clinton to Obama is as easy as free tickets to a has-been hippy's concert. Really, when was Dave last relevant..oh that's right, back when the other Clinton was in office.) - IndyStar
• Jay-Z signs $150 million deal with Live Nation (bet this will help pay for that 'supposed' wedding to Beyonce this weekend..wonder how long it will be before Mrs. Z signs on too??) -- New York Times
• Apple claims to be largest music retailer in US, surpassing Wal-Mart (I wonder if Wal-Mart will change their mind about all those non-explicit albums they require? Is the safety of the kids worth losing that top ranking...hmmm?)- Yahoo!!
• NBC picks up Friday Night Lights and 30 Rock for Fall season- E!
• The Office spin-off up in the air because of lack of premise (hmm..for starters, let's set the show in an office, with employees, and likely an silly, ignorant boss. Alright NBC, pay me my money.) -- E!
• Sci-Fi picks up the Battlestar Galatica spin-off Caprica (Frak Yeah!!)- E!
• James Van Der Beek to guest on How I Met Your Mother (guess Brit started something good. I'm not gonna complain considering this is the best sitcom out there. Please tell me again why this show has been hurting and trash like American Idol is so popular..once again I chalk it up to the stupidity that is 24 million Americans)- E!
• Gough and Millar exit Smallville after 7 seasons (let's hope that season 8 doesn't outright suck now that we also know that Rosenbaum and Kreuk are not gonna be around much either)- Ain't It Cool