A Simple Explanation of SOPA's Dangers [Video]

The Wikipedia/Internet Blackout of 2011 was one of the most effective grassroots PR campaigns I've seen in recent memory. A lot of people have been complaining and trying to raise awareness of the looming danger of the SOPA and ProtectIP bills, but it was mainly an issue among nerds and public watchdog groups. But when Wikipedia and Google blacked out their sites, that reached the mainstream. When my wife asked me what SOPA was, I knew a historic moment had been reached. But then came a new problem; explaining what all the fuss was about. It's easy to get into a lot of Internet jargon and tech crap, but this video does an awesome job of explaining the problem and it's implications. It does more in minutes than I could ever do in an hour.

The Motivations of Movie Serial Killers vs. Real Serial Killers

The Alphabet According to 1980's Movies

I feel old because...

Health Risks Don't Stop Americans

If there's a greater commentary on the way Americans regard food, I don't know of one better than this…the Burger King a few blocks away from where we live was cited by the Department of Health. There was a big sign on the front door and on the drive-thru window stating that the Burger King had failed a health inspection a few weeks earlier. Now I immediately went to the Internet to check, and it turns out the BK just placed some cleaning bottles near the refrigerator, but I didn't feel comfortable eating there. However, I couldn't help noticing that the BK was doing a brisk business. The fact that customers were not deterred in any way by a huge sign stating that the restaurant had failed a health inspection seemed to me the essence of how little America cares about food. I doubt that many of them took the time to check the results. It could have meant anything from cleaning bottles in the wrong place up to and including rats swimming in the soda, but they didn't care. If this was a Burger King in France or Germany, this might have shut down the restaurant for good. In America, it's just a speed bump that Americans happily jump over to stuff their faces. Sad.

Still love the Whopper, though.

Bus drivers, drop the attitude

So there's two buses that run along the corner of Chandler and Ray. One is the 72, which turns north on Ray. I take the 156, which keeps going on Chandler.

So the other day, I see the 72 and to my surprise, it pulls up to the Chandler bus stop. I think maybe it has the wrong sign, so I ask the driver, "Is this the 156?"

The driver says, "No, see the sign" with the word "idiot" clearly left unspoken but intended.

That kind of irritates me, but I can't let it go, so I ask, "Don't you normally turn off on Rural?"

The driver says, with the same bored "you're a moron" tone, "Rural is up there."

So I look up at the sign behind him reading, "Rural Road," and weigh my options. Clearly the driver missed his turn and didn’t notice. I could help him out by pointing out his mistake and getting him to turn around. Which I would have, if he hadn't been such a jerk.

So I just said, "OK," and watched him drive off.

My satisfaction when five minutes later, I see his bus roaring back down Chandler and screeching around the corner back onto Rural cannot be overstated.

9 Catfights That Geeks Love

Ah, the catfight. Usually the term means a fight between two women that's distinctly titillating. That's not what this list is about. Well, not really. There have been some really awesome fights in sci-fi movies and TV shows that just happen to involve two women. Here are nine...and while there may be some kinda sexy moments in them, that's entirely not the point. At all.

I Hate Wolverine's Bone Claws, Too

Now that the Wolverine movie is out, it's time to visit one of my many sore spots over the current state of comic book characters. I haven't followed comics regularly in over ten years, so I was unaware until recently that they had established that Wolverine's claws weren't added in the Weapon X procedure. He was born with bone claws. Weapon X just put adamantium over them. This, to me, makes absolutely no sense. A lot of my arguments were articulated on the very well-written post on Your Mom's Basement, "I Hate Bone Claws." I'll just do a run-through.

1. They've always established that you only get one mutant power. Wolverine's power was rapid healing. Bone claws have nothing to do with rapid healing, so that means he was born with two mutant powers.
2. No animal in nature has claws made of bone. That means a completely weird and bizarre ability developed out of nowhere on Wolverine.
3. The bone claws look stupid. The adamantium claws are sleek and sharp, the bone claws are bumpy and weird.
4. The bone claws are obviously a retcon, added later to explain why he could have his adamantium ripped off and still be Wolverine. They could've had Logan go to Mr. Fantastic or somebody and get replacement claws surgically added. Adding the bone claws after decades of history is lazy writing.

In addition, the bone claws are a lame substitute for his metal claws. Because they're only sharp on the ends! He can't slice through anything, just stab stuff. Wolverine doesn't stab, he slices. And as we saw in the movie, bones can be broken. I think Wolverine's bone claws are a sign of how crappy and convoluted comics have become.

In a related story...Spider-Man had "stingers?!" I didn't see that, and I'm glad I didn't. What is wrong with these writers? Why can't they just leave well enough alone?! This is why I don't read comics faithfully anymore, besides the three dollar price tag per issue. When I pick up a comic, I want to see that superhero as I always liked him to be. I want to see Spider-Man, the Hulk, or Wolverine. I don't want Spider-Man in armor and with stingers. I don't want a talking Hulk who's also a secret agent. And I don't want Wolverine with no adamantium and bone claws.

LOST Creator Explains the Numbers...Just Not On the Show

Having faithfully watched four seasons of Lost to find the answer to the reason behind the Numbers, imagine my surprise when it turns out it was revealed at a comic book con instead. There, Damon Lindelof said:

"Here's the story with [the] numbers. The Hanso Foundation that started the Dharma Initiative hired this guy Valenzetti to basically work on this equation to determine what was the probability of the world ending in the wake of the Cuban Missile Crisis. Valenzetti basically deduced that it was 100 percent within the next 27 years, so the Hanso Foundation started the Dharma Initiative in an effort to tryto change the variables in the equation so that mankind wouldn't wipe it itself
out."

Now I knew this because I was once a rabid Lost fan online, and this information is freely available there. But I've been waiting for them to put the answer into the show. Why haven't they? Because, according to Lindelhof:

"That would be the worst thing ever. We have to make the show for the
hard-core fans who care about the numbers, but we also have to make it for
my mom, who just wants Sawyer to take his shirt off."

So his explanation for why they haven't explained the Numbers on the show is that the average viewer doesn't care? Bogus. I don't know anybody who watches the show that doesn't watch it primarily to find the answers to the questions it raises. Why spend so much time raising questions on the show if you don't think the viewer wants the answers? I think this shows that the creators of the show have a rather dismal view of their own audience. Just a bunch of mouth-breathers who are more interested in seeing the characters in underwear than the deeper themes of the show. That's why the show has been diverted from an entertaining and mysterious show about a ragtag group of crash survivors to an endlessly convoluted and bewildering mess of storylines that never get resolved.

10 Things You Didn't Know About Star Trek's "Mirror, Mirror" [Infographic]

If you're a Star Trek fan, you've probably seen the episode "Mirror, Mirror" a thousand times, but there are a few details you probably didn't know. Check out this new infographic, based on our recent post, "10 Things You Didn't Know About Star Trek's Mirror, Mirror." Some facts have been replaced or condensed to protect the innocent.

10 Dumbest Hulk Vehicle Toys [List]

I know the toy industry makes a lot of money on vehicles, but there are some superheroes who just don't need one. Spiderman, Superman, and Iron Man are some good examples. But of all of them, I think the most ridiculous superhero for a vehicle is the Hulk. Not just because he can jump for miles, but because the idea of the Hulk sitting behind the controls of any vehicle defies logic. Here are the ten dumbest Hulk vehicle toys with commentary from the green one himself*.

10 Weird Facts About "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" [Literature]

On October 12, 1979, the first edition of the classic sci-fi comedy The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy novel was published. In honor of the occasion, here are ten weird but true facts about the novel and the series it spawned.

What the lead singer of Jane's Addiction Looks Like

Steve Jobs vs. Dennis Ritchie

[From Memebase]
Don't know who the guy on the right, Dennis Ritchie, is? Exactly.

5 Best "Yo Dawg" Meme Pictures

The "Yo Dawg" meme began with this pic, based on the ridiculous stuff Xzibit used to put into cars on MTV's Pimp My Ride...

And then it got better...

 And better...

And better...

And then Xzibit got mad...

KIDSTALK: Dora Has a Freakishly Enormous Head

Okay, here's the deal. I always knew that Dora the Explorer had a big head, but never thought anything of it because of artistic style. It only became painfully and disturbingly obvious when I saw her on a guest appearance on her - cousin, brother, boyfriend, never paid enough attention to the show to figure that out - Diego's show. That painfully illustrates that not everyone in Dora and Diego's world have such huge heads. The reality is that Dora is a horrible mutant who in the real-world would be in a circus freak show. Either that or splitting atoms in a quantum physics lab, because she has a brain the size of a watermelon.

Captcha of the Future [Pic]

Supermodel Kate Upton Does the Dougie

Epic Rap Battles of History: Easter Bunny vs. Genghis Khan

There's No Such Thing As "Wired Wi-Fi"

I was at a hotel that had this sign, and thought, "Awesome! Free Wi-Fi!" So I fired up my smartphone, but couldn't find the Wi-Fi signal. When I called the front desk, they informed me the Wi-Fi was only available on an Ethernet-enabled computer. I went back to the sign and read it more closely to find it was "Wi-Fi wired" access.

I thought I'd perform a public service and inform the Four Points Sheraton, AT&T, and anyone else who might be planning this kind of crap that there's no such thing as "wired Wi-Fi." Apparently no one told AT&T that "Wi-Fi" is certified as a wireless Internet connection. In fact, "Wi-Fi" stands for "wireless fidelity*." The idea of an Ethernet connection being called "wired Wi-Fi" is like calling radio a "picture-less movie." It doesn't make sense.

* To all the nerds out there, I'm aware that Wi-Fi started as a meaningless pun intended to remind us of "hi-fi," but the fact is that even the Wi-Fi Alliance refers to it as meaning "wireless fidelity."

KID TALK: The Man in the Yellow Hat is a Banana

I have two toddlers, so I watch a lot of kids' TV. Some of it just flies right over my head. Others actually trigger thoughts and analysis that I know are way too deep for childrens' television. I feel compelled to share. Today, let's talk about Curious George.

 I've seen Curious George in movies, TV shows, and books for decades, and it just occurred to me last month that the Man in the Yellow Hat looks like a banana. No wonder Curious George hangs out with him. To George, the Man in the Yellow Hat is like a gigantic, talking, walking banana. Kind of changes the whole nature of their relationship. Now I imagine an episode of Curious George where the Man in the Yellow Hat slips in the bathtub and breaks his neck and dies. Then Curious George seizes the chance he's been waiting for and eats him. Then Curious George gets a taste for human blood and goes on a rampage. And the police come and shoot him to death in a furious gun battle.

Yeah, that's the kind of thing I think about when I watch my kids' shows.

No, Google, *You're* Too Slow!

I'm on a dial-up ISP (yeah, yeah), and I get this message every time I go onto Google Images:

You are seeing the basic version because we think your Internet connection is slow - Switch to standard version

To me, it seems a little confrontational. It sounds like, "You are seeing the basic version because your Internet connection sucks. Get a new ISP, loser. Or switch to standard version, and prove us wrong, and we'll apologize." Okay, maybe I'm reading too much into it, but still...Google, mind your own business.

Google is Watching You...Like You Asked Them To

I don't understand the uproar over the fact that Google Android phones collect location data. I'm not saying it's right that they're doing it, but it's not like Google made any secret of it. I've had to do the initial setup on quite a few Android phones and whenever I'm setting up my phone for the first time, I have this option pop up:

"Allow Google's location service to collect anonymous location data. Collection will occur even when no applications are running."

You have to have a check in the box next to it in order to use any of Google's navigation services. So what's the problem? Is nobody reading these things? If you didn't want it to happen, you shouldn't have checked the box.

The Eyes Have It: Amanda Seyfried vs. Taylor Swift

Taylor Swift should borrow some eye from Amanda Seyfried, because she's got some to spare. Taylor Swift has the smallest eyes in Hollywood and Amanda Seyfried has the biggest.

Happy Demolition Day 2011!

Happy Demolition Day, 2011! BOOM!




Video courtesy of YouTube and Controlled Demolition, Inc.