So, have you seen the latest, uh, “kerfluffle” that's between Morgan Spurlock, the director of Supersize Me, and Soso Whaley
, the director of Me & Mickey D, a retalitory film.
While Supersize Me had the slogan “Where does personal responsibility end, and corporate responsibility begin?”, Me & Mickey D takes a completely different angle: there's no such thing as an end to personal responsibility (something I personally agree with). Her movie takes the same premise of Supersize Me (eating only at McDonald's for 30 days) but ends up with dramatically different results: she loses ten pounds and lowers her cholesterol. Healthy living, it would seem, can be accomplished by eating at McDonald's.
Whether or not that's true, it's not what I find interesting about the situation. First of all, it's interesting to note that she doesn't follow the rules perfectly: unlike Morgan, who got almost no excerise whatsoever during the trial, Soso kept herself active, thus missing the point of the activity entirely. She accuses Morgan of junk science, but I think it's her own approach that's slightly flawed. Whether or not Supersize Me was intended only to make its directory (somewhat) famous, her documentary definitely was. Nothing new can be learned from her film, and there's a dangerous side to it, too: Supersize Me inspired a lot of people to drop, or at least drastically decrease their intake of, fast food. It helped a lot of people realize that their eating wasn't healthy and needed to be changed. Me & Mickey D can only have the opposite effect, making people wonder why they need to change at all. Whether or not the intention of the director was selfish or negative, which I don't think it was, I belief the actual outcome of the movie will be. Net happiness will be decreased.
I'm sick, so no fun details of my life for you today. Cheers.
, the director of Me & Mickey D, a retalitory film.While Supersize Me had the slogan “Where does personal responsibility end, and corporate responsibility begin?”, Me & Mickey D takes a completely different angle: there's no such thing as an end to personal responsibility (something I personally agree with). Her movie takes the same premise of Supersize Me (eating only at McDonald's for 30 days) but ends up with dramatically different results: she loses ten pounds and lowers her cholesterol. Healthy living, it would seem, can be accomplished by eating at McDonald's.
Whether or not that's true, it's not what I find interesting about the situation. First of all, it's interesting to note that she doesn't follow the rules perfectly: unlike Morgan, who got almost no excerise whatsoever during the trial, Soso kept herself active, thus missing the point of the activity entirely. She accuses Morgan of junk science, but I think it's her own approach that's slightly flawed. Whether or not Supersize Me was intended only to make its directory (somewhat) famous, her documentary definitely was. Nothing new can be learned from her film, and there's a dangerous side to it, too: Supersize Me inspired a lot of people to drop, or at least drastically decrease their intake of, fast food. It helped a lot of people realize that their eating wasn't healthy and needed to be changed. Me & Mickey D can only have the opposite effect, making people wonder why they need to change at all. Whether or not the intention of the director was selfish or negative, which I don't think it was, I belief the actual outcome of the movie will be. Net happiness will be decreased.
I'm sick, so no fun details of my life for you today. Cheers.
- Written on 29 June 2005 & posted at 02:46 PM.
- There are 2 comments.
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June 27: An Attempt at Normalcy
Circadian rhythms are a strange, strange thing. After you do a few night shifts, it's not exactly easy to switch back to a normal schedule. Just like a normal person feels slugglish in the morning, I feel sluggish in the early evening after waking up in the late afternoon. I don't start to pick up energy until night falls, peaking around midnight. It's totally screwed up, and very hard to get out of. I can't wait until science progresses past the whole circadian thing (jet lag being a similar problem) — it'd be awesome to have, say, a pill that you could take that would make you instantly fall asleep, waking up perfectly adjusted. Hopefully, of course, I'll no longer be working nights by this point.
Anyway, I'm crazy tired now, so I'm heading off to bed. I definitely have to avoid sleeping in tomorrow: my grandmother is going to Ontario for a week or so, and I'm taking her to the airport for 1:30ish. Fun times — I've yet to spend any time in Ontario, although I definitely would like to (must someday meet Dan and steal his new iMac).
- Written on 27 June 2005 & posted at 11:13 PM.
- There are 3 comments.
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June 25: Learning to Love the Humidex
Anyway, I had a whale of a time last night. Janet was having a “work event” at her house, which translated into “barbecue with all of her co-workers, plus Pugsley, Keddy, and me”. It was quite fun. After lounging around on the spare couch, which was set up in their back yard, somebody decided that it would be brilliant to go swimming. So, everyone filed out and wandered off to the nearest lake, which varied depending on which car you were in. One herd of people ended up at Settle Lake (us), another at Bell Lake. By the time everyone was back together, swim time was over. (This didn't actually bother me, of course, because I don't do the whole swimming thing.) I had to go to work at this point.
Now, work was surprisingly fun. I arrived and found out that I was supposed to be training Krista, who is pregnant and quite amusing to hang out with. That was a bonus. Secondly, when we went over to do the break relief, we found Alexa, the newest happy member of the IWK team. A word to the wise: working backshifts is much easier when you have good company, which Krista and Alexa proved to be. So, the night went by pretty fast. Bonus.
I just saw this very nifty keyboard on News.com.com.com: you can move the keys around wherever you want. I see the immediate adoption of this by hardcore gamer geeks, but I think the real key to success here (whether they know it or not) is home automation. Imagine a light switch that you can stick anywhere on the wall, or a button on your coffee table that turns on your television. The possibilities beyond gaming are limitless.
Man, it's hot. Have I mentioned that?
- Written on 25 June 2005 & posted at 05:18 PM.
- There are 16 comments.
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You know, once you start to look at the Internet on larger time scales — say, more than a week or two — you start to see patterns. The most famous (and recently relevant of these) is the so called “Haley's Comet” of Internet rumours, Apple switching to Intel processors (which it finally has). However, there are lots of smaller bits of Internet folklore that make the rounds, too: mass-forwarded emails. I've seen them all — I don't think anyone has written anything new for at least a decade. Yesterday, Jen did me the service of firing off the classic “Coke vs. water” email, something I'm sure everyone has seen before. Now, I don't blame Jen for this, since it's pretty much modus operandi for most folk, but the entire practice in general drives me nuts. Here's why.
First and foremost, email is just not the right place. Let us assume that Coke can do all of the crazy things that the email claims it can. That's incredible! Amazing! BUT! Email is not for advertising or distributing information like this (excluding newsletters). Email is for personal correspondence. Personal. The World Wide Web has billions of pages on it: I'm sure I would have found this information on one of those, if I wanted it.
Secondly, assuming that the information in the email is correct, what makes you think that it's relevant to me personally, or that I haven't already seen it? I've been on the Internet for eight years, and lots of other people have been on my longer. I've probably seen it. If I didn't, well, that's my loss, but I'm sure I'll see it on one of those web sites someday.
It all boils down to the simple fact that it can be very hard to resist forwarding something that already has sixty or seventy pages worth of email addresses of previous recipients. After all, no one likes to rock the boat or put a good thing to an end. That being said, these digital tumbleweeds are a waste of absolutely everyone's time. Next time you learn about Microsoft's exciting new email tracking software that they're beta testing, or how Coca Cola can dissolve a nail in four days, put on a brave face. Hit “Delete” — not only for your own good, but for the good of the planet. I'll read about it later.
First and foremost, email is just not the right place. Let us assume that Coke can do all of the crazy things that the email claims it can. That's incredible! Amazing! BUT! Email is not for advertising or distributing information like this (excluding newsletters). Email is for personal correspondence. Personal. The World Wide Web has billions of pages on it: I'm sure I would have found this information on one of those, if I wanted it.
Secondly, assuming that the information in the email is correct, what makes you think that it's relevant to me personally, or that I haven't already seen it? I've been on the Internet for eight years, and lots of other people have been on my longer. I've probably seen it. If I didn't, well, that's my loss, but I'm sure I'll see it on one of those web sites someday.
It all boils down to the simple fact that it can be very hard to resist forwarding something that already has sixty or seventy pages worth of email addresses of previous recipients. After all, no one likes to rock the boat or put a good thing to an end. That being said, these digital tumbleweeds are a waste of absolutely everyone's time. Next time you learn about Microsoft's exciting new email tracking software that they're beta testing, or how Coca Cola can dissolve a nail in four days, put on a brave face. Hit “Delete” — not only for your own good, but for the good of the planet. I'll read about it later.
- Written on 23 June 2005 & posted at 01:55 PM.
- There are 13 comments.
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June 21: Never Met a Girl Like You Before
Actually, it's noon...something being remembered...Price is Right! Sweet! Long live Bob Barker, even if he is a creepy old pervert. I wonder what percentage of young female contestants wish they'd worn a sports bra that day, just for the energetic run/jump/bounce down the aisles? And does anyone else suffer from “Price is Right Syndrome” — seeing just about any product and thinking “hey, that's a pretty nice ______”, even if you would never use it? Sure, an all-in-one omlette/fajita looks pretty sweet, but how often would you use it? Hmm...a Salad Shooter...now that, I'd use.
Anyway, it's awesome outside today. I really hope all of you are out enjoying it (and by “out enjoying it”, I mean “aware of the fact that it exists”). I have to work today, but I think I'll leave early just to be out of the house. I'm taking my laptop in to PC Medic to see if they can fix the slight rattle of the fan in a fairly cheap manner (it doesn't affect performance, it's just a bit annoying).
So, yeah. That's my day — how about you?
- Written on 21 June 2005 & posted at 12:11 PM.
- There are 7 comments.
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Wow! Rain! Sweet — I totally, absolutely never saw that coming. I just love living here. Our climate is so wonderful, varied and unique. It really makes you feel alive. And by “makes you feel alive”, I mean “makes you wish that you didn't live in the worst climate ever”. This place really sucks sometimes. Fortunately, the weather is supposed to continue being crappy for the next three or four days.
Sigh. I miss summer. I don't understand why I, and everyone else, gets excited about the summertime anymore. 2005 marks the sixth shitty summer in a row, weather-wise. The last year with nice weather wasn't really good, either — we had a drought that ended up killing all of the farmer's crops in the valley. You really can't win around here. Global warming — who needs it?
In other news, the new Batman movie is out. I really want to go see it — has anyone here seen it yet? I hear it's dark, moody, and totally different from every other Batman we've known, loved, and made fun of. I really like seeing old things get reborn, and old stories told with a new twist. In that vein, however, I think the new Bewitched movie will be terrible: Will Ferrel will completely ruin it. (I absolutely despise that man in everything except for Celebrity Jeopardy and The Ladies Man. No, I didn't even like him in Old School. Yes, I'm serious.) That being said, I think Nicole Kidman is almost perfect for her role. I guess I'll have to wait and see.
And on that note, I suppose I'll leave this now. Anyone who wants to update me on how good any of the movies I've bashed are is free to do so. Cheers.
. Fortunately, the weather is supposed to continue being crappy for the next three or four days.Sigh. I miss summer. I don't understand why I, and everyone else, gets excited about the summertime anymore. 2005 marks the sixth shitty summer in a row, weather-wise. The last year with nice weather wasn't really good, either — we had a drought that ended up killing all of the farmer's crops in the valley. You really can't win around here. Global warming — who needs it?
In other news, the new Batman movie is out. I really want to go see it — has anyone here seen it yet? I hear it's dark, moody, and totally different from every other Batman we've known, loved, and made fun of. I really like seeing old things get reborn, and old stories told with a new twist. In that vein, however, I think the new Bewitched movie will be terrible: Will Ferrel will completely ruin it. (I absolutely despise that man in everything except for Celebrity Jeopardy and The Ladies Man. No, I didn't even like him in Old School. Yes, I'm serious.) That being said, I think Nicole Kidman is almost perfect for her role. I guess I'll have to wait and see.
And on that note, I suppose I'll leave this now. Anyone who wants to update me on how good any of the movies I've bashed are is free to do so. Cheers.
- Written on 16 June 2005 & posted at 08:33 PM.
- There are 20 comments.
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Hey, you know what sucks? Weekends. There, I said it. I'm really not a big fan of the weekend (note: I am, however, a pretty big fan of The Weekend), obviously, because of work. Not that I dislike my job or anything, but I've picked up Sunday shifts in addition to my Friday and Saturday shifts for the last two weekend. I definitely don't mind the extra money, but it makes the weekend so long and boring. Eep.
Speaking of work, though, I'm pretty excited: not only is this Thursday pay day, but it's a retro pay day (no, people won't be wearing leisure suits when they get their money). Everyone in the same union as me (about half of the hospital, it seems) is getting retroactive back pay to November 2002. I'm getting about $0.40 for every hour since then, which should work out to be pretty good. I can't wait to get the money, even if 95% of it gets deducted for taxes. Excitement.
And speaking of excitement, did everyone notice the Generation NEX over in Shinylinks? In case you missed it, it's a modern version of the classic Nintendo Entertainment System, beloved by all in our childhoods. It plays all of the old games, and all of the old gear (controllers, light guns, etc) works with it. It's trendy and fairly compact, and has built-in support for wireless controllers. Basically, it's a retro dream. I really want one. The only problem with it is finding the games: as far as I can tell, any retro market for the NES will need a way of getting new copies of the old games. Nintendo itself seems to think that it makes sense to charge $60 for a new copy of Super Mario Bros., a game that paid for itself a trillion times over. What they should be doing is licensing these old games every cheaply to retro companies like Messiah Entertainment to help build up the retro industry. I'd buy a NEX and a stack of games if they cost, say, $10 + shipping. If they don't do something, someone's just going to invent a cartridge with a USB dongle and a few megs of Flash memory. I've got more than 600 NES games, and they could fit on a 128 MB thumbdrive. Think about it.
And speaking of thinking about stuff, the multicultural festival is this weekend. If you're think about going, well, call me. We'll try to arrange something, so everyone gets to go in a giant cluster. Who knows what could happen? Anyway, I've got to go. The Simpson's are on and, well, this is boring.
Update: Micheal Jackson was found innocent. Duh.
Speaking of work, though, I'm pretty excited: not only is this Thursday pay day, but it's a retro pay day (no, people won't be wearing leisure suits when they get their money). Everyone in the same union as me (about half of the hospital, it seems) is getting retroactive back pay to November 2002. I'm getting about $0.40 for every hour since then, which should work out to be pretty good. I can't wait to get the money, even if 95% of it gets deducted for taxes. Excitement.
And speaking of excitement, did everyone notice the Generation NEX over in Shinylinks? In case you missed it, it's a modern version of the classic Nintendo Entertainment System, beloved by all in our childhoods. It plays all of the old games, and all of the old gear (controllers, light guns, etc) works with it. It's trendy and fairly compact, and has built-in support for wireless controllers. Basically, it's a retro dream. I really want one. The only problem with it is finding the games: as far as I can tell, any retro market for the NES will need a way of getting new copies of the old games. Nintendo itself seems to think that it makes sense to charge $60 for a new copy of Super Mario Bros., a game that paid for itself a trillion times over. What they should be doing is licensing these old games every cheaply to retro companies like Messiah Entertainment to help build up the retro industry. I'd buy a NEX and a stack of games if they cost, say, $10 + shipping. If they don't do something, someone's just going to invent a cartridge with a USB dongle and a few megs of Flash memory. I've got more than 600 NES games, and they could fit on a 128 MB thumbdrive. Think about it.
And speaking of thinking about stuff, the multicultural festival is this weekend. If you're think about going, well, call me. We'll try to arrange something, so everyone gets to go in a giant cluster. Who knows what could happen? Anyway, I've got to go. The Simpson's are on and, well, this is boring.
Update: Micheal Jackson was found innocent. Duh.
- Written on 13 June 2005 & posted at 05:06 PM.
- There are 23 comments.
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June 13: And It's Taking Such a Long Time
The piratey-geek world, of course, scrambled to get themselves a copy. I scambled to get myself a copy. And when they were done, what? That, my friends, remains to be seen. According to a few comments on Slashdot, the data actually consists of the letters GNAA repeated over and over again. However, one of the other comments said it was an image of Goatse. I have no idea what to expect, so I'll keep downloading.
Regardless of the authenticity of this particular file, the idea itself — of a version of “OS X86” getting leaked — is entrancing and, perhaps, brilliant. The way I see it, it doesn't matter whether Apple leaks it themselves, or if a shady developer does: it's a win-win situation. For one thing, it generates publicity, no matter what. For another, it's no doubt limited in some way, stripped down or time-bombed (actually, I can't imagine it not being time-bombed), so even if it is leaked against Apple's will, it's not going to last forever. Finally, it's not like this file will result in any lost sales. Who, exactly, would decide not to buy a Mac, just so they can run a developer's copy of OS X that has spotty hardware support, no software updates, and no technical support? No one, that's who. It's just a great source of buzz.
Therefore, to the group of people who think Apple would be insane to let this happen: they probably can't stop it from happening, even if they wanted to, but it's not a bad thing. It has the possibility, in fact, of being a very good thing.
Now, to the majority of the world, who could not care less about whatever it is that I'm rambling about, I apologize. I promise a less geeky entry in the near future.
- Written on 13 June 2005 & posted at 03:49 AM.
- There are 2 comments.
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Ugh, it feels like August! What's up with the weather? It's overcast and humid, totally cloudy and yet sunny at the same time. It's absolutely bizarre. I mowed the lawn — erm, I mean “field of dandelions” — yesterday, and I was wicked unhappy by the time I was done. Speaking of the lawn, by the way, I'm trying to remove the stupid patio stones from the lawn, if anyone wants to help me sometime. They are wicked heavy.
In other news, I'm sad to report that the Roomie's application to get a dog from the SPCA was denied. They felt that with five people taking responsibility, actually taking care of it would fall through the cracks and the dog would get neglected. In this case, it's obviously not true, but I guess you can understand their heuristics. To compensate the incredible suckiness of the situation, I took Janet, Katie, Tony, and David to Pets Unlimited to look at dogs. We found a very cute dog that looked like an Ewok, and a very cute weiner dog. Everyone eventually fixated on a very cute beagle that eats paper. Pugsley is going to look at it today to see if he approves (I'm not sure what's happening with Adam).
So, the new house might soon have a new dog. I just hope I'm not too allergic to the little guy, who they're naming Lister. I will call him Captain Outrageous.
In music news, I have and love the new Black-eyed Peas album. I highly recommend getting a copy — “They Don't Want Music”, featuring James Brown, is absolutely awesome. I'm also in love with a little indie band called Starflyer 59. Unfortunately, I get the sinking suspicion that they're a Christian rock group, but I like the song “Good Sons” anyway. Damn catchy. Combined with “Technologic”, by Daft Punk (from the new iPod commercials), I've got some very catchy music to keep me happy.
I love summertime music.
In other news, I'm sad to report that the Roomie's application to get a dog from the SPCA was denied. They felt that with five people taking responsibility, actually taking care of it would fall through the cracks and the dog would get neglected. In this case, it's obviously not true, but I guess you can understand their heuristics. To compensate the incredible suckiness of the situation, I took Janet, Katie, Tony, and David
to Pets Unlimited to look at dogs. We found a very cute dog that looked like an Ewok, and a very cute weiner dog. Everyone eventually fixated on a very cute beagle that eats paper. Pugsley is going to look at it today to see if he approves (I'm not sure what's happening with Adam).So, the new house might soon have a new dog. I just hope I'm not too allergic to the little guy, who they're naming Lister. I will call him Captain Outrageous.
In music news, I have and love the new Black-eyed Peas album. I highly recommend getting a copy — “They Don't Want Music”, featuring James Brown, is absolutely awesome. I'm also in love with a little indie band called Starflyer 59. Unfortunately, I get the sinking suspicion that they're a Christian rock group, but I like the song “Good Sons” anyway. Damn catchy. Combined with “Technologic”, by Daft Punk (from the new iPod commercials), I've got some very catchy music to keep me happy.
I love summertime music.
- Written on 09 June 2005 & posted at 12:57 PM.
- There are 12 comments.
- Permalink.
To quote the geek world at large: OMG. To quote a specific Slashdot user, “I felt something, a disturbance in the network, as if a million mac zealots cried out in horror and were suddenly silenced.” In case you live under a rock, or have a social life, Apple officially announced today that they're switching to Intel chips. There's not a whole lot of detail so far, especially regarding whether OS X will be something PC people can just install, or whether it requires Apple hardware. I can't believe it. This has been called the “Haley's Comet” of rumours, because it pops up every two years or so. You could set a (very slow) clock by it. Anyway, it's still a little hard to believe. These rumours have been floating around for the past few weeks, but most savvy geeks haven't given them much credit, me included. I remain shocked.
Anyway, in insignificant real-life news, it is again Monday. Yahoo — another weekend is over. I worked last night (since I love extra shifts so dearly) and so I'm still a wee bit lagged. I've got another shift tomorrow (3 - 11, fortunately) and then the rest of the week is idle.
I'm definitely up for something epic. Now that Keddy has broken his new car, he probably is to. Does anyone want to do something crazy?
In case you live under a rock, or have a social life, Apple officially announced today that they're switching to Intel chips. There's not a whole lot of detail so far, especially regarding whether OS X will be something PC people can just install, or whether it requires Apple hardware. I can't believe it. This has been called the “Haley's Comet” of rumours, because it pops up every two years or so. You could set a (very slow) clock by it. Anyway, it's still a little hard to believe. These rumours have been floating around for the past few weeks, but most savvy geeks haven't given them much credit, me included. I remain shocked.Anyway, in insignificant real-life news, it is again Monday. Yahoo — another weekend is over. I worked last night (since I love extra shifts so dearly) and so I'm still a wee bit lagged. I've got another shift tomorrow (3 - 11, fortunately) and then the rest of the week is idle.
I'm definitely up for something epic. Now that Keddy has broken his new car, he probably is to. Does anyone want to do something crazy?
- Written on 06 June 2005 & posted at 05:24 PM.
- There are 12 comments.
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Ew. It's cold and cloudy out today: Mark does not approve. This is in contrast to yesterday, which was warm and cloudy. I actually don't mind warm and cloudy too much, since it doesn't hurt the eyes so much. Cold and cloudy, though, phew. Nothing going for it.
I'm currently vegetating on the couch, watching one of TLC's many horrible “let-us-fix-your-life-and-put-it-on-TV” shows. I honestly can't even imagine how things go down at headquarters there. “Okay, we'll find people who need help...organizing their...glove compartments. Yes, GLOVE COMPARTMENTS. We'll call it Love Compartments and get some diverse but none-the-less bland hipsters to be the hosts and...” Yeah. You get the idea.
Ye gods, Sunday afternoon television programming makes me hate people: The Bodyguard just came on. Whilst searching for the link to it on IMDB, I found a crazy Japanese samurai movie from the sixties with a similar title: Yojimbo: The Bodyguard. I wish more than anything that that was on.
Anyway, I'm off to find something more interesting to do. In the meantime, a point to ponder: Greekfest is next weekend! Who's up for it?
I'm currently vegetating on the couch, watching one of TLC's many horrible “let-us-fix-your-life-and-put-it-on-TV” shows. I honestly can't even imagine how things go down at headquarters there. “Okay, we'll find people who need help...organizing their...glove compartments. Yes, GLOVE COMPARTMENTS. We'll call it Love Compartments and get some diverse but none-the-less bland hipsters to be the hosts and...” Yeah. You get the idea.
Ye gods, Sunday afternoon television programming makes me hate people: The Bodyguard just came on. Whilst searching for the link to it on IMDB, I found a crazy Japanese samurai movie from the sixties with a similar title: Yojimbo: The Bodyguard. I wish more than anything that that was on.
Anyway, I'm off to find something more interesting to do. In the meantime, a point to ponder: Greekfest is next weekend! Who's up for it?
- Written on 05 June 2005 & posted at 04:05 PM.
- There are 6 comments.
- Permalink.
June 03: Go Baby, Go Go
I've spent most of the week lugging and sneezing (damn dust) and waiting, unloading U-Haul trucks, painting fancy patterns on bedroom walls and sitting on one of the many couches that adorned their front yard for most of Wednesday. By yesterday evening, most of the come-help-us-we-need-you work was over with, and the basic task of everyone settling into their new homes had begun. I ended up going to the library with Mom to excerise my brand-new library card (the fools! Mwahahaha!). Although I was a bit disappointed at the crappiness of the computer section of the library, I still got a few books of interest: The Mac OS X Panther Book
, Dealers of Lightning: XEROX PARC and the Dawn of the Computer Age, and some book that's not near me about interesting “sacred places” around the world. At some point, I'll have to go check out the other locations (I was at Alderney Gate; there's also libraries in Clayton Park, downtown Halifax, and Cole Harbour). Maybe I'll find some killer geek books.Anyway, I have to sign off to go help clean out the old house. Wish me luck (in terms of not dying from the cleaning chemical fumes).
- Written on 03 June 2005 & posted at 03:24 PM.
- There are 19 comments.
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