The Best Part of Science is the Killing Edition

Todays links of interest:

• Norway once had parrots.. and they may even have been blue
  If you’re lucky, you learn something every single godsdammed day of your life. In this case, I learned that the extra level of hilarity to that classic skit was that parrots weren’t supposed to be indigenous to Norway. Bet that it had lovely plumage.
• Fox Plans to Run Fewer Ads in 2 New Prime-Time Dramas
  Expect a marked increase in product placement.
• Facebook, Google Square Off Over Who Controls Your Data (Hint: It’s Not You)
  Unless, of course, you choose to control your data by not joining any of these sites. But, by now, you should know that the first rule of privacy on the web is that there is no privacy on the web. It’s kind of like walking out of your house every morning.

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My first thought when I saw this headline was simple: she must have been a huge fan. And she didn’t even have TiVo! But then the word “dead” hit me, and it realized that it wasn’t so simple.

Apparently, in 1966, this woman in Zagreb, Yugoslavia (now Croatia) sat down in front of her black-and-white TV — probably to catch the second installment of the Batman! when the Penguin pretended to have gone straight and formed his Penguin Protection Agency — and at some point, up and died.

Nobody found her for 42 years. 42 years! That’s longer that any most a couple of your ‘lopers have even been alive! Ladies and Gentlemen, is there any more damming evidence that on a day-to-day basis, living in a Communist country just totally and utterly sucked?

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Finally, Marriage is Fully Defended! or Homophobes Can Leave our Fucking State! Edition

Todays links of interest:

• Study says some file-sharing uploads hindered
  Net neutrality now! What more proof do you need than the beginning of this official statement: "Cox allows the use of file-sharing and peer-to-peer services…" That word "allows" speaks volumes.
• Slate’s special issue on procrastination
  Still need to get around to reading this.
• Ask.com Buys Dictionary.com
  All we can ask (get it?) is that they don’t somehow ruin the ease of dictionary.com, a site we use on what seems like at least a daily basis.

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I’ll Do It Live! I’ll Do It Live Edition

Todays links of interest:

• Ants Invade Houston, Eat Computers
  Wait, it gets better. They’re called "crazy rasberry ants". The only known cure seems to be upgrading to Windows Vista — they won’t go near it.
• Specter criticizes NFL, wants independent Spygate investigation
  Thank god that there is nothing else wrong with the country that a United States Senator can call for a massive investigation because the Patriots may have done his football teams wrong. Amazingly enough, he’s not up for re-election, because this is just that shameless.
• Baby supernova seen right in our neighborhood
  Awwwww, how cute! Cootchie-coo, Baby Supernova, cootchie-coo! Ma and Pa Supernova must be so proud of you, following in their footsteps at such a young age.

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It is of course, no surprise to anybody how totally our local Cable Company, Charter Communications, sucks ass. In the past couple of years, we’ve discussed the absolute lameness of their HD-DVR, how their regular DVR drove Kirk & Kassia away from TV completely, as well as the amazing difficulty their customers have getting their technicians to show up for scheduled appointments

So here’s the deal: since last Thursday, nearly all of my digital cable channels are out. No HBO, no BBC America or Sundance, no ESPN HD. For whatever reason, the HD versions of our six local channels, as well as all of the analog channels like Sci-Fi, are still coming in.

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Destiny Is A Total Bitch Edition

Todays links of interest:

• HBO on iTunes: Pricing adjusted on "show by show basis"
  While we, of course, wholeheartedly approve of the concept of all of those HBO shows on iTunes (featuring perhaps the three greatest dramas in all of TV history: The Sopranos, Deadwood and The Wire), what will make us unutterably happy is the inclusion of entire run of The Larry Sanders Show.
• The Mountain Goats’ John Darnielle Is Good At Writing!
  Reminding us that The Mountain Goats aren’t in our current mix…
• HBO Shows May Sell on iTunes, for $1.99+
  It’s the "+" that remains an open question.

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Ring Ring, It’s 7:00 AM Edition

Todays links of interest:

• In the Age of TiVo and Web Video, What Is Prime Time?
  As asked and answered by your friendly ‘lopers for quite some time.
• Person close to talks: NBC installing Fallon on ‘Late Night’
  Guessing that this might matter to someone: when Jay Leno finally gives up the Tonight Show and Conan O’Brien becomes the new Jay Leno (yeah, that really does sound like a nightmare), then Jimmy Fallon will become the new Conan O’Brien (ditto).
• Lynda Barry, a Cartoonist Still Drawing On Her Creative Life
  If we all chip in, we can send Kirk to Lynda Barry summer school.

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In China, and other nations, the government decides what can and cannot be accessed on the Internet. Government censors work very hard to make sure citizens are not exposed to any information that the government deems to be inappropriate. Sure, clever hackers can and do get around the censors, but it’s a bit like whack-a-mole.

Recently, a U.S. government-funded medical information repository had the word “abortion” removed from search results. Meaning, if a medical professional used that word — no matter what the context — zero results were returned. Now, for some “abortion” is a political standard to bear; for medical professionals, it carries many different meanings, some of which require, oh, immediate and scientifically sound results.

Comcast had a bit of a brouhaha when it was discovered to be putting the brakes on traffic coming via BitTorrent. Comcast backed off from this practice in the face of legislative attention, but still retains the right to decide the speed of traffic that travels over its network.
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Hill People Milk Edition
Todays links of interest:

• Dot-com Central returns to earthly pursuits
  Spent quite a lot of time working about a block East from the area described in this story, and don’t quite remember it so dramatically. And I walked up and down 16th Street (from the always interesting BART station) every day. It certainly wasn’t Dot-com Central: that would have been the South Park (not the TV Show) area just north where Pac Bell is now.
• AT&T?s Wi-Fi Tease for iPhone Users
  Sigh. You’d think that AT&T would just get off of their ass and do it. You’d think.
• Facebook To Lift 5,000 Friends Limit
  Finally! It’s sort of hard building a cult with a 5,000 friend limit.
• Comedy Central, Attell bang ‘Gong’
  What the world needed: a remake of The Gong Show.

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I Just Want to Know Where I Live Edition

Todays links of interest:

• Bruce Boxleitner Joins Heroes
  Posting this because I know that some of the ‘Loper women will be happy at the news, because they used to moon over him during the "Scarecrow & Mrs. King" days. And because of that, I’m almost ashamed to report that I’ve noticed that spoiler-boy Ausiello got the female lead of that show wrong.
• RIAA: DRM not dead and likely will make comeback
  RIAA spokesperson predicts DRM-limited subscription music services are the future of the industry. Never mind the fact that subscriptions services are the one area where digital sales are declining year over year.
• Mamma Mia! Papa John’s raking in the dough online
  The Deliverator will be at your door in 30 minutes or less.

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