Not so much for the Firefly tie-in, but for my lovely, long-suffering wife in general.

(Thanks to the folks at EFF for this one – they still do something besides cry about USA/PATRIOT)

The CEO REALNetworks has demanded that Apple open their iPod to competing formats. “Apple’s (market) share will go down if they continue to do this. The only way to presently put songs on an iPod is to (buy) them from iTunes,” Glaser said

Or to use .mp3’s, or non-protected .aac files…

In any case, this could be a gasp from a dying company, much like Netscape’s suits against Microsoft over MSIE. Real’s been losing market share to WMP and iTunes for the last couple of years, in no small part due to deceptive marketing practices on Real’s part.

Thanks to OFF, I’ve been calling Jacob Noah “The Boy” pretty much since birth. Christian at work pointed out that’s been thrown for a loop since the arrival of Nathan Joseph, who, by all accounts, is another boy. So I figure the progression will go something like this:

2004-2007 (or so) – I’ll have “The Boy” and “The Baby”, until Nate is big enough to say “I’m not a baby.”
2007(ish) – 2012/13 – It’ll be “the boys”, since both will have similar interests, and not want to hide from Dad.
2013-2018 – Jake’s in his teenage years, and will get some epithet, I imagine (Open for suggestion). Nate will become “The Boy”.
2018-2022 – Jake in college will become “The sponge” as he draws down Missy and my net worth. Nate picks up the teenage epithet.
2023-2027 – Nate starts college, Jake hopefully graduates and moves on to adulthood. Jake loses a nickname, Nate becomes “The Sponge”.
2028 – No need for nicknames, both kids are out of the house and loose on society.

Our favorite political humorist will be competing on Jeopardy with the likes of Tim Russert and Ari Fleischer.

p.s. Game Shows and the Political Humorists Who Play Them.

Here’s an interesting little movie about how they came up with the Homeland Security alert system.

Fascinating stuff.

CHUD has a new Top 100 out of movies that deserve more love. The list is a little too heavy on the sci-fi/fantasy, but makes for a good read. Let me pull out a few selections to highlight:

I Agree.:

• 2. The Devil’s Backbone (2001) – saw this at Dobie and it’s slow but scary and beautiful; it shares a lot of visual technicians from The Others which is another fine “alternative” to horror films
• 12. Equilibrium (2002) – came and went in the theaters over one weekend, so I had to download an internet bootleg; liked it so much I bought the DVD release
• 22. Young Sherlock Holmes (1985) – I am a child of the 80s after all.
• 48. LA Story (1991) – I almost made a list of “doesn’t it get plenty of love”, but maybe everyone doesn’t include this gem in their favorite flicks of all time.
• 68. Big Night (1996) – maybe the best “family love” movie ever
• 97. A Life Less Ordinary (1997) – may be too odd for most folks, especially the musical numbers but it’s a great love story
• 98. The Hudsucker Proxy (1994) – we all know to love this one, right?
• 100. Falling Down (1993) – dark, so dark, but funny while it’s getting there and touching at the end

I Need To See!:

• 4. Nightwatch (1997) – being a big Ewan McG fan I don’t know why I missed this one
• 49. The Specials (2000) – I laughed at Mystery Men so I bet this will crack me up, too.
• 53. Liberty Heights (1999) – how’d I miss this?
• 70. 25th Hour (2002) – I’m not ususally a Spike Lee fan, but I loves me some Anna Paquin

Where It Be?:

• Joe Versus The Volcano – a highly under appreciated Hanks/Ryan film; I know several BPB readers recognize this movie deserves more love
• Tank Girl – anything with a musical number popping out mid-film with no prior or following reference has to get more love
• The Rundown – this may get more love in video — it was released yesterday and sold out at my local Target (but they had a ton of Gothika for some reason); the best opening action sequence ever, a great Christopher Walken bit in the middle, and a brimstone-poem spouting Ewen Bremner during the climax — you gotta love it

What do true-TV titans have that you don’t?

Sure, some of them are pop stars, heads of multibillion-dollar companies or snarky Brits, but when you really boil it down, they’re everyday people—just like you. And we can prove it.

Just answer several simple Q’s in our especially saucy, scientifically uncertified personality test and see which mouthy tube star you most resemble. The results may shock you. Really.

Today’s reason: will not accept responsibility.

As the 9/11 Commision is continuing it’s hearing and releasing it’s findings, one voice will be notably absent. Condi Rice will not testify before the commision, because presidential advisers need not answer to legislative bodies. This behavior from Bush appointees is generally accepted until enough noise is made about it. My guess is that they often do it just so they can later say “See, nothing wrong.” in an effort to forestall important investigations. (i.e., “We weren’t wrong that other time you forced us to tell the truth, why are you asking about this time?”) As Condi was directly in the path of communication about the focus of the nation’s intelligence and military resources she is leaving all the power in the hands of her accuser, Richard Clarke.

Personal responsibility is no longer a corner-stone of conservative politics thanks to the Bush administration.

My buddy, Dr. Andrew McVie, sent me this email last night:

So my brother entered a bracket in the ESPN.com Men’s Tournment Challenge. His picks suck. His entery is over 1 million out of first place.

While he was logged on he let his girlfriend, Theresa, fill out a bracket using his username (you can enter up to 5 brackets). Her entry is number 1 out of almost 3 million. Yes, she picked randomly. She picked UAB because she is from Alabama. She picked Nevada because she likes Vegas. She picked Pacific, oh who the hell knows why she picked Pacific. Number 1.

Since the entry is was officially submitted by Rob McVie he is getting all the accolades. Earlier today he was interviewed by ESPN radio and ESPN.com.

Check it out:

• ESPN.com
• Fantasy
• Men’s tournment Challenge (membership required)
• Leaderboard

1. Knoxville tdawgizzle, rob mcvie. (T-dawg is for Theresa; the izzle is fo shizzle)

andrew

This is definitely the year for random bracket picks, yes? (see comments on our previous discussion)

I’ve been following this case, and was pleased when the Supreme Court decided to hear the argument.

Atheist Michael Newdow brought the case on behalf of his daughter, who goes to school in Sacramento. He’s an ER doctor, has a law degree and is arguing his own case before the court. A segment on NPR this morning also played part of his “the Pledge Of Allegiance Got Some Old Religion Blues” — I think it’s going to be a hit. (ok, not really)