Seriously, I DISLIKE it.  Want to know why?  It's gossip.  There's no reason why we should care.  Sure, we care if they pass away (that's proper) or if they're injured but do we need to spend billions each year on glorified gossip?  Really, how does what Paris Hilton (more on her later), Brad Pitt (a favourite actor of mine), or Tom Cruise do matter to any of us?  It doesn't, it's entertainment but it's being covered by the news networks when there are kids missing, murderers on the lose, and economic/business issues that have profound effects on the future.

Normally I stay quiet about this kind of thing but a recent media event is being out of proportion and somebody needs to help people realize that it's not a big deal.  The event is the hubbub surrounding "racial slurs" towards Shilpa Shetty.

I'd like to start by saying that prior to this event I didn't even know that there was a person by the name of Shilpa Shetty (I have not done further research other than to confirm that she's East Indian.  To be honest I'm not that big of a fan of Indian cinema as I find a lot of copycat film adapted towards entertainment although there have been a few good films recently, more on that later if I get the time).  Apparently, some of the other stars on Big Brother made fun of Shilpa and she was tensed out and then tens of thousands of people complained.  Channel 4 is now thinking of canceling the show and people are urging them to do so.

Out of this come several issues:

1. Racial Slurs?
2. Fight?
3. Tens of thousands of complaints?
   
4. Show being canceled?

I don't care about #1.  Slurs didn't seem all that racist and Shilpa herself has said that she doesn't care (I dislike this event even more for making me waste my time researching when I could've been doing something more productive like banging my head against a wall).

I don't care about #2 as it would just be two stars fighting.

I care about #3.  Who are these people that complained?  Do they not realize that this "reality show" is entertainment?  Do they not realize that "the show" is actually snippets that are heavily edited and then approved by a commitee before being put on the air?  This was intentionally put on the air in order to provoke and cause a flap.  It's not coincidence that this made it to air, you losers are being conned!

I care about #4.  Now that so many people have complained and the ratings are at the highest ever why should anybody cancel the show?  It's making money.  The put the "racist slurs" on TV so they would get high ratings and it seems to be a marketing ploy that has saved the day.  If anything I suspect we'll see even more inappropriate behaviour making it to the air.

I applaud the producers of the show for masterfully manipulating the public and the media.  I condem the media networks for being stupid and not analyzing the real issues.  To all the people that complained:  How about worrying about your kids more so they don't grow up to be slaves to the tube like you?

Congratulations Kevin Sawka, you have talent!

So...what happened this week?  Oh yes, it finally snowed!  Yes indeed!  The first real snowfall in a season is usually incredibly soft snow that I like to throw at people.  Yes you heard it, snowballs.  During the day, while at work, I like to go outside and throw snowballs at cars, signs, people (I know and that I don't) that walk by.  People are usually forgiving if you throw snow at them and then say "Ooops, I thought you were somebody else."  Trust me, throwing snowballs at strangers is about as fun that snowballs get...for now...try it sometime.

You'll thank me.

I no longer call junk mail junk mail.  I call it what it is:  Spam.

Isn't the interweb grand?   I was watching this video on YouTube when I realized that what Patrick did wasn't very nice.  So what can I do?

1. Capture this image.
2. Mirror it.
3. Read the area code (410, that's in Maryland).
4. Use Google Search.
5. Results:  Reisterstown Music Center.
6. Plan visit to RMC.
   

Apparently I can write this off as a charitable contribution.  Wait, I can't?  Awww, dang it.

The following message was taken Akshay without permission (bringing balance back to this post):

So...if you're in the KW area on that day and you want to help them out...do it.

The latest The Daily WTF gives us this little gem.  While the problem with the code (rather than the problem in method of implementation) should be immediately obvious it may take some of you more than a few seconds.  The humour in the aformentioned gem is not the code itself but the comments that respond to the post.  You have to scroll almost half way down the page before somebody actually figures out what the problem with the code is and posts about it.  Everybody before that argues over implementation or that the "code doesn't work".

I have serious doubts about whether 50% of the commenters are worth their salt. 

by Moby, featuring Debbie Harry

I always enjoy this song, you will too.

I had lunch with Ian on Friday and as usual we had an interesting discussion.

The iPhone was a hot topic and not surprisingly we are both unimpressed.  One of the primary reasons is the lack of credit to Jeff Han for his Multi-Touch Interaction Research (Ian feels strongly about this because one of his students worked on a similar project).  In fact, there's a lot of credit not given to other people that Apple seems content to steal and use as their own.  While those that are in the graphics community tend to know or find out about who things are done and whom credit should be given to quite quickly; those in the general public do not.  By taking credit for what others have done, Apple becomes a false idol for praise and worship by the general public and over time the masses become brainwashed by the mass marketing marchine that is Apple Inc.  Ian brought up another iPhone feature that is credited to Apple but was created in the 60s.  The slow panning of images for the slideshow is not an Apple creation but one that is known as the Ken Burns Effect.  If you observe closely you'll also see the same sort of slideshow being used by the 360 (as a recent precedent).

Other topics of discussion included movies.  Ian and I talk a lot about movies because we watch a lot of them and are heavily involved in graphics as well as making sure the graphics are of good quality.  One particular subset of movie discussion was time editing of movies shown on TV.  In case you hadn't noticed but most movies have a "edited for time" warning (it really is a warning) before they're shown on TV.  While you may think they slice out a few seconds here and there that's entirely untrue.  For example, Ian and I both watched the same showing of "Love Actually" by coincidence in December (at different locations as he was on leave from work).  We noticed that the scene where The Prime Minister (Hugh Grant) rushes from Number 11 to find (Martine McCutcheon) was cut down to about 10 seconds.  In the full version The Prime Minister reaches the street that she lives on and there are several doors knocked on, a Christmas carol sung, and a pensioner talked to before he finally reaches the house next to Natalie's house.  In the cut down version they jump immediately from Number 11 to the house next to Natalie.  How about a more extreme example?  Kill Bill was shown (both volumes) on TBS last weekend and I was horrified by how much of the movie had been cut out.  Granted there was violence but some of the more emotional scenes were simply removed and many of the cinematically beautiful moments (plane flying in over the rooftops) were removed.  Outragged!

Continuing in our movie discussions Ian asked me about my movie collection and I mentioned that I had to cut down as I had no more room in my room.  You know you have too many movies when they no longer fit in an entire room.  I ordered boxes so I can store the movies away in another room until I move.  I think that one whole room will have to be dedicated entirely to my movies and collections of the odd things that I collect.  I think I have too much right now...too many boxes...too many computers...too many movies...too many toys...too many radio controller toys...too many games...of course after I move I'll have so much room that I won't have enough of each and will have to *cough* fill out the collections.

We then ended our lunch with a quick conversation heavy on programming and technical details that I cannot divulge here but needless to say, very interesting over all.  Wish you could've been there.

So Steve has had his few minutes of fun and as usual the fanboys are going nuts.  I know many are going to call me a Nintendo fanboy but trust me, I'm plenty critical of Nintendo (just talk to me in person) and I will from time to time let you know.  Chad brought up a good point that Apple glossed over the details as well as not paying attention to their own page.  There are many things that I want to know as many things bother me.

What about the keynote bothered me?  While Apple holds many patents now on a number of "new" technologies the tech is essentially stolen.  Two handed/two point touch technology is not new.  Heck, not 20 paces from me sits a professor who has a grad student that's heavily involved in two handed input as well as multi-touch technology.  The current undisputed master of this awesomeness is Jeff Han who has technology that is far more interesting than the iPhone.  Even Philips has a table product that's going to be used for gaming (we were contacted) in the near future.  This technology is not new.

IPTV?  Not new, Microsoft tried to do the same thing and their solution is far more widespread and cheaper than what Apple can put forward.  Apple is also notorious for having terrible tech support and when it comes to networking or devices that deal with new technology the small percentage of the population that do buy the first gen devices are in for a world of pain.

Speaking about pain, what's the deal with going with Cingular?  The phone is 499 USD with a two year contract at Cingular.  That means a standalone version (without contract) is going to cost something on the order of 650 or 700 USD.  Yes it's hot tech but the price is ridiculous and I have serious usability concerns.

One of the biggest problems with having a touch screen is that there's no user feedback.  How many times have you used a touch screen and pressed really hard in order to make a button work?  In our minds we know that just a light touch will work but our minds unconsciously want that touch/button depression feedback and so we push ever harder.  How long before the screen gets dirty and greasy?  How long before scratches start to affect it?  These are all details that will perhaps be revealed over the new few months but right now I'm concerned about people getting carried away due to the marketing giant.

What else?  We haven't even gotten to the basic questions about the iPhone as of yet.  What's reception like?  What's battery life like?  Microphone sensitivity?  Recharge times?  All these things will be revealed when third parties get to independently review it but why not provide more realistic details at this time?  Why is it not 3G?  What other features is it lacking?  Is this just a glorified iPod?

Serious concerns that need to be addressed now. 

There have been other lists made by generally one dimensional gamers and while I agree with some of their sentiments I have a more varied taste that should suit everybody just fine.

• Spore (Wikipedia), (ign), (video.google.com) - I'm interested in seeing what this game has to offer and what sort of balance there is. While the dynamics and functional elements are interesting from a programers point of view the "storyline" seems far too linear and the experience might be too frustrating as there are relatively few limitations. Peter Molyneux talked about issues Lionhead had with Black and White and allowing too much freedom. The challenge in the game might be competing with others but I'm not sure that the Spore servers will be able to handle the multiplayer onslaught.
• Portal (WikiPedia), (ign), (YouTube) - As far as I'm concerned this is the FPS that actually redefines the genre. The reason I think is that you are able to change your environment and are required to use that modification to your benefit. You can go absolutely everywhere but yet you don't have complete control. If you have complete physical control that only leaves the mental aspects of the game and it makes the FPS completely based upon strategy and brain power rather than just the ability to click a button faster than your opponent.
• Team Fortress 2 (WikiPedia), (ign), (YouTube) - Greg and I like challenges and ever since we saw the teaser/trailer we've been waiting impatiently.  It's a cartoonesque, violent, very well animated FPS that is likely to (unfortunately) replace DOD:S as our nightly game.
• Super Mario Chargers (ign) - If you ever played the GameCube version then you know the kind of fun to expect on the Wii.  While not bringing much that's new Chargers continues on by brining the "fun".  Strikers was a game that was incredibly easy to pick up and play.  It was also incredibly difficult in head to head play and remains on my top list of GC games to this very day.  Fast paced Mario Football (that's Soccer for us North Americans).
• Metroid Prime 3:  Corruption (ign) - The series with two of the biggest titles on all Nintendo platforms will finally come to the Wii.  An early release we are likely to see at least one more Metroid sequel on the Wii in the coming years.
• Supreme Commander (WikiPedia)- Remember Total Annihilation (WikiPedia)?  Yeah?  Made by the folks at Gas Powered Games (made up of many Cavedog folks) it's the ultimate continuation of an amazing RTS that many (including myself) consider the best RTS ever.  The graphics capabilities and unit advancements will put this straight on my top 5 list of the year.
• Guitar Hero 2 (ign) - Yes, I know it's already out on the PS2 but the 360 version is going to be in HD!
• Wii Motor Sports Airplane (ign) - Fun!  Challenging, very simple but well made.
• Super Mario Galaxy (ign) - A Mario progression that deserves to be called a progression.  This was a very enjoyable game and hopefully is a good long play.
• Super Smash Brothers Brawl (ign) - With Snake!  As well as another surprise that will supposedly be revealed closer to date.