On and on, and two steps ahead...

Last blog post

2007-03-01T14:23:00.000-06:00

First of all, I don't consider myself a blogger. This is primarily because I'm not socially active within the online blogging community. Sure, I've got blogging friends, but their participation is far more regular and deliberate than mine. This is a bit of a role-reversal for me, since I'm a very social creature personally. But this does not translate in the online world. Unfortunately, my online persona MUST ensure my personal anonymity. Yes, I know that many bloggers are anonymous and VERY social, but my personal cloak of secrecy protects my livelihood, and I fear that sometimes I've crossed the line in my stories of "Life in the Big Box."

So, with this post, I bid all (5 or 6) of my readers adieu. However, with this ending comes a sort of beginning. Although tales of my personal (and thus professional) life will end here, my commentary on all things "Web 2.0" will continue. Underground Media: Reloaded has officially launched, and I think there will be some good things down the pipe. UM was previously a podcast that I did with my good buddy Wxman. UM: Reloaded will be a blog with running commentary on peer2peer, downloading, social networking, broadcatching, podcasting, new techie gadgets, open source, and probably some other stuff. It will also contain links to the new Underground Media podcast. The new podcast will be MUCH more brief (10 minutes), and will feature my weekly updates along with semi-regular commentary from Wxman. The blog should be active if you're reading this, but probably not quite finished yet. Let me know what you guys think!

Signing off....

--Akshun J

P.S.

I MAY still update this blog. OCCASIONALLY! That's my story and I'm stickin' to it...

OSCARS!!!

2007-02-25T15:48:00.000-06:00

We're off to Oscar night with Richmond and Wxman! I missed this event last year due to my hectic work schedule. But now that *I* make the schedule, I made certain that I would be attending this year. Wine, food, friends, hot actresses wearing next to nothing. What more can you ask for? My early favorite is The Departed for Best Picture, and Children of Men for Best Original Screenplay. If these don't happen, I'm staging a protest. Also, that last Will Smith flick should win something. Everyone said it was pretty awesome. Updates later on!!!

CARNIVAL!!!

2007-02-21T18:19:00.000-06:00

Suffice to say that it was a GREAT weekend! Our Brazilian friends took us out for Carnival (Madison's version, at least), and even though I didn't have any time off, I STILL went out.

Yeah, a real hardship. Tons of hot Brazilian women wearing next to nothing who greeted me by KISSING me!!! Yes, KISSING! It was AWESOME! Our friends decided to dress up my scientist wife for the occasion. So, she walks out wearing a bikini halter top (baring the midrift) and low-rise jeans! I swear I felt like I was cheating she was soooo hot that night. I love debauchery! I love women! I love BRAZIL!!!

Yeah, it was kind of like that...

The BEST retail tales! - Part 1

2007-02-11T19:32:00.000-06:00

As promised, here is part one of my favorite holiday retail stories. Okay, so this first one is post-holiday. It doesn't make it any less funny.

A couple of weeks ago, one my customer services reps comes running up to the manager's bridge.
She's all big-eyed and out of breath. BIG overreactor, this one.

S: Dude, someone's unwrapping stuff in the women's bathroom!

Me: (tiredly) You sure it's not a tampon or something...

S: SERIOUSLY! They're STEALING something. RIGHT NOW!

Me: (a little more seriously) What do you think it is?

S: I don't know, but I'll go back and find out if you want.

Me: (Finally realizing that something serious was going on) Go, and I'll let LP know.

So, she goes back to the bathroom and returns to the LP stand with TONS of empty CD and DVD wrappers. But our perp had gotten away. We were all pissed. A blatant thief in our midst, but we hadn't moved fast enough. As the night wore on, S would not let the issue go.

S: Can we call the police and give them her description? I saw her! I really did! And she was STEALING! From US!

Me: No, S. We don't have her on camera, and you didn't catch her in the act.

S: What if she comes in again? Can we just arrest her?

Me: No, S. And she'd never be stupid enough to come back in.

Or so we THOUGHT.

The next morning I came in to find that S had asked our product manager to show the video of our perp to EVERY SINGLE EMPLOYEE in the hopes that she would show up in the store again so we could bust her. Well, at least everyone knows what she looks like, I thought. But she'd be nuts to show up again.

Three hours later, I was walking the floor with R, our sales manager. Suddenly R's head whipped around to the right and I was almost choked by the cloud of whirling blond hair.

R: That's HER!

Me: Who?

R: HER! The....the....lady. The....thief.

Me: From last night?

R: YESSSSSS!

Me: How do YOU know, you weren't even...

R: I saw the video this morning! I remember because she looked so......plain. Mid-40's, white, female, plain clothes...

Me: Oh. Oh sh*t! Let's get moving!

So we broke into teams. One tracked her from the monitor at the LP desk, and the other followed her unobtrusively through the store. We watched her LITERALLY FILLING her bag with dozens of CD's and DVD's. She was just grabbing items at random and STUFFING them in her bag! It was almost surreal. The cops arrived as she was making her way into the bathroom. She just walked to the door, looked both ways, and entered. This lady had a pair of brass ones! The cops (three of them) surrounded the bathroom and waited for her to come out. Waited 30 MINUTES!!! R and S were both looking at the monitor at one point and S asked, "What the hell is taking her so long?" "She's got to unwrap over 40 items and then stash them back in her bag. That's at least an hour job," I replied. It still was rather surreal to me. After a few more minutes, the police busted in, cuffed her, and walked her to our security office. After a while, they asked me to come in.

Cop: We need an exact account of what she stole. A receipt.

Me: Okay. Just put everything in this basket and I'll ring it up.

Cop: (Starts to put items in the basket)

Crazy Thief Lady: Are you the general manager?

Me: (SIGH) Yes.

Crazy Thief Lady: PLEASE don't press charges! I'm sick! I'll NEVER do this again.

Me: (to the cops) Is this everything?

Crazy Thief Lady: PLEASE! I'll do ANYTHING!

Me: (to the cops, again) Is this everything?

Crazy Thief Lady: PLEASE! PLEASE! I'll do anything. I can help you!

Me: (to the cops, for the final time before I walked out) Is this EVERYTHING?

Crazy Thief Lady: I can help you! I can. I help people.

Me: (staring a hole through the cop who was sifting through cellophane)

Crazy Thief Lady: I've helped BLACK people! PLEASE!!!

Me: (my head jerked up to face her, and the room fell silent. Dumbfounded, I responded in my best Scooby Doo voice) Rooumph?!

Ahhhh, a great night.... AND great movies!

2007-02-04T21:38:00.000-06:00

After working six-day weeks for the last two weeks and coming through a killer holiday season, I finally have two days off in a row. I downloaded some movies, poured some wine, and wrapped my arms around my sweetie for a true movie night. And it was EXCELLENT. -20 degrees outside, but inside with our space heater and blankets, we were snug as bugs. These are the days I live for. Or work for. Or both.

Anyways, on to the movies. To start, I'd like to thank the good people over at MovieX for hosting some QUALITY movie torrents. Notice that I said they hosted torrents, NOT actual movie files. That's the beauty of P2P. No one's really responsible for anything! It's awesome! As a side-note, if the MPAA doesn't find a way to deliver cheap broadband content without all the DRM bullsh*t, they are going to find themselves in much the same boat as the music industry REALLY soon. Bittorrent is just about at the level where non-geeks are willing to try it. Remember Napster? When the non-geeks embraced it, there was no putting the genie back in the bottle. But, I digress...

First up is Pan's Labyrinth from the creative mind of Guillermo Del Toro.

Del Toro's body of work as a director is not particularly impressive. Mimic (giant bugs), The Devil's Backbone (WWII Spanish ghosts), Blade II (pure nonsense), and Hellboy (mildly interesting). He's always seemed to me as if he's just about to peak with his next movie. And Pan's Labyrinth is this movie. Like the Devil's Backbone (which was previously my favorite movie of his), Pan's Labyrinth is also set in Franco's fascist Spain. A little girl who's obsessed with fantasy books is pulled into a entire fantasy world. But all's not cupcakes and sunshine for our heroine. Her world is VERY dark. Almost as dark as her crumbling real life. I understand that it's nominated for a crapload of academy awards, as it should be for EXCELLENT cinematography, a wonderfully original script, and great acting. Maybe not for the younger kids, but 12 or so and up should be okay. But, remember that I don't have kids and I might be a sh*tty judge of this stuff.

Next flick up is The Prestige. You see, there are three acts to any magic trick.
The Pledge - The magician shows the audience something ordinary.
The Turn - The magician does something extraordinary to the ordinary thing.
The Prestige - The magician brings back the ordinary thing and shows the audience that everyone's safe and sound.

Or some such thing. This is Hugh Jackman (aka Wolverine) and Christian Bale (aka Batman) starring in Chris Nolan's best flick to date. It's a thinker with sooo many twists and turns that we had to pause the movie every few minutes to discuss what just happened! And since it was a Chris Nolan film, all the scenes were COMPLETELY out of order. I LOVE movies like this! Did I mention that Scarlett Johannson (and her ample cleavage) was in it? Seriously, she is phenomenal. But that's another discussion. The movie was great, but it moved in at the bottom of my top ten list when it introduced Nikola Tesla as a character integral to the story. I have been fascinated by Tesla ever since I saw a Tesla Coil at the Griffith Observatory.

I can virtually recite his entire life story. You may not have heard of him, but every time you turn on a light or plug in an appliance, he should be remembered just as quickly as Edison. It's a fascinating story, and it was great to see his character in the Prestige. Tesla died penniless and insane, and the movie alludes to the fact that he is aware that his obsession will ultimately drive him over the edge. If you're in the mood for a really engaging thriller, or you just want to see Batman and Wolverine fight, check it out!

UPDATE: Here are two Youtube videos showcasing Scarlett's phenomenal rack!

Here' my favorite. I think this guy is gay so he gets a free squeeze pass.

Google Earth is the coolest...

2007-02-04T00:29:00.000-06:00

What is Google Earth? Only the single coolest free program out there. Yes, I am a Google-groupie. They are a big company, but they support open standards and seem to welcome competition. As much as anyone is capable of welcoming competition, but let's just say they're no Microsoft.

About a year ago, I downloaded the linux version. VERY impressive. I could find the house I grew up in. I played with it for a few weeks, but ultimately got bored and forgot about it. Recently a new version came out, so I gave it another test drive. Blown away!!! My wife's hometown of Corozal, Belize has almost perfect detail where before it was only a blurry spot!

And I'll be there in six weeks!!! With -20 degree temps in WI, THANK YOU Google Earth for a warm preview!

More Doom...

2007-01-30T00:03:00.000-06:00

MF Doom is my new favorite artist. At least for now thanks to Last.fm. It's funny to me that the underground artists I used to listen to in high school didn't drop off the face of the earth. They just grew up and adopted different personas. For instance, Doom used to be Zev Love X from the group KMD. And to most readers, you're probably wondering who the heck KMD was. The tie-in is the group 3rd Bass. Ring a bell now? Good. 3rd Bass sort of introduced KMD. Unfortunately after one album KMD disappeared.

And then, I rediscovered MF Doom. (The MF stands for Metal Face. Read all about him. Seriously, his story is interesting.) His style is a RADICAL departure from his KMD days, but in my opinion, he's grown leaps and bounds as an artist. His beats sample everything from opera to hard rock. And his rhymes are a mash-up of 80's TV including superhero cartoons, sci-fi shows, and even some quality Sesame Street. My favorite album is his collaboration with Dangermouse, The Mouse and the Mask. It's a send-up of everything on the Cartoon Network's Adult Swim. Hilarious! Here's another video. Love the Youtube...

Vista's coming

2007-01-24T20:42:00.000-06:00

I haven't used Microsoft Windows at home for about six years. But, I run a Big Box retail store. So for 10 hours a day, 5 days a week, I live in a Windows world. No problem. I can adapt. And I don't avoid Windows because of any hatred for Microsoft. It's just too hard for me to make Windows do EXACTLY what I want it to do. Before I started using Linux, I used to think my computer was possessed! A bunch of crap in the system tray, auto updates, spyware, adware, dogs and cats living together, mass hysteria! Now my computer is quite well behaved and does as it's told.

So, life in the Big Box has been quite busy with the impending release of the latest version of Windows. Vista promises............well, it promises everything. Personally, I think that's going to be the problem. But, like a good boy, I am recommending it to everyone. And I don't have a problem with this since most people need Windows. Much like the Matrix, people are not ready to understand that they are not in control of their own computer. And you can't just "unplug" them. So, until the great Free Software revolution, I'll just keep recommending Vista.

A funny article I read started me on this stream of consciousness. It's called, "10 reasons you should get Vista." The tenth reason is hilarious:

"10. Face it, you have no choice - When Microsoft brings out a major renovation to Windows, you can choose to ignore it for a year or two, but then the device drivers start drying up for older versions of Windows, your friends start asking questions about their new PC that you can't answer, and even if you use Linux, you'll inevitably need familiarity with Microsoft's latest interoperability blockers. Face it: your arse belongs to Redmond."

Ain't it the truth...

Tape it off the internet...Or just use Zudeo!

2007-01-21T21:14:00.000-06:00

TV shows on the internet. This is what I'm always talking about, right? Especially considering that I don't have a TV. So I was surfing through some articles provided by the good people over at TorrentFreak, and I found a rather interesting one on social broadcatching. The author literally gushed over a new beta website called............wait for it.........Tape It Off The Internet. Yes, that's the name of the site. Very Gen-X, right? I was instantly attracted. I bounced over only to find that it was an invite-only website. I requested an invite and proceeded to wait. For three months. Then, last week, I got a little email asking me to come visit. So, I did. What did I find?

Not what I was looking for. It's a clunky, clumsy attempt to turn the bittorrent experience into Youtube or Last.fm. The difference is that when you want to get the goods, it literally bounces you out of their site and into somewhere else like the Piratebay or Mininova. Their premise is that early adopters and TV fans like myself will sign up, post cutesy group messages about our favorite TV shows, and be really happy that the powers-that-be at TIOTI have conveniently linked the torrent for the show to their website. And on top of that, the torrents aren't even accurate! Four future episodes of Smallville are linked to Spanish-dubbed versions of Season 1 of the show! Give me a flippin' break.

I know. I know. It's still beta. I'm being hard on them. And you're right. It is, and I am. But I submit to TIOTI that they are trying to fix the wrong flippin problem. The PROCESS of getting bittorrents is still too geeky, and it represents a significant barrier for average people to actually use the internet for watching TV. I thought they were trying to make the PROCESS easier, and that the social aspect was the icing. In reality, the social part is the only thing that they're focusing on. Users still have to download and install Azureus, forward a port, tweak their firewall, and yadda yadda. And geeks will remain the only people watching TV from the internet.

Or perhaps an average user will stumble upon something pretty cool when they try to figure out how to download Azureus. They'll discover Zudeo!

THIS is what TIOTI should have been. And I didn't have to wait three months for it! Basically Azureus took it's client, gave it a pretty makeover, tied it to your web browser, and put up a social site not unlike TIOTI's. But they make it EASY to get the content! That's the trick. And the site's a LOT less clunky. And they support linux. 'Nuff said.

Actually, one last rant. The thing about TIOTI that really sticks in my craw is all their shouting about how EASY everything is. I actually had trouble figuring out how to even navigate the site, much less download a torrent. And then, I'm constantly being bombarded by their flash animation and AJAX bullsh*t. Guys, clean up the site, make it easy to navigate, and accurately link to the content without ejecting the user into the hostile waters of the Pirate Bay. Maybe you'll make some money. Maybe.

Great Movies - Children of Men

2007-01-11T22:11:00.000-06:00

One of the things (among many) that suck about living in Wisconsin is that we don't get limited release movies. That's an honor reserved for L.A., New York, and Chicago. Sure, I could drive the three hours if I wanted to, but that's not the point.

Two REALLY good genre flicks came out in December, and I had to wait a stinkin' month to see them. Incidentally, they both come from Mexican-born directors who collaborated with each other on one of the films. The first movie is Pan's Labyrinth. Guillermo Del Toro, who took the helm of the Blade franchise (check my avatar) and Hellboy, doesn't have a great track record. But I have to say the movie looks sweet. Maybe the last two Blades were just practice, right?

And Del Toro got some help from Alfonso Cuaron on this one. Harry Potter fans will recall that Cuaron is the director that finally did a proper job of translating the book to the screen. Chris Columbus is retarded, but that's just my opinion. Cuaron's Prisoner of Azkaban cut out the fluff and got right to business getting the best performances out of his actors and keeping the script tight. His latest Children of Men was PHENOMENAL! It currently occupies my TOP TEN list, which is no easy feat. Cuaron's flick is set 30 years in the future, but in the vein of sci-fi luminaries like Rod Serling, he's able to unswervingly slice and dice our
current society, laying bare our hopes, struggles, and ultimately our failures.

What if humanity suddenly became sterile? That's the question. And 30 years later, what if a single woman became pregnant? Doesn't seem like a classic sci-fi plot but just think through the implications. Ultimately, the plot is incidental. The sideways glances at life in this world is the real treat. It's us......run amok. All over the course of a couple of decades. If you see any movie in 2007, see Children of Men. And no, it's not for kids.

So you want to know how to use Bittorrent???

2006-12-27T17:45:00.000-06:00

Yeah, I'm sure it's on your top ten list of things you want to fiddle with this holiday season. By the way, I'd LOVE to blog about some of the cool holiday retail stories I have, but right now I'm just too mentally exhausted to rehash them. The one about the man who broke his iPod but wanted to exchange it because "who knows how it got broken" is particularly humorous. Look for this one soon. Thieves are also fun. Especially when I catch them...

But on to the bittorrent fun. Bounce on over to the good people at TorrentFreak. They've got a tutorial roundup on bittorrent. Right now, during the lowest productivity week of the US economy, there are close to 1.5 million torrenters using the might Azureus client. And that's just ONE client out of a dozen. Total torrent traffic has got to be over 5 million in my opinion. So what are you waiting for? Bootlegs and obscure TV shows await you!

Adult Swim and MF Doom

2006-12-20T12:26:00.000-06:00

I'll have a future blog post about BOTH of these items in the near future. Oddly they collided a couple of times. Most recently in a new CD that Doom collaborated on with similar artists for Adult Swim. Here's the result. For fans of hiphop, this is something COMPLETELY different than you hear on the radio. For non-hiphop fans, well, let's just call this eclectic...

Madvillain - Monkey Suite

Add to My Profile | More Videos

Last.fm

2006-12-11T14:49:00.000-06:00

Last.fm is the coolest. If you're a music fan, you've got to try it. Although Wxman will not give it his stamp of approval, I STILL recommend it. Wxman has not used it enough to see the beauty. Just today, I was longing for the sounds of Caroline's Jazz Bar on the East Side. But I'm too lazy to take my ass the 45 minute drive out there. So, I type the tag "hard bop" into my Last.fm player, and voila! John Coltrane is playing on my system. That's the new hotness. Go there now!

New blogger?

2006-12-11T14:38:00.000-06:00

So, I migrated to the new beta version of Blogger. I'm a HUGE Google fan, so I try to use all of their beta stuff. Mind you, I'm not a Google groupie, just a fan. Gmail literally changed the face of email. Google's homepage uses ajax and has cool content. Google Earth is too much fun to use. And their online word processor is better than sliced bread. But I've always thought Blogger was the red-headed stepchild. So, when I got the chance to migrate to the new beta, I jumped. I ALWAYS roll the dice, for those of you who don't know me. No guts, no glory. No risk, no reward. Yes, I'm drunk. An overly sweet Zinfandel, for the curious.

Anyway, I am underwhelmed by the new Blogger. I can't see the difference... Maybe Google needs to leave the blogging to other players. Nobody's perfect...

UPDATE! - 1/21/07
Okay, the new blogger is cool. Waaaay faster, more stable, and easier to use. Daddy like. But there were a few bumps in transitioning. Nothing time didn't fix, though. Good job, Google...

Great Movies - 28 Days Later

2006-12-02T12:40:00.000-06:00

"See this is a really sh*t idea. You wanna know why? Because it's OBVIOUSLY a sh*t idea." --Jim, 28 Days Later.

Since Mr. Ugly here is the post immediately preceeding this one, perhaps I should elaborate on why I think it's a cool flick. 28 Days Later, that is.

First, I think that American horror is dead. It died sometime around Exorcist 3, with the occasional paddle-induced resuscitations from a Hellraiser. Thus, it's been up to the Japanese, Koreans, Chinese, British, and Aussies to pick up the ball and run. And they've all done an admirable job. I'll do a blog about Asian horror later on, but let's just focus on the British for now.

Sometimes it seems like foreign film-makers pay more attention to American classics than Americans do. 28 Days Later was as close to the perfect zombie movie as anyone who is not George Romero could have done. And, there were no zombies in it. Just "infected". Yes, a zombie movie with no zombies. You'd have to see it. 28 Days Later has it all; great characters, awesome cinematography, solid story, and horrific, gory, and splatter-filled moments of pure violence. Can you beat that?

UPDATE! - After watching the trailer, I remembered the movie more clearly. This is actually a really AWESOME flick, horror or not. Danny Boyle did this movie; the man who gave us Trainspotting and Shallow Grave (another couple of my favorites). The character development is top notch, and the story is so compelling that you can't turn away for even a second. And the music is pretty cool. Give it a watch!

I HATE WINTER!

2006-11-30T01:27:00.000-06:00

Remember the rage that infected all of London in 28 Days Later?

Yeah, that's how I feel about winter in Wisconsin...

Why fatherhood terrifies me...OR Great Movies: Big Fish

2006-11-30T00:43:00.000-06:00

I just ate a bunch of spicy wings and weak beer, it's 12:45am, and I need to be at work by 8am tomorrow morning. So, I'll be brief. But I had to get this out...

I don't want to unload on my children what my parents unloaded on me. Wounds can seamlessly transcend generations as children who are hurt grow up into parents who pass the scarring on to their own children. At some point, things have to stop. I wasn't abused or anything as a kid (in the legal sense of that word) but I'm definitely going to be a different kind of father to my kids than my father was to me. Today, I believe I can do this. A few years ago, I wasn't so sure. I was so unsure of myself, that I doubted whether I should have kids at all. But my wife has helped me to understand that parenthood for both of us is important for dozens of reasons I'm sure I'll go into in a future blog post. She has faith that we'll do a good job.

I agree with her, but sometimes, my unresolved feelings towards my own parents resurfaces. And along with them come my doubts about my own parental abilities. And that brings me to my movie choices tonight. Both deal with the love/hate parent issues, and both strike an emotional chord with me. Especially Big Fish.

I'm an occasional Tim Burton fan. Beetlejuice was a masterpiece, but Planet of the Apes and Sleepy Hollow?! So I was skeptical about Big Fish, especially as I went to see it with my mother. But the experience was incredible. One of the reasons I am SUCH a movie fan is that on rare occasions theater will rise to the level of quality literature or fine poetry. Sometimes I can walk out with a glimmer of personal clarity. This was one such occasion. And, although my mother was probably in her own world reliving some unresolved issue with her own parents, I think I left the theater understanding her just a little bit more than when we walked in. Anyone with parents should see this movie. Anyone with parental issues should ABSOLUTELY see this movie. AND, it's family-friendly.

Igby Goes Down is the second one. And I rethinking whether I should have included it. It's not a favorite of mine, but it still gets at my parental conflict focus. It's like an average-ish film version of Catcher in the Rye, but with a Culkin in the lead role. Far from a classic, but still worth a watch if you get a chance.

Now if you'll excuse me, now that I've purged, I've got to sleep. I've got to pwn noobs in the morning.

I TOLD you I'm not crazy!!!

2006-11-28T17:46:00.000-06:00

When I tell people that I don't have a TV, I usually get a blank stare. And they can't phrase a follow-up question, because my initial answer, "I don't have a TV" absolutely befuddles them. Those who know me also know that I am an avid TV show watcher. A contradiction? I think not. Only, how do I do it?

Internet TV. Also called, broadcatching. I have a dedicated server in my basement that does two things. Scours the internet for my favorite shows, and serves them up to my HTPC in the living room. It's basically TV on-demand, if you can deal with waiting up to a day after the show airs, as well as less than optimal quality. For me, it's a "good enough" solution. Especially since I think cable is rotten. A billion channels, and all I watch is seven or eight regular shows? For eighty bucks per month?! Not for me...

Most people think I live the uber-geek lifestyle. "TV on the internet?!" they say. "YES!" I respond. And I'm not the only one...

Here's a clip from a Family Guy episode that I just watched tonight...

A wii-ley good workout!

2006-11-26T01:26:00.000-06:00

Couch potatoes, beware. The Wii is coming for you. Honestly, this could revolutionize the American fitness industry...

Geek Girls!

2006-11-22T12:26:00.000-06:00

The good folks over at CNET have listed the Top Ten Geek Girls of all time. A few are fictional silly characters, but there are a few cool notables. Rosalind Franklin is my personal fave... Something about geneticist chicks just gets me. Wonder that I married one, right?

I leave you with a neat youtube video. I have been watching clips of Craig Ferguson from the Late Late Show. I never see the show, but through the magic of youtube, I get to see the highlights. His schtick is pretty funny, if you like popcorn humor. Here's bit about how everybody loves the motorboat. hehehe.

Cool and funny...

2006-11-01T14:16:00.000-06:00

Battlestar Galactica is the coolest show on TV. Observe the Season 3 trailer:

This cut-scene from G4 TV is friggin hilarious! It proposes to be a deleted scene from Return of the Jedi, tying togther stuff from the recent prequels.

TV is about to change...

2006-11-01T10:24:00.000-06:00

I know, I know. I keep saying this. And I don't even have a TV, right? But the revolution is underway. It happened first with music. Remember Napster? No, the first underground Napster, not the piece of shite commercial site that it's become. It was a direct response to market demand that music be made available online, on-demand. iTunes quite comfortably filled the market void after Napster was shut down. But not until Apple computers brought the recording industry to it's knees with it's "Rip, Mix, Burn" campaign. Even though Steve Jobs is the Devil, I still have a soft spot in my heart for him.

And now, downloading TV shows is all the rage. Along with my broadcatching system, I gave my HTPC a face-lift and installed the latest version of Freevo! My TV on-demand just got a little sweeter. And did I mention that it costs me only the price of my high-speed internet connection? Maybe I'll post some screenshots later on...

Undergound Media is back on track!

2006-10-21T23:16:00.000-05:00

New and improved with EXTRA protein! Underground Media #4 - "We came, we saw, we kicked it's ass!"

And our blog is now officially tricked out with plenty of Odeo goodies... Enjoy, and your regularly scheduled Akshunj blogging will continue tomorrow.

UM is back?

2006-10-21T02:36:00.000-05:00

Oh yeah. Wxman and I are about to rock your world with some podcasty goodness. Soon, my friends. Soon...

My TV On-Demand (An update - SUCCESS!!!)

2006-10-08T12:43:00.000-05:00

Remember my TV-show on-demand solution for my HTPC setup? Well, IT WORKS!!! I just finished watching the season premier of Battlestar Galactica on my DLP projector, and I didn't have to do ONE GEEKY THING other than turning on the computer and pressing play. I'll leave the review of the Galactica premier for another day. Too much good stuff!

Who needs Tivo when I've got.......Free Bittorrent RSS TV Downloader. FrittssTVer. Got to work on that name... Maybe I can make a hardware appliance that does this? And maybe I could sell it? Hmmm. The possibilities...

*****UPDATE:
Darn, someone already came up with a name. It's called Broadcatching and this guy uses it with his Xbox Media Center.

So, maybe my hardware idea is a little late to the game. I tried using the Xbox as my HTPC a while ago, but there's no HDMI output, and if you want to run the Xbox Media Center, there's a little matter of cracking open the case and soldering to break Microsoft's iron-clad DRM. But the screenshots are dead sexy.

I'm still working up to a full-fledged media center, but I'll get there on my own. That's half the fun!