Go On. Entertain me.

Strange, really...

noreply@blogger.com (Salem) — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 14:00:00 +0000

I've been receiving steady hits every day from this site, although I haven't posted anything new here. I'm assuming that this is mostly from search engine crawlers, but I'm still curious to see who is still following this blog.

If you ARE in fact following, and are a human being (not a spider or web crawler), I'd love it if you would do one of two things;

Go to my new website, http://www.technoheads.org and subscribe there, either via email or via RSS.
Send me an email. If you have been following for this long, I'm truely grateful and would like to express my first-hand gratitude.

Heh. Now that all that is said and done, I hope everyone's had a happy new year, and a great holliday. Thanks everyone!

Cheers,

Salem

Looks like I'm moving...

noreply@blogger.com (Salem) — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 19:35:00 +0000

It's been a REALLY long time since my last post, and I feel pretty bad for that. However, I have been doing a considerable amount of work rigging up a NEW site, technoheads.org. I'd REALLY appreciate it if anyone who still reads my blog would take a peek over there and check out what I've been doing. To start myself off, I'm going to end up posting a few reruns (sorry!), but I'll try to keep it updated with new content. I added a nice forum and chat to compliment the blog. Biggest thing, though is that users can now contribute to the blog! If you have an idea for something that should be front-and-center, just make an account and submit an article. it's really simple.

Once again, thanks in advance for following, and I hope to see you on Technoheads.org!

Magnets?

noreply@blogger.com (Salem) — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 21:54:00 +0000

Recently I received an iPod Touch case and really liked it. It was a leather portfolio case; to be precise, it was Griffin's Elan Convertible. It was creative, well-fit, and came with a screen protector and a nice cloth. However, after about a week of using it, my iPod would regularly crash or close out of whatever I was doing and return to the main menu. Although there is no way to prove this, I think it may be caused by the fact that the case has magnets in it. You may be thinking, "You immature narcissist, magnets don't do anything to solid-state drives, such as the one the iPod Touch sports." However, there are more components to an iPod touch than flash memory. Its possible that one of these components were affected by the case's mgnets. Secondly, I'm not the only person who's experienced these problems; just look at the MacRumor's forum dedicated solely to the topic. There have been many counts of similar errors, and several were from the exact same case as mine.

So, I wrote an email to Griffin's customer support, telling them my problem and pointing them to the forum. They responded (in a remarkably short time... well done Griffin) that I was not the first person to bring them this issue. They said that since they could not replicate the issue at their facilities, they assume that it is an issue with specific iPod Touches. Other responses say that some cases may have had stronger magnets than others.

My response from Griffin is as follows:

We have also heard the reports of this happening, but have never been able to reproduce the issue with any of the cases customers have sent us. The conclusion seems to be that problem will only occur with specific iPod Touch's. Because this happens with your iPod Touch, a replacement Elan Convertible would probably encounter the same issue. Your case does have a one year warranty, however, and if you would like, we would be more than happy to exchange your case for any iPod Touch case we make.

My iPod has crashed less after taking it out of the case, but it still crashes from time to time. I think I'm going to see if I can get in contact with someone from Apple to see what they say about this... And if worse comes to worst, I may be in for a new iPod Touch (thank God its still under warranty).

RadioTracker

noreply@blogger.com (Salem) — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 02:00:00 +0000

I have been wowed. I just made a rather hefty music library comprised of new artists who fit my tastes, and all for free. A simple program called "RadioTracker" recorded my interests, favorite artists, and favorite songs and, using internet radio stations, downloaded music that fit my tastes. In addition, it was recently awarded one of MaximumPC's Softy Awards for being so amazing. You can have RadioTracker look for specific songs to download, or you can have it search for general artists or genres. Its great, easy, and best yet, legal. You can get all this music for free (after purchasing RadioTracker for $40). For those who don't like spending money, it also has a nice demo that you can check out. Don't take my word for it, try it out yourself at radiotracker.com.

Now, I get to rant. I made the mistake of setting the music type to "Alternative" and then accidentally leaving it on overnight. I'm a big fan of alternative music, don't get me wrong, but some of the more... violent songs aren't my thing (i.e. deathmetal). So, upon waking up the next day, I checked my computer and found that I had about 45 MB of disk space left and that I had just smashed 14 gigs of music (a good 8 of which were deathmetal) on my laptop. So, although this software is great, BE CAREFUL with it. Another thing that gets annoying is the fact that you will sometimes get station identification audio at the end of a song. I was abruptly jerked out of a Red Hot Chili Peppers song by some guy screaming about his radio station. Just be careful of that.

Back!

noreply@blogger.com (Salem) — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 23:47:00 +0000

Well, its been almost an entire month since my last post, and I really feel bad about this. The end-of-quarter assignments at school have left me working too much and I've had almost no time to blog. That being said, I'm going to post an update of everything that's happened since I've been gone.

Instant Action
Instant Action is finally out of public beta, so you can sign up yourself from here on out without need for a key or an invite. They also released a 3rd person 2D space shooter called "Zap," which I must say is an intensely addictive game. Lastly, they have started a private beta of their 3D Fps which, in my oppinion, looks absolutely awesome. To get in, you must invite more friends than anyone else in Instant Action (which will probably lead to mass-spamming) and will end by the end of this month. So, if you want to play, ask me and I'll send you an invitation.

Music
Panic! at the Disco's latest album, "Pretty Odd" was released on Tuesday, much to the delight of their thousands of fans (usually of the feminine persuasion). Although I don't have the album yet, I'm planning on buying it or at least listening to clips of it and doing a quick review of it at some time.
Death Cab for Cutie is also planning on releasing their latest album, "Narrow Stairs," on May 13. Although this is a long time to wait, I'll just have to wait it out. As soon as its released, though, you can bet on a review.

Gaming
Team Fortress 2 now has a new map: Badlands. The map is a port of a map of the same time from the original Team Fortress, but with a more western look and feel that has become so common in Team Fortress 2 maps. They are also in the process of creating another map, called Goldrush, which will introduce a whole new mode of gameplay in which a team must get their minecart to the other side of the map before the enemy does the same. Lastly, the rumor of new weapons for each of the classes, as well as new much-needed goals and achievements have kept a lot of Orange Box gamers on their toes. I personally can't wait.

iPod Touch.
An update wouldn't be an update without a quick overview of all the new iPod Touch news, would it? The SDK is officially released, but only to big corporations (such as Adobe, who will hopefully work on a flash plugin for MobileSafari). The 1.1.4 firmware has been released and jailbroken (already), and according to rumor, the 1.2.0 firmware, scheduled to come out this summer with the App Store, has already been jailbroken.

Last but not Least,
Harvard's student database has been hacked, and the hacker was quick to post the entire database available for Bittorrent Downloads. Oops.

Blog Updates...

noreply@blogger.com (Salem) — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 02:44:00 +0000

Today, I applied for a .biz.ly account.

If I'm successful, I will have a new domain: bichiliad.biz.ly. This will also allow me to have several sub-domains, such as forum.bichiliad.biz.ly and videos.bichiliad.biz.ly. I hope that I'm approved... it will make this whole blog management easier for me and for all readers out there... I'll make sure to write a post if I'm approved.

Secondly, I started a guestbook for my blog... if you read it, please sign it and leave a comment... I'd appreciate it immensely. The link below will take you to my guestbook:
http://www.ultraguest.com/view/1204337505
Drop in and let me know what you think, what you like or dislike, or even what your favorite color is.

Chekwolf: Its finally back!

noreply@blogger.com (Salem) — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 20:47:00 +0000

Checkwolf is a crimefighting organization, a group of talented vigilantes who have come together to battle corruption in their own way.

About 2 years ago, I got hooked on an audiobook podcast called "Checkwolf," depicting a modern-day rogue crime fighting group. I was very attentive and followed the series almost religiously. So, of course, when month after month went by without an update, it was pretty upsetting. So, being the curious person I am, I wrote the author, Remy Gibson, an email asking him what was up. He told me that he wanted to re-record all the episodes in a higher quality format. So, recently, he emailed me back and told me that he had successfully put his audiobook on podiobooks.com under a creative commons license. So, once more, I can look forward to listening to the intrepid adventures of my favorite fictional crime-fighting league.
Check out the Checkwolf Website
or go to the Checkwolf Podiobooks page.

Thanks, Remy!

Instant Action Beta!

noreply@blogger.com (Salem) — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 02:35:00 +0000

I was recently accepted into the Instant Action beta and I must say, it's quite amazing. It is a website that, with the help of a group of programmers, has made four up-and-running 3D games that play directly in your browser. Right now, the only four games are simple puzzle games or 3rd person vehicle shooters such as "Marble Blast" or "Think Tanks," both of which have been released and have been played for a year or so prior to the website's release. The website also has a cool "Party" feature, letting you play with a group of people. You can even change party games on the fly and chat with friends in-game.

Right now, the only way to play is to sign up for the Beta or be invited by someone in the Private Beta. However, being a member of the private beta, I can invite people.

If you send me an email, I will be more than happy to send you an invite, although I'm not sure how many I can send.

Lol?

noreply@blogger.com (Salem) — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 21:19:00 +0000

No, I prefer "Haha"

Personally, I try to stray away from using terms such as "lol,""imho," and "w00t" because I think it makes it look like I have a typing deficiency or am missing several fingers and refuse to type that many words. I had a very interesting conversation with a close friend of mine that I thought was rather insightful... take a look.

me: lol
ugh... i try to stop myself from doing that
"lol"

my friend: it's hard
you'd think the new gen of computer geeks would have come up with something better

me: rofl, ^^, and :D have become more popular :D

my friend: rofl?

me: rolling on floor laughing
that one took a while for me :D

my friend: oh my god...really?

me: really

my friend: and ^^?

me: as in ^.^
like a smiley face

my friend: i feel old

me: whats funny is that this gen of computer nerds has split in 2: the ones that like to talk think and the ones that brutally play computer games
while "^.^" would be acceptable in a chat room,
it wouldn't fly in a videogame chat box
same with w00t, but the other way around

my friend: shudder

me: its scary, if you think about it

my friend: i don't like it

me: me neither
i enjoy words

my friend: i spell out every word in text messages, too

me: amen
unless I'm getting near my 160 character limit

my friend: ha - right

me: and it took me a full 3 years to learn that w00t meant "We owned the other team" because it is never used in that context.

my friend: wait - that's what it stands for?

me: exactly

my friend: oh my

me: "haha. halo 8 is coming out this week"
"w00t"

my friend: maybe i shouldn't go down this rabbit hole

me: haha
trust me, words are way better.

my friend: uh… rofl?

Google + Phone = Amazing

noreply@blogger.com (Salem) — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 04:12:00 +0000

Great news... you can send me voicemails or comments with your phone. Just click the "Call Me" button and enter your phone number and name. I used a new feature from Google called "GrandCentral." It assigned me a new number (which I'm not about to post), and then showed me a huge amount of features I had access to. I can record incoming calls, view my call inbox online, and a whole myriad of other things. So please, give me a call. I can't promise I'll pick up, but you can always leave me a voice message. Right now, GrandCentral is in private beta, but if you leave me a message, I'd be happy to send you an invite (unless, of course, I run out).

In addition, on the right hand side of my blog, there is a link to a new page I mentioned a few days ago: As part of a few updates I'm making to my blog, I made an external site to manage all of my external... stuff. I started with a page with the soul purpose of displaying my Youtube videos. A permanent link to it is http://trichiliad.googlepages.com/youtubevideos.

Enjoy.

Thank You, Internet.

noreply@blogger.com (Salem) — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 00:42:00 +0000

Thanks to the internet (and the diligent watch of a few friends), I found a whole bunch of web apps (and some downloadable programs) that make media, socializing, and a whole bunch of other things a lot easier. Check them out, and give me some feedback.

DoubleTwist
This is really easy; DoubleTwist lets you oranize all your media, sync it to your phone, PSP, or other mobile device, and even share it with your friends. What I like about it is that it integrates rather nicely into Facebook. Its also really simple to set up: it downloads in seconds, installs quickly, and works seamlessly.

SkyDrive Windows Live's latest feature, SkyDrive is an online storage/backup system. You can save up to 5 gigs of information, with a 50 mb filesize limit. You can also organize them into folders, choose to make some open to the public or private, and keep track of others whose SkyDrive you've accessed recently. Because its a Live feature, it works well with Live Spaces, Photos, and Friends. And best yet, its free.

OpenID Tired of making a new account for every website you want to access? With OpenID, you can easily sign in to almost any website with one account. There's an ever-growing list of websites that support OpenID, including Blogger, Attachr, and a whole list of OpenID Software, mainly for web developers.

Lifestrea.ms
Ever wonder about an easy way of keeping in touch with your world? With a new "breed" of internet tools called "Open Aggrigators," staying in touch with whats new in both the digital and real world becomes excruciatingly easy. But, instead of stopping there, it also involves you in the world: you can appear to different audiences, socialize, keep in touch with friends, or whatever else you'd like to do. You can choose who see's what as well... for instance, you can appear to one group as a professional programmer who makes a living designing inventive software. On the other hand, you can appear to a completely different group of people from a more social standpoint, such as a 20-something bachelor who enjoys walks on the beach. Right now, Lifestrea.ms is in beta, and you have to request it via email if you'd like it. They have a public demo page that you can visit here. Check it out... I hope I get accepted into the beta.

Web Updates

noreply@blogger.com (Salem) — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 20:45:00 +0000

I am currently in the process of registering my blog with a website called http://www.freedomains.co.nr. They provide free "domains" for websites, so (hopefully) you will soon be able to access my blog at www.bichiliad.co.nr.

In addition, I want to create a website for all the content I want to remain stationary: for example, I want a page that has a player, hosting all my youtube videos. Since I can't really (easily) put this in my blog, it will be a lot easier to make a new website. Since someone already took bichiliad.googlepages.com (grr... I tried to make my title as unique as possible), I will be hosting all my extraneous pages under trichiliad.googlepages.com. Not to worry though: any page you will ever want to see on that site will have a link on my blog.

Hopefully, all this new updating will be smooth sailing, and I really hope its not as confusing once you see it.

Thoughts on the "Protect America Act"

noreply@blogger.com (Salem) — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 20:33:00 +0000

No more wire tapping? Although the concept of wiretapping is a bit unnerving, at least it's "working." But without it? Wireless and cyber terrorism has become more and more dangerous over the past few years, and an inability to intercept potential threats is akin to not giving Britney Spears random drug tests: Who knows what could happen without them?

The Protect America Act expired on Febuary 16th.

New Youtube Video!

noreply@blogger.com (Salem) — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 01:24:00 +0000

Finally, after a lot of talk, and not much to show for it, I finally shoved my latest video into one of Youtube's thousands of servers and, after waiting for a bit, got a result: my 2ND (well, it's technically my 3rd, but my 1st didn't really count) Youtube video ever.

The video is about setting up a system of software that will allow you to access all the music on one of your computers anywhere else (from any computer, iPhone, or iPod Touch that has internet) in the world. I really like using it: I'm no longer confined to a 16 gig memory limit :)

If you want to get embedded code for it, or if you want to watch it on youtube.com, you could just click here to view my video in all its youtube-ness. Check it out: I'll be watching my view count!

From Algebra to Art: Creating Mathmatical Masterpieces.

noreply@blogger.com (Salem) — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 23:11:00 +0000

Mathematicians often rhapsodize about the austere elegance of a well-wrought proof. But math also has a simpler sort of beauty that is perhaps easier to appreciate: It can be used to create objects that are just plain pretty—and fascinating to boot.

While not everyone enjoys math, I think one would be a little bit more strained to find someone who would not enjoy the images created from it. Dynamic systems, or a simple rule used to describe how a point moves across a plane, can be used to create beautiful works of art such as the one seen at right, called "coral star". Michael Field, a mathematics professor at the University of Houston has developed a very simple, yet unique way to create art:

Field uses an equation that takes any point on a piece of paper and moves it to a different spot. Field repeats this process over and over again—around 5 billion times—and keeps track of how often each pixel-sized spot in the plane gets landed on. The more often a pixel gets hit, the deeper the shade Field colors it.

To view more of his art, as well as the art of several other "mathematical artists," click on the picture and read the full article. There are works from Robert Bosch, Robert Fathauer, and Andrew Pike, who use very different methods to create their art.

Why?

noreply@blogger.com (Salem) — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 23:05:00 +0000

"KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — A suicide bomber blew himself up in a large crowd gathered at a dog-fighting event just outside this city in southern Afghanistan, killing about 80 people and wounding more than 90 others in the country’s worst single bombing since 2001."

Hasn't there been enough violence already?

Sorry... things like this get to me.

The Foo Fighters at the Grammy's

noreply@blogger.com (Salem) — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 21:37:00 +0000

As I talked about a few weeks ago, there was a competition to find a talented musician that would play with the Foo Fighters live at the Grammy Awards. Well, their concert was uploaded to Youtube on the 10th, and has since received over 17000 hits per day. During the concert, they announced the winner, who performed with the Foo Fighters in their song, "The Pretender." I was a little upset, though, that you could not hear the violinist who won, Ann Marie Calhoun, very well. Overall, however, it was a great performance. You can see the top 3 finalists, the 15 semifinalists, and all other little bits of information that you may have wondered about the competition. Congratulations to all the finalists and to Ann Marie.

Out of the Frying Pan...

noreply@blogger.com (Salem) — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 16:40:00 +0000

"Echostorm writes with word that Windows Vista SP1, which began rolling out via Automatic Update, has left some users' machines unbootable ."

*sigh* I was hoping for an easy fix that would make Vista a little bit more manageable... Apparently, numerous reports of computers looping between the "Configuring Updates" screen, the "shutting down" screen, and upon restarting your computer, the "Configuring Updates" screen again. This would get exceedingly frustrating especially since, so far, there has been no word from Microsoft on a fix for the bug. Apparently, there were hints of this problem in the service pack's beta, but it seems as though nothing has been done to fix the problem.

On a brighter note, as Microsoft hasn't released the updates to the general public, there may still be a fix before it gets sent to users like you via "Windows Update". The service pack waves a handful of updates at users, including faster copying times, full support for the latest 802.11 n wireless adapters, and faster update times. For a full list of updates, check their changelog. It makes one wonder if these differences will be noticeable, helpful, or enough to make Vista likable. For my sake, I hope they update their compatibility with nVidia graphics cards, because the ones right now make me want to cry.

noreply@blogger.com (Salem) — Sun, 10 Feb 2008 23:43:00 +0000

"An end to Hollywood’s long and bitter writers’ strike appears all but assured, as the governing boards of the unions representing 12,000 movie and television writers on Sunday unanimously approved a tentative three-year deal with production companies."

As I sat today in a large comfy chair by a fire (its really cold today) I couldn't help wonder about what exactly is going on with the writer's strike. And, lo and behold, as I looked up at the TV, NBC was doing a special on it. Apparently, both sides of the argument were unsatisfied with the proposed 3 year contract, but, as several people quoted, that's what makes it such a good contract. Many writers as well as producers do not want to see the Grammy Awards pass by uneventfully: that would be very bad. In the end, I really hope that the strike comes to a close: I will be really upset if they start cutting back on LOST.

On another off-hand note, my latest vid is going a bit slowly... i have had preoccupations recently that have... stunted its production. However, as soon as I get the end credits finished, I just have to slap on some music and call it a day. I hope...

Digsby!

noreply@blogger.com (Salem) — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 21:10:00 +0000

"IM, Email, and Social Networks in one easy to use application."

A friend of mine commented that she kept 18 AIM screen names alone (what a ridiculous idea). I, on the other hand, have 2, comprising of a single AIM account and another Gmail account. What would be great, though, would be a program that managed all of your contacts and email accounts. I have been toying with Pidgin for a while, and although I like it, it has a way of being annoying (like flashing every time you get an email). However, recently, I found a program (through a friend, who may in fact soon be a guest contributer to this blog) that allows you to manage your email, instant messaging, and social network accounts from one window. Its called Digsby, and it promises to be a huge step forward on the simplicity scale. Unlike previous instant messengers, it allows you to customize its appearance greatly by giving you various style options. It incorporates your Facebook or Myspace account and gives you news updates or new messages. It is also less intrusive: when you get a new message, it pops up as a mini chat box in the corner of your screen, where you can reply directly to a chat before going back to whatever it is you were doing. I really like it, and I can't wait until the public beta is released so I can see how popular it becomes. It is currently in private beta, but if you would like to try it out, ArsTechnica is offering 5,000 free registration keys. It is on a first-come first-serve basis, so I'd hurry up and click here to read their review of Digsby and get your own activation key.

Pangaea Day

noreply@blogger.com (Salem) — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 22:46:00 +0000

"Pangea Day taps the power of film to strengthen tolerance and compassion while uniting millions of people to build a better future."

I love the fact that recently, more than ever, there have been efforts to make the world come together a little bit more, such as the Davos Question I talked about a few days ago. In "Pangea Day," which is held around the world live on March 10th (see their website for more details), videos from around the world will be displayed. Their idea around this is simply "if you could share one video with everyone in the world, what would it be?"

There are high hopes that this video will ease racial tension around the world as well as help to draw people farther away closer together. The videos will be shown around the world, either at special "Pangea Day" screenings, at public theaters and parks, or at private, invitation-only screenings.

Videos can still be submitted. As they put it:

"We're looking for films that will make us laugh, cry, and gasp. They can be fiction, non-fiction, real-life, animation, or your own unique mixture. But they should hold our attention for every second. And above all, they should tell a story that someone else on the other side of the world will be able to relate to."

I personally can't wait to see all the amazing videos that will stream in and be shown on the 10th. If you read this and post a video, leave a comment and let me know. They also have a trailer which I think is pretty amazing. Check it out on youtube.

Happy pangea day.

People like this skip math in highschool.

noreply@blogger.com (Salem) — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 22:04:00 +0000

Wow. I got this video in an email recently and was amazed at the amazing and complicated mathematic equations that this man could compute in his head. He was able to square 3 digit numbers before a pane of people armed with calculators could finish typing the numbers in. But what makes this presentation unique is that he uses words in place of numbers to help him keep his thoughts together. If he gets to a large number, he simply replaces it with a word. I find it funny how people like him work like computers. Or maybe computers work like people like him...

Worth chartering a space shuttle for...

noreply@blogger.com (Salem) — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 23:11:00 +0000

"If you’re out there in deep space, you’ll want to be tuning in at 7 p.m. Eastern time on Monday, Feb. 4 (plus however long it takes electromagnetic radiation to reach you from Earth doing the 186,000-miles-a-second speed limit)."

To start off, I'd like to say "Happy Birthday, NASA." Now, on with the story... also regarding NASA's birthday. Being the 50th anniversary of NASA's first shuttle launch, NASA will be using their huge system of antennas to beam the song "Across the Universe" by the Beatles into deep space. The beam, heading in the general direction of the North Star, or Polaris, is also being used to commemorate the antenna system it's being sent from: The Deep Space Network was created 45 years ago. It is also the 2nd outgoing signal sent from Earth, the first being sent in 1974. And as the NYT says, "No reply, at least so far."

It makes one wonder if there is, in fact, life out there. Many say that the universe, being what it is, should have some sort of life out there. Others, namely scientists, don't think so: they have found countless planet, few of which have even the slightest chance of hosting some sort of life. Even more say that the universe isn't the infinite realm of nothingness that we've imagined it: apparently, it is doughnut-shaped. Regardless, we may find that in a few hundred thousand years, we get a response. Until then, we shall wait.

And my next Youtube video is almost finished... media fans and iPod fans alike will enjoy this one.

Well said.

noreply@blogger.com (Salem) — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 01:06:00 +0000

Very well put. Now, how do we do that?

The Davos Question, and information about it, can be seen here.

The general gist of it: If you had an idea on how to make the world a better place, and it could be viewed by some of the world's greatest thinkers, what would you say? The World Economic Forum invites these thinkers to talk about how the world could potentially be a better place, among other topics.

And of course, the results came flying in like lottery tickets. There were 121 videos posted on the channel "TheDavosQuestion" on youtube, and thousands more that weren't. Click here to see the channel "TheDavosQuestion."

It is also interesting to note the responses to some of the videos. While some critiqued the videos or praised them, others gave their own ideas. Users like higreentj commented that expanded communication through mediums such as widespread (or even national) wireless hotspots, could help the world, and its people, communicate easier. Another personal favorite of mine was a post from nigelhenry0. He says that sharing information of all sorts with everyone through all means, regardless of what the information is.

"Knowledge is power, [so] lets empower ourselves as global citizens by sharing the little bit we know."

I loved his response, as well as all the responses I read (except the racially ignorant ones that said that a white male supremacy would make the world a better place, to which I refuse to post links).

The videos have already been received, but look at Davos Conversation and WEForum to see the videos, their responses, and the results of the Word Economic Forum.

Sweeney's waiting...

noreply@blogger.com (Salem) — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 02:36:00 +0000

"You'll be twisted, manipulated and repulsed, but always entertained. You might also find yourself uttering "God, That's Good."

At the request of my friends, I decided to finally buy a ticket and see the infamous "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street," who's title's length rivals that of "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan" directed by Tim Burton and starring (who else?) Johnny Depp. By this point, Johnny Depp's appearance in any of Tim Burton's movies is a forehead-slapping "duh," but he really did manage to surprise me by not just singing, but singing well. I was thoroughly impressed, seeing as he's never sang on screen before (and of course, his blistering billions of teenage girls now think he's dreamier then ever). There was also an appearance by Sacha Baron Cohen, a.k.a. Borat, who played a novice barber impersonating an Italian. Of course, he had a total movie time of about 5 minutes, as all minor characters are killed eventually in this movie. Which reminds me, I'd like to say a little about the movie's gore. If "Bambi" was a 1 and "The Passion of the Christ" were a 10, this movie would rank a solid 11, right up there with "Saw." The whole motion behind the story is that a barber, wrongly accused of some terrible crime, is sent away only to find that he has nothing to return to and wants revenge, so he goes on a throat-slitting spree. I lost count about halfway through the movie, but by then I'd already gotten to something obscene like 20 or something... What makes the movie even creepier is that sometimes you actually feel glad that this guy is killing some of these people. The movie goes pretty in-depth with background information, providing a nice hit list for "Mr. Todd" to slaughter. What makes it worse is that all these dead people are chopped, ground, and baked into pies, which people eat. Ew. I would not recommend this movie for people who hate blood or cannibalisms, especially that of the accidental sort. However, the plot was beautiful and the setting was very dark (even in this nice scene where everything is sunny and Sweeney is enjoying a nice picnic), but in a good way, thanks to the efforts of Mr. Burton. All in all, the amount of gore in the movie detracted somewhat from the overall experience.

Just a note, the soundtrack is beautiful.

Another note, the official DevTeam 1.1.3 jailbreak was released sometime over the past couple of days.