[Books] My current reading list

House_of_Leaves by Mark Z Danielewski - strange, but so far good
Double Eagle by Dan Abnett - WWII-esque WH40K air combat
America (the book):__A_Citizen's_Guide_to_Democracy_Inaction by Jon Stewart - I suggest we add it to all high school American history cirricula
How_to_be_a_Villan:__Evil_Laughs,_Secret_Liars,_Master_Plans_and_More! by Neil Zawacki - self-help book
Zombie_Survival_Guide:__Complete_Protection_from_the_Living_Dead by Max Brooks - always be prepared for a level 3 zombie outbreak!


Recent DVD purchases:

Pitch Black/Chronicles of Riddick (uncut director versions) double pack - I was stranglely pleased by these movies.
I Heart Huckabees - best damn existential detective movie ever!
Shaun of the Dead - best romantic comedy involving zombies ever (tied with the Lost Skeleton of Cadavera)
Once Upon a Time in Mexico - guns, Johnny Depp, Cheech Marin, etc.
Go: Life Begins at 3am - old favorite


On my short list for DVD purchases:

Pi - math, mystery, existentialism
Buck Rogers - yes, they now sell all 32 episodes on DVD, this was one of my favorite shows in the 80s
The Avengers (Emma Peel Years) - if I can find it, possible b-day gift for my wife
Patlabor 1/2 the Movies - must have for me.

[Musings] The broadcast flag

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2005-02-22-tv-piracy_x.htm

The whole fiasco surrounding HDTV, the FCC, and the broadcast flag will pretty much ensure that I do not go back to TV. People will remember that they have a choice and will choose other things and hopefully TV will change. I view this technology as useless, much like DVD region encoding. Someone will figure a way around it. If they are worried about piracy, perhaps broadcasters instead of getting their lacky gov't agencies to pass draconian laws, chill out and remember that the 'airwaves' are public domain. Want to regulate cable? Go ahead you can do it in the receiver (like with digital cable), people have to pay for that, but broadcasts on radio waves are open to all to access. Airwaves are public space. The FCC needs to go back and re-evaluate its charter:

(from http://www.fcc.gov/omd/history )
"So, while the formal charge of Congress to the FCC can be summed up in less than 30 words – ensure that the American people have available, at reasonable costs and without discrimination, rapid, efficient, Nation- and world-wide communication services; whether by radio, television, wire, satellite, or cable – the day-to-day reality may be that there is no more ubiquitous presence in the lives of most Americans than the FCC-regulated communications industries."

The FCC has too much power and should be neutered. TV airwaves are public domain and beyond making sure that everyone plays nice in the sandbox, the FCC should have no power to create or enforce such edicts. Oh while I am on the subject, thank you FCC for also allowing giant media megacorporations to create monopolies in markets. Thanks. I like the fact that the same company now owns most of the media outlets I have access to.

Viva Indepent Film, Radio, Newspaper, and other forms of media!

(PS - Why do we keep up the charade of gov't regulation? Such as the EPA, FCC, SEC? They seem effectively powerless now. )

[Musings] My issues with /.

I have been an avid reader/supporter (yes I pay $5/1000 pages to help support them and keep away ads from my view [yes I know I can use ad-block as well]), but over the last few years the value I take from them has been declining. I enjoy things like the slashboxes (that allow me to quick link other places) and I do find some articles and authors interesting, but I am growing more and more tired of the idiocy. For example, take this post (the person posted Anonymously so I cannot name the guilty):

(from the discussion thread: http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/02/21/0143223&tid=95)

---cut here---
Overcome this.(Score:3, Interesting)
by Anonymous Coward on 02-21-05 3:37 #11734421

javascript.enabled = false

My favourite way of blocking bullshit. If the site doesn't work this way I'll either bitch the webmaster for writing buggy pages or simply vote with my feet. In most cases don't even need to waste my precious brainpower in deciding what to boycott. If it doesn't work, it's probably broken -> neext please.
---cut here---

I am really starting to hate ignorant comments like this. This comment should not have been moderated 3, Interesting. This is a perfect illustration of how /. is going to hell, one moderator at a time. Ok I know I am being a bit over-sensitive about this, but this person (and by extension every moderator who modded up this person) has no concept of reality. While it would be nice to be able to do this, in an ideal capitalist utopia (which we do NOT have, and never will), this would work. However in the real world such as in my job with all things *nix, we have only one or two vendors who will have support for product X, or hell even at home I will have something (say a game) that is only available from a certain vendor. They program in javascript and hence you need to have it enabled to properly access their site. This sucks and I cannot move on.

This post should have been modded -1 Idiot.

[Sci-Fi] Sigh...

I am reading the novel Double Eagle by Dan Abnett and I love it. It is set in the Warhammer 40k universe and follows the plight of the Imperial Phantine Air Group who were introduced in Abnett's Gaunt's Ghosts series.

Reading good sci-fi books like this one transport me to the world. Abnett is a talented writer and deserves much credit. I so far have read all of his Gaunt's books and enjoyed every one. In addition he also wrote the Inquisitor Eisenhorn trilogy Xenos, Malleus, Hereticus and each one was rich with the Warhammer 40k Universe.

It is times like this that I wish Games Workshop had better video game offerings.

A few things I would like to see:

- an epic class 3d war simulator set in Armaggedon with full range of control, armies, and storyline
- a flight sim (MMOCFS like Aces High?) set in the WH40k universe
- a Titan war machine simulator
- a WH40k MMORPG (I know they started development on a Warhammer [fantasy] based on but stopped)

Ah well. I guess if I need a fix of aerial combat, there is Aces High (http://www.hitechcreations.com), I just wish my old squadron was still together (the Flying Whirlpools of Suck).