The good news? My favorite manga was made into a movie, and now is being released in the US:

The year is 2131. A non-nuclear war has left the earth barren. Deunan Knute roams the badlands, one of the many soldiers who, with lines of communication cut, continue to fight, unaware that the war has ended. Deunan is never one to take things lying down: a highly trained soldier with police and SWAT experience, she is prepared for nearly anything -- but not for the heavily armed helicopter that assaults her without warning. Before she realizes what's going on, Deunan is losing consciousness: her last thought is hazy realization that she's been hit by a tranquilizer. Not only that, but one of the perpetrators is her old love Briareos. He has arrived with the beautiful Hitomi to intercept Deunan and take her back with the to the enigmatic utopia, Olympus.

[ Appleseed ]

The bad news? Limited release. Apparently there is no perceived market for Anime in the DC area. New York, Chicago, LA, San Francisco, Hawai'i, and Philadelphia are all represented, but nothing anywhere near DC. Obviously the distributors have never been to Annandale or near the Merrifield Theater, I'm sure this thing could run a week or two and do a good deal of business. *sigh* I guess I'll have to keep my eye out for the DVD release.

How freaking deranged do you have to be to make a conclusion like this?

SpongeBob - who appears on the children's cable channel Nickelodeon - is seen as an icon for adult gay men in the US, apparently because he regularly holds hands with his sidekick Patrick.

[ US right attacks SpongeBob video ]

Holding hands makes you gay? And SpongeBob's apparent gayness is communicated best through this video remake? As a way to turn children gay? I think we're all aware that Spider-man will make you gay, but SpongeBob, please. Checking the site of the organization who has released the video, WAFF, I note that the ADL is also involved. Perhaps they are trying to turn my children Jewish as well...

The organization that is promoting the video has a different take:

WAFF spokesman Mark Barondeso told the newspaper that anyone who thought the video promoted homosexuality "needs to visit their doctor and get their medication increased".

The head of Focus on the Family, Dr. Dobson, claims that SpongeBob isn't turning America's youth gay, but instead representing the gays of America who we should be beating down (my words). Of course if he ever watched the SpongeBob program, he'd know that A: SpongeBob digs Sandy and B: he's impervious to gay bashing. Though I'm sure that Dr. Dobson doesn't want America's youth accepting the diversity of the heathens (read Jews) either, but it's easier to blame the gays...

Your phone has a camera on it, now what? You could take stupid pictures and share them with the world:

This is a public moblog dedicated to the man himself....Spongebob Squarepants (other Spongebob characters can also be posted). If you have a pic of him and wish to post it, email it to Spongebob.daniel[at]tamw.com

[ SpongeBlog SquarePants ]

I found this via Laura Foy's and Mogan Webb's Moblog. Apparently a few of the G4TV hosts like to share.

Oh, and Hello Kitty too...

Wow, lots changing in my blogroll these days.

Recently removed JoyStiq or whatever it was called, thanks for the tip Bull, but 19 out of 20 posts seemed to be straight off of slashdot's game feed (which I already read).

Recently added many game links. Video Fenky had a few, I've added the ones that looked good and had RSS feeds, hopefully some good stuff in there. Also added T-Dub and Thug AKA Tina Wood and Laura Foy, they are co-hosts of G4TV.com on the swell G4TechTV (née G4TV, and I've heard could revert as well).

I wonder if there are any good blogs or news sites that focus on coffee...

Some love the bandwagon:

Google has come up with a solution and I think every blog should start to pay attention to it. It has to do with an extra attribute. Anyway here's the athoratative link: google blog

[ Stopping Comment Spam ]

Others are irritated by the brute force nature of this move:

I'm not happy about the breach of protocol, but not as mad as I was when I thought that they were introducing a brand new attribute...

[ KooshMoose ]

Everyone seems to think it's a good idea. I've added it to my “filters” so all links should be rewritten to include this googletastic best practice. Now if I only had the motivation to hack it into .Text as well. Meh, I'll just wait for Community Server :: Blog.

A serious bit of paper art:

...the fine art of paper folding is inherently super cool...

[ Anticlown Daily - Awesome Origami ]

I hope that a degree in engineering and/or a CAD/CAM program were involved.

Apparently VW was pooh-poohing hybrids until a few more details came to light, and now they've come up with a Golf concept car:

The diesel-HEV could potentially deliver up to 10 to 15 percent better fuel economy than a comparable gasoline-electric powertrain, stated Matthias Rabe, director of research for the VW Group. And what about performance? Zero to 100 km/h (0-62.5 mph) needs a mere 11.0 seconds while a top speed of approximately 196 km/h (122 mph) is attainable. The Golf ECO.Power is equipped with a stop-start function, similar to all current production hybrids, and achieves a thrifty 3.8 liter per 100 km fuel economy average.

[ Canadian automotive network ]

Sounds like the exact car that I want...

Google, seriously ticked off with the likes of Apple and BMW has announced a new product:

With the new product, the Mountain View, Calif.-based company hopes to broaden its search-appliance business to cater to smaller businesses with fewer documents and tighter budgets. The blue box, which plugs into a corporate intranet and searches up to 50,000 documents, was launched Thursday at Google.com for $4,995.

[ Google unveils budget search appliance | CNET News.com ]

Starbucks has commented that they wish they had called the Chantico the Cocoa Mini...

Props to Mak.

Well, perhaps not die, but it's fun to vote anyway! I like Concept III. Still room to sit for the elderly or handicapped, but much easier access to the train. Just add in some swell video monitors with notifications about the station and direction of train (in Kanji, Katakana, and Romanji of course) and it'll feel just like Tokyo.

[ Survey input page ]

Well, perhaps it will take more than that, but DC metro does have more seats than any other commuter train system I've ever ridden on.

Props to the Persian Diversion...

I love coffee. I also love the Internet. I really love it when they come together.

Don't let your card run low -- add to your Caribou Card balance online. In order to add money to your card, you will need to log in or create a personal account with Caribou.

[ Caribou Coffee — My Account ]

I had been Caribouing regularly, but I really enjoyed the fact that I could load up my Narbucks card from their website. The cashiers are nice enough, but loading up a card isn't what they're best at. With the card I don't have to see dozens of tiny ATM POP transactions, or *shudder* carry cash. Now that 'Bou is on-board with Internet reloads, I think I'm switching my regular back...

It's true:

Washington's largest alternative rock station, WHFS 99.1, was replaced by an all-Spanish music format. WHFS, an indie favorite in the D.C.-metro area since it's inception in the 1960s, saw many changes over its lifespan. Originally a home for music that couldn't find a home elsewhere, it became an Infinity station in 1996

[ washingtonpost.com - Live Online ]

Of course Infinity made it suck even more than it had already started to. I blame Seattle and “Grunge” for killing WHFS. Viva El Zol! (www.whfs.com).

More props to el Dari.

Update:

Of Infinity's five stations in the market, WHFS was its weakest ratings performer. In the Summer 2004 survey, the station had a 1.6 overall share and a 3.3 among its 18-34 target. Infinity's own Rhythmic Contemporary Hit Radio WPGC-FM is the top-rated station and the 18-34 leader.

[ Media Week ]

Time Warp Playlist!

• Supertramp
• ELO
• Styx
• Yes
• REO Speedwagon
• Rush

Mostly greatest hits albums. Debated putting some Boston on there too...

This looks small, light, inexpensive, and clever:

Time to mix things up. Meet iPod shuffle, the unpredictable new iPod. What will it play next? Can it read your mind? Can it read your moods? Load it up. Put it on. See where it takes you. Choose from pocket-size 512MB or 1G models starting at $99 and surprise yourself.

[ Apple - iPod shuffle ]

Too bad my GTI doesn't have a USB interface for the radio...

Now you can make a low profile PC driven solution with a Mac!

Live the digital life in stylish simplicity. Just 6.5 inches wide and 2 inches tall, Mac mini provides what you need to have more fun with your music, photos and movies — right out of the box.

[ Apple - Mac mini ]

Maybe my kitchen needs Internet...

Props to Dari.

For a while now I've thought of putting together a playlist and burning a CD of songs related to one of my passions, coffee. So far I have about 1/2 what I need for a full CD. Can anyone think of something (available from Rhapsody) that would fit this list?

 Coffee

1. "Black Coffee" - Bobby Darin
2. "Cigarettes And Coffee" - Otis Redding
3. "Black Coffee Inn Bed" - Squeeze
4. "Coffee In A Cardboard Cup" - Mandy Patinkin
5. "Pot Of Coffee" - Frankie Paul/Pinchers
6. "Tom's Diner (A Capella)" - Suzanne Vega
7. "Let's Have Another Cup O' Coffee" - Glenn Miller
8. "The Coffee Song - (previously unreleased, alternate take)" - Frank Sinatra
9. "Java Jive" - Manhattan Transfer
10. "Jumpin' East Of Java" - The Brian Setzer Orchestra

And yes, the Rhapsody thing, unfortunately leaves Prince's Starfish and Coffee of the list. (Why Prince, why?!?!?)

But I like it!

Windows AntiSpyware (Beta) is a security technology that helps protect Windows users from spyware and other potentially unwanted software. Known spyware on your PC can be detected and removed. This helps reduce negative effects caused by spyware including slow PC performance, annoying pop-up ads, unwanted changes to Internet settings, and unauthorized use of your private information. Continuous protection improves Internet browsing safety by guarding over 50 ways spyware can enter your PC

[ Download details: Windows AntiSpyware (Beta) ]

It did seem to require a verification of my Windows license, so if you don't have quite a legal copy, you might not be able to get this. I have little information on the database that Microsoft (previously Giant's) has put together, and how it stacks up against Ad-Aware, but so far I am impressed. It lets me set some options on how I want it to run, if I want automatic, and when, and then finds spyware for me. It registered my VNC as possible spyware, but since I installed it (and only use the client) I told it to ignore that in the future.

And for power users there are some “Advanced Tools”, including some “System Explorers” which allow you to view Downloaded ActiveX, Running Processes, Startup Programs, etc. And the software informs you what it might be, and if it might be safe. If you agree to assist their little network, you can submit programs to them to review for “spywaredness”, I sent in the one ActiveX component they don't seem to be aware of (that I have installed) Bitstream's TrueDoc plug in.

Certainly good value for the money. (Though I think I'll still give Ad-Aware a run every now and then).

It would seem so. At first I was quite disoriented. The layout of the game has changed a bit since version one, and now there is an “over world” of sorts. Instead of just picking up races like you would in NfSU1, you drive around town looking for races. Sometimes you happen upon an underground racer, a quick SMS back and forth and it's off to see who's fastest. Other times you happen across actual events and you enter a slide race or some such. In between all of this you use your earning to “pimp your ride”.

Need for Speed Underground 2 dares you to go faster and deeper into racing culture! Immerse yourself in the tuner culture, exploring an expansive, free-roaming city divided into five distinct neighborhoods.

[ GameCube Games : Gamefly ]

Once I got used to the interface, and realized that each event on the map had uploaded coordinates into my navi-computer (courtesy of Brooke Burke), and my car came equipped with a GPS system to guide me, I think I really like this one. I'm not so much of a racing freak that I'll be buying this one, but the game certainly seems decent enough. Career mode, however, takes a racing game type to get through. Tricking out your car just takes too long in career mode to suit my taste. I'm not sure if there is an option to make the damage model more realistic either. No matter how bad your crash is, the worst effect it seems to have is slowing you down. All in all a great show, I give it 4 thumbs out of 5 stars, or something like that.