AIM: Pancaek Beast | E-mail: shdwdde@gmail.com | Denny's House of Pancaeks
Hey, it's Leap Day
This day don't come 'round so often these days.
'kay, gotta perform in Macro... c'mon c'mon!
SD
Friday, February 29, 2008
Friday, February 29, 2008
"Part of the Problem," "Just Words, Are They Not?"
From Rob Fishman's article in The Daily Sun:
'A major study commissioned by the Pew Center and authored by the Brookings Institute demonstrates that only one-third of children today will earn more than the previous generation, and rank higher than their parents in family income. What's worse, one-fourth of children will "ride the tide," and remain in the same economic position in which they grew up, and another one-third of all American children will actually experience downward mobility during their lifetime, falling behind their parents "in both real family income and relative rank," the study explains.'
He's got some weight behind his words, but c'mon. First of all, 1/3 + 1/4 + 1/3 doesn't add up to 1. We seem to have covered all bases here - greater than, equal to, or less than. Perhaps he's skewing the statistics - perhaps more precise figures would be 37%, 29%, 34%? How are we to know? Also, half of us are doing as well as or better than hour parents. That's capitalism. You are your own person.
Finally, the rest of the article loses itself. First it criticizes Harvard and Yale's giving their students full rides, and then it says that 'elite institutions' like Ivy League schools ought to be doing more. Whatexactly are we looking for here?
On another note, I thought that Bill McMorris's criticism of Obama, "Just Words, Are They Not?" was excellently written and delivered. Compared Barack's oration with that of Jefferson, FDR, JFK. I'm not that politically savvy, but his article was very intelligent in style and sound in opinion.
SD
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Partisan Politics
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/feedarticle/7333210
WASHINGTON (AP) - Consumer advocate Ralph Nader has announced he is running for president in the current White House race.
Nader, who many Democrats say siphoned off enough votes from Al Gore in the 2000 election to hand the victory to George W. Bush by a razor-thin margin, made the announcement Sunday on NBC's ``Meet the Press.''
That's the entirety of the article.
Isn't it amazing when a bid for the presidency is seen as a complete joke and things like this get a full article?
SD
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Bedtime: 2:00 a.m.
Being healthy ain't never felt this good
SD
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Saturday, February 23, 2008
GG HD-DVD, hey there PS3
For the last few years, Toshiba and Sony have been competing for dominance over the marketplace for the format that will succeed today's ubiquitous DVDs
HD-DVD is toast. Toshiba announced over the weekend or so that they're cutting production of this product. From my consumer standpoint, this is Good News. First of all, Blu-Ray's clearly the more powerful format. More storage capacity and scratch-resistant. I can be 95% confident that if and when I decide to buy my next 'generation' of media-burning and -playing, it'll be Blu-Ray, Baby. No more uncertainty. No more, "But what if this movie only comes to HD-DVD?" No way. Blu Ray.
Also, kudos to Sony for playing it very well. They made the better product and sold it really well. In the last few weeks before HD-DVD's demise, Sony gained exclusive rights to Warner Bros movies, Best Buy support, and Wal Mart support. While PS3 is still picking up flak for a contemporary comparatively lackluster game selection, Blu-Ray format dominance is a huge step toward Sony's ultimate vision for the PS3 - as the centerpiece of a home theatre system. Music, games, movies, internet? Sounds good to me. All I need is the HDTV.
Macroeconomically, I have a Good Feeling about this, too. I feel like the format industry ought to be a natural monopoly, but this of course doesn't sit well with my 'competition is good!' mindset. Low prices come 'round when there's competition. I haven't got a perfect source, but from what I understand, Blu-Ray player prices dropped 50% ($1000 to $500) in the first six months of the item's introduction to the marketplace. Without the competition from HD-DVD, though, one might fear that prices will stagnate.
But not to fear! Blu-Ray players can't just hang themselves off to dry - they're linked to the PS3. The prices of Blu-Ray players can't stay much higher than those of the PS3, since the PS3, well, is a Blu-Ray player. And the PS3 can't set its price too continuously high because it competes not only in the movie market, but also in the games market. Microsoft's Xbox 360 represents an economical alternative to the PS3 in what many still consider PS3's primary function: a gaming console. While Sony's finally managed to cut PS3 prices to match Xbox 360's $400, Xbox 360's currently superior game selection lends Microsoft the upper hand in sales for hi-definition gaming.
So there's still competition in the gaming market, but not in the movie market. And with PS3's future as a home theatre centerpiece finally looking a bit more promising, PS3's game lineup might be seeing a boost, too. Specifically, it's interesting to see what games will be available on both Xbox 360 and PS3. Devil May Cry 4 hit both Xbox 360 and PS3 this month, and games like Guitar Hero 3 and Virtua Fighter 5 are also available on both platforms. As PS3 looks better, developers are going to want to include its owners as potential buyers, and we're going to see more ports or multiplatform games being made. In addition, PS3 is finally going to get its most anticipated exclusive, Metal Gear Solid 4.
As a final note, how important is this hi-def talk? In July 2007, one third of American households had an HDTV, and the level has only increased. Of these people, we can expect that the vast majority are going to want a hi-definition movie player. DVDs are great, but they're going the way of the VHS.
HD-DVD served its role as a competitor to Blu-Ray to put the pressure on Sony. Now if only I'd done my taxes, I'd have gotten the $600 rebate I needed to buy that damned HDTV...
SD
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Google Desktop tells me it's 58dF in Acton right now
Wow.
SD
Monday, February 18, 2008
Monday, February 18, 2008
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