I like my WIkipedia just fine: Why the SOPA act is a bad idea

If you hear about some random bit of trivia or want information on some obscure fact, what's the first thing you do?  Sure, Google will work, but your best bet would be Wikipedia.
If you hear about some cool new viral video, your first stop isn't Hulu, it's YouTube.
But what if there was no Wikipedia, no YouTube... In fact, no un-copyrighted material at all available on the internet?  Well, that's where we're headed, folks.  Not even a single photo on Facebook will survive after this.  You can even kiss your beloved Nerdy Babble Today goodbye if  SOPA (or the Stop Online Piracy Act) gets passed.  It's just a bill at this point, but if it gets passed, all your favorite sites will get "black-outed" overnight, not only Wikipedia and YouTube, (though those are the ones that affect me the most), but numerous others will be affected too, including Google, Yahoo, Facebook, Twitter, AOL, eBay, and many more.  It's all well and good to try to prevent online piracy-- but there's GOT to be a better way to do it.

Want to protest?  Print out my new T-shirt design onto an iron-on transfer and wear it proudly!

R.I.P Borders

I hate to say it, but we live in an age where an excellent bookstore can be driven out of business by a hunk of plastic with a screen.  Ironic, I know, for me to be saying this, because I was discussing a few posts ago about how I'm getting a Kindle Fire, but that's more for the purposes of the environmental crises rather than because I enjoy reading off a screen.  I don't.  It's more that the world's trees could do without magazines people will just throw away after reading once and cheapo paperback romance novels that will live on a shelf all their lives before being donated to some book sale or another, where they will then live on another shelf even longer until they are eventually thrown away because no one wanted them.  It's funny because up until recently I was completely opposed to the idea of e Readers, but I guess they've grown on me a bit.  I LOVE LOVE LOVE books, I love the way the pages and cover feel, and how certain books smell certain ways (my favorites are very old book smell and brand-new book smell; they're both very distinctive and very excellent).  I love the library and I love bookstores and I love reading.  And I loved Borders, before they were driven out of business by the Kindle.  And that's why I'm here to tell you today to keep your independent bookstores open (Page One is one of the last ones in town).  So please: think of the books.  On a similar note, something else that is in trouble is the post office.  I can't even begin to say how sad I am about that.  I love writing (and receiving) letters, and the sad fact of the matter is that there really isn't anything of a future in the post office, and that's because of one word: email.  So the next time someone's birthday is coming up, maybe mail them a card instead of sending an e-card.  If you feel like talking to your friend who moved away, write them a letter instead of sending an email.  Send postcards when you go on a trip.  Write letters just for the fun of it.  Mail boxes through the post office, not UPS or FedEx or other companies like that.  Stand up to the electronic revolution.

Apple and Why It's Taking Over the World

I have an iPod.  Who doesn't?  But Apple- and many other companies today- are in it for the money, not the quality.  Let's use me as an example.
You purchase a new iPod in 2008. (nano chromatic.)  It's the new thing, the best in nano technology.  You install the latest version of  iTunes on your computer to match your fancy new gadget.  You listen to your new iPod and play Solitaire on it.
Fast forward to 2011.  Your iPod still works- but barely.  You can only listen to a few songs before it dies, and Solitaire is out because it drains the battery.  Your iTunes isn't working anymore; it won't let you put any new music on your iPod or add pictures, videos, or updates.  Your scroll wheel is filthy and you can't get the cat hairs out of the case.
You really want a new iPod, but feel guilty throwing something that still works away.  You want to reinstall iTunes but you don't know how (your nerdy brother is out of town) and you have hundreds of songs in your old iTunes account.  All the other iPods are better than yours, even the tiny ones.  Why does Apple design a crappy product that will end up like this after only three years?  Because they want you to buy a new one.  And buy and buy and buy and buy and make Steve Jobs even richer than he already is.

Random Thought for the Day: Is there a perfect town? Where it's hot in summer and snows a lot in winter and the streets are tree-lined, all the houses look the same, and everyone knows all of their neighbors?

Invention of the day: Pocket T-shirt scanner:  Make your own T-shirts by bringing up an image on the computer you wish to make a T-shirt of, scanning it with this handheld scanner that resembles a radar gun in appearance, and then firing the scanner at a blank T-shirt so the image is cast onto the shirt.  Then spray the image on the shirt with Perma-spray (comes with) to make the image permanent!