Romney says McCain capable of "leading the county"

Romney, McCain close ranks

Mitt Romney endorsed one-time rival John McCain this afternoon, calling him "capable of leading the county at a dangerous hour."

I'm guessing this is just a typo by Foon Rhee of boston.com instead of what Romney actually said, but it was on the top of Google News, making it a pretty bad typo. I wonder what county Romney is referring to...Suffolk, maybe?

John Kerry Blames Tornados on Global Warming

Sen. Kerry Blames Tornados on Global Warming

Darn you, global warming...flooding wasn't enough for you, now you have to make tornadoes too?!?!?

I love this quote: "the storms are more intensive and the rainfall is more intense at certain places at certain times and the weather patterns have changed."

Uh, yeah...the climate has been, is, and will always be fluctuating. It doesn't have anything to do with what we do or don't do (or at least not enough to matter). Why is it that people that lost to George W. Bush seem to have nothing better to do than scare everybody into going green? Certainly makes me glad he's not wasting his time on this stuff as our President.

Feeling Blu Part II

Good article on the current state of the HD format wars: Sharper image | Economist.com

Maybe I won't ever need to switch to Blu-Ray after all...bring on the Ultra HD!

Also, the following excerpt from the article solidifies my argument that Sony putting a Blu-ray player in all PS3s was what "won" the war for them:

"At the moment, Blu-ray discs are outselling HD DVDs by a margin of two to one. But that’s largely because Sony included a Blu-ray player in its new PlayStation 3 (PS3) game console.

Excluding video-game machines, Toshiba has outsold the whole of the Sony camp in terms of actual players in living rooms, thanks to its lower prices. In other words, Toshiba has a bigger installed base of committed videophiles."

Feeling Blu

Warner Bros recently announced that they are becoming Blu-ray exclusive as of this June. New Line is apparently doing the same. And now, there are rumors that Paramount will follow suit, due to a clause in their HD DVD exclusivity contract. This perturbs me a bit, and not just because I bought 3 HD DVD players (2 as gifts) over the holidays that may soon become paperweights. Everything that perturbs me is pretty much summed up in this article.

A few "highlights":

Kevin Tsujihara, president of Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group,
acknowledged in an interview that the HD DVD format had some advantages.

"The interactivity is more advanced on the HD DVD side, but I'm
confident that we're going to get there" with Blu-ray, he said.

"There were cost advantages on the HD DVD side," Tsujihara said. However, "even with that price advantage, you weren't seeing the consumer move toward that format."

That's what really bugs me right there...Warner admits that HD DVD is currently the better of the two - both in cost and features - but they are still siding with Blu-ray. Ugh. Why? Because more people are buying Blu-ray. So basically they are endorsing the loser of a race just because more people are cheering for him.

But why, if the studio support was until now more or less cut in half, were more people choosing Blu-ray anyway? Cooler name? Maybe...but I think the real culprits are the gaming systems. The video game industry is on the rise and I have heard rumors that sales of video games surpassed movies this holiday season. This turns Sony's gamble of including a Blu-ray player in each and every PS3 into a genius move. Looking across the pond, at Microsoft's Xbox 360 (the other high-def console), they have an HD DVD player - but it's an $180 add-on! That's the same price as most stand-alone HD DVD players. Blu-ray players on the other hand go for about the same price of an entire PS3. So a consumer interested in HD was left with the following purchase options:

1. Standalone HD DVD Player - $100 - $500 (No gaming capabilities)


2. Xbox 360 - $350 (No HD movie viewing capability, except for downloads from the Xbox Live Marketplace)


3. Xbox 360 + HD DVD Add-on - $530


4. Xbox 360 + Standalone HD DVD Player - $450 - $850 (same as above, without needing to be hooked to each other)


5. PS3 - $500 (Built-in Blu-ray)


6. Standalone Blu-ray Player - $350 - $1,000 (No gaming capabilities)

So, as you can see, if you or anyone in your family is remotely interested in gaming, your best bet for Hi-Def movie viewing is in fact a PS3. The fact that the PS3 is trailing both the Xbox and the Wii in sales doesn't matter because neither of those have built in HD movie players. If Microsoft had made an Xbox with a built in HD player for $500 or less, Warner probably would've either continued making both, or chose HD DVD. Microsoft's unwillingness to take the risk that Sony did is ultimately what is doing HD DVD in.

The one benefit in the HD DVD drive not being built-in is that now Microsoft has the option of adding a Blu-ray add-on, once it becomes the standard format. This would be a smart move if they want to keep people from going over and just getting a PS3. In the meantime, hey, HD DVDs should be cheaper now, right?

Achievements are Addictive

Disclaimer: this post is about video games and may be regarded as nerdy by some. Bite me. Ok, don't actually bite me. It's just an expression.

I thought about titling this "Why I Never Play the Wii Anymore" or "x Reasons the 360 is better than the Wii", but since it really comes down to achievements, I thought I would put all the blame on them right smack dab in the title.


The annoying thing is that I still really like the Wii - I like the innovative motion controls, I like the games (especially the ability to download classics on the VC), and I like Channels like Internet, Weather and News. But for some reason, the past few months, great titles like Metroid Prime 3 that I haven't beaten yet but enjoy playing are now just sitting on the shelf, being about as useful to me as a flowerpot. Usually when video games sit on the shelf, it is because I am too busy doing other things like actually getting outside and/or doing something productive. But that's not the case the past few months because I have been playing video games. Just not Wii games. And if Link wants someone to blame, he should point his crossbow at Xbox 360's "achievements" system.

The achievements system makes it so not only do you have a game to play just for the sheer fun of playing and beating a game, but now you have these specified achievements to unlock that give you "Gamerscore" points that, in fact, are absolutely useless. Yet these useless points actually end up controlling my actions. Case in point: last night I popped in Burnout Revenge for a quick race or two before I went to bed. Upon completion of the race, I saw that I only had a mere 15 points to go (3 - 15 races depending on how good I did) before I reached the next level which would certainly unlock another achievement. So much for bedtime! I then continued to race until the darn thing crashed on me (the xbox, not the car). Thanks for rudely reminding me that tomorrow was a work day, Microsoft. I pay you for entertainment, not for nagging nanny services.

Anyway, do you see the problem? I prioritized pointless points before a beneficial bedtime! And I know I'm not the only one. A quick Google search for "Xbox 360 Achievements" will return entire websites fully devoted to the things. I'm even devoting a blog entry to them! Perhaps if the gamerscore was somehow related to the Microsoft Points system, which is what you use buy things (like more games!) with, the drive to increase the gamerscore would be more logical. But outside of bragging rights amongst friends, they are meaningless.

Therefore, that must be it. It's a social thing¹. We are now bragging to each other about how much time we waste playing video games. As of this writing, I currently have a Gamerscore of 950. I really want to reach 1000. For no reason. I don't even care how I reach it - I just want 1000. It's pathetic.

Another example:

Worms is one of my favorite games of all time, so I was delighted when I saw it on the Xbox Live Arcade. Right now it is one of my most frequently played games, partly because it's conveniently right on the hard drive, and partly because I can easily increase my Gamerscore while playing it. It went up about 65 points in less than 15 minutes the other day. 20 was simply for playing an online game. But once I get all the achievements (which should be soon, only 3 to go), will I play it as much? Probably not, not when there are 10,370 points to be gotten in my other games. Which means I am now playing one of my all-time favorite games solely for pointless points. That's sadder than a blind kid at the Grand Canyon.


So I really don't know if I like achievements or not. On the one hand, it increases the replay value of the game and you can argue that you get more for your money. But on the other hand, it almost seems like it takes a bit of the fun out of playing a game just to play it and now we have these chores to do also. And once the "chores" are done, there's no reason to play anymore. Perhaps if all achievements were things that would naturally be done throughout the course of completing the game, it would be better, but then you take out that replay value thing I was talking about, at least for the hardcore gamer. I guess the problem is I am just a casual gamer trying to live up to a hardcore gamer's lifestyle. Oh well...back to Worms for me!

---

¹ Actually, the "social thing" better describes Xbox's forte over the Wii. While the Wii is finally inching it's way into the world of online play, the Xbox nearly has it mastered with friends lists and profiles, IM, matchmaking, voice communication and tons of download options (including HD movies), the only thing the Xbox is actually missing is a built-in browser - which, surprisingly enough, the Wii has. The only real exciting online experience for the Wii that I can't get on the Xbox that I can think of will be Smash Bros Brawl. And even then, I'm curious how well it will do in the matchmaking world - especially without voice communication.

We're now insulted by poinsettias?

Danny Westneat | Deck the courthouse with irises?

Good God, citizens of Seattle: How far will we go down Sensitivity Road? It's leading to a place where all richness and texture is scrubbed from our public culture.

Aren't poinsettias just plants that, unfortunately for them, flower in December?

Nope. Apparently some people gaze upon those pointy red leaves and see baby Jesus himself swaddled beneath the star of Bethlehem. And because of those people, you won't see the species Euphorbia pulcherrima in the lobby of the federal courthouse again.

Whatever the poinsettia was a symbol of before, it's now one of something else: political correctness truly run amok.

Clearly poinsettias at some point accepted Christ as their Lord and Savior and became Christian. Ugh.

State report: Texas has too many reports - Yahoo! News

State report: Texas has too many reports - Yahoo! News

There's a 668-page state report out that says that the state of Texas has too many reports.

I think the only thing that could've made it funnier is if it also said the reports were too long.

Ah, irony, how I've missed you.