Holy Shoot!!!

Ah, I don't know if you all get the breadth of this problem, but wow... I'm usually pretty confident in Internet security, but this flaw was so low level that security became a moot point. Let's hope they fix this permanently.



You can read the article on Wired.com here:http://www.wired.com/techbiz/people/magazine/16-12/ff_kaminsky

Again, Holy Shoot!!!
~Jon

Catch 22...

(from XKCD.com)

Happy Talk Like A Pirate Day!

No, seriously: http://www.talklikeapirate.com/piratehome.html



Hey, this counts as a blog post... it must be September again.
~Jon

"I'm hungry. I haven't eaten since later this afternoon."

Name the movie (without cheating) and you get 50 bonus style points.

Man... I just want to talk about the movie I just watched but then you'll know the answer! Oh well... when you figure it out, rent it!

Speaking of movies/films (sometimes I'm a stickler for saying "film" and sometimes it really is a "movie"... all in all, they're just "videos" though) we recently joined Zip.ca. Basically, it's a Canadian NetFlix (if you don't know what that is, Google it). Anyway, they have a library of 72,000+ movies (including TV shows) and so all the ones I can never find at Blockbuster are all queued up and ready to go. It's sweet. Though, I added a whole lot more to our list than Fran did so to be fair I had to put a hold on a few titles (127, actually). Anyway, I'm loving it and we're still in the first two-weeks free-promotion. BTW, if you decide to try it out, I think you can enter my email as a referral and I get some points or something. But, you know, whatever.

So what would you do if you suddenly had $1200 extra? Yeah, me too. But after that... well, a bit after... Ok, fine: there's a bass guitar I really like that costs about $1200, but I'm probably not getting it anytime soon (and it would be bass#2, not a replacement). Anyway, here's the bassist from Cirque Du Soleil playing one (unplugged, I might add) that Godin just gave to him:



That's right: Fretless, Semi-Acoustic, 5-string glory! If Tom, Russ, Ben, or Brad is reading this, I finally found the bass I dreamed of so many moons ago. Still, it will be many moons before I have the spare cash for a spare bass and it will be many more moons before I can play like that guy... actually, that'll probably just never happen. Oh well.

Speaking of extremely talented musicians:



This begs a question... who do you think is a better drummer: Neal Peart or Carter Beauford? I already know the correct answer is Beauford, I just want to know what you think. As far as bassists... well, I'm failing to think of anyone who could compare to Victor Wooten. Les Claypool from Primus is pretty amazing, but still I say Victor. BTW, "Flea" is not an acceptable answer. Yes, he's good, but he's a junior mint compared to these guys.

Keep your eye out this week as I have every intention of updating First To The Pews within the next 7 days. Hold me to it, folks.

Later,
~Jon

*cough *cough

I'm not feeling so great these days... got a persistent and heavy cold. Anyway, here's a fine snippet of news for all'y'all:

I just installed them...

I don't usually post about tech stuff. Not because I'm not interested in it but because I don't think most of the folks who read my blog are (though, at least two of you are).

Anyway, I came across this little article on Engadget and found it kind of funny. For a few months in Calgary I installed HDTV/Home Theatre stuff (thanks Stafford) and not a few cables would have been Monster brand. I know the test outlined in this article isn't perfect (even though it was effectively a double blind, it really should have been a brand vs. brand test), but it would probably pass the MythBusters' standards. Either way, the point is where you make your money (markup is best in cables, not components) and what you and the customer believe/understand. Regardless, make your own conclusions. (You can also read it on Engadget here)

Audiophiles can't tell the difference between Monster Cable and coat hangers

We've always believed that the perceived quality boost that comes from using high-end cables is really just a trick of the mind (read: justifying the ridiculous cost of premium cables to yourself) -- if you've dropped enough cash, you can probably hear anything you want. Still, our belief is one thing -- cold hard proof is another, and it looks like a group of 12 self-professed "audiophiles" recently couldn't tell the difference between Monster 1000 speaker cables and plain old coat hangers. Yeah, coat hangers. The group was A-Bing different cables, and unbeknownst to them, the engineer running the test swapped out a set of cables for coat hangers with soldered-on speaker connections. Not a single one was then able to tell the difference between the Monster Cable and the hangers, and all agreed that the hangers sounded excellent. No wonder Monster has to rig HD displays. Still, we bet people still fall for the hype -- oh hey, if you're looking for the ultimate in sound, we've got half a meter of oxygen-free, triple-wrapped double-insulated Sonically Shielded AmpliSized Egyptian Llama cable here that we'll part ways with for just a couple grand

I have a Monster brand component cable. I paid store cost.
~Jon

Found it!

Ok, for those of you who missed the clip of Stephen Colbert interviewing Philip Zimbardo, I found it again. Make sure to watch it before Viacom orders Videosift to "cease & desist" too.

Worse comes to worse, go google colbert, lucifer effect, sunday school.


via videosift.com

Also, if you're looking for something good to read, check the Amazon.ca widget in the sidebar of this blog.
~Jon

*UPDATED* It's over

Well, I've made it through the ski rally. Now I just need to get back to normalcy.

The video below was on the Colbert Report last night. It is pure genius. I had heard about the "Lucifer Effect" on CBC radio before. The best, though, is watching Colbert slowly shift from his tongue-in-cheek shtick to theologically rocking this guy. Just goes to show that even though you're very smart doesn't mean you automatically know everything about everything.

The gold, though, is Stephen's closing statement. Enjoy.

VIDEO CLIP NO LONGER AVAILABLE ON YOUTUBE

"I teach Sunday School..."

*UPDATE: Well, they took down that interview from YouTube. I'll see if I can't find it again. In the mean time, enjoy this Hinterland Who's Who instead.

I'm a little exhausted.

The following film is creepy, informative, creepy, funny, creepy, classic, and creepy. If you've got a spare 15 minutes, enjoy. Right? Right!