Headed out to Waukesha over the weekend to see Troy with the feebs out east.
Then saw it again the next day.

I have nothing more to say on the subject. Really, I don’t. Just go see it.

It’s like Gladiator. But better. Much, much better.

Today marked the release of Movable Type 3 Developer Edition. Normally such an event would be met with much rejoicing of the unwashed masses. Not so in this case as bloggers far and wide are making with the wails and gnashing of teeth usually reserved for MMO launches.While I don’t have some ultra-huge system happening here I do intend to add a few blogs/authors to the system in the not so distant future. Given my hosting situation I would be required, per the license, to use the (currently) $199.99 version. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t have a problem with people making money off of their creations but why fucking bother with the pretense of “free” versions if -5 users out of 100 are eligible?

There is nothing wrong with stating that your “personal” license precludes any and all commercial enterprises and then charging reasonable rates to anyone who wishes to use the product as a service offering. I’m not making money off this site. Nor would I be making money if I also happened to host a few blogs for my friends. This smacks of the same kind of stupidity running rampant over in the Ventrillo camp. I can’t really blame them though, who really gives a shit about people using your software for free anyway? MONEY MONEY MONEY MONEY!

There are, however, a few layers of silver lining in these dark clouds. First and foremost - I don’t need to upgrade. I want to, that’s for damn sure, but 2.661 will function just fine for as long as I wish to use it. Secondly the trackback entries on very blog that inspired this post have an absolute bounty of suggestions for replacements. So at whichever arbitrary point that MT pisses me off I will look around for a replacement.

Just wish I had known about this new license before I spent 2 weeks importing historical posts into this damnable contraption.

edit (7/11/06): Obviously this site is and has been (for a while) wholly WordPressed. I couldn’t be happier. Well, I could, but that would only be if I could create/edit a theme even remotely close to my liking. Such is life.

edit (10/3/07): I have a theme I actually like now. So suck it!

So I unplugged last night and settled into the nice grooves on the couch for some must-see TV. With all the craptacular reality programming and mindless dren floating about the airwaves these days NBC has been one of the last bations of non-cable hope for those dwindling few of us who don’t mind thinking and/or having an emotional connection with a character. I have long feared that the quantity of garbage would continue to grow until achieving some sort of critical mass wherein cameras are simply installed in every living room in America just for the sake of convenience.
After the Friends finale and ER season finale (minus one) my typically dour outlook brightened. Considerably.

The first hour of the Friends series finale was one of those silly clip shows. For the life of me I can’t understand what the point of all that is. Do they honestly think anyone watching the series finale of a show ending its 10-year run needs a retrospective? We were there dumbasses. We remember just fine.

The actual hour-long finale episode was a peach. I caught myself laughing maniacally for just about the entire length. The writing was spot on and the cast clearly put everything they had into it. The story was essentially a 2-parter looking at Chandler and Monica’s incoming baby and the “about goddamned time” resolution to the whole Ross and Rachel thing.

It certainly was a significant improvement over the Seinfeld finale, and there’s no question which show I enjoyed more over the duration…

Leo Laporte is reporting that G4, the new owner of TechTV, gave everyone in San Francisco their walking papers. Between you, me and the fishes this has got to be one of the most inane decisions in media since Fox cancelled Firefly. I’m far from the target demographic for the shows but I have no problems whatsoever letting The Screen Savers play in the background while I work or flit around in whatever todays game du jour is.

Yes, yes, I realize that shows like TSS or TechLive have about as much replay ability as the last 10 minutes of CNN but they are still well done shows. If scheduled properly there’s no reason you can’t get 5 or 6 viable showings per each TSS episode in a 2-week period without sacrificing timeliness. Shows like Call For Help should last 2 or 3 times that before they lose their relevancy.

I direct your attention to this FAQ on the G4 site which pretty much spells out what the future holds. San Fran is kaput, anyone not willing to work in LA (assuming they’re even offered the chance) is boned. The only two TechTV shows listed in their proposed lineup are X-Play, TSS and Fresh Gear. Anyone have the odds on Fresh Gear becoming the on-air propaganda wing for worthless shit like the N-Gage or Phantom? No mention of some of TTV’s more off-beat titles like Big Thinkers or Nerd Nation.

Oh well, I guess some things have to be culled when you’re desperate to give shows like this to desperate and apparently net-retarded viewers what they “want”.

To the cast and crew of the various TechTV shows I’ve fancied over the last couple years - thanks.
I hope you land on your feet.