Wow!  Yesterday’s PETA turkey massacre reminded me of an old episode of WKRP in Cincinnati.  To my amazement, I found a video clip from it uploaded onto Yahoo Video!  Isn’t technology great?  I just had to share this holiday classic!

Microsoft really seems to be struggling to convince people to buy Windows Vista these days.  To say that they really missed the mark with their Seinfeld and Gates ads would be an understatement of the decade.  But then they get worse.

What the heck is up the tricking people to try “Windows Mojave”?!  You have to lie to your customers just to get them to even try it?  And then no one even says anything useful about it.  It just looks neat.  Well duh.  If looking neat was all that we wanted out of an operating system then it wouldn’t be so hard to make a good one!  Everyone would be doing it!

I have to admit that the spinning of the Mac vs PC ad to “And I’m a PC” concept at least has some merit.  The idea was good, at least if you’re trying to combat the Apple threat.  It’s not really going to sell much of anyone on Windows, but at least Microsoft stops looking like a complete chump.  The commercials could run a lot shorter though, with more variety.  Split them up into like four short ones, and then run them more often and switch them up.  It’d be a lot less annoying that way.  Maybe even almost cute, like the old Energizer Bunny fake-ads that made you want to actually see what would come next.

But still, again, not going to sell Windows.

The biggest problem with selling Windows Vista, in my opinion, is that it’s Windows Vista.  It’s the operating system that couldn’t even get file deletes right.  Such a simple low-level command shouldn’t take forever or lock up your system.  And it didn’t get much better from there.

If Microsoft really wants to sell people on Windows Vista then how about this for a simple ad:

But you see, with this one simple commercial you show a bit of Vista’s visual appeal as well as convince the IT departments that it’s time to upgrade.  And, of course, if it’s good enough for your IT department, then of course it’s good enough for a home user.  I think people would really get that point, especially if you make at least the Senior Admin dressed up as a super nerd.  If it’s good enough for a super nerd…

Anyway, you get the idea.  Inspire awe.  Calm fears.  And make everyone envy the upgrade to Vista.  Oh, and actually fix Windows Vista.

Mythbusters will not air any more RFID myth shows.

The question is why?

Adam Savage first explained that when a meeting was set up with Texas Instruments to explore the hackability and reliability of RFID, TI included in the conference legal pitbulls from practically every major credit card company.  Who quickly chomped down on their asterisk.  It was said originally that it was Discovery networks that chose not to ever air another RFID episode again.

But now a slightly different version is floating around, which even Adam Savage supports now.  (Under what duress however cannot be accounted.)  Which is thatTI only invited one credit card representitive to the conference call, because they could better explain how credit companies use the technology.  Technical questions were asked and answered as planned.  And that supposedly there was no pressure whatsoever on Mythbusters to cancel their RFID show.

Which is further changed that it was Beyond Productions (the production company for Mythbusters) who pulled the plug on Mythbusters, and not Discovery.  And that indeed, no RFID Mythbusters show will ever air again.

Uh huh.

Yeah.

I’m almost buying that.

(Sarcasm, by the way.  Just in case you couldn’t tell.)

Now I’m not saying that the truth doesn’t lay somewhere in the middle.  None of us outside know all of the facts.  But if there were no pressure from any lawyers, then why would anyone even consider cancelling the show?  Obviously there was support for the show originally, or else Mythbusters wouldn’t have tried to make it.  Something changed along the way.  If it wasn’t during the call with TI, then when was it?  If it wasn’t legal teams from major credit card companies, then who was it?

Hackers have already proven how easy it is to clone RFID chips, how easy it is to hack systems to glean information, and so forth.  These are not myths.  These have been done.  It’s bad enough when the RFID chips are in your little credit-keychain devices and cards that you just wave at a machine and don’t have to sign or type a thing.  Cloning those could cause serious annoyance.  (Only prevented from being more than an annoyance by limits on how much can be purchased in such a manner.)

But it’s much worse when you consider the new passports using RFID.  Doh!

It’s a serious issue.  And one that, apparently, big business is doing its best to make go away, when even myth heroes Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman are stopped from telling you the truth.

PS. By the way, I seriously stress that if you feel a need to use any of these devices with RFID built in, that you at least keep them in an RF-shielded container when they are not being used.  These devices are designed to broadcast their information to any device which asks.  The security is atrocious as anyone, anywhere, can ping these devices as they sit in your wallet or purse.  Protect yourself.  Be secure.

And whenever possible, say no to RFID until these basic security issues are resolved.

How many of us watched the opening ceremony to the Summer Olympics this year? And how many of us thought that the fireworks were pretty spectacular, in spite of all of those fears about air quality in China? Well, there was a reason for the amazing footage. According to Bloomberg, it wasn’t real.

Yes, that’s right. General Electric Co.’s NBC (having spent $894 million for broadcast rights) used some faked computer-generated (CGI) footage to spiff things up, according to MSNBC.

Yes, that’s also right. Bloomberg’s amazing investigative reporting was to simply parrot MSNBC.

But that’s not all. Also amongst the line-up of fakes was the little girl Lin Miaoke who sang “I Sing For My Country.” Because it wasn’t her voice. Originally slated to sing the song was Yang Peiyi. She did a wonderful job of it. How do we know? Because it was her voice that Lin Miaoke lip-synched to. Why did China pull a “Milli Vanilli”? Well, because Lin Miaoke looks cuter.

Wonderful.

But that’s not all. How many of us remember seeing the man who ran the sides of the stadium to light the Olympic Torch? Wasn’t that cool? Hell yes! And how many of us remember seeing him go right past the larger-than-life Blue Screen of Death?

Bill Gates, likely in the audience, probably cringed when he saw the gigantic BSOD from a Windows XP Embedded system crash. Then again, maybe he’s used to it.

All-in-all, the Summer Olympics has not exactly been quite the shining example that China wanted it to be. There has been a lot of disappointment in the world this year. Let’s hope however that this is only in the technical aspect of the Olympics, and that the athletes themselves prove themselves to be as upstanding as we would all expect them to be.

Yes, that’s right. Sony has officially announced their new movie download service for the Playstation 3. Content will come from many, including the ever famous Fox, MGM, Lionsgate, Warner, Disney and Paramount. From the beginning it should have around 1200 TV shows and approximately 300 movies. Video will be in both standard def (SD) and high def (HD).

There are two options of service. There is Video On Demand (VOD) where you are effectively buying a license to watch something once, AKA a download rental where your download self-destructs after you watch it. That will run about $2 per TV show and $3 for a movie. Or something like that.

Then there’s the Electronic Sell-Through (EST) service, which you basically buy your download to keep. Well, keep locked to your specific PS3 anyway. Get a new one or possibly even need repairs and oops, no more access to your own paid-for EST movies. And of course keeping your EST downloads costs you a lot more than the one-off VOD downloads. But hey, you get to keep it and watch it as many times as you want. And you can even transfer it to your Playstation Portable (PSP) a total of one time. Yay?

So it may not be the most amazing deal ever. Still, anything is better than nothing, and this sure ain’t nothing! Sony is finally bringing the PS3 into the 21st Century. I bet that sure pisses off Microsoft and their XBox 360.