Daily Brief: 2006 Sept 06: Grab Bag

Facebook gets kind of gay:

Now, every time you do anything on Facebook, you issue a bulletin for all of your friends. Now no one will miss the fact that you think you look horrible in a picture, or that you didn’t accept an invitation to someone’s event, or that you wrote what you considered to be a funny item for your list of activities (“Trying not to incriminate myself on facebook to all my future employers”) and then thought better of it ten minutes later and took it down.

Facebook said the changes were aimed at advancing the core mission of the site, which is to keep people abreast of their friends’ lives. “What we wanted to create is a news ticker, if you will, of the activity of people’s friends in their network,” Facebook’s director of marketing, Melanie Deitch, told CampusProgress.org.

This is why I hate the social networking sites. I don’t care you’re recording every thing I do, but don’t tell everyone about it. And then call it a feature! Violate that veil of privacy and you’re the next Friendster.

More commentary from the ex-sportscaster:

Whatever the true nature of al Qaeda and other international terrorist threats, to ceaselessly compare them to the Nazi State of Germany serves only to embolden them.

Variety reports on the Apple/Amazon movie rumors:

Amazon.com will launch its movie download service later this week, numerous sources confirmed, while Apple will start selling films on Tuesday as part of iTunes.

Though they’re launching near simultaneously, the two movie stores will be different. Amazon.com is believed to have most, and possibly all, of the major studios on board, including Paramount, Sony, Universal, Warner Bros., MGM and Lionsgate, according to sources close to the deals.

The only studio that will definitely be part of Apple’s movie store at launch is Disney. Other studios will likely join iTunes in the next year.

If you need something to watch those movies on, I’d get a new iMac with a 24-inch 1920x1200 widescreen LCD at the low cost of $1,999.00. True 1080p display with room left over!

And Most Importantly…

Suri exists!

Serenity

Official synopsis for those not in the know:

Joss Whedon, the Oscar and Emmy nominated writer/director responsible for the worldwide television phenomena of BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER, ANGEL, and FIREFLY, now applies his trademark compassion and wit to a small band of galactic outcasts 500 years in the future in his feature film directorial debut, SERENITY. The film centers around Captain Malcolm Reynolds, a hardened veteran (on the losing side) of a galactic civil war, who now ekes out a living pulling off small crimes and transport-for-hire aboard his ship, Serenity. He leads a small, eclectic crew who are the closest thing he has left to family - squabbling, insubordinate and undyingly loyal.

I saw it last night. It was good. Wonderful to look at, tightly packed plot, and dialogue that lit the house.

I'm extremely curious to see how an audience unfamiliar with the source material reacts. My screening was split between fans and randoms, and it seemed to go over well.

Thanks to TPM for providing the tickets.

And, small world, it looks like Atrios, was there also.

Revenge Of The Suck

Episode III Trailer

Yeah, I know, officially we don't care anymore, but there was a time we would've been excited about this, so hey, what the hell.

I don't necessarily buy all this new age crap. One time I saw my mom knock my father unconscious with a frying pan and do you know what I did? I kept right on going with my birthday party.