Even On The Internet You Make Me Want To Bleed To Death

This is a big deal on reddit:

Honda was getting 47mpg — THIRTY YEARS AGO [classic ad photo]

Oh for fuck’s sake. Are you all fucking teenyboppers out there?

Yes, it did, goddammit. I knew it back then because I was alive back then. And that was the car I wanted to buy back then.

Why the fuck do you think I’m pissed all the fucking time? Because by now we should have had gas mileage in the triple-fucking digits.

Or better: those Islamic madmen in their oil-bearing countries would be merrily killing themselves in their impoverished lands because the West would have dropped its need for oil at least twenty years ago.

And you have the fucking temerity to think I’m a crank because I want to see certain Suits flapping at the end of ropes from lampposts.

Who the fuck do you think got us into this shit? Martians?!!?

Previously in this blog:
You Make Me Want To Bleed To Death

Apple Wins The Internet Video Wars

Say bye-bye to WMV. Say bye-bye to MPEG.

The lead-in:

Adobe Extends Web Video Leadership With H.264 Support

SAN JOSE, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Adobe Systems Incorporated (Nasdaq:ADBE – News) today announced the latest update for Adobe® Flash® Player 9 software, code-named Moviestar, which includes H.264 standard video support — the same standard deployed in Blu-Ray® and HD-DVD® high definition video players — and High Efficiency AAC (HE-AAC) audio support, as well as hardware accelerated, multi-core enhanced full screen video playback. These advancements will extend Adobe’s leadership position in Web video by enabling the delivery of HD television quality and premium audio content through the ubiquitous Adobe Flash Player and pave the way to expand rich media Flash experiences on the desktop and H.264 ready consumer devices. The latest update for Adobe Flash Player 9 will be available in beta for immediate download later today on Adobe Labs at http://labs.adobe.com.

The analysis and kicker:

Adobe bringing HD video, high quality audio to Flash using H.264, AAC (iPhone Flash support?)

MacDailyNews Take: Paving the way for iPhone Flash support? Apple clearly wants widespread H.264 and AAC support. Now the Flash plug-in for iPhone makes sense. In fact, we’d venture to guess that there is a high probability that Apple told Adobe to support H.264 and AAC, if Adobe wanted to get Flash onto the iPhone.

In early July, The Wall Street Journal’s Walter S. Mossberg reported, “At launch, the iPhone version of the Safari browser is missing some plug-ins needed for playing common types of Web videos. The most important of these is the plug-in for Adobe’s Flash technology. Apple says it plans to add that plug-in through an early software update, which I am guessing will occur within the next couple of months.”

Note: The advanced H.264 codec makes it possible for Apple’s QuickTime 7 (released April 29, 2005) to play back high-definition video on a personal computer without additional hardware required. Apple’s HD QuickTime gallery is here.

Adobe is following Apple’s considerable lead here.

I am so glad I can quote someone else on this and not have to do my own write-up.

But let’s not forget about YouTube moving to H.264, either!

And then there’s what Cringely said about internal H.264 chips too.

If Apple does indeed make H.264 encoding a built-in feature of the Mac, it will be a total victory for them.

Previously in this blog:
Apple And H.264 Internal Chips: I’m With Cringely
Jobs Gets YouTube On iPhone — But Without Flash!
Oh Look At This! My Apple-YouTube Prediction Will Come True!
Prediction: YouTube/Google Drop Flash Video

Dick Morris Has Seen His Future Of Living In A Cardboard Box And Swerves To Avoid It

World’s largest music retailer ditches DRM, not censorship

EMI ditched DRM. Now Universal Music Group is too.

Well, this is nice!

But yo, Dick Morris, get them up on the iTunes Store too. Stop being a jerk.

Previously in this blog:
Daddy, What’s A Record? What’s An Album?
Recording Artists: Save Yourselves. Don’t Let Dick Morris And The Other Dicks Kill You While They Kill Themselves!
And Suddenly Universal Music Group’s Artists Get Zero Royalties
As I Said: iPhone Vs. Universal Music
Applenomics, Or Why Steve Jobs Will Now Hate Me For Ever And Ever

New Social Spot: Network Baby

Blame Candice Jarrett.

It’s done by a friend of hers.

She sent out a MySpace Bulletin about it.

So I joined. You can too.

MyProfile.

Previously in this blog:
The Candice Jarrett Campaign: Part One
The Candice Jarrett Campaign: Part Two

YouTube: Lips Like Morphine

Lips like morphine.

We’re obvioulsy making fun of Kill~Hannah..but they cool.
:D

I don’t recall how I got Raquel Villo as a MySpace Friend but I’ve been glad ever since. She sends out Bulletins that just crack me up. They are akin to Directives from Raquel HQ.

This YouTube vid was in a recent Bulletin and it’s typical Raquel. She makes me laugh. Go see. It’ll make you laugh too. (Be sure to wait for the hand payoff near the end!)

Ectomo Finds A Jewel!

Vij: Alone In A Church With A Dead Russian Witch — embedded YouTube video

Absolutely breathtaking. This is a work of art.

The IMDB has it listed as Viy with a 1967 date. 1967! Forty years ago and what I see puts today’s CGI-infested blockbusters to shame.

Look at that! The sense of composition, the color, the lighting. It’s like a painting come to life. And this was done before computers, when the people involved had to have talent and know their shit firsthand. No relying on “We’ll fix it in post with the computer” or “We’ll have the colorist touch it up later.”

Hollywood, with its fractions-of-a-billion-dollars budgets hasn’t produced anything as beautiful or as frightening.

Update: TrueGore has it on DVD with English subtitles for US$10.00.

Quote Of The Day: Uncov

If You Like Web Forms, You’ll Love MyProgress

I’ve always believed that users should have to get government-issued licenses to buy computers, but MyProgress makes me think that developers should need licenses, too. Holy shit, if this is the best you guys can come up with, then you need to pack up your workstations in their boxes, send them back to the manufacturers, then sterilize yourselves so you can’t pollute the gene pool anymore.

As if there wasn’t enough evidence our economy is nose-deep in shit, there’s uncov to not-so-gently remind us that allegedly-intelligent and widely-experienced venture capitalists are funding utter shit scams.

Is It Time To Ban All Chinese Imports?

The latest outrage: Diabetic test strips counterfeited. Other possible medical testing kits too.

LATEST BOYCOTT CHINA OR DIE! BOGUS DIABETES TEST STRIPS! — YouTube video

Counterfeit Product May Affect Diabetics

August 20, 2007 – The results of a recent investigation are prompting new concern about medical testing products made overseas.

Phony copies of blood testing strips used by millions of diabetics in the U.S. came from China. The counterfeit test strips were sold last year under the brand names “One-Touch Ultra” and “One-Touch” basic.

Johnson & Johnson’s Life Scan makes the real products. The company says it discovered the bogus strips after customers called to complain, and launched a worldwide search to find the source.

Many people with diabetes count on the strips to measure blood sugar levels and gauge how much insulin they need.

The counterfeit testing strips were imported from Halson Pharmaceutical in China. The owner is now in prison. But an online search reveals his company makes many tests… not just for diabetes. Pregnancy tests, HIV, and tuberculosis tests as well!

Previously in this blog:
China: Every Day A New Lethal Product!
Question Of The Day: Is China Out Of Its Fucking Mind?
Chinese Take-Out
The Shadow Of Doomsday Appears…
China: Lost In Translation
China Wants To Join The Rest Of The World
China Does The Right Thing
China: Will That Country Wind Up Killing Us All?
Kenneth Che-Tew Eng Is Pimping An Asian Mein Kampf Book Proposal!
The Day Will Come When The Suits Will Hang For Their Many Money-Grubbing Sins
When Your Child Dies, Remember To Thank Your Republican-Voting God For The Free Market!
The China Syndrome
The Algorithm Is Ask.com!
Is It Happening In America?
The Answer Is Yes
Healthy, Immortal Chinese To Conquer Sick, Dying World
Yeah, I Know. But It’s Just So Damned FUNNY!
China Sets Blog Record Here!
Hello To China
Another Fake
Fake iPod Nano Fondle