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Seriously, nothing like ending the run of a format before it even gets started. Sony announced today, after days of back and forth, that they will not allow their disc-replicating subsidiary to produce pornographic titles. At all. Sony says they won’t actively try to prevent adult titles on Blu-Ray, but won’t allow their subsidiary to do so. They then turn around and completely contradict that statement with this:

“As far as I understand, Sony has said to the replicators that if you replicate adult, you’ll lose your license.” –  Robby D, a director at popular adult film maker Digital Playground Inc.

Sounds like a pretty active prevention technique. If this scenario sounds familiar, it should.

Many believe that Sony’s Betamax video tape format, while technologically superior to VHS, died because the adult movie industry was barred from using Betamax, noted Jake Richter, an analyst at Jon Peddie Research

This is a layman’s definition of insanity. Nice knowing you Blu-Ray.
Sony says no to porn on Blu-ray Disc

Dear Ann Arbor photographers,

It snowed. We get it.

Thanks,

Everyone Else

Flickr: Photos tagged with annarbor

Here’s a quote from an article on organ donors, plus one important word I read that was not actually published:

The Secretary of State’s office is kicking off a campaign that asks residents who are willing to be organ donors to place a heart sticker on their license plates or state identification cards.

The words “plates” was not actually in the article, but my brain popped it in there for me. I immediately thought “that’s stupid, desperate people will just start running potential donors off the road in hopes of getting their organs.”

I may be a bit too cynical.

Link

Amanda Congdon, former hostess of Rocketboom and attention whore, gets tasered at CES. And no, the irony of my linking to this video is not lost on me.
ABC News: Amanda Congdon Index

YouTube – Editor B on AC 360

[via Garden of Irks and Delights]

It’s been far too long since I blogged about beer. Not that I’ve taken a break from drinking the stuff, I’ve just stopped talking about it.

Today’s Beer of the Moment (BoM) is Fat Weasel which is, as far as I know, an exclusive for Trader Joe’s. Fat Weasel is a malty ale with a smooth finish, slightly caramel body, slightly burnt orange in color. It suffers in this geographic area from one fatal flaw; it’s affordable. At $4.99 a six pack, no one in this area dares drink it, which is terrible. Not that Fat Weasel is going to win any awards, but it’s not Bud by any stretch. Fat Weasel is full bodied, with a moderate head when swiftly poured.

I recommend Fat Weasel and not because of the price. Even at $8 for a sixer, this is a decent beer, able to hold it’s own against the mid-tier brews. As Ryan always says, drink what tastes good, snobs be damned. Unless it’s Bud; that shit is awful.

Missive conversations are intriguing.

Take today as an example. One of my colleagues mentioned a previous job writing for a music magazine in a quasi-large Midwestern, identity crisis laden Midwestern city. Ok, fine, it was Grand Rapids. But, during his recounting of his experiences writing for this magazine, he mentioned places I used to tread. Clubs like the Apple Lounge, The Intersection, other shitty bars on Monroe that no longer exist. These are the breeding grounds not only of the crappy kid that thinks skateboard parks are “cool”, but also some really kick-ass music.

When he and I were kids (read: 16), getting in was, in and of itself, not just a challenge but a rite of passage. These places were cool. Now, with the click of you left mouse button (except for you Mac addicts.. seriously, two mouse buttons are a Good Thing [tm]) gets you into what was once the underbelly of the music scene. To get that demo tape *shiver* meant you had to sneak, lie, or coerce your way into some smokey, piss-beer-serving former juke joint populated by ex-merchant marines, bar flies that real flies don’t touch, and twenty-somethings who continued to peg their jeans into the late 90s.

Not that I’m a scenester, but being “in” used to mean something. Now, any jerk 14 year old from OK City can be down with local Detroit bands.

Wait, that’s a good thing. Dammit, did I just get old?

Get off my lawn!

Silence is Violence.

“We pledge to you that we will get better and we’re going to start today,” he said, adding that the city would not recover until residents felt safe. (source)

Hope you meant that, Nagin. There’s a lot of pissed off people who are going to hold you to it.

By the way, those few NOLA people who still troll this site, congratulations on a message well delivered. I only wish there were fewer people in the ground before someone listened.

Oh, and you made Drudge. (screen cap)

Exclusive Apple iPhone 360 degree Gallery: 50 Photos of the Jesus Phone – Gizmodo

*snark* It does look amazing though. Too bad I could buy an Xbox 360 for the same price less.

Next week should be fun for Blizzard. Pre-orders for the expansion of the insanely popular MMO World of Warcraft, Burning Crusade, began a couple weeks ago. On Friday, Blizzard posted links to their online store where players could pre-order that expansion pack directly from Blizzard.

Well, it’s gone. That’s right, Blizzard, the company releasing the expansion pack, doesn’t have a single copy left more than a week before launch.

Blizzard Entertainment – Online Store