Author: luken7

That,s it, I’m writing a ubiquitous program, moving to Texas, then suing anyone who uses the same letters in my code. Will someone please fix this patent nonsense? Basically, it’s now part of companies’ business model.
Apple, Samsung, Sandisk sued over MP3 – iPod/iTunes – Macworld UK Little-known Texas MP3 Technologies is taking on Apple, Samsung Electronics Co and Sandisk with a patent-infringement lawsuit. The suit, which came to light over the weekend, was filed on 16 February in Marshall, Texas. The eastern Texas city is fast becoming one of the leading locations of patent infringement lawsuits in the US thanks to speedy trials and juries that more often than not find in favour of the plaintiff.
Once again….Texas, on the forefront of lunacy.

I don’t ever recall Apple running commercials for a product four months prior to its expected ship date (besides the 1984 commercial). Just saw an iPhone commercial while watching 24. You can see the "Hello montage" commercial on Apple’s homepage. Oh, and did I already say that I want one?

Ok, I need to hear the new album that’s behind this photo. Blood running down her leg, holding a bible. All that’s missing is a bishop. It’s titled "American Doll Posse", coming out on May 1st.

Well, BitTorrent has gone mainstream, in a sense. In the never ending me-too, I’m like iTunes world, BitTorrent has launched their site so you can rent movies and music. I’m trying it now, but downloading a free movie, "Voyage to the Planet of Prehistoric Women" (it was the first free download that I say). First, BitTorrent is at a disadvantage because of the lack of net neutrality. I’m a Time Warner cable customer in the Carolina’s, bot torrent traffic has QoS slapped all over it. In other words, TWC recognizes torrent related traffic and then limits your bandwidth for the duration of that torrent traffic. I guess nobody can say for sure but whenever I have a torrent going,  even  when it’s low transfer rates or I’m just seeding at 30k, my bandwidth is gone,proven by tests at speedtests and dslspeed test sites. And as soon as I close my torrent app, give it two or three minutes, my bandwidth is back. But just like any other company, TWC is no different, just because you pay for a a service, doesn’t mean they’re obligated to provide it.

Also, another shortcoming for BitTorrent, right now, I’m downloading this movie at ~24.5kB/s because there are only 6 seeds. In order for torrents to work effectively, you need a lot of seeds, the more the better. So if you rent something that is obscure, there won’t be as many seeds and it could take days for your download to complete.

Right now, I think the environment is not in BitTorrent’s favor for it to be successful commercially. The telcos and phone companies have the upper hand because they own the lines, so they control the distribution, or even if something can get distributed. Also, why spend $3.99 to download a movie rental that you have to watch on your PC, when I could use Netflix on a flat subscription to watch as much as I can within a month (3 at a time)? Don’t get me wrong, I wish them the best of luck but I don’t think it will be all that successful at this time.

Now Playing – BitTorrent

From that annual German parade with all those wild floats, here’s one of my favorites. George Bush getting spanked by Lady Liberty. I can just hear her saying "Read…the…damn…Bill…of…Rights…next….time" with each whack of the book.

So it makes you wonder, what exactly will it take for this president to understand how much America, and the world dislikes him. Not because of his beliefs in exporting Democracy at any cost, or protecting America, but because of the trampling of our freedom and liberties in the process. Either he just doesn’t get it, or he does understand and merely has no regards for his fellow Americans. I choose the latter.

Yup, here we go. LET’S GET READY TO RUMBLE !!!!!
Jesus: Tales from the Crypt – The Middle East Blog – TIME Brace yourself. James Cameron, the man who brought you ‘The Titanic’ is back with another blockbuster. This time, the ship he’s sinking is Christianity. In a new documentary, Producer Cameron and his director, Simcha Jacobovici, make the starting claim that Jesus wasn’t resurrected –the cornerstone of Christian faith– and that his burial cave was discovered near Jerusalem. And, get this, Jesus sired a son with Mary Magdelene.

I’m not touching this topic with a ten foot pole.

Will someone please stand up to these teacher cartels? If teaching is so bad, quit. Pure and simple. But I don’t think its’ as bad as they make it to be with the kind of contracts they have because of their unions. Let’s look at he New York City teachers union. I hope you saw that 20/20 special on this "gang". They essentially pigeon held the city and extorted them into a new contract with get this:

1. six hour work days
2. retirement at age 55 with full benefits (pensions, medical, etc)
3. cannot fire a teacher for performance short of murder or rape, and and they have a long form for that.

If they are so much "about the children", then why do they drain the resources for absurd contracts and benefits like these? Now the California Federation of Teachers are up in arms because Steve Jobs had an opinion and spoke it. Oops, cannot have a differing opinion from a teachers union. The cartel’s new initiative, guaranteed lifetime employment. Guarantee a job for life, regardless of the performance of a teacher or the economics of the state.

If teachers are so much about the children, then why aren’t they open to alternative education options such as vouchers, that create competitive education? In every other sector of life, competition has reaped rewards.

I like the Denmark approach. Instead of attaching funding to a school, attach the funding to a student. The parent or guardian can then choose where to send their child, use the funding for their child at a public or a private school, or various other choices. And guess what, in Denmark, the public school system has elevated itself and is of the highest quality, on par and exceeding private schools.

But we can’t have that here because that would require the teachers unions in this country to think outside the box, take initiatives and work normal hours like the rest of the country. So when you hear a teacher running their mouth about they are "for the children" ask them who’s children.

No, I’m sorry, but I do not pity them. Welcome to life. When I see teachers unions support trying alternative options and different educational choices, then I’ll believe that they’re interested in the child’s education. Until then, they’re just about themselves.
MacNN | Jobs to get "Rotten Apple’ award without apology The California Federation of Teachers has invited Apple CEO Steve Jobs to either attend an annual CFT convention next month or offer a public apology for his "insulting comments" to California’s teachers. Should Jobs fail to apologize or neglect to attend the conference, where he is encouraged to speak with the people who educate California’s children and hear from them what the situation is like, the CFT will create a new award specifically for Apple’s chief. "We’ll call it the Rotten Apple, for the individual who best personifies the need to think differently about public education and teacher unions," California Federation of Teachers president Mary Bergan wrote in a letter to the executive. Bergan aggressively rebuted Jobs’ statement to an educational reform conference last week, where he expressed belief that the schools have become unionized "in the worst possible way" and that the unionization with lifetime employment of K-12 teachers is "off-the-charts crazy."

I find it completely absurd that after Katrina, the President visited with Mrs. Williams, a Katrina victim. Actually, he visited her on two separate trips to New Orleans. The president promised federal help for people like Mrs. Williams that New Orleans would be rebuilt. Well…Mrs. Williams’ home will now be condemned by the city because it hasn’t been repaired and will have to be torn down. If you’re visited by the president who says you will receive help, and then your home is condemned six months later, what’s the point of having the president visit and what is the value of his words?

Oddly enough, the president will be back in New Orleans next week. I guess he’ll be staying far away from Mrs. Williams’ neighborhood…..

Anna Nicole’s mom appeals burial ruling – USATODAY.com For a little while, it looked as if Anna Nicole Smith, whose body has been held in a Florida morgue since her death two weeks ago, could finally be laid to rest. But lawyers for Smith’s mother, Virgie Arthur, said they filed an appeal to a decision Thursday granting custody of Smith’s body to her 5-month-old daughter, Dannielynn, by way of her court-appointed guardian. The appeal’s effect on an agreement to have Smith’s remains flown to the Bahamas for a private funeral and burial was unclear. After the ruling, Howard K. Stern and Larry Birkhead, who both claim to be the father of Dannielynn, stood together outside the Florida courtroom. Beside them was Smith’s mother. "We’re all working together," Birkhead said.

OK, I have an idea on how to solve all this. First, send the two potential fathers to the Maury Povich show for DNA testing, and in 72 hours, the results will be in and we’ll know who the father is. That was he can claim custody and steal the child’s money. Next, send them to the highest court of public opinion, The Jerry Springer Show, to fight it out on stage. Whoever has most of their cloths on after 20 minutes of screaming and fighting, wins the rights to bury Anna wherever they want. And we can have CNN and FoxNews cover it all with their professional journalism and integrity to news.

There, problem solved.

From the Presto Album..not sure what made me just think of this