brainmower

Why America is broke(n)

A sobering and personal example of how the Government cannot do anything efficiently. In my day job we occassionally sell hardware to clients.  As our business has ramped up with a Government entity we've hit the radar of the hardware manufacturer.  It turns out the manufacturer has a Government contract with a set price list.  This price list is not negotiable.  The Government can purchase from this manufacturer strictly off this pricelist. The cost for the same items on the manufacturer'...

Star Trek Review

Let's get the good stuff out of the way. This movie nailed difficult casting choices. Quinto as Spock etc was very well done. Casting helped build the backstory of how these characters met because each character was easily recognizable. There was never a moment of disbelief that this character was not the younger version of a McCoy, Kirk, Chekov etc. They just "fit". Now that the good stuff is out of the way...wow did that movie fucking suck. Rotten Tomatoes gave it 95% fresh? That seriou...

Please don’t cancel Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles is in danger of being canceled after just two seasons. The Season 2 finale aired tonight. Disclaimer: I am not a big fan of TV in general but I will watch certain shows. Terminator: TSSC, which is based on the Terminator movie series, has had it's ups and downs. Tonight's season finale (and the previous two episodes) were FANTASTIC. I hope that Fox will realize that there is value in keeping good TV on TV and not be solely driven by revenue. One can ...

Boxee vs Hulu – The viewers lose

In a recent blog post Hulu stated their content providers requested they "turn off access to our content via the Boxee product, and we are respecting their wishes". Hulu is pulling their support for Boxee effective 02-20-2009. Removing Hulu integration with Boxee is a lose/lose idea for Hulu, Boxee, Content Providers and Users.  Let's break it down. Content Providers: The content providers want eyeballs because eyeballs mean revenue. To gain those eyeballs content providers want NEED to e...

VMWare’s sucky patch

VMWare just pwned themselves by releasing an update that is disallowing any process with a start date of 08-12-08 to launch. More info here. I am an unapologetic VMWare fan, but this is a huge screwup. Tomorrow will be interesting. This occurs within 24 hours of Gmail going down for an hour. Anyone think too much success is leading to sloppiness at these companies?

Olympic Swimming

Is there anything more boring than watching Olympic Swimming? I'm not questioning the athletes. They are in great shape and put forth every effort. However, I find swimming to be the lamest spectator sport I've ever watched. NBC is doing their best to build drama around Michael Phelps' quest for medals. I watched the relay. I hate to use this word again, but it was boring. I can't help but think the announcers are faking it. Swimming as a spectator sport. I don't get it.

Top 10 signs that you have a bad bank

David Letterman's Top 10 signs you have a bad bank: 10. Teller asks, "How may I swindle you?" 9. Instead of Andrew Jackson, their $20 bills have a picture of Tito Jackson. 8. They promise they'll have your money if you come back after tonight's Keno drawing. 7. Interest paid not in money, but in Saltines. 6. ATM looks suspiciously like a Ms. Pac-Man machine. 5. Loan officer will approve your mortgage only if you let him rub you. 4. Bank robbers leave with a sack of IOU's -- ...

Don’t Walk…or Think

These walk signs are on many busy intersections across San Diego. To cross the street pedestrians are supposed to push the button to change the traffic signals. The result: pedestrian controlled traffic signals causing traffic jams and wasting gas across the city. Even worse, many pedestrians have so surrendered common sense that they walk blindly into an intersection because the walk light signaled them to walk. This logic reminds of an event at the San Diego Zoo a few years ago when a...