Riding with the window down…

It turns out that I was correct in my assertion that a tribute to show Chris Benoit was waaaay too premature.

According to Wikipedia:

WWE canceled the scheduled three hour long live RAW show on June 25, and replaced the broadcast version with a tribute to his life and career, featuring his past matches, segments from the Hard Knocks: The Chris Benoit Story DVD, and comments from wrestlers and announcers.[9] The next night, before their ECW broadcast, WWE aired a recorded statement by Vince McMahon hinting towards regret for the previous night’s special and stating that Benoit’s name would not be mentioned other than during McMahon’s comments. The WWE also removed all tributes and comments concerning Chris Benoit from their official website and later removed news articles about the deaths and their preceding events. Benoit’s profile has also been removed from the roster of superstars on the WWE website.

I know the pressure to address the issue was probably very high, but sometimes even in the exploitation business, it’s best to hold off and think a bit.

I have dug the idea of Google Docs since I first heard about it. Once it rolled out and I had a chance to start using the stuff… I liked it even more. I think the first doc I ever shared was a spreadsheet for several high school football sports writers in Texas as we all made our predictions for the state playoffs last year. (although I led the first three rounds, I finished third among the sportswriters) The ability to share a spreadsheet was phenomenal.

Well, Google Docs has just gotten better.

The biggest change was the layout of your doc collection. Before it was one long list and it “back-burnered” files that hadn’t been used in 30 days. The new structure still has the frequently used files feature, but it shows the entire collection of files in more of a traditional directory. While this may not seem like much, the instant I saw it I knew it was a heck of a lot quicker and more useful.

The exodus may be in full force at Google (as the early brains are vesting in their stock and jumping ship) but someone there is still turning out good stuff. Hey Microsoft… take note - if you build it ‘useful’ - they will come.

The 100kPlay Contest demystified

Click to play, right-click for direct MP3 download

(Time: 24:59)

LINKIES

100kPlay Contest - win a FREE video iPod
(use code: crap)

Call in and leave a voicemail for the show! 206-202-3644 or 281-394-4952

Subscribe in iTunes
RSS Feed

Subscribe at PodcastReady

I went to Taco Bell with my nephew tonight and having not been to one in awhile was surprised to see a different brand of Mt. Dew… Baja Blast! Let me just say… “Daddy likes!”

Again, I may be very late to this party, but I did a little research on the brand and found it at least interesting to me. It turns out that the Baja Blast flavor is a special brand made exclusively for Taco Bell. Not a big leap as both companies are owned by Pepsi, but still… it’s an interesting marketing move.

Will the flavor’s limited availability make me forego lunch somewhere else and eat at Taco Bell? Not likely. Will it make me more likely to agree when someone suggests stopping at TB? It just might.

Although a late convert to the world of Facebook, I instantly liked a lot of the features. The customization and the third-party applications made the site unique and aside from a few silly options, pretty useful at times. Then the spam started increasing - spam in the form of invites to use every application under the sun. At first I added a couple, but it quickly became overwhelming. When the redundant add-ons starting showing up, I was done. I mean, why did I need SuperWall when I had the Wall application? Why did I need SuperPoke or last.FM Plus? It just got silly.

The net result for me was to totally cut back to just useful apps and ignore all the add requests for more. That meant telling a lot of my Facebook friends “no” on an almost daily basis. Not very conducive to having happy friends.

Facebook apparently has seen the wisdom of cutting down on this spam and started limiting the number of friends you can “invite” (spam) to use applications at a time. The number fell from 500 friends to an application per day, to just 10… much better.

I still get a boatload of invites to join every crazy new application, but the idea that Facebook is continuing to look at ways to maintain a useful user experience says good things about them.

Tony, Blake and I caught Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer tonight and all I kept thinking was “did George Lucas write this?”

First off let me say that the special effects were very cool. The Silver Surfer stuff alone was worth the price of admission. The story, dialog, and acting however left a lot to be desired. Not only does the film take a dump on fifty years of comic book history, but director Tim Story apparently couldn’t coax a good story out of the weak script.

Again, the fight scenes were fun and the effects were cool, but between the campy dialog and interminable slow times that must have been there as pacing, FF:RotSS won’t have much replay value.

RATING 7 out of 10

We may not be four, but we’re certainly fantastic. haha

Wow… Mt. Dew has a new bottle! Sitting in the shelf next to the other products it simply towers above them all. Is it true? Do we really get more Dew for our dough? Uh… nope.

Of course not, when has a product change like this ever benefited the consumer. Please don’t tell me about “biggie sizing.” The taller bottle is the same price as the competitors, but once you get one in your hands, you notice something different. It doesn’t quite feel the same in your palm. In fact, it feels sorta like Shaq must feel when holding a basketball. A glance down to the label reveals why… not only is the bottle taller, but it is much skinnier.

You are not getting more than the typical 20 oz. bottle… not even close… this new packaging is only 16.9 oz. Nice marketing there.

After a record-setting 10-day break, Chris is back and chock full of news.

Click to play, right-click for direct MP3 download

(Time: 20:20)

LINKIES

After the Pain - David Grow
Twitter
100kPlay Contest - win a FREE video iPod
(use code: tmup)
The Way I Am - Ingrid Michaelson
One Off Song for the Summer - Koopa
Revolution of the Heart - Howard Jones

Call in and leave a voicemail for the show! 206-202-3644 or 281-394-4952

Subscribe in iTunes
RSS Feed

Subscribe at PodcastReady

(groan) Get ready for this molehill to grow again.

I find it amusing as hell that Larry King didn’t so much “score the big interview” with Paris as be the last horse in the race. It turns out that ABC and NBC dropped their offers. Kudos to them.

(Is it just me or does that look like a Paris impersonator? Wouldn’t that be an interesting story if she either paid someone to do her time or at least scammed the paparrazi on her departure?)

WWE wrestler, Chris Benoit, his wife, and 7-year old son were found dead in their Atlanta home today. The deaths are being investigated as possible homicides although police reported no gun or stab wounds. Benoit was a no-show for “personal reasons” at the Vengeance PPV in Houston yesterday as well.

The first thing that comes to mind is murder/suicide so I was blown away that tonight’s WWE RAW show was replaced on television with a special tribute to Chris Benoit. If this was indeed murder/suicide, do they really want to be celebrating that?

Autopsy results are expected tomorrow when the story will start to make a little sense… it just seems to me that WWE should hold off until they have some facts. Unless the WWE folks have information we don’t, I think they should have held off.