Prime Cut

Interesting story on the antics of the CEO of Overstock.com. Looks like interesting opportunity to short a stock.

We're in the middle of the holidays, and you probably took some digital pictures at Christmas and would like to print them out. You could deal with printing at home, but that requires the nozzle check tests, buying special paper, and calibrating everything to work just right. However...

I was going to buy my dad a photo printer. I changed my mind after reading Tom's Hardware report on the cost per page when printing at home. For 4x6's, there is no contest. You are better off using a printing service. Even as the costs get closer for larger prints, the convenience of not hassling with buying quality paper, quality ink, and unclogging clogged nozzles makes online printing services worth it.

Here is a web page which gives a nice run down on some online printing services. I'm leaning towards Wal-Mart's service. You can save on shipping and pick up at the store.

Here is CNET's summary page of online printing services.

Back from Christmas break. I came across this hilarious video from SNL. It is so good, it's tempting to start watching a little SNL again. It's a rap video called "The Chronic of Narnia" or "Lazy Sunday". Check it out.

Interesting Online Clocks

Nice launch title Sony. No doubt this game is to be Sony's Halo. Unreal Tournament was Halo before there was Halo!

Now Sony, could you please cut out the DRM shenanigans?! Stop being a butthole of a company with intrusive anti-copying schemes and proprietary media formats and devices. Thank you.

I admit that I've seen these stories of Commodore and Amiga coming back so many times without fruition, I am thinking they need to be put in the Duke Nukem 3D pile of stories. Now it looks like Commodore has some actual products that might actually be real and available in stores.

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott seems to be on a roll these days. Texas authorities have captured 13 Louisiana fugitives hiding in Texas in wake of Hurricane Katrina.

Ars Technica thinks broadband over power lines will explode in Texas. I don't think so. Not if 3Mbps is the top offering. At that level, they are talking about a $50/month charge! I am paying $35/month for 6Mbps download. Ok, I have to pay about $15 for basic cable service. After taxes, it's just under $50.

Interesting and fun. Ratings based on word searches of web logs.

Theater owners want cell phones block. I am all for it. Now they need to muzzle the babies and the homies giving additional sound effects and running commentary. Ok, maybe that won't happen.

Slashdot brings word of Coke's next product, Coca-Cola Blak. It's a coffee Coke, but Coke says it's not just a flavor extension of Coke family. They say it will be a new type of soda. Hmm, ok. I'm willing to try.

Coke is also releasing Black Cherry Vanilla Coke. This will be what they call a flavor extension.

It seems building the character in a video game is becoming big business. I wish the games I play could earn me some cash. I can't say I like the hours these guy's are playing, 12 hours a day, 7 days a week. Not only is it too much time doing one thing, but there's no growth. I could pull that off when I was young and had time, but it seems time would be better spent getting ready for a long term career.

I found this article which explains the different formulas for the diet Cokes out there. I know Diet Coke has a different formula than Coke Classic, other than the sweetener used of course, but I did not realize it's based on the "New Coke" formula. So I guess Coke didn't lose its investment in "New Coke". It lives on in Diet Coke. If you really want a diet version of Coke Classic, you need to drink Coke Zero. Coke Zero uses acesulfame potassium. How long before web sites show saying acesulfame potassium causes memory loss, brain tumors, and general apocalyptic biological effects?

Ars Technica brings discusses a report by Activision-Nielsen which says ads in games work. I could see the report a little self-serving given the sponsors, but I think there is some truth to the idea of ads working in games. The ads can be direct (bulletin boards, watermarks, etc.) or indirect (included car designs in racing games). The Military Channel watermarked the war video footage in Call of Duty 2, which is the best game I've played so far this year. I don't mind as long as it doesn't detract from the game like the constant placements of FedEx did for Cast Away.

"We're all over this film," said Gayle Christensen, managing director of FedEx's global brand management. We're really a character central to the movie. We really felt strongly that adding even more promotion to that might go over the top."
Source

FedEx a co-star? Absolutely. And it was over the top.

Oh wait. This is about ads in games. We'll talk about ads in movies later. :-)

ZDNet published a pretty large review of 8 anti-spyware packages. You probably want to give it a read if you have problems with spyware installing itself, usually through Internet Explorer. Spoiler: The editor's choice was Symantec Client Security 3.0.

MarketWatch has a story on Real's Rhapsody services goes to the web. This article is interesting for a couple of reasons.

Rhapsody, Real's on demand music service, always required using a Windows application to listen. The web service breaks the necessity. This isn't too new. Yahoo's Launch can be listened to in a web browser, but requires Windows Media Player. Launch is also IE only. Rhapsody supports non-Windows OS's and can be played through Firefox. In fact, it has an automated install driven through Fx's extension system. Very nice.

I have only one complaint. I get free Rhapsody radio through Comcast internet cable service. I can skip songs using the Windows application, but the browser player says I can't skip unless I upgrade to Rhapsody unlimited. :-( Otherwise, the browser player is a better option because it's light weight and doesn't take so much desktop space.

The second interesting about the article is its use of AJAX. If you are reading the story during the day, the stock quotes are live and change while you are reading the article. Slick.

Ars Technica posts a review of Anand's review of Yonah. Looks like it will be a nice chip. Link to original Anand article is included.

Insane. Wild. Crazy. Entertaining. Snopes was mentioning this guy's engineering of Christmas lights for his house to music is true. I highly suggest you view the videos, Trans-Siberian Orchestra's "Wizard in Winter" and Jingle Bells.