Announced today, Global Gaming Factory X has purchased The Pirate Bay for $7.8 million (US), signifying the “death” of my favorite download/file-sharing site.  Check the link to the full story here, but in short, GGFX has decided that the Bay needs to be turned “legit” to survive in today’s world.  They’ve decided that creators and copyright owners need to be paid for their creations and ideas, in much the Napster model from lo those many years ago.  Of course, Napster was all the rage at one time, but how many of you actually know that Napster is still even in business?  (Wait, is it?)

So, join with me in celebrating the life and now-untimely demise of The Pirate Bay - we hardly knew ye.  Now, where’s the next file-sharing site?

Stay hard.   -mlm

Double Dead? Hell, it’s worth $23 just to see HOW!, originally uploaded by mlm93.

Stay hard (& drunk)… -mlm

Like most of you, I am also in mourning over the loss of a true legend of his craft.  The past several days have been tough on all of us who are entranced by the glitzy and glamorous lives of entertainers, actors, musicians, and other celebrities.  David Carradine, Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett, Billy Mays (ok, that one’s a bit of a stretch, I admit), and the most painful of all of them.  Of course, I speak of the ultra-talented and borderline genius…

Fred Travalena.

In a world where we all remember the vocal stylings and impressions of Rich Little - and Rich Little’s A Christmas Carol was true greatness - I remain convinced that the greatest performer in that particular genre was the great Fred Travalena.  While Rich Little merely impersonated other celebrities, Fred invoked them, he became them.  It was almost as if, in beholding his greatness, Fred was channeling the very subject of his invocation, even to the point of being more like them than even they themselves were.  You can have your Rich Little - for me, Fred Travalena was the absolute pinnacle of celebrity impersonators.  (Even if his name was Fred…)  Stay hard, Fred!  (such a touching tribute)

Oh yeah, and then there was Michael Jackson.  Look, if his father - the completely crazy Joe Jackson - would rather attend a BET event and pimp his recording company (WITH BLU-RAY TECHNOLOGY!) than worry about taking care of funeral arrangements for his own pedophile son, then why should I be bothered to care?  All I care about is when everybody will just shut the hell up about him, so we can all just move on.

Stay hard.   -mlm

Really, Microsoft, I expected better of you.  (Not really, but it sounds good, right?)  Found this link a few minutes ago: Browser For The Better.  I mean, it makes sense when you think about it - Microsoft had the spotlight all to themselves regarding the pending release of Windows 7 for all of about 37 seconds when Apple trumped them at the WWDC on Monday.  Not only is Apple releasing Mac OS 10.6, otherwise known as Snow Leopard, a full month before W7 hits, AND at a significantly less cost to the consumer, but also a new iPhone~! within 2 weeks.  Then Google piles on with their announcement of Google Apps sync with Lookout (Outlook, for you unwashed masses), to eliminate the need for Exchange.

So, M$ decides to trot out this new marketing campaign for Internet Exploder 8, by intimating that if you don’t upgrade, you’re against feeding starving children.  The only way this pandering could be any more pathetic is if they had Jesus and Santa holding an American flag with an eagle soaring above them.  “Use IE8 or the terrorists win!”  Never mind that our own government are heading down a path that approaches that level of evil - hell, even the Communists around the world are amazed at how quickly we’re moving to the far left.  But that’s another rant for another day.

Stay hard.   -mlm

http://site.despair.com/socialmediatee/

Stay hard.   -mlm

The past couple of says, I’ve subjected myself to watching the Star Wars trilogies again, in the order that George Lucas intended, not chronologically.  Obviously, this means I had to sit through The Phantom Menace again, which is never a good thing.  (We also won’t get into the idea that watching the movies in this order ruins the 2 biggest “Holy Crap!” moments in the real trilogy…)  So, the next biggest thing that hit me is the idea of the Death Star’s and their construction.

At the end of Revenge of the Sith, we see Palpatine and Vader overseeing a construction project of a Death Star.  Are we to assume that this is the same Death Star from A New Hope?  Keep in mind that Episode 3 takes place approximately 20 years prior to Ep. 4.  A 20+ year construction project?  Sounds like either a really poor project manager - which I’m sure a power-freak like Palpatine wouldn’t stand for - or clones just aren’t cut out for construction.  Which makes sense - since the clones were created from the genetic makeup of Jango Fett alone, they probably wouldn’t have the requisite knowledge associated with building things.  Stick them in a firefight or other war-like situation, fine; but obviously, we can’t trust them with building a birdhouse, much less a star-sized destruction machine of that proportion.

Back to the topic at hand - the Death Star is destroyed at the end of Ep. 4 by a Jedi-aided torpedo shot.  Just 4 years later, in Return of the Jedi, the Empire has a fully functional, LARGER Death Star.  Okay, so it’s not completely finished, but given that it’s fully operational - meaning, the superweapon laser cannon can blow the hell out of Rebel frigates (and really, isn’t that all the Death Star is?  A laser cannon with a spherical covering…) - how is it that the “original” Death Star took 20 years to build, while the 2nd larger model is basically complete in 4 years, with just the outer covering still to be completed?  Are clones really that poor at building things?  Did Palpatine decide to require a PMP certified project manager for the 2nd project?  I suppose that the “Death Star” shown in Ep. 3 could have been the prototype model from the Maw, as referenced in the Jedi Academy book trilogy, but given Lucasfilm’s penchant for ignoring the books, even though they’re fully authorized part of the canon… except for that bit where it was established that Luke’s (and Leia’s) mother was a Dathomir witch, and then Lucas COMPLETELY CHANGED that in favor of Natalie Portman and the Naboo crap for those horrible movies.  Although, never discount the motivating power of fear in getting your underlings to work harder and faster in getting that 2nd (movie) Death Star built more quickly.  And I also have to think that maybe they skimped on the materials and design of the last model - to go from a 2 meter thermal exhaust port to a freaking tunnel that the Millennium Falcon could fly through to a huge open expanse where they could fire a couple of laser blasts to destroy the thing?  Shoddy, Emperor - just shoddy workmanship.

Anyway, just some random musings for a Monday morning.  That is all.

Stay hard.   -mlm