Jack Black Anti-Pricay PSA

HAHAHAHAHAHA

Why am I stuck with Time Warner Cable?

Hi everybody, I've got a question for you. I live in Brooklyn NY right now, and because of that, I have only one choice for a cable tv provider. That is Time Warner Cable. And after dealing with them for a number of years (pretty much the whole city is locked into them) I absolutely dispise them. Their service is deplorable, their customer support is horrendous, and their "On Demand" channels almost never work. Not to mention they have a very limited selection of HD channels to complement my new HDTV. I have looked at Cablevision's HD package and it looks like they have nearly twice the HD channels that TWC has. They also have the one HD channel that I am craving which is MSG-HD (I want my Rangers in High-Def). I called Cablevision and asked what it would take to switch to them, and after telling them that my building was currently controlled by TimeWarner, they told me that there was absolutely no way to get their service. I was screwed. Here's my question... Why the hell do I not have the ability to make my own choice? Why is it that Time Warner "owns" my building? Why are they allowed to have a monopoly on the whole city? WTF? I'd like to hear other stories about this type of cable company strong arming, and I want to do something about it. Has anyone figured out a way around this nonsense (without turning to DirectTV or DiSH)? Leave a comment and let's figure out how to stop this crap!

A better way to download podcasts

Yes, I know it's been a while since I last posted, but hey, better late than never. Anyway, recently I've discovered a new way to manage all the awesome podcasts I listen to. It's called PodcastReady and I never would have heard of them if it weren't for apple's cease and desist letter that they received for their use of the word "podcast" (WTF!) Anyway, with podcast ready, you can manage all your podcasts from their website. Then you download their software called "myPodder" and install it on the device that you use. This is very different than any other piece of podcast-catching software that gets installed on your PC. Anyway, you install the software onto your mp3 player and you can then plug your player into any computer with an internet connection and update your podcasts! This is really cool for me as I can now update both at home and at work, and not have to worry about maintaining two different lists of the podcasts I subscribe to. The software will work on any mp3 player that your computer sees as a removable storage device. This includes iPods. The only downside I've seen to using this software on an actual iPod (tested on my girlfriend's) is that the podcasts don't show up under the podcasts section in the iPod. Instead they just show up with all the other music which could be annoying.
Another awesome reason to try PodcastReady is that they have built in some neat social networking features into the service. As with all social networks, you can become someones friend. But once you are you can see what they are subscribed to (I think) and you can send whole podcasts or single episodes to them which are then automatically downloaded the next time they plug in their player. I haven't made any friends on Podcast Ready yet, so I haven't been able to fully examine all the social networking aspects of it, but they sound really great. All I need to do now is get more of my friends to start listening to podcasts.

Anyway, I hope to be posting a little more often now and I hope you all enjoy it.
Later bloggerinoes!

A Message From Al Gore

Darth Vader Calls Emporer to Tell Him About The Death Star

Timmy's Wish

Ask a Ninja on Net Neutrality

After your done watching the video, click the link below to see how you can stop the Telcos and ISPs from destroying the internet and putting up their wall made out of the shredded first amendment!

Stephen Colbert 'Roasting' The Decider (bush)

I know this is a little old, but a lot of people missed it, so I've decide to post here, the video of the White House correspondants dinner where Stephen Colbert (of Comedy Central's The Colbert Report) gave a hilarious speech standing right next to the president (oh if only Cheney had been there too). Anyway, because of YouTube's uploading restrictions, this video was posted in 3 parts that are all displayed in order here. Just watch the 1st one, then the 2nd, then the 3rd, all in one easy to find location. ENJOY!

Update: Sorry, it looks like YouTube took the videos down due to copyright infringement.

Google on Earth Day?

So I walked outside for lunch today, and I realized that it's earth day. Vanderbilt street is covered with booths owned mostly by car companies showing off their fancy new hybrids. But the one booth that caught my eye was Google's. Not only do they have their own earth day booth but they are right next to the EPA's booth. So what are they doing there? Well if you looked at the picture, you'll see that they are promoting Google Earth. Now, I like Google Earth, but does it have anything to do with Earth Day besides the name? I thought this was worth a small chuckle. Of course my first question to the woman (who's head is pictured) was, "How do I get a job with you guys?" She giggled, but didn't respond. :( Oh well, I'll just keep on blogging in the mean time.

Get Revision3 Podcasts Early Without Being a Member

Ok, I'm a big fan of Revision3's podcasts. And my absolute favorite podcast of all time, Infected by Martin Sargent, is hosted by them. So when I went on to Revision3.com today to grab the latest episode, I was furious to find out that it was only members who could download it today. I waited for most of the day to see if it would become public, but the clock struck 4 and still nothing. So I decided to pay the $5 bucks and become a member. After all, like I said, I'm a big fan, and don't feel bad about donating a few bucks to a great organization (although I would rather donate to the 'Get Martin Sargent Back On TV Fund'). Anyway, I waited the 5 minutes it asked me too, and the site still did not register me as a member, so I did a little snooping, and found out that the members only podcasts are online and downloadable by the public. Being a member just gets you the link! So I copied the address of the previous show, changed the episode number and date to match that of the new show, and voila, I was infected yet again. (No, I won't provide a direct link, because if you want to do this, you can do it yourself!) Anyway, I'm sure that if anyone at Rev3 reads this, they will start changing the naming conventions for each new episode, but I wanted to make it public anyway. Consider it a security vulnerability proof of concept.

That being said, If you enjoy Revision3's podcasts, you should donate. I just hate the monthly system. I would rather donate when I want, and I will probably donate more in the future. But I wanted to be INFECTED now!

Podcast of the Day - President's Weekly Radio Address

It's been around since at least 2005 (probably longer) but it's hilarious. It's a weekly parody of Bush's radio address. It's one of the funniest podcasts I've ever heard. OK, so they're not all winners, but most of them are. For your listening pleasure, I have embeded one of them right into this page, so you're probaly already listening to it. Enjoy!!


Update: I took the sound clip off, cause it was getting annoying. If you want to hear it, click the link.

A Little Late For Easter

Yeah, I know. I've been picking up a couple of stories and sitting on them because, well, I'm kinda lazy. So... Easter came and went. Maybe you had a nice uneventful day with the family, but it turns out the easter bunny had a busy week. First, he got his ass kicked in a mall in Wisconsin. Then he goes nuts and punches a woman in the face in Florida. And he ended the day on a rampage.

Flashbag - Bloated and Useless

Here's a new idea from Russia with love. It's called the Flashbag and it's a usb flash drive that inflates depending on how much stuff in on it. So when you copy files to it, it gets a little bigger, when you delete files from it, it gets a little smaller. It does seem like a cool idea, but it also seems almost completely and utterly useless. I wouldn't want a USB disk that could fit in my pocket in the morning and enhance my package by 3:00. It's just one of those wierd things that you would expect to come out of Japan.

Does anyone remember the Reebok pumps?

Google Calendar

For those of you out there who haven't heard yet, Google has released their Calendar web application. For some reason, I hadn't heard much about it. I knew they were comming out with something, but I didn't know that it was already public. Anyway, if you have a gmail account, you can sign up for the calendar too by going to calendar.google.com (or just click the link below). My first impressions are pretty good. The layout is good, and there is a fair amount of customization that can be done. Also, something that I have already become addicted to is having SMS alerts on my cell phone when I have an appointment comming up. Supposedly, the calendar will become more integrated with gmail, and hopefully you will be able to add invitations that come from Outlook, with one click. But it's not there yet. The calendar sharing is nice, but as I am kind fo an exile from the geek community, I have no one to share my calendar with :( but I also don't have much stuff on it. Adding appointments is pretty easy. I like how you can just type in something like "7pm Dinner with Les" or "Lunch with Pam at 1pm". I did have a few problems with getting the integrated RSS feed working in firefox, but have not done a lot of testing with it. Basically, this is obviously beta software. And not Gmail beta either. It's got a ways to go but it looks like a really good start.

Now if only I lived in San Fransisco and could get free Google WiFi too. Oh well.

Simpsons Movie Trailer - Woo Hoo!

It's real! I'm so excited. Watch it low quality here, or click the link for the high quality apple version.

DEA Cop Shoots Himself in the Foot

This found it's way onto the net a while ago, but I just discovered it and it's funny as hell. This DEA agent is giving a presentation on gun saftey when he shoots himself in the foot with a Glock .40. Also now he is suing the DEA for releasing the video tape. Watch the video below, and then click the Link to read about the lawsuit from The Smoking Gun. :)

New York Hack - The Blog of a NYC Cab Driver

Hi guys, just thought I'd post about a blog I discovered the other day. It's called New York Hack (incase you don't read titles) and it the online journal of a female NYC cab driver. Not that being a female makes any difference, it's just a very cool blog, from a very interesting perspective. Oh also, she's a really awsome writer and apperently just scored a book deal. I always thought being a cab driver would be a great inspiration for ideas, but obv, I never put it into practice. Also, if you're reading this M.P. (the author of the blog) hope you don't mind me leeching your pic of cabs at the airport. (it's hosted by blogger, so i don't think you would). Any way, click the link to take a look.
:)

New Domain - TheBoredomBlog.com

Hi all. In case you haven't noticed, I've shelled out the cash and actually bought a domain for this site. It's still hosted here at blogger.com, but now if you ever want to tell your friends about me, it's a lot easier. Just tell them TheBoredomBlog.com, and they'll get here. Thanks for everybody's support.
Later

P.S. I heard a rumor that the 1st official episode of the BK Broiler might be comming out next week. It's just hearsay mind you, but keep an eye out for it.

Internet Explorer Exploit used by phishers

Ok, this is actually a very important post for anyone that uses Internet Explorer. I'm serious. If you're reading this and you use Internet Explorer, PAY ATTENTION! There is a new exploit that has been discovered that is being used by phishers (people who fish for your information) that lets IE open a web page that is controlled by the phishers, while displaying a valid URL in the Address bar. Let me explain this simply, because it's really quite important. Pretend you get an e-mail that looks like it's from your bank (lets say Chase). This e-mail says that you need to update some of your info and provides you with a link to chase.com so that you can log in and do this. When you click the link, the site look like the real chase.com. It used to be that you could look at the Address Bar to see what URL you were actually at. If the Address Bar didn't say "http://www.chase.com" you'd know that it was a phony site set up to collect your login credentials. But now, with this new exploit discovered (that phishers are already using) you could be at a fake site, and the Address Bar could still say "http://www.chase.com". To see if your browser is vulnerable, click the link below and run the test (to run the test, you have to click the link labled "Test Now" on the new page, after clicking the Link at the bottom of this post). When you do, a new window will pop up that is a page that is owned by the security company. If your browser is vulnerable, then the address bar will say www.google.com.

OK, so your browser is vulnerable, what do you do? Well the best way to secure yourself from this, and other, IE vulnerabilities is to stop using Internet Explorer all together, and Get Firefox. If still want to use IE, then the only way to prevent this from happening is to disable Activ Scripting. Of course, this will cause a lot of legitamite web sites to stop working correctly, but hey, you wanted to use IE.

Any way, give it a test, it's a little scary to see the results.
Click the link
Later.

What's Wrong With This Picture?

Well? Can you guess? If you haven't figured it out yet, the problem is that this picture was taken today, April 5th, 2006 in New York City. April 5th! It's fucking snowing right now!!!!!! THIS IS INSANE!!! WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE AND IT'S ALL BECAUSE OF THAT FUCKING BROADWAY MUSICAL!!!! Anyway just thought I'd share this rediculous turn of events with the rest of you. So that's all for now, I'm gonna go hide under my desk and wait for the 4 horsemen. :)