Microsoft is spending roughly a thousand billion dollars on marketing Vista in an attempt to showcase it just ain’t that bad, and the centrepiece of this campaign is the new Gates/Seinfeld ads. For those who haven’t seen them – or want to see them again – you’ll find them below the drop down. Seemingly meant to combat the famous PC/Mac Guy ads that have been everywhere for the past few years, the first ad featured Bill Gates and Jerry Seinfeld shoe shopping in a mall together, culminating in the esteemed Microsoft founder tugging at his underpants. The second, just released late last week, runs almost five minutes long and tells the story of the two moving into a house to connect with “regular people”, this time culminating in a Bill Gates robot dance. I personally find them amusing, but then again my sense of humour has long been a little bit left of centre. Whether it’s building sales of Vista isn’t quite clear yet.
What might go further to fixing the damaged rep of Vista is ‘The Mojave Experiment‘, essentially Microsoft’s rendition of the Pepsi Challenge. Random consumers were asked their (largely negative) opinions on Vista, then shown Microsoft’s new Mojave OS, the successor to Vista. With general favourable reviews received the unveiling showed that Mojave IS Vista, and hilarity would ensue. Of course, it’s still not cool to like Microsoft so the general pop is ripping them for their “deceptive marketing practices”, while ZDNet stands alone in asking “what if Apple had conducted the Mojave Experiment?” I can tell you what; they’d be proclaimed as geniuses. Odd world.
Today’s Random Links
Final ‘Guitar Hero: World Tour’ track list. No Alanis! w00t!
One church sign’s take on ‘I Kissed a Girl’.. hilarious!
How far would you go for a Tootie Pie?
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Ryan Adams & The Cardinals – Follow the Lights

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Carrying the byline “(the) last time (the) weather service used such forceful language was in regard to Katrina” on CNN the National Weather Service in the United States has warned residents of the Galveston Bay area of Texas to leave their homes immediately or “face certain death“. The expectation is a wall of water up to 22 feet high crashing into the mainland, stretching 20 miles in to Houston, all coming to a head sometime in the early-to-mid hours of Saturday. The Pirates-Astros game in Houston last night was mostly empty, and their next two games have been postponed indefinitely while everyone waits to see what happens. I can’t imagine what it’s like to sit back and wait for “certain death”, and the agony of what you’ve left behind to everybody that’s heeded the advice to get up and go. Thoughts and prayers to them all this morning.
Moving to less tragic discussions I have to admit that the promise of seeing my old ‘Dog Eat Dog‘ girlfriend, Brooke Burke, on TV again caused me to take in a couple episodes of FOX’s ‘Hole in the Wall‘ this week. For those unfamiliar it’s a remake of a Japanese game show and is essentially a form of human Tetris whereby contestants wearing silver unitards attempt to jam their bodies through oddly shaped holes in walls for points. My favourite part, oddly enough, is the very serious deep-voiced announcer’s catch phrase of “IT’S TIME.. TO FACE.. THE HOLE!” Here’s a little video to help showcase some of the hilarity that ensues every Thursday at 8, and an interview with Brooke Burke by Zap2it.
Today’s Random Links
If you hate Gordon Ramsay you may want to boycott FOX for a few years.
The American media is starting to pick up on Canada having a gay ‘Idol’.
Nike showcases another example of poorly placed advertising.
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Wilco – Sky Blue Sky

Here we are again, seven years later. Yet still it’s hard to wake up on September 11th and not be taken back to where we all were, and how the world has changed since. I still find myself haunted regularly both by the non-stop coverage of the events of that day during that week in 2001, but perhaps even more so by being at the site in November of 2001. It seems my flash presentation has long since stopped working, but those who remember it know a first-hand view of the destruction was more than a little disturbing. I’m glad to see most of today’s coverage has focused on the event and survivors, not on the politics surrounding it, which is how it should be in my opinion.
On lighter topics let’s focus on the Blue Jays for a moment. Last night ended a 10-game winning streak, and a chance to tie a team record of 11 wins in a row. What was more interesting was a win last night would have made 11 wins in a row against teams with winning records, and that would have set a new MLB record. They currently sit seven games back of the Boston Red Sox for the wild card, and face the same Bosox seven more times this season. Which, of course, means JP will sit tight and replace his vacant second starting pitcher under the false belief that he’s got a team ready to compete next season. Ignoring the fact that teams are now dealing with expanded rosters including lesser talented rookies, and excluding the fact this same team spent most of the year mired in mediocrity. Argh.
Oh, and good news – Mats Sundin might become a Senator! Moohahaha…
Today’s Random Links
Too bad you don’t live in Pittsburgh, Cliff, where Sid delivers your tickets.
Mark Burnett finally takes on my ‘Rock Star 3’ “build a band” suggestion.
100 free online Ivy League courses you should take just for fun
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While heading up to see my family in Barrie last night I’d decided to take a look for any geocaches that might exist along Highway 27, and was surprised to see that the past couple years have provided quite a few. One of particular interest was Jeepers Creepers Returns, seemingly found in a cemetery right next to the main road. I arrived to find a Pioneer cemetery, burial ground for many of the pioneers who’d settled in the area roughly near Newton Robinson many years ago. It was obvious the cemetery – found at the corner of Highway 27 and 12th Line – had been there a long time, and some markers noted it was completely redone and fixed up in 1985. It’s hidden behind a small gate and starts with many markers full of plaques and even a sign-in book, at which point my GPS led me up a nearby hill and into the tree covering. The pic to the side there is what I found at the top, a mix of modern grave markers and roughed up old broken down headstones, all in various positions and states, and haphazardly placed so as to make it a bit difficult to roam through without stepping on a burial ground (if you’re apprehensive about that sort of thing). Unfortunately, as I was already late from three other geocaches, I didn’t have a lot of time to visit but I know I’m heading back very soon, it was quite something to see.
Oh, and our final note for the day pertains to this study of the brain’s response to sitcoms. Turns out I was right all along; ‘The Simpsons‘ is hilarious, ‘Seinfeld‘ is pretty good, and ‘Friends‘ is poop. Take it to the bank!
Today’s Random Links
KFC is getting some publicity behind moving their secret blend of herbs and spices.
Have you seen the new Yonge-Dundas Square Intersection?
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The Gutter Twins – Saturnalia

The illustrious Michael Coren was the guest speaker at Nashville Community Church not far from Bolton here yesterday. The star of the appropriately named ‘The Michael Coren Show’ and regular articles in the National Post and Sun Media papers, Coren is probably best known for being a slightly controversial social conservative. His talk was on what place religion holds in politics, and had I known he was coming there in advance it might have been a great chance for some of our local liberals to join as he did open the floor to any questions people had. Of particular interest to me were a few points, and the authenticity of them can certainly be argued in comments.
First – the separation of church and state. Interesting, he noted, as it’s actually an American policy and not a Canadian one, and was actually instituted to keep the state out of the church and not vice versa. His argument was that the founding fathers of the USA, most of them Christians from England, had experienced religious persecution by the Church of England and wanted to ensure similar things didn’t happen in their new country. He went on to note that, in his experience, it’s typically the most anti-American people arguing for the division of church and state in Canada, which I suppose is somewhat ironic. His second point on this topic, which I agree with and found interesting, is that when people demand the division of church and state they’re actually simply demanding that people not be allowed to have their thoughts and deeds be guided by their Christianity. His evidence was around the general reluctance of the media, or people in general, to criticize a person of Jewish or Muslim faith who involve themselves in politics while still publicly holding to their belief system. Yet, a Christian politician guided by his morality would be subject to ridicule and a lack of acceptance of that morality. Interesting topics for sure, and the 90 minutes went by quickly.
Oh, and remember this post from four months ago where I proclaimed the pending death of the Starbucks Breakfast Sandwich within two years? Turns out I may have been generous – www.savethebreakfastsandwich.com is reporting they’re gone before this year is through. Inexplicably, they’re also trying to save it.
Today’s Random Links
The Star writes about Neustadt village, still home of the best brewery tour money can buy.
KP Wee criticizes A-Rod; time to put some money on his late season resurgence.
Hobie from Baywatch now has his own sex tape. Make it all stop.
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