5.23 - The One with the Ultimate Rick Roll

I'd like to preface my post with this...just in case you didn't know what Rickrolling was...

Rickrolling

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Rickrolling is an Internet meme typically involving the music video for the 1987 Rick Astley song "Never Gonna Give You Up". The meme is a bait and switch: a person provides a Web link they claim is relevant to the topic at hand, but the link actually takes the user to the Astley video. The URL can be masked or obfuscated in some manner so that the user cannot determine the true source of the link without clicking. When a person clicks on the link given and is led to the web page he/she is said to have been "Rickrolled" (also spelled Rickroll'd). By extension, it can also mean playing the song loudly in public in order to be disruptive.^[1]

Happy belated Thanksgiving USA...I do enjoy your Macy's Thanksgiving parade. It's pretty spectacular. Even though I was stuck at work during the parade, this part of the parade did not go unnoticed:



[for all you Facebook viwers, click here]

Priceless!

5.22 - The One with the Spider Drawing

Chris sent this to me yesterday...it's pretty funny

Below is the complete email conversation that Adelaide man David Thorne claims he had with a utility company chasing payment of an overdue bill.

From: Jane Gilles
Date: Wednesday 8 Oct 2008 12.19pm
To: David Thorne
Subject: Overdue account

Dear David,
Our records indicate that your account is overdue by the amount of $233.95. If you have already made this payment please contact us within the next 7 days to confirm payment has been applied to your account and is no longer outstanding.

Yours sincerely, Jane Gilles

From: David Thorne
Date: Wednesday 8 Oct 2008 12.37pm
To: Jane Gilles
Subject: Re: Overdue account

Dear Jane,
I do not have any money so am sending you this drawing I did of a spider instead. I value the drawing at $233.95 so trust that this settles the matter.

Regards, David.

From: Jane Gilles
Date: Thursday 9 Oct 2008 10.07am
To: David Thorne
Subject: Overdue account

Dear David,
Thankyou for contacting us. Unfortunately we are unable to accept drawings as payment and your account remains in arrears of $233.95. Please contact us within the next 7 days to confirm payment has been applied to your account and is no longer outstanding.

Yours sincerely, Jane Gilles

From: David Thorne
Date: Thursday 9 Oct 2008 10.32am
To: Jane Gilles
Subject: Re: Overdue account

Dear Jane,
Can I have my drawing of a spider back then please.

Regards, David.

From: Jane Gilles
Date: Thursday 9 Oct 2008 11.42am
To: David Thorne
Subject: Re: Re: Overdue account

Dear David,
You emailed the drawing to me. Do you want me to email it back to you?

Yours sincerely, Jane Gilles

From: David Thorne
Date: Thursday 9 Oct 2008 11.56am
To: Jane Gilles
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Overdue account

Dear Jane,

Yes please.

Regards, David.

From: Jane Gilles
Date: Thursday 9 Oct 2008 12.14pm
To: David Thorne
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Overdue account

Attached

From: David Thorne
Date: Friday 10 Oct 2008 09.22am
To: Jane Gilles
Subject: Whose spider is that?

Dear Jane, Are you sure this drawing of a spider is the one I sent you? This spider only has seven legs and I do not feel I would have made such an elementary mistake when I drew it.

Regards, David.

From: Jane Gilles
Date: Friday 10 Oct 2008 11.03am
To: David Thorne
Subject: Re: Whose spider is that?

Dear David, Yes it is the same drawing. I copied and pasted it from the email you sent me on the 8th. David your account is still overdue by the amount of $233.95. Please make this payment as soon as possible.

Yours sincerely, Jane Gilles

From: David Thorne
Date: Friday 10 Oct 2008 11.05am
To: Jane Gilles
Subject: Automated Out of Office Response

Thankyou for contacting me. I am currently away on leave, traveling through time and will be returning last week.

Regards, David.

From: David Thorne
Date: Friday 10 Oct 2008 11.08am
To: Jane Gilles
Subject: Re: Re: Whose spider is that?

Hello, I am back and have read through your emails and accept that despite missing a leg, that drawing of a spider may indeed be the one I sent you. I realise with hindsight that it is possible you rejected the drawing of a spider due to this obvious limb ommission but did not point it out in an effort to avoid hurting my feelings. As such, I am sending you a revised drawing with the correct number of legs as full payment for any amount outstanding. I trust this will bring the matter to a conclusion.

Regards, David.

From: Jane Gilles
Date: Monday 13 Oct 2008 2.51pm
To: David Thorne
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Whose spider is that?

Dear David, As I have stated, we do not accept drawings in lei of money for accounts outstanding. We accept cheque, bank cheque, money order or cash. Please make a payment this week to avoid incurring any additional fees.

Yours sincerely, Jane Gilles

From: David Thorne
Date: Monday 13 Oct 2008 3.17pm
To: Jane Gilles
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Whose spider is that?

I understand and will definately make a payment this week if I remember. As you have not accepted my second drawing as payment, please return the drawing to me as soon as possible. It was silly of me to assume I could provide you with something of completely no value whatsoever, waste your time and then attach such a large amount to it.

Regards, David.

From: Jane Gilles
Date: Tuesday 14 Oct 2008 11.18am
To: David Thorne
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Whose spider is that?

Attached

David Thorne put the drawing up on eBay and it sold for $15,000. The best part about that? The winning bidder...is refusing to pay and David is ok with it, "The internet is a playground and I would not have it any other way."

[via ninemsn]

5.21 - The One with the NXE

Look! It's me! I've been NXE'd. Microsoft decided that they wanted to jump on the avatar making bandwagon a la Nintendo's Mii's, and I'm pretty sure that Sony has something similar to this with their PlayStation Network for the PS3.

So yesterday Microsoft luanched the "New Xbox Experience" which was basically a redesign of the XBox 360 interface. It looks really good...and it's prett user friendly. I still don't really know what these avatrs will be used for. I've got Scene It! Box Office Smash! that will take advantage of the new avatars...but I can't see what else they will be used for unless XBox games start looking like the Nintendo Wii games. In anycase...these avatars will keep me entertained for a few minutes every so often...

...side note...this is the second consecutive post about Microsoft...

5.20 - The One with the Vista ad

I work in the advertising industry...and I feel that it's extremely important when you are trying to sell something...you use images, words, whatever to enhance your product. Lately Microsoft has put out some TV ad's to combat Apple's "Hi, I'm a Mac" commercials. It's great that they finally are doing something about it...but it's a little too late. I'm pretty saw I saw one "I'm a PC" ad that said: "I'm a PC and I wrangle llamas..."

Anyways...check out these Vista print ads...Microsoft needs rethink their marketing strategy:


Can you spot the mistake? Look very closely at the laptop the happy family is using...tell me it doesn't look like a Macbook Pro. I know that there are other companies that make silver laptops...but I have yet to see one that has an illuminated keyboard like that Macbook Pro.

Still not convinced? How about this one?

Take a look at the picture of the kids playing the Sony Playstation 2...I'm pretty sure that Microsoft has their own gaming platform...FAIL

[via Royal HeHe2-ness!]

5.19 - The One with the Ultimate Comedy Skit

Back in the summer Chris Bosh and Baron Davis decided to hold a "skit-off", to see who can make the best comedic skit between them both. The two skits were release yesterday and are online for you to vote which one is better.



After watching them both, I'd have to give my vote to Bosh. It looked like he put a lot more time and effort into it...plus it's funnier. What do you think?

[via ibeatyou]

5.18 - The One with the Fanboys

What if there was a movie that was so highly anticipated, you had to be the first to see it? How far would you go? Camp out in front of the theatre? Buy advanced tickets weeks in advance? How about breaking into the editing studio and stealing it? Is there even such a movie that is worth all that trouble? Sure there was...A Long time ago...in 1998 when Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace was set to be released.

Bear with me...pretend you never saw it...we now know that it wasn't really all that good...

Fanboys is a movie that is set in 1998 where a group of Star Wars geeks decide to break into Skywalker Ranch to steal an early print of the film...because one of them has cancer and wants to see if before he dies. This movie was supposed to be released in 2007, but because of stuff that goes on in Hollywood...if got delayed over and over again. BUT...it will now be released in February of 2009. Check out the latest trailer...it looks hilarious...and for the record...I'm not camping out, buying advanced tickets or even thinking of stealing an early print of this movie...



[via IGN]

here's a link to the first trailer...just as funny

[via IESB.net]

5.17 - The One with the 50 Skills Every Geek Should Have

Gizmodo put out a list of the 50 Skills Every Geek Should Have...many of them are straightforward, some are tough as hell. I've highlighted my geekiness for you...

1. Install a hard drive in a laptop
2. Perform a clean OS install on a machine with two OSes
3. Swap out the battery on your iPod/iPhone
4. Jailbreak an iPhone
5. Wire your house for Ethernet and Coax cable
6. Use BitTorrent and RSS to automatically download new shows from trackers
7. Use an A/V receiver to its fullest capability (every port is taken)
8. Calibrate an HDTV without the manual
9. Use a DSLR in full manual mode
10. Hack the encryption and mooch your neighbor's Wi-Fi
11. Solder cleanly enough to get around a circuit board
12. Use your 3G phone as a Wi-Fi access point
13. Shove the guts of a modern game console into a retro game console
14. Design a webpage in HTML by hand that features a picture of your cat
15. Use Photoshop to imperceptibly doctor a photo
16. Abstain from buying extended warranties
17. Know where to buy cheap cables and accessories
18. Fix your parents' computer over the phone without looking at a computer
19. Enter the Konami code
20. Comment on Gizmodo from your phone
21. Type quickly using T9 texting
22. Program a universal remote
23. Contribute code to the Linux kernel
24. Hide porn from your significant other (don't have any...but I'm sure I can do it)
25. Avoid DRM on everything
26. Know how to back up your data to networked storage—and actually do it (I don't do it...)
27. Watch TV shows on the internet for free
28. Edit together digital video ripped from YouTube
29. Play any SNES game on your computer through an emulator
30. Reset expired trial software by messing with the registry
31. Hackintosh your PC
32. Download pre-release movies from Usenet
33. Hack the Wii to play homebrew games
34. Get around web content filters on public computers
35. Get into a Windows computer if you forgot your password
36. Securely erase your data so it can't be recovered
37. Share a printer between a Mac and a PC on a network
38. Build a fighting robot
39. Write your own Firefox plugins
40. Navigate and reorganize the files on your computer in DOS
41. Get something on the front page of Digg
42. Get through to executive customer service
43. Rip a CD to V0 quality MP3s
44. Rip a DVD to DivX
45. Build your own computer from parts
46. Swap out the hard drive in your DVR for a bigger one
47. Get an NES cartridge working again by blowing in it
48. Calibrate a 7.1 surround-sound system
49. Play downloaded games on a Nintendo DS (what about a PSP?)
50. Talk about things that aren't tech related

How did you Rate?

• 0: You are from the past and somehow stumbled upon this list through a rift in time.
• 1-10: Someone read you this list from a printout sent to you via snail mail.
• 11-20: You are no longer intimidated by email or your DVR, but these are recent developments.
• 21-30: You play a lot of video games and read a lot of blogs, but that's about as far as your geek cred goes.
• 31-40: You went to computer camp when you were a kid and sort of wish you were Japanese.
• 41-49: You wear Linux shirts, argue about the merits of AJAX on forums and build custom handheld retro gaming consoles for fun.
• 50: We've just diagnosed you with Asperger's.

I scored a 37.5...I never went to computer camp and I never wished I was Japanese...I wonder if being Chinese has anything to do with my score?

[via Gizmodo]

5.16 - The One with Clementines

I bought my first box of clementines of the season last night...mmmm...Christmas season is upon us....although the weather doesn't want to co-operate. But I'll take all the warm weather I can get before the snow flies. I should really get onto doing some Christmas shopping soon. I have no idea what to get people...and I don't even know what I want...

One last thing...Raptors are 3-0 to start the season! Gotta love it...I still miss the Swirsk...