The Wii Didn't Start the Fire

http://www.youtube.com/
Seriously awesome brief history of video games to an awesome song.

Star Trek TNG Rap

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ClP8n6asn3w

And just to cheer myself up after that massive rant below, I thought I'd share this very awesome Star Trek parody. Yes it's rap, but give it a chance, it's good and actually funny.

The Irony of The ABC

Last night as I was laying in bed about to drift off to sleep, a copy of a Honor Harrington book on my bedside table, I had just finished rereading one of the chapters on Haven and it's dictatorial rule, and state owned and controlled media when a thought occurred to me.

"State owned media is almost always portrayed as 'evil' yet I trust the ABC far more then any commercial media outlet"

It struck me so hard I laughed. The ABC (Australian Broadcasting Company) is state owned and regulated, but not directly controlled, with many many people in Australia choosing it over commercial outlets due to it's reputation as serious and honest. Sure the government make a big stink now and then about "bias", but I've seen conservatives and liberals both make the same claims over the years, and other news outlets just plain hate them, so I ignore it.

Isn't an irony that people have started to trust state owned media more then the so-called "free" press to deliver real unbiased news about real world issues? I don't trust Newscorp or any other local Australian media, and I definitely don't trust places like Fox or CNN with their blatant bias, one on either side of the political fence.

When did this happen? It should never of happened, but really it was bound to happen when the media companies got so big they started to be able to impact the news they were suppose to be reporting.

Then there is the issue of profit, the search for the almighty dollar, I'm far from a communist, but when you start putting profit as the main motivator of a news organisation it's naturally going to lead to pandering to your audience, and that's when you start being news and start being entertainment.

The ABC is tax-payer funded, it doesn't have to worry about making a profit or ratings or any of that other dribble, so it actually reports the news as it happens, rather then slapping their own opinions on it or slanting the story to appeal to their subscribers.

There is also the factor of the ABC does less "cute" and "cleb" stories then their commercial competitors. If I'm watching the news I want news, not a story about some cleb I don't care about screwing around, or some dog down a drain.

I realise this is starting to sound like a love letter to the ABC, and that wasn't my intent, as a media outlet it's far from perfect, but in today's world it's vitally important that we fight to keep it, otherwise all we'll be left with is people like NewsCorp, and noone (apart from Murdoc, who recently said he wants the ABC out of news because it's "unfair") wants that.

And don't get me started on NewsCorps opinion of Blogs, for a company that blantently rips them off all the time on their sites, without even fact checking the stories, calling Blogs plagiarism and theft to be the hight of bullshit.

Anyway I'm done for now, I still think it's funny that I've come to trust a state-owned media outlet far more then any other source.

Why I'm Proud To Be Australian

Okay so I was clicking around and found this.

"There is a dark and foreboding place where few men dare tread, and where those who do tread speak with indecipherable accents. A place that will rape your Christian soul and be left unquenched, sitting there silently... taunting your soul's now-swollen asshole with its maddening silence - where is your God now?! There's no way that such a hellish, fiendish nexus of putrid rot and agony could exist! Well, it does, and that place is none other than the continent of Australia."

http://www.badassoftheweek.com/australia.html

Check it out and be proud of our homeland.

Early Retirement

A Maryland woman lost her accounting job after a background check performed through the FBI’s criminal database indicated, erroneously, that she was unsuitable for the job, according to the Baltimore Sun.

Eschol Amelia “Amy” Studnitz had been working for Corporate Mailing Services since August 2008 as a senior accountant.

http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2009/10/ncic

Well congratulations Amy, looks like you've just won an early retirement, I'm betting you've got lawyers lined up around the block begging you to hire them and from what I'm reading you've got a rock solid case against the FBI and you're old employer.

Personally I wouldn't of sued myself if I'd of got my job back, but since they screwed you, SUE THEM TO HELL AND BACK!

I feel bad for her, really I do, but I also find it kind of funny really in a "hah some big company / government agency is going to get owned" kind of way, though given the way the legal system works she'll either have to take an out of court settlement or live hard for a year or two while it's worked out in the courts.

It's yet another example of why the legal system needs an overhaul, limits placed on the number of lawyers/assistants/etc each side can have, and limits on the time they can take. Cases should take weeks at most, not years.

PWNT: Somali pirates attack military flagship

Somali pirates attempted to storm the French navy's 18,000 tonne Indian Ocean fleet flagship after mistaking it for a cargo vessel, the military have said.

The crew of La Somme, a 160-metre command vessel and fuel tanker, easily saw off the brazen night-time assault by lightly armed fighters on two open-topped motorboats and captured five pirates, a spokesman said.

"The pirates, who because of the darkness took the French ship for a commercial vessel, were on board two vessels and opened fire with Kalashnikovs," Admiral Christophe Prazuck said.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/10/08/2707877.htm

I don't think I have really anything to add other then the words of the great Nelson Muntz "Ha

If Video Games Were Realistic

The funny people over at CRACKED.com have a nice series of images detailing what would happen If Video Games Were Realistic

Check it out