Jul
15

Universal Web ID & accountability

Posted in random thoughts at 2:47 pm with tags: • • • • • • • • •

Jerkface and I were talking the other day about how people are just total assholes on the internet, be it message board, craigslist, or xbox live. We both agree its because there is a lack of ‘accountability’ on the web (great article). Being anonymous and not having face to face interactions drastically reduces ‘risk’. Call someone a gay ass hole, and maybe they’ll flame you back, but that’s about it. Do that in the real world, and you might get the crap beat out of you or be fired from your job.

Attempts are being made now to include some ‘accountability’ in the web, Ebay’s User Feedback is one of the longest standing, Xbox Live has player rep, you can block people on facebook, etc. Unfortunately, the distributed nature of all these databases means that this info is pretty much useless.

However, with the oncoming wave of Friend Connect, OpenID, and whatever else develops, a truly universal online identity may be just around the corner. Other that not having to create a new damned account for every service, I think one of the nice potentials of this is universal accountability. If you’re act like a dick in a game of halo and I provide feedback, that should totally affect how likely your comments are to get DUGG. Now I know people will always find ways to create multiple accounts and that a universal ID does eliminate anonymity on the net, which in many ways is one of its great strengths.

But god damn it would be nice to have less assholes filling up the web-o-sphere.

Popularity: 83% [?]

2 Comments
Jan
2

a few random cinema thoughts

Posted in random thoughts at 12:08 am with tags:

1) saw X3 for the first time since the theaters while i was home. It was actually even worse then I remembered. Needle face dude is the stupidest mutant ever. Was ratner inspired by super-meg and her fingernails in Family Guy?
2) Finally saw Fincher’s Zodiac. Had no desire to see this for some reason but it was sitting around at home and turns out I actually really enjoyed it. Fincher’s a solid director and it was one of the creepier movies I’ve seen in a long while.
3) ‘07 was owned by mexican directors: del Toro -> Pan’s Labyrinth, Cuaron -> Children of Men, and Iñárritu -> Babel.

Though all films had their flaws, pretty amazing shit overall and some good stuff coming out of those guys!

Popularity: 14% [?]

Comment
Nov
26

Cinematic Aspect Ratio

Posted in random thoughts at 1:04 pm with tags: •

Had some downtime in the airport the other day, and while looking at one of the mounted screens, I suddenly asked myself why cinema/televisions have always had a greater width than height? Who decided 4:3 and 16:9 should be the way screens are shaped, and why?

The only real reason I could think of is that the human form is inherently vertical, we’re taller than we are wider. Landscape orientations allow you to cram a LOT of people in one screen.

Popularity: 16% [?]

Comment
Jan
17

Things I Love

Posted in random thoughts at 12:17 am with tags:
  • The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. (and The Colbert Report). Always makes me laugh, even on the worst days.
  • The smell of Redwood tree sap, particularly when its hot out. Forever tied to memories of college.
  • The Extended Lord of the Rings Trilogy. Beautiful, simply beautiful. Film in all its glory.
  • Nutella
  • Aloo Palak at the Royal Taj.
  • Pearl Jam. Now and forever. Memories on memories.
  • Walking & Hiking. I’m always at my best in these states of movement.
  • The Veggie Max (Veggie Patty in some locales) at Subway. I’ve probably had hundreds of these so far, and will never tire of them.
  • Moonlit snowfalls, when there’s enough on the ground to absorb all that normal ambient sound.
  • The Dark Side of the Moon. This would probably be the album I take with me to an island.
  • ishotmyself.com. The real feminine in all its beauty.
  • Roger Ebert. His absence these last months has been felt. A true cinema lover that has deeply informed my own beliefs in film.
  • Netflix. Best $14 a month I’ve ever spent.
  • Google. Some people might be in the Cult of Mac, but consider me cult of google. They’re OS and hardware independent. If you’re not on Gmail you’re just crazy.
  • A Song of Ice and Fire. Probably some of the best fantasy ever written.
  • Volleyball with a group of semi decent people. Is there anything more fun?
  • The three seconds of equalization that occur right when you leave a sauna. This feeling alone is enough for me to go to the gym these days.
  • The Simpsons. Like the Daily Show, so many laughs, so much comfort, so much of who I am.
  • The Nickelodeon & Del Mar Theater of Santa Cruz. Cinerrific.
  • Midriffs. The sexiest part of the female body…
  • Halo, Half-Life, Monkey Island, Duke Nukem 3D, Return to Zork, Wing Commander 3, The 7th Guest, Toonstruck, Simcity, X-COM, Toejam & Earl, Gears of War. Games that changed my life.
  • Cats
  • Dusk in the summertime
  • The smell of fresh cut grass
  • Diet Coke
  • Kermit D Frog
  • Bruce Campbell
  • Cookie Dough & Reeces Ice cream
  • Peanut Butter
  • Sitting around a camp fire. (or fire pit in seth’s backyard)

Popularity: 15% [?]

Comment