Phase Portrait

Wednesday, May 10, 2006

VW Crash Ads; I don't like 'em

But apparently Seth Stevenson doesn't mind them...

Wham! Bam! Buy a VW, Ma'am!: The violent new Jetta ads.

I heard this story read by Seth Stevenson on NPR:

Slate's Ad Report Card: VW's Jetta Surprise

I don't think any commercial should make you feel like you've just gone through a wreck. Personally, I'm starting to associate VW's with wrecks... Like, if I get in a VW I'll be sure to have a wreck... And everyone after the wreck looks like they feel lucky, which means that there are plenty of wrecks when they aren't so lucky... Thus, I'm not getting the "safe" feeling from the ads. I'm getting the feeling like if I get into a VW, I'm going to get hit, and I'll be lucky if I'm not killed or severely maimed.

VW realized that they're getting hit hard in popularity. They have nothing really good up their sleeve. The gas mileage is mediocre, and there's no fun gadgets convincing someone that they should buy a VW instead of a nice Honda or Toyota. I think VW is trying to convince people that they have very safe cars because that's the only thing that they have to talk about... Unfortunately, they don't have time to wait for real-life statistics to prove that, so they have to create fictitious scenarios to make people believe something that may or may not be true.

And I do agree with Stevenson about one thing here. VW just got through telling me that I should buy their cars because they're zippy and fast and they can be pimped out at the dealer. Now they're trying to convince me that they're safe. I, too, feel a little whiplash here.

Stitches out! New pictures!

I got all of my stitches from the biceps tenodesis surgery out yesterday! Apparently being young and healthy (like me!) I heal quickly. I'm like Wolverine!!

I've put the pictures here, but I'll put two of them in this post.

Here is a picture of my shoulder now that it's stitch-less. I think things are looking pretty good.

The funky bruise on my arm is still there. In the next picture, you can see a straight line that must have been made by some surgery tool. Maybe they were clamping or retracting or something there. It's sorta freaky.

I bumped into something today and felt the same pain that I felt before the surgery. I'm really hoping that's just post-surgery stuff and not an indication that I'm still broken. (knock on wood)

I go back in three weeks. Hopefully then I'll be able to schedule physical therapy. I might be able to take the sling off then too!!

Wolverine out.

Monday, May 08, 2006

C-Span's Colbert Deal with Google

C-SPAN Pulls Colbert Clips From Internet Sites

The nonprofit TV network demanded that popular video hosting sites Youtube and iFilm remove clips of Stephen Colbert’s roast of President Bush--because of alleged copyright infringement.

(Google Video made a deal with C-span to host the video)

South Dakota Abortion Clinic on Native American Reservation

This was a really interesting story... (audio will be available shortly)

Indian Tribe May Open Abortion Clinic on Its Land

I had to search Google News for more information:

Thunder Power
The pro-choice movement has a new hero, and she speaks the truth with the power of fire and thunder

Just two weeks after South Dakota Gov. Mike Rounds signed the state's extreme abortion ban with no exceptions for rape and incest, Cecelia Fire Thunder, the first woman president of the Oglala Sioux tribe, made national headlines after saying she would personally set up a clinic on her tribe's land in South Dakota to preserve a woman's right to choose. There is currently only one clinic in the entire state of South Dakota that provides abortions, and its status, since the ban, is endangered.

Sunday, May 07, 2006

Those Silly Ambiguous Brits

As usual, Sunday's To The Best of our Knowledge (TTBOOK) was interesting. There was a fun segment in the middle of the show though... The last part of "Segment 2" of EUROPE RISES AGAIN. . .

SEGMENT 2:

Adam Gopnick reads excerpts from his book "Paris to the Moon," set to music by the band Paris Combo. Also, Joe Queenan is an American married to an Englishwoman, and the author of "Queenan Country: A Reluctant Anglophile's Pilgrimage to the Mother Country." Queenan tells Jim Fleming why he admires the ambivalence of the British toward their historical figures like Oliver Cromwell and Margaret Thatcher and explains the real difference between Beatles Paul and John.

Let me explain a little more....

This guy compares how Americans view their own history with how English (and French) look at their history. It's very different.

Here in the U.S., we pretty much know that Washington and Lincoln were great Presidents and Carter was not-so-great. Sometimes people come along and try to say Polk was a good guy, but that usually doesn't fly. Things are black and white.

In Britain, there's a sort of ambiguity. Margaret Thatcher brought England into the 20th century; however, while they recognize that, lots of people hate her. There's something similar with Oliver Cromwell. They killed him in so many ways AFTER they dug him back up that they have no idea where his body is, and they don't care... But there is a statue of him outside British Parliament! Additionally, he was the first one to really hold a king accountable, and they think that was really important. He just happened to be a real asshole on top of that.

So it's an interesting little commentary. It's funny too. It's entertaining, as is all Sunday NPR.

Anyway, you can check it out for yourself. The Real audio is available here. The section I'm talking about starts around 27:40.

Saturday, May 06, 2006

AOL gives you free phone number with AOL IM

This could have fascinating implications for VoIP in the US.

AOL to Add Free Phone to Instant Messaging Feature

AOL is preparing to offer the 41 million users of its instant messaging system a free phone number that will allow people to call them from regular phones while they are online.

The move is part of a broad effort by AOL — which has been buffeted by defections from its flagship dial-up Internet service — to capitalize on the continued popularity of its decade-old AIM instant message system.

The free phone number is a new twist on services that allow calls between regular phones and PC's, an idea made popular by Skype, which is owned by eBay, and copied by others, like Yahoo through its instant message software. As with those services, the new AOL Phoneline service, to be introduced May 16, will allow users to call each other free if both are online, typically using headsets or microphones attached to their computers.

AOL will sell outgoing calls only as part of a flat-rate package that costs $14.90 a month for unlimited calling, or at an introductory price of $9.95 a month for people who subscribe when the service starts.

Skype has not taken off in the United States as it has in other countries because telephone rates are much lower here, said John McKinley, the president of AOL's digital services division. Free incoming calls, he said, are more appealing in this country, especially for people who mostly use cellphones but do not want to give their cell number to casual acquaintances.

These people can give the AOL number out freely. They can then receive notifications on their cellphones of new voice mail messages left at their AOL number.

AOL will make phone numbers available in 50 metropolitan areas. The company hopes to profit both from displaying advertisements to users and from the outbound calling charges and additional services, like ring tones and call forwarding.

So that's pretty cool.

Wouldn't it be neat if cell phones eventually just turn into Internet terminals? I mean, why do cell phones even need dedicated voice channels? Just use all of the bandwidth for Internet. With the Internet as the backbone, then build lots of other services on top of it.

This is why the telecommunications companies want to change how Internet access is billed (no more "unlimited" access) -- because you can build lots of useful services on top of that unlimited access and the telecomm companies don't get a dime of it. Personally, I just think they're whining. You can use an automobile to perform lots of interesting services; however, the car companies don't make you subscribe on a per-use basis. I think it's the same thing here.

So there's a lot of potential for some cool advancements in the next year or so... Just depends on lots of logistical things.

Friday, May 05, 2006

Surgery pictures!

Now that I've taken the bandages off of my shoulder, I figured I might post some pictures of the damage. It's much worse than I expected. I was expecting a tiny little 2 inch incision. What I actually found was pretty surprising! (almost as surprising as being visited by my lying cheating girlfriend two days before the surgery to get dumped -- her little way of saying, "I really do care")

Here are two shots of the incision, which basically traces the line connecting my left arm to my upper torso.

And here are two shots of the bruising that has appeared on my arm. You see, underneath the bruising there is some significant healing going on. Scar tissue is forming that holds tendon and bone together... and eventually tendon and bone are going to start growing together. Meanwhile though, I get a pretty awesome looking bruise on my skin...

There's a tiny little portal on the back of my shoulder that has some stitches in it too. You see, before they made the big cut they went in with the arthroscope to "release" the tendon from the shoulder. They then used one of the arthroscopic portals on the front as the starting point for the big incision pictured above.

It's pretty exciting. I really hope it all works out. It will be so nice to be able to use my left arm without pain again.

Today I haven't taken any percocet. Later today I'm going to try driving again. It'll be a short distance -- from here to the Panera and back -- but it'll be nice to get out a little bit.

Wednesday, May 03, 2006

Loyal Sunni Soldiers

This was on the Daily Show last night. This SHOULD open in Windows Media Player. If it doesn't you can open Windows Media Player, go to "Open URL," and paste this link in.

MESS O' POTAMIA

The whole segment is funny; however, the part that really got to me was around 4:20 (4 minutes, 20 seconds). Jon Stewart is showing footage of some Iraqi troops that happened to be Sunni. They just graduated from training and were expecting to patrol their Sunni areas. When they were told that they were about to be shipped to patrol Shiite areas, they all started taking off their fatigues and resigning.

Springtime Can Kill You

NPR Song of the Day: "Springtime Can Kill You" by Jolie Holland

Jolie Holland sounds like a real blast to be around.

Many of Jolie Holland's fatalistic, woozily paced songs come with a body count, but she rarely spares herself: She often sings about doomed lovers, and she ranks topmost among the damned. Roughly as cheerful as its title suggests, Springtime Can Kill You finds Holland falling prey to her own stubbornness, sullenness or drunkenness in song after song.

There's a bright spot though:

Holland may be beyond salvation here, but not everyone is doomed to the same fate: "High on the moonshine, bodies entwine / Don't you see it's better this way?" The sentiment may be sad, but it says something for the season that it inspires Holland to find a ray of hope -- for everyone else, anyway.

For some reason, I'm glad people like her exist. It brings some balance to the world or something. I dunno.

Tuesday, May 02, 2006

I saw Colbert's balls, and they're big!!

What's really great about these clips is that Colbert is delivering them not two seats away from Bush. I think the room is so quiet not because Colbert isn't funny... It's that he's so damn ballsy! Bush is RIGHT next to him!

Good stuff.

White House Correspondents' Dinner - 29 Apr 2006
Stephen Colbert's tribute to George W. Bush

Part 1 (9:11)
Part 2 (9:02)
Part 3 (7:29)

And of course, Tucker Carlson's Response (1:01).

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