And so I've decided...

...Not to buy any monitor that's not HDCP compliant.

That includes the current Apple monitors. If you buy one today and connect it to your new Mac Pro, you won't be able to display HD content from a Blu-Ray player Apple may release next year, and don't expect Apple to help you when you complain. This goes the same with PC's that aren't really compatible unless you find homebrewed WinACD drivers floating around the net somewhere.

I would suggest that everyone boycott Apple displays until they add HDCP!

I really don't understand why Apple ever released the newer line of displays without HDCP. It was really stupid.

PS: I also hear Apple doesn't really attempt to repair any buggy monitors, they just replace them. Therefore, you're better off buying Apple Care to extend your crappy 1 year warranty, or else you'll get charged with a full priced monitor when you send it into repair.

SATAAANNNNNNN!!!!!!!@!!!!

To complement's KFC's reassurance for us to buy their food, the quote of the month:

(voice of small boy, distorted): "Daddy?"
(voice of All-American father): "Yes son?"
"What does regret mean?"
"Well son, a funny thing about regret is, that it's better to regret something you have done, than to regret something you haven't done."

Things You CAN'T Do When You're NOT In A Pool

Ah, makes me think of a Weezer pool-side party - just without the water.

Apple Cinema 23" on a PC Desktop - Compatible?

I've always wondered if I could use an Apple Cinema on a normal PC Desktop. Since the power button usually means "shut down" for any Mac plugged into it, does that imply it would load the shut-down screen on a PC? The brightness controls make those cool visuals on screen in that opaque white that everyone loves on a Mac, but what about on a Core 2 Duo PC desktop?

Bored at work one day, we were all curious to if it would really work. After rummaging through the millions of wires, we finally got it plugged into a Dell Optiplex at one of our demos. Here are the running differences and possible annoyances that you may run into if you plan on running an Apple Cinema on a PC:

1) You cannot power off the monitor. As long as it is plugged into its power outlet, it will stay on. I'm not sure if this was because we unplugged the monitor as it was powered-on from the Mac, or if this is just the way it is. We did not have time to further test this option.

This does bring up a particular concern, however, which is bulb life. If it must be turned off manually, or if the PC's power options fails to force the AC to turn off, we have a problem.

2) Brightness controls, as we expected, did not work. It stays at whatever brightness it was before we took it off the Apple PowerMac G5. Thus, if you really did need to adjust the brightness, I wonder if you would have to plug it into a laptop of some sort in order to do the adjustments. Again, a minimal, yet significant nuisance if you're looking to make it your primary monitor.

Onto the plus side of things:

3) We found the USB and Firewire hub worked perfectly and was picked up by Windows XP drivers immediately upon connection. We did not actually plug anything in, but we're sure that it would pick up any USB 2.0 devices if we did plug something in.

4) Seeing XP run on the AC feels like you're running Bootcamp or Parallels. A real good 1337 feeling. We did not have time to test gaming, but the refresh rate seems far better than many LCD's we've put on floor showcase. As for movie performance goes, it looked excellent - no ghosting whatsoever.

There you go for now, if anybody was interested. I know I was!

All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth

Realizing by now, money is not an object - it is an acquaintance, dreadfully close and far, and seeing how Christmas and Thanksgiving Black Friday has such intimate relations with her; I, too, want a piece of the action.

All in all, though, I don't expect anything from anyone. A simple smile is enough to brighten my holiday spirit, along with the ending finale of the biological bombardment of information I've undergone this quarter. Having my two front teeth is also an added bonus.

However, being the male diploid I am, I have an undying desire to buy. Not clothes... well clothes, yes. But more so... technology! I'm awaiting those bastards to lower prices on everything this Christmas holiday season, and with whatever money I've made from the last Summer or this quarter at the UCDavis Bookstore Computer Store shall go into one of the following purchases:

Apple Cinema 23 Aluminum Bezel LCD Monitor
Canon SD700IS 6.0MP w/ 4GB SD Memory

And my continued splurge does not end there! I also want:

Sharp Aquos 32" HDTV LCD Monitor
Yamaha DGX620 88-Key Weighted Graded Hammer Action Digital Piano

And if the tides are right, throw this under my Christmas tree:

A Sweet Lamborghini

All in all, it's always nice to have a list of things you truly want - even with the fact that it would cost a lifetime to get (well the Lamborghini at least).

Live 105 Morning Show "Aries Spears" Rap

It's LL, it's Big Snoop. C'mon Fat Albert, who is it?

So Bad It's Good Miniboss

With production values this bad, you just gotta let the music (and cheesy effects) wash over you.

David Blaine Regulates

I, too, like how he looks at the camera every time he does something amazing.

Klaxons' Gravity Rainbow

Not a bad plan to drop New Order in favor of retro-futurism, I'm just not sure it needs its own genre just yet.

Me & My 360: Xbox Necrophilia, DS Erotica

Wow. This certainly went in a (NSFW) direction I wasn't expecting. This one's for all you console spanking fetishists out there. WARNING: Chicken Noodle Soup in this video.

Werewolves attack!

Return to Cookie Mountain is beautiful not simply because it comes at a time in which an album pushing musical boundaries is relevant for simply that cause, but also for the fact that its lyrical content serves as something universal. Or in this case, universally confusing.

Save the witty comments for later

The quarter's lookin' tough. No more slackin' or loud music.