I finally had a chance to catch Michael Moore’s new film Sicko.  For those unaware, the film is about the health care and insurance industry in the United States.  Moore is a powerful storyteller, and the movie really hit home.  Until about two months ago I was not covered by insurance.  As it stands now, I have Blue Cross catastrophe insurance only.  After watching the movie, I’m starting to think that is a waste of my money.

Needless to say there are two points which the movie alluded to that were not covered nearly enough.
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Interesting stuff I don’t have time to write about in detail.  Also, plase ignore the incredibly annoying font issues with this post, they will be fixed in further posts.

You can now use your iPhone as a server. I’m sure everyone that bought one was waiting for this day.

Public buildings to receive free energy – from you!

Obesity is out of control in the US. McDonald’s response? Have a 42oz soda and a 1/3lb burgers.

What happens if you write a column for a major US newspaper suggesting they include a CD to boost slumping sales? Your article gets cut.

It takes a damn big treadmill for a NASCAR to run on.

Speaking of NASCAR, apparently drivers are smarter then football players. In other obvious news, the world is round, and water is wet.

Want to make $1 million? Stop watching TV.

Another reason to hate AT&T.

Also have to love that this video was choppy when I watched it due to my overworked web browser.

Imagine you and your spouse are having dinner, when they suddenly collapse. Unaware of what is happening, you run to the phone to dial 911 only to find you have no signal. How could this happen? You use an Internet phone, but you paid for a full year and should have service.

This could have been the case for subscribers of SunRocket’s VoIP service when the company went out of business Friday without alerting its 220,000 customers. Customers of SunRocket paid a set $199 for a year of unlimited calls. It is unclear if those that paid will be credited.

The disappearance of SunRocket is a hit to both the independent telecommunications industry as well as progressive Internet technology. Read more…

A blurb on the front cover of my Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reminds me that the wait is nearly over – “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” arrives in bookstores tomorrow. The final chapter of the series will have kids and adults lining up at bookstores across the country tonight to grab a copy when it goes on sale at 12:01 a.m.

Flipping further through the paper, I find Milwaukee’s major independent bookstore Schwartz will host a party to celebrate the new book beginning at 9 p.m. The gathering promises costumes and free magical activities that “will keep wizards of all ages happy.” I attended the Schwartz party for the last book release, and enjoyed seeing kids and adults dress in Harry Potter attire. I decided since I am now a Madisonian, I would venture to a local bookstore tonight to enjoy PotterMania one last time.

I grabbed a copy of the Wisconsin State Journal on my way out of the coffee shop to find which local independent bookstores would have festivities tonight. The State Journal realized the importance of this book release, plastering an illustration of Harry across half the cover and moving less significant articles about a missing person and world events to the back pages. The “Potter Parties” section gave details of Madison bookstores that would be open late and have festivities to mark the arrival of “Deathly Hallows.”

Not one independent bookstore was mentioned.

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People often ask me as a single man how will I know when I have found Ms. Right; that perfect woman that I’ll want to spend my life with. Well, there are a couple things a woman could do that would lead me to believe she was the right one:

To start, she could be wearing these earrings when we met.

If we dated for a while and I decided to propose, she could request this for her engagement ring.

On our wedding day, she would want a cake like this one.

Finally decided to pick up Brad Paisley’s new album “5^th Gear.”  Paisley is an artist I’e always enjoyed, and one of the few country performers I want to see live, but have not yet had a chance. Paisley is one of the few country artists I consider “real;” he doesn’t seem to make songs in order to make hits, rather he makes songs about life and that are fun and they become hits. Most country artists today subscribe to the first theory, which is why country music is becoming crap again.

I have never picked up a Paisley album before, so I was not sure what to expect. I have enjoyed most of the songs that get radio play, but were those the only good songs on the album? After listening to it, I’ve determined it is the best country album since Big & Rich’s “Horse of a Different Color.”

Don’t even think about clicking “read the full story,” unless you want to miss one of the coolest music videos of all time.

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It’s tough to live up to the hype…

via Gizmodo

The Simpson’s movie hits theaters on July 27, and like most movies it will be accompanied by a video game release. While most video games that accompany movies tend to be crap, this one looks different. In an interview about the game, Simpson’s creator Matt Groening reveals:

They (game writers Matt Selman and Matt Warburto) did a send-up of videogames. It’s a videogame about videogames; and I’m in the videogame. I’m a boss that you have to fight at the end of the game. It was really fun recording a million ways of dying, going ‘UGGH, ARGGH, EUURGH!

No release date on the video game from EA. Read more at Eurogamer.

What do you call a business model where between a third and a half of your products fail?  While most would say a disaster, Microsoft calls it normal.  Numerous sources are reporting the failure rate for new Xbox 360’s is between 33 – 50 percent.  The numbers are absolutely startling.  Microsoft has stated they will guarantee the 360’s for three years, and plans to spend $1.15 billion on repairs.

So if you are planning on buying a next-generation gaming console, do you take the chance on buying an Xbox 360, knowing you have a one in three chance of it dying on you?  What happens if you buy one and it crashes after the warranty expires?  Does this news prevent you from buying a 360?

So how are the other consoles responding to the news?

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Backing up your computer before you take it in to have work done by a third party is essential. There are too many horror stories where people take in their computer and bring it back with a blank hard drive. Apparently before taking your computer to Best Buy to have their “Geek Squad” examine it, you should also lock any sensitive documents, including porn. The Consumerist took their computer in to have iTunes installed, and noticed the Geek Squad grabbing their most personal of personal files.

The way The Consumerist has there site setup, I am not able to embed the video on this blog, but you can view it along with the details here.

Last week I commented on NY Times reporter David Pogue’s wonderful review of the iPhone. This week, Pogue take it a step further giving us “iPhone – the Musical”

The iPhone sold over 500,00 units its first weekend, but just don’t try to use its Bluetooth capabilities for anything more then an earphone.

So what’s next in technology? Does it matter?

If Sony didn’t have enough problems from bloatware, now it has also been voted the least green PC by Greenpeace.

Man, can Obama raise money, or what?!?!

Great WSJ article on keeping professors at the UW.