http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080217-official-hd-dvd-obituary-a-matter-of-days-not-weeks.html

http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2008/02/hd-dvd-death-ma.html

http://www.crunchgear.com/2008/02/16/its-official-blu-ray-wins/

http://www.reuters.com/article/companyNewsAndPR/idUSL1627196120080216

The death of HD-DVD has been rumored for over a month due to recent changes in studios and companies jumping from the HD-DVD camp to Bluray. With Warner Brothers’ announcement to exclusively support Bluray later this year, it was just a matter of time before the rest abandoned HD-DVD (especially Universal who switched over from Bluray to HD-DVD just a few months prior).

Shortly following Warner Brothers’ news, Best Buy announced they would push the Bluray format to their customers over the HD-DVD format; although both formats would still be sold for now. Lastly, Wal-Mart’s announcement on Friday made it apparent that HD-DVD’s demise would be official quicker than expected.

Toshiba was dealt a blow on Friday when Wal-Mart Stores Inc said it would abandon the HD DVD format, becoming the latest in a series of top retailers and movie studios to rally behind Blu-ray technology for high definition DVDs. -TOKYO (Reuters)

Already linked across the internet, it is now official. Toshiba has given up on the product and is ceasing production on future HD-DVD products.

Being an HD-DVD owner, this is somewhat sad news, but something that I have suspected for awhile. I bought my Xbox 360 add-on the day it was released. At the time, it was the only way to get HD for under $500.

Looks like it is time for the 360 addon to move aside and a purchase of a PS3 to happen as soon as the new models are released.

R.I.P. HD-DVD…

http://dilbertblog.typepad.com/thedilbertblog/2008/02/ultimate-house.html

Anyone that knows me would agree that I have an appreciation for good house design and interior design. When everything just flows with a house and a room, it just makes living that much better.

Scott Adams outlined what he thought would be the Ultimate House on “The Dilbert Blog”. I think Scott has something here, but I would have to add some variation to it.

I love the idea of a house being centered around the kitchen. All rooms would be connected by the most used room. However, to make this work, you would need to ensure the kitchen is large enough to have “paths” around it to make it easy going from one room to another. I wouldn’t like having to dodge a kitchen island every time I wanted to go from the living area to the bathroom.

In Scott’s arrangement, I am not sure where he had planned a staircase, so I would make an entranceway that would contain the stairs. Leading to the second floor, the staircase would enter into a balcony style living space similar to the TV/reading area downstairs.

Scott’s idea for the second floor having doors in closets that lead into the laundry area is genius; however, all the closets would have to be large walk-in style closets. I would like to see enough space between the laundry room and the bedroom as I could. This would keep the laundry machines’ noise from pouring over into the bedrooms. I would also make a bathroom with a linen closet that has access to the laundry room.

I am not, however; too sure about Scott’s last statement:

The laundry room would be totally tricked out with a flat panel screen, surround sound, folding tables, and an ironing board. Doing laundry will seem like a fun escape.

I love the idea, and although I could go on and on about what I would like to add to make it “my” ultimate house, I must refrain.

Nothing like a good redesign to a website that hasn’t been touched since November of 2007. Oh well, I like it and that is all that matters.

I couldn’t have said it better myself. Now, when people ask me why I don’t vote, I will have to send them this article. It’s as if my own thoughts created it (of course, I have a few other reasons to add to it, but at least it is an excellent start).

Why Vote? - New York Times

Originally found as a link on one of my favorite blogs, The Dilbert Blog. http://dilbertblog.typepad.com/thedilbertblog/2007/11/find-the-patter.html

I just ran across this once again and felt like posting it. Cheers is one of those shows that I didn’t appreciate growing up. I simply didn’t get the adult humor in it, but now I watch it anytime I come across a rerun.

This is a quote from the show where Cliff explains the “Buffalo Theory” to Norm. Has got to be one of the funniest moments in my opinion.

Well, you see, Norm, it’s like this. A herd of buffalo can only move as fast as the slowest buffalo. And when the herd is hunted, it’s the slowest and weakest ones at the back that are killed first. This natural selection is good for the herd as a whole, because the general speed and health of the whole group keeps improving by the regular killing of the weakest members.

In much the same way, the human brain can only operate as fast as the slowest brain cells. Now, as we know, excessive intake of alcohol kills brain cells. But naturally, it attacks the slowest and weakest brain cells first. In this way, regular consumption of beer eliminates the weaker brain cells, making the brain a faster and more efficient machine.

And that, Norm, is why you always feel smarter after a few beers.

This didn’t take long to be posted. I noticed this immediately with my Samba shares after my install of 10.5. Thought it was genius!

Leopard/Windows BSOD

John Gruber said it well.

Funniest joke in Leopard.

http://daringfireball.net/linked/2007/10/26/pc-icon

Biker fails to notice missing leg | The Daily Telegraph

Maybe it is just me, but some news out there…well, I just don’t get. The above article is about a Japanese man who was riding a motorcycle, wasn’t able to negotiate a curve in the road, smashed into a central barrier, and severed his leg.

A severed limb from a bike accident is one thing. I can see this happening, but what I don’t understand is how this man didn’t realize that he was now missing a part of his body. He admitted to feeling extreme pain from the impact, but didn’t realize something was serious until the next junction 2 kilometers from where the accident occurred. Even more disturbing is that one of his friends witnessed him hitting the barrier, and it was he that stopped to pick up the leg.

Once you think about it, it becomes humorous. Imagine the people on the freeway. You see a man on a bike ride by you with a bloody missing leg, but he is just cruising along as if nothing is out of the norm. Now imagine a minute later, you see another man riding by on another bike holding a bloody leg in his hands.

What was this 54 year old man on that allowed him not to realize his leg had just been brutally ripped off?