Freyburg

For a guy who professes not to be ready to run for President again, Al Gore sure is getting a lot of press for a movie released a while back. Anyway, there’s a good interview with the former Veep at GQ, one of the bonuses of which is Gore going bats over the incompetence of the Bush administration, especially concerning 9/11.

And just to back up Gore’s “we’re all screwed” environmental message, here’s an NYT op-ed about our rapidly shrinking resource base, and what it means for humanity.

Real life gets in the way again, and it looks like we won’t be able to sit down and record the next Radio Free Skaro until at least the weekend. And to be honest, we’ve only got one Torchwood episode to discuss, so it might not be much of a show to begin with. We’re considering waiting and getting the next Torchwood under our belt so we have more subjects to ruminate upon, but I’d like the opinion of our audience as well. Comment away!

Normally I try to avoid harangue-filled Vancouver-bashing, since I think it’s a generally pointless spectator sport and because there’s good and bad to any place. (ex: Edmonton..cold as hell, people generally friendlier. Crowsnest Pass..middle of nowhere, boring, but natural scenery that beats even Vancouver to a jammy pulp.)

But this editorial about the snowstorm and boiled-water “crisis” currently enveloping the city pretty much encapsulates my feelings. Vancouverites tend to act like spoiled children when things don’t go their way, I think partially because a lot of them are spoiled adults. Of course, I live downtown and I’m only going by what I see there on a daily basis, but apparently the situation in the ‘burbs isn’t any better.

It’s times like this when I fall back on my Alberta upbringing. If it’s cold out, you bundle up. If the water’s no good, you boil it. First one to the gun store survives, and your pick-up truck better have chains on the tires and a functioning block heater.

Newsweek has an extensive profile of Moqtada Al-Sadr, who went from being the oft-dismissed son of a prominent Shiite imam to one of the most powerful men in the post-war Iraq. It’s an interesting read, and it shows just how much of a mess the Americans have made thus far in the region, and how they’re essentially screwed whether they withdraw their troops now or later.

The architect of the end of the Vietnam War, Nixon confidante, Studio 54 frequenter, possible war criminal and backhanded adviser to Bush about Iraq speaks with a reporter from New York Magazine about his current activities and his legacy. Worth a look.

Nintendo used to be the king of the heap in the console wars, but they’ve long since been supplanted by Sony and Microsoft. But while the two electronics giants duke it out amongst the hardcore gamers, Nintendo has been cleverly marketing itself as the alternative system for casual gamers, culminating in the innovative Nintendo DS and the Wii. And they’ve done so at a profit, while Sony (and until a short time ago, Microsoft) spent billions to push their consoles at a loss. The New Yorker, a noted gaming authority (heh) has the details.

According to a review in the Chicago Sun-Times, Microsoft’s iPod rival, the Zune, is total junk. I’m a big Apple fan, and a die-hard iPod fan, but I think people are giving the Zune short shrift. I’m sure it’s a fairly half-baked device, but Microsoft has a history of releasing “meh” software which they work the kinks out of gradually. Windows and the Xbox are just two examples of this strategy. Plus, a disproportionate amount of media people use Apple hardware, so they tend to be biased.

Will the Zune convince me to give up my iPod? Not likely. But I’m not a fanatic, either, and I don’t think the device deserves the drubbing it’s getting from the Mac faithful.

I’m sort of torn after reading this screed about the terrible effects of television on the nation’s psyche. Nothing the author says is off-base about the bad effects television (and other media) have on families, communities and the body politic.

But what I do have a problem with is the hopeless idealism that says that once everyone switches off their televisions (which will never happen) they’ll immediately rise up and become social advocates for change (which will never happen.) It’s the same mentality I see in hardcore cyclists. Much as I love my bike and dislike automobiles, it’s ridiculous to say that motorized vehicles should be outright banned, and that once we do so everyone will realize the error of their ways and join a community garden/anti-poverty committee.

What it amounts to, in both cases, is the exact narrow-minded, blinkered view that most activists claim is held by whatever they oppose. The plain truth is that most people generally won’t rise up against anything. Some are lucky enough to be following something that’s personally or financially (or even spiritually) beneficial to them, but most are followers, no matter what end of the political spectrum they fall under.

We broke the one hour mark on the latest podcast, what with our review of the Children in Need concert, the latest Torchwood episode, and extended notstalgic reminisences of Who gone by, and our many and varied experiences growing up with the show. And we included some of our favorite selections from the concert to liven things up a bit. Ah, good times. And and AND…it’s the good Doctor’s 43rd birthday. He’s looking good for someone sidling into middle age. But enough of my idle talk, go get the show! (feed, web, direct download)

As high definition screens get cheaper and computers get faster, yesterday’s whiz-bang blockbuster effects are today and tomorrow’s “meh.” Cory Doctorow, Boing Boing maestro and sci-fi author, says the only hope for science fiction films, traditionally the most top-heavy in the effects department, is to head for the really small screen, like video iPods and cell phones. He also points out that while that cuts out a shot at the Hollywood lottery, it’s a contest very few were winning to begin with.

And another venue potential content creators are looking at is Youtube, which has the potential to smash apart traditional broadcast advertising models. Wired has a interesting (though written a little cutely and hand-wavily for my tastes, surprising coming from On the Media’s Bob Garfield) article about what a pickle TV and Madison Ave. are in thanks to the coming of online video.