Sean

I've just finished season 1

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 08:56:39 GMT

Who the hell, besides me obviously, is responsible for me not watching Spooks before now? God damn! GOD DAMN.

Next time anyone says that PVE is 'easy mode' gets hit.

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 08:47:22 GMT

Moon Guard. A PVE realm. Defense of the flame at Midsummer Fire Festival? Massive. Alliance had unbelievable difficulty getting close, even in Undercity, where it's right at the gates. Venture Co. A PVP realm. Despite 13 level 70s in town, not one came to defend Ironforge's flame. Either it's a Horde vs. Alliance thing (doubt it) or the whole "PVErs don't defend against attacks" thing is BS.

Actually, on second thought, maybe it is Horde vs. Alliance. What do people, whom know what the hell I'm talking about, think?

Bad pun

Fri, 13 Jun 2008 09:19:38 GMT

Me: Baby, I love you, but I'm leaving you. I think I love the Vanish ability more. I'm leaving you for a spell. But then I'll come back. Duckay: I think I stopped loving you.

Posted using LJ Talk...

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 10:15:30 GMT

As a side note, Wii Fit is surprisingly awesome. I feel I could actually keep this exercise program up.

$1m, 105 jurors wasted in drug trial due to Sudoku playing jurors

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 09:06:12 GMT

You can't make up stuff this good, you really can't.

The Panda Says No

Sat, 24 May 2008 02:51:18 GMT

Possibly the best example of why quote marks are not to be used for emphasis ever. (Via Boing Boing.)

MySnark: You Had Me and You Lost Me: PVP

Fri, 16 May 2008 09:18:17 GMT

PVP is one of the grand-daddies of webcomics. I'm not proud enough to say I followed it since before the 2.0 reboot, which upgraded a lot of the art and in many ways turned it into the powerhouse it is today. But I do remember when it was presented as a 2 x 2 four panel comic instead of a 1 x 4. I can tell you who Devilfish is. (Actually, she's always been my favorite character, which is an odd and important fact that I will come back to.) The strip was a fun pop culture filled romp, which was usually characterised as a gamer comic, but really was more of a general geekery strip. Scott Kurtz's love of games, '80s pop culture, comics and film made the strip sing, and his excellent humor made it worth reading.

As with all columns under this title, it's sad to be writing it. But the irony is, it's Scott Kurtz's love of film, comics and above all, '80s pop culture that have finally sunk it. That, and the sheer level of laziness his writing has reached.

The series that has finally made me quit is the wedding storyline, and to be honest? It's because it summarises just about everything that has been wrong with PVP for a while now. There were still good laughs, and I maintain it was still a quality strip for a long time. Scott Kurtz can still nail anyone out there for execution -- He has a natural sense of comic timing that allows him to sell even his weaker jokes. But there's our first problem.

We haven't had a joke in three strips now. And for that matter, the jokes have thin on the ground this entire series. Scott, so help us, has been shooting for drama. And he's flubbed it.

First off, his current premise is untenable. Let's recap: Brent and Jade Sienna, at long last, have wed. Despite some initial problems involving Jade's mother-in-law, the wedding has gone smoothly. But during the reception, Skull the troll was confronted by an ancient immortal, who revealed that Skull was assigned to Brent in order to help him find his way in life. Now, Skull has achieved his goal and must go, and Brent is now resisting this. Possibly violently.

Skull is the comic's freaking mascot. There is no way he would ever get rid of him. Ergo, there is no tension whatsoever. We all know how this will end: Skull will stay with PVP magazine.

But worse, this whole thing stinks of the '80s. This is something from an '80s cartoon, and this is a problem that the comic in toto has had for a while now. Scratch Fury was mildly amusing. Skull the Troll's 'cousin' Sheckles has been excruciating from start to finish. (Ironically, the one bit of fantasy excess he apologized for, the time travel episode, was the one bit of the fantastic I enjoyed.) The unifying feature of all of these elements, and the Skull plot of the wedding too, has been a unifying cuteness, a cloying sweetness. Scratch Fury even has all the feelings of a classic bit of '80s nastiness: Garfield. A cat introduced to fill a demographic, cute and somewhat misanthropic, merchandisable. But at the wedding, there's a dark, third reason this aspect grates, and I'll come back to it soon.

We need a new term besides Cerberus Syndrome. Perhaps a Cerberus Lapse. A brief dalliance with the dark side of melodrama and cliché, which doesn't so much doom your comic into hades as it simply makes your readers aware of your faults. Because the wedding series isn't a Cerberus Syndrome. Let's make it clear. Scott's run into dramatic moods before, most notably with the excellent "God Gwen, what if I'm pregnant?" plotline. But even there, I note, Scott Kurtz wrote it from Brent's perspective.

And this wedding, again, has been all about Brent.

Let's just say it: Scott Kurtz has no clue how to write female characters. He's admitted it himself. But this doesn't mean it's not hurting the comic. For God's sake, Jade's barely appeared as much more than a background character at her own wedding! If anything, Jade should have been at the forefront of this event, there's more than a little truth to the adage that a wedding is more about the bride than the groom. But why should Scott change now? From the word go, Scott's told this story from Brent's perspective. We've gotten barely an inkling about what Jade thinks.

I finally can't stands it no more. Not only does he neglect Jade, but it also means he neglects Marcy. Lord, does he neglect Marcy. Neverminding that Marcy is, at her best, the best character he's ever written. I will forever hold the high school prom plotline as his best: It was a brilliant bit of character design for Francis, hoist by his own juvenile nature, and hurting Marcy in the process, even as he tried to mend the bridges every piece of the way. Skull showed up in drag (which never hurts) and finally, Marcy had a terrific end to the story. Sure, the whole thing was '80s nostalgia yet again, but it felt good, an extension of their characters. Marcy had always been the rose's thorn in Francis's side -- The girl he loved and hated all at once. Their prom was an extension of this love/hate relationship. If it relied on '80s tropes, so be it! At least they were appropriately appropriated.

But at the wedding? As I noted earlier, there was a third grating element to the '80s referencing here, and this is it: It came out of the blue. Skull's mythical nature had been set up before, but it didn't fit in at all with this storyline! What's the deal with Moe and the rest of the Tales by Tavernlight crew now? How do they get explained? Make no mistake: This is effectively a retcon. It's forced, and it's desperation for something dramatic on Kurtz's part. But why? The wedding plotline ended fine where it did. This is extra. This unnecessary. It's extending the current plotline rather than thinking up a new one. Why...

It's lazy.

And this, above all, is what's finally driven me away. Kurtz has been opting for the cheap jokes. He's been playing the safe territory. Even a year ago, this wasn't true. I remember Miranda holding her bosom while Brent and Francis drooled, before Cole caught them all. There was zaniness. But lately?

Well, there's been zaniness. In the cartoon. In the comic books, I'm guessing too. But one gets the feeling Kurtz is saving his best stuff for where he's being paid. And hey, I paid the man. I bought the first season of PVP Live.

But I won't be buying the second. I won't be buying the DVDs. And PVPOnline.com is now blacklisted on my computers.

Sorry, Scott Kurtz. You had me, and you lost me.

Movie Meme Answers

Wed, 19 Mar 2008 05:07:04 GMT

Surprisingly (to me) only four of these were guessed and only two people guessed at all. Did I aim too hard, or were people uninterested, or ...?

Don't stand in the way of my actualization as a man. -- Being John Malkovich
Wrists are for girls. I'm slitting my throat.-- Ginger Snaps
I'm an English teacher, not fucking Tomb Raider.-- The Descent
It's not quite reality. It's like a totally filtered reality. It's like you can pretend everything's not quite the way it is.-- The Blair Witch Project
We're all just one stitch away from here... to there.Toy Story 2, guessed by Duckay
Help! I think I'm melting! This is all your fault!-- Star Wars
Well, technically speaking, the operation is brain damage.Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, guessed by Rickj
They're coming to get you, Barbara, there's one of them now!Night of the Living Dead, what a classic damn line, guessed by RickJ
Goddammit, a reasonable request which you've chosen to ignore!The Rocky Horror Picture Show, guessed by Duckay.
I have become the monster you were intended to be.--Dark City
That's the worst fuckin' sweater I've ever seen, that's a Cosby sweater.-- High Fidelity
Where did you learn how to spin, No-Face?-- Spirited Away
(This one gets you mad bonus points if you get it. To hint, these are the opening lines.) To each of them Russia has probably allocated a certain number of her intermediate-range nuclear missiles, which are at this moment pointing at military objectives in Western Europe.-- The War Game
This was my first gun. I couldn't wait to go out and shoot up the neighborhood. -- Bowling for Columbine
It's strange calling yourself.-- Mulholland Drive.

What follows are my workmate's answers. He's a jerk.

Don't stand in the way of my actualization as a man. -- The Birdcage
Wrists are for girls. I'm slitting my throat.-- Jurassic Park
I'm an English teacher, not fucking Tomb Raider.-- High School Musical
It's not quite reality. It's like a totally filtered reality. It's like you can pretend everything's not quite the way it is.-- Star Wars
We're all just one stitch away from here... to there.-- The Man Who Wasn't There
Help! I think I'm melting! This is all your fault!-- The Passion of the Christ
Well, technically speaking, the operation is brain damage.-- The English Patient. RIP Anthony Minghella
They're coming to get you, Barbara, there's one of them now!--300
Goddammit, a reasonable request which you've chosen to ignore!--Striptease.
I have become the monster you were intended to be.--Monster's Inc.
That's the worst fuckin' sweater I've ever seen, that's a Cosby sweater.-- The Matrix
Where did you learn how to spin, No-Face?-- Face/Off
(This one gets you mad bonus points if you get it. To hint, these are the opening lines.) To each of them Russia has probably allocated a certain number of her intermediate-range nuclear missiles, which are at this moment pointing at military objectives in Western Europe.-- The Muppet Movie
This was my first gun. I couldn't wait to go out and shoot up the neighborhood. -- Batman
It's strange calling yourself.-- Porkies.

Yeah. Hilarious. Good work.

(OK, OK. I chuckled at Striptease and ouched at Passion of the Christ.)

Movie Meme

Thu, 13 Mar 2008 10:26:43 GMT

1. Pick 15 ~~of your favourite movies~~random movies you think of.
2. Go to IMDb and find a quote from each movie.
3. Post them here for everyone to guess.
4. Strike it out when someone guesses correctly, and put who guessed it and the movie.
5. No Googling/using IMDb search functions.

Don't stand in the way of my actualization as a man.
Wrists are for girls. I'm slitting my throat.
I'm an English teacher, not fucking Tomb Raider.
It's not quite reality. It's like a totally filtered reality. It's like you can pretend everything's not quite the way it is.
~~We're all just one stitch away from here... to there.~~ Toy Story 2, guessed by Duckay
Help! I think I'm melting! This is all your fault!
~~Well, technically speaking, the operation is brain damage.~~ Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, guessed by Rickj
~~They're coming to get you, Barbara, there's one of them now!~~Night of the Living Dead, what a classic damn line, guessed by RickJ
~~Goddammit, a reasonable request which you've chosen to ignore!~~The Rocky Horror Picture Show, guessed by Duckay.
I have become the monster you were intended to be.
That's the worst fuckin' sweater I've ever seen, that's a Cosby sweater.
Where did you learn how to spin, No-Face?
(This one gets you mad bonus points if you get it. To hint, these are the opening lines.) To each of them Russia has probably allocated a certain number of her intermediate-range nuclear missiles, which are at this moment pointing at military objectives in Western Europe.
This was my first gun. I couldn't wait to go out and shoot up the neighborhood.
It's strange calling yourself.

And I make my peace with Obama.

Wed, 27 Feb 2008 01:41:20 GMT

Not that he minds too much, but the inexcusable actions of the Clinton campaign and his very sensible discussion of terrorism have finally swung me. I'm unhappy about his open appeals to religion, but I can live with them. Obama has fairly emerged as the best candidate. I'd have preferred Edwards. And I think it would be a bigger achievement to have a woman in the presidency than a black man. But Barrack Obama will be the Democratic candidate, and probably the president. And I can support him.

Headline of the Day: Engadget

Wed, 20 Feb 2008 21:31:27 GMT

Two thirds of Americans think nanotechnology is morally unacceptable -- wait, what?

OK, so we have no way of knowing where the two thirds of Americans who think nanotech is morally unacceptable come from. But if it comes from religious groups (as Engadget speculate) or just plain ignorance, this is kind of astounding and shows just how anti-progress America really has become. No advance, no matter how clear-cut, will be accepted.

SMH Headline of the day

Tue, 19 Feb 2008 22:57:37 GMT

I shouldn't have had sex with her body, says murder accused

No way. Really? You think so?

Internet speak kills english.

Mon, 18 Feb 2008 22:32:02 GMT

Graduates 'sms' in job letters

Please note that I do not copy the ridiculous title as is. No-one would type l3tt3rs on a mobile phone. They would, at worst, type lttrs. SMS speak is all about condensing words.

None the less, the hypothetical decrease in English skills as a result of SMS and netspeak is quite real. The education system needs to respond, and furthermore, we need to get people using the damn language on the internet.

The speech I would have given had I been Opposition Leader.

Tue, 12 Feb 2008 23:16:49 GMT

"We agree."

"Involuntary Sacrifices"

Tue, 12 Feb 2008 23:01:40 GMT

"Involuntary sacrifice."

Don't get me wrong, Brendan Nelson's entire speech was abhorrent beyond belief, a smacking piece of partisan ranting and political tainting specifically designed to limit, belittle, and otherwise degrade Rudd's almost perfect apology. But those words, in particular, deserve to be brought out and spat in his face at every opportunity as an example of loathsome doublespeak at the highest levels, a bitter stinging rebuke to the aboriginal people and their pain.

As for Rudd, as I said, almost perfect. It needed to have the words "In the spirit it is offered" removed, both times, and should have probably hinted at destroying the NT Intervention policies, but otherwise, it was excellent and far better than I considered.

But it's so good to Brendan Nelson destroy the liberal party a little bit more each time.

Well done, NSW State Libs.

Mon, 04 Feb 2008 21:53:14 GMT

Libs vow to introduce single authority in transport revolution

Congratulations, state libs. You've gotten my vote. Labor, you can still win it back. Just match their proposal, or do better.

But damn, it's nice to finally see either party make a serious effort at revamping public transport in this state, because it's woeful.

God, I hate the insurance industry

Mon, 28 Jan 2008 23:48:31 GMT

If it weren't for tobacco, I think they'd genuinely be my least favorite industry on the planet. Why the heck is it that lawyers get so much hatred, when insurance companies are, in nearly all cases, far more bloodsucking and parasitic, with far less actual worth?

On Blood Elves, evil, and the relationship between appearance and character on MMORPG roleplay

Mon, 21 Jan 2008 08:40:07 GMT

I have a theory. OK, I have lots, but here's my current one: Blood Elves in World of Warcraft rarely get played as nasty evil things, even though the Lore is absolute on that subject. (Which isn't to say that every Blood Elf is a horrible evil sadist, just to say that, overall, most are according to the WoW lore. Being magical junkies will do that to you.) I've seen exactly two played this way, and I played one of them, and Duckay played the other. And we collaborated on those two characters. Meanwhile, there are undead nasties everywhere, and orc or troll nasties aren't too rare.

I suspect that even though Blizzard tried to make the Blood Elves beautiful but evil, it just hasn't worked: The ingrained belief of most people that pretty = good and ugly = twisted remains, and most people, even most roleplayers, just aren't believing Blizzard when they say otherwise. Now, Duckay argues it's a matter of Lore rather than appearance: She claims it's a Lore thing -- The undead lore is better set up, with more convincing evil and motives underneath. OK, fair enough. I disagree, but that's opinion. And it's not universal at all, Silvermoon University's Blood Elves are cheerfully nasty, so it would seem. But still -- Is it really impossible for an MMORPG to successfully drive home a counter-intuitive concept, like beautiful evil? Should they deliberately play to stereotype, to keep play working well for RP?

Newspaper Headline

Wed, 16 Jan 2008 03:49:08 GMT

Gun, samurai, taser seized in car search

Surry Hills is where the police confiscated a gun, a katana and a taser from a car, and it's not that far from where I work. But still, the over-riding image I have here is of the police pulling a complaining, vocal samurai from a car in Surry Hills.

Artbroken, even you have to admit this one

Fri, 21 Dec 2007 07:55:45 GMT

"Rudd needs a new speechwriter urgently, and he needs to read Don Watson's Death Sentence, in which Keating's former speechwriter explains how cliches and management-speak are leaching meaning from our language. Because, on Saturday night, Rudd made John Howard seem like an inspiring orator." -- Dominic Knight.

Not just the law but the culture needs fixing

Sat, 01 Dec 2007 10:29:46 GMT

Awesome news. If Kevin Rudd is serious about this, and makes it happen, it is the absolute best thing that could ever happen for Australian government. I will never stop calling Kevin Rudd "new bastard" (as opposed to Howard's 'old bastard') but he's making all the right noises in letting us keep the bastards accountable. Bravo, Rudd.

I am no longer using MSN Messenger

Sun, 04 Nov 2007 22:21:43 GMT

That's it. I'm done. I have been using MSN Messenger for a long time now to chat, despite hating the service and the program. Their servers are irregular and buggy, the software was filled with ads and ugly, and well, it's just not a good product. And now that I've been again asked for my password and cannot remember it to save my life, nor can I work out a way to reset it, I'm done with it.

There are many other ways to reach me. I am 8314922 on ICQ. I am jackslack[spam block]mac.com on AIM. I am jackslack[spam block]gmail.com on both Google Chat and Livejournal chat.

But that's it. Me and MSN? No more. If you want to chat with me, you will need to make other arrangements, because I'm freaking not making another hotmail account.

Microsoft hatey hate hate.

Howard will win the election, again

Sun, 21 Oct 2007 10:11:22 GMT

As much as I hate to say it, he will. Again the conservatives are proving they're simply better at creating a story that holds traction, and Howard's done that -- He's painted the Unions as evil, and then tarred the Labor party as controlled by the unions. How the hell are people buying this idea? It stuns me.

How not to do a character description.

Sat, 06 Oct 2007 05:58:13 GMT

Names have been erased to protect the guilty (and cover my own ass somewhat) but good god. This is the worst flagRSP description I think I've ever seen. Some things deserve ridicule. Description itself here, snarky commentary under the cut.

The first thing you notice about [redacted] is her dark beauty. She has long raven black hair streaked with a shadowy violet that she often has pulled back from her face, long bangs falling around her face like a dark halo. She has green eyes like all her kind though hers swirl with shadows, outlined by thick black lashes and dark liner. Her skin is a slightly darker bronze color than the rest of her kind. Her lips are full and sensual. She usually has an amused look on her face, or a suspicious one. Her form is perfect, taunt muscles ready for anything, curves that draw attention from both men and women. Though she has a dark demenor (sic) about her, her laughter is a prize to be heard. Her high cheek bones make her appear young. Perhaps her late teens?

[deleted] is usually found wearing tight, flattering leather of shadowy purple or black. Daggers are hidden all over her form. Too many to count on one hand. Her dark beauty usually distracts others but try to keep focused.

[eliminated] is a born killer and master of Shadows. She hardly finds interest in any but it isn't impossible to catch her heart.

As flawless as she appears, if you look closely, she has a thin pearly scar streatching (sic) from the right side of her neck, just above her collar bone to the top of her right shoulder. Though how such a scar could be placed on such a woman is just as much a mystery to all who see it as her origin.

Pleasing to the eye and more dangerous than the Demons of the Nether, [not here] is both a lover and a fighter.

Currently in search of a place to call home.

Right. Where to begin? Let's break this whole thing down.

The first thing you notice about [redacted] is her dark beauty.

OK, let's hold you up right there to begin with, ma'am. Beauty is, you might know, in the eye of the beholder. Does my Tauren druid find you beautiful? Probably not, as you're a Blood Elf and he prefers lasses with long, swishy tails. Do you have a long, swishy tail? Describe yourself in a way that makes it clear you're a smoking hottie, fine, but don't tell me that I have to find you beautiful. It's just bad writing.

She has long raven black hair streaked with a shadowy violet that she often has pulled back from her face, long bangs falling around her face like a dark halo.

Take two Mary-Sue points for the use of the word 'raven' in a description, and please lose two sentence construction points for repeating the word 'face' twice in one sentence.

She has green eyes like all her kind though hers swirl with shadows, outlined by thick black lashes and dark liner. Her skin is a slightly darker bronze color than the rest of her kind. Her lips are full and sensual.

Hey, whatya know. A passage that isn't too bad. See, I don't have a problem with people playing attractive looking characters. This is fantasy, I understand that being hot and deadly is kind of a genre staple. It's nice to see people deliberately flout that staple, mind you, and some of the best descriptions I've ever seen have been the ones that shoot for surprising takes. (My all time favorite being an overweight draenei wizard. That was cool.) However, please try to give us correct punctuation (a comma after the first 'kind', please!), and it wouldn't hurt you to try and avoid repeating sentence openers. There are more ways to open a descriptive sentence than 'she' and 'her'.

She usually has an amused look on her face, or a suspicious one.

OK.... which one is it right now? They're kind of a world apart. Do I see a woman looking fun and approachable, or one looking like she'll slit my throat if I look at her funny? Seriously, unless your facial expression is constant (such as my priestess's eternal, often false smile) don't put it in the description.

Her form is perfect, taunt muscles ready for anything, curves that draw attention from both men and women. Though she has a dark demenor about her, her laughter is a prize to be heard. Her high cheek bones make her appear young. Perhaps her late teens?

Perfect? Perfect? Really? There's not a single thing she'd like to change about her body? How about those taunting muscles? And really, curves that guarantee attention from men and women? See, not only are you dictating my response to you again, but you're really going overkill here. I have no idea if the person who wrote this is male or female, but you're really projecting teenage boy hoping for some hot, hot, bi-curious action.

Not to mention the youth bit! First off, high cheek bones? I've seen women in their sixties with high cheek bones! And while they tend to look handsome, regal, noble, even beautiful, they clearly do not look young. If you want to project youth, there's loads of ways to do this. Clean, unwrinkled skin! Fresh face, wide eyes! Perhaps discuss how they swagger more than walk, full of youthful bravado. All of these are fine ways to say, "Hey, my character is young." Heck, my aforementioned druid (who is meant to be the Tauren equivalent of a late teenager) is filled with descriptions of how he still trips over his own feet a bit, projects bravado rather than true confidence, and has a clean, unlined face. Youth is fine. The problem is that every single piece of your description seems devoted to screaming, "Oh god, you want to fuck me so much." Try to think of a bit more depth than this!

[deleted] is usually found wearing tight, flattering leather of shadowy purple or black.

Miss, this is World of Warcraft. Costumes are changed at a faster rate than the ensemble cast of Thank God You're Here. In fact, when I saw you, you were clearly wearing a red bustier and brown pants. Maybe it's just that you're trying to suggest consistency in a game that clearly promotes otherwise, but it's hard to know if we should trust our eyes or your text. Clothing is not a good bet in a World of Warcraft description.

Daggers are hidden all over her form. Too many to count on one hand.

If they're hidden, why are they in your description? And also, if you're hiding all these daggers, why are you wearing tight fitting clothing? Just once I'd like to see a character who's hiding masses of weapons in baggy clothing, with lots of opaque veils, maybe something Middle Eastern in character. I mean, it's just common sense. Where else are you going to hide masses of daggers? In that sentence fragment, maybe?

Her dark beauty usually distracts others but try to keep focused.

Thanks for the advice. This shouldn't be in a visual description.

[eliminated] is a born killer and master of Shadows. She hardly finds interest in any but it isn't impossible to catch her heart.

Not just shadows, but Shadows! Who is Shadows, you ask? I prefer to think he's her pet cat.

A black cat, naturally.

And again, thanks for the advice. This is a visual description. Please keep it to what I can see.

Pleasing to the eye and more dangerous than the Demons of the Nether, [not here] is both a lover and a fighter.

I hate to bring this up, but when I saw you, you were level ten. You're possibly more dangerous than a baker. Don't get me wrong, I was only level ten at the time too, heck, I might have even been level nine. (I was resting and my screenshot doesn't give it away.) But my description spends most of its time discussing the stained and burned fingertips my character has. Not how impossibly deadly and frightening (and fuckable) I am.

Look, once you get to level seventy, fine. Go ahead and make yourself a goddess on Azeroth. You've earned it, baby, and considering my top level character is only level eleven, I'll applaud you. But let your character grow! You can change your description as you go up in level -- Start off small, work up! With your next character, consider working in such things as a bit of clumsiness, perhaps, that you can learn to overcome. How about some shyness? There you go!

And while you're there, with your next character, maybe you'd like to not try and hit every cliché on your way through. Thanks, Mary-Sue.

Grr, Apple. Grr.

Tue, 04 Sep 2007 02:26:09 GMT

I bought a new iPod the other day. Not the rumored new iPods that will come out in two days time (I'm betting that the flash drive rumors are true, and I don't want one of those) but the video iPods. And it's very nice. I'm a little miffed that the battery seems noticeably weaker than my old one, but the video usage likely accounts for some of that: I gave the video use a workout in the first few days.

But I'm annoyed at the lack of one standard option: A power point adapter.

See, when I bought my first iPod, way back when, it used a standard firewire cable to connect it to the computer, with a handy power point adapter included. I'd 'heard about' the new docks for the new iPods and thought, "Well, OK, that's cool too," and looked forward to setting one up near my desk, and using it to connect to power points.

No such luck, of course. The dock was revamped, resigned, and is now a multimedia hub, it seems. And costs you 50 dollars to use.

Well, again, fine. I can live with that. Fifty dollars is a lot for what I'd basically use as a power point adapter, but with that functionality, it's worth that price.

Except, of course, the new dock does not connect to power points. No, for that you want the power point adapter. Also fifty bucks.

And at this point, I yell, "Hold the phone!" Fifty bucks? For a freaking powerpoint adapter? A piece of plastic and some basic wiring designed to drive appropriate power to the USB hub?

Get out of here. Apple, that's freaking ridiculous. There's absolutely no justification for any price on that at all, frankly, it should be an included part of the iPod pack. Secondly, if you must sell it separately, anything above twenty dollars is highway robbery.

The irony is, of course, that my old iPod cost me a cool grand to buy. This new one, even if I buy the adapter, will cost me but 520. But I flatly refuse to buy a power adapter... a power adapter, by god for fifty bucks.

It's just ludicrous.

I am seriously beginning to fall out of love with Apple.