The biggest Internet names are talking about joining forces in an effort to raise awareness for SOPA, the Stop Online Piracy Act. This is a measure your lawmakers are contemplating passing into law while you’re reading this. Supported primarily by large record labels, movie studios and conservatives in Washington, SOPA would essentially allow judges to arbitrarily order any website to block any content it chooses.

Sound scary? It is. In a coordinated effort to raise awareness and convince the confused crew in D.C. to drop the dictatorship-like law from passing some of the Internet’s most influential powerhouses are joining forces. Among those are Google, Facebook, Amazon, Yahoo, eBay and others. They’re calling it the “nuclear” option.

This “nuclear” option may be a temporary inconvenience for many of us, but if it works, it’s worth it.

GoDaddy, on the other hand, originally supported SOPA. This caused an uproar and an attempt at a mass boycott of their domain registration services. There was a significant effort to convince and support GoDaddy customers in moving their domains to other domain registrars. Other services were even giving discounts for doing just that. As a result, GoDaddy has since renounced its public support of SOPA, but we here at ErixClix don’t believe the driving force behind GoDaddy’s politics actually changed their minds on the subject.

Regardless, it’s time to raise awareness of the oppressive, free-speech clobbering, law they are considering and fight it until it’s dropped.

A few days ago Boxee announced two things…1) There will be a new release of Boxee for PC, Mac and Linux coming, and 2) That will be the final release of the Mac, PC and Linux version.

The reasons stated indicate that Boxee believes the future of the Home Theater will become increasingly centered on the Set Top Box and less on Home Theater PCs. This is a non-sensical and simply untrue statement as hardware manufacturers, lawmakers, and most importantly consumers are all heading quite aggressively in the opposite direction of closed media solutions.

More and more Home Theater PCs are flying off the shelves and nearly all Video Card models and manufacturers include HDCP support (allowing you to connect your computer to a TV and play encrypted content…with proper sources).

Further, we already have the laws in place that require cable companies to provide “CableCard” support so you aren’t forced to rent a cable box. CableCards go into HDTV Tuners that connect to your PC. This enables full premium cable, DVR, guide and extra capability because of the computer’s resources and connectivity. In fact, the trend is finally moving so aggressively toward this goal as more companies have released CableCard devices (e.g. ATI, Hauppage and SiliconDust), and even more have been announced.

Ever wonder why your cable box’s user experience is so antiquated? Because the cable companies and the cable set top box manufacturers benefit by giving you the absolute minimum they can get away with and still provide service. Sticking you with a proprietary, closed and expensive solution that just barely gets the job done.

However, with a central PC in your home, you can have central storage and access for video, live cable tv, music, streaming media, updated tv guides and more from anywhere in the home. And, until it becomes outdated and dies, Boxee’s PC software version could have been at the core of your “Media Center of the Future.”

Strangely enough, while Boxee discontinues its PC software, they will simultaneously be releasing a new hardware product for Home Theater PCs, a tuner device for bringing over-the-air, local HD channels to your computer.

So why discontinue the software? Because Boxee not long ago started selling proprietary hardware. You don’t need a Business degree to know that by releasing PC software they are cannibalizing their new hardware sales.

Also, their final PC software release “gesture” will strip out Netflix and other premium playback capabilities. ..they cited “extensive DRM and Certification Requirements.” Interesting these concerns all popped up for the final version of the PC software and for ALL premium apps (Netflix, VUDU, Pandora).

On the surface and underneath this sounds like a classic corporate greed sellout…maybe not even solely by Boxee. It’s too bad as I (and many other upset consumers) would have paid for the Boxee PC software as many others are begging to be able to do. (And I mean FULL Boxee software with all of the Netflix, VUDU and Pandora streaming goodness we’ve had for some time now.)

By the way, a Boxee Box is actually just a Home Theater PC. A closed, proprietary, limited PC. I don’t want one. The trend is to move AWAY from these limited, controlled and closed systems. Anyone that doesn’t see that for the long term is either brain dead or lying to you. Yep.

There are several new reports on the Boxee Forums that the new Mac OS version of Boxee 1.5.0.23267 crashes when the iPhone Boxee Remote App tries to connect to it.

Boxee is no-cost Home Theater PC (HTPC) software that is easy to use and quick to setup. It allows users that have their Mac, Windows or Linux PCs connected to an HDTV to easily navigate music, movies, tv shows and other media using a powerful and intuitive interface with large on-screen controls similar to that of a cable box or other familiar set top box.

Aside from a few tweaks to their simple keyboard interface I highly recommend this solution. And when the iPhone Remote issue is fixed, it’s a dream to use your iPhone to navigate the media on your computer without a mouse or keyboard.

Boxee can be found here: www.boxee.tv

If you have a Boxee box of your own, post your experiences, comments and opinions here. Let us know what you think!

How can 53% of Republicans and 63% of Democrats support Obama’s Jobs Bill, yet the Republican controlled Congress refuses to support it? There are even a couple of Democrats that refuse to tax the rich their fair share.

I believe this is the beginning of the end of the American Middle Class. With taxes on the wealthy the lowest they’ve been in 50 years, and Bush’s tax breaks in place for 10 of those years, the result is the economy we see today. Majority leader John Boehner has had his way 100% of his time in office and he hasn’t created a single job.

American voters, during mid-term elections, put these idiots in office. At this point these people are more interested in seeing Obama fail, than seeing America succeed. None of these ignorant, stubborn morons represent the people who put them in office, the polls clearly show this.

While I believe it’s almost too late, maybe the sleeping American Middle Class will wake up now that their homes are foreclosed, their jobs are gone and their wallets are empty and elect the right representation next time. Obama’s not ruining your economy, your elected representatives are.

As recently as last night (Saturday night) I have actually seen those ‘Glee’ commercials for the HP Touchpad. You’d think they could pull these since the product has been discontinued. Then, we see a $99 blowout of the price, but the only confirmed reports I could find for these prices were in Canada. The US, UK and EU hadn’t had these clearance prices yet. (If you have a confirmed $99 purchase in the US please post in the comments!)

After doing some of my own “Googling” in my area, it showed all of the Office Depot locations having this product for $130. So we made an effort to get up early this Sunday morning (9am is early for us on a Sunday) and try to get our own blowout HP Touchpad. Unfortunately, they were sold out. A drive by the nearby Staples confirmed the same thing.

Oh well. Regardless of the phantom $99 Touchpads, we were able to use a demo unit at Office Depot (which they said they weren’t selling because they weren’t “full, normal Touchpads.”) After tapping around, holding it, etc, I can confirm, this thing is slow, bulky and heavier than our iPad 2.

The reason we wanted one is that I am a developer and there’s rumor that Android will be ported to the Touchpad. I figured, for $99, it was worth it.

I guess we have to wait until the next ‘iPad killer’ arrives, or buy one of the many HP Touchpads on eBay for under $250.

Another huge “down day” on Wall Street. Today’s excuse? The S&P credit rating drop. Everyone keeps saying S&P made a huge miscalculation and that America’s credit rating is still AAA. How can this be? We have a deadlocked government, two wars, a faltering global economy, and a hopeless unemployment situation.

But there is one thing that everyone, besides S&P, seems to agree on; that America is still a AAA credit bet. I believe in staying positive and moving forward and holding strong and all that, but at some point, when will we face reality?

The reality is things are not good. And nobody is able to do anything about it. Now, why should a credit rating agency ‘pretend’ along with the rest of us, that everything is fine. I think it’s time to stop pretending, hoping, and praying, and start doing something about it.

Michelle Bachmann has been caught praying for jobs recently. Now, do we think jobs will fall from the sky? Or do we actively have to create them? Will the expenses of the government, war, healthcare, public programs, general costs, just pay for itself? Is there a magic slot machine somewhere? Or, do we have to raise taxes ever so slightly on the most fortunate of us, who, by the way, made their money because of this great country? Shouldn’t they have to pay their fair share for taking advantage of the opportunities they’ve enjoyed here?

Brief history ‘reminder:’ Remember that great ancient Roman civilization? Even that eventually fell, but only when they ignored their problems and believed (or maybe hoped) that they were indestructible.

God Bless America

Unfortunately, the American people are only just now realizing the mess their short-sightedness has made. Losing patience last year with President Obama then electing the loud-mouth, broken record, pseudo-Tea Party Republican Congress we have in place now, in hindsight, seems to have been a huge mistake.

Now what do we do?

The Republican majority Congress has dug their heels in pretty deep on keeping the ultra rich and multi-billion dollar corporations their Bush-era tax breaks and loopholes.

Where’s my “tax loophole” for being poor? As a small business owner why do I pay tax just for being self-employed? (that’s compounded with regular income tax?) Shouldn’t large corporations pay more taxes instead of breaking the backs of the self-employed, small business owner? We goofed. We voted as if we were rich, because we wanted to be. Protect the rich because I might be one someday…right?

So, what to do? Contact your Congressman. Pressure your Congressman. Here’s a link to get you started…and yes…it matters.  Click this link to Contact your Congressman.

There is either a blatant inconsistency in eBay’s Final Value Fee policy or an intentional loophole for the online auction site to squeeze even more gratuitous fees out of its customers.

Last month I listed an item for sale on eBay, a buyer placed a bid on the item, after several days, the buyer never paid. The buyer also wasn’t responding to contacts or re-sent invoices so I used eBay’s support system to open a “case” associated directly with the item. Unpaid items are so common with the eBay experience there’s a ready-to-click Open “Unpaid item” Case button, how convenient. So, I opened one.

After several weeks of no response, from either eBay’s support team or the buyer, suddenly there was some action taken on the item in question taken by eBay. But it wasn’t an update on the case, eBay actually charged me their “Final Value Fee” on the UNPAID item! The Final Value Fee is what eBay charges the seller once an item has sold and is the largest of eBay’s seller fees. (See eBay Policy) How can they do this? I haven’t received payment from the buyer on this “sold” item, and the eBay system knows this as it says “Awaiting Payment For 1 Item” yet they still assess this fee?

eBay even knows there was a case open for this item related to non-payment. I haven’t made a penny yet, and now I am under water on an item I haven’t been paid for yet. Thanks eBay!

And this is where the ‘loophole’ lies; I was charged a “Final Value Fee” on an item that hasn’t yet been paid for! It looks like I am fee-Bay’s latest victim. But before making assumptions, let’s read the policy on this matter…

Looking at eBay’s “Final Value Fee” policies. As of the writing of this article, under “What’s a final value fee?” it clearly states “When your item sells, your seller account is charged a final value fee.” That’s a simple statement, but if the buyer hasn’t paid yet is the item still considered sold?

As I continue reading I find eBay actually does clear up the policy with this fee but with a seemingly contradictory statement; A few paragraphs below under “How can I get a credit or refund for the final value fee?” the policy states “This fee applies whether or not you complete the sale with the buyer.” What?! Didn’t they just say a few paragraphs before that the fee is charged when the item sells? And here it says “whether or not” it sells!? I’m quite sure that most retail businesses don’t consider an item sold until it is paid for. But eBay says “whether or not” you complete the sale so not only does it contradict the first statement, it says we’re charged their highest seller fee regardless of a completed sale!

These two statements, shown clearly on the policy page, don’t make sense, at least not for eBay sellers. This is either an oversight in the policy department or a blatant, intentional hole to charge additional fees on even unpaid for items. If eBay sellers were shown this policy in large print BEFORE listing an item that they would be charged eBay’s highest seller fee whether or not their items sell, most of them would run away screaming!

The Final Value Fee is the largest single fee eBay charges its sellers. Amazing how many ‘fee oversights’ policy departments of major corporations have these days, and it’s even more amazing how many are actually in favor of the corporations themselves.

UPDATE – A poll taken on Squidoo.com asking eBay auctioners if they’d move their auctions to a Google-run Auction site received renewed votes with overwhelming results…Take a look here!

eBay announced this morning changes to their fee structure that, after getting past the sugar coating, is just another fee increase for sellers, cutting even deeper into their profits.

The popular auction website has been known for some time now as being an ‘expensive place to sell your goods.’ And with this newly announced policy, they may be pushing their most dedicated sellers out the door once and for all.

To support their members with the new fee change that goes into effect April 19th, eBay launched a special 2-day discussion board for any questions their members may have about the new policy. Link here.

However, instead of questions, the members posted mostly rants and expressions of anger and frustration to the tune of not being able to profit enough, and ‘I’m leaving eBay!’ it is true that within 2 hours the discussion board had nearly 1000 posts, 99% of them complaints directly to the eBay staff that was there to answer questions.

Has eBay finally hammered the last nail into it’s own coffin? How can they be so out of touch with their own customers? I thought the days of the Meg Whitman ‘Fee-for-all’ were over. And, finally, most importantly, where is Google with a fast, friendly, and profitable alternative?

Apple has long been known as a ‘premium products for a premium price’ electronics maker. Along with others such as Bose, Lutron, and more, the quality and customer satisfaction for all of these brands is well established. Another quality these labels share is they are not known for exceptional giveaways, deep discounts or super savings package deals.

So, that being said, why does Apple give “Free Engraving” with the purchase of iPods and now their famed tablet, the iPad?Knowing how business savvy this company is how can this free service, which many customers would likely pay for, be worth giving away? Many “giveaways” are used to incent someone to make a larger purchase. But when someone makes the decision to buy an iPod, iPhone or iPad, there are no real competiors for these products as they are at a premium and the customer has already decided to go with a unique product and experience so the decision to purchase has already been made hasn’t it? So why add this free service?

It’s relatively simple…it hinders you from being able to resell the device later. If you add a message “For Sue on her 16th Birthday” it will make the item very personal (for you, not someone on Craigslist looking for a bright, shiny, gently used iPod). So when the new model comes out, you will likely hang on to the old one and still make the new purchase. And it devalues the device for the buyer as it’s not desirable to own an iPod and every time you use it see “Love Always, Tom.” Who’s Tom?

So, essentially, Apple is helping you “deface” your little Christmas gift, in the name of sentimentality, only to lower its resale-ability thus keeping the market demand up for more new products. In the long run, it’s worth every penny. Of course, the used iPods and iPads that are sold and transferred still have a secondary potential revenue stream through the iTunes store, app and music purchases, etc.

Don’t get me wrong, taking advantage of a free engraving to send someone special a birthday message, or a message of love is a great thing. It will also guarantee the item is not “re-gifted.”

The Gap announced last night via its Facebook page that after “learning a lot” it is now changing back to the old, and loved version of its logo. We are happy about this.

Meg Whitman is currently running for office of Governor of the State of California. Unfortunately, she’s not only exaggerating to gain favor-ability but she’s now been found, on numerous counts, of outright lying. See this site for a handful of examples.

One of her other commercials is about her tenure at eBay. One of the many re-framed “achievements” was being a hero to small businesses because eBay allows small businesses to operate a “store” through eBay. Unfortunately, she fails to mention that she raised eBay’s fees on those small businesses SIX times…during a bad economy!

Meg Whitman is yet another ultra-conservative that sacrifices the middle class for her own gain. Meg Whitman is dangerous. Meg Whitman is a guaranteed failure. Meg Whitman’s own Republican party questions her viability. See this link.

Please don’t pass on your opinions, pass on FACTS to your friends, families and co-workers. Meg Whitman commercials plaster the media simply because once she was ousted from eBay she was able to walk away with $125 million dollars that she now uses to advertise her lies to the unsuspecting population of California.

Don’t take my word for it. Or hers. I ask you simply to check the facts, then pass on what you learn to everyone who needs to know.

During Apple’s press conference on July 16th about the iPhone 4′s exposed antenna weakness, Steve Jobs offered all iPhone 4 customers a free case to remedy the problem. During the conference he expressed that there would be a way to place orders for the case “by the end of next week.” Which was last Friday. I received an email requesting that I download the iPhone 4 case app to place my order…

After going online to view the details of all the case options available, some from Belkin and other 3rd party manufacturers. The ordering process only took a minute. It was quick and simple. So far all seemed fair and good. Then, as I completed the order, the ship date on the product appears on the screen nearly 5 weeks into the future. This didn’t sit well with me but Apple had expired their inventories. I wanted a free case but I didn’t want to have to worry about my shiny, brand new iPhone 4 getting scratched up. I had already ordered and received a Zagg invisibleShield screen protector, now I just need the Apple Bumper case to completely protect the device. Needless to say, I’m a little anxious to get my new baby fully covered and waiting over a month will not be easy.

Then, yesterday happens, I receive an email from Apple Shipping Notification telling me my black iPhone 4 bumper has shipped and will be here within a week! Yay! Not sure how many people out there also received a happy notification like this about their cases, I also would like to know if the 3rd party cases offered are shipping now as well.

Anyway, thank you Apple, and thank you Steve Jobs for doing the right thing.

UPDATE! 2010-07-28 – It’s arrived! EVEN EARLIER!

Guess what showed up in the mail today? Estimated delivery date showed Aug. 3rd, but here it is, almost a week early! Thanks Apple. Unfortunately my Griffin iPod USB cable doesn’t plug in all the way when the bumper is on, eeks. Otherwise, I’m completely covered now

Apple iPhone 4 bumper

Big headline! “Tropical Depression Races Toward BP’s Leaky Well.” How does the reporter that wrote that article know this? Are they a meteorologist? Do they have some weather prediction skills the rest of us don’t know about? No and no. Actually, after I read that one and researched a couple other sources meteorologists don’t quite know yet if it’s headed in that direction. The author wasn’t predicting the weather, they were attracting eyeballs to their article. Why? I think a couple of reasons, not the least of which is because they value their job. The more people that read or click on that article the more money their news reporting agency makes, therefore meaning more job security. So where’s the harm in that?

Well, in America, these news reporting agencies (and you know which ones to which I am referring) are the most visible, reprinted and republished. The vast majority of Americans get their news from these kinds of sources, not just on TV but online as well. So the harm is rather significant since the information is misrepresented, you’ve now misinformed hundreds of thousands, if not millions of readers. When the true objective of News Media is actually to inform…not entertain.

Another example that’s made headlines lately is the Apple “Antennagate” issue with the new iPhone 4. After about 3 weeks Apple held a press conference (which you can view on Apple’s web site here) explaining to detail the cause of the signal problem with the iPhone. Then they proceeded to demonstrate the exact same issue with other popular phones from the RIM Blackberry to Samsung to an Android phone. Steve Jobs, who led the conference, after showing how common a problem this is, continued to make a strong point of how the media has blown this issue out of proportion. Now, this accusation is not flattering to the media, even though it is newsworthy, now do you think it was reported? Do you think the media would report news about themselves…no matter how newsworthy the story actually is? No. The media reported ONLY the parts of the conference that backed up their own original claims. Article after article, news organization after news organization reported about 1/10th of the conference’s information to protect its own image. Virtually nothing about the tests with the other popular phones, virtually nothing about how they themselves may have blown this issue up. The result of this hypocrisy? The news hungry public, as usual, is only partially informed. Ok, so we have SOME information…where’s the harm in that?

Having only some of the facts associated with a news making story can be dangerous. There’s a bright shining example of that making headlines in the last day or two. The African American, former USDA employee, Shirley Sherrod. She was fired from her job recently due to a ‘selectively edited’ video of a speech she gave not long ago appeared as if she was intentionally not assisting a white farmer. The Obama administration reacted to this report and fired the woman. However, after further investigation, watching the original video, uncut, they see they took these remarks out of context and now our President is begging for her to come back to her job with a huge apology.

So what can we do about this? How can we become more informed? Unfortunately, there’s no clear answer. Just try to get your news from multiple sources. Try to get your news from organizations other than the “big ones.” There are many smaller news reporting agencies all over our country that are non-profit and therefore have no monetary gain from reporting sensationalism and over-hyped headlines.

Now don’t get me wrong, the storm that’s not even in the Gulf of Mexico yet (as of the writing of this article) may hit “BP’s leaky well” dead on. But at this point, that’s uncertain. So, with all of the sensationalism, fear tactics and profit-mindedness the news media maintains the only problem I see with the media seems to be the media.

Not so fast Google! Why are you trying to secretly discontinue one of your mobile phone ventures? Yes, the once purported “iPhone Killer” has itself died. Or at least put out of its misery by it’s creator. Google is discontinuing it’s Nexus One smart phone, the latest death, in what I believe will be a series of tragic, albeit, silent deaths of the many smartphones that just can’t hack it in the mobile jungle. Many will try, many will fail.

So why is Google trying to keep this one under wraps? Mostly because of one thing…they don’t want to stoke the successful fires of the iPhone. While Apple recently released the iPhone 4 to sell 3 million devices in as many weeks, breaking all records, RIM is seeing their market share shrink by the day. Google has seen some success with Android, although it was also just discovered that a recent estimate of Apps in Google’s App Store was over exaggerated. That kind of shady news as well as the discontinuation of the Nexus One can’t feel good to the search giant.

Although Android phones are quite functional, reports from the field indicate the customer satisfaction is quite a bit lower than that of iPhone users. Even with this latest iPhone 4 antenna debacle, Apple and AT&T are seeing HALF the return rate with the iPhone 4 as with the previous generation iPhone 3GS which had no purported antenna problem.

So, it’s no secret why Google must try and keep this secret. Goodbye Nexus One…thank you for trying.

Apple held their long anticipated (2 days) iPhone 4 “antenna problem” conference just moments ago. Opening the conference with a video poking fun at the media for over-hyping the whole thing to begin with. Wait, the media over-hyping something!? NOOOooooo!!! As Steve Jobs emerges to present this morning, he indicates that this will be a brief 15 minute announcement.

With a history of world class customer service, and lately, unprecedented transparency and communication from CEO Steve Jobs on every issue from no Flash support on their mobile devices to this antenna issue. We’ve seen open letters and open emails on every subject. This conference is the latest in what seems to be an emerging culture of openness.

The conference started out by showing how gripping almost any mobile, wireless device in the “wrong way” can cause signal loss. The first example being quite dramatic as they show a RIM Blackberry Bold 9700 dropping from 5 bars down to 1 bar when gripped the wrong way. Other popular smartphone platforms and manufacturers were mentioned, Android, Samsung, etc etc.

Jobs goes on by showing and explaining how the way antenna signals work, that all of these phones, any wireless device, will have this bad grip problem. It’s the laws of physics. Wait! You mean Apple hasn’t innovated enough to the point of defying the laws of physics!?!? I want my money back! He then explains how the iPhone 4 also went through shielded room tests etc.

Support issues…if this is such a big deal, as the media likes to portray, then out of the 3 million devices sold since it’s launch, there must be a ridiculous number of support calls about this problem. Actually, Steve reveals, that only .55% of all iPhone 4 owners have called about this problem. A little over half of one percent. While that’s probably higher than it should be, this is not the epidemic the media and class-action legal teams would have you believe.

Return rates…Wow, the previous generation iPhone 3GS averaged a 6% return rate with AT&T stores. Jobs indicates that this is below industry average. However, with the iPhone 4 and all of its supposed ‘issues’ the return rate is at a mere 1.7%. What’s going on here?

Jobs then goes on to reveal that the iPhone 4 actually does drop calls slightly more than the 3GS, however, it’s only 1 call per 100 more than the 3GS which is an ever so slim difference. He then theorizes, that because the previous generation iPhone 3GS is the same shape as its predecessor the 3G, that people could continue to use their old cases or even go to the store to buy one of many available cases for the existing shape. The case, thus shielding the 3GS from a percentage of dropped calls. Many iPhone 4′s are still ‘naked’ due to the fact that the case manufacturers are still getting the cases out to the retailers with the new form factor products…interesting theory.

And to help us all test his theory, Steve is putting his money where his mouth is and buying everyone a free bumper who buys their iPhone 4 up until September 30th. You’ll be able to apply for the free case late next week at the Apple Store online.

Well, I think this was yet another good communication from Apple. Another successful exercise at openness and transparency. All of the information given was logical and now the media must move on to another topic…oil spill? Haiti? War? Yeah, those are definitely bigger than cell phone reception stories. What do you think?

It shouldn’t be such a far flung idea, switching to the Metric system.  Right now we do have more important things to deal with, but can’t we get the ball rolling finally on this whole Metric system thing?

I was chatting with friends in Australia this evening (where it’s always tomorrow) and since they are in the Southern hemisphere, it’s getting warmer down there this time of year and colder up here. They asked what the temperature was, knowing they’re used to Metric down there I used the trusty calculator that comes with Mac OS X and used the “Convert” menu to convert my 45 degrees Farenheit to degrees Celsius, then proceeded to tell them “…it’s about 7 degrees here now.”

Not expecting me to have done the conversion for them, they asked “is that in degrees Celsius?”

This conversation started me thinking about how all American kids have been taught the Metric
system in public schools since sometime in the 70′s.  So most 30 and 40-something adults in America are more than familiar with it.  Let alone the generation X and Y’s that follow.

After being somewhat impressed and thanking me for doing the conversion, I proceeded to inform the Australians that all Americans have been taught Metric in school for some number of years now.  They then asked “So how come you haven’t switched yet?” Good question Ozzie friend.

With lots of obvious reasons coming to mind, for example, laziness, priorities, etc etc…I then thought about our new President. With Obama representing “change” and “the future” and all that maybe after the wars calm down and the health care debate gets somewhat resolved, could it be possible in a few years, or the beginning of a second term, he could start a push to get this great isolationist country switched to the Metric system?  After all, at this rate, it clearly won’t happen spontaneously, there will have to be Federal law to make it happen.

I’ve been living in Southern California now for almost 3 years.  I moved from Phoenix, where I lived for 19 years. If you take the I-10 freeway out to LA from Phoenix, you will see some well intentioned “Metric/English” road signs indicating in kilometers as well as miles the distance to the next town.  The first time I saw this I got excited, that someone started doing something about it.  Then realized, those signs are THE ONLY signs of their kind. Seems like California may have tried to get the ball rolling some years ago and realized there may have been better things to spend tax dollars on.  Tax dollars this great state is coming up short on these days.

Ultimately, the thing that binds societies together, brings people together, and even makes doing business more seamless is uniform communication.  Without communication what do we have?  This huge gap in standardizing units of measurement needs to be closed, once and for all.  It may cost money.  It may take time. But I believe it is worth the investment in the long term.  Let’s do it for the kids!

In impressive style, and with what seemed little effort, Cliff Lee nearly cut off all hope for Derek Jeter and friends in the first game of the 2009 World Series. Inning after inning, with what seemed constant sprinkling from the weather the Phillies held up strong and proud in the Yankees’ territory. With a final score of 6-1, Phillies fans have a real reason to be hopeful in the 2009 post season. For the last six World Series, the team that won Game 1 always went on to win the series.

Lee’s pitching wasn’t the only star of this Phillies victory, Chase Utley also hit two solo home-runs putting the Phillies on the board and keeping them in the lead.

As a 3rd generation Phillies fan, I have high hopes and would love to see them go all the way!

Wow…wow…wow…as highly recommended as this was, by viewers as well as critics…when the credits rolled on this one, many in our packed theater audience actually did gasp at this horror film, but not in terror, more in surprise, like “is that it?”

Maybe Hollywood is getting too excited about saving money and cutting corners by spending $15,000 on a movie and trying to turn it into $100 million in profits. This has happened in the past, but I wouldn’t think of this as a common, typical formula for success.

Another great movie “could have been” for the record books, this one had some freaky moments, and definitely was going down the right path, only to stretch out most of the nearly 100 minutes as “filler” minutes rather than scary moments.

In summary, I’d say there was enough quality content for the first HALF of a really great supernatural horror flick. So, where’s the 50% refund for half of my $11.50 ticket price? And I must say, we weren’t the only ones wishing for some cash back on this over-hyped rip-off.

Stay home, see something else, don’t even rent it.