It is being reported today by a variety of media outlets that Disney is planning to go ahead and make a second sequel to Toy Story, without Pixar. Apparently, Disney is setting up its own digital animation facility to create the movie, which it owns the rights to.

I can only imagine the profanity Mr. Jobs is spewing right now, as he has long wanted to retain control of the Pixar characters. I suppose I agree that it makes business sense for Disney to do this, as digital animation is the future, and they might as well make their first movie something almost guaranteed to be successful. They are in a kind of slump, and could in effect finance their new studio using the proceeds from this movie. On the other hand, this probably means there is absolutely no chance of Disney and Pixar working together in the future.

And I dunno about you, but I have never thought of Toy Story, or Monsters, Inc., or Finding Nemo as Disney movies. I have always considered them Pixar movies. I don’t think I like the idea of a Toy Story movie being made by a company other than Pixar.

I have come up with a new strategy for the Democrats in the United States. I think their best bet for getting rid of Bush is to try and impeach him. Confused?

[Condoleezza] Rice has been a consummate insider in the Bush White House and so close to the president that she is almost like part of the family, leading some experts to worry Bush might not be in a position to hear dissenting views.

She is so close to Bush that they sometimes seem as if they are “joined at the hip,” Thomas Mann of the Brookings Institution think tank told CNN.

The facts are clear. All you need to do is catch them in a compromising act, and you’re good to go!

Read: Reuters

Looks like I’m in trouble now:

Heavy computer use could be linked to glaucoma, especially among those who are short-sighted, fear researchers.

Glaucoma is caused by increased fluid pressure within the eye compressing the nerves at the back, which can lead to blindness if not treated.

The findings, published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, are based on 10,000 Japanese workers.

The authors and experts recommend more research, particularly because being short-sighted is a known glaucoma risk.

I wonder how long it will be until research appears that counters these findings! Not long I would guess.

Read: BBC

I didn’t notice this announcement the other day, but it appears that Google’s index has doubled to over 8 billion pages. You might remember that back in September I posted about how Google may have reached a plateau in terms of the number of web pages it can index. Apparently, that was wrong 😛

[Please note that if you are easily offended, you might want to ignore this post and read the previous one on The Incredibles instead.]

I had no idea that cybersex has evolved so far beyond the chatroom. I came across this article on Wired yesterday, and needless to say, was quite surprised. The article is basically an introduction and review of the Sinulator, “a device that lets you connect a sex toy to your computer so that other people can control it for you over the internet.” Now that’s hardcore.

The article goes on:

Here’s how it works. Your Sinulator package includes the transmitter, a vibrator and a receiver. You download the client application from Sinulator.com. During installation, you connect the transmitter to a USB port. When you’re all installed and have the client running, you attach your toy to the wireless receiver and switch it on. Finally, you go to Sinulator.com and choose a name for your toy. After that, anyone who knows your toy’s name can set your toy a-buzzin’ using the Sinulator control panel. Neither of you has to register or divulge any personal information — not even an e-mail address.

Pretty crazy huh? But it gets better (or worse, depending on how you look at it):

The Fleshlight is a standard, sleeve-style vibrator for men, with a twist: It’s also a transmitter. It measures the speed and force of each thrust and communicates those metrics to the software, which translates them into vibration and pulse on the other end.

Talk about redefining cybersex! Apparently the device has local overrides, so that your partner cannot thrust too fast for your liking. The author of the article calls this remote interaction technology “teledildonics”, an interesting name, and says that it has the potential to improve long-distance relationships, or help couples who are apart frequently due to work. However, it doesn’t solve all problems:

Like with real sex, you can thrust too hard or too fast, or finish too soon, or not finish at all. You can leave each other hanging or draw the experience out as long as you can stand it.

I guess they figured they had to save something for version 2 😉

Tonight I went to see The Incredibles with Kimmi. The movie is the second last of the Pixar/Disney partnership, and I have wanted to see it for a long time now. I had great expectations for this movie, first because it is from Pixar, and second because it got a 96% fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes. And I am happy to report, it did not disappoint.

First, how about a couple of facts? This is the first Pixar film to receive a rating higher than G, as The Incredibles is rated PG. It also happens to be the longest CGI film ever made, running a full 120 minutes. This movie also marks the first time Pixar has used only human characters in a film. While these facts make the movie much different than previous Pixar films, don’t be fooled, they take nothing away.

The Incredibles is, in a word, incredible. Tons of stuff to love about this movie. The story is superb as I have come to expect from Pixar – like giving life to the “monsters in the closet”, they have given life to the “superheroes are normal people” idea. The animation has once again improved, and is quite stunning. The explosions look realistic, the dust and water look realistic, everything looks so realistic (within reason of course, Mr. Incredible’s proportions are obviously not realistic). The voices are excellent, with Samuel L. Jackson as Frozone, Craig T. Nelson as Mr. Incredible, Holly Hunter as Elastigirl, Jason Lee as Syndrome, and John Ratzenberger (who, by the way, has been in every Pixar film, including the upcoming Cars) as Underminer. All of the actors bring the characters to life very convincingly.

But the most incredible thing about this movie? Pixar once again succeeds at including just enough material to keep parents as interested as their kids. While the superheroes in this movie have some special powers, it is amazing at how super-normal they really are. Mr. Incredible is going through a mid-life crisis. Elastigirl (his wife) has gained some weight and feels as though she is losing her husband at the same time as trying to deal with her kids. Violet (their daughter and eldest child) is the typical teenage girl timidly trying to find herself. Dash (their son) is the typical brat kid, getting in trouble at school and annoying his sister. There is even the “Maggie”-style baby in this movie. The characters are more than just superheroes. You become attached to them. You feel Mr. Incredible’s pain when he thinks he’s lost his family. You snicker at how Dash gets away with his pranks. Altogether it adds another dimension to the movie that is just irresistable.

In fact, if I had any complaint about the movie, it would be that it didn’t take advantage of every opportunity to poke fun at the superhero/supervillain genre. When Syndrome first tries to kill Mr. Incredible, he makes fun of the fact that he was caught monologuing as so many villains do before they attempt to kill the good guy. Why didn’t he poke fun when he had the family locked up forcing them to watch the destruction of the world as so many villains do? There were other opportunities too, but really, I am searching for something to be wrong here.

Before The Incredibles, my favorite Pixar movie was Monsters, Inc., but that has now changed. I absolutely loved this movie – almost perfect! I will definitely go see it again, and so should you! Check out the official site, Pixar’s Incredibles site, some Incredibles trivia, the trailers, and over 170 reviews.

Dear Proctor & Gamble,

I would like to take this opportunity to apologize. You see, over the last few months, I have been making fun of your commercial for the Swiffer Dusters product. You know the one with the psychotic lady dancing around her friend’s house dusting to the sound of a modified version of Devo’s “Whip It”. I thought it was the dumbest, most insane commercial ever produced (well almost). I took every opportunity to ridicule your commercial and the product. I switched the channel purposefully when it came on. I would hold my breath and close my eyes and count to 30 if I couldn’t find the remote. The first time I saw it, I think I choked on my popcorn.

So now I apologize for my behaviour. I have recently discovered how truly great the Swiffer Duster really is. I am amazed at how it keeps all the dust in the cloth without falling out all over the place. I am amazed at how shelf after shelf, the dust disappears. I am almost tempted to search through my house for areas to dust. I am impressed. Slightly scared I will turn into that crazy woman from the commercial, but impressed.

So please accept my humble apologies, and thanks for a wonderful product!

Sincerely,
Mack D. Male

[I wanted to post somehow about how I tried out the Swiffer Duster today and liked it. But that would have been boring. Hopefully this was more entertaining!]

Yesterday was, aside from being Remembrance Day, Jane and Andrew’s Birthday Bash! And what an event it was! This was not your average, ordinary birthday party, no sir. It was a full out, no holds barred, massive dinner following scavenger hunt and cake decorating events topped off by Shrek2 kind of event. And it was tons of fun!

Despite having very explicit instructions to arrive at Jane’s promptly at 1 PM, everyone was late and I think I was the last to arrive. Gotta make an entrance, you know? While waiting a few people started playing Cranium, funny how that game is always present at our gatherings. Jane and Andrew had obviously done a lot of planning for this party, as there were a series of events ready to be tackled. The first was to divide into three teams and decorate two cakes each. Team Black consisted of myself, Megan, Greg, John and Peter. The very aptly named Team Roadkill consisted of Dickson, Violet, Kimmi and Mr. Awesome, otherwise known as Alex. I think they also had Candice and her boyfriend. The third team was Team Lucky, and consisted of Warren, Yi-Li, Felicia, Andrea, and Natalie. The cakes were all amazing, but seriously, I think ours should have won. I mean, Roadkill made a nice effort, as did Lucky, but the Black cake was just amazing.

The next event was a city-wide scavenger hunt. In addition to having a number of items to retrieve for points, there was also a lot of activities that had to be done – proof was a picture, or in some cases, the proof was in the activity, like getting a stranger to call Jane and Andrew and sing happy birthday. There was lots of things on the list, like eating snow, getting a picture of the wall I destroyed at McNally a few years ago, walking into Radioshack with tin foil on your head and acting crazy, filling out and submitting an application to McDonalds, collecting bus transfers and passes, sitting in the middle of a road, etc, etc. When all was said and done, Team Roadkill came out on top with roughly 2000 points thanks to their bus transfers, Team Black finished second with about 1700 points thanks to their bus passes, and Team Lucky should have found a four-leafed clover or something as they came last with roughly 500 points. Good times!

After the hunt, it was time for a well-deserved dinner at Blue Chicago, a new place on 142nd and Stony Plain. It was pretty good food, although the portions seemed a little small – maybe it was just me. There were a ton of people at the dinner, as some people didn’t come to the earlier activities. Good times indeed, Andrew ate Team Black’s cake, and Jane and Andrew blew out the candles to mark another year. Dinner was followed by some people heading back to Jane’s to watch Shrek 2 on DVD – such a funny movie!

Anyway, thanks Jane and Andrew for hosting an amazing event! We’ll definitely have to get everyone together to sort out the pictures (I have 188 alone, and I know there are like three other cameras with similar numbers). So yeah, happy birthday, and I look forward to seeing if anyone can top this event! Andrew has some thoughts on the day here, and you can check out my gallery of pictures here.

From Engadget:

We used a lot of ploys to try and get our parents to buy us stuff when we were younger (you don’t even want to know what we did to score an original Nintendo Entertainment System), but an 11-year-old in central China has raised the bar for gadget-hungry kids everywhere by suing his mother after she backed out of an agreement to buy him a computer if he got good enough grades. It actually got as far as a courtroom, but the judge hearing the case was able to work things out between them, though there’s no mention of whether or not the kid ever got his computer.

All I can say is “wow”. Full story is here.

NYTimes: Attorney General John Ashcroft and Commerce Secretary Donald L. Evans are resigning in the first of a string of departures expected before President Bush is inaugurated for a second term. The resignations were announced by the White House press secretary, Scott McClellan, who said President Bush had accepted the decisions of both secretaries, The Associated Press said this afternoon.

“The objective of securing the safety of Americans from crime and terror has been achieved,” John Ashcroft wrote in a five-page, handwritten letter to Bush.

Either Bush will continue to invade other countries without any major terrorist attacks and Ashcroft will be considered a genius, or another act of terrorism will occur in the next four years and Ashcroft will look like a complete idiot. I would bet on the latter. I also wonder who else plans to resign – surely not Donald or Dick!