The REAL Josh Anderson

I finally got CommunityServer up and running like I want it to on my server, so I am beginning the process of migrating all of my old posts to the new blog. I won't be updating this one any more, so please be sure to update your bookmarks (all 3 of you out there :)).

Blogger, out!

Looks like I will be using MSN Messenger exclusively now after reading this. I mean, seriously, anything you transmit is basically thiers. So, if my buddy and I are talking about this great idea that is going to make us millions, does that mean that they then own the rights to that idea?

I WAS going to subscribe to Trillian for another year (a whole other story about fine print in Terms of Service), but I guess that is off now.

KillClooney on AIM signing off...

Forever.

So, The O.C. was totally unwatchable (Brad was right). Because I am such a paranoid dork, I watched from the start because I was afraid I would miss the Episode III trailer. Ahh, the life of a true dork. Oh well. Like the thousands of other dorks out there, I am blogging about the trailer only minutes after it ended.

Bottom line: I am pumped. The darker Anakin gets, the better it looks. I love nothing better than a super-cool bad guy. And watching the transformation is gonna be unbelievable. I got excited in Episode II when he slaughtered all of the Sandpeople, so this is gonna be 2+ hours of PG-13 enjoyment for me.

The best part of the trailer? James changed his tune after he saw it. Only hours earlier he was telling me how this was gonna "suck like all of the rest.", but after the trailer, he tells me how he think ole' George is gonna redeem himself with this one. What a loser. At least know one can accuse me of flip-flopping like this, I am a true fan-boy!!! Why did I just type that with pride? Oh well, at least I know who/what I am...

Seriously, seeing Anakin slaughter all of the Jedi, is going to be a dream come true. Those are the scenes I have been waiting for since I was about five years old. Needless to say, I will be taking at least one day off for this final chapter.

More cool Star Wars news: George Lucas on "60 Minutes" this weekend.

It's official!!!
http://www.therealjoshanderson.com/blog is finally up an running. I finally fought with Blogger's FTP enough and I think I have finally slayed the beast once and for all. So update your links, all three of you...

Not a bad schedule for my boys...

I think it is pretty cool that thier first Big East game will be at hallowed Heinz Field, being a huge Steelers fan and all. Making the trip to Happy Valley to play the Penn State is nice too. We should get some major national coverage this year with the ESPN deal that the Big East has. Tie that with the fact that the 'Cats play six teams that were in bowls last year (Pittsburgh (Fiesta), West Virginia (Gator), Louisville (Liberty), Connecticut (Motor City), Syracuse (Champs Sports) and Miami (Independence)), and you have a respectable schedule for our first year in a BCS conference.

Maybe, for about 5 minutes tonight while I read this, I wish I was still playing. Then I walked back downstairs and listed to all of the odd noises my knees make. Guess I am nothing but a soon to be thirty, washed up ole' has-been anymore... :)

The Official Starwars Shop has quite possibly the coolest Ipod cover ever!!! Who doesn't want Darth Vader on thier Ipod?!?!? I know I do!!!

So, if anyone is feeling extra-nice, go ahead and pick one of these up for me ("thin size" please). Thanks in advance!!! :)

If you want to splurge, here are some more items:
Something for Leia
Super-cool jerseys for me
Some artwork (you have to be feeling REALLY nice for these babies!!!): Yoda, Darth, & Luke & Obi-wan

"You are the one... You will bring balance to the ocean..." a muffled voice said. It sounded as if the speaker was buried deep under the sea floor. Lenny scrambled back into a small crevice at the base of the reef and readied his claws. His swimmerettes twitched and fluttered in anticipation of an attack.

"You are the one... You will bring balance to the ocean... Trust in your powers..."

"You are the one... You will bring balance to the ocean... Trust in your powers..." Over and over, the voice repeated this chant, but Lenny sensed no movement in the immediate area.

"How can I bring balance to the ocean, let alone my own life. I can't even swim on my own." Lenny muttered to himself as he relaxed his posture. Ashamed of his swimming failure, Coralstrider began to contemplate the long climb back to the top of the reef.

By this time, Lenny had stopped paying attention to the voice from beneath the sea floor. He figured he had struck the sea floor harder than he initially thought and rattled his brain a little. Shrugging off the thought of mystery voice, he began to climb.

Lenny had only made it about ten feet before he was snatched off the face of the cliff. Thrashing his claws wildly with his eyes closed having no idea what was happening to him, Lenny hoped that this too could be explained away by a lump on his noggin.

"Relax kiddo, I'll get you back to the top in a bit more expeditious manner." his oldest cousin said as he gently grasped Lenny is his left claw. "Oh, and don't worry about your little swimming problem. You will figure it out." Lenny's cousin reassured him.

Lenny didn't respond. No matter what Larry said, Lenny knew he would wear this day as a badge of failure on his thorax for the coming weeks. Young Coralstrider relaxed and let Larry, his cousin, bring him back the school on top of the reef.

Tired from the fall, the panic the mysterious voice caused him, and the battle of the climb, Lenny's eyes drooped. As he began to doze, he thought he noticed that the bottom of the reef where he had just been seemed to be cloudier than it was when he had left. Did the voice surface, did it decide to leave, or was he just dreaming about the bump on his head?

In case you missed it, here was my first episode in Lenny's life: Episode MXIV - Attack of the Sperm Whale Heads

I finally got theREALJoshAnderson.com up and running today, but apparently Blogger.com's auto-publish via FTP has some serious flaws in it. I searched the web for a couple of hours (amazing that I actually got a couple of hours to dedicate to it!!!) and found that there are quite a few folks out there with my problem. Everyone seems to be blaming everyone and it, I think, boils down to PASV FTP, or some crap like that. So, taking that advice of James, I have been researching the use of what was formerly known as .Text and has now become Community Server 1.0.

Seems like a bit of a hassle to switch, but hey, I have only had this site up and running for a month or so, so I might was well do it now.

For those of you that only know me pretty well, this will explain alot...

The one line Kevin wrote in this article that really put a smile on my face was this one "Yes - I realize how very gay "back-end payday" sounds. That's why I was smiling when I wrote it." Perhaps this will give you some insight as to why I have proclaimed that Mallrats as the greatest movie of all time...

For heaven's sake, he loves Star Wars, comic books, and jokes like this. How can I not love his work?

Slashdot has an article discussing the pros/cons of 3 popular DVR alternatives:
Slashdot TiVo vs Microsoft vs HDTV Cable

This is certainly a subject that is near and dear to my heart and it sparks quite an internal debate within my, rather large and quite busy, cranium. I am a rather big TiVo fan (as my friends and co-workers know), but the $1,000 price tag on the HD-TiVo was a major deal-breaker for me. Along with my love for TiVo, I have the same feelings for DirecTV. In fact, possibly the single greatest piece of consumer electronics I may ever own in my lifetime is my Sony SAT-T60 DirecTV/TiVo combination box. It truly revolutionized my life. I watched my shows when I wanted to. For those of you that haven't experienced the liberation that a DVR brings, I highly recommend getting one. Can you tell that I enjoy TV yet?

I tried Microsoft's "solution" and found it rather clunky. It wasn't the same smooth and seamless experience that TiVo had created. After about 2 weeks of seriously giving it a shot, I dismissed this as a non-factor in the DVR race.

About 6 years ago, I swore off cable. It was too expensive, the signal sucked, and I hated cable boxes. Sadly, DirecTV keeps raising rates, but they don't seem to be adding any valuable programming? Sure they have this massive campaign talking about how they are adding something like 1,500 HD channels in the "future" (by the way, "future" never really defined in the ad), but those are all of the local channels in all of the halfway decent markets across the country. Big deal!!! Its not like they are adding all of these super-cool HD channels, they are just adding the four major stations in like 400 cities. Way to go DirecTV!!! I can get mine with a $35 antenna.

Anyways, I have come to a very important juncture in my TV life. I am seriously contemplating returning to cable (which I swore that I would never do). Living in good ole' Wadstucky, Time Warner is ridiculously cheap because they have to compete with the city's cable company. To give you an example, my RoadRunner service is less than $25 due to the competition with Wadsworth's cable company. So the cable TV rates are cheap hear AND they throw in a FREE HD DVR. It seems like I can't lose, but I swore off cable over 6 years ago.

Oh the traumas of a late 20's nerd...

It looks like I finally have a reason to watch Brad's favorite show.

TheForce.Net - Latest News - Episode III Trailer Announcement

Although, I must say, I am quite disappointed that they chose such a "fluffy" show for the premier of one of the most anticipated trailers in quite some time. This bodes poorly...

Some of my friends at work and I have been tracking the interesting effect of maintaining a blog that provides specific information and the resulting Google Adsense ads that are generated and their associated payouts. We found this interesting "business" on Slashdot, I believe. Some guy was apparently making thousands off of a blog that provided relevant information about asbestos and related illnesses. So, here is one of my feeble research attempt to see if this is a "feasonable" source of income. It seems fishy, but hey, if you are providing grouped, concise, and relevant information to the public AND they choose to click on the ads that Google feels best suit this web page, then so be it!!! So give this a peek and click on some ads while you are at it!!! Hopefully the PSAs won't be there any more as I am waiting for Google to index his site so that the proper ads show up.

Vioxx Recall Information

Apparently this blogger users some sort of free image hosting service or something. Boy is it ugly when you exceed your bandwith...

It makes me wish I had those red/blue 3d glasses as I think we migh be able to see something in that pattern. Or maybe, it is like those pictures in the mall. You know, the one that had a schooner in it in Mallrats (simply the greatest movie ever!!!)...

You won't find many articles on the web that make me happier...
http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/draft05/columns/story?columnist=pasquarelli_len&id=2000680

You won't see this kind of performance out of a Michigan player or any of the SEC teams, and especially not from a Bearcat!!!

"At the opposite end of the spectrum, Auburn star Ronnie Brown dazzled scouts with a workout that included unofficial 40-yard times of 4.32 and 4.40. Brown also caught the ball well and may have established himself as the top tailback prospect, ahead of former Auburn teammate Carnell "Cadillac" Williams and Cedric Benson of Texas."

How long before the rest of the nation wakes up and realizes how dirty of a program Tressel runs? Tressel had many of these same allegations brought against his team when he coached I-AA Youngstown State. Regardless of any of this, wherever he goes, he is loved, praised, and revered while Clarrett is vilified. I am not saying that ole' Maurice is innocent by any stretch of the imagination, but isn't the head coach ultimately responsible for the conduct of each and every one of his players? I guess it doesn't work that way in Shit-town (commonly known as Columbus)...

Looks like I finally reached the big time... Google Search: josh anderson

I know its not like being linked on dotAvery's blog, but it's pretty cool to be in the top 3 of search results for my name. Now if I could just get this jerk to let me have my domain, I would be in business.

Afterall, what kind of "IT pro" has a blog entry about how to create stored procedures with paramters. Loser.

Slashdot Microbes Alive After Being Frozen for 32,000 Years

This slashdot post is pretty exciting given my previous few posts about some of the discoveries on Mars. As noted earlier, scientists appear to have found a frozen chunk of water on Mars. So, do we really want to start unleashing previously "extinct" organisms? Aren't there some end of the earth type sci-fi movies that warn against that? Oh well, I guess this time had to come sometime. At least all of those "crazy" sci-fi authors might have been on to something...

Be sure to check my "Previous Posts" or "Archive" for other stories relating to this.

Slashdot Apple to Buy TiVo?

As one of the early adoptors of the great and wonderful TiVo (as evidented by the TiVo sticker in my car's window), I am not sure how I feel about this possible "merger". I love my IPod and I love TiVo (even though I didn't pony up the $1,000 needed for the HD TiVo to go with my DLP), but I don't want Apple to make TiVo all artsy-fartsy and ship in 12 different colors. I guess the only good news is that it would keep them in business, and that is all that really matters.

BoingBoing.net is an absolute goldmine today. This is the third blog entry I stole from thier website today.

Now I know that historically my "Gaydar" is pretty bad, but I think we have a no-brainer here... Here is quite an amazing post: Penis models wanted.

Am I the only one that finds this quite odd that a article about this showed up on a site like this? It seems so out of place. Oh well, at least Ricky and Andy will be happy to have a chance to meet some new "friends" in San Fran. in early March. Have fun boys!!!

Amazingly enought, someone got a hold of 80 screenshots from Episode III and was dumb enough to post them. Hello lawsuit?

Anyways, the link I have is to BoingBoing.net and they already have cached links posted. So once LucasArts forces them to take them down (and rightfully so), you spoiler people out there will still have a place to go.

http://www.boingboing.net/2005/02/22/star_wars_episode_3_.html

I for one will NOT be looking at these because I ruined Episode II by reading basically every spoiler I could find. Doing so destroyed my experience. Although, I am sure most of you would argue that it you experience was destroyed simply by the movie itself. But I am one of those ultimate fanboys that likes almost anything old George puts out. Hey, at least I am honest.

Looks like yet another recreation of a classic Star Wars vehicle is up for sale on Ebay. Who wouldn't love thier own Landspeeder?!?!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=790&item=3873979525&rd=1

I am not overly scared of hieghts, but there is no way I would get up on this helipad and play tennis. Even with that stated, I would never peer over the edge. Mr. Agassi & Mr. Federer get the "Big Sack" award for today...
World's Top Tennis Stars Practice at Burj Al Arab, Dubai

Quite similar to Brad's post about 1up.com's idiotic list of top 50 games of all time, I found this slightly more realistic list of top 100 gadgets of all time: Mobile PC - Features - The Top 100 Gadgets of All Time.

I can buy this list, but 1up.com should be removed from the internet for thier rankings. Yes, I said "removed from the internet." Seriously, E.T. made it on the list because it was "One of the most disastrous games ever". As my good buddy Jon would say, "ridiculous"...

Speaking of Jon, and of rambling on, you guys are always clamoring for the link to Big Boy. Here it is, whiners...

New Scientist Breaking News - 'Pack ice' suggests frozen sea on Mars
How long before we end up in a time like Total Recall? If the discoveries keep coming like this, it won't be long before countries start battling over the next wild frontier, Mars.

In case you missed it, here is a link back to my previous cool Mars news.

While wandering through Brad's favorite store (Wal-Mart SuperCenter) with my daughter this evening, I stumbled upon the super-cheap DVD rack and gave it a quick scan when this caught my eye. Amazon.com: DVD: Enemy Mine (1985) Here is the book that the movie was based on.

So is this the origin of our favorite XBox Live friend?

Or is this?

What is he trying to tell us with his name? Is he a lizard-faced Draconian after work hours or is he a lost-in-space humanoid?

Not much more to say, but wow...

A parent's primer to computer slang

Within this hilarious page, Microsoft has a link to another one of thier "informational" pages which is almost as good: 10 tips for dealing with game cyberbullies and griefers

This reminded us of some of our favorite taunts/comebacks/etc. from the post game summary report on Halo 2.

• I'm a soulja you caint get with dis B
• Dont pick it up if you dont know how to use it
• Detroit Playas in the house!
• Snipe that shit yo
• Eat Shotgun! (my personal favorite)
• Let me show you the meaning of life son, let me show you the meaning of life.
• Sorry dude, didnt mean to do that to you dude...
• G-G-G-G-UNIT!
• Drop that beat !!!

What did I miss?

Apparently some of the power cords on XBoxes are spontaneously combusting, or something like that. So make sure you all check this out, just to be safe...

XBox Replacement Cord

(from XBox.com)
Does my console require a replacement cord?
If it was manufactured before October 23, 2003, your console requires a replacement cord (except for consoles purchased in Continental Europe, where consoles manufactured prior to January 13, 2004 require a replacement cord). Consoles manufactured after October 23, 2003 (after January 13, 2004 for consoles purchased in Continental Europe) do not require replacement cords because design improvements to the cord and console already protect against the problems that are addressed by the replacement cords.

It certainly isn't for the over-priced and not exactly made fresh sandwiches...

Here is the only reason to go there (at least as far as I can tell): Slashdot | Panera Bread Is The Largest Provider Of Free WiFi

Gonna probably subscribe to this, as it looks way cool: MakeZine.com:. I know that my wife will just make fun of me and say, "You still haven't finished your arcade!!!", but I can dream...

Forget that I have my arcade, web sites, books, movies, child ver. 1.0, wife, house, work, coaching, etc. that I spend time trying to squeeze into one life. Why don't I pay $35 to have more cool projects packed into my brain!?!?! Great idea... but I am still gonna do it!!! :)

More fun DIY links:
HowToons.org

Way cool...

Yahoo! News - Exclusive: NASA Researchers Claim Evidence of Present Life on Mars

Can I go? Pretty please?

So, in reading this, I noticed a bit of funny wording. The NASA folks talk about how excited they are to have a lead on finding organisms that can live in such and "extreme environment". Isn't Mars normal for them, and wouldn't Earth be considered "extreme"? So is anything that is not 72 degrees with our exact atmospheric composition considered "extreme" now? I guess it is just another sad example of how we tend to think that the universe revolves around our meaningless exisence. I expected more from those guys at NASA...

More interesting reading:
Water Spread Across Much of Ancient Mars, Creating Conditions for Life

Well, The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy trailer was released on Amazon today. I guess it makese sense, since it is one of the most famous Sci-Fi books out there, but it just seems odd that they chose Amazon. It shows how powerful the all mighty dollar is since trailers are getting released on web retailer sites now. So I guess the next sports movie is going to release its trailer on DicksSportingGoods.com?

Alas, I am ashamed to say that I have never actually read any of the books in the series, but at least I am not a total loser and have never heard of it... Andy!!! Black Star!!!

Nintendo's Wavebird controllers are simply the best controller ever created. Finally, Microsoft appears to be catching on. Someday, when I can afford to buy the Xbox 2, I will return to the joyous days of high quality wireless gaming. Oh, the sheer ecstasy...

Yet another totally awesome blog I found by clicking the wonderous "Next Blog" button on Blogger: rude-rockers. I especially like the "About Me" section...

Still not sure this beats Brads other girlfriends blog though...

... but this is ridiculous!!!

Xbox.com :: TriXie: Special Reports: First Xbox Live Baby!

It is a period of turmoil for those leading the Crustacean Rebellion against the evil Morey Empire. A young lobster named Leonard Coralstrider returns home from the Crustacean Defense Academy to find his family's reef blockaded by the evil Lord Morey Dork Brad and his sinister Stormturtles.

Fearing the worst, young Coralstrider scurries to a neighboring outcropping of brain coral in an attempt to gain a better vantage point. Once a safe location is secured, Lenny frantically strains his antennae and eyes in a desperate search for any sign of his family. To his dismay, a quick scan reveals that the only sign of life visible from Lenny's location is an ever vigilant patrol of Stormturtles that completely surrounds his family's reef both below on the ocean floor and above in a halo formation above the reef.

After repeatedly searching every crevice and fissure within his home reef from his distant location, he decides that closer investigation is required to find his family. With his decision, Lenny begins to stealthily wave his swimmerettes in an attempt to not trigger Lord Brad's infamous electrosensors that can search out and locate virtually any electric current caused by any living being's movement.

Why this reef? Why the Coralstrider's reef that has served as a home for more than 15 generations? These thoughts continually race through Leonard's mind as he scans the reef.

Just as Leonard leaves his ledge to begin the descent to his family's reef for a closer inspection, a rogue sperm whale launches itself directly into the reef being guarded by the Stormturtles. The reef and seemingly anything within 100 feet is instantly pulverized by the massive skull of the beast. The blast from the collision launches Lenny back onto the brain coral from which he just left. Tossed claw over tail, young Coralstrider's thorax is smashed against the unforgiving brain coral rendering him unconscious.

Seriously, this is getting out of control...

http://video.google.com/

I know I just posted about how cool the mapping and photo management software is, but come on, this is crazy. How are they indexing recent TV programs and allowing you to search? And I thought IMDB was cool!!!

Since I am one of the few who still have faith that Flannel Man can pull off Episode 3 (flame away!), I figured I would give you doubters out there something to chew on. Not quite as funny as Thumb Wars, but not bad...

http://www.sequentialpictures.com/moviestarwarsepisode3

Pretty amazing that a company seems to continue to either write their own or buy up the best of breed for almost any application. Google's latest masterpiece is Google Maps. Finally, someone has created an intuitive interface on the web for maps.

But, the old saying is "If it is too good to be true, it probably is." So what is their weakness? Has anyone found one yet?

Oh, and by the way... If anyone is looking for the best photo management software, guess who has it. Oh, and it's free too. So James, Andy, and Brad, listen up. In a couple of years when you have kids and you have about a million digital pictures, this is the way to go. Automatically upload to your blog, submit pictures to the mainstream printing websites, organize easily (even your wife can do it!), you name it, it does it. Well, I guess I should give you the link: Picasa

Need I say anymore?

JoshAnderson.com

I will own this domain, by hell or high water.

I know it is old, but for you losers (you must be if you ended up on this page) out there who don't get their daily dost of Star Wars from theforce.net.

Star Wars: Episode III Episode III: How It Begins

Well, I am officially a dork now that I have a blog...