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