subtitles: February 2005 Archives

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February 28, 2005

Do Something

Long posts are tiring. And I'm always so lazy to tidy things up. I've still to mail the guy about the Sports Night/West Wing stuff. The idea of bitching about Broadvoice more today is making me squint.

On the upside, Tori's doing very well at the moment, certain unnamed reviewers are full of shit. The site is doing pretty well, I've tidied more things up, gotten rid of some awful tables etc. I think I'll give the ringtones a couple of months, but I doubt they're gonna do much. I'm still waiting for TheOCinsider Shop to get back to me. I'd be very happy to put Chrismukkah links on the site :).

I'll at some point do a bunch of pinned posts at the right hand side, basically things like my DVD links page etc.

I'm pretty happy to do my little TV things, it's just fun. That probably is the only category feed worth subscribing to exclusively at the moment I'm afraid.

Google seems to be taking its time indexing the site, they just did a once over of the main index, not the archives yet. But at least searching the domain returns at least that one page so far.

The various clicks are registering, which is nice - I'll have to wait till I appear on the search engines before my traffic goes anywhere worth mentioning. Hopefully the Broadvoice post will do something.

I think what I might do is move my Google search boxes where the ring tones are now on the individual pages, and the intersperse the adsense banners - the search clicks just don't pay as well.

The ads are now more intrusive on the Monthly and Category pages, only because there's that much more content on them. For individual posts, you only see ads if you scroll to check trackback or comments.

Just felt like mentioning that since Google's started indexing the site more properly, the adsense is showing slightly more relevant ads on the page. The double banner will probably take time to ramp up. Unfortunately, google also has a tendency to read the top index and serve ads for all the pages like it's the top page - annoying, so many many blog and RSS ads.

Posted by subtitles at 6:19 PM | TrackBack | Site Updates

Broadvoice Sucks - Sometimes | Broadvoice vs. Skype | Vonage?

This is my definitive post on Broadvoice, whose service I still use. I'll update this page as and when I have faults etc. In the interests of full disclosure, if you click on the provided Broadvoice links and sign up for service, I get a comission of your first month's bill. Go straight to the bottom of this post if you're looking for the horror stories.

Update 24/04/05: I've pretty much given up on Broadvoice, but I'm leaving this post as a cautionary tale to people to stay away from the company. I stayed with them for about 3 months and it was 3 months of intermittent service and static filled calls. I did eventually manage to get through to their help line, but their magic bullet answer is to change proxies. There are 5 that I've found, dca, mia, lax, chi, bos - none of which really helps me - all have problems at some time or other.

Their customer service is so lax that even though I've been topping search engines for "Broadvoice Sucks" for weeks now, they've never contacted me to help solve problems - or point out that some of the info I provide is very wrong - for instance the disconnection fee does not apply if you BYOD. I've moved to SkypeIN - which is fantastic and fantastically cheap. I might do more posts on VOIP, but Broadvoice is dead to me. Any referral fees will no longer come to me, as I will no longer be a customer in good standing. Die bastards Die.

411:

Broadvoice offers a tantalising solution - you get a phone number in the area code of your choice and it can be very cheap: $7.50 a month for unlimited incoming calls ($5.95 + $1.50 "Regulatory Fee"). Sign up price is $10.00 if you want use your own device ($40.00 if you want them to send you one) or X-Lite (the softphone).

Then comes the first problem they're not immediately open about - if you don't cancel within the first 30 days, you pay a "disconnection fee" of $50.00. So be sure to be sure if you want to keep the service.

This is my setup: I use Phoneconnector to connect a phone to my computer. I can then use that to talk using either Skype or X-lite (for Broadvoice). I use the latest version of everything, drivers, applications etc. I'm using XP SP2. My connection is through Starhub Cable in Singapore (6500 down/384 up), and I tend to talk for long periods of time to the US.

Broadvoice vs. Skype (Sound Quality):

I prefer Broadvoice to Skype.

The sound quality is definitely better, especially on your end if you're on Broadvoice and the other person is on a normal line. That's the majority of my experience, and I assume that that's how most people will use it.

The reason for this though, is that Broadvoice uses a much less "lossy" codec compared to Skype - it sounds better, but it takes up more bandwidth. I don't have a problem with this, and have an upload speed of 384 kbits/s - so I'm still able to run say eMule in the background uploading at 10 kbytes/s with no noticeable effects.

However, anything more than that and the voice quality suffers from excessive lags, regular crackling, and the sound cutting in and out - though mostly on the recieving end - you will still hear the other person fine.

So if you have a very slow broadband connection/super high latency, or you *need* to run your filesharing 24/7, Broadvoice is definitely not for you. I've found that Skype is much much better at working with limited bandwidth - but in the best case scenarios, Broadvoice is still better.

Broadvoice to Broadvoice I sometimes can't really distinguish from Skype, but like I said, I don't use it this way very often. I similarly have never really tried SkypeOut, so I can't say that much about its quality.

*caveat*: VOIP is really not about super-superb voice quality, even in the best circumstances, you're going to get the occasional echo etc. But having used plenty of traditional "budget" long distance services, the sound quality of Broadvoice is at least as good as those, only cheaper.

Broadvoice vs. Skype (Features):

Most important, with Broadvoice, I have a phone number people can call in to. And if the person you want to talk to most often has unlimited local calling in the US, you can just get a number in their area code and let them go crazy calling you for $7.50 a month.

With Broadvoice, there are unlimited plans, so if you know that's what you want it's definitely more worth it than say using SkypeOut.

Broadvoice vs. Vonage (Price):

I've since moved to using the $11.50 Broadvoice plan, since it was a chore to have people call me back all the time, and Phoneconnector has some issues I'll talk about maybe later. Vonage now has a cheaper plan at $15.00 (I'm not sure about other charges), but it's 500 free minutes out, unlimited in. They also offer X-Pro along with it. Personally I still find Broadvoice a better choice for me since I make my humungous amount calls all to the same place in-state.

Conclusion:

My final bit of advice is to try out the various services yourself. Skype and Broadvoice are pretty much free/cheap to try, depending on what hardware you have and how much you know how to do. That's the best way of finding out. Just be careful of Broadvoice's 30 day limit.

My Litany of Complaints About Broadvoice:

This isn't the full extent of my problems, I'll save those for when I feel the need to get my bile up.

March 02 2005: Cut off in the middle of a call, wasn't able to call back. Still managed to get incoming call, but then got cut off after 20 minutes. After that could call in or out. All in all lasted about an hour of inconsistencies after which everything was fine. Concievably they were further fixing a previous problem, that I couldn't call my Singapore land line. But had been fixed at least a couple of hours before. Will probably be seriously considering whether or not to cancel up till my 30 day limit. You'd think if you pay for something it'd just work and not give you problems.

I've decided it's just easier for me to post my e-mails to Broadvoice below. I've *NEVER EVER* recieved a reply from them either by e-mail or with a callback - though the problems do tend to eventually get fixed. I edit out all the personal information.

Further Links:

From my own research the links below are the most useful, and contain the most horror stories for those who want to hear the worst of what Broadvoice can offer. If you're willing to trawl, you can go through these reviews at dslreports.com. The most extensive and frequently updated report looks to be this one though: this seems to be the most exhaustive account of faults and problems a guy had before moving to Vonage. There are good reviews as well, but that's probably not what you came here looking for.

Latest e-mail to Broadvoice:

This is an update on the problem below that you’ve still not fixed and still not replied to me about.

The crackling sound still persisted, so I tried changing proxies from proxy.lax.broadvoice.com (which is what I’ve been using all along) to proxy.dca.broadvoice.com. dca doesn’t ping quite as fast, but changing it to that seemed to fix the problem – however, after talking for an extended period (about 30 minutes), the regular crackling on the other side came back. When I called back, the crackling still persisted. I’ll say this again – this was never a problem before 12pm Monday March 14th Singapore/Hong Kong time.

Throughout all this, with either proxy, I was still unable to call the singapore numbers, though the mobile number might be okay now – the land line definitely isn’t.

You have to realise that I send you e-mails because your 24 hour support line is never *never* available.

At the moment, my “Broadvoice Sucks” post is now no. 2 on Google, by the way: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=broadvoice+sucks&btnG=Google+Search

You can find the actual post, with these e-mails and the gaping hole of your lack of replies here: http://newblog.fallingbeam.org/blog/archives/2005/02/broadvoice_suck_1.html

Louis

www.fallingbeam.org

*The biggest problem though* is that when calling a US no. – – the person on the other end hears continual crackling sounds at regular intervals, at least as of 12pm Monday March 14th Singapore/Hong Kong time. Previously there had been no problems and I was able to call and receive calls from this number with no problems – this has occurred at the same time I noticed the above problems.

The only time I had previously had this crackling problem was when I had had limited upload bandwidth from running P2P programs. I’ve since stopped using those programs while calls take place and that solved the crackling (so there have been no problems with this crackling for weeks since I figured this out) – but now, despite having stopped the P2P during calls, there are still these artifacts as stated above.

The crackling occurs regardless of whether I initiate the call or I am called.

Drop me an e-mail or call when it’s fixed – it’s only polite.

I maintain a log of the deluge of problems that Broadvoice gives me: http://newblog.fallingbeam.org/blog/archives/2005/02/broadvoice_suck_1.html

The worst part of this is that this is the last day I’m able to subscribe to your service without incurring your usage penalty of $50 if I later cancel my line – you tell me what I should make of that.

Louis

www.fallingbeam.org

________________________________________
From: Louis
Sent: Monday, February 28, 2005 8:23 PM
To: 'support@broadvoice.com'
Subject: Can't call to this no.

Account no:
Order Number:
Broadvoice/Contact Tel. no.: call any time.
Using X-Lite softphone with Phoneconnector
Not using Router, connecting on gateway computer running XP SP2, ICS, Windows Firewall (exception for X-Lite)
Using Starhub Cable (Singapore), 6500/384

I’ve had a history of problems, as detailed below. I received no reply to my e-mail, even thought he problem below was fixed.

When it was fixed though, I found I could no longer dial this number: . Previously I had been able to do so without problems. That number can still call in to me with no problems. Other phones are able to call in. The error message in X-lite is “408 – Timed out”.

Am still able to call in to the country (singapore +65), for example the mobile no. . Everything else has been fine, I’ve been able to call US no.s and they’ve been able to call in. The problem no. belongs to my cable company (they also provide broadband to me) – it’s a digital phone service.

Drop me an e-mail or call when it’s fixed – it’s only polite.

Louis

www.fallingbeam.org

________________________________________
From: Louis
Sent: Wednesday, February 23, 2005 9:13 PM
To: 'support@broadvoice.com'
Subject: Unable to recieve incoming calls (but can still call out)

Resent to comply with support instructions.

Account no:
Order Number:
Tel. no.: (call the singapore no. because, well, I can’t receive incoming calls on my Broadvoice no. ATM), call any time.
Using X-Lite softphone with Phoneconnector
Not using Router, connecting on gateway computer running XP SP2, ICS, Windows Firewall (exception for X-Lite)
Using Starhub Cable (Singapore), 6500/384

I’m having problems receiving incoming calls. There had been no problems with the service previously, I signed up about a week ago and had been receiving incoming calls fine. But while I can’t currently receive incoming calls, I can still call out, without problem.

What happens when someone calls in (now, that is), they just hear silence for about 10-20 seconds then an engaged tone – or maybe a cannot connect message. On my end, I get a call through, but when I pick up, X-Lite says connected, but there’s just silence. If I let it ring, X-lite acts as if 2 calls are coming in, on line 3 and line 2 – by which time the caller has already gotten the engaged tone.

Please fix this. I’ve restarted X-Lite a number of times, and restarted my computer/internet connection – and I say again, I can still call out without problems.

Also, when are you going to allow support for more efficient codecs on your service? Things like ilbc? Or basically just codecs that are more bandwidth efficient.

I’ve also still not received a response from you regarding your site’s incompatibility with the Opera Browser. This is a copy of what I sent previously:

“When I sign in to my account, instead of being brought to my account page I’m sent to a page that says this:

You are using a mobile device.
Opera/7.60 (Windows NT 5.1; U; en)
Click Me

I tried this with numerous versions of Opera, including the latest 8 beta. I identify as Opera. Please fix this. For more details on browser sniffing/headers etc. please refer to http://my.opera.com/community/openweb/info/
In addition, the automated referral service (http://www.broadvoice.com/opportunities_referral.html) you provide does not work in Opera, ie the referrer’s no. is not filled in when you go to the sign-up page.”

Louis

www.fallingbeam.org

Posted by subtitles at 4:19 PM | Articles , Computer Stuff , Definitive Posts , Previously Pinned

They Purposely Named it 'Lap Dance' Didn't They? - My Full Meaning

Mia Kirshner really is rather lovely, and does certain things pretty well, but really, you have to wonder if she chooses the simpery pretentious roles or they choose her. It's probably not a surprise I'd probably like her best as she was in 24, but that's a bit wrong. But Sarah Bernhard's probably very right in complaining about how annoying she is - I think she was on Graham Norton at the time.

But I guess this season answers my question about lesbian camp then. Sarah Bernhard seems to just have been given a silly role. This is probably the first writing montage sequence that hasn't had be hurling. Wouldn't everyone want to be as pretty and vulnerable as Mia Kirshner?

Laurel Holloman still looks good acting pregnant. So this must be what Michael Holden wass doing while Battlestar was on hiatus. This is me having resolved to wait till the end of an episode before I post. I can't believe that they are doing a rotating table perspective shot - self-stabbing ensues. But it's not bad drama by any means. Oh well, at least Lap Dance is an apt enough title.

Damn, looks like I'm going to have to keep watching this season. Very sweet.

Posted by subtitles at 2:13 PM | TrackBack | Television

Same(ish) - Peering through the ambulance window

I'm now wondering if the Abby kidnap episode of ER isn't based on something, because the same(ish) storyline is occuring in Boomtown.

They must have wanted paramedic woman on 24 because they knew she could do the duress thing. She's *so* much less annoying on Boomtown though - she isn't the mugsiest one on the show right now, but now that mugsy's gone, she's definitely climbing the charts.

Posted by subtitles at 1:13 PM | TrackBack | Television

Parabolic has more than one meaning

One thing I'll say about Boomtown, at least it isn't shy about the scale to which it aspires. It's really not as awful as it was trailed. Again, it probably appeals to me because it's parabolic. I'm wondering at my ambivalence towards the plain-spoken people in the series, just as I wonder at my ambivalence towards the hushed individuals. But the reporter is stunningly pretty I think, and Neil whatever is more palatable in small doses. Jason Gedrick I rather appreciate - he really carries his careworn look with a very conscientious gravitas. The 24 girl does her best to be appealing.

I'd link to the DVD, but they don't include the season 2 episodes. Hence you will be pointed here. If you want more Jason Gedrick, you know where to go.

I think it's the evocation of landscape from the pilot that's stuck with me, and again the parables that Fearless seems to be so much a party to.

Posted by subtitles at 11:43 AM | TrackBack | Television

UK DVDs

I actually have all of these, though I bought the Cold Feet individually. So yes, Spooks Season 1 and Season 2, then Cold Feet the Complete Series - all 5 seasons. The Murder One here is the entire Series, seasons 1 and 2. At the moment, only Season 1 is available in the US.

Posted by subtitles at 10:37 AM | TrackBack | Television

Advertising Flurry

I'm now wondering whether I should just do away with the ring tone crap, but at the moment that would just be too much work. Adsense is actually working, there appear to be a least a trickle of clicks - god knows from where. I'm assuming that none of my behavious counts as clicks, since I've been trying my darndest not to click on my own ads.

But other than that, I've put up a subscription to the Economist, if only so I can have the cover on my page. It's the same price you'd get anywhere else for a subscription in the US - even on the Economist.com, where you could subscribe if you're in another country.

If you're a student or an academic, then things are different and you can try here. The academic price is $77 as opposed to the normal price of $129 via my link - and come to think of it, they don't seem particularly stringent about checking if you're a student or not, so whatever. For a while now I've just been loth to refer to myself as a student, so whatever.

The Amazon links are also sort of a bit of fun, to show Sports Night and Murder One. Unfortunately the Murder One cover isn't as nice as it should be, but it points to the full series set rather than the pokey season one set available on Amazon.com. I'll probably do a page for stuff like Spooks etc. Basically the stuff that I actually think is worth getting on DVD rather than leeching off http://www.the-realworld.de/.

The Comcast links were one of the few legitimate ISPs I could see - and 4 megabits is nothing to sneeze at, if I remember correctly their upstream wasn't bad either. SBC I'd be too ambivalent about to recommend anyway. Even if alot of the fault was probably my router, come to think of it.

Annoying thing is that I'd probably have to do 2 different pages, one for US stuff and one for UK stuff. But then I'm not sure I could recommend the MI-5 sets - I've not really checked them out. And anyway, shipping to the US from the UK is pretty okay, and things are that much cheaper without VAT, so...

In the interests of full disclosure, when I eventually do my search.ini tutorial, my customised search.ini will have my own affiliate searches on there - for amazon, google etc. That'd be what you help me out with for getting a customised dictionary.com wikipedia search.ini.

Posted by subtitles at 9:26 AM | TrackBack | Site Updates

February 27, 2005

Borg Queen, Mom, Weasel - Sabrina Lloyd's so Lovely

Susanna Thompson (Karen Sammler) from Once and Again is on (of all things) Medical Investigation!! She pulls off the whole politicking boss thing rather well - more borg queen than Eli's mom, but really rather worth watching, in a series that is only barely so. Particularly rewarding is the chemistry with Eva (Anna Belknap), doing the whole "we both understand PR" bit.

I'm not quite sure why Sabrina Lloyd was so fetching this episode, but I suspect it's the very flattering clothes and nice fitting jackets. Still looks great in a vest and gun. Note for continuity freaks, this was the 3rd in production terms even though it's airing 6th.

Posted by subtitles at 8:22 PM | TrackBack | Television

Amy Adams in a Fat Suit

I'm watching early Wetboy, because I saw Amy Adams guested - so yes, fat suit. This should be fun, and not a little wet. You realise that this will lead to me getting even more wetness. Doesn't look like the series has changed that much.

I'm just thinking that they must have a generic bathroom set, because she looks like she's in what's suddenly looking like the Can't Hardly Wait bathroom.

This is *so* some eating disorder parable - they must have taken this whole teenage issues thing seriously back then. She seems to do pretty well in the role though, they must have brought her in to plump up (whee) the acting talent on the show while finding their legs. But yes, very freak of the week. She must have really not been playing age appropriate though - which is probably all the better considering the subject matter. Very after-school special, and pretty heavy handed with the analogous-ness meant to evoke that naughty extremity.

I wonder if she got this from being on Buffy - they must have had some confidence to give her such a prominent role. I'm now also wondering why she was on Conan so early on, perhaps to promote Drop Dead Gorgeous - which I'll have to watch again to remember which one she was. She wouldn't have been promoting Psycho Beach Party would she? But yes that would explain linkage with Buffy though.

Oh yes, the Mummy called - it wants its mouth gaping effect back. I get the feeling it's really the better actresses that do the best in their psycho roles. The series really is so predicated on people/teenagers, being *really crazy*. Oh yes, and cue shattered glass reflecting shattered self, followed by flaming conflagration a-la Atlakvida.

Apparently the guy who directed her in this, also directed an episode of Dr. Vegas - if I'm not wrong one in which she's very prominent - interesting.

Posted by subtitles at 3:10 PM | TrackBack | Television

Her Boyfriend's a Dick, and He Brings a Gun to School

I just wanted the headline. There have been periods when that line has played over in my head repeatedly, for whatever reason. Reminds me of what I wrote about Elephant. There are a number of things you could search for on this site - pornography for instance, that would be a good one, and you might be amused by what you find. Of course the Tara Reid link is in the elephant post, also pornography related in the end, and not in the way that might be thought - obviously.

1 down 18 to go.

Posted by subtitles at 3:31 AM | TrackBack | Personal

February 26, 2005

Slashdot says so

Good god, it must be because it's early and I just woke up that I just did this:

Did no one see this? Opera actually has benchmark testing that arguably makes it the "fastest" browser. It's true. Slashdot says so: http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/02/11/2016227&from=rss
I'm not sure if you know this, but Avant Browser used to have another name: IE Opera - until the guy figured out what copyright was.

Also, since Microsoft has so recently found the religion that is inter'opera'bility, it'll only be a matter of time before we have a more agnostic interweb. I meant that's what IE7 will be about right? right? http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/02/11/hakon_on_ms_interroperability/

Some things really have that effect - to put the fanboy shrill in your voice. If us scrappy underdog browser users can sound that way, it's from years of frustration.

Does anyone really think that something as clumsy and cluttered as these IE slappers will ever be more responsive, more elegant that the real thing?

Don't even get me started on Firefox.

So yes, that's me, angry Opera guy. *sigh*

You'll find it here, from here. Does no one else feel my pain?

This reminds me of the beginning of the Firefly pilot, Walsh playing with the dinosaurs, "curse your sudden, but inevitable betrayal... Oh, No - God."

Posted by subtitles at 11:35 PM | TrackBack | Computer Stuff

Headline Challenge

Hey, if any of you can figure out the absolute obliquetry that are some of my headlines, I'll give you a prize. I'm just looking at my front page now and I've found a couple. Really I wonder whether the fuck I'm going to remember what all this crap refers to whenever it is I actually bother to look at it again. These aren't that difficult I wouldn't think, I'm sure there are others that are worse. So a few to start with - I suppose commenting with the post itself would make the most sense.

Bitchfight is probably too easy.
Christina Ricci, Elsie Snuffin, like throwing a stick just requires a little close reading, and at least some attention to my past writing.
*ahem* Project Gutenberg requires specific knowledge, but a bit of trawling might be required.

There really will be prizes. Meals at the least. Nice ones.

Posted by subtitles at 3:14 PM | TrackBack | Personal

Category Feeds

I found this little helper to create category based RSS feeds - so if you're just interested in a particular category, you can subscribe to the relevant feed.

You can find the list of categories as folders here, and just get the respective feed inside - index.rdf.

Pretty spanky if I should say so myself.

Feedburner Feeds: Television

Feedburner I find a bit annoying, but since it's there what the hell. The ads only really show up in IE, but then that serves people right. In other browsers it's just a neater page to browse - in feed readers it just shows the content. I'm wondering who would continually read in IE that they'd see the amazon links though.

Posted by subtitles at 10:41 AM | TrackBack | Computer Stuff , Definitive Posts , Previously Pinned , Site Updates

Hot White Cum

Liz Phair rocks. Really brings out the chick-rock in me. Which made me think of this post for the mention of Wei-chean.

The word rock always seems to remind me of the Pet Shop Boys lyric "cause I dance to disco and don't like rock". I'm sure I've mentioned it before, but Neil Tennant makes at least 2 mentions of a lover who ridicules because of not liking rock. Very much like Aaron Sorkin that way, or his writing staff, because I always suspect that it's the same guy (not Aaron) doing those episodes. That's probably one of my favorite post titles, probably because I didn't write it.

Opera's caching is so useful it's not even true - being able to reload form info from the cache is just unbelievable and totally inconcievable with any other browser.

Posted by subtitles at 7:52 AM | TrackBack | Personal

Fanboy Heaven

I saw this on Scoble's blog and couldn't resist.

I'm probably too big of a Klipfolio (www.serence.com) fanboy (T-shirt anyone?), but what's up with RSS readers looking so incredibly boring - this one included.
Speaking as an Opera fan(person), I can't even say that its RSS functionality is that much less boring - but at least with that you get a proper browser/mail client along with it (html blocking, super-fast database searches). How much you want to bet NewzToddler's "embedded browser" is UI slapping on IE? And I've yet to see anyone particularly excited by any use of the Windows XP notification balloons.

So if Klipfolio is too radical for you, and you insist on paying money, I'm sure Opera's news/rss etc. functionality is still that much better.

I'm such a troll.

Apparently Eric Rice hangs out there as well.

Posted by subtitles at 7:34 AM | TrackBack | Computer Stuff

The Blonde One Looked Like Buffy

I know at least some people thought I was overcompensating by doing what I did and tacking what I did, but I think it was more about just being less constrained in what I felt I could do and how I should surround myself. It was fun, like smoking, but the sellers really know their market of idiots.

Posted by subtitles at 6:24 AM | TrackBack | Personal

The Gates, get it?

Well, even if the Other Plaice thinks he's boring, at least he knows what's funny when he sees it. There's a boggler who got his photoshop on and decided to coin himself a headline: Bill Gates changing name to 'The Gates'. Scoble's post is here.

Posted by subtitles at 4:51 AM | TrackBack | News

Eager but could be better - pachinko

Under pressure. I suppose they do manage to make Elliot seem rather charmingly sexy. I need to stop using the word rather. It's just that if you start watching Scrubs from 3rd season, you're thinking to yourself if blonde doctor was just dumpy for 2 seasons before she became barbie. I'm pretty fond of Bambi though. Bite me. What was it again? Little pony trying to stand up for the first time style? Something like that.

And again, the series seems to does wonders for making music appeal to sentiment. That would be the hence of the Counting Crows thing. Sarah Lancaster was more appealing in that one episode that any of the Dr. Vegas. And Heather Locklear wasn't too bad, reasonably funny.

Posted by subtitles at 4:26 AM | TrackBack | Television

Groupies, Heather Locklear, Amy Adams

I'm sure I've mentioned before that an inordinate number of people who appear on the Bachelor/Bachelorette just *happen* to be in pharmaceutical sales, and also happen to be, I think the term is, smokin' hotties. Tina Fabulous for example.

This brought on, by the way, by Heather Locklear's appearance on Scrubs as a rep. Charming.

Smoochy smoochy - the groupies sleep with the roadies to get to Mick, as Hugh Laurie might opine.

Me and *sexy* titles.

Nurse Practitioner reminds me of Dr. Vegas, and the lovely Amy Adams. I'm even happy the rest of the episodes never aired, because the had already squeezed her out. Which by the way is the name of an interwebspite. It's nice to see her in an expanded role, even though I really like her in 20 Hours in America.

Scrubs makes me miss Counting Crows.

Posted by subtitles at 12:59 AM | TrackBack | Television

February 25, 2005

The Geeks, the Stoners, The Plastics - Scrub Me

Fries with that shake. New shower curtain. I think the Gilmore Girls thing was a reference to some teen movie - I've now discovered it's a reference to Mean Girls, because of the "Plastics" but it's also a staple of teen dramas, introducing the the various subcultures in the High School. I know it happens in Ten Things I Hate About You, but I'm sure there's a more illustrious predecessor

Posted by subtitles at 11:17 PM | TrackBack | Television

Michelle Branch is married!! And having a baby!!

Michelle Branch is married!! And having a baby!! With her bass player who's twice her age!! She apparently got married last May??!?

Ah well.

There'll be more news here eventually. Apparently it all emanates from People Magazine.

She'd been trying out her new duo/band thing, the Wreckers, recently - hence the appearance on One Tree Hill.

Posted by subtitles at 9:47 PM | TrackBack | News

Smack Smack Smack - Opera 8 beta 2

It had to be just as I moved over to Movable Type 3!!! Opera has enabled document.selection and document.getSelection, as you can see here. Which means there is nothing I can't do with Movable Type in Opera anymore!! Happy day :D. I can now post links through Opera with abandon.

Opera da man.

Also, Google has fixed its Google maps service to work with Opera, and this beta fixes the much ballyhooed IDN security issue. More details here.

I heart Opera. I want to hug it like it's furry.

"Victory is mine, Victory is mine! Great day in the morning, people, victory is mine... I drink from the keg of glory Donna, bring me the finest muffins and bagels in all the land."

On another lovely note, Mozilla seems to have stumbled, or at least caused some controversy, with it's own version fo the security fix - disabling the feature. But then it's the Register...

Posted by subtitles at 9:26 PM | TrackBack | Computer Stuff

Muahahaha, Me-sa Evil....

Kristin Kreuk really gets into camping it up. And it really says something that she's *so* much more likable as a psycho bitch witch from the past. But yes, she really seems to get into the whole evil thing, which probably indicates how bored she otherwise likely is.

*Ewww* *Wet*.

Posted by subtitles at 1:19 PM | TrackBack | Television

Yes, I know it's Parminder Nagra

Neela's doing the best voiceover I remember hearing, nicely modulated, persistent look of being lost throughout - very impressive. Ron from West Wing doing ER is good as well. But really, Neela is being spectacular in the episode. These are the real actors, the ones who don't look like they're doing much, or not doing anything special, but it can be breathtaking the deftness of it. As with so many things, the magic, they always seem to say, is to make it look easy.

Posted by subtitles at 12:04 PM | TrackBack | Television

ahem Project Gutenberg

One of the things about me is that things I find stupid I tend to just roll my eyes at and move on. Dismissal seems to be my super-hero power. In this case it cleverly keeps from allowing more people into a stuffy kneed cockmuncher's silly little reign. Why point people to things that are full of bastard covered bastards with a hard bastard centre? But then it's getting slashdotted as we speak, so this is me being Pyrrhic - which actually refers to something (I found out in checking it up before using it) - dictionary.com and wikipedia are doing wonders for me. Though Proxomitron has a large part to do with why I don't use another dictionary altogether. Add them to your search.ini. Ask me how.

Posted by subtitles at 9:08 AM | TrackBack | Personal

Finally Defrag, Gay Marissa

After moving my eMule temp files from the temp disk, it seems that they were what's stopping the drive from defragmenting - the bastards. Gay Marissa is probably the best thing about the OC this season.

I'm sorry, but how many rss related ads is google going to serve on my site? I encourage you to at least click on all the klipfolio ones. I personally endorse them - though if you click on them, they probably have to pay for it. The good part is the money comes to me. Me me me. Muahaha. Louis has gone ad-crazy apparently.

"I'm sure it's just a phase" - effective fade out on Kirsten. "It was for me". Alienating and severe. How could this episode actually be an okay one? Oh my god. Most fetching Marissa in loose shift ever in recent memory.

Lost in suspension.

But it would seem that the underclocking is doing good - I can only assume that I ran out of luck with the CPU, since the ram's supposed to be bending in the pollen.

For a film reference I must say that at least they can't be faulted for not building it up and working it. Though I think the roof was the better climax.

Merci Y'all is still cracking me up.

Posted by subtitles at 8:05 AM | TrackBack | Computer Stuff , Television

Blonde Doctor

For whatever reason, I find Joey that much better than Friends. And yes, Christina Ricci is in this episode, so yay. She's pretty good, very lovely with the big eyes, being lively, spritely and springy, acting cute. The eye narrowing is particularly good. And well, Alex is quite comely, and probably one of the better actresses doing comedy.

Posted by subtitles at 7:06 AM | TrackBack | Television

Bottom Up

I've been thinking for bit now that it's actually smart to put my adsense banner at the bottom of category pages etc. because, if they're reading through by date, then they would start at the bottom. Of course already my ardour for boggling 12 times a day has waned, but, well, that was to be expected. It was a lot of expectorant anyway. It's a pity that google isn't indexing my site faster, I'd much wish that the google search boxes be useful - but it'll happen eventually. At the moment it just shows nothing.

The political bent of the media focus on boggling is quite a bit binky, and it's starting to piss me off. The fact that blogads also seems to push that idea is a bit silly, I would think, like riding a wave.

Posted by subtitles at 4:50 AM | TrackBack | Site Updates

Christina Ricci, Elsie Snuffin, like throwing a stick

Christina Ricci really is rather fetching, and Triumph is always hilarious. I dug in and decided to delete whatever Desperate Housewives I had - I will no longer be an enabler. Jack and Bobby just isn't any fun without Missy, and the whole war crimes thing was just annoying. Elsie Snuffin appeared though, which was fun - just a completely unrewarding role. I've already said West Wing is fantastic, but it bears repeating - I get the feeling it's one of the few genuinely grown up shows on TV. I wonder if I'll ever get around to watching Unscripted.

Good thing about having my notebook next to my bed now is that I can ignore even more television. I'm now going to delete Cambridge Spies. Or not. This is why I'm drowning in discs.

I now remember why I started downloading it to begin with, because Anna-Louise Plowman is in it, who is endlessly fetching. It makes me actually want to consider downloading Stargate SG-1. I still think My Life in Film is pretty worthy, if only for that first episode with her in it. She's married to the guy who was in Perfect Strangers.

Posted by subtitles at 3:15 AM | TrackBack | Television

Pingomatic

I'm basically making up a post to try out Pingomatic, which supposedly pings a whole bunch of blog update services at the same time - and it can be automated through movable type. Traffic, baby, traffic :).

Posted by subtitles at 12:43 AM | TrackBack | Site Updates

It's spelt centre.

Is anyone else starting to get a bit annoyed by the advertising on the site? And it appears once you stop clicking on your own links (sorry google, I was just testing it out), they're not *quite* as effective. We'll see, it might just be a bit of a shock to the system. What is rather annoying is that comments are so low now on the page, I'm wondering if they're noticeable. Though I suppose people would be getting at them via the comments link if they see them on the main page. I'll just try an get used to it.

On a related note, I'm getting really rather embarassed by how inelegant some of the coding I do for the templates is - lots and lots of center tags.

Posted by subtitles at 12:29 AM | TrackBack | Site Updates

February 24, 2005

Bitchfight

Alex Graves really seems to do pretty good West Wing episodes. Rather innovative use of the characters features and space. And he makes Mary McCormack look hot. I think it's because of Toby that I want a beard. The party I thought was particularly good. I'm going to look forward to watching this season again. Toby is really really good, despite the gush on his face at the convention.

Posted by subtitles at 9:18 PM | TrackBack | Television

newbie.blogspot.com/atom.xml

Instructions on how to enable your RSS feed on blogger.com sites. Details on why RSS is good for you can be found here.

Posted by subtitles at 5:26 AM | TrackBack |

Format

Why do people still have to use 800x600. I'm feeling ever so slightly gumpy about the whole affair. At least I know now that that's one thing my Acer will be perfect for for a while yet - I should probably do most of my formatting there - it probably that much rarer for things to go wrong at higher than at lower resolutions. The ads are pretty much done - any complaints would be welcome.

As it is I'm much fonder of this kind of advertising, with a set rate of return per click through, that's not dependant on purchase. And at 8c a click, the returns aren't going to be too bad, espcially once they get around to indexing the pages. I'm really setting the target to break even in terms of hosting, to get back the $65 bucks. Doesn't seem unreasonable.

Unfortunately I'm never going to get to see most of the ads, since they're blocked most of the time, I suppose the search is the likeliest way in that sense, but even then the paid links get suppressed. I suppose I'm just going to have to leave it to the people using IE, haven't discovered proxomitron, an who use Firefox because the UI is snazzy. I'm probably the only one so rabid in blocking ads of the people I know though, really.

Hopefully Blogads comes through as well, and then I can tell the ringtones to bite me - though as I've noted, they do show up despite ad blocking. In many ways I'm not convinced Google does that good a job of indexing the site, the built in search seems more capable, and doesn't just scan the big amalgamated pages.

Posted by subtitles at 3:33 AM | TrackBack | Computer Stuff

McDonalds v. Burger King v. Pancake House

This is probably why I call this a food diary rather than a recommendation of places to eat. I tend to go to Macs when I'm awake all night and want to have a nicer breakfast than I normally do. And when I'm craving pancakes. Don't get me wrong, I'd be left-testicle-less if I could live opposite a Pancake House, but since it's nearby, macs will have to do. I've never really had a Pancake Day, though I'm rather intrigued by the connotation of Pancake Breakfasts. Eggs Michael is to die for by the way, and so is the Andouile Hash.

Basically I go to Macs when I'm really sick of Burger King - because let's face it, Burger King breakfast is a pale cousin riding a pale horse, out of which the sausage is made. First of all the food at BK is really unabashedly microwaved, second it's just not as good as the Mac stuff - though to be sure, BK breakfast is forever going to be Presidential Primary and Presidential Debate food. The hash brown at macs is really *so* much better. The sandwiches are better. The french toast sticks aren't as good as the pancakes. And Burger King burgers: to quote Jelly (Third Watch), "... to have microwaved bacon".

Oh, and Subway actually does breakfast as well - microwaved eggs. But sometimes it's that or noodles in the morning again - I haven't had toast in a while now.

Posted by subtitles at 1:37 AM | TrackBack | Food Diary

Definitive Posts

I've decided to have a few Definitive Posts, basically static content that I'm to lazy to make static. The top post, about:bog for instance, that would a definitive post about the bog, and this would be a definitive post about, well. I would update these rather than add new posts about them, though I might mention if one is substantially updated.

This is a nod perhaps to the fact that things can be hard to find around here, especially as I tend to write around things. So at least these will be more concrete, and it'll be good for the advertising to have a few tailored pages.

Posted by subtitles at 1:32 AM | TrackBack | Definitive Posts

February 23, 2005

Adsense!!

Oh me of little faith. I'm now serving google ads. I think, until their bot crawls my new pages, the ads will be a bit limited. At the moment they seem to be rather tasteful public service ads. I've taken off the more annoying ads now that these guys have stepped up.

I refuse to put things above the fold - that's not the kind of site this is. The search box will be more useful, again, once they've crawled. It's also useful now to demarcate where the pinned posts end.

I'm now going to put ads all over my old blog, arr.

Posted by subtitles at 10:52 PM | TrackBack | Site Updates

Zip

Now that I'm back in bed, let's just say I'm a little pleased by how tasteful the ringtone banners are, and how the other mobile content banners really aren't - I think I'm particularly happy about the naughty bits. I now have a minisite of my own featuring "adult" mobile content, happy day. I suppose these are particularly useful in that they aren't blocked by my proxomitron filters, or Firefox's CSS blocker. Though really these aren't going to pay for anything unless there's a epidemic of ringtone junkies coming here. I'm still waiting for adsense, but I get the feeling that's not going to pan out. Anyway this just helps me feel a bit more fun about things, so whatever. Lik-Sang's banner was just too annoying, so well, neh.

Posted by subtitles at 6:38 PM | TrackBack | Site Updates

Most Annoying Banner Ad Ever

It's an affiliate program with Lik-Sang, I think I heard about them when they used to be on the Sharereactor page. I'm really only doing this for fun, I don't expect anyone would actually click on it, much less buy anything. And for me it's not an issue since it's conveniently blocking in everything except IE - so boo-ya suckas. I'm still hoping to find something that pays for advertising, not for results :). Adsense is so not bothering, and neither is blogads. We'll have to see. If I don't hear anything back from anyone good, I'll start putting the lik sang ads on the individual pages.

I now also sell ring tones. *Sexy* ring tones :).

Posted by subtitles at 2:11 PM | TrackBack | Site Updates

House probably deserves a longer entry, but let this be a lesson to you

I mean, I'm not saying that it was a great episode, but compared to the puddles that have pooled around it, it wasn't bad. There's something to be said for a show that can consistenty pull off really good teasers, and Laurelei "not having any" really rather counts. This perhaps makes me mourn for first season OQ - again.

Paris really can do no wrong. And I'm personally quite happy to have Doyle on the show, he's actually been the catalyst for quite a bit of the fun on the show. The only downside is that there is far less Rory-Paris action than there used to be. Can't decide if Abby and Neela are better.

Posted by subtitles at 12:52 PM | TrackBack | Television

Instead of doing anything else

You think if I find a way to die from RSI, they'll name it after me?

Posted by subtitles at 12:44 PM | TrackBack | Personal

Tell me my LCD is worth buying

I'm planning on getting a new monitor, because, as a great philosopher once said "because we want to, because we want to" - or was it "do you have a girlfriend?".

I want it with DVI, not just because someday I might find dual monitor useful, but supposedly for higher resolutions it's just the thing. And I won't have to boot from the TV any more. I've figured that 15 is getting too small for my britches, so 17's the way to go. I'm eying this Viewsonic one, that coincidentally has a Tom's Hardware article on it. It also appears to be the cheapest 17 with DVI available at Sim Lim that's not CMV.

The only thing in the article that worries me is the luminecense issue, which is so annoying with my current monitor. Latency doesn't appear to bother me, it's just I need to be able to show black properly so games don't suck.

Flame me. Flame me please.

Posted by subtitles at 11:53 AM | TrackBack | Computer Stuff

In praise of MBA's?

It's time for another bunch of the Economist's bread and butter holy grail articles - digging deep into their world view, their ideological convictions if you will, much like they did with their issue on CSR (subscription required).

This time it's actually a rather fitting companion piece to the CSR stuff, with a rebuttal of the idea that MBAs are *killing America* - or some such. These are free to ether. There's their leader, then the longer article.

I've also decided to be whatever it is that I am, and use this to inaugurate my "News" category - that's not the most descriptive way of putting it, but it's as good as it gets, probably.

Posted by subtitles at 11:47 AM | TrackBack | News

You make an upside down V with your hands.

I don't actually want to write anything, and I'm pretty tired of trying to sound interesting. So yes, bogging fatigue is starting to set in. That, or this is the lull that happening because I've just finished watching the stuff that was already downloaded when I woke up at 3, and I'm waiting for the rest to happen.

House was good, I'm really still quite liking the whole thing with House and Cameron, it's sort of sweet. I'm wondering if anything will impress me like the first bunch of episodes did. I'll get back to you when I get around to watching it in production order. I'm just hoping that the sophmore crap-out doesn't afflict it like it did the OQ.

I've got a number of pending posts which I think I'll just quickly whip up while I'm waiting. Oh, and Broadvoice really does suck - I'm having problems with incoming calls - but I'll say more when I'm pissed off that they don't reply to support e-mails.

Posted by subtitles at 11:40 AM | TrackBack | Television

February 22, 2005

I'm so full of crap

This was my pitch to Blogads:

I write about a range of subjects, obviously some personal, but also on technology, media, books, television, film, hardware and software, internet technology, online shopping, VOIP; as well as whatever topics my readers request of me, including lifestyle, food suggestions, political and economic opinions. I write about things I know, and people trust my opinions because of it.

I am a technology evangelist, and my site reflects that. People who discover my site do so by links in forums, other weblogs, trackbacks - many discussing technology purchase decisions - and they come looking for information. My search strings regularly feature interest in television, software, and technology products of all kinds.

I provide information in the best way possible, in an environment that is sincere, un-self-conscious, personal, opinionated and anecdotal - in a form that is meandering instead of direct, engaging rather than alienating. People actually spend time here, figuring things out.

Posted by subtitles at 9:18 PM | TrackBack | Site Updates

Everything Sucks

I'm quite interested in the idea of people bogging for profit. Eric Rice tries to do it. Robert Scoble does it so well that he gets an article in the Economist. I wouldn't mind being an evangelist - talking about things, using them, being objective in a way that's at least open, in a tone that's not hackish. So I've decided to start writing about the things I use. I want to write about ICDSoft, but they don't seem to have an affiliate program. I'd write about Opera, but there are tonnes of fanboys out there - I'd save that for later, and I'd want it to be a fantastic article that is able to enjoy it's own pith. So I'm going to write about Broadvoice. I'll probably put it in a seperate post later, and be sure to include the phrase Broadvoice Sucks somewhere so that people who are searching for the downside will click through. I think the line will be, Broadvoice sucks - sometimes. Or Broadvoice sucks if you don't manage your bandwidth properly. And of course I'd compare it to Kazaa, and do a Broadvoice vs. Kazaa thing. Then maybe a Phoneconnector section: using Broadvoice with Phoneconnector. Coming soon.

Posted by subtitles at 5:46 PM | TrackBack | Site Updates

Gallows Pole

I think people should realise how strange it is that I'm displaying a grand total of 2 days worth of posts on my main index page, when not too long ago I had to set it to display 40 days. I'm trying to swing.

I'm also thinking to myself that I should go round sim lim some time, and have a look at monitors. I'm now tempted to establish a little workstation at my bedside, get a lower surface to mouse on, a keyboard I can put on my lap, or something along those lines. And perhaps eventually move my current monitor there, so I'm not stuck with 800x600. How devilish.

Posted by subtitles at 4:31 PM | TrackBack | Personal

News, Articles.

I'm also wondering if I should write about news more - have a news category, comment on articles etc. I'm sure I've done this in the past, but only in passing, and not surprisingly dealing mostly with the Economist. I mostly get my news from Reuters, scan Google News for headlines, sometimes go to the Post and the Times, occasionally Fox News. I'm just wondering how fruitful the endeavour would be. Of course Louis doen't necessarily subscribe to his own fiction that people actually read this/give a crap - all this, if nothing else, occupies me. If I'm doing it, and reading it, why not write about it. One of the big reasons why not is that daily news annoys me. But then that would be what I'm doing, parsing news I actually think merits it, much as the Economist is able to do by publishing weekly.

Working on 800x600 again, I realise how useful the drop down search in Opera is, since I can't have all my searches so readily available. Which reminds me I'd also like to do little tutorials, like how to do more with the search.ini - probably the most convincing reason I know that differentiates Opera from Firefox. I am quite happy to leave the RSS entry up though, since that's something that needs more exposure. I'd probably end up pinning a post that acts as an index of important tech articles - or some such. I suppose I could move the entry to Articles, but then I'd feel the need to polish it up a bit.

Just to say though, part of the appeal of writing about the news is also to keep a kind of record - I'm wondering whether silence really is that compelling a response to activity.

Posted by subtitles at 2:57 PM | TrackBack | Site Updates

Watching the Prize

Perhaps it has more resonance because it's probably that much better than the later seasons. They're also DVD rips, and widescreen. Oh my T'Pol's haircut was funny. Unfortunately the rips of the pilot don't seem to be quite proper, but whatever - I just want to watch it now, so. Oh, and I really much prefer the older theme song. The characters are really rather sweet.

Huh, I didn't realise the rips are off Channel 4, not DVD like I said.

Posted by subtitles at 1:40 PM | TrackBack | Television

Swap

A new category for file sharing updates perhaps? Links to sites, new alternatives as the old ones get bent over? Perhaps trying out newer apps like DC++ and the Gnutella 2 network?

Posted by subtitles at 1:11 PM | TrackBack | Site Updates

Bed-In

It just popped into my head, that probably most of Spooks isn't necessarily that good - that when it's not written by Howard Brenton, it's about the quality of middling Joss Whedon work - just doing things. That said, the Howard Brenton stuff is a particular kind of flawless.

Louis writing a TV guide of the current season? Problem is I tend to respond best when I'm watching them all in a row (as witnessed here). But of the new series I think really only House stands out.

Posted by subtitles at 1:08 PM | TrackBack | Television

Mac-Loving Fanboy Freaks

I just felt like using that title. Move along, nothing to see here.

Posted by subtitles at 12:05 PM | TrackBack | Computer Stuff

about:bog

Hi. You found me by smurfing the interweb, or you know me. Just below this post are a couple of "pinned" posts, that I want to keep at the top, either because they're important, or they're particularly useful. Previous pinned posts can be found under the category

subtitles

(Click here if you came looking to download subtitles)