This Is the New That, Everything You Know Is Wrong, Things Are Completely Different Now Because We Say So, and Other Such Popycock

Today I went to a presentation put on by two very intelligent and well meaning industry professionals, arranged by similarly intelligent and well meaning coworkers, and was completely disappointed. It is hard to say exactly when things went wrong, but sometime before Y2K hit it seems like a particularity insidious strain of nonsense took root.

Things are constantly changing. I get that, but when exactly did it become news? As I was sitting through the presentation, on Search Engine Optimization, I got an odd feeling like I knew this material. On the bus back to main campus it dawned on me that it seemed really similar to a web strategy proposal I had written for my previous employer over two years ago. None of the ideas were new, and yet these "gurus" were spouting the same things off to a reasonably captivated audience like it was leading-edge information. I twittered about it, and later when I went through my old files I found that I was right. Several of the attendees tweeted about how "interesting" it was. I don't know if I was the only cynic, but on the surface at least I think everyone else was at least putting up a good front unless they really bought it.

Given the time frames, the ideas are at least three years stale. My proposal was from 2007, and I'd started working on it in late 2006. Very few of the ideas put forth were original, they had been gleaned from more groundbreaking work which had to have been at least a year in the making when I found it. Change is not profound, let it go.

I try to not encourage my own ego too much, but if I'm that far ahead of the curve then clearly I'm in the wrong group of peers. I've been working really hard to curtail my judgmental nature lately, but there are days when I feel like I am back sliding... like when I describe a person as "being like a puppy". You know, the puppy you think you want until he chews everything up, and you realize they don't come pre-house broken. I know that I make mistakes too, but cleaning up after other people constantly is bound to make one cynical at some point. Its kind of hard to be an IT Rockstar when you're also having to be an IT Janitor.

So if you find yourself in a meeting and wonder why people are so amazed at the most obvious thing, don't feel alone. I'm sure there are times when I find things to be totally and indescribably awesome when in fact they are really nothing special. I'll just try to keep smiling when other people are impressed and not ruin it for them.

Trip the stupid fantastic

I don't really get mad at Microsoft much anymore, because honestly it's not worth the trouble, but...

You take an Xbox 360, and a Windows machine with Windows Media Player 11, and you can share media from your computer to your Xbox. Music, movies, and so forth, and you're pretty good so long as the 360 can recognize the file format. And a kudos to Microsoft, because in one of the more recent Dashboard updates, they gave the Xbox the ability to play .mp4 files, which can be used for HD quality! Alright!

Oh but hey, Windows Media Player CAN'T! So since Windows Media Player is sharing your .mp4 files, it can't share what it can't recognize! Fantastic!

But ok! Supposedly Zune software can do it. So, I download! I install! I try!

FAIL!

Hell, Zune software can't share anything! Not even the .avi files I was sharing with WMP11. Oh yea, that worked great. So, back to Google. I search, and with luck, I find another answer. And I try it, and hey! it works! By a small tweak, Windows Media Player is able to share .mp4s to my Xbox. And how, you ask, is this possible?

FILE.mp4 => (rename!) => FILE.wmv

Bloody fantastic Microsoft. Great job.

Unedited

Dear Sci Fi Channel

Honestly, I don't really care anymore when anime gets edited or censored, so long as it's not excessive.  I can understand alot of stuff.  Really I can.  But your crap with Gurren Lagann is just ridiculous.  The cuts that have been done to the English dub showing on your channel are beyond the scope of stupid.  Now I could be saying this because the cuts hurt the flow of the episode, or because they have - on several occasions - removed important moments or dialogue.  But here's the bottom line:

You idiots are making cuts to fit in more commercial breaks.

No one can tell me otherwise.  I refuse to believe that there could be any other reason for the cuts to the dub.  The cuts certainly can't be done for violence or sexuality, because if you were actually concerned about that, you wouldn't be showing Gurren Lagann in the first place.  If you idiots are really so desperate to get extra time to advertise your own shows, why do you bother showing the opening?  Why not cut out the 2-3 minute recap that occurs at the beginning of nearly all the episodes?

I'm just glad the DVDs are already out.  Yay for unedited, subtitled-only DVDs.  In the end, I hope this isn't going to be the norm for your anime block, SciFi.  But then, judging from your promos for it, I'm getting the impression your idea of cutting-edge anime is stuff that was produced back in the 90s.  So I don't exactly have high hopes, but who knows.  All I know is that if you keep making unnecessary edits just to stick in another commercial for your crappy made-for-TV movies, then I'm not going to bother watching.