Tony’s Journal

So in an article about Nintendo’s new handheld player from the NY Times today, there’s a funny little bit about Sony. They’ve long been known for being a huge electronics manufacturer that pours hundreds of millions into advertising and prromotion but for some reason refuses to play well with others. That is, they use proprietary media formats and pray that consumers will buy their products anyway. Sometimes it works (Memory Stick), usually not so much (MiniDisc, Betamax). It’s a shame because Sony makes fairly good products but drives consumers away with these bizarre propietary media.

By the end of March, Sony will introduce the PSP, a “PlayStation Portable” that will also play music and videos using a proprietary storage format called the Universal Media Disc.

So now their plan is to come up with yet another proprietary storage format and just call it “Universal Media Disc.” BRILLIANT!

It’s kind of like how the Soviets came up with the name for the former East Germany.  It was a communist institution run by the USSR and they named it the “German Democratic Republic” — even though it was not really German, democratic, or a republic at all.

Tags: General Thoughts by Tony
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Just tried the much-advertised Pepsi Holiday Spice. The web site claims that the flavor involves “a hint of cinnamon and ginger.” Steven and I took the Pepsi challenge. It looks like dark Cheerwine, has no aroma to speak of, and tastes like. . . Pepsi. Maybe a little more carbonation and there is a little spice-ish aftertaste.

It’s okay. It’s no Crystal Pepsi though.

What the hell is up with Pepsi anyway? Do they have any new ideas that are any good? Sure, Coke had that debacle with New Coke back in the day, but I’m talking recently. Pepsi Blue was horrible. It tasted like a liquid Blue Raspberry Blow Pop, which is okay if you’re into that sort of thing I guess. Pepsi Edge, Pepsi Vanilla, and Pepsi Twist are all knockoffs (of C2, Vanilla Coke, and whatever Coke calls its lemony Coke). I guess Pepsi One is a product that stands on its own, but wasn’t Diet Coke’s old ad campaign “Just One Calorie?”

This reminds me of a comment I made long ago. As lame as Pepsi is, it would be infinitely lamer if they used a Y instead of the I.  “Pepsy.” Ha!

Who’s gonna be around for turkey next week? I’m making the sweet potato casserole. And perhaps a Bundt cake, though there are some who think that a man with a Bundt pan is a nancy.

I’ll see if I can find a recipe that includes Pepsy.

Tags: General Thoughts by Tony
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As if there was any doubt as to who the best Van Halen singer was, we have additional confirmation that it is indeed David Lee Roth.

Just awesome.

Tags: General Thoughts by Tony
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I voted and did not die. I voted for Kerry, which comes as a surprise to many people. I have been inching moderate over time — I voted for Bush in 2000 and had a “Dole/Kemp ‘96″ sticker on my physics binder in high school. My vote didn’t help anyway; Kerry  lost by a wide margin in NC.

I also found it fitting that after all the whining from the 2000 election about the electoral college being unfair (wahhhhh! we lost! the rules are dumb!), the electoral college vote was much closer than the popular vote, and if Kerry had won Ohio, he could have won the election and probably still had over 3 million individual votes less than Bush. I guess it sounds like I really hate that side, which I don’t. I agree with most of the policies of the Democratic party now, except the choice of John Kerry as the candidate. And I hate the foreign policy of the current administration, such as it is. But the whining and Chicken Little-ing is annoying as hell.

Meanwhile, I’m looking forward to four more years of folks from the party of acceptance and tolerance whining about how all the inbred retard sister-boning religious-sheep hicks ruined the election.

Cliche statement, yes.

BUT THE IRONING IS DELICIOUS

Tags: General Thoughts by Tony
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I went to vote early this morning. Early for me, anyhow. Left my house on foot at 7:45 expecting to stand in line. Got back home at 8.

VOTE OR DIE

BAD BOY BABY

Tags: General Thoughts by Tony
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