For many, that means its time to start thinking about Christmas trees, and appropriate trimmings. Gizmodo is pointing today to a pretty cool Digital Picture Christmas Ornament, which is only $15.50 at Chinavasion.com.

It’s about time Christmas ornaments got a little more hi-tech.

Features as listed at the site:

- 8 MB Christmas Ball digital picture frame for the holiday. Other memory sizes are also available.

- Fashionable holiday ornament for Christmas Trees or the desktop.

- Includes and additional clock function

I’ll tell you what I’d really like to see, is an mp3 player ornament or at least an iHome-style one. Wouldn’t it be great to be able to have the beautiful rendition of Jingle Bell Rock as performed by Hall & Oates coming right out of your tree? Or Max Headroom’s Merry Christmas, Santa Claus?

A video version would be even better.

Unfortunately I am of the latter ilk. For one, I am the kind of guy who likes my Terminators to carry strong tones of Austrian/governor accent. Terminators who speak in monotone voices who have very clear missions that can only begin once their first objective is achieved: obtain clothes, boots, and a motorcycle. I come from the school of “The Electronic Murderer” (even though I’m not Polish). Picture courtesy of Answers.com.

I am not so much interested in this. “Oh, but it’s got Christian Bale,” you might respond. Watch Harsh Times and then give me that argument. Was Eddie furlong not available? I can’t imagine that the Night of the Demons remake was a higher priority for him. What happened to Nick Stahl? I wasn’t thrilled to have a new John Connor forced upon me then either, but he did an adequate job.

I’m not saying that Bale can’t cut the mustard. Bale’s not the issue. The issue is that they have gotten away from what made The Terminator a classic, and that was…well, Arnold (not to mention Michael Biehn), James Cameron, and the decade of the 80s. I’m not one to totally live in the past. I realize times have changed, but films like Planet Terror prove that the dark, gritty look of the original are still possible to achieve.

Terminator: Salvation is looking more like a Transformers or Matrix knock off (if not a stylized Robot Jox remake) to me based on some of the robot designs. But I guess that’s what you get when you give the co-creator of Fastlane the reigns of one of the most beloved science fiction/action franchises of all time. I’m a little skeptical to say the least.

But to be fair, I can’t judge it too harshly without having seen it. My expectations are set pretty low, so perhaps I’ll be overwhelmingly surprised. Some of my best movie-viewing experiences have come from low expectations.

See some recently leaked video footage at io9.com. I rest my case.

The art of hacking in a technological world is generally a negative thing. To hack into something, usually means a breach in security and some form of data altered. However, hacking, and being particularly skilled at it, can pay off – if the skills are used appropriately.

Shane Kelly, age 16, became the world’s youngest person to pass the Certified Ethical Hacker course. Because of his dedication and precision, there are some big people very interested in utilizing his mad skills.

Hacks can be used for good! Programming something to “hack” into a problem you’re encountering, like with say your website development or network. Hacking can be viewed as a positive thing, and quite frankly, the biggest networks and programs are developed by hackers. You have to know how to get into it to be able to prevent access to it, right?

Now, by no means am I saying that it is okay to hack into someone else’s property, or copyrighted works like programs and applications, but hacking should not always be viewed as illegal. Take those skills and go work for someone who can really benefit from them. Internet companies, software companies, police departments. Fight crime! Slip into your bat-suit and get involved in the criminal investigation sector of a police department. After all, they are likely to more fully utilize your hacking super-powers (and you’d get paid for it).

I could use the excuse that I don’t have iTunes, but really, is that a good enough excuse? No. No it is not. For those of you who have been like me, living in a cave- I give you ‘A brand new day, last song act 2′. It should be coming out on DVD, but in the meantime you can catch pieces of it on Youtube (thanks Cavtroop for showing me the error of my ways and pointing me in the right direction. One day, year, decade; I hope to be on good side of the Whedonverse again).

For those who have that iTunes thingy… (that I’m downloading right now, although if you read the following… I MISSED IT!!!) As Joss is my witness, shall never be in the dark again! Gee, what happened this past month that could have possibly distracted me other than the car accidents, whiplash, finding a new car, etc…

A LETTER FROM JOSS WHEDON

Dear Friends,

At last the time has come to reveal to you our Master Plan. BEWARE! Those with weak hearts should log off lest they be terrified by the twisted genius of our schemes! Also pregnant women and the elderly should consider reading only certain sentences. Do not mix with other blogs. Do not operate heavy machinery while reading this blog. You must be this tall to read. ‘Kay?

It is time for us to change the face of Show Business as we know it. You know the old adage, “It’s Show Business – not Show Friends”? Well now it’s Show Friends. We did that. To Show Business. To show Show Business we mean business. (Also, there are now other businesses like it.)

ONE WEEK ONLY! AN INTERNET MINISERIES EVENT!

“Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog” will be streamed, LIVE (that part’s not true), FREE (sadly, that part is) right on Drhorrible.com, in mid-July. Specifically:

ACT ONE (Wheee!) will go up Tuesday July 15th.

ACT TWO (OMG!) will go up Thursday July 17th.

ACT THREE (Denouement!) will go up Saturday July 19th.

All acts will stay up until midnight Sunday July 20th. Then they will vanish into the night, like a phantom (but not THE Phantom – that’s still playing. Like, everywhere.)

And now to answers a few Frequently (soon to be) Asked Questions:

1) Why, Joss? Why? Why now, why free, why us?

Once upon a time, all the writers in the forest got very mad with the Forest Kings and declared a work-stoppage. The forest creatures were all sad; the mushrooms did not dance, the elderberries gave no juice for the festival wines, and the Teamsters were kinda pissed. (They were very polite about it, though.) During this work-stoppage, many writers tried to form partnerships for outside funding to create new work that circumvented the Forest King system.

Frustrated with the lack of movement on that front, I finally decided to do something very ambitious, very exciting, very mid-life-crisisy. Aided only by everyone I had worked with, was related to or had ever met, I single-handedly created this unique little epic. A supervillain musical, of which, as we all know, there are far too few.

The idea was to make it on the fly, on the cheap – but to make it. To turn out a really thrilling, professionalish piece of entertainment specifically for the internet. To show how much could be done with very little. To show the world there is another way. To give the public (and in particular you guys) something for all your support and patience. And to make a lot of silly jokes. Actually, that sentence probably should have come first.

2) What happens when it goes away? Does it go to a happy farm for always like Fluffy did when mommy was crying and the neighbor kept washing his fender?

No, Dr horrible will live on. We intend to make it available for download soon after it’s published. This would be for a nominal fee, which we’re hoping people will embrace instead of getting all piratey. We have big dreams, people, and one of them is paying our crew.

And somewhat later, we will put the complete short epic out on DVD – with the finest and bravest extras in all the land. We’ll go into greater detail about that at Comiccon, but we’re changing the face of Show Friendliness a second time with that crazy DVD.

3) Joss, you are so kind, and generous, and your forehead is like, huge, like SCARY, like I think I can see Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint hanging off it… what can WE do to help this musical extravanganza?

What you always do, peeps! What you’re already doing. Spread the word. Rock some banners, widgets, diggs… let people know who wouldn’t ordinarily know. It wouldn’t hurt if this really was an event. Good for the business, good for the community – communitIES: Hollywood, internet, artists around the world, comic-book fans, musical fans (and even the rather vocal community of people who hate both but will still dig on this). Proving we can turn Dr Horrible into a viable economic proposition as well as an awesome goof will only inspire more people to lay themselves out in the same way. It’s time for the dissemination of the artistic process. Create more for less. You are the ones that can make that happen.

Wow. I had no idea how important you guys were. I’m a little afraid of you.

4) Joss, do you ever answer a question simply or coherently?

Shledzguohn?

There’ll be more questions, and more long, long answers, but for now I’m just excited that we’re actually making this happen. We (and a lot of other people — gushing to commence soon) worked very hard on the show and we hope/think you guys will be pleased.

Until July 15th , I remain, yours truly, -j, of the firm j, j, m & z.

Technorati Tags: wow, survive, over 30, gaming, pc, video games

10,500,000 firecrackers - at the time this was filmed, a world record.  Also a second record for most firecrackers blowed up in 5 seconds (a mere 800,000 of ‘em).

snap-snap-snap-snap-snap-BOOM!

Technorati Tags: boom, firecrackers, millions, world record, lotta gunpowder, BOOM

As I’m leaning towards the PS3, in the corner of my eye, I’ve noticed the Wii. A gaming platform I was initially against. It sounded like a poser system. “What serious gaming can you do on a Wii? Please tell me.” It seemed like there’d be a limitation of what you can do and it always seemed like a spendy novelty toy. My friends who boast how wonderful it is try to tell me “Well they have regular controllers you can use…” Yeah- but if there’s a shortness of games I’d find worthwhile, why should I bother getting a console that focuses on stupid games so I can throw in a few RPG’s or strategy games that would cause me to wonder why I purchased the Wii.

I poo-poo’ed it long enough and admittingly I’m starting now to take a second look because it is starting to look interesting, especially with the Wii Fit. I can’t really make it to a gym, I’m not completely motivated to work out at home- but put in some cool gadgets, an interactive gaming feel and I can go for it.

I’m surrounded by an Atari (anniversary edition- no cartridges ), a PSX, a PS2 and an Xbox… I need an upgrade and I need to focus on ONE (and no- no pc gaming for an option since I noticed my embarrassing graphics card residing in my tower- that I’m not willing to change out just yet).

As I’m sitting and thinking about the choices… along with confessional booth’s, please let me know your opinions (good/bad) on personal experiences with the Wii. My son, who has limited movement, would he be able to play the games at all without having to plug in a mundane controller? Of the three main ones out there- which is the best for the money and gaming experience? Help me take the first step in the latest console generation!

Technorati Tags: wii, nintendo, consoles, gaming

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Pluto, demoted from planet status in 2006, got a consolation prize on Wednesday — it and other dwarf planets like it will be called plutoids.

The International Astronomical Union said in a statement that its executive committee meeting in Oslo, Norway, decided on the term.

Plutoids will be defined as celestial bodies in orbit around the Sun farther away than Neptune. They must have near-spherical shape, and must not have swept up other, smaller objects in their orbits, said the organization, which names newly discovered planets and other celestial bodies.

The two known and named plutoids are Pluto and Eris, but astronomers expect to find more.

Another dwarf planet, Ceres, does not merit the plutoid designation because it is in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.

(Reporting by Maggie Fox)

Technorati Tags: Pluto, plutoids, Mickey Mouse

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A million pieces of stainless steel toy parts assembled into a nearly seven-story model skyscraper glimmered under the hot sun in New York on Tuesday, in American artist Chris Burden’s latest project.

The 16,000-pound (7,250-kg) “poetic interpretation” of the 30 Rock Building at Rockefeller Center was made of replicated Erector set pieces from the toy created by A.C. Gilbert in 1912, Burden said.

“He was inspired by the buildings to build this toy system and I used this toy system to build a building,” Burden said.

“It’s a poetic interpretation of 30 Rock, it’s not a model of it. It references all the tall buildings in Manhattan,” Burden said, standing near his 65-foot (20-metre) tower.

The project, assembled by 20 to 30 people using screwdrivers, began in late 2006 and was put together in Los Angeles County and trucked across the country in two parts.

“It’s very reflective, sort of like a faceted jewel, really picks up the light,” Burden said.

The exhibit, titled “What my dad gave me,” will be on display through July 19 at Rockefeller Center.

Burden, who lives in Los Angeles, was born in Boston in 1946. He received attention as a performance artist in 1971 when he was shot in the arm for the sake of art in a performance called “Shoot.”

(Reporting by Marcy Nicholson; Editing by Daniel Trotta and Cynthia Osterman)

Technorati Tags: 30 Rock, Toy Skyscraper, NYC

There were a few issues I have ran across:

1. Adjusting the size still didn’t make the boxes legible
2. Clicking on “Full Screen” only took me to a site with the google ads. The game didn’t show up.

Regardless, it’s still uber fun to randomly click on the boxes, call your friends, wait for the vm prompt and the annoy them by showing them who’s the dark lord.

Enjoy!

I have to admit that when I saw this on E! Entertainment I thought it was a little weird, yet at the same time I was both curious and impressed.In this day and age where almost every minute and mile counts, why not take a virtual date before you go on the real thing? It’s a good way to test out the conversation, see if they virtually tip and you don’t have to waste precious make up for someone who can’t hold their own on the topics  you love. Personally I think I’m still far away from wanting to meet a new love interest but with a piqued interest I do want to sign up for an honest first hand impression to report back to those who are ready to test the waters of online dating. I wrote to the people at Omnidate to get a little more information on this new to me dating platform:

Get your own face bank

Sean Penn directs this feature based on best-selling author Jon Krakauer’s true story of a young man who gives up everything to lead a solitary life in the wild. Christopher McCandless (Emile Hirsch), a middle-class college graduate, abandons his safe existence to trek across the harsh yet beautiful terrain of Alaska. William Hurt and Marcia Gay Harden co-star, along with Catherine Keener, Vince Vaughn and Hal Holbrook (in an Oscar-nominated role).

Upon viewing it I had my soul tugged at again. Memories flooded my mind in such a way that I didn’t have time to grab onto any thing solid. I gladly allowed myself to get caught up in the rapids of my mind that was sparked through familiarity in a film.

Christopher’s life was a facade that he wished to break from. Anything that reminded him of the false reality his family created he wanted nothing to do with including his own identity. Money was tainted, names were lies, and every part of him wanted to break from the stench and become his own person on his own terms in his own way.

We all need our personal journey to discover who we are away from the people who raised us. To forgive life for painting lies onto our canvas until we’re ready to see the flaws underneath is definitely an sobering experience. Once we can accept those flaws and see their purpose, we can then realize and understand our own selves and begin to perfect and strengthen who we are..

I was raised in Alaska and my father took us to the states near the end of my brother and my school careers. I felt ripped away from a land that was my home. A place I watched grow. A place laced with so much beauty, innocence and what felt like magic. I knew the feelings of brotherhood and belonging were going to be left behind once we got into that car and hit the Alcan Highway that led to the Lower 48.

A call back to Alaska rang into my dreams each night I was away. The majestic mountains and land that sometimes you’d happen across and feel you were the first human to lay eyes on it and explore.

My brother and I would create these fantastic adventures to escape our own home life. We’d leave at the crack of dawn and return just shy of bedtime. We’d return with memories of building rafts, cutting paths in the wild, building forts, braving windstorms, blizzards, white outs, wild animals, and the dangers of seemingly gentle terrain.

It was a culture shock to find out that while I was learning survival skills in elementary school, being taken miles into the mountains by foot in the middle of winter with my class for a week- kids down in the states were busy bouncing balls and learning their state history through text books.

School was closed up there once it hit -30, even though we’d push our way through waist deep snow for weeks before, and my first winter in the NW… school was closed for a week because an inch of snow fell.

When I turned 20 the call of the wild was so strong and the opportunity arose, so I left everything behind and went back for a whole new series of adventures, equally fascinating and inspiring.

This of course isn’t about *my* life. The film was a decent story of a man who enters into adulthood in a modern world while trying to break away from any thing that would cause him dependency on the society around him. He had to learn his strengths and limitations on his own terms, in his own way. By doing this he could have his epiphany and return to a waiting world with more insight, understanding and wisdom than he ever could have obtained should he had stayed put and ignored the betrayal and disgust he felt towards his parents. This story is also about his sister’s understanding of why he left, her bond with him and her own growth by imagining his journey because his communication is non-existent.

Although this isn’t a feel good movie of the year, it does prompt you to look around and re-evaluate your own issues, puts them in perspective and then nudges you to step out of your own comfort zone a little and approach the world in a slightly different way.

===========================================================
Ubuntu Security Notice USN-612-1               May 13, 2008
openssl vulnerability
CVE-2008-0166
===========================================================

A weakness has been discovered in the random number generator used
by OpenSSL on Debian and Ubuntu systems.  As a result of this
weakness, certain encryption keys are much more common than they
should be, such that an attacker could guess the key through a
brute-force attack given minimal knowledge of the system.  This
particularly affects the use of encryption keys in OpenSSH, OpenVPN
and SSL certificates.

This vulnerability only affects operating systems which (like
Ubuntu) are based on Debian.  However, other systems can be
indirectly affected if weak keys are imported into them.

We consider this an extremely serious vulnerability, and urge all
users to act immediately to secure their systems. (CVE-2008-0166)

This advisory also applies to the corresponding versions of
Kubuntu, Edubuntu, and Xubuntu.

== Who is affected ==

Systems which are running any of the following releases:

 * Ubuntu 7.04 (Feisty)
 * Ubuntu 7.10 (Gutsy)
 * Ubuntu 8.04 LTS (Hardy)
 * Ubuntu "Intrepid Ibex" (development): libssl <= 0.9.8g-8
 * Debian 4.0 (etch) (see corresponding Debian security advisory)

and have openssh-server installed or have been used to create an
OpenSSH key or X.509 (SSL) certificate.

All OpenSSH and X.509 keys generated on such systems must be
considered untrustworthy, regardless of the system on which they
are used, even after the update has been applied.

This includes the automatically generated host keys used by OpenSSH,
which are the basis for its server spoofing and man-in-the-middle
protection.

The problem can be corrected by upgrading your system to the
following package versions:

Ubuntu 7.04:
  libssl0.9.8                     0.9.8c-4ubuntu0.3

Ubuntu 7.10:
  libssl0.9.8                     0.9.8e-5ubuntu3.2

Ubuntu 8.04 LTS:
  libssl0.9.8                     0.9.8g-4ubuntu3.1

Updated packages for Ubuntu 7.04:

  Source archives:

    http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/pool/main/o/openssl/openssl_0.9.8c-4ubuntu0.3.diff.gz
      Size/MD5:    55960 f1528622672403589e0d3aac4091e3b7
    http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/pool/main/o/openssl/openssl_0.9.8c-4ubuntu0.3.dsc
      Size/MD5:      899 24ce07dd1372b34976caa4e703b48254
    http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/pool/main/o/openssl/openssl_0.9.8c.orig.tar.gz
      Size/MD5:  3313857 78454bec556bcb4c45129428a766c886

  amd64 architecture (Athlon64, Opteron, EM64T Xeon):

    http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/pool/main/o/openssl/libcrypto0.9.8-udeb_0.9.8c-4ubuntu0.3_amd64.udeb
      Size/MD5:   604324 c67285c8c9831d7d688930bf3403070e
    http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/pool/main/o/openssl/libssl-dev_0.9.8c-4ubuntu0.3_amd64.deb
      Size/MD5:  2186920 ebfec7f633c445ae170b06acb039175c
    http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/pool/main/o/openssl/libssl0.9.8-dbg_0.9.8c-4ubuntu0.3_amd64.deb
      Size/MD5:  1645270 3c37713de4ad97e6eb675f9f8a9b3ddd
    http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/pool/main/o/openssl/libssl0.9.8_0.9.8c-4ubuntu0.3_amd64.deb
      Size/MD5:   918170 c282b7478265a81019e771a382ec99cd
    http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/pool/main/o/openssl/openssl_0.9.8c-4ubuntu0.3_amd64.deb
      Size/MD5:  1006504 a199460e3209b03f454afa205abbd979

  i386 architecture (x86 compatible Intel/AMD):

    http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/pool/main/o/openssl/libcrypto0.9.8-udeb_0.9.8c-4ubuntu0.3_i386.udeb
      Size/MD5:   569520 9441a49f438e5c0c77c70f9c50b3acee
    http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/pool/main/o/openssl/libssl-dev_0.9.8c-4ubuntu0.3_i386.deb
      Size/MD5:  2068628 152dc5bd9d6edb669be2a4d88fdc9126
    http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/pool/main/o/openssl/libssl0.9.8-dbg_0.9.8c-4ubuntu0.3_i386.deb
      Size/MD5:  5499922 4e07a86c1f4930411fffc25cb330f683
    http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/pool/main/o/openssl/libssl0.9.8_0.9.8c-4ubuntu0.3_i386.deb
      Size/MD5:  2809850 dd17842504c08b5a09e7ec15dee20f8b
    http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/pool/main/o/openssl/openssl_0.9.8c-4ubuntu0.3_i386.deb
      Size/MD5:  1001316 f823d1e7c4ea63e976fd129a2bfe5fed

  powerpc architecture (Apple Macintosh G3/G4/G5):

    http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/pool/main/o/openssl/libcrypto0.9.8-udeb_0.9.8c-4ubuntu0.3_powerpc.udeb
      Size/MD5:   617086 d8158b21c17afbd21460dfee4a001194
    http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/pool/main/o/openssl/libssl-dev_0.9.8c-4ubuntu0.3_powerpc.deb
      Size/MD5:  2217842 90507ac4c5dce8110853c8e71c366004
    http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/pool/main/o/openssl/libssl0.9.8-dbg_0.9.8c-4ubuntu0.3_powerpc.deb
      Size/MD5:  1705352 d2ac68501fc799a5033824d204ac0175
    http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/pool/main/o/openssl/libssl0.9.8_0.9.8c-4ubuntu0.3_powerpc.deb
      Size/MD5:   939544 1e6af8a9427957566434357f346096d9
    http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/pool/main/o/openssl/openssl_0.9.8c-4ubuntu0.3_powerpc.deb
      Size/MD5:  1014948 b6c5a7b2c97df56cff30d1797490705f

  sparc architecture (Sun SPARC/UltraSPARC):

    http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/pool/main/o/openssl/libcrypto0.9.8-udeb_0.9.8c-4ubuntu0.3_sparc.udeb
      Size/MD5:   563014 dd59635ac83a1c84fe59b7d8ab9b2992
    http://securi