Two Great Drives: How Super Bowl 2012 Embodied The American Experience

It was that time of year again. You didn’t want to be left out, so you broke out the chips, got a beer, and parked it in front of the TV. You’ve were told this was going to be the nature of competition at its best, but instead you were assailed by America’s free market capitalism on steroids. Even the commercials were made to compete, in a knife-edge death match where only one could survive. Each tried to outdo the next with enough glitz and pop to make your teeth rot just looking at them. The network itself—not wanting to let this golden opportunity go to waste–competed on its own macro level, constantly reminding you of its featured show playing after the game. But you were smart, at least you didn’t start at noon to catch all of the pre-game hoopla. Because almost four-and-a-half hours of this mind-numbing monstrosity is enough. . .right?
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All The [NERD] Rage: Week of September 24 – 30, 2011

It’s Friday! That means it’s time for another episode of All The [NERD] Rage, a lightning-round style review of the top nerd stories of the week. These are stories the Muggles may have missed. It’s time to catch up, so we’d better get started.

  • Amazon Gets Fired Up Over New Kindle Announcement
    Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos took to the stage in New York this week to formally announce what had been rumored for some time: Amazon is selling a new tablet. The device is called the Kindle Fire, and it will sell for $199. It won’t have an e-ink display, so it won’t really replace an actual Kindle e-reader. Also, it won’t have all the functionality of a full tablet computer, so it won’t really replace the iPad. More of a media device, it does look like a great deal for someone who is more interested in surfing the Internet and watching and listening to media. There is also a line of new Kindle e-readers, the cheapest one going for $79, sans the keyboard. A touchscreen Kindle will go for $99 for the WiFi model. With the holidays just around the corner, it looks like Amazon is coming out swinging.
    [Source: The Huffington Post]
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All The [NERD] Rage: Week of September 17 – 23, 2011

It’s Friday! That means it’s time for another episode of All The [NERD] Rage, a lightning-round style review of the top nerd stories of the week. These are stories the Muggles may have missed. It’s time to catch up, so we’d better get started.

  • Alleged LulzSec/Anonymous Hackers Arrested For Sony Security Breach
    An Arizona man was arrested yesterday for allegedly stealing data from a Sony Pictures Entertainment database earlier this year. He and his accomplices allegedly breached the computer system for Sony Pictures, made “tens of thousands of requests for confidential data,” and then released the information on a public Web site and Twitter. 23 year-old Cody Andrew Kretsinger, from Phoenix, supposedly used the hacker handle “recursion.” He is alleged to be a member of the LulzSec hacker group, which is believed to be a spinoff of Anonymous. LulzSec bragged about breaking into Sony Pictures’ system, and posted a statement on Pastebin on June 2 as proof of their attack. “We recently broke into SonyPictures.com and compromised over 1,000,000 users’ personal information, including passwords, email addresses, home addresses, dates of birth, and all Sony opt-in data associated with their accounts,” the statement said.

    Sony said in a statement the following week that actually only 37,500 customers had personally identifiable information exposed in the breach.
    [Source: CNET]
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You Don’t Have to “Say Goodbye to Hollywood,” But Say Goodbye to Netlix

Since my daughter started preschool, we watch much less TV. In addition to her actual time in school, she is more independent now and would rather do crafts and activities than watch television. However, we do watch some shows from time to time, especially when Daddy needs to get some quick chores done. Regardless, we have used Netflix much in the past, and have come to regard the streaming option with some affection. But now we have grown concerned about our old friend. Netlflix has made some questionable business decisions, and according to reports has lost about one million subscribers recently. It is always sad when you see the writing on the wall, and realize when a “go-to” resource will no longer be there when you need it someday.
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