It's official... the Internet's an Institution

It doesn't happen often, but change sometimes catches me by surprise... and when it does, it's usually both entertaining and disturbing. By "change", I'm not talking the various cyclic bits that most people seem to obsess over (language, fashion, music, that sort of thing), but indications that something "new" has taken hold so thoroughly that it likely won't be uprooted in my lifetime. What's triggered this line of thought today? I just got back from a trip to Seattle, which I took by road... where I saw a change to, of all things, the rest areas along the way.

Just about every rest area I saw is now equipped with a WiFi hotspot. Details are here, but it basically boils down to some free road/travel info, plus pay access to the rest of the 'net. The Internet has now gone from a playland for geeks (back when I started playing in 1993) to a resource so important to the minute-to-minute lives of travelers that access points are spaced not more than an hour apart over well-traveled paths... important enough for state government to set up semi-public access (and yes, I'm sure that, in theory, they might get some money back off the deal, but even so...). Business travelers didn't really need it... most that are that crunched for time would fly instead of drive, and/or have cellular-based 'net access of one flavor or another... so that means that WiFi is now perceived as being just that essential to John Q. Public that they can't/won't do without for the length of a freeway drive between cities.

At least they struck a decent balance between public and private on this one... when I saw the first sign, I feared and assumed that it'd be a wide-open access point, ready for a spammy drive-by, or other I'd-rather-this-not-be-traced-back-to-me activity (and considering the number of child porn stories I've seen lately, that's just disturbing)... not that paying to play necessarily stops that. I wonder what sort of Terms of Use they have posted, and whether that includes State Patrol oversight in real-time... I'd tell you, but I couldn't get it to work with my PSP.

Animation Recommendation: Bugs Bunny on Broadway

OK, so this isn't exactly the "pick it up on DVD" recommendation that I would normally give... but then, if by some bizarre means you've never been exposed to the Looney Tunes characters at all, there's several DVD sets out there demanding your attention. No, this is specifically for the cartoons-and-symphony mix that is "Bugs Bunny on Broadway", which has been several places already before making it to Spokane just this weekend... and if it's already been done in your area, and you didn't get to see it, here's hoping it'll make an encore appearance one of these days.

At any rate, I should tell you what it is I'm pushing on you... it's multiple "relatively safe" Warner Brothers cartoons (that is, they're showable in their entirety to the general public without needing to edit out content considered unsavory by today's standards), with the music track on most of them being performed in sync by your local symphony orchestra. There were some decisions made in the Spokane show that I have to question (quick-mixed solo and full symphony bits in The Rabbit of Seville pop to mind, due to relative volume issues), but on the whole it was great fun. Seeing these cartoons on the Big Screen, the way they were meant to be seen, plus the freshness of the live music, plus the pure laughter of children in the audience who were obviously being exposed to this for the first time... this is something I can heartily recommend to you all.

Another bit of my respect for humanity bites the dust

I suppose it was only a matter of time... but that doesn't make running across this abomination any better. I'm no great fan of marketing schemes, but this should really be illegal. What, might you ask, annoys me so?

I was driving down a busy arterial, when I come across something that looks like a delivery truck... except it's painted lime-green, and the sides and back of what would be the cargo area have been replaced with huge windows wherein billboard-style ads are displayed. Better still, the ads are actually on automated scrolling machines, that every 10 seconds or so scroll to another ad. It's a moving, changing billboard, out in the middle of traffic (and going about 5mph under speed limit, to make sure that as many people as possible pass it and see it). That's not the least bit hazardous or distracting, is it?

Think I'm kidding? Here's their website... and here's hoping this idea dies its well-deserved death in Spokane, before polluting anywhere else.

2fer: Microsoft and Lumpia

OK, so I don't have enough of anything today to justify a whole post on its own... so here's two quickies:

• In a grand step backwards, Microsoft has apparently decided that, when confronted with a corrupted file, Office should gracefully... crash.
• Philipino cuisine is a tasty treat... especially Lumpia, the best version of the egg/spring roll concept I've found to date. If you haven't tried any, you should do your best to find some. For those of you in Spokane, there's a place called "Nipa Hut" near the corner of Nevada and Francis that's quite authentic (including dishes with ingredients many hereabouts wouldn't consider food, that sort of authentic). For that reason, I say... get it while you can... :)
  

Imus Idiocy, and Surrounding Stupidity

Wouldn't you just know it... right after I say "ranting, not so much", along comes something to put me on edge... the remarks of Don Imus about the Rutgers female basketball squad, and the ensuing firestorm therefrom.

Now, I'm not going to let this digress into a general rant on the state of news media today... frankly, the fine folks at JibJab have that covered. Also, I'm no fan of Mr. Imus or his breed... any media geared towards stirring up hate and discontent in a loyal "base" is downright distasteful to me. That said, there is a disturbing element in this latest reaction to the inherent bigotry of a bygone age, that being the calls for the FCC to regulate such speech out of existence.

Yes, what Mr. Imus said was distasteful, even hurtful, intentionally or not. If the targets of this language feel sufficiently aggrieved by what transpired, there are many avenues open to them, from demanding an apology (which has been given... how honestly, I couldn't begin to guess), to pressuring his employer to fire him (in progress), to boycotting his sponsors if he isn't fired, to filing suit for slander/libel, as appropriate... but, in the final analysis, Mr. Imus called a group of people a name, and there is no amount of name-calling that could convince me that ceding even a fraction of our First Amendment rights is a proper response... and I have grave concerns about any group that thinks otherwise.

Name Change

It's quickly become apparent to me that rarely, if ever, will I be "ranting" here (in my case, all that sort of tendency generally fades in about a day's time, and I always stop and ponder before I put pen to... er, right, fingers to keys). As such, the name for this blog shall hereafter be "delRhode's disTractions", for those of you who feel the need to update your bookmarks, etc.

Animation Recommendation: Danger Mouse

This will likely be a recurring item hereabouts... I do like my animation. Of course, I like it for many and varied reasons, all of which I myself may not know. Take, for example, Danger Mouse. Hand-drawn animation done for the BBC in the early '80s... so we're not talking the height of technique at the time (but still better than some of what passed for cartoons then)... but it redeems itself quite nicely with its mix of dry humor (as only the British can do) and outright silliness. Be warned (or enticed, as the case may be), as a product of the '80s, P.C. just isn't on the radar (note the accent of Stiletto, the Baron's hench-crow).

How much do I like this series? I picked up the first two seasons as soon as I saw them on DVD at Christmas, and, after snagging the next disc from Netflix, I will be picking up seasons 3 and 4 as well... and as a rule, I don't buy discs I can get through Netflix.