So, I’m surfing around the net looking for “news” or whatever and come across the Seasteading Institute. I haven’t read every word yet but the gist is that it is a plan to build a community out on the ocean on some sort of platform and live there. Just give the big middle finger to the rest of the land-based world and start their own community. Of course the inevitable comparisons to Bioshock and Atlas Shrugged have already surfaced.

Now, let’s think about this. A floating platform outside of any country’s territory or laws. This allows them to make their own rules about… well… everything. Is this a good idea? Well, I suppose that has more to do with how unhappy you are with the current government/laws than anything else. I can’t help thinking that this is going to end up in the hands of a cat loving megalomaniacal, gray suit wearing, super genius with plans to take over the world. Read more…

This may not be news to some but it was to me. A listener sent in a complaint about his PS3 bricking. Apparently this is just called an 80010514 error (because that is the error that is shown on the screen). While it isn’t quite as dramatic as the RRoD (Red Ring of Death) experienced by Xbox 360 owners, it amounts to the same thing – replaced console. The difference? You can (generally) still play DVDs and Blu-rays but no games. Oh, and the problem isn’t prevalent enough for Sony to extend their minuscule 1 year warranty. Read more…

So, I was surfing around trying to find something interesting to post over at Audioholics (you know, so I can get paid and all) and I couldn’t find squat. Nothing. Just a bunch of random crap about just about nothing. And this isn’t just today – it’s been a week of this or more. Feels like much more. And while I don’t mind focusing on reviews, it is nice to take a break and write an editorial or something. At least get a couple of topics for the podcasts. Seems like all the questions lately have been about subwoofers and while I could talk about them all day, I figure I need to vary the topics a bit.

One thing I did come across that was kinda cool was this geek flow chart from the New York Times. Read more…

After all the hype and “best game in a million years” talk, I just couldn’t resist. This is the first GTA game I’ve played mostly because of timing. I was out of gaming for all of the other GTA games so I’m looking at this through “virgin” eyes. First – a bit of background.

For fans of the podcast, it will come as no surprise that I generally don’t play sports games. I’m OK with platformers and puzzle games, hate driving sims (sorry GT fans), but love first and third person shooters. Back in the day I was a huge fan of fighting games but I seem to have outgrown that phase recently. Grand Theft Auto seemed like it would be a good fit for me – third person perspective, adult themes, shooting… Now I’ve played it for a few days, let’s talk about the hype – Read more…

We’ve talked over and over about Comcast on AV Rant specifically about compression and visual artifacts. We’ve had listeners that have had problems with other cable companies to the point where they are going to write a letter to the CEO. Case in point – Daniel emailed me yesterday to let me know that he had sent his letter to Time Warner and added that a) he thought the letter was a little too nice and b) he wished there was a petition he could sign to let the cable companies know that he wasn’t alone. Read more…