2 steps back???

So....

Walmart are the largest retail outlet in the US, but they have refused to stock Green Days latest album "21 Century Breakdown"

According to Billie-Joe Armstrong "They won't carry our record because they wanted us to censor it." He also added "There's nothing dirty about our record. They want artists to censor their records in order to be carried in there. We just said 'No'. We've never done it before. You feel like you're in 1953 or something."

Walmart replied that that it is their policy to not carry any CD with a parental advisory sticker. "The label and artist in this case have decided not to do so (censor the album), so we unfortunately can not offer the CD," said spokeswoman Melissa O’Brien.

Walmart also sell movies and books amongst other things. I took a quick scan of their website and I noticed that they are stocking the latest Harold Robbins book (I know he is dead!!) and as we all know, Mr Robbins enjoyed putting erotic scenes in his books.

They also sell the Blueray of Closer. For those that have not seen it, Closer contains a hell of a lot of swearing, an incredible amount actually. If you are easily offended, don't watch the video.


Natalie Portman Closer - Watch today’s top amazing videos here

So.. if it is OK to sell erotic fiction and it is OK to sell expletive strewn movies, why is it not OK to sell a Green Day album or any other album with a parental advisory sticker?

Check out the offending lyrics here.

(It should be noted that this Monkey has enjoyed the writings of Mr. Robbins and really enjoyed the movie Closer. Oh and this little Monkey is not easily offended either.)

Ever felt like this???

The above cartoon is by Roger Penwill, you can check out his own very special view on the drawing office here.

Damn Engineers!!!

Seriously...

I really wish engineers would listen as we tell them time and time again how to use xrefs. Its very very simple. The xrefs go in one folder, the project drawings go in another.

Problem solved, I just bound the xrefs for the engineer... Not nice, not smart, not pretty, but at least he can print the drawings out!

For those confused (seems to be the vast majority of Engineers and Architects), read this:

It makes me smile :)

Y'know unemployment can be a hard, lonely and depressing time. Its not nice, not nice at all.

I have found a solution though, The Jeremy Kyle Show!! Seriously, this show is full of gobshites who want to air all their dirty little secrets on TV. I used to think that the people on the Jerry Springer Show were complete fucking tools, but the "guests" on Jeremy Kyles show take the biscuit, they are truly dirt!

Anyway, back to the TV!!

No need to shout.

Feck, I must be getting old. I went to the pub tonight to have a drink with a friend who lives out of town, actually out of country to be exact.

The recession is obviously biting hard as both pubs we visited were severely lacking in bodies. Anyway, we settled down to have a few drinks and just catch up, it had been several months since we last met. Behind us, three, what could only be described as bog boys, stood having a conversation. I say conversation, but what they were actually doing was shouting at each other. One would shout something, the other would shout louder and then the turd (yes yes, that is what I meant to type),well the third would out do both of his drinking mates and shout them both down.

Now I can understand if there was loud music playing, or if the pub was incredibly busy and noisy or if they were 20 feet apart, but there wasn't, it wasn't and they weren't. They were huddled together, practically hugging! It got so loud that I found it quite difficult to hear my friend speak and he was only a couple of feet from me!!

I don't know... It would be kind of acceptable if this was kids in hi spirits, who has not been loud and obnoxious as a kid drinking in a bar?? I know I have been, but these guys were at least in their 30's and one was in his 50's! Me thinks they need to grow up a little.

Anyway... right enough about that, I have to go pack! This monkey has to fly in the morning. Hopefully I will fair better than that other famous monkey who flew, Albert. Go on, google it, you know you want to.


P.S. Mr. S, if you found this blog, well done :)

Windows 7 Update...

Well I did a clean install of Windows 7 last night and so far so good. It certainly seems more responsive than Vista. My laptop actually seems speedy!

Strange that there is no email client with it, Thunderbird soon sorted that out. I also installed Firefox 3.01, Open Office 3 and CADopia Pro 8 without issues. I even got my old networked HP Laserjet 4MV working on windows 7 using the XP driver. It also picked up the driver for my Belkin Bluetooth adapter first time, something that Vista did not do.

AVG Free also installed without issue, however although it works fine, Windows 7 does seem to think i would be better off with the paid for version.

All in all, it looks and feels nice and sleek. It seems faster and so far I have not had any major issues. Only a year to go before i make up my mind to update to it full time or not!

MPAA v Real Networks

So Real Networks have software called RealDVD which allows people to make backup copies of their DVDs. The MPAA is the US is not impressed, no impressed at all. They claim it is illegal under the DMCA.

The MPAA seem to think that RealDVD will allow users to to rip DVDs and post them to the internet. Real hit back and say that any DVD's backed up with RealDVD are only playable on the PC they were ripped on.

First off, well people who rip DVDs and post them on the internet are not the type of people who go and pay for software to do the ripping. There are many many free alternatives on the web that make it quite easy to rip a DVD. The MPAA are fooling themselves if they think that banning RealDVD will achieve anything.

Speaking of fooling themselves, I happen to think that Real are fooling themselves also. Who wants to sit around a PC watching your ripped DVDs??? People rip their movies so they can watch them where they want and when they want. Be that on their PSP, iPod, PS3, Xbox, XBMC or PC / Mac. It has been shown time and time again that restricting users playback of media does not work.

But what about iTunes I hear you shout, they used DRM... Yes yes, iTunes was the successful exception to the rule for many years, but then it was possible to stream your iTunes library using various different extenders. It should also be noted that iTunes has now dropped DRM from its files.

It is no coincidence that the most popular media formats for users ( Xvid, Divx, MKV, Flac, MP3 and others ) are DRM free. People don't like being restricted. If they buy the CD or DVD, they feel, rightly or wrongly, that it is theirs to do with as they please.

Check out VideoHelp.com for more info on creating backup DVDs.

For more informaion on this case, take a look at:

BBC
The Register

Windows 7 RC

I see that Windows 7 Release Candidate is available for download from Microsoft.com

The RC will stay active till June 2010, so thats just about 13 months of using Win 7 for free.

I am currently downloading it and hope to install later on tonight.

Something is wrong....

I spent yesterday at Punchestown Races. It was ladies day and as expected, many many ladies arrived in their finery and looked spectacular. It made for a very pleasant day :)

But... well, there were far too many young teens with far too much skin revealed. Now, I am far from a prude and those who know me will tell you I am a lover of the fine female form in skimpy clothing, but seriously, when did it become fashionable for 13 and 14 year olds to wear outfits porn stars would wear?

I doubt many of the teens are doing it with the express intention of flaunting as much skin as possible and are only following fashion trends but the amount of arse, cleavage and leg on show by these youngsters was quite incredible. Many of the outfits were far more daring than their older counterparts. What really amazed me were those who turned up with their parents dressed in such a manner. I was stunned that a father would feel it is OK for his very young daughter to go out dressed in such a manner.

Some might think that I am just a killjoy and should relax and let them wear what they want, but life is not a Britney Spears video and someone should explain that teens don't need to dress like she does in her videos.

Rant over...