Bad Apple, Good Apple.

NBC President Jeff Zucker, best known for taking the channel from No. 1 to No. 4 while head of programming recently accused Apple of being greedy.

“Apple sold millions of dollars worth of hardware off the back of our content, and made a lot of money,” Zucker claims. “They did not want to share in what they were making off the hardware or allow us to adjust pricing.”

Is there anyone who bought an iPod just to watch videos on it, let alone just to watch NBC TV shows? Sure, the iTunes Store has contributed to iPod growth, but then again, “The Office” found an audience largely because of iTunes.

Come to think of it, shouldn’t Jeff be asking Sony. LG and all the other makers of DVD players for a cut of their profits because without NBC DVDs, people wouldn’t want to have DVD players in their homes?

Oo is this just going along with the maxim that any publicity is good publicity, and lets face it Zucker and co. have an uphill battle ahead when they launch Hulu, and they need all the publicity they can get.

More sensibly, PC World recently crowned the Apple MacBook the fastest Windows Vista note book that they’ve tested:

The fastest Windows Vista notebook we’ve tested this year is a Mac. Try that again: The fastest Windows Vista notebook we’ve tested this year–or for that matter, ever–is a Mac. Not a Dell, not a Toshiba, not even an Alienware. The $2419 (plus the price of a copy of Windows Vista, of course) MacBook Pro’s PC WorldBench 6 Beta 2 score of 88 beats Gateway’s E-265M by a single point, but the MacBook’s score is far more impressive simply because Apple couldn’t care less whether you run Windows.

Hey didn’t Apple have the fastest laptop running XP as well….?

Movember

So I asked Frank on Sunday if he was going to be doing Movember again this year and he said NO. I love my beard too much to shave it off and start again. So I'm thinking I'll be the only one doing it.

So It came as quite a surprise when I saw Frank's blog today with the announcement that he was in deed doing Movember this year! Well good on ya Frank, even going as far as to get sponsored. Me, I'm just gonna grow a little hair, and post picks on my blog.

Reading List Update

So I've decided to update the way my reading list works, in case any of you cared!

Italics means that these books are in my reading queue, but not yet being read.

Bold means it's a book I'm currently reading.

Line-though indicates a book I gave up on - ie, it was to boring!

And the rest are books I've read.

Should have really put a start date on this reading list thing though. Oh well.

Save Me From Myself.

I've just finished reading Brian 'Head' Welch's autobiography Save Me From Myself, and figured I'd post about it here - but this is not me copying Rhett and doing a book review and all that - no, I've been wanting to post about this book for a while now, but waited until I had finished it.

For me it's a great book to read because it doesn't hold anything back, Head tells it like it was, and for a Christian book, it's gonna offend a few people (though the people it would offend probably wouldn't pick it up in the first place) not only because of some of the things Head mentions, but also because he uses the word fuck. Several times in fact. But it's not offensive and it's not gratuitous. It just sums up the mood, perfectly.

Then after we get through Head's life of drug addiction and all that, we come to Head the Christian and all the mistakes and struggles he faced.

It's an inspiring read.

I was planning on following it up with World War Z, but my 11 year old daughter gave me a book to read this morning, so I'm gonna have to read The Silver Sword first.

For Dione...

Is the Xbox 360 Cooler Than Jesus?

If you're easily offended, then don't read this satirical letter to a fictitious Pastor, and his equally satirical and fictitious reply.

Dear Pastor,

I go to a secular high school because my stupid unsaved parents don't have decent jobs and can't afford to send me to a Christian school. So if you will, please excuse my poor grammar, as I present a question to you.

I was visiting a friends house (someone who I had been witnessing to for about 2-years) and we sat down in his living room to play some video games. He had one of those new Xbox 360's that everyone is talking about. Well, now I know why everyone is going so nuts over them, because they are freaking incredible! I told my friend that his Xbox was amazing, and he afforded the opportunity to mention to me (because he knew I was always trying to get him to go to church) that the Xbox 360 is cooler than Jesus!

Needless to say, I was so offended that I kicked his Xbox across the room and then proceeded to smash it against a wall. It is pretty much broken now and he is really peeved (that means upset) about it. Well, now my stupid parents are involved and all kinds of crap. His mom and dad want my parents to pay for the game system, which they can't do - because they can't afford it.

What the heck am I supposed to do? How can faithful Christian witnesses like me compete with something that every kid in the world already thinks is way cooler than Jesus?

William Thorncastle
Phoenix, Arizona


Dear William,

I've been faced with some tough questions in the past, son - but the solution to your dilemma is quite simple. Creation Scientists here at Landover Baptist Church have been studying the Xbox 360 for several months (before it was even released to the general public). It was found to be made of plastic and metal and filled with electronicalized gizmos that enable it to be connected to a television set. Somehow (and keep in mind, we're Creation Scientists here, son - not engineers) the device is able to accept discs which play videos and video games on television sets in vivid colors.

My suggestion to you is to ask your unsaved classmate the following questions. Then he'll see just how "cool" his Xbox 360 really is, when compared to Jesus Christ.

1. Can the Xbox 360 turn water into wine?

2. Can the Xbox 360 fly?

3. Can the Xbox 360 burn millions of people in Hell because they don't accept it as their Lord and Personal Savior?

4. Can the Xbox 360 endure a virgin birth?

5. Can the Xbox 360 survive after having enormous rusty spikes hammered into it?

6. Can the Xbox 360 walk on water? Oh heck! I bet it doesn't even float!

7. Can the Xbox 360 effortlessly fling a 50 ton slab of granite off the entrance to a cave?

8. Can the Xbox 360 watch you masturbate? I'm sure it will help millions of youngsters shim-sham their tallywhackers because it delightfully accepts dirty videos! But it isn't going to sit there out of concern while it watches you commit the sin of personal abuse, and it isn't going to cry tears of love and forgiveness as you get up to find a paper towel afterwards!

9. Can the Xbox 360 forgive you of your sins and offer you eternal life with an all expenses paid trip to Heaven - and even throw in a free Mansion with a driveway made of solid gold?

10. Can the Xbox 360 lead a REAL army of Godly Christians into the final battle of Armageddon and slaughter millions of people until the Earth is covered with flesh and blood?

I'm sure your unsaved friend will think twice about comparing Jesus to his Xbox 360 after you present him with these questions. As soon as you see him even slightly contemplate his eternal security - rush in at that moment of vulnerability and present him with the plan of Salvation immediately! Get him to confess Christ as his Savior, throw him in the trunk of your parents' car and dump him off in front of your local Baptist Church. They'll take care of the rest.

God Bless You, and Good luck!

Pastor Deacon Fred

210.4 KM/H on a Mountain Bike

33 year old Austrian Markus Stoeckl has smashed the World Speed Record for series mountain bikes. Stoeckl, nicknamed "Hercules" because of his 6'4", 220 lbs. frame, broke the 8 year old record by 14 mph on a 2000 meter, 45 degree run in the Chilean Alps. Because of the extreme cold, Hercules had to hold his breath for the 40 second duration so his helmet didn't fog up.

Crazy, indeed, but we wonder how on Earth he stopped. Those disc brakes were surely useless. See the video below, wherein Stoeckl makes it all look effortless.