If you’re into web development and you need to know why something isn’t quite working under Internet Explorer (vs. say Firefox), then check out the Internet Explorer Developer Toolbar Beta 3. Install it - it works for both IE 6 and IE 7 and man - it saved my life a number of times (though it still had me cursing at Microsoft!)
If you missed Sanjaya last night - here’s a snapshot of his hairdo. Gotta love the Looney Tune picture too!
Looks like my former employer is again up for sale. DoubleClick is considering several potential suitors - one of which is supposedly Microsoft Corporation. The price? Well DoubleClick is apparently looking to get at least $2 billion in a sale. DoubleClick is currently private and owned by private equity firm Hellman & Friedman.
DoubleClick was once the king of online advertising - serving up billions of ads a day to the entire Internet. It used to be that you could not go to any major website without seeing banner ads served up by DoubleClick. Of course.. Google changed all of that with their contextually targeted ad system didn’t they?
It’ll be interesting to see if Microsoft does indeed purchase DoubleClick. If this happens, it’ll signal to the world that Microsoft intends to get serious with their internet advertising business. They recently launched their Ad Center product line and I imagine purchasing DoubleClick would be a way to increase their offerings in the ad space.
Buying DoubleClick would also provide instant access to thousands of clients that run the gamut of advertising solutions - from people who simply use DoubleClick to deliver banner ads to people who leverage DoubleClick’s web analytics solutions.
There is one cool thing about purchasing DoubleClick - their established infrastructure which Microsoft probably lacks.
Downsides to buying DoubleClick now? Most of the talent (especially on the development side) is gone. Actually, the most important person at DoubleClick is still there.. but I wonder how long he will stay? Thanks to L. for this tidbit
I’ve done my deed tonight. I’ve voted against Sanjaya (which means I voted for someone else). Enough is enough don’t you think? I mean.. come on now. All of you Sanjaya voters have already accomplished the incredible.. you’ve got him into the top ten which means he’ll go our tour with the rest of the group. So please.. start voting for the good singers.. not for the one who can’t sing .. and not for the one who only seems to care about putting on a new hairdo every week. Speaking of hairdo’s.. did you see his look tonight? My goodness. Kick him off already!!!!!
Ok.. enough ranting.
SPOILER ALERT!!! If you have not watched the season 3 finale of Battlestar Galactica then you better not read this posting.
OK?
One last chance!!
Ok..
So here goes nothing. Season three of Battlestar Galactica ended with “Crossroads, Part 2” and with this episode, one major thread is temporarily resolved while several others are unveiled. First, let’s cover the closed thread shall we?
As you all well know - Baltar has been put on trial for being a traitor to humanity so let’s go straight to the results. He’s found not guilty by the tribunal with a vote of 3 to 2. The deciding vote cast by none other than Admiral Adama. So now you know the verdict - but really.. was there any other outcome possible? The notion that Baltar was ever guilty was tenuous at best - especially since:
1. There was never any real hard proof that he helped the Cylons breach Colonial security (except for visions that Roslyn has)
2. Everyone recognizes that Baltar made the right choice to surrender to the Cylons on New Caprica
3. We all knew that Baltar was simply a figure head in the presidency seat once the Cylons did arrive and take hold of New Caprica
4. Baltar certainly did not act out against the humans when he was on the basestar.
Now the prosecution could have pursued the notion that Baltar has been aiding the Cylons in finding Earth.. but again - there’s no actual proof of that. So.. if we are to believe that humans on Battlestar Galactica have some sense of morality, then this trial had to result in a not guilty verdict.
One of the highlights of the trial was the speech that Major Adama gives while on the stand in defense of Baltar. He convincely gives an argument that makes you think how hypocritical people really are. We are so easy to forgive certain things in our lives when it’s convenient to do so but at the same time, we want to put the blame on one or a group of individuals when it’s also convenient to do so.
We also know one other thing. Felix Gaeta is a darn good liar. No apparent guilt in providing false testimonyt. What does this say about his character??
Threads opened from Crossroads Part 2 (and from Part 1).
1. Roslyn gets her cancer back. No real surprise here.. if she is the leader that brings the human race to salvation then according to the scriptures, she must die. Her cure was in fact just a temporary stay given to provide her additional time on the show (since they said she only had six months to live in the show’s beginning). Still.. is she considered the leader of human race? I would assume so but one could argue Admiral Adama would also be the leader of human race at this point. Perhaps at least.. the moral leader to a certain degree.
2. Roslyn, Caprica, Athena, and Hera all sharing the same dream.
Introduced in part 1, we begin to discover that all four characters are not only sharing the same dream - they’re having the same dream at the same time. At first it appears that Caprica is taking Hera away from both Athena and Roslyn.. yet we find out she’s trying to save Hera. Save her from who? From the final five? Hera is drawn to the final five.. or at least it appears so. So all three are trying to save Hera - to what end and to whom? Or is she is being saved from the Cylons?
3. The music and the discovery of four of the five
We finally figure out that the music Col. Tigh is hearing is indeed “All Along the Watchtower.” Yes - according to Ron Moore, there’s significant to the song but in what way? BuddyTV thinks it’s got something to do with the probe discovered in an earlier episode of season three. Perhaps.
What is clear is - this song is a trigger of some sort. It brings the four of them together and it causes them to realize one thing. They’re not like the rest. Are they Cylons? At first, I thought not (since it was their own idea that they might be) but Ron Moore has pretty much nixed that idea stating that they are Cylons.. yet different. So ok. They’re Cylons but at the same time not the same as the current breed of Cylons. If these are indeed four of the final five AND we know that there is a connection between the human’s temple of the five and the Cylons’ final five.. this leads one to the obvious conclusion (or maybe it’s not obvious) that the humans and the Cylons are even more connected than we were originally lead to believe. Yes. Cylons were made by humans.. but what if… what if humans aren’t exactly human afterall? What if human and Cylon are in fact the same? A common God.. a common ancestor? That’s just one thought of course.
Perhaps humans and Cylons are simply different sects of one another with the common underlying theme the final five.. the five pillars.. the five temples.. the five Gods.
I’m just throwing out different ideas and possibly talking out of my a!*#@ but you know what? It’s kinda fun speculating what exactly is going on with BSG. I suppose we really have to dig into the minds of Moore and Eick huh?
There is probably one thing that is pretty clear. These four “Cylons” are certainly not your normal set of Cylons. The other Cylons don’t even realize that these guys are Cylons too (except maybe for Deanna??? But she’s deactivated now too.. or perhaps she saw the fifth one which has to be revealed).
5. And yes.. she’s not quite dead.. or is she?
We thought she was dead. We were lead to believe that she was dead.. but really now. How many of you really thought Starbuck was dead? NO WAY MAN. Yes as much as the show has changed, BSG is still about it’s core characters and wherever there is Apollo.. there’s Starbuck.
So she’s back … or is she? Yes.. I question the notion that she’s really back. We won’t really know until the new season starts up unfortunately but at the same time it’s fun to guess isn’t it? Could she be the fifth one? Would she complete the picture? Of course, one has to wonder if she’s really back in physical form or if she’s simply a manifestation within Lee’s head at this point.
There’s some evidence to suspect that she’s not necessarily in the same dimension that the BSG is in right now. Why? Well she kept floating in and out of Dreidus for one thing. Sure.. there’s the nebula and all but there’s one scene near the end where you see her come up from behind Lee’s ship and her Viper almost appears to fade in and out. Could that explain why the entire fleet suffered a power outage? Could there have been some sort of fold in space that caused everything around it to temporarily lose power? One wonders huh?
Ok.. I might be stretching things here but there’s just a ton of unanswered questions of course and that leads us to season 4.
But.. we must wait.
“Massive Cylon fleet”. Yup.. that’s we end with. Actually we end with this pretty sweet pan out from the two vipers to what is apparently the Milky Way galaxy. Why that thought? Well we instantly pan back into what we assume is planet Earth. What period of time? Unclear.. but what is clear is, the Galactica (and the Cylons) are close to Earth.. just how close is a matter of relativity.
Couple of other interesting notes:
1. There will be a two episode extras movie later on this year that will provide extra backdrop to BSG. It’ll focus on the Pegasus and Cain and should be pretty interesting. The entire BSG cast will be around too.
2. Season 4 is signed on for 22 episodes. Nice.
3. Season 4 COULD be the last season but Moore and Eick have not decided on that as of yet. What is clear is - they don’t want the series to go on forever.
Here are some interesting links along the way for all of you to read:
If you’re a fan of both the Family Guy and Ice Age, then you’ll love this video clip on YouTube.
[Check it out via Kontrib]
Who am I talking about? Sanjaya Malakar of course! That 17 year old kid from Federal Way, WA survived the top 11 round and made it into the top 10.. which means you’re going to have to hear him sing when the Idols go on tour later this year.
I could accept him not being booted after the top 12 episode - there were enough people who messed up that it wasn’t necessarily a sure thing that Sanjaya would go… but come on folks.. this week, he truly sucked! I hate to say it.. and no, I’m not a hater, but he really does not belong there in the competition.
I suppose Idol has no one else to blame but themselves. Sanjaya really should never have made it to the top 20. There were so many better singers - even at that point in the competition. I’ll give him this much - he’s got balls for singing the way he does on the stage that he’s on. Of course all of this is probably due to all the votes from:
And anyone else? Would anyone else in their right mind even consider voting for this kid? I listened to his performance one more time on YouTube earlier today and everyone at my workplace agreed - he stunk.
Of course, American Idol was never necessarily about the best singer. Tonight was probably a great example of that. While it’s awful to see Stephanie Edwards leave (she’s an awesome talent folks), her votes were probably taken away by other contestants. Let’s face it.. people will certainly vote on singing criteria.. but in reality that’s only a small portion of the big picture. There are all sorts of other factors involved and I don’t think I have to get into the details here. Do you really think the majority of middle America would vote for say Stephanie Edwards over say…Haley Scarnato? The voting system is indeed flawed.
People should be allowed to vote only once. The judges should have some say in the final decisions. And finally.. people should really try and vote on real talent. I know.. that’s probably far fetched but come on folks.
So Stephanie is gone and what we have left is a talent-less singer in the form of Sanjaya Malakar in the top 10.
Now that’s sad.
If you saw this past Sunday’s Battlestar Galactica and you can’t wait to watch the season finale being aired this coming Sunday, then check out this link at BuddyTV. They’ve got the inside scoop on what’s going to happen with the season finale. REMEMBER THOUGH - this link contains MAJOR SPOILERS!!! SO BE WARNED!!!
Now as to this past Sunday’s episode - wow.. it was great in my opinion. BSG had been lagging a bit over the last few episodes - especially since this was a 20 episode season. It almost felt like the writers were filling in minor plot holes and building up some character development to pass the time. Mind you - BSG is still one of the best shows on television.
So now.. the questions that remain unanswered..
What does the dream sequence that Roslyn has in the beginning of the episode mean? What does Hera running to Caprica signify? Caprica in white mean anything? Any association with the final five?
What does the music mean and why do only a select few hear it? Could the ones that hear it be the final five? or at least part of the final five? Or are they just regular Cylons?
Roslyn’s cancer is back. Does this solidify the original notion that she is the one that will lead the human race to salvation?? only to die when they do get there?
Of course if you read the link above, then some of these questions will indeed be answered. In any event, after this season finale airs, it’s going to be a long 8-9 months ahead before season four starts. Argh…
[Check it out via Kontrib]
*****SPOILER ALERT*******
Ok..
You’ve been warned…
***** SPOILERS *******
ok.. so if you already watched the episode you should be reading this part. Yes.. Starbuck is gone. Is she dead? No one knows for sure. It’s hard to tell from the video footage. But we’ve reached the point in the third season where something “big” was going to happen to the series. It had been rumored for some time that Starbuck might bite the big one but what isn’t clear is whether she’s dead.. or just somewhere else.
What is clear is - this was a fitting way for Starbuck to go. An episode which deals with her own inner demons and her inner conflicts. As I remember reading from someone else’s blog commentary (which I can’t seem to remember right now), she has her moment with all the major characters in the show that matter to her - from Admiral Adama to Helo to Anders to Lee. So in some way, she had her goodbyes to everyone that mattered to her. Now.. it’s off to the great unknown for her, the crew, and in many ways the show.
So the questions remain. Is she dead? Is she one of the five? Is she really a cylon? What the frak is going on? Here’s TV Addict.com’s take on the episode.
[Check it out via Kontrib.com]
