Dear Guitar Hero: Bite me.

[Context may be found here]

Remembrance Day Banking.

I respect Remembrance Day a lot. People may have differing views about war, but everyone agrees that it's a tragedy when people die in war. It's important that we celebrate Remembrance Day, so we don't forget this.

On that note, the WRONG way to celebrate Remembrance Day is to use it as an excuse to give yourself an extra holiday in November. This is why I was outraged to find out that banks were closed because of Remembrance Day. WTF!? This is made even more callous because the banks were not actually closed on Remembrance Day, but rather they were closed the Monday FOLLOWING Remembrance Day.

Did your bank employees take their long weekend to reflect on the sacrifices of our fallen war heroes? Did they really? Oh man... I'm still angry about this.

Second Life: Boom or Bust?

Have you heard about Second Life yet? If not, you can do a search on it. Second Life is a virtual reality world, whose population reached 1 million a few months ago. So what's the big deal? World of Warcraft has 6 million users. Many people claim Second Life is the next big thing on the Internet. So much so, that corporations are starting to get into the Second Life craze. Toyota has set up shop inside Second Life, selling customizable Toyota Scions for $300 Linden dollars. Dell and IBM are following suit.

How much is a Linden dollar worth? Well, Second Life has a currency exchange where you can exchange real dollars for Linden dollars. (I personally think that is a bad financial move, BTW.) The odd/neat/scary thing is that you can also trade Linden dollars for real money. I believe 300 Linden dollars are (very roughly) equal to one US dollar.

A Linden dollar is also worth about 5 minutes of dancing at the local Second Life casino. (Oh man, don't ask.) Second Life is overrun with casinos as well as XXX content, so it's pretty much on par with the rest of the internet. While this represents the more shady aspects of Second Life, there is plenty of good stuff here too.

During my wanderings, I found a virtual medical library with feeds from real world data sources. Numerous organizations have set up conferences and meetings within Second Life. Some are looking into Second Life for it's potential in long distance education. I even found an amazing wedding chapel and an online couple that planned to get married there the next day.

This is all neat stuff, and when you read the news articles about Second Life, most of them come off as saying it's the next big thing on the Internet. I remain skeptical. I'm seeing Second Life as a Friendster or ICQ sort of thing. They were both pioneers and very popular for a while, but then they were surpassed by more successful enterprises. Right now, Second Life is getting a lot of praise, but I don't think it is "the next big thing on the Internet". It is perhaps one of the best pioneers of the virtual reality community concept to date, but I believe it lacks the polish to truly succeed long-term, mostly due to technological restrictions, and the fact that there were no ogres to kill for gold and experience points. (There has to be a better way to earn $L than dancing at a casino!)

If I still have your attention at this point, it's worth noting that Second Life is experiencing a housing estate boom. Owning land in Second Life is expensive business, as you can buy land in the game, but will be charged (in real money) a monthly fee depending on the area size you own. The people that run Second Life are discussing a fee increase (November 17th, 2006) because of the influx of corporations buying land and the creation of luxury private islands. Many see this as the beginning of the end for Second Life... while others claim it is just the end of the beginning.

I can't believe it's not dog food!

One of my most proudest cereal moments was when I stumbled upon experimental cereal last year. A friend of mine had acquired a box of Rice Krispies Squares cereal, which at the time was not yet available to the public.

My response to this was the complete opposite to Coca Cola Blak. I loved the taste of this cereal, even though it was a sugary cereal. It was just like little little chocolate Rice Krispies Squares in your bowl. Unfortunately, the major problem was that the little cereal shapes looked a lot like dog food. I confirmed this with other people, and I suspected that this aspect of the product would be improved before it reached the market.

I was wrong. It still looks like dog food, but it's delicious. If you see this box in the cereal section of your local supermarket, I still highly recommend it.

I am not Bobby Lee!

I once had to emphasize that I was not Ice Cube. Well, on a recent trip to New York, I was in Times Square when a very excited woman ran up to me. She was carrying shopping bags in one hand, and pulling a young kid in the other. She began to shout: "Oh my god! You're that guy from MadTV, aren't you?!"

I responded with a shocked expression, very much like the one in this photo of Bobby Lee from MadTV. Before I could respond, my girlfriend jumped in and firmly stated that I was not Bobby Lee, and that I was her boyfriend.

The woman became defensive, assuming that my girlfriend had interpreted her conversation as some kind of bizarre pick-up line, and innocently pointed out that she was a 40 year old woman with a young child and there was no reason to be jealous. The woman quickly walked away, slightly embarrassed.

Once you go Blak, you will go back.

It's called Coca Cola Blak. Imagine a soft drink mixed with coffee and a cup of sugar. Does that entice you? I can't say that it's the most appealing concept, but I'm always willing to try something new, especially if it's full of caffeine and calories.

I give Blak points for the stylish bottle design. It's pretty slick, which makes sense because Blak is being marketed as a haute beverage. It's trying to be the Perrier water of soft drinks, which is unfortunate... because I don't like the taste of Coca Cola Blak at all. I would much rather drink a can of Coke or a cup of coffee before I drink a bottle of Blak.