Blackout March

If you're online I'm guessing you're not exactly a fan of SOPA, PIPA, ACTA...whatever random bullshit the out of touch politicians come up with.

Anyway, I heard something about a protest where people should, for the month of March, not give a penny to the entertainment industry. Tragically for videogamers, Electronic Arts is one of the biggest supporters of Internet blacklist bills...but you know what? Worth it. I can wait an extra month for Mass Effect 3, or to see whatever movie is in movie theater.

I'm holding on to Netflix, though, because that's the direction I want the distributors to go. If I had Gamefly I'd probably keep that, too.

How about you?

We need to show the people who think the Internet is a marketplace above all else that they are wrong, and obsolete, and if they don't evolve then they are fucked.

Why does SOPA exist?

What with all the furor about SOPA and PIPA and SOPA Jr (okay, that hasn't happened yet), I think people are forgetting to ask...how the hell did we get in a position where enough people are backing an incredibly vague, draconian bill that says any website that links to a foreign site with stolen content can be banned? How did something written by people who obviously have no understanding of how hard content regulation is make it this far?

The obvious answer, for one, is Lamar Smith. Dear Texans, please kick this clusterfuck of a reactionary out of office unless you want to see Silicon Valley implode out of sheer frustration.

The other thing is--Hollywood. The entertainment industry. The MPAA/RIAA got the DCMA and all that DRM bullshit through ages ago. Why haven't they figured out that if they took advantage of these new technologies by posting free content with lots of well-placed ads, they'd make a killing and look good doing it?

Because we let them.

There's some kind of vague movement for "black March"--buy nothing from the entertainment industry, don't see movies, don't buy overpriced albums, &c., &c....don't even (sob sob) buy videogames (note, EA is totally douchey about this kind of thing)--try this for a quick breakdown.

Personally, that's a good idea. I think I will do it, although I will keep the Netflix because you know what, Netflix is what they should be doing.

Fuck the reactionaries. The entertainment industry needs to man up and enter the 21st century already. They've had 20 years to figure the Internet out.

How to Eat a Pomegranate

So yeah I do have this blog that's aimed at explaining how to eat difficult fruits to people, but the pomegranate is kind of special.

Step one: decapitate it. (Take a knife, chop off the side with the weird fibrous shit coming out of it, although sometimes it's just a round thing. We call this the "top.")

Step two: scoop out its innards. They come in these little segments so you can grab a handful at a time and pull them out. Then you get to kind of rub off the really thin inside skin so you can move onto the next section....


This is why the pomegranate is not even remotely something you should take outside, or for that matter attempt to dissassemble in any room where there are white things. Floor, counter, wall, clothes--whatever. The seeds explode! Especially if your pomegranate happens to be deliciously ripe.

See, the best part about the pomegranate is that when you bite into one of its delicious offspring, you get this amazing explosion of juice. The worst part about the pomegranate is that when you squeeze one of its delicious offspring a little too hard, you get this amazing explosion of juice.


Fact: the pomegranate is the fruit of choice for serial killers everywhere.

Dexter approves.

Oh god, what happened here? I DON'T KNOW BUT WE WILL GET TO THE BOTTOM OF THIS
 

Note the splatter pattern.