MPAA Arms Malaysian Theaters with DVD Sniffing Dogs, Night-Vision Goggles
May 25, 2007 Media
No, that’s not a joke. It really happened, just in time for Spiderman 3 and POTC3.
After showing people to their seats, trained ushers are strapping on the goggles and scanning darkened cinemas around the country to spot anyone trying to make illegal copies of movies with hand-held video recorders or mobile phones.
The Motion Picture Association, which is training Malaysian ushers to catch the pirates, said cinemas had caught 17 people in the past two months, during which Hollywood studios released blockbusters like “Spider-Man 3″ and “Pirates of the Caribbean”.
“All of the cases were spotted with night-vision goggles,” the association’s Malaysia manager, Nor Hayati Yahaya, said on Friday. “Its very successful.”
Just, wow. It gets better:
The association, which represents the big Hollywood studios, recently brought to Malaysia two dogs trained to sniff out DVDs — with stunning results. The two Labradors, Lucky and Flo, have sniffed out more than a million DVDs and broken a fake DVD ring.
They have been so successful that authorities believe Malaysian pirates have put a bounty on the dogs’ heads.
Hmm. Not exactly hunting down drug dealers or finding people trapped in wreckage.
Messing around in Inkscape
I was checking out the website of the designer who created one of the Wordpress themes I have installed, and I happened across a tutorial on tracing a picture in Illustrator. The steps seemed to translate over to Inkscape so I gave it a shot. Here are the results:
Tags: B-Lo Sports, Design, Hockey, NHL, sabres
I love Joe Paterno
May 22, 2007 NCAA Football
In a day and age where College athletes at the highest levels can be as famous and as pampered as their professional counterparts, Joe Pa is a throwback. At least 15 Nittany Lions were involved in an ugly off-campus brawl, but instead of trying to move past it quickly and using typical head-coach doubletalk about who started what, and this guy just made a mistake, Paterno is taking action. On the Sunday after every home game, his team will take to the field again…to clean the stands of garbage as penance for doing Penn State, their coach, the team and their fans wrong.
It’s a job that usually goes to members of club sports on campus – say, rugby or crew – which do it to raise money so they can compete. Paterno said the clubs still will get the $5,000 for the job, but his guys, fresh off playing 60 minutes of major college football the day before, will do all the work starting Sunday morning.
”We’re all going to do it, everybody,” Paterno told the Harrisburg Patriot-News after a banquet in suburban Philadelphia. “Not just the kids that were involved. ‘Cause we’re all in it together. This is a team embarrassment. I wouldn’t call it anything much other than that.”
How many coaches would do this? I think the NFL should take note, maybe Chris Henry and Pacman Jones could use a dose of this? ;) Joe Pa isn’t done, either:
The entire team also will have to build a house for Habitat for Humanity and volunteer for the Special Olympics this summer.
Tags: football
Trekker Sells Modded Apartment for $840,000
May 21, 2007 Media
Our favorite English Trek geek finally sold his apartment, which had been remade into a very detailed Next Gen suite. I wonder how much cash he put into it…
Tags: nerdgasm
Dainius Zubrus likely out for Game 5
May 18, 2007 NHL
Dainius Zubrus did not practice and most likely will not play Saturday. He has a ‘lower body injury’. Gaustad, Mair or Kotalik can take his place at center (which he played for Buffalo for the first time to try and keep him from getting nailed along the boards and hurt further), with Drew Stafford or Nathan Paetsch potentially getting added to the lineup. Some fresh blood on the power play may be just what the doctor ordered.
Tags: B-Lo Sports, Hockey, injury, NHL, sabres
Long Lines at Ottawa Hardware Stores for Broom Returns
May 17, 2007 NHL
The Buffalo Sabres staved off elimination with a 3-2 win at Scotiabank Place last night. The Sabres quieted the crowd early, scoring 9 seconds in as Derek Roy tipped a sloppy pass by Meszaros to Drury, who sent it back to Roy on the doorstep for the chip in. That was all the scoring in the first period.
A few minutes into the second period, the Sens sent two to the box for the Sabres first 5 on 3 of the series. Briere passed to an open Maxim Afinogenov at the side of the net for the second goal. Less than 4 minutes later Tim Connolly feathered a pass to Chris Drury, who snapped a shot under Ray Emery’s arm that the Senators goalie failed to squeeze in time. However, late in the period the Sens made their move, scoring goals on consecutive shots from Dean McAmmond and Peter Schaefer. Miller then slammed the door, weathering 15 shots in the third period with some amazing saves. The 3-2 score held up, forcing Game 5 back at HSBC Arena this Saturday at 2pm.
Special thanks goes to:
- The Penalty Kill. The Senators are 0 for their last 12 power plays.
- Ryan Miller. Time and again he frustrated shooters who thought they had an angle.
- Lindy Ruff. He held firm that the right guys were in the lineup to win, but was smart enough to shorten the bench and work the lines to get the players who were rolling the majority of the work.
Lost: One Offense
May 15, 2007 NHL
Well, that’s that. The Sabres offense vanished, even as Ryan Miller tried his absolute best to steal Game 3 for his team. Briere missed on a wide open net right at the start of the game, and it went downhill from there. The Sens had a revolving door on the penalty box for a stretch, and the Sabres PP just stunk up the joint. I hope Miller had some choice words for his team after this one.
Come on guys!
May 14, 2007 NHL
I want the Sabres to get MAD. I want Gaustad to beat the snot out of Alfredsson, I want Miller to challenge his team to play better in front of him, and I want Lindy Ruff to rise up and strike down Bryan Murray the next time one of his players decides to cheap-shot us. It wouldn’t hurt for the officials to call a better game, too. This is a good road team, Ruff is darn near perfect in the first road game of a series, so let’s build off tonight and bring the series back 2-2!
Congratulations!
May 12, 2007 Life
I would just like to congratulate my wife, Jennifer, for graduating with her Associates Degree last night! Thomas and I knew you could do it!
