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My sister sent me a link to an online lesson to show you how to dance like Napoleon Dynamite. I already own the t-shirt, so this is pretty handy for me. Be warned however, it is in flash and it took about 1-2 minutes to load on my home DSL.

I’ve touched on rootkits before, specifically the Sony rootkit. I found out today that Sophos has a free anti-rootkit package. They even have a podcast on the subject. I use Sophos, and in a professional capacity I recommend and sell Sophos. I actually really like selling it, because it is really good software in general. So I downloaded the scanner and gave it a run. It seems to work smoothly and fairly quickly.

I actually found out about when Jodie, the lovely Sophos rep, visited us at Centra Networks today. The conversation quickly turned to the Sony rootkit, and I was reminded of a recent comment by Mark Cuban:

and for all you “but i can and do download everything ” types. Good for you. Get up and away from your computer and go see how the rest of the country lives. And when you hit 27, get a real job or move out of your parents house, whichever comes first, tell me if you are still downloading 10 movies and burning them for your friends and creating 10 playlists for Itunes every week like you did in college or when you first graduated. At some point you realize the time you spend downloading and burning to a DVD is worth more than the 10 bucks to go to a movie or 20 bucks or less to buy the movie. When that happens you will have figured out that all that time you spend burning DVDs and trying to manage space on your hard drive wasnt worth it

This sums up for me a big reason why DRM is a waste of time. The people who download illegally are either students who will grow out of it soon enough, or they are perpetual losers. And last time I checked, spending tens of millions of dollars pursuing losers is bad business.

[Update] BoingBoing reports that Texas is suing Sony over the rootkit affair.

I just saw an interview Andrew Denton conducted with Al Gore, on the ABC’s Enough Rope program.

Al Gore was talking up his new movie, An Inconvenient Truth, and the issues behind it. He spoke with passion, intelligence, authority and good-humour. I’m no longer curious why he lost the U.S. presidential campaign in 2000. It’s a well known fact that people rarely vote for people they cannot relate to in some capacity. And, sadly, the qualities Al Gore displayed in this interview are not ones he shares with most other Americans.

Anyway, I hope he doesn’t get back into politics. That would be such a waste. I want to go see the film, but I’m probably not the target audience. I already convinced the planet is going to rack and ruin. Those of you who think global warming is a crock, go see this so you can shoot in down in flames. Go on. Those of you who are unsure, this is as good a place as any to start a quest for knowledge. And its just a trip to the movies! How easy is that?

What do these things have in common? They’re all mentioned in the latest Ask A Ninja. Check it out!

Well, it is sadly the case that Steve Irwin is dead. I guess the silver lining here is that he apparently died doing what loved so much - being in the middle of nature, filming his adventures for his millions of fans to enjoy. I’d hardly describe myself as a fan of his, but it is sad to see anyone die in their prime.

Perhaps that is why the death of another influential, albeit less celebrated, Australian hasn’t gathered the same swell of media attention. One of my favourite authors of all-time was Colin Thiele, the man who penned Storm Boy and Blue Fin among many others. These two books, and the film adaptation of Storm Boy were favourites of mine as a kid, and they stand out because they have never lost their appeal to me. I’m sure many, many other people feel the same way.

Colin Thiele died yesterday due to heart complications - he was 85 years old.

I’ve just been told that Steve Irwin, the Crocodile Hunter, has died! A report from what appears to be a credible source can be found here.

I have a friend that works at Australia Zoo, so I’m going to see if I can get hold of him to check if this is real or not.

Crikey!

[Understandably, the links above are getting hammered right now.]

I was reading Mark Cuban’s blog, and a few links later I found this site for a film called ‘Who killed the Electric Car?‘. It looks like an interesting movie, and an even more interesting topic. I hope it gets a release here in Australia.

Kevin Smith is one of my favourite film makers. I came across a link that has him talking at length about his initial, limited involvement with the recent Superman movie. He uses some strong language in parts (so be warned!), but he has an interesting perspective on the business of making films.

My friend Neil sent me a link to a funny collection of clips from Steve Coogan’s ‘The Alan Partridge Show’. I’ve never seen the show before, but now I’m keen to see more.

Hot on the heels of the news about The Monkey Wrench Gang, it seems that another book I enjoyed immensely has been made into a film.

Nick Earls 48 Shades of Brown has been made into a film and is due for release in the near future apparently. Moreover, it was filmed in the city in which it was set, my home town of Brisbane.

I look forward to seeing it.