Its no secret that time marches on, every day we are reminded about how things change.  Some days these changes are small, while others have magnitude that may cause you to question the very foundation of your day to day beliefs.  Sue time works out well for most of our everyday common place experiences, but have you ever stopped to wonder why time is…or more precisely, why time is a one way street?  Physicists do, because in spite of all the equations and theories, nothing seems to explain why why it is that a fire can consume a piece of paper, but it never happens in the reverse.

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Also this week, is your next HDTV going to cost a lot more because of a shortage of parts?  Reports are coming in that this is indeed the case, but its not just your high definition television, but also your computer monitors and to a lesser extent, your cell phone.  I also take a look at the poisoning of America…and I’m not talking figuratively, I am speaking about a delibrate and calculated move by the federal government to take an active role in poisoning thousands of Americans, sure if was 90 years ago, but still.

All that and more, on this weeks Mike Thinks News

This week broke a few very interesting stories.  First we have Apple taking the fight against all things titillating and taking the now familiar step of banishing apps from the iTunes store aka super Jobs nirvana land.  Seems that someone had the nerve to make apps that had cleavage and bare chested men and such…who would have thought.  Good news is that Apple has got the mothership servers on full alert and are wiping out vast swaths of applications.  The bad news is, as usual, no one is exactly sure whats ok and what isn’t.  But come on, when your app can be rejected because its icon doesn’t meet the “aesthetic standards” of Apple, what do you expect?

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But our main stories this week have nothing to do with Apple, no this week I take a peep at just what those school administrators in Pennsylvania call loss mitigation.  More specifically, why someone or more likely (if not unbelievably) several someones though it was ok to turn on the web cameras of laptops given to children without then knowing about it, while it was in child’s home, or more specifically bedroom.  Now so far its not as bad as that sounds, but its not much better.  The level of DUH this one required is hard to comprehend

Also a story this week about all the new 3d Televisions.  Apparently its not all a good thing, as some researchers believe that watching too much 3d may make a documented issue with watching 3d images on a screen called Binocular Dysphoria, permanent or at least last long enough to be a real issue.  I don’t know what you consider a real issue, but since a few million of these people are going to be driving within minutes of watching 3d stuff, I’d say its just a little more important.

Call the voicemail hotline (347)Bug-Mike    (347)284-6453

–Mike James

So this week it comes to light that Iran would like to be its own email client…seems they realized just how much information Google is able to glean by reading all your emails (you do know they do that right?)  Anyway, so now if you live in Iran you get the privileged of using the state sponsored web based monitor…I mean email program.  Sounds fun.

We also take a look at this week in history and find out that hockey is not always a low scoring game and other fun facts from yesteryear.

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Another story for this week is the idea of boredom being bad for you.  Now theres bad for you and then theres HOLY CRAP bad for you, and you are not going to believe just how bad being bored is for you!  Right now Im thinking of all those times as a kid my parents let me get bored and wondering if I should be compensated for all that furniture shopping…hmmmm

The perfect product is hard to make. It can be even harder to find a catchy name. I spent countless hours trying to decide what to name my show, and Mike Thinks what just the best I could do. In retrospect, maybe theres a reason I don’t work for a promotions company. I can honestly say that I would never have names my next big thing the iPad.

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Its not that I think iPad is a bad name, its not…assuming your designing a new feminine hygiene product for the hipster crowd. But how in the heck does Apple pass on names like iSlate but lock onto a name that makes the Nintendo Wii seem downright normal? Now sure, we will get used to the name, not not before rev 2 at least. So this week I give you my detailed take on what I will go out on a limb and call the biggest miss of 2010…and its just barely February!

We also have out regular segment on weird news and this week in history on this weeks Mike Thinks News.

Has it really been that long, have we really learned that little in the past 5 years or so that the movie industry once again has to show just how out of touch they are?  I stand before you today, once again in utter disbelief at what is happening yet again.  Now the world isn’t going to end, and in 100 years no one is going to care about this momentary blip of stupidity in the history of humanity.  But its because this kind of short sighted attitude seems so pervasive even after time and time again it has shown to be a bad idea, both in financial terms but also in long term goodwill that it infuriates me.

Warner Bros has made a deal with Netflix to delay the release of new movies to the rental company by 28 days (I’m sure it has no bearing on the zombie Apocalypse) in an effort to increase DVD sales.  In return they are going to provide a broader list of movies for Netflix to make available on its streaming service.  For its part, Netflix had little choice, as the future of movie rental is streaming, and I can only imagine that getting as large a catalog available as possible is critical to their current business strategy.  Warner Bros however is making the exact same kind of boneheaded decision that left the music industry scrambling for relevance a few short year ago.  How can they believe that limiting the ways in which I can give them money for a product is a good idea?

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It appears they hope that huge droves of mindless zombies (oh wait, maybe there is a reason for the 28 days) will not be able to contain their desire for Die Hardest with prejudice, or Transformers III Megatron goes to Band Camp.  So they will run huge expensive add campaigns but they try and get someone who pays $9-$18 per month to watch 4-5 movies to pay at least $16 to watch one???  Maybe my math is off, but if I consider it a value to pay $3  to rent a movie, just how do you intend on enticing me to pay FIVE TIMES that much?  Now I know that the American public is an instant gratification type of crowd, and I’m very well aware that a few people will fall for these shenanigans.  However, I can’t imagine this will help the bottom line for several  reasons.   Most people will just wait the 28 days, but a good number will have lost enthusiasm by the time it is available for rent and just never bother.  More importantly though, is that many people who really want to watch the movie will balk at the idea of having to buy the DVD, see it as corporate greed, and rightly or wrongly, they will get the movie online, and any revenue that may have been gotten from the rental are gone…more importantly, you will indoctrinate people into just how easy it is to steal movies online.

Creating a demand, then artificially limiting the supply of reasonably priced product is a recipe for disaster when it comes to infinitely copyable products.  Millions of people want to give the movie industry money to rent movies…how stupid do you have to be to say…no?

That and much more on this weeks Mike Thinks News

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There’s a time when you have to say enough is enough, and we are well past that point with the complete and total lack of effective leadership in the TSA, and/or the department of Homeland Security.  The United States of America deserves, and as a citizen I DEMAND that the government get a clue, and actually take some action to ensure the safety of the American people.  When a person is reported not once, but twice as an imminent threat, when they are put on not one but two terror watch lists, how the #@!$!* does this same person with known ties to terrorist groups get on board and international flight with more than enough explosives to destroy the plane mid-flight?  Incompetence, and a complete lack of effective leadership, that’s how.

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How do we justify letting the CIA ignore repeated warnings, how do we justify an airport screening system that is so broken it spends tens of millions of dollars on useless policies, confiscating untold millions of “banned items” that even Macgyver would find useless, how can we justify pulling people aside for random screenings, when each and every terrorism expert you talk to says that its a waste of resources, you can’t.  The most effective way to stop terrorism is to stop terrorists, sounds stupefyingly simple doesn’t it, but what I mean is you look for terrorist, not fingernail clippers.  You don’t concentrate on looking for banned items, you concentrate on looking for people who pose a threat.  Until this administration can get this through their heads, they are wasting out time and our money.  After what has to be the most egregious laps in security since 9/11, it is unforgivable that President Obama would stand in front of the American people and not hold those responsible, accountable.  The US homeland security secretary, Janet Napolitano should be fired, the CIA cheif Leon E. Panetta should be fired, and more I’m sure.  Mr. President, you promised that you would hold people accountable if they failed to preform their duties at the highest level, take immediate action to hold those who failed to lead responsible, or allow the American people to see you as a Liar who does not hold our safety as an important part of your JOB.

Also on the show, this week in history, CES stuff, and news thats just weird.

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Wow, its been a long and rough year hasn’t it?  First I’d like to take a moment to thank everyone for listening, and all your emails, voicemails, twitters etc.  The podcasting community has grown, but is still one of the most gracious and giving groups that exists.  When looking back over the year, I can’t believe how much has changed, and just how hard its been for so many of you.  This weeks show isn’t about the news, its out once a year break from current events, to take a look at ourselves.  A special thanks to Kevin Reeves, for the music for this show.

Hope you enjoy, and have a very Merry Christmas, and an awesome New Year.

–Mike

The new Verizon Wireless commercials “There’s a Map for That” campaign have gotten a little more attention than they may have wanted over the cell phone carriers doubling of early termination fees from $175 to $350.  Not only is the FCC looking into this move, several representative on Capital Hill have taken notice as well and have proposed new legislation designed to limit how much consumers can be charged by their cell phone carriers in these fees, and also to control how these fees are prorated and sometimes hidden in the legalese of the contracts.  Also on the list of issues for the FCC is how some customers have reported that if they do not choose to get a data plan on their phone (because they don’t intend on using the internet on the phone), it is almost impossible not to accidentally ping the data servers a few times a month by accident when you hit a single preprogrammed key on Verizon phones (and you cant set the phone not to connect if that button is pressed).  When a customer without a data plan pings the data servers, even for just a nanosecond (they see the “connecting to web” message and immediately hit cancel), they are still charged $1.99   Several customer have reported that seeing these obvious overcharges is a regular thing on their bills, and while its easy to get credited if you call customer service, the FCC is curious just how many customers are being charged for these unintentional button presses every month.

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Also this week, I take a look at a strange new law in Australia that will require you to give a percentage of the money you get when you resell a work of are that you paid for.  So if you buy a painting for $100 and fifteen years later sell it at a garage sale, you are required to give a portion of those monies to the original artist.  I really wish I could get paid for things I already sold once.  The idea appears to be to try and protect artists that sell works early in life that become very valuable when the artist becomes popular, although I’m not sure why the artists can’t just make new art, or just who the heck thinks its appropriate to sell something and then come asking for more money later…will I get some kind of refund if I overpay and the artwork end up being worth much less than I paid for it?  I doubt it.

And as always we have This week in history, and strange news you probably hadn’t heard

The finding of “significant” amounts of water on our Moon, not only
brings the hope of a permanent base stations closer to a reality, it
also lends a real opportunity to using the Moon as a place to launch
interplanetary missions from.  After NASA finished its initial review
of the date from the LACROSS space probes impact on the lunar surface,
it became clear that there was a lot of water by the standards most
scientists would expect.  About 25 gallons of water was observed, and
these are only the initial findings, further study of the data may yet
reveal even more.  Much of the impact plume rose up high above the
lunar surface nearly directly perpendicular the impact, but a
significant portion also spread out at a much lower angle, so it is
very possible that there is more water to be found.

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When you talk about finding water on the Moon, we aren’t just talking
about having something for future astronaughts  to drink, in fact that
would be one of the lesser needs as much of that can be recycled.  The
real benefit in finding water on the Moon comes from the fact that we
can take that water and using solar energy, convert it into two of the
most sought after substances in space….Air and Energy.  Oxygen to
breath is important, but far more important for future exploration  is
the hydrogen rocket fuel, with enough water, we could send ships to
the moon and refuel them there for interplanetary missions.  The idea
that traveling to Mars and beyond is a big step closer  is not lost on
scientist, and they are understandably excited by the idea.  Here at
ThinksMedia.com I can certainly say, this is one of the most exciting
things I’ve heard since the possible finding of fossilized bacteria on
rocks from the red planet, Mars.

California Law

Driod Focus

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This week we have another fun show, and talk about this week in history where we learn that not all NFL games are destroyed by bad calls, and that sometimes a charter signed long ago can have endurring impacts on us even today.  I also give you a little known fact about trees and what happens when you carve your name (or that of your special somone) into its trunk.

The news this week is about how some schools seem to think that the Amazon Kindle is a bad tech device because its not able to be setup to read aloud to you if you are blind because that initial setup requires navigating through onscreen menues that do not initially read themselved to you.  As oppossed to all those other tech devices they think are just fine, like all the computers (which do not come pre-set to be accessable to the blind) and of course the standard paper books, which have absolutely no provision to read themselves to you.

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I also cover a science story on why you can remember great jokes and stories…but not who you told them to.  Could it be that your too concerned about how your coming off to others to be bothered remembering who they are?

All that and more on this weeks Mike Thinks News Podcast