For many of us, a good television program means much more than just a few minutes of mild entertainment. Its a way to escape the everyday grind, a way to explore our imagination and to allow our hopes and fears to be transformed into an idea we can share with out friends. Its what binds together so many hours in the office break room, and lets families discuss ethical and moral ideas without the need to embarrass ourselves. But more than that, we can become attached to the lives and characters in our favorite shows. Sure we know its not “real”, but we allow ourselves to be swept up in the fantasy, which is why when a great show goes wrong, it can be so disheartening. This is exactly what happened to NBC’s Heroes, what I talk about what they did wrong. . Sponsor: Hold your meetings online for just $49 a month Try GoToMeeting free. . Also this week in history Why in France its apparently not the person but the device they used to communicate thats to blame and more, on this weeks Mike Thinks News

When the leading scientist on space and time comes out and tells you to do or not do something, its usually a good idea to do more than take it under advisement.  He isn’t smarter than you, he is smarter than you and all your friends…put together.  Ok, maybe thats a stretch, but I still take the words of advise from Stephen Hawking a lot more seriously than all the people on TMZ.  So when he says do not talk to strangers, I say, OKEY DOKEY!

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Also this week, why journalism shield laws don’t protect criminal activity at Gizmodo

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This week in history

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The news of the weird, including a banned ebay category that its just SICK it has its own name.

Mike Thinks News is coming, right at ya!

We all have dreams, or at least goals that we know are probably not going to be totally realized. Its one of the hallmarks for a successful person, that they set goals that others will tell you are impossible to reach. These goals are the driving force behind many of the most exciting and innovative developments in human history. Sure, I don’t think that Benjamin Franklin set a goal to create a worldwide information superhighway, but he did manage some pretty impressive stuff. But when the RIAA and MPAA set goals that while seeming unobtainable, are still at the very least totally beyond reprehensible, even if only 10% is realized, this is where you must draw the line. I just can’t see how any sane human would ask for the government to put less resources to fight terrorism, so they can be sure the new Gaga album sells a few extra copies…but they are asking just that.
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Also this week, how Twitter has built an empire 140 characters at a time, encouraging developers to help it on its way, only to cast them asside when it get big enough to do without them. Surprising, no, but it sure does feel like a load of crap. And as always, we have this week in history, and news of the What the Fudge variety.

There are few things as harrowing to someone as buying their 1st new car.  Now I know your thinking, wow, thats kind of harsh…after all buying a new car is supposed to be fun Mike, isn’t it?  Well, Im not sure what its supposed to be, but I do know that its full of pitfalls and disasters awaiting you at almost every turn.  So this wee, in our top story, we talk about what a former new car salesman says you need to do to get the best deal, while not making a complete jerk out of yourself (too late for me I’m afraid).  So listen to get the scoop on buying a new car and getting a good deal…or getting the best deal on your next new car.

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Also this week I talk about a community where the sheriff puts politics and personal gain over public safety, and goes as far as arresting 1st responders who try and aid a woman with a broken neck because they weren’t who the sheriff wanted to respond to the call for help.  And dont forget about This Week in History where I teach you a few fun facts about this week in days gone by.

==Mike James

call me (347)284-6453 thats 347-Bug-Mike

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Do you remember when we did the story a few years ago on LifeLock?  Ya, know the one where the owner who likes to showboat around with his Social Security number on a truck billboard.  All the while claiming how safe he is because that may be his real Social Security number, but he is protected by LifeLock.   Recall how the wheels started to come off when he himself was the victim of identity theft, not by some high profile, high tech super criminal, but by some ordinary schmoe, who took him for a $500 credit card?  Well, it sometimes takes a while, but the Federal Trade commission has decided that maybe theres less truthiness in the adds than there should be.
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Also this week, we have a story that we really aren’t supposed to talk about.  You see, Apple has forbidden anyone  who creates apps for the Apple App Store from talking about the Apple App Store…or even commenting on the very agreement that forbits them from taking about the agreement…are you dizzy yet?

All that and This week in history, and the story you just cant afford to miss if you have a child in school, on Mike Thinks News

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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