Deren Smith at Neowin has written an article with his concerns about Apple's new Cinema display.  Apparently they die off earlier than most displays and Apple won't provide an extended warranty without first buying a PowerMac.

Read the whole thing.

During the early 90s the American right came to be seen as dominated by its zealots, bigots and extremists.  It was the high-tide of people like Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell, and David Duke.  The Republicans (rightly) paid a political price for it. 

The blindly ideological right is always ready to take center stage. Those of us who consider themselves socially moderate but fiscally conservative (that also includes not just me but Instapundit's Glenn Reynolds, Steven Den Beste, John Hawkins of Right Wing News, and most of the other popular "right wing" bloggers) are always having to battle the the demons of those further right of us.  That would include the evangelical Christians who want to inject religion as much into public life as a means to impose their social beliefs onto the rest of us.  For the past few years, our portion of the "vast right wing conspiracy" has held the high ground and the result has been unprecedented series of electoral victories.

Now the American left, wrongly labeled as "liberals" (there's nothing "liberal" these days about the American left IMO) seems to be held hostage by its most bigoted, ignorant, and ideologically rigid elements.  Their militant, hateful, and intolerant ideology is not much different than the so-called "fascist" right wing extremists they claim to be against.

I find it disappointing how difficult it is to find a reasonable avatar of left-wing thought on-line.  So few left of center advocates are educated enough on the issues they debate on and the result is pure frustration.

The issues they argue about without knowing much about are many. Whether that be the issue of "Global Warming", an article of faith on the left that they defend as strongly as the evangelicals on the right defend "Intelligent Design".  Or that we're "bankrupting" the country through "Tax cuts for the rich".  Or the every-changing opposition of US foreign policy -- no matter what the US action is, it's the wrong thing (especially if it's against non-European dictators).  And then there is also the pervasive and irrational "Bush hatred" that seems to permeate many of the writings of the left on-line.

The problem isn't that the left of center ideologically is non-credible.  There are real arguments for environmentalism, social justice, multilateralism, and many other principles that the left espouse.  The problem is that the avatars of the left, particularly on the blogsphere are frankly, ignorant beyond belief.  A lot of my friends in "real life" are quite left of center. However, they can debate these issues with intelligent and articulate arguments. But they don't post on-line usually. 

And so we're left with what seems to be the dregs of the left who seem completely unfamiliar with any of the background details of the issues they so passionately argue. As an agnostic, I don't find religious arguments compelling. And too often, the left-wingers frothing on-line sound very much the same as the indoctrinated religious zealots they so clearly detest. And being indoctrinated, they have no need to educate themselves on things such as history, economics, anthropology, engineering or science. 

As a result, hordes of astonishingly ignorant but militant left wingers storm onto the net like a swarm of religious missionaries filled with certainty that their faith is the correct faith and that those who disagree with them aren't just wrong but are evil. Their opponents are heathens and heretics to be smited.  And their debate style is just as self-referencing and circular as the most dogged religious fanatics I've ever seen.

What the left needs are people who can espouse its principles in a mature, calm, rational and most importantly educated manner.  They need to look carefully at the facts and push on issues that they have the factual high ground on and abandon positions in which the facts don't support them.  But most importantly, they need to know what they are talking about on the issues they debate.  They need to do their homework and present their case in a rational, non-hysterical way.

Because otherwise, the left-wing political philosophies are going to become increasingly marginalized as the undecided's of the world mix the message with the messenger. And if that were to happen, we will all be a lot poorer.

Having just finished watching Volume 2 of the Cartoon Network's Star Wars: Clone Wars series, I am just amazed at how well done this series has turned out to be.  The stories are excellent. The pacing is outstanding. Terrific voice acting. And the action is everything we could have ever dreamed of.

One can only imagine how fans would have reacted if the team putting these together had had a shot to do Episodes I and II.  I suspect there would have been far less disappointment.  I am convinced that the problem is George Lucas.  He seems almost tone deaf when it comes to acting and his directorial skills leave much to be desired. 

I read the graphic novel adaption of Episode II and even though it's the same story, it's a much better, more compelling story than what is shown at the theater. It's all in the way the story is presented.  Even Episode I could have been a great epic story if Jar Jar wasn't in there, better child acting, and a few other tweaks. The story itself wasn't bad at all.

But Cartoon Network's Clone Wars cartoons are far better stories and far more entertaining than the movies are.  Anakin is presented how I think most fans always wanted to think of him as -- brash, heroic, impatient.  Not the pouty, angst-filled, quasi-teen we saw in Episode II.  In this series, we see why he is "The Chosen One".  And we see Obi-Wan and Anakin as a real team. As true friends.

And then there's the action.  We see Jedi's being Jedi.  Star War fans may love the Episode I Darth Maul light saber battle but that's nothing compared to the battle we see here.  We see the power difference between Yoda and other Jedi.  We see Mace living up to what we imagined. 

I would love to see this team go back and re-tell Episodes IV, V, and VI as cartoons.  I know I'd pay for that.

Greetings guys.  We're in the current issue of Computer Games Magazine. 

But I saw that we got raided and lost some members which is a bit of a bummer.  Comment here on what you would like to see and what's happening.

Want a quick lesson on how easy it is to create your own media player? Check out this video tutorial that's less than 5 minutes long using DesktopX 3. And if you have DesktopX Pro, you can export your media players as stand alone programs to send to anyone with Win2K/XP.

For years we've watched the media player wars.  AOL's Winamp vs. Microsoft Media Player.  In fact, there's been a whole whole of really cool skinnable media players over the years. And they all have one thing in common - they are very very difficult to create skins for. Even simple skins for Windows Media Player or WinAmp modern involve a considerable amount of coding. And then when you're done, it's just a skin that only works if the person has the right version of the media player installed.

What if there was another way? There is now. DesktopX 3.  With DesktopX 3 you can easily create your own MP3 players (along with pretty much anything else). You don't even have to know how to code to make them. It's just a matter of assigning the buttons and text and other elements with your images.  And if you have DesktopX PRO you can export your creations as stand-alone programs.  In the example pictured, that player is 500K - and it's a stand alone media player that can be assigned to work on its own or remote control Media Player, Winamp, or iTunes too.

To see how it's done, here's a 5 minute video demo of how to create a media player from scratch and export it -- the whole process takes only a few minutes.

Example: Make your own MP3 player

You can get DesktopX 3 at www.desktopx.net

A video overview of DesktopX 3 is now available. Learn how you can take your Windows desktop to the next level with the brand new DesktopX version 3.

DesktopX 3 Overview Video

You can download DesktopX 3 at www.desktopx.net. It is also part of Stardock's Object Desktop suite of desktop enhancement utilities.

One thing that sometimes is overlooked is that WindowBlinds skins can be very very simple.  Programs like SkinStudio make it easier to create fully featured skins that can change the entire look of the Windows GUI.

But what if you're just getting started and want to just make something pretty basic?  The link below is a tutorial I wrote awhile back that shows how easy it is to create a WindowBlinds skin. Just need Notepad and a few bitmaps and with 60 lines of instructions (including comments) you have a simple skin. 

Okay guys, we're heading out for the evening. We won't be around too much over the holidays as Stardock is closed until Tuesday.  We will read posts when we get back and probably some of us will check out things here. But there won't be any new updates to the game until we get back.

Have a happy Easter!