YATADU (Yet Another Thing Andy Doesn't Understand)

The point of adverts, as far as I understand, is that lots of people see them and thus want to buy your product/go to your movie/visit your country.

Why, then, do they go to extreme lengths to prevent people from downloading them and passing them around their friends?

I watched the trailer for Casino Royale earlier (looks pretty good), and I had to download a plugin to bloody well do it.  What on earth are they afraid of???

A new theory of being

Goatonapolism.

Become enlightened here.

Politics

Yesterday, on autopope's journal I said:

If Tony Blair lasts out the next couple of months without a challenge from someone I'll be extremely surprised.

and lo and behold today The Guardian reports:

If Mr Blair does not bow to the pressure backbench MPs intend to publish a letter, possibly by the end of next week, with as many as 75 signatures calling on him to agree the transition or face a formal challenge.

So - any bets on how much longer he lasts?

[Poll #723669]

Announcements

1) Wilby Wonderful is a lovely little whimsical Canadian movie (why do the words whimsical and Canadian go together so well) which has various stalwarts of Canadian cinema in it, including Callum Keithe Rennie, Paul Gross and Sandra Oh.  It's the kind of quiet, uplifting film which is worth watching on a quiet afternoon.

2) I picked up a Saitek gamepad for my PC and it's transformed my playing of TrackMania: Nations.  Playing driving games without an analogue stick is a vast improvement over a keyboard and the only reason I hadn't done it before is some kind of brain-lock whereby I thought that joypads were for consoles and keyboards were for computers for _no good reason_.

3) spidermonster recommended Warning Forever, a perfect little vertical scrolling shoot-em-up that, incidentally, worked perfectly with the gamepad and was great for a few minutes distraction.  I'll have to go back later and have another go.  Possibly repeatedly.

4) The aforementioned TrackMania Nations is horrifically addictive.  I've only been playing the practice tracks so far, but trying to shave a few seconds (or tenths thereof) by taking that curve just a _little_ closer (without hitting the edge) can keep me playing for ages.  And it's free.  And it runs extremely well in 1280x1024 on my (now old) Athlon XP 2600.  Give it a go!