Bent Corner

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This from Softpedia.com:

iRotate is a free screen rotation utility, providing administrators, end-users and manufacturers of pivoting monitors with a standardized, simple mechanism to control screen orientation across multiple monitors, operating systems and graphics cards.

I have an LCD monitor that has the ability to pivot from the conventional landscape mode to not so conventional portrait mode. What I don’t have is a way of letting my computer know that I am switching from landscape mode to portrait mode - until now.

I tried using Pivot Pro when I first converted my monitor into having the ability to pivot, but I wasn’t keen on spending $50 for the non-trial version. CDisplay, The program I use the monitor in portrait mode for has pivot support built right in. It would be nice to surf the web with the monitor in portrait mode.

Do people still say “surfing the web“? At least I didn’t call it the Information Superhighway.

Download iRotate 1.32

Tags: CDisplay, iRotate, Pivot Pro

NBC Universal, the No. 1 supplier of digital video to Apple’s online iTunes Store has notified Apple that it has decided to not renew its contract to sell of television show downloads on iTunes. Supposedly NBC Universal wanted to have more control over how the television shows were sold to consumers. They evidently didn’t like how consumers had the option of paying $1.99 to download an episode. They wanted to force consumers into purchasing an entire season of a television show.

I’m a big fan of the iTunes $.99 music downloads and $1.99 television program downloads. I appreciate the ability to purchase only the media that I want. If I want to watch the first of Heroes, I shouldn’t have to purchase the entire season. That is what NBC Universal wants the power to do. They want to be able to force consumers into buying product they may not want.

What NBC Universal did is really quite laughable. This was free money for them. Apple was selling product that they had already used for programing on their television networks. They didn’t produce anything new for the iTunes Store. It was stuff that had already gone out over the air or through the cable. People were actually paying for media content that they themselves had been distributing for free. Leave it to NBC Universal to screw that up.

Greed is an awful thing. Now people who want to download digital episodes of The Office, Heroes, and Battlestar Galactica will have to do it the old fashioned way - they will have to bittorrent it.

Tags: Greed, iTunes, NBC

I thought I would follow up my review of the comic book software that is touted at the world’s #1 comic book collecting software with a review of the program that actually deserves the distinction.

It’s Comic Collector produced by Collectorz.com. It is hands down the best piece of comic book collecting software I have ever used. Though it doesn’t (as of yet) support a barcode scanner for adding comics to your collection, it does allow you to make entries automatically. Enter the series name and then select the specific issues you want to add. Comic Collector will then download all of that comic’s data, including the cover images from the extensive Collectorz.com Comic Database.

If you don’t want to go that route, you can still add comics the old fashioned way. Add one comic at a time or add an entire series. The choice is yours.

You can also edit the information you have for your comics. You can either edit the information for one single comic or edit multiple comics all at the same time. For instance, you can highlight all of the comics stored in a single long or short box and then do a group edit changing the location of these comics. That’s something you cannot do with ComicBase.

You can also view your collection any way you want to. The possibilities are limitless. You can view your collection by series, genre, publisher, location, or even by inker or colorist. Once again, you cannot do this with ComicBase.

You can also print very detailed and robust reports with Comic Collector. You can print reports showing comics you want to purchase or ones you already have or anything else you want a report of. It’s up to you.

My favorite feature and the thing that makes this software such a killer app is the ability to export your entire comic collection to your iPod. I made use of this the last time I went to a comic book convention and was able to pick up a lot of comics I did not have. I exported my entire collection to my iPod before I left for the con. All I had to do to access my collection was to click on Extras>Notes>Comic Collector and I would see a list of every comic title I owned. I would then scroll down to the specific title I wanted and select it. I would then see a list of the issues I owned. I was able to fill a lot of holes in my The Walking Dead collection by using this and I didn’t mistakenly purchase comics I already owned.

Not only can you export to an iPod, but to a PDA or Pocket PC. I’ve never tried this feature, but its there for people that want to use it.

You can download a fully functional trial version of this program to try. The only restriction is that you are limited to 100 comics. If you decide to buy the program, you have up to 30 days to change your mind. If it turns out that you don’t like it and wish you hadn’t spend the money on it, you can get a full refund.

When you compare Comic Collector to ComicBase, it’s really hard to figure out why ComicBase is the world’s #1 software for managing comic book collections.

I’ll be honest and admit that I don’t quite understand what attraction some gay men have with sexual encounters in public restrooms. I don’t even like using a public restroom to go to the restroom. Public restrooms are nasty and I don’t like using them unless I really need to.

Craig claims that he is not gay. Its hard to imagine why then he would plead guilty to disorderly conduct in conjunction to being arrested for lewd conduct in a men’s room.

This whole thing would be so much easier to understand if he was gay. It’s his assertion that he is a woman-loving heterosexual that makes this whole story really creepy. Being gay would only help to explain this whole thing, especially if he was a closeted Republican gay man.

The sad part about all this mess is that some people out there will take this story and conclude from this that all gay men like to troll public restrooms for gay sex. That’s simply not true. Gay men and women can be in committed relationships like anyone else. Why do conservatives so fervently battle the idea of gay marriage? If gay people are not capable of a committed relationship as they argue, why even bother trying to stop gay marriage?

Tags: Homosexuality, Larry Craig, Politics, Republican party

TV Guide has an interview with Jen from Big Brother 8. I thought it was an interesting interview. She was introduced on the show as being a nanny. In the interview, we learn that she is Vanna White’s nanny. We also learn why she went off her food restriction and ate regular food even though she wasn’t allowed to. As any Big Brother fan will tell you, she was supposed to only eat slop. She was the first in Big Brother history to break a food restriction and received a penalty vote because of it. That too was a Big Brother first. That means instead of getting voted off 5-0 by her five voting fellow contestants, the final tally was 6-0. Big whoop.

This is what Jen had to say about eating regular food and why she did it:

I was previously told it was OK to destroy Dick’s cigarettes, and then when I did it, I was told that they were going to replace them. I was really upset that I had gone through all that hassle, that I was going to deal with Dick being upset with me, and that I got nothing out of it. So I was like, “I’m just going to eat!” It was the only thing I could think of. But the sad thing is, I really did like being on slop. I actually gained weight on slop. It’s kind of like lumpy, chunky oatmeal.

So the Big Brother producers replaced his smokes. I was glad when Jen destroyed Dick’s cigarettes. He deserved it. He deserved to be punched in the throat. He constantly bullied and tried to intimidate the women, especially Jen. He obviously has issues with women. It was nice to see him lose so many of his precious cigarettes, especially at the hands of Jen. I thought it might actually make him think twice in the future about treating any of the remaining women like garbage if he had to face negative repercussions for it. Like getting his smokes destroyed. I get the impression that the producers want Dick to act that way towards the women. Imagine that.

I’m now convinced that Dick is plant. I think he was put on the show and told to act a certain way to help generate drama. If he was just another contestant who wasn’t working for them, they wouldn’t have replaced his smokes. When the Big Brother producers instructed Erik to destroy something of Jen’s and he smeared mustard on one of her shirts, did they then turn around and replace her shirt?

I was looking forward to Dick running out of cigarettes. What a shame the producers had to step in and screw with it.

Tags: Vanna White

Last year I purchased ComicBase Express. It is a comic book collection database program published by Human Computing. ComicBase has been out for years. I was always interested in owning it, but the price was always too rich for my blood. With the release of the ComicBase “express” version, owning the software was finally a possibility for me.

This from the official ComicBase website:

ComicBase Express is the ideal program for the budget-conscious collector. It comes with a massive, built-in database for over 275,000 comics, all with current pricing from the Comic Buyer’s Guide. It also sports over 5,000 cover images; a year of free, downloadable price updates; and the sleek, easy-to-use interface that ComicBase is famous for.

Unlike its Pro and Archive counterparts, ComicBase Express is compact enough to download, but still offers everything a collector needs to manage a serious collection.

I should point out that even though it is labeled as being for the “budget-conscious collector” it still sells for $49.95.

One of the reasons I wanted to purchase ComicBase was because it supports the use of a handheld barcode scanner. You can scan the UPC code on the cover of the comic and it will add that comic to your collection. Human Computing releases a download update file every week that contains the UPC codes for that week’s comics.

My initial reaction to the software was not good. The overall look of the interface left a lot to be desired. To say that it looked dated is putting it mildly. It looked like a computer program from 1994. It was also extremely slow and clunky. It took a very long time to load up and took even longer to close.

My real problem with the software was not how painfully slow it was or how ancient the interface looked. My main criticism was one of basic functionality. Even though it was advertised as having everything a collector needs to manage a serious collection, it would not allow me to enter a comic book’s actual physical location.

Unless your comic book collection is very small, you most likely have your comic books in more then just one location. I have comics in long boxes and short boxes. I have boxes on shelves and in closets. I wanted a way of keeping track of what box each comic was located.

I initially thought I was doing something wrong. It never occurred to me that a comic book inventory program would not have the capability to keep track of where a comic book was being kept. I went to the ComicBase forum and asked.

The response I got on the forum surprised me. I was told that my budget-conscious collector version of ComicBase didn’t allow me to use the location feature. I was told that if I wanted to actually keep track of a comic’s actual location, I would need to upgrade to the Professional version of ComicBase. The price for upgrading would be another $99.99.

I decided to stop using ComicBase and I went back to using my other comic book collecting program. It didn’t support the use of a barcode scanner, but at least I could easily enter where the comic was being stored.

I honestly don’t know how Human Computing can claim that ComicBase is the #1 comic book collecting software. Just because it’s the most expensive comic book collecting software doesn’t mean it’s the best.

Something I didn’t realize when I purchased the software was that the weekly updates are only free for the first year. After a one year, you must purchase a one-year subscription for $49.99 to continue downloading the updates. It is actually cheaper to buy a new copy of the software every year. The downloadable version of ComicBase Express is $44.99 and it includes a free one-year subscription to their weekly updates.

Thats just nutty.

“And as far as being me? I’m sure you’d lop off your right hand at the wrist to be me. If you knew what a wrist looks like”.

Rags Morales
responding to the online insults of Rob Liefeld

Though I am willing to apologize for this particular art book getting in the hands that found it offensive, I will adamantly agree that the book is not ‘harmful to children’ or ‘obscene.’ In my opinion, this book is no more offensive then viewing the beautiful paintings of the Sistine Chapel or reading one of the best selling books with stories of sex, lust and nudity known as the Bible.”

Gordon Lee February 07, 2005

What does the Sistine Chapel have in common with a comic where a nude Pablo Picasso is shown telling some naked chick to “Drink Penis“?

Georgia comic book shop owner Gordon Lee will be getting is day in court this week. I think I blogged about this case once or twice. I even got into some lively arguments about it on Newsarama. The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund (CBLDF) has spent a whopping $80,000 on the case and they are planning on spending yet another $20,000 before it is all over.

To read about the specifics of the case, you can go here.

The trial was scheduled to begin yesterday, but it had to be postponed due to a malfunctioning air conditioning system in the courthouse. Evidently justice is a dish best served cold. I seem to remember seeing old movies that take place in southern courtrooms. You see everyone sitting around in white linen suits fanning themselves with paper fans as slow moving ceiling fans oscillate overhead. Those were the days.

My feelings about this case are quite different then most comic book nerds. Imagine that. Though I don’t think Lee should go to jail, I do think he did the wrong thing when he allowed an adult themed book to get into the hands of a 6-year old.

I also think the CBLDF’s participation in this has actually exacerbated the case. In a perfect world, this case would have ended a long time ago with a plea bargain that included no jail time and maybe a $100 fine. Lee made a mistake, but it wasn’t the end of the world. Because the CBLDF is running the case, there can be no plea bargain. They have a policy of only taking on cases where the defendant agrees beforehand not to accept a plea bargain. Because of this, cases must either be dismissed outright by the prosecution or they must take the case to trial.

If a defendant does not agree to this no plea bargain condition, the CBLDF will not take on the case.

The CBLDF exists to defend against censorship of comic books. What happens if nobody is actually trying to censor comic books? We see them put all their resources into cases such as this.

Update: Not so fast. The trial has been postponed yet again. This time the judge is feeling ill.

Tags: CBLDF, Gordon Lee, Pablo Picasso, Sistine Chapel

The nondenominational High Point Church of Arlington, Texas canceled the memorial service for Cecil Howard Sinclair, a Navy veteran 24 hours before it was to start because the deceased was gay. How pathetically sad.

According to the man’s sister, Kathleen Wright, the church knew the man was gay when they offered to host the service. Sinclair’s brother works for the church as a custodian. When they learned of the brother’s death, they offered to host the memorial. They changed their mind though after there was a mention of the man’s life partner in his published obituary.

The High Point Church was founded by the Rev. Gary Simons and his wife April. She is the sister of Joel Osteen, pastor of the 38,000-member megachurch Lakewood Church in Houston.

It’s bad enough for this church to judge Cecil Sinclair and decide to treat him and his memory in a bigoted fashion. What’s worse is that they are able to enjoy tax exempt status while discriminating against a veteran. They pay no taxes on the massive amount of revenue they generate. I bet that Cecil Sinclair and his life partner paid their fair share in taxes.

Because churches are tax exempt in our country, High Point Church is being financially subsidized in part by the very people they discriminate against. People like Cecil Sinclair and his partner.

And that is wrong.

Link

Tags: Cecil Howard Sinclair, Discrimination, Gary Simons, High Point Church, Joel Osteen, Kathleen Wright, Lakewood Church

The prosecutor in Michigan is charging Pittsburgh Comicon organizer and comic book retailer Michael George with new charges.

George, 47 — who is accused in the slaying of his 32-year-old wife, Barbara, in his Clinton Township store — faces two new charges: insurance fraud and obtaining money under false pretenses.

“The proofs will show that nothing was taken,” said Macomb County Assistant Prosecutor Steve Kaplan.

He acknowledged that the murder charge is more pressing, but he said that George received $13,000 in insurance money.

George reported that two boxes of valuable comics were stolen from a back storage room during his wife’s murder. The police now contend that no comics were missing and that George simply made the whole thing up to receive insurance money and to make the police believe that the his wife’s murder was the result of a robbery gone bad.

Link

Previously on Bent Corner: More information about the Michael George, Pittsburgh comicon organizer Michael George arrested for murder