Head over to http://moviebuddies.net wetwireds sister site to get the latest on movie news trailers, and participate on the forums. The idea behind movie buddies is basically allowing people who are movie fans to discuss and schedule meets to go and see movies as a group. The site has not officially launched but you can get a sneak peak, sign up on the forum now for a limited time! How’d you like that corporate advertising speach? Anyway, check it out, we like it, and we are looking for help with it as well.
Archive for July, 2006
Roger Ebert aparently didn’t like M. Night Shyamalan’s latest movie Lady in the Water. It boils down to a fairytale that originanted from him telling a story to his daughters. Of course thats one freaky fairytale to tell your kids.. but hey, if you’ve seen the American Express commercial, then you can expect it. Aparently its too confusing for the self absorbed movie critics who are looking or expecting some hidden meaning. Maybe beacause this movie lacks Shaymalan’s trademark “twist” at the end, they felt the need to bash it. The funny thing is, if you look a the reviews for the Village, they didn’t like that movie either.
Shyamalan is one of the movie industry’s most bankable directors, with his four major films–”The Sixth Sense,” “Unbreakable,” “Signs,” and “The Village”–achieving an average domestic gross of $160 million, which compares favorably to numbers rolled up by Steven Spielberg, Peter Jackson, and the Wachowski brothers. In terms of revenue, Shyamalan far outpaces better-known contemporaries like Quentin Tarantino, Tim Burton, Cameron Crowe, Kevin Smith, and the Farrelly brothers.
His films have featured actors from a revolving troupe drawn from all Hollywood strata: A-listers (Mel Gibson, Bruce Willis); children (Haley Joel Osment, Rory Culkin); young stars (Joaquin Phoenix, Adrien Brody, Bryce Dallas Howard); veterans (William Hurt, Sigourney Weaver); a Tony winner (Cherry Jones); and Samuel L. Jackson (Samuel L. Jackson). His next film, “Lady in the Water” is scheduled for a July release and stars Paul Giamatti and Howard. And like his prior movies, it was filmed in Pennsylvania, where Shyamalan lives.
So ignore the bad press, because if you like M Nights previous movies, most likley you’re gonig to enjoy this one as well.
This one comes from Wizbang
The BlogSpot site That Girl Emily has been exposed as a viral marketing campaign designed to look like a personal blog. The exact company behind the site is not yet known, but it is known that they’ve spent serious cash on two billboards - one in NYC and one in LA.
That Girl Emily’s use of your Blogspot hosted blogging servers violates at least two of your Terms Of Service:
(c) impersonate any person or entity, including, but not limited to, a Pyra [former owners] official, forum leader, guide or host, or falsely state or otherwise misrepresent your affiliation with a person or entity;
(i) “stalk” or otherwise harass another;
The entire site is a misrepresentation, and the central theme of the site is that it will be publicizing a “14 days of wrath” harassment campaign by a jilted wife against her cheating husband.
The longer the hoax site remains online, the more likely speculation will emerge that Google approves of (or is being paid for) hosting the campaign. With the hoax exposed it’s only a matter of time before people begin asking why Google is allowing it to continue.
If you have a blogger ID you can login and report the TOS violation right here. If you’re not a Blogger user you’ll have to find an e-mail address at one of the official Google blogs and send them your own e-mail.
More at Gawker
But the question remains: What is this a campaign for?
A source passes along the following: “it’s a promo for a show on Court TV. They approached a few writers to do this character Emily for a few weeks, then to do the viral marketing thing to hook people.” Which seems sensible, given that Court TV’s promo budget likely only includes cash for a couple of billboards on either coast and a bunch of free blogspot blogs. Still, until we’ve got any definitive proof, we’re guessing it’s for some kind of pill that you take to reduce outbreaks of your STD’s. “Steven” may be poorly endowed, but we bet he’s got a full-blown case of syphilis.
Six Apart Has released the full version of 3.3, and once again opened up the restrictions they had on authors and bloggers. They now offer an Enterprise edition of the software, call me jaded but I paid a chunk of change even as a “non-profit” and never really made use of the support.
So who has made the move to 3.3 yet? Anyone have any problems? I’m thinking about making the move this weekend.
WASHINGTON - The Homeland Security Department wasted hundreds of thousands of dollars last year on iPods, dog booties, beer-making equipment and designer jackets, congressional investigators have concluded.
More than 100 laptop computers and a dozen boats also bought by Homeland Security employees are missing, the investigators found.
Poor training, lax oversight and rampant confusion over what employees are allowed to buy with government-issued purchase cards left Homeland Security “vulnerable to fraud, waste and abuse,” according to a draft report by the Government Accountability Office, Congress’ investigative and auditing arm.
The report was to be released Wednesday by a Senate panel that oversees the department.
Senators said more than 10,000 Homeland Security employees carry purchase cards for business-related expenses — with a spending limit that was raised to $250,000 for emergencies after Hurricane Katrina hit last Aug. 29. Aides said the audit covered expenses for a five-month period both before and after Katrina.
But investigators found that employees received scant training on how to use the cards, were given little or lax supervision and were told to follow spending guidelines that differed among the 22 agencies that make up the department.
The department spent $435 million with the purchase cards in the 2005 budget year, compared to $296 million in 2004, Homeland Security spokesman Russ Knocke said Tuesday evening. But he said only a fraction of the expenses were improper, noting that the department has disciplined about 70 employees amid 1.1 million purchases.
“Comparatively, we’re talking about a small number of bad apples,” Knocke said.
Among the expenses that investigators described as abusive or otherwise questionable:
_More than 2,000 sets of dog booties, costing $68,442, that have sat unused in storage since emergency responders decided they were not suited for canines assisting in Gulf Coast recovery efforts.
_Three portable shower units for $71,170 from a contractor who investigators said overcharged the government. Customs and Border Protection agents could have gotten similar showers for nearly a third of the price — and faster.
_12 Apple iPod Nanos and 42 iPod Shuffles, worth $7,000, for Secret Service “training and data storage.” Because the Shuffles cost less than $300, the Secret Service said they were not required to track them to ensure they were used properly.
_37 black Helly Hansen designer rain jackets, costing nearly $2,500, for use in a firing range that the Customs and Border Protection purchaser later acknowledged shuts down when it’s raining.
_Conference and hotel rooms at a golf and tennis resort at St. Simons Island in Georgia, worth $2,395, for training 32 newly hired attorneys when they could have used a nearby federal law enforcement training center.
_A beer brewing kit and ingredients for more than $1,000 for a Coast Guard official to brew alcohol while on duty as a social organizer for the U.S. Coast Guard Academy. “The estimated price for a six-pack of USCG beer was $12,” the investigators noted, adding: “Given that the six-pack cost of most beers is far less than $12, it is difficult to demonstrate that the Academy is achieving cost savings by brewing its own beer.”
Investigators also noted that Customs and Border Protection wasted up to $464,586 by buying meals-ready-to-eat over the Internet instead of contracting through the Pentagon, as is standard procedure. And they found that the Federal Emergency Management Agency cannot locate 107 laptops, 22 printers and two GPS units worth $170,000. FEMA also cannot find 12 of 20 boats the agency bought for $208,000.
Knocke, the Homeland Security spokesman, said the department will begin enforcing new spending guidelines in the next several weeks that should eliminate much of the confusion and make sure buys are strictly supervised. Violators could have their cards taken away, be forced to repay expenses and face disciplinary action, he said. “We take very seriously our responsibility to be good stewards of taxpayer dollars,” Knocke said.
The senators who ordered the investigation — Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Joe Lieberman, D-Conn. — described Homeland Security as negligent in preventing the shopaholics among its ranks. The two lead the Senate’s Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.
Homeland Security “left the door wide open for these abuses,” Collins said.
Added Lieberman: “That is hard to believe.”
An Open Letter to Budget Rental
It is on very rare occasion that I make a decision to express my
dissatisfaction towards another business partner. Unfortunately this is one
of those occasions, so I apologise up front if this email sounds slightly
abrupt. First and foremost, I would like to commend your Budget location in
Norfolk, VA. Airport, they were prompt, concise and very pleasant to work
with. The car was ready for me as soon as I walked off the plane, so to
speak.
I am a Hertz Number 1 club gold member, an Enterprise business partner, and
more recently a Budget member with your Fast Break program. Like all of my
previous business trips, I reserve a vehicle several weeks prior along with
my airline reservation and when reserving I provide at least a time and a
flight company with my reservation; which I am sure is what is desired by
all rental car companies in order to ensure enough vehicles are ready to
meet demand. So with this thought I have a serious complaint against your
Baton Rouge La. Location located at their airport. Upon arriving to the
counter I was informed that no cars were available at this time and that it
would be approximately 20 minutes and that 5 other people were in front of
me waiting as well. Apparently they were several cars but they were in the
process of being cleaned. When I inquired about the Fast Break they
explained that their office was not a participating member of the program.
This of course does not make sense because your marketing material is all
over describing it. Now in looking at your website I do see a note that
the fast break is not available at that specific location, but the small
print makes it easy to overlook.
Over the course of the next hour I witnessed 3 fully cable employees sit
back and talk about what they planned on doing the next weekend while a
single employee lackadaisically took one set of keys, walked outside cleaned
and then came back in and took another set of keys. This slow agonizing
process, after being in airport after airport was generally unbearable. I
will point out that several of the other rental car companies did have cars
available for rent, but since my card had already been charged, and the 3
employees kept assuring me that it would only be a few more minutes, I
decided it was not worth the hassle to bother canceling and then renting
from another company. In hindsight I do see the error on my part. Had I
rented from Thrifty or Hertz or Enterprise, I would not have to had waited
for over an hour, in fact it would have only taken 10 minutes.
My name was finally called and I was given a KIA Sorrento car #4298011. The
car was a brand new car, still had temporary plates, and sticker on the
glove box. But after a quick glance, I discovered the windshield was
cracked, the carpet was stained and the cleaning process that took over an
hour for my waiting did not happen; only some car freshener was sprayed.
For a car that had only been driven 3500 or so miles, already it showed wear
and tear for a vehicle after 25,0000 miles. To make matters worse upon
turning on the engine, I discovered the check engine light was on. When i
enquired I was told not to worry and it was fine. Sure I could have just
waited another 30 minutes for another car, but honestly after traveling for
hours and then waiting over an hour, who in their right mind would want to
wait any longer?
My companyXXXXXX (www.XXXXX.com) only employes several hundred employees,
which in business terms is not a large company, but our competition are XXX
companies of which the like are XX, XXXXXX, XXXXXX etc. A year ago our
company had under 100 employees but recently we’ve seen exponential growth
and will continue to grow. Currently, at any given time we have 10-15
employees traveling which would mean if we gave Budget all of our business
we’d be renting 10-15 vehicles at a time at an average cost of $200 a week.
That means on average $3000 per week, or $150,000 per year of potential
business. Now that may not be much to a large corporation such as Budget.
But on the whole, is loosing the relationship of a small company, and
$150,000+ a year revenue worth not trying to fix a locations problems?
Meaning customer relation issues, availability of vehicles, and employees
that seem quite lackadaisical. I would hope that Budget would take the time
out to resolve issues such as this so in the future problems, like the
above, will be avoided and my company will not look elsewhere for a business
partnership.
Thank you for your time,
Pylorns
Senior IT Consultant,XXXX XXXXXXXX
XXXXXX@xxxxxx.com
www.xxxxx.com
Rental Agreement No.XXXXXXXXX
Fast Break#XXXXXX
So what do you guys think about this whole Israel-Hezbollah thing? Personally, I’m thinking this is a good thing. Not in a War is good type of thing, but a “thank god someone else in the Arab world is finnally addressing the same people we’ve been dealing with.” Meaning it takes the heat of the US that another country is dealing with Iran/Syria backed militants. Are you aware how technologically advanced the IDF is?
What are your thoughts?
I’ve entered into a “contract”, or rather an agreement with a new Artist to design color graphics (drawn) for wetwired, and possibly future work for Magnified Designs. So needless to say some point this fall, wetwired will be re-launched with a new design. But don’t worry the old design will still be around, you’ll be able to choose between to two.. At least I’m hoping so.
Anyway in the mean time, I’m looking for something interesting to redesign, so if your interested comment and leave me your current site and what you’re looking for and maybe if I’m inspired, I’ll hook you up.
Top 20 of 762 Total Search Strings
# Hits Search String
1 843 18.54% midgets
2 657 14.45% huge tits
3 233 5.12% huge breasts
4 148 3.25% large breasts
5 134 2.95% blow up dolls
6 115 2.53% mary cary
7 95 2.09% superman’s son
8 94 2.07% dodge challenger
9 80 1.76% 2006 dodge challenger
10 68 1.50% natural breasts
11 65 1.43% boob jobs
12 65 1.43% large tits
13 62 1.36% natural tits
14 60 1.32% boob
15 50 1.10% ken caminiti
16 48 1.06% huge boob
17 44 0.97% huge women
18 39 0.86% breasts
19 38 0.84% christopher reeves
20 38 0.84% women tits
YES!!! Midgets are the top search string. Thank you, thank you, I’ll be here .. for a while. Of course all the rest are about tits, or huge tits..
Thats right from the horses mouth. And damn was that movie ( Clerks II ) funny. For those of you that don’t know, Austin had a sneak premier tonight of Clerks II. Writer and Director Kevin Smith flew in to introduce it, and then answered questions afterwards. Dav1x, Amy and myself managed to get tickets.. at $37 bucks a pop. wow someone thought about that one…
After the movie, Dav1x stated its the best that Kevin smith has ever done, and me, I tend to agree. Dav1x continued saying that the movie left you seeing a more mature Smith, one that has actually made it as a film maker. Starting the film, you get the sense that its going to be all the same old humor:dick and fart jokes. But walking out you realize that its all new dick and fart jokes. Er um, no, you realize that its a new sort of movie, while funny and juvenile, it turns out to be a real movie( as opposed to a fake one) in that its got some meaning to it. Of course the Silence of the Lambs bit and the pillow pants bit are both pure genius.
And in case your wondering, yes the fat bastard was there. Like any of Austin Film screenings, you can expect it; He and his father both sporting wheelchairs I might add.
Here is Kevin outside the paramount on the red carpet.
And after the movie he gave a question and answer session that lasted for as long if not longer than the movie. You can clearly see that his wit in his writing is exactly the same as in person. And the man loves myspace. I mean, is addicted to it.
Thanks Kevin for coming to Austin and giving out the free swag, although since we bought our tickets online we didn’t get a chance, but unlike the other people that bitched and whined we were happy just to see you in person.
That, Ladies and Gentlemen, is the amount that Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest took in on Friday.
One day. 55 mil.
FUUUUUUCK.
Out.
http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/07/07/bush.chicago.ap/index.html
Bush seeks world support for Korea condemnation
CHICAGO, Illinois (AP) — President Bush said Friday he is determined to rally world support in confronting North Korea over its missile tests to send a “loud and clear” message to the communist regime.
He said North Korea was not like dealing with Iraq. There, he asserted, he decided to launch the 2003 invasion after exhausting diplomatic options.
“You know, the problem with diplomacy is it takes a while to get something done” while “acting alone, you can move quickly,” Bush said.
In a rare out-of-town news conference, he also vowed to keep hunting for terror leader Osama bin Laden, a search that has been fruitless in the nearly five years since the September 11 attacks.
“No ands, ifs or buts, my judgment is it’s a matter of time — unless we stop looking, and we’re not going to stop looking as long as I’m president,” Bush said.
He said he wanted to make clear to North Korean leader Kim Jong Il “with more than one voice” that the world condemned the test firing this week of seven missiles, including a long-range missile that failed.
Bush said the United States had “a reasonable chance” of shooting down the long-range missile, if it had not failed.
But he also said, “Our anti-ballistic systems are modest, they are new.”
The setting for Bush’s rare out-of-town news conference was the rotunda of Chicago’s Museum of Science and Industry. He stood in front of a large photograph of Chicago skyscrapers. The setting underscored the lengths the White House went to to pose the president outside of Washington.
Bush gave a rambling 15-minute opening statement in which he talked about Chicago’s vibrant economy, the war on terrorism and the war in Iraq.
Bush is spending more time on the road this summer — and less time vacationing on his Texas ranch — as part of a public-relations effort aimed at boosting his low standing in polls and GOP chances in this fall’s midterm elections.
“It might do me some good,” Bush said.
Following a government report showing unemployment holding steady at 4.6 percent in June, Bush also praised the U.S. economy. “Productivity is high, people are better off, people are working,” he said.
Bush said immigration was one of the top issues in this midterm election year. “The system we have now isn’t working,” he said.
———————–
Seriously. That portion about rambling? Any little bit they can get to make a sinde comment. I’ll admit he does ramble, but our Media should not be anti-bush, they should not be anti-anything they should be neutral and report the news without opinion.
These two women have some issues between them. Both of them decided to get photo shoots, one of them looks like she fell out of the fat tree hitting a few branches, and when she landed they threw on the bags under her eyes. The other, well, you be the judge. Lets just say I wouldn’t kick her out of bed on a cold night, unless it was to do it on the floor. But hey, that’s just my opinon I could be wrong.
Me I’m looking to start a fund for both of them. The wetwired Mud wrassle fund. You see I want to see them both in a bunch of mud, half nekked, well, only one of them half nekked, the other needs to be clothed. Anyway they need to take their troubles out in the ring!
Click on each photo to enlarge.
Take a look at the tower, notice anything strange? Yes, thats lightning hitting the tower at the same time. High-Res pictures upon request.
Happy 4th of July, remeber the real reasons we celebrate this day.
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