We here at eD! The Musical would like to apologize to Nick Middlebrook, his family, and his friends, for our error in this post regarding his name. We wrongly called him “Rick” instead of “Nick.”

Or we would be sorry, if, you know, we were a news organization and not a commentary site. Also, my mistake doesn’t change the fact that his letter made him sound like a tool, which is the point I was really going for.

…the basic layout will stay the same, but I’m messing with the CSS of the site because IE doesn’t wanna play well with me. I guess it’s ’cause I talk about Macs a lot.

So, if things start looking insane, don’t think you’re loosing your mind… unless you are… then, uh, sorry ’bout that.

Over at TheBrandonShow.com, there is a reprinting of a letter sent to the SUNY Potsdam school newspaper, The Raquette, by a Mr. Rick Middlebrook, who goes into a dissertation on how “unfunny” The Brandon Show is.

Now, usually, I wouldn’t let something like that bother me; I’m not actually on the show anymore and, I will admit, sometimes a few jokes fall flat. However, the ratio of winners to losers in the way of comedic content is far higher than that of Jay Leno, for instance. And, you know, I write the Suck And Swank for it, which I’m told is funny. By strangers, no less.

So, I’d like to take this time to respond to Mr. Middlebrook’s letter, which has also inspired me as to what I can write for my 100th post since eTM.com started, which is just 6 posts away.

Read his letter here, then read mine, after the break. And, although Brandon calls him “Meat Hook,” the guy’s name is “Middlebrook.” Fact checking… what a concept!
[ Continue ]

Just because I feel bad that I left a lot of you hanging last week, I unlocked it early. It’s one of the better ones, so enjoy!

Remember when I linked you to a video with Growning Pains star Kirk Cameron and that guy who’s name was rockin’ for porn? Well, I just discovered they have an entire website.

Now, I’m not linking you there to force religion down your throat… if you ever see me doing that, please, send me a lot of hate mail… I just wanted to point out that it looks and feels more like a site for a first-person shooter game than some form of religious conversion.

Check it out here. Oh, and just click “Yes” on the beginning thing about “Are you a Christian?” “No” takes you to some boring ten commandments thing, and really kills the whole comedy of it.

Well, check it out.

There is now a bill going through Congress that would allow companies like AT&T and Verizon to have a greater control in deciding what should go on the internet.

This sounds all sorts of shady to me… what’s gonna happen to the First Amendment on the internet if/when this happens? Could be nothing, the internet continues business-as-usual, and you can get your porn 24/7. Or, it could be where Amazon becomes the “Official Site of The Verizon Internet” and, should you be connecting through Verizon, BarnesandNoble.com won’t work.

I’m not one to openly support online petitions (ever since mine, which championed the cause of bringing Raspberry Kool-Aid back to store shelves, was proven to be totally useless), but there’s one on SaveTheInternet.com to try and stop this crap.

Go, sign it. I mean, unless you want the terrorists to win or something.

UPDATE:

I filled out the petition, which gave you a large spot to add your own thoughts. While I may have spread it a little thick with my hyperbole, but I think it may help, given that politicians eat that sort of thing up like I eat cupcakes.

If you want to use this in your own letter, go right ahead. If you want to just send it as the site formats it, also cool. Just, please, send something.

When AT&T’s CEO, Edward Whitacre, tried to win you over by saying there are “people” (which I would assume means Google, Amazon, etc.) that “what they would like to do is use [his] pipes free,” he was spinning what happens on the internet on its head, as to make it look like he was being cheated out of capital.

Now, I’m not one to say that companies shouldn’t make money off of services they provide; quite the opposite. That’s how business works, after all. However, websites like Google aren’t using his “pipes” for free… in fact, they’re not using his “pipes,” technically, at all.

As I’m sure you know, people who have websites pay for domain hosting, which is basically renting (or owning, in the case of Google, et. al.) a computer to handle the displaying of their site. If no one views that page, then there is no “pipe” being used or, in the view of Mr. Whitacre, abused. However, if one of Mr. Whitacre’s customers, who get their internet access via AT&T, goes to that site, then the “pipe” has been opened, and the user can view the site.

What Mr. Whitacre seems to be unable (or, perhaps, unwilling) to grasp is that, as I explained above, the sites themselves do not use any “pipes” his company may have laid out. They use their own network, and those who have sites pay monthly fees to their host to allow people access to their content. It is those customers, who pay AT&T a monthly fee for their access, who are using his “pipes,” which is the service AT&T is providing.

What has made the internet successful? Free speech. If you hand control of the internet to Mr. Whitacre, and his counterparts at Verizon and Comcast, the entire concept of free speech goes out the window. If I begin to discuss how much I hate one of these company’s services on my blog, will they block access to my site in retaliation? They may say that they won’t, but who can really tell what will happen a few years from now?

This legislation will create an atmosphere of fear on the internet, and will cripple the freedom of expression that is one of the foundations this country was built upon.

These are the freedoms we are going to war to protect, and bring to other nations. What would those soldier’s brave sacrifices be for if we allowed our own country to fall into the hands of corporate terrorists?

I simply ask you to think of the ramifications that this legislation could have on the country.

Thank you for your time and consideration in this matter.

Check out this video where a gentleman named Ray Comfort, who sounds like he should be in porno movies, attempts to prove the existance of God with the shape of a banana.

It’s odd. And, yes, sitting next to Mr. Comfort is Kirk Cameron, former star of Growing Pains.

“Irregardless” isn’t a word. Well, it is, but not a legit one with any meaning.

Seriously, look at it! The prefix “Ir-” means “without,” the suffix “less” means “without,” so, logically, “irregardless” means “without without regard,” therefore, “with regard.”

Sorry, I heard about 27 people use it yesterday at work, and it drove me slightly more insane than usual.

Apple released their 17″ MacBook Pro the other day. For $2799.99, you get a 2.16GHz Processor, a screen that displays up to 1680×1050 resolution, 1GB of DDR2 RAM, 120GB SATA hard drive, 8x SuperDrive, and an ATI Radeon x1600 with 256 GDDR3 graphics memory.

Now, first of all, that is one awesome setup… and, naturally, I want one, since I’m an Apple whore. And, with its ability to run BootCamp and Parallels, it kicks the crap out of the Alienware m5700 when configured to as close to the same specs for about $2200, and that’s without the graphics that Apple is giving you.

However, I’m still waiting for the iBooks that are rumored to be coming, which would carry a lower pricepoint. ‘Cause I’m poor.