2012 Review

I guess I should've written this on Friday when I saw the movie, but so be it.

Two-thousand and twelve was one of those "end of the world movies", obviously. I don't like these movies, the plot is dull. "Run away! ... Run away again! ... Run away from more stuff! ...We ran away! :D"

That said, at least The Day After Tomorrow had a good plot, you know... save the kid bip bop and all that. But 2012 didn't, it was just running away from stuff, the rest was filler to extend the movie by like an hour. That said, the movie was ironically way too long.

As humorous as the crazy hobo radio DJ in the movie was, it still didn't make it a good movie. But I'm not going to lie I like shit my pants during those scenes. This however makes a good aspect for children or preteens. My friends seemed to enjoy the movie but they are kind of dipshits, so I'm not quite sure thats a good quote.

Overall, it was just a special effects show. An excuse to shove John Cusack in the middle of CG animated volcanoes. Not to mention, the actors where dreadful anyways. If you have older kids (but not teenagers, I don't think.), sure.. see this movie. But otherwise I'd stay away from it... it was Knowing all over again.

- MixedDrink

New Design

In case you havent noticed, I did a redesign for my blog. Like it or not, comment please. I'd really love your feedback! 

...and as per request, Molly Ringwald and Lazers.

Thanks!

     - MixedDrink 

The History of the Mouse

"It would be wonderful if I can inspire others, who are struggling to realize their dreams, to say 'if this country kid could do it, let me keep slogging away'." - Douglas Engelbart

This man invented the mouse.

Yes, that thing in your hand thar'? That random object that magically moves the pointy thing on the screen, so you can scroll through your porn and pictures of cats doing funny things? Have you ever thought twice about it?

A lot of people think the mouse was invented by Apple Computers, fail. Xerox stole the idea, sorry Doug. Xerox computers however, in the 80's were expensive as all hell. So naturally Apple did what they do best and steal ideas from complete failures. (Infact, a patent filed in the late 19th century for a music player looks suspiciously like the original iPod. The man who filed this patent could never get the money together, and he lost the patent. It was to hold up to two songs.)

"Muhahaha! YOUR MINE." - Apple PR Rep, circa 1972

The first mouse was nothing more than a couple of metal wheels in a wooden case. It had limitations, such as only being able to move on X and Y axis. Try it, try and click on something without moving your mouse diagonally. Hard right?

In 1972, one Bill English was to recognize the mouses flaws and fix them. It could roll in eight different directions. Meaning up and down, sideways and diagonally. Great success!

Ergonomics at its best.

Trackball mouses however, and incredibly outdated by today's standards. You are very likely using an Optical mouse. You know, the glowing red light on the bottom? Its not just for looks, although it may be fascinating!

One of the first Optical Mouse patents was filed by Steve Kirsch of Mouse Systems. This was in 1980, and unluckily for him... the technology didn't gain traction until the following decade. It seems people were far too busy for pretty red lights back in the 80's.

Screw computers! Rubix cubes are the way of the future!

Unless you own Apple's mighty mouse, your probably use your scroll wheel a good bit. The scroll wheel was invented by Eric Michelman in 1995, and is widely sucessful. However, like many of these geniuses, he probably didn't get any of the cut. I think its wise to stay away from the mouse business.

The mouse hasn't exactly changed in enough of a way for us to give a shit about until the advent of Multi-touch, increasingly common on laptop trackpads. Apple Computers has developed the "Magic Mouse", a mouse device that basically throws a laptop trackpad on top of an awkward mouse.

..and it still only has one button.

We shall see what the mouse has for us in store in the future, hopefully with some kind of futuristic crystal ball typed thing. But for now, the mouse was left us with Carpel tunnel, and a warm fuzzy feeling in our hearts. Unfortuanetly, Douglas Engelbart never made a penny off of the mouse. But we shall remember him, and his wooden box.

- MixedDrink

I learned a lot of this information (and borrowed some images, for none commercial purposes) from gearlog.com. Thanks GearLog!