Open2Discussion
27 episodes - English - Latest episode: almost 4 years ago -A view about life, technology, art, and all things that people love to debate/discuss/argue about.
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Episodes
Here we go again...
August 07, 2020 04:01Those are the powerful words that Maynard opens the last song of Tool's most recent album: 7empest -- Fear Inoculum. This album released in 2019 is the soundtrack for the entire year of 2020. So let's jump right in... It's been a hell of a year this 2020 CE. So many things to unpack, so many lies told, and so many millions dealing with the loss of a job, loss of their homes, or loss of loved ones - surreal isn't even a strong enough word to describe this mess we're experiencing in the US ...
What? ISPs are going to "stop" innovating?
May 15, 2014 13:34I laid this out in my last post, but I'll make it clear again - ISPs in the United States don't care about customer service, they don't care about innovation, they care about the bottom line... that is all. In Ars Technica on Tuesday, they broke it down again. ISPs are making threats that if the FCC reclassifies internet service as a Title II common carrier service, they would stop "innovating". There is factual evidence that effectively shows ISPs stopped innovating a few years ago, and a...
Verizon FIOS isn't throttling data - they're simply not upgrading, and we don't care
April 08, 2014 20:45OK Verizon - I get it, you aren't slowing your customers' data speeds. At least not in the sense that you're prioritizing packets or providing preferential treatment to one data service over another. What you're doing is much worse. You're intentionally refusing to upgrade your trunks for your internet service to keep up with the demand imposed by customers that purchase services from companies like Netflix, YouTube. I see now what you're doing, and I'm not happy about it. I equate this is...
Art Through Adversity
August 14, 2011 07:14I might come back and do a timeline later. Here is O2D #7. Enjoy.
Dropping a Deuce
August 03, 2011 13:06Conrad and I decided to try out my iMac's podcast recording capabilities last week. I didn't put any fancy music into it like Josh does, but thought it turned out pretty well. It was just the two of us, and it was fun to just chat about some things and pass the time. I hope you enjoy. 00:00 - Google + 15:00 - MySpace / GarageBand 19:15 - Independent Video Game Developers 21:00 - Amy Winehouse is dead / Drugs are bad m'kay 26:00 - Netflix pricing increase / video streaming 36:00 - Bandw...
Google told me Happy Birthday!
June 30, 2011 13:59So apparently if you enter your birth-date into your Google profile, the Google homepage will tell you happy birthday!
Stroke the Furry Wall
June 27, 2011 04:19Here is episode 5, wherein our intrepid hosts are joined by two lazy bastards who should really join us more often. Show notes below. 1:10 intro 2:08 Regretful purchase 17:30 Green Lantern review 21:05 Green Lantern Movie and comic book spoilers 25:50 spoilers over 27:00 Rude movie viewers 39:45 Rude patron's Audio 43:00 FURRIES 46:00 Techincal difficulties 48:00 A special guest appears. It's not very effective. Then TV, Quick questions, and something about playing cake, for Co...
Don't Hack Me, Bro!
June 18, 2011 15:40Episode 4 of the Open2Discussion podcast titled Don't hack me, Bro! is available for your aural pleasure. This week we discuss Pen and Paper RPGs, Diablo III, Star Wars: The Old Republic, the ramifications of hackers, the Riots in vancouver, Game of thrones (WARNING: Spoilers from 49:30-100:00, regarding Episode 9), and general entertainment consumption. We also introduce a new, Conrad-approved, segment call Vs. Quick questions. Listen to find out our opinions of hacking, riots, and who...
HTC Evo Shift 4G - just got an update!
June 16, 2011 19:29I just checked my HTC Evo Shift 4G for an HTC firmware update (I have been every day since the big brother Evo got Android 2.3 Gingerbread). To my surprise, my phone showed there was indeed an update to version HTC firmware 2.76.651.4, and I started downloading it over the 4G connection. It took quite some time to download, so it appears to have been a big one. It ran and showed two different update screens with a green arrow pointing down and a bar going across the bottom against a black ba...
Wii Me? Wii U!! To the Cloud, Robin
June 10, 2011 14:59Open2Discussion's 3rd Podcast, entitled Wii Me? Wii U!! To the Cloud, Robin! In this week's discussion, we speak about the news out of E3, the WWDC Apple conference, and a wrestling match made in heaven... literally.
Hands off my Google Wallet!
June 01, 2011 20:23Just a rough draft of the 2nd podcast, due to updating the computer I'm working on. May re-upload later. Show notes to add later.
Um, Where'd it go?
May 22, 2011 04:26Here is Open2Discussion episode 1, tentatively titled "Um, Where'd it go?" Despite numerous technical difficulties, we were able to get an hour worth of discussion on topics like video games, movies, and entertainment news. Below are show notes: Intro 1:30 Who we are 4:15 What do you want from the podcast 5:15 New video games: 7:10 Portal 2: (SPOILERS 8:20-11:00) Multiplayer 11:00 Rating Portal 2: 17:45 Mass effect 2: 18:45 Rockstar games 21:15 PSN Network 25:45 Rapture 38:00 Sup...
What the hell is COICA?
February 19, 2011 20:16The RIAA/MPAA and apparently the US Government think: An artist must have copyright or else they will not be able to make a living, and nothing will be created. How about this... if that's the only job an artist has (selling copyrights), it's time to get a new one. When the US economy tanked in 2008, my previous employer decided they weren't going to give any raises for 3 years straight. However, the costs for healthcare, food, gasoline and living expenses skyrocketed. If I stayed at m...
Don't Touch My Junk, Man.
November 27, 2010 19:42So I don't normally follow the news but this latest "topic" popped it's way onto the forum I frequent and in my personal life as well. If you don't know what all the hub-bub is, bub, let me tell you. The TSA, that wonderful organization created in the wake of the 9/11 attacks, recently introduced two new security procedures: the back scatter x-ray which takes radiation based photos of your skin, and intensive pat downs. Some people cannot--or choose not to-- go through the machines for vari...
Don't Touch My Junk, Man.
November 27, 2010 19:42So I don't normally follow the news but this latest "topic" popped it's way onto the forum I frequent and in my personal life as well. If you don't know what all the hub-bub is, bub, let me tell you. The TSA, that wonderful organization created in the wake of the 9/11 attacks, recently introduced two new security procedures: the back scatter x-ray which takes radiation based photos of your skin, and intensive pat downs. Some people cannot--or choose not to-- go through the machines for vari...
It's Been a While...
November 22, 2010 15:32So there have been a bunch of changes to the things I use most these days, and most of the changes have been positive. I ended up ditching my iphone because the pin connector housing broke and it wouldn't charge anymore. By that time, the iPhone 4 had already been release but I just wasn't feeling Apple anymore. I don't use itunes--Zunepass is my music provider of choice now--and I just wanted to try something new. Enter Android. I ended up going with a Samsung Captivate, which I've been ...
Hey Apple and Steve Jobs - stop shooting your feet!
April 09, 2010 14:46OK, so everyone has gushed and gushed about the iPad. It's gorgeous and fun, and all that wonderful stuff, but let me make some serious points about why Apple seems to be the most brilliant and idiotic company on the face of the planet Earth. Google Adobe Verizon I'll start with the first two because it's basically the same story told twice. A long time ago, Apple and (Google/Adobe) had a great relationship. Their goals were basically the same - to beat Microsoft. The ties that bound ...
Thank you Veterans
November 11, 2009 15:04I haven't really found myself commenting on anything war related - but I think today it's worth noting that war is an inevitability. No matter how much people push for peace, there is going to be someone else pushing back. It's human nature - the need for conflict - internally and externally. Externally, we see violence as part of fulfilling that need. There are those of us who are willing to fight and die for these United States of America, and for that I am grateful. I've never fully unde...
Talk about bad luck - I'm cursed this month
October 22, 2009 14:44So a few posts ago I talked about how my PayPal account had been compromised, and I lost almost $500 from my checking account. Well, since then I've had absolutely the worst luck of any person I know of. I mean, it's like literally every single thing in my house or in my name decided it's about time to break, die, or fall apart. We'll start with the PayPal debacle. That was unfortunate luck, and it sucked when it happened, but eventually the bank sorted it all out, and I got my money back....
So it goes.
October 21, 2009 03:42So...it's been a month since I've written an update for O2D. If either of my readers were wondering why this might be, well part of it is explained by Doug's update below and my response to it, and the rest can be explained by using today as a microcosm of my life over the past month. Viewer Discretion Advised... About a year and a half ago I had a job that I quite enjoyed and that I was rather good at. My boss would say, "do this" and I would do it. I would write a grant application, I wo...
I'm social media overloaded!!
October 06, 2009 20:12So after so many months of trying out various social networking services to keep in touch with family and friends, I've got one final conclusion: There are too damn many social networking sites. While I can definitely see the intrinsic value of keeping in touch with old friends, or using micro-blogging as a means of advertising, it's simply too much to keep up with on a regular basis. Or I should say, it's nearly impossible to keep up with all of them. If you have a day-job, your company li...
Follow Up: You know you're in trouble when...
October 01, 2009 20:12So after going to my local bank's branch office, and signing 24 copies of the form that says "Under penalty of perjury, I did not authorize these charges" I had a hand-cramp. In speaking with the bank representative, he said that upon working with his ACH department he discovered that of all the unauthorized fund transfer complaints submitted to them - 93% were related to PayPal transactions. It turns out PayPal may have really screwed up here in terms of what happened with my account, and ...
DnD 4e session Debrief
October 01, 2009 19:24So our first official foray into Dungeons & Dragon's Fourth Edition was completed on Saturday. After weeks of prep, I finally unveiled my baby to our Playgroup: Mr. Misanthropology and his Mrs, DougV, and a gamer couple, Mr. Ego and Ms. Thrace. They played a Druid, a Rogue, a Warlock, A greatweapon Fighter, and a Paladin. At first I was worried that not having a dedicated healer would be a problem, but Thrace handled everything perfectly. And it was fun. But... Some things didn't work. We h...
You know you're in trouble when...
September 30, 2009 20:20So, what does it feel like to have your bank account information stolen, and money seemingly ripped from your account against your will? I had no idea what that feels like until this morning. Today I woke up like any other day, checked my email, etc. before heading off to work... Except I got a horrible surprise when I took a look at my Checking account balance. Apparently, overnight, a small video game company decided to charge me via my PayPal account almost $500 ($19.99 X 24 = $479.76...
Netflix and Hulu - where's the rest of the season?
September 21, 2009 14:28So a few months ago I decided to completely leave the subscription cable TV world and go to purely digital content and video streaming. My wife was a little hesitant because she was worried that she wouldn't be able to watch the local news and sports (we live in Pittsburgh - so football and hockey are staples)... but we decided it wasn't worth an extra $50/month for 1 or 2 days a week of sports and news. I kept the basic cable (23 analog channels) because the Comcraptastic service for int...
Top 40
September 17, 2009 15:56Popular. If I was a lame student beginning a term paper, I'd be using a quotation block to add a Webster's definition to that word. The way I did it would telegraph exactly how I intended to approach the topic. A single definition cherry-picked from the possible choices (usually number 3 or 4) is a statement: "this is how I am choosing to use this word. I will brook no dissent to my chosen definition and if you come at me with an argument using any other possible definition of the term, I w...
Welcome to the new Nerd-dom... same as the old Nerd-dom
September 17, 2009 01:20Sitting at my computer after sleeping for 23 hours--thank you sickness for my mini vacation--I figured that I would post a small update on my latest obsession: Dungeons & Dragons! Yes, yes. It's hardly new. It's been around almost as long as I have. However, last year they updated the rules yet again; this time it's 4th edition. I tried my hand at 3rd edition but found it too.... much. It had too big a scope and tried to be everything. I'm sure I could have cut it down, but I just felt li...