How Formula One is becoming more like the WWE

This past week the FIA International Court of Appeal upheld the time penalty given to Lewis Hamilton in the Belgium Grand Prix, giving Felipe Massa the win instead of Hamilton in said Grand Prix. It also affected the drivers standings as Hamilton's lead over Massa was reduced to just one point, making it easier for the Brazilian to take the title fight to the finish.

No matter that the Belgium GP was probably the best race this season, and that Hamilton clearly gave back the lead to Raikonnen on the disputed call. The F1 powers that be turned everything back so that Ferrari maintained its lead over McLaren in the championship.

Earlier this season the FIA president Max Mosley was involved in a tabloid scandal, where he apparently took part in S&M games, dressed as a Nazi. He was almost forced to resign, but he stayed on.

So you got the Dusty Finish (Hamilton's win in Belgium overturned), scandals with the president of the company (Mosley), a fierce feud between the two top factions (Ferrari and McLaren), and a seemingly unbridled willingness to manipulate the results so more people will tune in to see what's next... Tell me what part of the previous is not EXACTLY like WWE. Just replace Mosley by Vince McMahon, Ferrari by Triple H, McLaren/Hamilton by CM Punk, and you pretty much got your episode of RAW right there.

I am quite interested to see how F1's version of Hell in the Cell (i.e. the Singapore night Grand Prix) will work out. That does sound like a great idea.

Extracurriculars

There could be many reasons to do extracurriculars besides your work, even when you don't have the time normally to actually do those.

• It could be an extra challenge you need
• Somebody could have put you up to it
• You may wanted the extra company
• or the extra money or fringe benefits
• or worse... you could have been seduced by the promise of sex

Now why would someone doing extracurriculars want to get out:

• the above reasons have either been fulfilled or faded away
• priorities have changed
• a more compelling reason against extracurriculars arose
  

But if you love what you were doing, what would be that compelling reason?

This is why I watch football

Imagine Colts vs. Jaguars in Indiana. The former has the most prolific quarterback-receiver tandem in the NFL (after Brady's injury), the Jags have not one but two backs who can run for 100 yards per game.

With 56 seconds to go in the game Manning managed a scoring drive which gave Indiana a 21-20 lead. Granted it was an impressive drive, which made me believe the Colts have it in the bag. Al they needed to do was frustrate the Jacksonville Jaguars for slightly under a minute to win their first game in their new stadium. Considering Jacksonville had been running all day long, and didn't show much of a passing game, I thought a comeback wasn't forthcoming... and so I turned off the TV and went to bed.

The next morning the headline read "Scobee's late 51-yard FG sends Jags past Colts".

This is why I watch football. You can win and lose a game in a minute, and you're never out of it.

BBC's "The 100 Most Annoying Pop Songs We Hate To Love"

• 100. Jennifer Lopez - Jenny from the Block
• 99. Beautiful South - Perfect 10
• 98. 'Weird Al' Yankovic - Eat It
• 97. Lionel Richie - Hello
• 96. Art Garfunkel - Bright Eyes
• 95. Nizlopi - JCB Song
• 94. Blur - Parklife
• 93. Color Me Badd - I Wanna Sex You Up
• 92. Craig David - 7 Days
• 91. 4 Non Blondes - What's Up
• 90. Enya - Orinoco Flow
• 89. Coldplay - Yellow
• 88. Bonnie Tyler - Total Eclipse of the Heart
• 87. Phil Collins - In The Air Tonight
• 86. Shania Twain - That Don't Impress Me Much
• 85. The Streets - Dry Your Eyes
• 84. The Police - Every Breath You Take
• 83. Cyndi Lauper - Girls Just Wanna Have Fun
• 82. Tori Amos - Cornflake Girl
• 81. Boomtown Rats - I Don't Like Mondays
• 80. D:Ream - Things Can Only Get Better
• 79. Simply Red - Holding Back The Years
• 78. Sinitta - So Macho
• 77. James - Sit Down
• 76. Meat Loaf - I'd Do Anything For Love (But I Won't Do That)
• 75. UB40 - Red Red Wine
• 74. Michael Jackson - Earth Song
• 73. Robson Green & Jerome Flynn - Unchained Melody
• 72. Elton John - Nikita
• 71. M People - Moving On Up
• 70. Toni Basil - Mickey
• 69. Leo Sayer - You Make Me Feel Like Dancing
• 68. Shamen - Ebeneezer Goode
• 67. Europe - The Final Countdown
• 66. Tony Christie - (Is This The Way To) Amarillo
• 65. Crash Test Dummies - Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm
• 64. Pussycat Dolls - Don'tcha
• 63. Manic Street Preachers - If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next
• 62. Chesney Hawkes - The One & Only
• 61. Billy Ray Cyrus - Achy Breaky Heart
• 60. Gwen Stefani - Wind It Up
• 59. Ricky Martin - Livin' La Vida Loca
• 58. 2 Unlimited - No Limit
• 57. Dido - Thank You
• 56. Michael Bolton - How Am I Supposed To Live Without You
• 55. R.E.M. - Shiny Happy People
• 54. Akon - Lonely
• 53. Reynolds Girls - I'd Rather Jack
• 52. Shakira - Wherever Whenever
• 51. Dire Straits - Money for Nothing
• 50. Westlife - Flying Without Wings
• 49. Starship - We Built This City
• 48. B*Witched - C'est la Vie
• 47. Ultravox - Vienna
• 46. Fast Food Rockers - Fast Food Song
• 45. Jimmy Nail - Ain't No Doubt
• 44. Arctic Monkeys - I Bet You Look Good On the Dancefloor
• 43. Sandi Thom - I Wish I Was A Punk Rocker (With Flowers In My Hair)
• 42. Lighthouse Family - Lifted
• 41. Kylie Minogue & Jason Donovan - Especially For You
• 40. All Saints - Never Ever
• 39. Alanis Morissette - Ironic
• 38. Sinead O'Connor - Nothing Compares 2 U
• 37. Bobby McFerrin - Don't Worry, Be Happy
• 36. Whigfield - Saturday Night
• 35. The Darkness - I Believe In A Thing Called Love
• 34. Wings - Mull of Kintyre
• 33. Spandau Ballet - True
• 32. Bryan Adams - (Everything I Do) I Do It For You
• 31. Right Said Fred - I'm Too Sexy
• 30. Billy Joel - We Didn't Start the Fire
• 29. MC Hammer - U Can't Touch This
• 28. James Blunt - You're Beautiful
• 27. Sisqo - Thong Song
• 26. Katie Melua - 9 Million Bicycles
• 25. Shaggy - It Wasn't Me
• 24. Babybird - You're Gorgeous
• 23. Geri Halliwell - Look At Me
• 22. Gloria Gaynor - I Will Survive
• 21. Cliff Richard - Millennium Prayer
• 20. Lou Bega - Mambo No. 5
• 19. Wet Wet Wet - Love Is All Around
• 18. Whitney Houston - I Will Always Love You
• 17. Toploader - Dancing in the Moonlight
• 16. Afroman - Because I Got High
• 15. Billie - Because We Want To
• 14. TATU - All the Things She Said
• 13. Ace of Base - All That She Wants
• 12. True Steppers ft. Dane Bowers and Victoria Beckham - Out of Your Mind
• 11. Dexy's Midnight Runners - Come On Eileen
• 10. Aqua - Barbie Girl
• 9. Cher - Believe
• 8. Nickelback - How You Remind Me
• 7. Vanilla Ice - Ice Ice Baby
• 6. Daniel Bedingfield - If You're Not The One
• 5. Band Aid 20 - Do They Know It's Christmas?
• 4. Chumbawamba - Tubthumping
• 3. Robbie Williams - Angels
• 2. Crazy Frog - Axel F
• 1. Celine Dion - My Heart Will Go On

Truth is overrated

Winning an argument has less to do with knowing and telling truth, and more with convincing the other party to see your way, with arguments he or she understands. You don't have to lie, but you must show that you understand the other's point of view, and that you can answer to that. Even better, you can move within the other's world and still bring your interests to the forefront.

And here's my two cents about DRM

A couple of days after Spore's release the discussion about the DRM is raging uncontrollably. I've seen and read quite some nice arguments either way at Amazon, and gaming sites like Destructoid:

• ehm... yes. Software and games are inherently licensed for the customer to use: a personal, non-exclusive license to install and use the Software for your personal, non-commercial use... so I agree that I can't actually OWN a game per se. I can however acquire the right to use the Software.
• Spore now uses a DRM which limits someone's installations to three times. Afterwards you have to hope EA's customer service believes the reasons you installed Spore three times already, and gracefully allows you to do it once more. IF they are still around to call... The debate is about this fact. As I see it people are furious that EA has limited their legally acquired right to use a game, and basically put an expiration stamp on a good which previously had none. While you're still paying the same price for the good OR MORE. Yes that tends to ruffle people's feathers. You'd expect this if oil prices would suddenly hit $200 a barrel, or bread prices would rise tenfold.
  
• The funny thing is that protests are definitely noticeable, on forums, in print media, in electronic media and television. But it is also definitely noticeable that EA will try to hide or avoid bad publicity as much as possible. They even delete bad reviews for chrissakes. I'm sure that at some point in the future the sales figures will come out as being satisfactory, even if they are not. Because if the numbers are an EPIC FAILURE and word of this reached popular media, it would also prove the complete and utter uselessness of SecuROM DRM.
• And that's what it boils down to. What is the use of any DRM? Is it an effective deterrent to piracy? I doubt that pirates would even make their opinions heard on the popular forums, rather spending their time to breaking the DRM faster than the other team. So far DRM has proven to be an effective deterrent to SALES. The legitimate customers (or prospective ones) are the ones who hold the discussions, and they are furious.

I see SecuROM DRM as a terrible way of protecting one's property rights. I have always bought games on the pretense that I can use it whenever, even years after. I'm pretty sure I cannot play Spore, or Mass Effect or maybe even Red Alert 3 in ten years time anymore, be it through a lack of online activation, or reinstallation. If I want to play again, I need to buy again. Which means I'm renting a game. And I'm not renting a game that costs 40 to 50 Euros.

In the end, it's all about the money. It's like a mortgage or an insurance, that the bank suddenly decided to raise tenfold, because it was afraid you would lend the money to someone else. And people get awfully defensive when it's about their own money.

Too bad. EA could have used my money. And from many people like me. And now they won't get it.

UPDATE: the Dutch media have finally caught on: [http://www.nu.nl/news/1763713/55/Rechtszaak_tegen_EA_om_DRM_in_spel.html]

Sport on Widescreen

I'm not completely sure that sport actually looks better and is better because of widescreen television. During the Olympics a couple of races, notably the rowing competitions but also the 100m dash, you could see more of the athletes. Especially at the finish line you could see very well how big the difference is between the top spot and the stragglers.

But how wide does the screen need to be? One statement made by a Dutch sports commentator during the rowing events made me rethink the widescreen. He was thinking the Dutch rowers would be just outside the left of the screen, while the leaders were dead centre, heading for the victory. Ehm... how interested are you in being bad? You want to be on screen? Get on the winning side! Lead the race for chrissakes.

Maybe widescreen makes sense for team sports, like football. But for athletic races? I don't think so.

Coincidences

• It's gonna be a busy day at the airport when your friends, your colleagues and your parents are all flying out of the country on the same day. It would be even more of a coincidence if they all ended up - despite making plans independently from each other - in the same plane.
• It's gonna be a busy day at the airport when at least four groups of people - old friends no less - make plans independently from each other and ended up - lo and behold - in the Big Apple roughly the same time.