Buy American? President Obama bought French game Just Dance 3 for Christmas

According to a tweet from French multinational computer gaming company Ubisoft, United States President Obama obtained their game Just Dance 3 as a family Christmas present. So much for Buy American! What's that about Do what I say, but not what I do....

The Ubisoft tweet also caught the attention of the venerable Forbes with this headline
"President Barack Obama Endorses Ubisoft's Just Dance 3 Videogame For Christmas". Forbes missed the obvious Buy American contradiction.

Zenoids contest Top 10 ready for your vote

I've made my choice among the Zenoids theme title Top 10 Finalists, so now it's your turn. The deadline for voting is January 2, 2012 and the winner will be announced January 3, 2012.

Pay with a Tweet, now there's a novel approach

Got an offer to download some music samples by paying with a tweet. That's a novel and innovative approach to drumming up business. The Pay with a Tweet site explains the philosophy and technology. The "price" also gets you a 30% voucher in the company's online store.

Here's the URL: http://www.analog-factory.com/?page_id=575

Uploaded "Autumn Elegy No. 6" excerpt to SoundCloud

I've uploaded the first minute of "Autumn Elegy No. 6" to SoundCloud. This one has a Gothic tone with bells and a mournful oboe and strings.

Congrats to the Top 40 Zenoids title theme contest semi-finalists

My congrats to the Top 40 Zenoids title theme contest semi-finalists which were announced on December 1, 2011. Sadly, for me, I'm not among them. I'll see about getting permission to post my entry on YouTube following the public voting and selection of a title theme.

I've posted an audio-only version of what I thought was my best of three entries on SoundCloud.

Uploaded "Gothchinescape" excerpt to SoundCloud

I've uploaded an excerpt from a piece I call "Gothchinescape" to my SoundCloud account. Let me know what you think of it.

"Immortals" movie (2011), imaginative and unbelievable

A couple of things struck me about the "Immortals" movie that I went to see. And it wasn't the 3D, which was pretty good though I hate wearing those glasses and being forced to pay extra money.

The first thing I noticed was that the imprisoned Titans in their box cage beneath Mount Tartarus -- another anomaly, since Tartarus was actually the ancient Greek equivalent of the Christian Hell and was not a mountain at all -- were clenching rebar (reinforcing bar), usually made out of steel. Curious choice for a movie set in ancient Greece.

The second thing that got my attention was the absolutely enormous, dam-size wall that looked far taller than any Egyptian pyramid and stood as a barrier between the army of King Hyperion and the other ancient Greek dude whose territory he was invading just to get to the inside of Mount Tartarus.

The third thing is that for someone who did not believe in the Hellenic gods, King Hyperion conveniently forgot about their essential role in the imprisonment of the Titans beneath or in Tartarus. Why he wanted to free them and why he thought they would not turn against him was not adequately explained. It's also curious that in Greek mythology Hyperion was one of the Titans, though in the movie he's been turned into the King of Crete.

Finally, as gods, would not the Olympians be able to teleport themselves instantly without the "Star Trek"-like golden beam?