U.S. Top Gear

NBC is gonna make an American version of the BBC show Top Gear. This could be a good thing, but I don't think its gonna work. Part of the appeal of the BBC version is the hosts, and with new hosts, it just won't be the same show. It will be nice to have them reviewing cars that we can actually buy in the US. However, it could be problematic since car companies will be advertising for the show. When a car sucks, the BBC hosts will tell you it sucks. Will the American host be able to be that honest when GM and Ford are sponsoring the show? Probably not, but I'll be watching anyway. Just judge it as its own show, and don't expect it to be as good as the real Top Gear.

Today's rant

The prices of prescription drugs are out of control. I almost never go to the doctor (ignorance is bliss), but I recently got prescribed eyedrops from my eye doctor since my contacts were bothering me. I have a high-deductible HSA health plan, so I pay full price for drugs with a tax free account, and I don't pay a premium. The downside is that I get to find out what drugs really cost. For an extremely tiny bottle of eyedrops, I paid 63 Dollars! Here's a picture so you can see just how tiny the $63 bottle of eyedrops is. Plus, I had to wait almost a half hour for the pharmacy to get it ready even though it is obviously pre-packaged. Ridiculous. It almost makes me want to vote for Hillary, but not quite.

Jim Cramer talks merger, I flip-flop

As an XM subsciber, I'm tired of waiting for the government to finally make a ruling on the XM-Sirius merger. Jim Cramer feels the same way in this video:

He couldn't be more right about the Feds dragging their feet on this, and their relationship with terrestrial radio probably has something to do with that. If you don't think this decision is taking way too long, check out this article that compares it to other merger decisions that would have already been made by now. Most of those decisions were way bigger companies too.

I think I've changed my mind about the merger. I'm still a little worried about some content being lost and prices eventually rising, but if it really does mean twice the content at the current price, then I'm for this merger. And from a perspective of limited government, I'm really for the merger.

Cool Video

Someone put together a Ron Paul video using a Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers song. This does not mean RCPM endorses Ron Paul, but its a good video anyway.

Droids!

A friend of mine put together this video with his band. Its Funky:

The Turbo Ocho Sessions

Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers have completed their crazy musical experiment. They set up a studio in a house in Mexico where they wrote and recorded one song per day for 8 days. Then they performed their songs at a concert on the 9th day. Listen to all the songs at the Turbo Ocho webpage. There are also videos documenting the whole project. Currently you can only stream the music. I think they plan on releasing a CD or putting the songs on iTunes.

Political Quiz

Here's a cool quiz that will tell you who you should be voting for in 08:

Take the Quiz
Its pretty short, and the questions make it difficult to manipulate. Everyone I know who has taken it has ended up with their real choice as either 1st or second.

Deadly Discs

5 years ago I made a video game based on the old Tron Deadly Discs intellivision game. I found it on my old computer recently and decided to make it available for download again. Its a simple game where you run around on a single screen and try to kill enemies by throwing discs at them while trying not to get hit. I don't intend on making any more updates to the game, its fully playable as it is.

Give it a try at the VirtualTim Deadly Discs Webpage.