Well, we got half of a season longer than was expected last April, but it looks this will definitely be Arrested Development's last season. Twelve measly episodes in this third season, but it has been as good if not better than the previous two seasons.

The reason certainly isn't lack of critical acclaim and attention; 5 Emmys including Best Comedy (most shows have taken several years to win it, AD did it the first time up, probably because they figured on being short on opportunities), and the enthusiastic support of nearly every television critic with an outlet. For better or for worse, critical praise does not always translate to TV ratings (if Nielsen can even be trusted), and Arrested's ratings have failed to improve much this season. In Fox's defense, they've given it a better chance than many previous gems they've held the fate of—although this at least can probably be attributed to the aforementioned critical acclaim—in other words, it has gotten more than one season.

In the end, ratings speak, so blame must be placed on the TV viewing public. Luckily, there's still time! It's back on TV tonight: 8PM EST, on Fox. 30 Minutes of pure love.

--Leif

There're some good improvements with this release. They continue their trend of merging the more ubiquitous extensions into the base code, this time with tab dragging. Automatic Updates are vastly improved, in terms of the browser itself, since full downloads of the browser are no longer necessary for minor updates. The Back and Forward buttons are much improved too, without redrawing the page for those operations.

On the other hand, there are still extensions that are incompatible, but many of these can be hacked to work quite simply, either by editing the install.rdf file for them, or more easily, by using Nightly Tester Tools.

Firefox 1.5

--Leif

Happy 230th Birthday

--Leif

It may not seem much if you compare it to the many more millions who possess Internet Explorer just from using Windows, but on it's own 100 Million Firefox downloads is very impressive.

Mozilla.org:

The Mozilla Corp. extends 100 million "Thank you's" to Firefox community members for reigniting innovation on the Web. As the browser's first anniversary approaches this November, Firefox adoption numbers have exceeded expectations with more than 100 million downloads since Firefox's introduction in 2004.

--Leif

True, there are thousands to choose from, but sometimes one just catches your eye that is particularly interesting:

TechNewsWorld:

A California law banning the sale or rental of violent video games to anyone under 17 is being challenged by two industry trade groups 10 days after Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed the bill...

"The First Amendment protects violence unless it crosses the line into true threats, incitement to imminent lawless action or fighting words. Much literature, including the Bible, contains violence," he said. "There is no wholesale exemption from the First Amendment for violent-themed material. It appears to be a targeted ban on one medium, but there would be nothing to stop a similar ban in other media if this was successful."

Wow. Strong allegations. So do movie theater restrictions on minors entering R-rated movies subvert the youths' "Freedom of Expression?" True, the MPAA self-regulates, and it's not part of state or federal law, but the effect is the same. And pornography age restrictions are law.

What's lame is their argument that regulating something equals banning it wholesale.

"It appears to be a targeted ban on one medium, but there would be nothing to stop a similar ban in other media if this was successful."
Correction: It's a law banning the sale or rental to anyone under the age of 17. It ain't that complex. And it has got nothing to do with freedom of expression (which is only inferred from the freedom of speech). A better case could be made for cigarette regulation being unconstitutional, especially with local and state bans on the activity. Smoking in a public place is more an expression than purchasing a media product. And this law isn't banning the activity of playing these games, regardless of your age.

Oh sure, the law does have its issues. For instance what constitutes a game for which this law would apply. But in a perfect world we wouldn't need laws like this. We shouldn't need them now. The ESRB should have been self-regulating sales a long time ago, instead of simply treating the ratings as advisories only.

What did the industry expect? If they behave completely irresponsibly there's going to be consequences. Be glad it isn't really the wholesale ban on any kind of violence whatsoever, to everyone, like what happened to the comic book trade some decades ago. Without regulation like this—whether from the government or the ESRB—that would be a certain eventuality.

--Leif

The new Bond has been announced, and it's pretty much who was expected: Daniel Craig. Even though he sounded understandably cautious in his interview on At the IFC Center last month, he accepted when the role was offered.

Personally, I think he's the perfect choice. We don't need pretty boys playing James Bond. But after sifting through some of the news releases it seems that a few people have doubts about this selection, or perhaps they're overly comfortable with the current rut.

Some think he may be akin to George Lazenby in more than one way: Lazenby only played in one Bond film, On Her Majesty's Secret Service, which is not only a fan favorite, but was also played closer to Ian Fleming's books. That was probably the most tragic Bond film, at least until License to Kill which was also played much closer to the gritty and violent books, by Timothy Dalton.

telegraph.co.uk:

The script, for filming in January, will, the makers say, present a tougher, grittier Bond. Craig enjoys injecting his acting with venom.

--Leif

This sheds some light on astronomers' TV viewing habits:

Xena, the possible 10th planet in our solar system, has its own moon, a dim little satellite called Gabrielle, its discoverers reported.

... Astronomers who reported Xena's discovery in July said they detected Xena's sidekick on September 10 using the Keck Observatory on Mauna Kea in Hawaii. Their findings will be submitted to the Astrophysical Journal Letters on Monday.

I thought planets were named for Roman mythology. Xena, of course, took place in Greece.

--Leif

...Bored? Dust off the telly. Get some good karma tonight, and watch Arrested Development — 8/7c, Fox. Far too much junk makes it into the top 20 Nielson chart for this not to, and it actually deserves the Emmys it keeps winning.

But don't take my word for it ... you might hate it.

--Leif

Congratulations to US Open Champion Roger Federer for being the first man since Don Budge to win both Wimbledon and the US Open for two consecutive years.

After defeating veteran Andre Agassi to end his inspiring tournament comeback, you got the feeling Federer wished Andre would have been able to beat him. It's hard not to root for the sentimental favourite. But when playing his best there's not many, if any, who can best Roger.

Before Roger took his sixth though, my favorite woman player, Kim Clijsters, won her first Grand Slam victory, and the largest monetary payout in the history of women's sports.

Not to leave the under-appreciated doubles tournament out, the Bryan brothers, who were in every Grand Slam final this year, finally won theirs.

--Leif

--Leif