HTML...Over? David Heller: HTML's Time is Over. Let's Move On.

The Practice Acclaimed TV producer David E. Kelley is furious at ABC for moving his hit legal drama "The Practice" to Monday nights, only to see it crushed in the ratings by Fox reality sensation "Joe Millionaire." "The Practice," which consistently ranked No. 1 in its Sunday night time slot this fall, finished a lowly fourth place in its first airing Monday opposite "Millionaire" on Fox, NBC drama "Third Watch" and the CBS comedies "Everybody Loves Raymond" and "Still Standing." "They've killed it in one fell swoop," Kelley told entertainment trade paper Daily Variety Wednesday, adding that he was mystified from the start by ABC's decision to move the series. "I would hope (ABC) would act in their own self-interest and put it back where it was doing well."

Undercover Brother Undercover Brother was pretty funny. Great jokes, and it doesn't take itself too seriously.

U.S. Special Forces in Northern Iraq "Pentagon officials said Wednesday that U.S. military personnel are working with CIA teams conducting "liaison" missions with Kurds in northern Iraq."

War William A. Whittle: "To say this war is all about oil is factually identical to saying that this war is all about maintaining our society and lifestyle. If that is not worth fighting for, what is? One may find that offensive ideologically, but my experience with the people who have SPLIT WOOD NOT ATOMS on their bumper stickers have actually split very little wood in their lives. If one feels deeply about NO BLOOD FOR OIL, you must either drive a solar-powered electric car, ride a horse or a bicycle, or walk. You must remove your home from the city power grid. You must discard all plastic items. You must also abandon television, radios and movies, all of which rely on electricity generated by oil. You must forgo modern medicine, surgery and dentistry, likewise driven by oil-fired electricity at many stages. You must grow your own food."

The Inside Scoop Fred Barnes: The Inside Scoop - "A senior administration official speaks about President Bush's plans and hidden resolve."

Text of State of the Union Speech CNN: Text of Bush's State of the Union Speech

Albert McPhail Here is a photo of my great grandfather, Albert McPhail.

Pentagon Prepares for Use of Nukes in Iraq "As the Pentagon continues a highly visible buildup of troops and weapons in the Persian Gulf, it is also quietly preparing for the possible use of nuclear weapons in the potential war against Iraq, according to a report by a defense analyst. Although they consider such a strike unlikely, military planners have been actively studying lists of potential targets and considering options, including the possible use of so-called "bunker buster" nuclear weapons against deeply buried military targets, says analyst William M. Arkin, who writes a regular column on defense matters for the Los Angeles Times."

The Year The Music Dies "The record labels blame piracy for their woes. And they're right - in part. Before writing this paragraph, I logged on to Kazaa. At 10 on a Monday morning, hardly peak time, 3.1 million people were on the network - more simultaneous users than Napster ever had in its heyday. At least a hundred copies of every song on the Billboard Hot 100 were available for download. So were 13 out of 15 tracks on Mariah Carey's new CD, which wouldn't hit stores for another three weeks. And that's not even counting the discs sold on every street corner from the Bronx to Beijing."

Bullitt Locations in San Francisco "When Bullitt hit the theaters in 1968, the movie's high-octane car chase on the steep hills of San Francisco set a new standard for chase scenes. One fan decided to honor the film by taking screen shots of the locations as they appeared in 1968, then photographing the locations 31 years later in 1999 and again in the summer of 2002. He's compiled the photos here, creating a site that recaps the movie while showcasing an ever-changing city."

Cold It is COLD today, here in the deep south.

New Movie Theater Local News: A new movie theater is being built seven miles from where we live. "The theater will have stadium-style seating, using 18-inch risers and leaving four feet between rows for maximum leg room and ease of motion. Each auditorium will have digital surround sound equipment, high back reclining rocker seats with retractable cup holder armrests, wall-to-wall screens and easily accessible handicapped seating."

ADA Goes to the Movies "The Justice Department's civil rights office sues the company that brought stadium seating to movie theaters."

Good Riddance "There's some bleepin' bad news for the Osbourne family: Television viewers may be getting sick of them. Ratings for MTV's hit reality sitcom have been tumbling in its second season, from a high of 6.6 million viewers for its November 26 premiere, to 3.5 million on January 14. This week's episode climbed back to 3.8 million."

Lighten Up "The National Park Service is fuming over a commercial in which a park ranger pours a glass of Metamucil into Old Faithful in Yellowstone National Park to help the geyser stay regular."

Ouch Whew! The years have been cruel to these two.

Imagination at Work! Go here now! Cool.

McDonald's Obesity Suit Tossed "A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit Wednesday that alleged food from McDonald's restaurants is responsible for making people obese. The landmark legal action was the first of its kind against a fast-food chain to make its way into a U.S. courtroom, but Judge Robert Sweet's ruling, five months after the original complaint, means it will go no further."

The Cold Test Seymour Hersh: What the Administration knew about Pakistan and the North Korean nuclear program.

Judge Orders Verizon to Turn Over User Info to RIAA "ISP's must abide by music industry requests to track down computer users who illegally download music, a federal judge ruled Tuesday. The decision upheld the recording industry's powers under a 1998 law to compel Verizon Communications to identify one of its Internet subscribers who was suspected of illegally trading music or movies online. Verizon promised Tuesday to appeal and said it would not immediately provide its customer's identity."

Dealing With Sexual Harassment ABCNews: How to Recognize and Prevent Inappropriate Behavior at Work - "Rena Weeks was employed as a secretary by the legal firm of Baker & McKenzie for just 70 days. During that time, she was assigned to work with attorney Martin Greenstein for less than a month. But shortly after leaving the firm Weeks filed suit, claiming that Greenstein had sexually harassed her. Her claim ultimately cost the firm $3.5 million in punitive damages and $50,000 in compensatory damages. Greenstein personally was ordered to pay $225,000 in punitive damages."

Gene Hackman Honored at Golden Globes "Two-time Academy Award winner Gene Hackman received the Cecil B. DeMille Award during the 60th annual Golden Globes. "I never wanted to be anything but an actor," Hackman said after receiving the honor Sunday. "George Scott had a line in 'Patton' that I think is appropriate: 'God help me, I love this. I truly do.'" Gene is my favorite actor.

Squares Squares - Cool online game. Give it a try.

Fox Renews 'Simpsons' Through 2005 "Fox has greenlit two more seasons of animated powerhouse The Simpsons. The Simpsons renewal through May 2005 means the show will make it through a jaw-dropping 16th full season and roughly 360 episodes, allowing Homer and Co. to edge past The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet to claim the mantle of longest-running laffer in TV history."

High-Tech Menace "I cannot tell you how many times I've had clinic visits interrupted by cell phones," said Dr. John Song, an oncologist with the University of Colorado Hospital in Denver. "I'll sort of take a deep breath and wait." The problem grew so large that Dr. Jandel Allen-Davis, an obstetrician with Kaiser Permanente of Colorado in Denver, posted a no-cell-phone sign. In her specialty, when a patient picks up a cell phone mid-exam, it can be almost humorous. "I had a woman in the middle of her pelvic exam, feet up in the stirrups, talking on the phone," Allen-Davis said. But generally, doctors agree, cell phones hinder patient care."

Looks Photo 1, Photo 2 - Same person? You decide.

The Truth About Trading Spaces The Truth About Trading Spaces (via Jason)

Bush Promises 'Smoking Gun Intelligence' "White House officials have reassured Republicans by signalling that America and Britain are prepared to release powerful intelligence evidence to cement the case for war against Iraq. Andy Card, the White House chief of staff, and Karl Rove, President Bush's chief political strategist, have each indicated privately that the administration has proof that Saddam Hussein has weapons of mass destruction. Mr Card received blunt warnings from conservative Republican senators last week that Mr. Bush had to produce a much more concrete case for war if he hoped to keep public support."

Bush Administration Split Over Go-It-Alone Option "President Bush's key officials are split over the critical question of how much international support Washington needs before starting a war with Iraq. As UN weapons inspectors swarmed through one of Saddam Hussein's presidential palaces yesterday, officials in the White House, Pentagon and State Department were at odds about what constitutes a critical mass of diplomatic and military backing. Dick Cheney suggests that the United States can launch strikes with next to no overseas backing as long as it has active British support, according to informed sources."

PBS on Blogging PBS: Welcome to the Blogosphere

Undercover Brother Undercover Brother is now on DVD. I missed it at the theater. It received great reviews when it was released.

A Pre-Pre-Oscar Malaise An explanation of why The Two Towers won't win Best Picture, even though it should, by by Jonathan V. Last: "Chicago is going to win the Oscar for Best Picture and once again Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings is going to be overlooked. We can all see it coming."

Two Towers (of Cash) The Two Towers just keeps on bringing in the cash: over 267 million dollars and counting. Still haven't seen it? Go here and read.

Smarter Bombs "During Operation Desert Storm, of all the bombs dropped over Iraq, only 20 percent were "smart." And in fact many of those missed their targets because of weather problems or malfunctions. Saddam's destruction of Kuwaiti oil fields late in the war foiled the laser guidance systems of many because the smoke deflected the laser energy the bombs homed in on. But if America goes to war again in Iraq, close to 100 percent of its bombing sorties will be conducted using smart bombs. And this time, they'll be smarter. Advances in laser technology, targeting systems, and the now ubiquitous global positioning satellite system have revolutionized how America conducts war from the air - and, in many cases, the ground."

Norah Jones Norah Jones' album is now number two on the chart. By the way, her dad is Ravi Shankar, the Indian sitar player. During June 1966 Ravi visited George Harrison's home and played for the Beatles. George soon became one of Ravi's Western proteges.

Fat and Stupid "U.K.-based psychotherapist Susie Orbach, author of Fat Is A Feminist Issue, is planning a lawsuit against Weight Watchers on behalf of what she says are thousands of women and men who have paid out many hundreds of British pounds to the company, only to end up fatter than before they started the program. Orbach's main argument: diets simply don't work, and the dieting industry profits from the large number of people who come back to the program after they gain the weight back."

Pickering "Senate Democrats vowed Wednesday to block the elevation of Charles Pickering to a federal appeals court, one day after President Bush renominated the Mississippi judge and 30 others who had failed to win confirmation under the previous Democratic-controlled Senate."

Third Time a Charm? Guess who's getting married again.

Safari Apple has released a new web browser. It is not perfect.

Bill Gertz: Two-Layer Defense for Baghdad "Iraqi military forces are setting up a two-layer defense ring around Baghdad in preparation for U.S. military action, according to U.S. intelligence officials. Planning of the defense perimeters has been under way since November and involves the deployment of units from the regular Iraqi army and the Republican Guard in an outer ring around the Iraqi capital. A closer defense ring is being set up using troops and forces belonging to the Special Republican Guard. Those units are assigned with leadership protection."

Grammy Nominations The 2003 Grammy Nominations have been announced.

Travel Cheap Amtrak Reducing Some Fares - D.C. to Chicago for 66 bucks!

Jon Johansen "A Norwegian teenager has been cleared of DVD piracy charges in a landmark trial brought by major Hollywood studios. The Oslo court said Jon Johansen, known in Norway as "DVD Jon," had not broken the law when he helped unlock a code and distribute a computer program enabling DVD films to be copied."

Making Movies Recommended Reading: Making Movies, by Sidney Lumet.

James Berardinelli: The Year in Film "To be fair, there were plenty of good movies available during the course of 2002, just not many great ones. I can count on my fingers and toes the number I was truly enthusiastic about - those I made a point of singling out for praise or that I actively stumped for. A few exceeded the $100 million mark, but most toiled in relative obscurity. Something like Minority Report, one of the year's best, "only" made $130 million because too many teenage boys didn't understand it."

Mississippi Check this out. "In a milestone for student achievement and state pride, Mississippi has become the first state to have an online computer in each of its public-school classrooms, a spokesman for the governor said." (via Brian)

BTTF Bummer "Thinking about picking up that Back to the Future trilogy box set this week for a stocking stuffer? You may want to hold off on that. Amid numerous consumer complaints over noticeably misframed shots in the widescreen edition of Parts II and III of the trilogy, Universal Studios Home Video announced yesterday that they will be repressing the discs with corrected framing, and these repressed versions will be included in all future runs of the box set." Here are some screenshots. Ouch!

Linux Robin Miller: Windows Users Should Be Glad There's A Linux