After following the coverage of the stevenote this morning I’m impressed, but not by what I thought I’d be impressed by.

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Well. I finally did it. After my kids manage to lose yet an other DVD and I looked at what replacing a Disney DVD cost I realized it was time to get the AppleTV. The way I figure it I need only justify the cost of 12 DVDs and I’ve paid for the AppleTV. Plus I get the convenience of having all the movies handy without having DVDs in a place where prying little hands can scratch them or worse put them in the trash.
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Devices that I’d never have thought would be hits are. To me the Kindle looks ungainly, it’s LCD too slow refreshing, and why would I read on that rather than a book? Yet, according to Amazon, it’s a hit. They are selling more than they can make.

Ditto the Apple TV. (Or, if you’re reading on Safari, TV) Underpowered (although at least it now has 5.1 sound). With HD content that is better than cable or dish, but not in the same ball park as HD-DVD or BluRay. At best an excuse to use Netflix to rip DVDs.

And the iPhone, as cool as it looks, has little RAM, no cut and paste, no spreadsheet, and won’t have 3rd party applications until June.

So have any of you consumed?

Here’s why I’m waiting.
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Here are a few internet music toys that I have found useful. Please share others. (more…)

OK, like at least one other person here I got an HD-DVD player over the holidays. It was extremely cheap at the Thanksgiving sale at Costco ($170) so I said, “Dang. How can I miss that?” Especially since I now had an HD-TV and the Dish shows only play at 720p not 1080i. I’ve only watched a few HD-DVDs. (Oceans 13, Bourne Ultimatum) However I noticed that at Walmart, while the BluRay section was slightly larger it had fewer movies I wanted. Further the HD-DVDs were always sold out while the BluRays never were. Plus, since Microsoft was pushing HD-DVD I figured momentum was on that side. Dang. I should have paid attention to Microsoft’s failure with Vista.

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This week, Amazon introduced a gadget that has the potential to change our world—or at least the way we read about it.

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UPDATE: All Laser Pointer, iSight, and even WiiMote head tracking info is now located at InsightVR.com.

This was the scene in our driveway yesterday evening. It took a few weeks worth of spare time to hack it together but I think the result was worthwhile.
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It’ll soon be time for a new phone and I’ve been trying to figure out what I want to do. For the most part, the iPhone hasn’t been an option (how can I justify $600 for a phone?). So I’m looking more seriously at a Samsung Blackjack, which is a great phone. Well, it’ll cost me $100 (after rebates) to purchase the phone and $40/mo. for the data plan ON TOP of my regular phone plan. So the phone is relatively cheap and adding the data plan makes it expensive.

Well, last night I did a little math and realized that the Blackjack might not be the best way to go. (more…)

No, I didn’t get an iPod this weekend. But reportedly a lot of people did. Did any of you? Personally, I’m glad I waited. There are reports of folks with odd AT&T plans having problems and being put on indefinite hold to get their iPhones activated. I have a family plan so… However the general consensus from what I’ve been reading is that, if anything, the phone actually surpassed the hype. Quite the feat given what seems like to biggest hype machine ever. (So big that even Apple was trying to downplay things after a while)
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OK, I can’t help myself. It’s time for an other computer post. I’ve been both excited and skeptical about the iPhone. Yet Apple released some new ads and they’ve got me nearly excited enough to buy one. (Which I can write-off if it is for business) Why? Because they skip all the hype and just focus on the UI and how you do things. Check them out yourself. It’s a bit of an oddity given that Apple has The Daily Show correspondents presenting hyperbolic allegories for why one ought buy a Mac. (Always undermined, in my opinion, by the fact we like the PC guy more than the Mac guy) Then we have the eternally dancing silhouettes of the iPod commercials. But these are pure function. And wow do they excite.

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A friend asked me for suggestions on podcasts. “Why,” I thought, “this sounds like a good idea for a post.” (more…)

How hard can it be? I’ll get us started.
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OK, since I did the excited iPhone writeup back in January I thought I’d revisit the Apple TV (henceforth aTV because Windows browsers don’t display the Apple character correctly). Now let me note that I don’t have one of these things. So this is basically an apology for why I’m not buying one and why you probably shouldn’t either.

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Remember when you could watch music videos on MTV? Yeah, we do too.
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The buzz has been building for the past few months. Denials, rumors it’s on, rumors it’s off. Steve Jobs somehow manages to capture more buzz for his yearly trips to MacWorld San Francisco than Bill Gates can dream off. Yes it’s unfair. Yes, a lot of it is hype and not content. But this year (as has so often been the case) Steve Jobs delivered. (more…)

This is the first time in several years that I haven’t participated in fantasy football.  I hadn’t planned to skip out this year but as it turns out, I’ve been grateful that I did because I have enjoyed this NFL season more than any season in recent memory, despite Denver’s collapse. (more…)

I watched with some interest recent commericals and advertisements for the Sony Playstation 3. (more…)

Isn’t it about time we stop saying, “double-u, double-u, double-u” before we say a web address? I mean really.

Slate is publishing in bi-weekly installments a novel “written in real time” by Walter Kirn, who must be somewhat important because otherwise I wouldn’t have heard of him. You can read about the concept here. You can read the first nine installments here (they’re short).

Briefly, here’s what’s going on: Kent works at AidSat, a commercial remote monitoring service that, via a disguised transmitter/communication device, tracks its clients’ every move, monitors their vitals, looks for signs of distress or danger, provides emotional support and advice (deluxe package), and generally keeps a constant vigil to ensure their safety and happiness. Kent has the hots for a neighbor named Sabrina, an AidSat client, and uses his AidSat connections to his advantage. Sabrina is a friend to a senile old man who is paranoid about a future event that he refers to as “the unbinding.” (more…)

If you haven’t yet listened to Ricky Gervais’ podcast, run to you local iTunes Music Store and get it. And it’s not what’s being said that’s so freaking funny, it’s all about how they say it. The reactions to Karl are golden.

Pure brilliance.

yesterday we “upgraded” to Wordpress 2.0. However, the upgrader was SLOPPY and CARELESS and so now nobody can leave comments. We’re working on it. Later today: new Thunderdome. Stay tuned.

UPDATE: we’re fixed, and the sysadmin has been sacked.

Wi nøt trei a høliday in Sweden this yer?

See the løveli lakes

The wonderful telephøne system...

And mani interesting furry animals

As some of you know, I live in the Triangle area of North Carolina, so named because of the three cities that form the backbone of the area: Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill. Our market is currently blessed (cursed?) with the presence of not just one, or even two, but three sports talk radio stations. What is even more amazing is that there doesn’t seem to be any lack of things to talk about, at least at this time of year, with the NFL playoff race, the start of conference play in the ACC (men’s and women’s basketball teams are worth following this year), the surprisingly hot start of the Carolina Hurricanes, and lots of action in the hot stove league.

As I was listening to one of these shows the other day, listening to random callers spout nonsensical opinions as to why Coach K doesn’t know what he’s doing, it occured to me that if there were three radio stations in our medium-sized market devoted to letting listeners share their opinions about sports, why weren’t there any radio stations devoted to letting listeners share their opinions about music? (more…)

A lot of people have trouble knowing what to give as gifts. This can result in uncomfortable moments as your husband unwraps unwanted cuff links or as little Susie opens up the 2-year old fashion, now sadly out of style. Why not get people what they want? Better still, why not learn about what people want, and use that as an inspiration to get them something they’ll love, but hadn’t thought of? This is the best type of gift: something you love, but something that had never occurred to you.

I believe this is what Amazon Wishlists are for. (more…)

Last night, I emailed Apple Support in defeat.  My iPod is officially dead.  A couple of weeks ago it began skipping songs, then a few days ago it started skipping songs constantly, refusing to play any of them.  Now I just get a folder with an exclamation point, and I can’t restore it.  I am supposed to ship it back to Apple in a few days for warranty replacement.

My Bose SoundDock is empty.  My office is silent.  Please all, take a moment and shed a tear for my poor, dead friend.

UPDATE: walked into the Apple Store today, presented poor, dead iPud, and a fresh one was handed to me.  Hooray!

I’m fascinated by others’ web surfing habits.  If you’re like me, you have your core sites, those places you keep an eye on, and scroll through often, perhaps daily.  I would imagine that every list is something like a fingerprint.  But maybe not, maybe I’m an unoriginal member of the horde….you be the judge, oh, and leave your own list…

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