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Chris

iPod Stroller and Mac World Expo

Posted on January 5, 2007

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Now I just need something to put in the stroller. Any suggestions (besides an iPod)? Also, I will be heading off to San Francisco next week to pay homage to the Apple Gods at MacWorld Expo. As I often do, I’ll probably wind up seeing Mr. Apple himself Steve Jobs around the show floor.

So, if you have any questions for him that you would like me to ask, fire away and I will see what I can do. After all, we’re close Steve and I. One year I actually said “Hi” to him and he nodded back. So you see, we’re tight. Other than that, it should be a rather interesting show full of all kinds of announcements and whatnot. Just to start things off, I have a couple of predictions:

1. A new iPod with Video and perhaps even 802.11n wireless to connect it to the next item on the list.

2. The iTV or whatever they end up calling it. Connect your TV to your computer and watch stuff. Fun. But I already do that with my Tivo and now I’ve also got a Slingbox (thanks Dad) so I’m not sure what this will do for me. Although, it would be cool if it did HD. I bet it will or else what’s the point? If it does do HD then expect to see HD programming available at the iTunes store as well.

3. Updated iLife Suite (aka iLife ’07). New apps including a spread sheet program (ala Microsoft Excel) and improvements to iPhoto and the rest of the gang including more Photoshop-like features for iPhoto and better RAW file handling. I also think Apple might wrap all the stuff its done for Aperture into iPhoto and make one nice photo editing suite for the Mac as part of iLife.

4. Last but not least (and here’s the tough one) a new iPod/PDA/Phone that will most likely debut on Cingular first but may even have an unlocked version at first as well. Either way, definitely will be GSM (sorry Verizon and Sprint folks). This new device will not be called the iPhone now that that name is gone (if it ever was available in the first place). No, this new device will be called a name Apple has already spent millions of dollars getting people to know and remember. What’s the name? The iPod.

Ok, that’s it for now. But if I get a chance I’ll drop some more predictions on ya Monday — the day before the Keynote by Steve Jobs where all will be made clear.

Merry (insert appropriate holiday here)

Posted on December 29, 2006

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hello all. just a quick not to say i wish you the best for this holiday season and an even better 2007. its been a pretty good 2006 for me and mine and except for a few minor setbacks it all went pretty smoothly. i hope it was the same for you and yours. so, if its so great what could i possibly wish for in the new year? well, couple things at least. i would like to do more writing work, see more movies, have more fun and travel more. that last one is something i vow to do every year and don’t seem to have time for. so this year, i’m going to devote more energy to it.

on other fronts, at LAist we are doing LA-centric end of the year top-ten lists so please head on over and check them out. so far, mine was the top ten tv shows of the year but i hope to get one more in there before the end of the year. maybe i’ll do one about the top ten reasons i prefer the valley to the west side. that might be good. got any suggestions for me? (keep it clean)

at cinematical, most everyone is making their lists of the top things (movies, trailers, posters, etc.) of the year and i’m no exception. some of the comments about my choices are pretty interesting. apparently, i don’t care about international cinema at all and only like american movies. plus, someone suggested we are all just tools of our aol masters at cinematical. we sure have an interesting group of readers over there.

lastly, at comic book resources, we’ve thrown down the year-end roundup of trends in the industry. its a good read, especially if you’re a fan of comic books or are just interested in how things work in the biz. look for more parts of this series coming soon.

again, all the best for the new year.

News of the World

Posted on November 28, 2006

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First, just to state the obvious, I’m still alive. And now the news:

Microsoft started offering downloads of HD and standard-def content late last week on its XBox 360 console to a mixture of success and problems. The problems now seem to be getting sorted but now they just need more HD content. I don’t really want to wait 2 hours to download episodes of The Nine.

CBR has the latest edition of its weekly talk with writers from the hit NBC show Heroes. Sadly, i didn’t contribute this week but I think I do next week so check back then. In the meantime, enjoy these exclusive insights into the show.

The Spirit Award Nominations were announced this week with Little Miss Sunshine and Half Nelson getting the most noms. Nope, I’m not nominated this year either.

Copying DVDs to your iPod (and other devices — whatever they might be) was rejected by the US Copyright Office. So, no more ripping your store-bought movies or those DVDs you rent from Netflix because that’s officially a no-no. The Copyright Office did have some good news though for you and me — cell phone owners can now take their handsets with them to other providers instead of being locked into one carrier forever. So, one step back and one step forward. I guess you can’t have everything.

You will soon be able to watch videos from YouTube on your cell phone. That is, if you’re a Verizon customer. Great, just what I need — more TV.

If you’ve ever wanted to know where your tax dollars go, this guy has it figured out for you. Interesting. Makes me want to move to Monaco.

If you happen to be in LA (that’s Los Angeles not Louisiana) and are in need of some free Wi-Fi love then this site is for you.

Britney Spears has some trouble keeping it in her pants (Note: This link is definitely NSFW). As they say at the other site: “Oh, the humanity!” I think that pretty much covers it.

Oh, and one more thing. I decided to go a little more green and replaced my SUV with a shiny new Toyota Prius Hybrid. For those keeping score at home its a 2007 model in Magnetic Grey Metallic with Package 5 options (Navigation, iPod Connector, Bluetooth, JBL Stereo etc.).

As I’ve only had the car for a short time, a full-blown analysis is not possible at present. However, on first observation and short use, I have a few notes:

1. I like the exterior color and interior color very much. That’s it there in the photo.

2. The car is very quiet except for certain times when the smaller tires and proximity to the ground make it seem a little louder.

3. I love the way the computer interface is designed including the touch screen for controlling most everything from the AC to the GPS to the Radio.

4. I don’t love the way the touch screen gets dirty from my fingers after only a few days. Kinda annoying.

5. The car is pretty roomy inside even for a man of my stature. And, the seats are not as bad as some people said they were. Although, no long trips yet but as I plan on taking the car to San Francisco for Macworld in January, I’ll find out for sure about that.

6. The backup camera, while somewhat useful, is pretty much unnecessary (at least for me). Plus, the annoying beep that sounds while you are backing up is, well, annoying. Although, I plan on hacking the car to turn that off soon.

That’s it for now. Eventually, I will have more on the car. In the meantime, for all your Prius needs, check out Prius Chat.

What Would Vincent Vega Do?

Posted on November 15, 2006

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/v/SeDyK2lz0YY]I find this funny so I thought I would post it here. Other than that, I am currently busting my butt to meet various deadlines and doing exactly what I feared I would do — not post here much. Well, even as I said I hoped to keep up I knew in the back of my mind that I may have been biting off more than I could, well, chew.

Anyway, I will still attempt to post here as much as I can but with all the Cinematical and Comic Book Resources stuff going on, I hardly have time for LAist — let alone this here blog. Still, it would be nice to be able to do what i said I was going to do. I’m trying. I really am.

Until then, enjoy this little bit of video and I hope you get a laugh from it. Oh, one more thing. If you happen to be in San Francisco at MacWorld Expo in January, feel free to say “hello.” I’ll be there checking out all the latest Apple goodness (and maybe even an iPhone). You never know what might happen.

Writing As a Job — The Update

Posted on October 26, 2006

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So, here I sit at my usual spot. No, not that spot, I moved away from there a few weeks ago because it was getting too loud and too crowded. No, I’m at at a new spot now. Anyway, this spot has even more comfy chairs and they keep the music down to a comfortable, non ear-threatening, level. I didn’t mind making the change because change is ok sometimes. Especially if it prevents injury or loss of life.

Or, just allows me a slightly quieter place from which to write all of my amazing articles and whatnot for Cinematical and Comic Book Resources. Yes, its true. I’ve been at Cinematical for a little over two weeks now and haven’t been fired yet. Kudos to me. It’s interesting working for a big company like Weblogs, Inc. (part of AOL, don’t cha know). Being a member of the “family” I am on several internal email lists where I get lots of stuff that I can’t talk about. I even get occasional emails from Weblogs honcho Jason Calcanis.

Well, not directly to me but to everyone in the company. But still, its kinda fun. Jason is one of those people who was smart enough to see a need for something (blogs) about a great deal of different subjects and then had the tenacity to see it through. It worked out great for him too because now that AOL is the owner of his company, I think he’s worth about a billion dollars or something. Not bad.

I’m not worth a billion dollars but I am worth a million in prizes. Or maybe that was a song I heard on the radio today? Sometimes its hard to tell. Oh, just to be clear and to justify the title of this post — I am enjoying the daily writing even if many of my posts at Cinematical are of the news variety. I did do a couple of longer pieces which I will link to below for your reading pleasure. I also did a few more longer ones at Comic Book Resources.

At Cinematical I have to do these news posts when starting out to hopefully prove that I am reliable and then be allowed to move on to other more in-depth type of articles. But you do have to learn to walk before you can run and its only been a couple weeks so I will stick with it and hopefully transition into bigger stuff at a later date. It’s not really a problem because I actually like doing the news posts and the more I do the more I get paid — so that’s nice too.

A recent CBR story:

Interview with Javier-Grillo Marxuach

And here are the links to my two bigger pieces at Cinematical:

Seven Tips for the Indie Filmmaker

Seven Sci-Fi Films You Should Be Watching

If you do that sort of thing, please feel free to Digg them at Digg or Scape them at Netscape. They are already submitted so your support would be much appreciated. Not that I get any kick backs or anything. it’s just nice to help bring traffic to the site you work for. That’s all.