Me want one.
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Live at Macworld Expo Keynote
Posted on January 9, 2007Apple iphone with touch screen running osx. so that’s pretty cool.
Apple tv released next month.
Live at Macworld Expo Keynote
Posted on January 9, 2007I’m here and seated and ready to see the magic of a steve jobs keynote. starting soon.
iPod Stroller and Mac World Expo
Posted on January 5, 2007
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
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
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.
Writing As a Job — The Update
Posted on October 26, 2006 
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.
Making Money Doing What You Like To Do
Posted on October 13, 2006
Something interesting happened to me while I was writing here. I discovered that what I really want to do is not direct or produce or anything like that, it’s write. As in, writing has become my number one favorite thing to do. It’s odd because when I think about my life it makes perfect sense that writing has taken its place at number one.
Someone pointed out to me the other day that all through my life I didn’t make films just because I wanted to but I was always writing since I was a young. I did it because I liked doing it and not because I had to do it.
It started way back in history when I was in Junior High I think. i wrote a story and when I got it back the teacher had written some comments on it. She said that I had a great imagination and that my story was really very well done, especially for someone my age. She also said that I should seriously think about getting my stories published. Thinking about it now I should have taken those comments more seriously. I might be farther ahead.
In truth, things are going pretty well for me in the writing game. I get to write quite a bit. It’s actually pretty cool. And now I will be doing even more of it and getting paid for it too. What a deal.
Yes, its true. I can now let you in on a little secret. I have been hired to write for Weblogs, Inc. as a contributor to their site Cinematical. It’s a site devoted to movies so I think I should be ok and not run out of things to say. After all, I did make movies for several years. Some of that must have stuck with me. Plus, I am still writing for Comic Book Resources and LAist so I can’t complain. getting paid to do something you like to do is pretty nice.
I know what you’re thinking. Now that I have yet another site I am writing for this site is going to suffer even more from neglect. I can say for certain that won’t be the case. How can I say that? Well, now that I am actually making decent money as a writer I am going to spend more time writing and less time doing anything else. I expect that this will allow me to not only do my work for Cinematical, CBR and LAist but also give me some time to write here.
I will also link to my posts around the web here for all of you (yes you and you) to enjoy. But I really want to try to keep writing here as well. this is the only place where I can do it just for fun without an editor breathing down my neck. Although at Weblogs we have a virtual office so I can’t actually feel anyone breathing but you get the point.
So, to start us off, click here, here and here to see some of my most recent work. Oh yeah, forgot to mention that the event I was at last week was a press preview for the new game Marvel: Ultimate Alliance (the pic in this post might have given it away). Great game that looks really good on the Xbox 360. I also got to play around with the PS3 and the Nintendo Wii. Very interesting indeed but I think I’ll stick with my Xbox 360.
Ok, that’s it for now but stay tuned because I’ll be right back. You’ll get sick of me yet, promise.
Uwe Boll, EA, XBox 360 and NDA’s
Posted on October 4, 2006
Some of you may have noticed that I have changed the look of the site again. Yes, I had some time on my hands recently so I decided to mess around with it. I like the results now and will probably leave it this way for the time being. Really, its not the look of the site that matters all that much. It’s the content. But as I don’t have content that is all that stunning I thought it should at least try to make it look pretty.
In other news, I spent some time today at a certain video game company checking out and playing various video games that I can’t talk about yet. Yes, I had to sign one or two of those NDA things that prevent me from talking about the great (and not so great) stuff I saw today. That’s the way it works. You sign a piece of paper that says you will not talk about things until a certain date. In other words you are “embargoed” from talking about said things. I like that word “embargo”. It sounds interesting.
Suffice to say that the games were really cool (most of them anyway) and as soon as I can talk about them I will. It won’t really be that long so don’t worry. I think the embargo on most of them ends this weekend. See, not that long at all. What I can say about the games is that they were each very interesting in their own ways and some really stood out above the rest. I was particularly excited to see and play one game in particular that I know will be in my game console of choice as soon as it’s available.
Anyway, I won’t keep blathering on about things I can’t talk about. It’s really sort of rude. I’m sorry for getting all your hopes up and then not being able to deliver. So, let’s move on.
In other news of a video game sort that I can talk about:
Uwe Boll is apparently going to be allowed another opportunity to direct a movie. Lucky us.
Duke Nukem on Xbox Live Arcade has been discussed. Cool. I really like playing Galaga on XBLA so this could be fun too.
Over at EA Sports they are perfecting mediocrity, apparently. I like some of EA’s games but some others really kinda suck.
You can run Half Life 2 on a Mac without Windows. Or, you could run it on a Mac using Bootcamp in Windows. Which is what I do. Try it, it’s fun.
And, the kids of “Southpark” get a chance to play a little World of Warcraft. Oh Matt and Trey, you guys kill me. That reminds me, I need to write a review of the “Southpark” Season 8 DVD Box Set.
Oh, and if you are interested in comic books or comic book creators, my latest article is up over at comic book resources. It’s an interview with the guys who do “The Cross Bronx” comic book. The comic is really good. The interview is pretty ok too.
I’ll try not to pull something while patting myself on the back.
Looking Inward and Some Cool Comic News
Posted on September 25, 2006
First, a little business. As some of you may know I have started writing more for other people at other sites. And, not only that, I have started writing a weekly Mac column at LAist called “Ask the MACist”. Plus, various other articles for various other places. Consequently, this particular blog has suffered from lack of attention. I have no excuse other than writing every day when people actually expect you to deliver on a deadline or they won’t pay you is harder than I thought. Not harder because I can’t do it but harder because of the expectations of others.
It’s been some time since I had to write in more of a journalistic style or do more feature-type articles. Normally, I just ramble on here for a few paragraphs and call it a day. Writing here and in the first person seems somehow easier or something. Or, its probably more that writing here, while very important to me, doesn’t carry with it the added pressure of readership or pay. When you throw readership and money into the mix, people expect results.
They expect you to be really good and for people to not only read what you write but to actually like it or at least, in some way, react to it. If your work brings new readers and keeps them coming back because they, for some reason, like what you say and how you say it, that is a huge added bonus (for them but not necessarily for you as then you have to try to be even better next time to continue the trend).
At this site, I am my own boss and basically write here because I have a compulsion to do so, not because I expect anyone to read, understand or care. Writing is really some kind of sickness that drives people to do it all the time or they will explode. I have to write because I have to get this stuff out of me. So, in that way and by writing here, I am less burdened by the pressure to be entertaining or even good. That is not to say that I don’t care. I do. But there is a certain thing that happens to people, at least to me, when someone is expecting you to perform in order to get paid. For me, it becomes more work and I tend to be far more critical of what I write in those circumstances than I am for things here.
I want things to be good here and I want people to read this and like it or hate it or ion some way react, but don’t expect them to. But I can’t say for sure if anyone is even reading this stuff. So, there is less pressure to be good or entertaining. Perhaps I’m just lazy at heart and only care if I’m getting paid to care. In some ways that might make me a whore except that in most cases, if not all, the whore is only pretending to care and doesn’t actually, really, give a crap. That’s the difference, I guess. In this case, I’m the whore with a heart of gold and I care. Really. Now give me fifty bucks. Don’t look at me, I earned it!
You have to love a place where the author refers to themselves as a whore. But really, when I think about it more, I have been a whore many times in my life. For example, almost every time I ever did a movie or a music video or a commercial that I didn’t believe in. I only did it for the money in those cases but also in those cases I did care about how it all turned out. I wanted the results to be good and worked very hard to make sure that they were. it didn’t always work out but it wasn’t because I didn’t care or didn’t try, there were other factors that influenced the outcome. It wasn’t me. I was in there swinging for the fences but the fences kept getting moved farther and farther away.
What does any of this mean to you? Well friends (yes you, you and you) here’s where I pull it all together. In your life, it’s ok to not be great sometimes and its even ok to fail once in awhile. As long as you can go home knowing that you tried to do your best, you’re still a winner. And, its ok to be a whore too sometimes. We are all like that once in awhile. You haven’t sold out as long as you keep fighting for quality. If you ever stop fighting to make things better, even when nobody else gives a crap, then its over and you are just a whore who’s faking it. And faking it is not good. Unless you’re the President of the United States. In that case, its all good.
On another front, somebody put together a list of the best comic book covers of 2006.I think that’s kinda cool. I know the year isn’t over yet but what the hell. Check it out here. Plus, I thought the picture was somewhat appropriate to the above diatribe. That’s it. Stay classy San Diego (or LA or New York or London or wherever you are).