I have reinstalled and updated my photo gallery. This is running off of Gallery 2 and currently only includes pictures from the Halloween party Heather and I went to at Larry’s house last night. I plan to update quite a bit more in the coming week…
Monthly Archive for October, 2005
I have to say that I love this company’s name. Who would think to name an iPod/iBook/PowerBook case company muff? 
They’re based out of Australia and have rather reasonable rates. Definitely looks to be worth checking out if you need a soft iPod case
I decided to break the following out of the last story as it just didn’t apply to “Stanford on iTunes“…
Interesting story…when I tell people I went to Samford University, they usually think I said Stanford University. The 2 could not be more different. One is a moral high-horse riding, southern baptist university. The other is an excellent university (or so I hear). I’ll let you guess which is which 
I should, in all fairness, mention that there is nothing wrong from an education perspective with Samford University. However, the school itself is rather overbearing and pretentious, not that many schools aren’t. Also, the religious atmosphere is extremely stifling. Unfortunately, I found out I made the wrong choice too late to be able to change my mind without extending my college education. Also, I find it ironic, that I began as a religious person and I left as a man of faith. The school did help prompt me into realizing that most religions are not good, but the faith of the individual is what is important. I am a Christian, but not a Southern Baptist, Methodist, Catholic, etc. I do however retain the right to alter that stance if I ever find somewhere I feel I can belong. I like to keep my options and my mind open…
This is one of the coolest tech uses I have seen in higher education in a while: Stanford iTunes. I love the fact that they picked up on a trend of use amongst their students and just ran with it to provide a service and also allow any old person to get in an check out what is going on at Stanford.
I just watched Alien vs. Predator on HBO tonight and I decided I would revisit my previous review. Now that I have seen it, I don’t think the film is even that much fun of a popcorn movie. It is very bland and predictable. However, the biggest failure of the film is the weak story-line that doesn’t even hold my interest anymore 
So, I never did make it back like I planned to talk about the new iMac, Front Row, and the new Universal Dock and Remote.
- The new iMac is rather cool. They made it thinner and now include an iSight built-in. It doesn’t appear to be revolutionary at all, but it does appear to be a rather good evolution of the product. If I were in the market to replace our iMac it would definitely get some serious attention.
- Front Row is a nice piece of software that allows for use of the new Apple remote to control the multimedia capabilities of the new iMac. An interesting approach and definitely something to watch. I do believe this a preview of where Apple is planning to go in the coming months
- Universal Dock and Remote is the latest new accessory for the iPod line and all I have to say is “It is about damn time!”. This is great as finally each iPod doesn’t have to have its own unique dock.
I really hope Apple will release a USB gadget to allow the use of Front Row and the Apple Remote with existing non-iMac computers.
Well, Apple went and did it. They went and released a new iPod that is capable of displaying video. It is similar to a larger iPod nano as it is very thin and shares it’s look with the nano. The functionality looks cool and the screen is a tad bigger than the older main iPod. However, this is an interesting stat:
Playback time (30GB model)
Music playback time: Up to 14 hours when fully charged
Photo slideshow with music viewing time: Up to 3 hours when fully charged
Video playback time: Up to 2 hours when fully charged
Playback time (60GB model)
Music playback time: Up to 20 hours when fully charged
Photo slideshow with music viewing time: Up to 4 hours when fully charged
Video playback time: Up to 3 hours when fully charged
Also, the extended headphone port looks to be dead which means no more in-line remote right now. Maybe a 3rd-party will release something to handle this? In addition from what I have read, firewire syncing is gone as well. Not a good move in my opinion, but not a deal breaker for me.
I am completely torn as I don’t find much video content that is compelling on the iTunes Store and I also don’t know how extensively I would use it given the battery limitations. I still love the iPod nano and maybe that is still the better choice for me given its portability and my entire library is available on my PowerBook. In any case, I want to see and touch it before I make any choices about replacing my iPod 3G 20GB.
I plan to post tomorrow about some interesting new options, such as the new iMac, Front Row, and the new Universal Dock and Remote.
Apple has an event on October 12th. It is, in typical Apple style, very secretive especially as it is titled “One More Thing…”. There are a few different rumors; Video iPod, Power Mac/PowerBook, or simply a new iPod (non-video).
Of course there is no way to know, but my money is on a new iPod of some sort. I need…er…no, want to replace my old 3G iPod 20GB with either a nano or something even newer. I don’t have to have the 20GB, but color and size are huge feature draws to me…
Come on Apple, make my choice harder with a Video iPod
3 out of 5 stars
I went to go see Corpse Bride with Larry yesterday. I think we were close to agreeing on our take on the film, but I believe I liked it slightly better. The animation is a tad hurky jerky, but it was enjoyable enough. The biggest lacking detail of this flick is that it is vastly inferior to the Nightmare Before Christmas. This is true in terms of animation, story, and music. I know it is never good to compare a film in light of its predecessor, but in this case it is nearly impossible not to…
4 out of 5 stars
I’ve been trying to get this review written for over a week now, so this isn’t quite as topical as I would have liked…
Heather and I joined a large group of friends to catch a showing of Serenity a week ago, Friday night. This movie was a huge amount of fun. It really does have it all; comedy, drama, action. It seems to be perfectly watchable regardless of whether you have seen the TV show or not. Heather, my non-techie/non-scifi fan wife, thought the movie was enjoyable. Believe me, that could be considered a ringing endorsement from her
There are some slow scenes and if you are familiar with the TV show it can drag a bit in places as they bring the newbs up to speed, but it really doesn’t get annoying. I’m simply a tad impatient. The set of ‘Serenity’ feels bigger and more contiguous. I do enjoy the development of the characters, but it is obvious that some of the back story is missing. For example, what transpired between the TV show and the movie for Mal and Book’s relationship. It definitely feels like they spent some time together and come to an understanding that is different than what the TV show really presented.
I don’t want to go into too much depth, but I really enjoyed the film. It wasn’t perfect and there is one event in the last 30 minutes that down right pissed me off, but it is a wonderful journey to see this hit the silver screen…