The Life of The Honey Badger - Hilarious Narration by Randall

"Ewww - It's Chasing things and eating them!"

Randall's play-by-play takes animal documentaries to a whole different level!

NSFW



Thanks to Steph for expanding my horizons with this!

Predator as an Opera

Arnold's seminal jungle massacre classic reimagined as an opera - incredible job!  "If it bleeds, we can kill it!" - Must watch!

Live Mesh Beta Brushoff - Microsoft shoots itself in the foot, again.

Microsoft reinforced renewed doubt about the safety of data in cloud-based services, while squandering the opportunity to promote themselves as a competent cloud service provider.  When following a site or service from the beginning, we enjoy a veteran status, good username, or some form of loyalty reward.  I just participated in the beta of Microsoft's Live Mesh for over a year.  You would think that when they offer the next iteration of the service, they would send an e-mail about the new features.  Instead they sent this e-mail:

"Dear Live Mesh beta participant,

You're receiving this message because you used the Live Mesh beta from Microsoft. On March 31, 2011, the beta of Live Mesh will end, and the Live Mesh beta will stop working. After March 31, you won't be able to access any files stored online in your Live Desktop or connect to your PCs remotely using the Live Mesh software. Microsoft will not be able to help you retrieve any files you have stored online after this date. Your files will also stop syncing between your computers and your Live Mesh online storage. Please read below for actions we recommend you take.

With the new release of Windows Live services, we've made a series of changes and improvements across the products. We realize they will have an impact on you and we want to make that as easy as possible for you. We thank you for your continued support of Windows Live services.

Why is this happening?

To deliver a better product for all our customers, we combined several services into a new product called Windows Live Mesh. Windows Live Mesh has several performance and reliability improvements compared to the Live Mesh beta, and with Windows Live Mesh, you can also sync your program settings for Internet Explorer and Microsoft Office. Learn more.

What you need to do before Live Mesh beta shuts down

To prevent loss of any of your files, please sync all files from your Live Desktop so that you have them on your computer when the Live Mesh beta service is shutdown. To do this, follow these steps:

1.       On your Live Desktop, right-click any Live Mesh folders not yet synced with your computer, and then click Sync with this computer. Make sure all the folders on your Live Desktop have desktop shortcuts.

2.       Select where you want each folder to sync, and then click OK. If a folder has a lot of files, this might take a while. Open each folder and make sure all the files are downloaded.

What you can do moving forward

If you enjoyed the functionality of Live Mesh, we encourage you to install the new Windows Live Mesh. You will first need to uninstall the Live Mesh beta, and then go to http://explore.live.com/windows-live-mesh to get the latest version of Windows Live Mesh. Before you do this, note the folders that you're syncing on each computer and if they're shared with anyone. After you download Windows Live Mesh, you can set up these folders to sync again. Learn more about how to upgrade

Thank you for participating in the Live Mesh beta. We hope you choose to move to Windows Live Mesh.

Sincerely,

The Windows Live team"

Really?  How bout this - "Thanks for assisting in our beta - welcome to the release!".  Instead, Redmond serves up "let's put a barrier between a community of veteran users and the relaunch", along with a side of "by the way, in one month, we're going to delete your data (or at least remove your access to it).  Epic Marketing, Brand and Service Fail.  Live Mesh is actually great - but obvisously Microsoft will find a way to kill it.  Microsoft is asking us to follow them "to the Cloud!".  Ending a service and endangering people's data is no way to promote Cloud Computing or clients' trust of storing data on hosted web servers beyond our control.

Wow, one day with a Mac and I am already bashing Microsoft.

I Got a Mac - and the World is Still Spinning!

Thanks to the thoughtfulness and generosity of my co-workers, I am now the proud owner of a MacBook Air. It's pretty sweet. I am getting the hang of OSX and have managed to join my Windows Active Directory (helpful article on this here), install Office 2011, sync up my Outlook, and now create a blog post. So far, so good - the Air is quick and responsive, even with several programs running (and installing) simultaneously. The construction and design are phenomenal - it really doesn't feel much heavier than my iPad.

As a PC user for over 20 years, I never thought I would be using a Mac. The iPhone, then iPad, slowly won me over, and with the compatibility of most of the applications I use on both platforms, its definitely a good time to take the plunge. Once Starcraft 2 finishes installing over the network, I'll really be able to give this thing a shakedown. More to come as I learn the details of what it can do.

So, hell hasn't frozen over, and I am on a Mac, and to be completely honest, I am loving it. It's warm and sunny here in Steve's Reality Distortion Field.  I guess it was inevitable since the first day I was inspired by the cogent logic and elocution of Ellen Feiss:

iPad 2 Presentation on March 2nd - What will be announced?

Official invites went out today for the Apple "special event" scheduled for next week at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco - where the iPad was unveiled in January of 2010. As seen in the image above, it looks like Apple is being pretty upfront about what it will ve unveiling on March 2nd - the long-rumored iPad 2.

While we still have time to dream and wonder, here's what we believe the iPad 2 will probably look like. It is likely to be slimmer and lighter, with a new processor, reportedly Apple's A5, which is also rumored to be the engine for the iPhone 5. At least a front-facing camera for FaceTime and other video-conferencing apps is expected, and many expect a high-resolution rear camera as well. An "uber-speaker" has been postulated, based on leaked case designs. A separate video processor is also expected, leading to speculation that the rear camera and power will add up into a hi-def video capture and editing capability - recent discussion of Final Cut for iPad reinforces this.

There is also a good chance that Apple will announce at least the release date of OSX 10.7 Lion, if not display a feature list.

With Android, Windows, and WebOS tablet competition hitting the market, Apple COO Tim Cook will have some big presenting shoes to fill in Steve Job's absence. There has been recent backlash against Apple's closely-controlled App ecosystem. Apple will need to make some significant strides forward with this product to keep ahead on technology - whether the Apple mystique can compete long-term in a crowded mobile market with huge price pressures is more of a question today than it ever has been before.

Or is this just a sideshow until the iPad 3 "Fall Surprise" hits?

Earthquake in Christchurch, New Zealand

Photo from CNN.com

A 6.3 magnitude earthquake has struck in Christchurch, New Zealand, causing buildings to crumble, phone and power line outages, and toppling the 147 year-old Christchurch Cathedral's steeple. Reportedly, 80% of the city is currently without power.   The area is still recovering from a 7.1 quake in September - hopefully reinforcements since then spare injury.

Here's a live feed to local news: http://www.3news.co.nz/Video/3NewsLiveStream/tabid/876/Default.aspx

There are reports of aftershocks - YouTube video from local news:



Latest news from Channel 3 via Twitter: http://twitter.com/3newsbreaking

Angry Birds Playable Birthday Cake!

Some very devoted parents built this for their son's birthday - very cool! You can almost hear the pigs snickering when he misses.

Beautifully drawn Angry Birds by Shane “Das Chupa” Parker.

50 Great Facts About Goodfellas

Check out this article at Shortlist.com which lists 50 little-known facts about Goodfellas such as these:

"The dinner scene with Tommy’s mother is largely improvised, including Tommy asking if he could borrow her butcher’s knife and the paw/hoof debate."

"For a film renowned for violence, GoodFellas has a relatively low body count of 10."

"The legendary Steadicam tracking shot through the nightclub kitchen was an accident. Scorsese (right, with De Niro), who didn’t even like using Steadicams at first, had been denied permission to go through the front door and had to improvise another plan. He decided to do it in one long shot to symbolise “Henry’s whole life being ahead of him, doors opening to him. It’s his seduction of Karen and it’s also the lifestyle seducing him”. The shot had to be redone eight times — not because of complications choreographing it, but because it ends on comedian Henry Youngman performing, but Youngman kept fluffing his lines, spoiling the close of the scene."

"Scorsese first heard of Pileggi’s book Wiseguy when he was handed an early proof copy while shooting The Color Of Money in Chicago. Although Scorsese had sworn off making another gangster flick after Mean Streets, he immediately called the writer and told him, “I’ve been waiting for this book my entire life.” Pileggi replied, “I’ve been waiting for this phone call my entire life.” They agreed to co-write it there on the phone."

Great stuff - as if I needed motivation to watch Goodfellas again!

http://www.shortlist.com/entertainment/article/938/50-useless-but-genius-facts-about-goodfellas

How To Talk To Your Kids About Star Wars PSA

Parents aren't born with all the answers, and it's important to have help. Here's some great advice on how to introduce your children to Star Wars, before it is too late.

Thanks to Rob for this!

Your Rights as a Traveller, and the TSA's Unpublished Policies

Cory Doctorow at boingboing has a link to a pdf by Sai which outlines your rights as a passenger, what you must legally consent to, and how to deal with TSA requests.  It also includes contact information for TSA outreach and management, as well as the internal procedure guide for "enhanced pat-downs" and photography and video in the security area.  Worth checking out, or keeping for reference - here's a link to the Reference Card.

Stay up to date with WeWontFly.com, a great alternative source of information about travel security.

Just to keep things in perspective, here's the History Of Air Security from Fork Party:

Via: Criminal Justice Degree

Obama Tech Dinner Caption Contest

Write your own caption in the comments - here's a couple to get you started:

"Ladies and Gentleman - To Evil!"

"Screw Microsoft!"

"The same thing we do every night - try to take over the world!"

"To powerful nerds and the beautiful women who love them!"

"To taxes as venture capital!"

Get Cash for your Unused Gadgets - Gazelle.com

Do you have an old cell phone, DVR, game console or computer components collecting dust?  Gazelle.com makes it easy to get an immediate cash offer, and then sends you a postage-paid box to ship the device in.  All you need to do is choose the item, enter the condition, and whether you have the original accessories available, and you will get a quote on the spot.You will then be reimbursed directly, or you have the option to contribute the money to a charity.    Either way, you are probably preventing expansion of land-fill and getting some value out of equipment that isn't useful to you anymore.  It's also fun to look at the historical value of certain items - you can see how the iPhone 3Gs took a nosedive when the iPhone 4 was announced, or how the iPad is holding it's value on the resale market.  Give it a shot:

http://www.gazelle.com/

The Legend of Zelda as a John Hughes Movie

If you ever played Zelda or watched a John Hughes movie, you will appreciate this.  If you did both, prepare for geekgasm.




My only criticism - the guys at the Gas 'N Sip should have said "Choice, man - concious choice"

Jeopardy's IBM Challenge Day 3 - Watson Triumphant!

We start a fresh game - Watson draws first choice on the board, as if another advantage is needed. In the Single Jeopardy, Ken Jennings looks to start getting a rhythm going, with Watson unable to reach his "buzz threshold" of confidence for several questions in a row. I am also wondering if they adjusted his buzzer speed - the humans are beating him pretty regularly. Ken finishes Single Jeopardy with $8,400 after a gutsy $3k+ Daily Double, Watson at $4,600 and Brad at $2,300. We also get to see Ken say "Fitty Cent" and "DJ Danger Mouse".

In Double Jeopardy, Watson comes on strong to $23k, but Ken hangs in there at $18k, and Brad gets a few shots in for $5,600.

Final Jeopardy finds all three contestants providing the correct answer, and Watson betting big to take the challenge. Ken writes in after his response, "I for one, would like to welcome our new Computer Overlords" - has he been reading this blog?

Joe Cocker with Captions of What He Was Really Singing - Video of the Day

Visual Captions of Joe Cocker at Woodstock singing "A Little Help From My Friends" - I always knew there was a deeper message there! Make sure to close the ad right away so you don't miss any of the good stuff!

Jeopardy's IBM Challenge Day 2 - Watson Ascendant!

While The Day 1 premiere of IBM's Jeopardy-playing computer was impressive, Day 2 was pretty much a bloodbath. Watson dominated on the buzzer again, barely leaving the human contestants a chance to answer. In one interesting moment, Watson needed to respond on a Daily Double but found its confidence in its response to be below the normal "buzz threshold", and expressed this verbally by preceding the question with "I am going to take a guess". Of course, the guess was right. Watson was correct on most of his responses, with the notable exception of Final Jeopardy. Even this left no opening for the humans, as Watson wagered only $900 and change while holding a $25,000 lead over the closest competitor. This ends the first game, with another entire round of Jeopardy to be played and the totals of both combined to determine the $1 million winner. Looks like Watson is buying beers at happy hour this Friday.

In an interesting feature, a short documentary-style clip discussed other applications to which the research which created Watson could be applied. A fascinating possibility discussed using a similar system to aggregate medical references, current publications, diagnostic guides, test data and patient history to create a decision-support tool for medical professionals. This led me to consider the power of such systems for finding lost children (or adults) by connecting disparate databases, news sources, municipal registrations, school records, social media, etc. What about harnessing this kind of relational power to telephone and web-based interactive response systems, allowing them to return useful information for a change? Add a layer of Watson-like respond evaluation to a search engine to ensure accurate results! The possibilities are endless and just the advances in natural-language processing and response seen here are staggering. IBM's going to sell a lot of Power 7 servers.

iPhone Nano on the way?

According to a Wall Street Journal article today, as well as another report from Bloomberg last week, it looks like Apple is readying a small form-factor phone to the iPhone line.  While US consumers pay $200 or less for an iPhone on contract basis, the retail price has been estimated as high as $650.  The iPhone Nano may allow Apple to move into the lower-end feature phone space where free phones are common with carrier subsidy, and offer a more affordable non-contract retail alternative to the iPhone 5.  Apple is rumored to be launching a voice control interface with this phone - hopefully it will be available across the IOS line of products.

The iPhone Nano is expected to be as small as half the size of the iPhone and have a common dual-mode radio with the iPhone 5 and possibly a "universal SIM", making it globally compatible and an attractive alternative to other lower-priced options.  Apple Insider posits that this will allow Apple to enter smaller, developing markets where low-end handsets currently rule.

A refresh of the MobileMe platform, possibly dismissing the fees and adding PhotoStream technology to work in concert with iTunes, as well as a personal "storage locker" for data, could be part of the next iPhone launch.

Apple denied comment on this, picture above not actual phone.

Family Feud - Survey Says: Hilarious

For anyone who uses Family Feud as a National Moral Barometer - outlook not so good.  Full credit to the honored BIOSMOB for this one - he is truly special!

Jeopardy's IBM Challenge Day 1 - Watson Impresses!

We've reached the end of Day One, Ken Jennings (winningest player with a mindblowing 74-game streak) trailing with $2,000 at the end of Single Jeopardy and Brad Rutter (Jeopardy's biggest money winner at $3.25 million) tied with IBM's Watson at $5,000.

So far, Watson has been very impressive.  First off, when it is "sure" of an answer (an onscreen indicator shows us Watson's certainty percentage on the top three answers, and whether the first one exceeds its "buzz barrier", indicating confidence to buzz in), Watson seems to smoke the humans on the buzzer more often than not.  Ken, who must be a master of the buzzer, seems to be frustrated by this. 

Watson's weaknesses seem to be in situations where it cannot parse the question, needs to formulate a complex answer and it's lack of the ability to follow the gameplay.  In one response, Watson gave the same wrong response that a human player already had.  In another, in response to an answer about an Olympian with an anatomical oddity, the correct question was "What is missing a leg?", while Watson came up with "What is a leg?".  Close, but no cigar. 

With Double Jeopary and Final Jeopardy still to come, humanity still has a solid chance, but should Watson pull it out, let me be the first to welcome our new computer quiz show overlords.

Flipboard - iPad App of the Week

Flipboard is an app for the iPad that pulls information from your social networking feeds, such as Facebook and Twitter, as well as your favorite news web sites, and assembles them into a custom "magazine" on your iPad. The magazine is a very readable format, and allows to to "click through" to the original article, or to follow links. It's very easy to set up and you'll find that oncce you have your content set, it will become your favorite place to read your social networking updates as well as your news.

Even if you don't take my word for it, Apple named it "App of the Year" and Time magazine called it one of the Top Innovations of 2010. Most importantly, MC Hammer appeared on Oprah to promote Flipboard last week, so you know its 2 Legit.

And it's free!

Check it out: http://ax.itunes.apple.com/us/app/flipboard/id358801284?mt=8

New Order's Love Vigilantes is the New Wave Sixth Sense

I don't think I can overstate how much I love my wife, Liz. We were just listening to New Order's Love Vigilantes and she pointed out that the protagonist soldier returning home is a ghost. I know every word, I love this song, and I never realized this. Am I completely dense?

Horse Outside - Cannot be explained, must be experienced

NSFW: Listen close and stay with it. Evidently everyone in Ireland has been on this for months, but it really has to be recognized stateside for the cultural touchstone it is:

Followup - Robocop may be getting a statue in Detroit after all!

"Serve the public trust, protect the innocent, uphold the awesome."

After Mayor David Bing shot down the idea of a Robocop statue on Twitter (Detroit Says Yes to Eminem, No to Robocop! ), a crowdquake broke out on the Interwebs.  First, Detroit resident John Leonard created a Facebook group called "Build a statue of RoboCop in Detroit", which at the time of this writing has over 3,500 members.

Then the artists who are currently rejuvenating the Imagination Station in Roosevelt Park got involved, asking people to put some money behind the effort with a Kickstarter proposal page: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/imaginationstation/detroit-needs-a-statue-of-robocop?ref=live, and http://detroitneedsrobocop.com/ - Pledges are pouring in!

They have a plan to scan a Robocop action figure with lasers, then reproduce it as a large scale cast for the metal statue.  That is just cool by itself - cause there are LASERS!

With a home for the statue and the financing rolling in, Officer Alex Murphy may be immortalized (again) at last.

iPad 2 and HP TouchPad - Tablet News Roundup

The Wall Street Journal has a story that the iPad 2 has gone into production. No real surprises, but it is to be smaller, thinner and faster than the original model, with at least one camera (front-facing for FaceTime). It is expected to be available on both Verizon and AT&T in it's 3G version at launch. Yawn.

HP announced their new tablet today, the HP TouchPad.  It is the same size and resolution as the iPad, and runs the dual-core 1.2Ghz Snapdragon processor - which should provide plenty of horsepower.  The TouchPad has 1Gb of RAM, as opposed to iPad's 256Mb - multitasking on the HP should be smooth and quick.  Storage will be in 16Gb and 32Gb flash options - just like the iPad.  The TouchPad is WiFi-only, and does have a front-facing camera.  It does include wireless charging ("TouchStone"), Micro-USB (for charging and syncing only) and no SD card support.  The biggest part of the announcement - the TouchPad will run WebOS, which HP picked up when they acquired Palm - this means Adobe Flash support.  Availability is sometime summer - no pricing yet.  It sounds like it will be very close in features to iPad 2, and released at the same time - without the huge App Store.  The price tag will have to be pretty attractive, or WebOS unbelieveably user-friendly for this to be a horse race.

Finally, TechCrunch has a wild rumor that Apple is readying a "Fall Surprise" - the iPad 3 (or at least 2.5), giving them a chance to refresh and reload prior to the holiday season.  Sounds kind of out there, but time will tell...

Joy Division's First TV Appearance Recreated with Playmobil Figures

Joy Division playing "Transmission" live on British music show "Something Else" in 1979, recreated in stop-motion using Playmobil figures.  Brilliant! Nuff said.

FREAKANGELS - a free, weekly webcomic by Warren Ellis

If you haven't happened upon it already, I highly recommend "FREAKANGELS", a weekly web comic written by Warren Ellis and beautifully illustrated by Paul Duffield.  The comic is already at 124 issues, so there is plenty to catch up on, but each runs six pages, so it's not a huge task. 

Here's the intro:

"23 years ago, twelve strange children were born in England at exactly the same moment. 

6 years ago, the world ended. 

This is the story of what happened next."

The post-flood London locale is deep and immersive and the characters are memorable and relateable. As we meet the FreakAngels and learn about their Whitechapel neighborhood, it becomes a microcosm for the world, reflecting the conflicts and relationships all around.  The steampunk technology and psychic powers of the FreakAngels plant the story firmly in the sci-fi genre, but it's real empahsis is a series of character studies, filling out how the world got to be this way through the experience of the children (now young adults).  Paul Duffield's art is both spare and detailed, conveying emotion through facial expressions and through the atmosphere and backgrounds.

If all this isn't enough to make you curious, it's free and guaranteed to pull you in.  Try to read the first six pages and then stop.  I dare you.  They're right here: http://www.freakangels.com/?p=23

Drobo Updates Line for Business - Adds 12-Bay Unit

Data Robotics has announced an update of it's line of Drobo storage products.  The new models are clearly aimed at business and offer solid competition to lower-end SAN soutions.  The Drobo B1200i has room for 12 drives, and includes 3 physical iSCSI ports.  With VMware, Citrix, Microsoft Exchange and Symantec Backup certification, and uses from VM backup to thin provisioning, this is a flexible storage system.  Add iSCSI, remote backup capabilities and Drobo's beloved BeyondRAID system which allows users to mix and match cheap, large drives, and this is a device which could find a lot of uses in a lot of offices.  Data Robotics has yet to update their site, but CrunchGear has a B1200i fully loaded with 2Tb drives at under $10k - this is going to be tough to beat on a comparable SAN device, and with the increased feature set, it's SAN competition that is clearly in Drobo's sights.

I use the classic Drobo at home and think it's a great device - I'd love to have one of these for the media collection, but it's priced a little beyond the living room!

More details and press release at CrunchGear: http://www.crunchgear.com/2011/02/07/drobo-takes-aim-at-small-businesses-with-new-12-bay-version/

Detroit Says Yes to Eminem, No to Robocop!

A Robocop statue?  I'd buy that for a dollar!

As we learned last night, while Roethlisberger may have a ways to go on his road to redemption, Eminem is now the spokesperson for Detroit.  Good for Mr. Mathers.

On the other hand, a certain Officer Alex Murphy may not be getting the respect he richly deserves from Motown.  Upon a Twitter suggestion that the city erect a statue of it's most famous fictional character, as Philadelphia has done with Rocky, Detroit Mayor David Bing had this to say:

With leadership like this, it's no wonder the city will fall into complete disorder leaving Omni Consumer Products to come in and corporatize it's police force in the near future.

UPDATE 2/10/2011: Followup - Robocop may be getting a statue in Detroit after all!

Motorola XOOM Tablet Superbowl Ad - Is Android the new Apple and Apple the new IBM?

Motorola had one of the best Superbowl commercials with a new take on "1984" that put Apple in the Big Brother spot and introduced the Xoom Tablet running Google's new Android 3 (formerly known as Honeycomb).



Referencing Apple's classic "1984" Superbowl ad by Ridley Scott which introduced the Mac with a rebellious hammer-thrower shattering the monotony of the IBM PC's stranglehold on personal computing, the Motorola ad sets the sites a little lower, with the triumph of the regular guy getting the girl. Of course, the "girl" is a corporate drone, wearing her white earbuds like all of the other corporate drones, until his tablet creativeness opens her mind to romance.

Here's the classic Apple commercial if anyone needs a refresher:



So, what's going on here in the subtext? First off, its clear that Motorola doesn't have much faith in the audience to appreciate subtlety - they hit us over the head with our protagonist actually reading "1984" - luckily he's still on the title page, so we can see it is "1984" by "GEORGE ORWELL". We quickly see that Motorola is putting Apple in the Big Brother heavy role as the corporate giant killing fun and innovation. It's a new place for media-darling Apple, which has reveled in its creative "Think Different" image for years. It is, however, not off the mark, especially in terms of Apple's opaque and closely-controlled iPad-iPod-iTunes-AppStore development and marketing ecosystem. Xoom's Android is certainly a more open platform. Note that the commercial also emphasizes the Xoom tablet's ability to create, while the iPad has very much turned out to be a device which excels at consumption. Whether the Xoom can deliver on this remains to be seen, but it is interesting that the ad makes this point. This creativity - a little romantic doodle - causes the scales to fall from her eyes (or at least the earbuds from her ears) and we are left to assume that she has broken out of the corporate monoculture and the couple will have a long and creative counter-culture life together. Sweet.

I am sure Apple's 1984 commercial seemed like a lot of hyperbole when it aired, but looking back, the introduction of the Mac did mark a legitimate sea-change in technology, just as dramatic in reality as the commercial that launched it. Maybe the Xoom and Honeycomb will offer a new option in the mobile market and bring some color and creativity, and that's ok. Motorola's spot didn't quite promise to smash Big Brother the way "1984" did - maybe it just takes a little bit of the shine off the Apple.

Apple Bringing iPhone 5 to Verizon and AT&T in July?

Sounds like there may be some very unhappy Verizon iPhone 4 owners come this July.  David Pogue in the NY Times is predicting a July release on both AT&T and Verizon: "Remember, too, that so far, Apple has released a new iPhone model every July. Apple won’t say if there will be an iPhone 5 for Verizon this summer. (“Let’s put it this way: We’re not stupid,” is all an Apple rep would say.) But if it does, and you buy an iPhone 4 now, you’ll be stuck with an outdated phone in only five months."

What can we expect from the iPhone 5?  While some have predicted a mere "maintenance release", there's going to have to be some solid improvements to gain ground against Android.  So far there seems to be strong indications of a multi-core processor called the A5 (possibly as much as 4 times as fast as the current A4 chip), as well as a separate processor for video and graphics, increasing those capabilities as well.  There are rumors of an upgrade to a longer-lasting Lithium-Ion battery.  Near Field Communication (NFC) technology seems to make sense, allowing the phone to be "swiped" to exchange information or even to make payments. 

While the current rear camera is pretty nice at 5 megapixels, there is talk that the new graphics processor will be paired with an 8 megapixel camera and 1080p video recording - hope there's a storage increase to go with that!  Other likely contenders: 4G or dual GSM/CDMA support, FaceTime over 3G/4G, and expanded voice control/dictation.  

A skinnable/customizable home screen, Biometric (fingerprint) security locks, an IR transmitter for universal remote control, SD Card support, and Flash support are among the less-likely features that have been cranking through the rumor mill.  While we are making wish lists, I would love to see a  better antenna to ensure call quality!

No matter what features make it - it looks like we will have a new iPhone to marvel over this summer, and it looks likely that it will be available to Verizon users as well as those on AT&T.

Dead Birds, Missing VX Gas, Phantom Missiles, and Alex Trebek - Where are the Answers?

In the last couple of months, I have noticed a lack of followup from journalists and media on some very odd stories which begged for answers:

Case 1: Mystery Missile
On the evening of November 8th, 2010, many witnesses saw what appeared to be a missile launched from just off the coast of Los Angeles, north of Catalina Island.  The video below was captured by a KCBS new helicopter.  The US military and FAA claimed no knowledge of the launch and that nothing showed up on their radar records of the area.  "Nobody within the Department of Defense that we've reached out to has been able to explain what this contrail is, where it came from," Pentagon spokesman Col. Dave Lapan said. "So far, we've come up empty with any explanation."  NORAD and Northern Command issued a statement the next day, "We can confirm that there is no threat to our nation, and from all indications this was not a launch by a foreign military," the statement said. "We will provide more information as it becomes available."  Well, its been a few months, and I guess no knowledge has become available.



Case 2:  Arkansas Bird and Fish Mass Deaths
A few minutes before midnight on New Year's Eve, December 31st, 2010, approximately 5,000 red-wing black birds fall out of the sky, dead, in Arkansas.  This is just two days after over 80,000 fresh water drum fish show up dead along the Arkansas River.  To date, no word on the fish at all - on the birds, we have been told that bacteria, viruses, heavy metals, pesticides and chemicals used to kill birds have been ruled out - it appears blunt force injuries are the common thread, but those may have been caused by hitting the ground.  Although witnesses say that they saw birds falling out of the air, the official word from the Arkansas Fish and Game Commission as of January 27th is a theory that is that it was likely that the birds were flying low due to theoretical "New Yea'rs fireworks" and just flew into a theoretical solid object.  In theory.

Case 3:  The Missing VX Gas
Dugway Proving Grounds, an 800,000 acre Army base southwest of Salt Lake City, was put into a lockdown from around 6pm on January 26th until around 3am the next morning.  All staff were put under lockdown while officials frantically searched for what was later revealed to be a "misplaced" vial of VX gas.  Upon finding the vial, the lockdown was lifted and an announcement made that "no one was ever in any danger: or had been harmed.  The most dangerously lethal nerve agent on earth was misplaced for nine hours, but no one was in danger?  Oh, but they found it, so its all good!  Nothing to see here, move along.  By the way, in 1997, the US committed to destroying all chemical weapon stockpiles and storage within ten years - it's 2011, and we are obviously still storing VX.  Oops.

What do these stories have in common?
I don't have a Grand Unified Conspiracy Theory that answers these mysteries.  I do see a trend - as mass media has taught us, they will give us what we ask for.  Evidently, we are asking for more reality TV, rather than for answers.  Look at the promos for the nightly news shows - they are nothing but scary questions - "What household item might be slowly killing you while you sleep?" or "Guess what unexpected place bedbugs are showing up now?"  Doubtless, focus groups have confirmed that this is the most effective way to lure in viewers.  The problem is, we don't seem to demand answers!  Of course there are exceptions - millions of viewers lamented the lack of pay-off in the Lost finale - where is the outcry for answers or at least further investigation into these stories straight out of our news?  In each case, there are government officials responsible for investigating and explaining these events - where is the accountability?  Have we grown so sheepish as a society that we are put off by these lame non-explanations?  We need to demand better answers, cause these are really weak.

As former Governor Jesse "The Body" Ventura so authoritatively explained on the classic X-Files episode "Jose Chung's 'From Outer Space'" on which he teamed with Alex Trebek as the Men in Black:

"Venus was at its peak brilliance last night. You probably thought you saw something up in the sky other than Venus, but I assure you, it was Venus."

OneNote for the iPhone and iPad at Last!

If there is one application I can't live without, it's Microsoft OneNote.  I started using it on the Tablet PC, and it has become a central repository for my meeting notes, to-do lists, reference materials, and any other information that I want to collect.  The search functions make it easy to find things, and the tagging system allows tasks to be categorized and associated with events in Outlook.  Everything was great in OneNote Land until I got my iPad.

There is no more natural application for the iPad than OneNote, and for my first couple of weeks with the iPad, I looked everywhere for a substitute.  While a lot of people love EverNote, the interface just didn't click with me.  MobileNoter allowed the viewing of OneNote content, but entry and syncing just wasn't there the way I wanted it.  A couple of weeks ago, with no warning, Microsoft released this app and I found my prayers answered.

OneNote for IOS is mainly a OneNote viewer, but you can create new notes and to-do lists, update existing ones and organize your notebooks on Windows Live.  Some new features have been added - you can add pictures from your camera roll (or screenshots).  It's the closest thing yet to the full OneNote experience on an Apple device.

There are a couple of catches.  First off, it's an iPhone App, which could be seen as an advantage since it works on both platforms, but the display when zoomed in to fill the iPad screen is a little pixelated.  Also, you are required to publish your OneNote notebooks to Windows Live in order to access them.  Again, this could be seen as a positive, having your information available in the cloud, on your iPhone, your iPad and through Microsoft Office Live's web interface.  There are a few limitations on content - embedded files cannnot be accessed, although images show up fine.  There is no handwriting interface, one of OneNote's key features on the PC, but the iPhone and iPad aren't built for a pen interface, so this is to be expected.  I would love to see an iPad specific version which uses the full resolution available and maybe even lets you doodle or sketch.

If you use OneNote on the PC - you need this app.  If you don't use OneNote, you need to start!

If you are not sold already - it's FREE for a "limited time"!  Get it at the App Store:
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/onenote/id410395246?mt=8

Homeland Insecurity - Air Security Loopholes

Each time I fly, I find myself fascinated by the changing strategies of the Transportation Security Administration.  Some idiot tries to blow up his shoe, we need to take off our shoes.  Liquid explosives?  We need to get tiny bottles of shampoo (I am sure the Tiny Shampoo Lobby was behind this one).  No lighters, but matches are ok.  Never mind, lighters are ok again.

Meanwhile, one huge loophole in airport security seems to be constant to me.  When you check in for your flight, you present your ID and interact with the desk agent who may ask a few security questions.  So far so good.  Next we pass through the security screening (I'll save my comments on that process for another post).  Now, having been x-rayed, metal-detected, full-body-irradiated, prodded and/or probed, you are allowed to enter the "secure area" containing the gates that lead to the planes.

Here's what I don't get - my flight is announced, and I line up to board.  The gate agent announces, out loud, every time, "You only need your boarding pass - you don't need your ID!"

Wha-wha-whaaat?  So what you are telling me is that anyone within the secure area could swap boarding passes (or bring a second with them), and then travel as another person?  This is secure?  There is no way that the TSA can have any confidence of who is on what flight, and the gate agents are proudly broadcasting this!  I do not understand in the least how this loophole remains in place year after year, while we focus on theoretical exploding shoes.

Add to this equation the "Fake Boarding Pass Generator" which was in the news a couple of years back, or its equivalent, and I could easily enter the "secure area" under a false identity and then use someone else's legitimate boarding pass to fly without ever revealing my identity - or use a fake boarding pass matching my real ID which gets me past security without my identity being screened (which is part of the ticketing process).  Of course the security researcher who made the boarding pass generator to demonstrate the ease with which security could be compromised was persecuted by the FBI, so maybe I should just shut up now.

Any Video Converter - The Free and Easy Way to Convert Video Formats

Occasionally, I find myself with a video in an inconvenient format - a .mkv file that I want to load onto my iPad, a high-res clip that I want to upload for web streaming, or an .avi file that I want to burn to DVD. I have used many different utilities over the years, some high-priced and feature-laden, but I have finally come across the most straight-forward application for this, and the best part is, it's free! Any Video Converter can be used very simply - select the file you want to convert, then the format you would like to output - anything from mobile-phone appropriate format to Flash or DVD's. If you want to, you can drill down into the deeper settings, choosing audio formats, quality levels, video size, etc.

It even includes basic editing features, so if you want to pull out a clip or two and assemble them into a new montage, it's as easy as dragging and dropping.

You can download the latest version for Windows from here:
http://www.any-video-converter.com/products/for_video_free/

More Ewoks Than Humans Should Be Allowed

Can't get enough of those furry little critters who kicked Imperial tail and then held a rave?  Well, you've come to the right place.  Here's a quick survey of some of the better video fare centering on our Endorian friends:

Ewok Celebration by Meco

The original Yub Nub sensation, as remixed by the guy who brought us the Star Wars Theme Disco Version (available in hi-fi on vinyl as part of KTel's "Star Power" anthology, which I happen to own).




Ewok Gospel Song Featuring Billy Dee Williams

The tale of a galaxy saved by Wickett and company, set to gospel music, with a cameo by Mr. Colt 45 himself - works every time!



Drunk Ewoks on the Today Show

Ewoks invade Halloween on the Today Show.
It's the tried and true formula: Ewoks + Alcohol + Al Roker = Laughs.
Bear with it, it's worth it.  Inappropriate groping and the moonwalk take it to the next level.



Ewok Barbershop

I don't think a quartet has gotten it's barbershop hooks into me like this since "Baby on Board" by the Be Sharps back in 85.

AT-AT Day Afternoon

Finally, it's not Ewoks, but that other adorable character from the original trilogy that we all wanted to take home as a pet: The All Terrain Armored Transport!

Celebrate The Love!

P.S.  I have been unable to locate Jimmy Fallon's Ewok Celebration which he sang on SNL during Weekend Update.  It seems the copyright police have wiped it clear off the Internet.  If anyone can point me in the right direction, I would be much obliged. Seriously.