“I Am Legend” and The Cubs

Baseball, Movies

So here we are, just three days from baseball season (good god, what has become of me), and I’m watching my new DVD “I Am Legend” for the second time. As a teen I worked in movie theaters, and in college I worked as a movie theater projectionist, and so I got in the habit of seeing movies that I like multiple times. I guess that may explain why I enjoy collecting DVD, particularly for the special features they offer, as well as for the minor details that are easily missed in the first viewing of any movie.

So tonight I’m watching “I Am Legend” for the second time, and it begins with the sound of a sports radio program where the hosts are discussing the coming baseball season, and they predict a Chicago Cubs vs. New York Yankees World Series. And of course, I’m not spoiling anything to let you know that shortly after every person on the planet either dies or turns into a vampire that preys on the few remaining survivors. They don’t say how many Chicago Cubs survive, or if the Vampires continue to play baseball (only night games?), but it rather looks like a prediction of a Cubs World Series win is in fact a portent of the end of the world.

So the season starts on Monday. And it’s been 100 years since the Cubs last win, which provides a very poetic opportunity to end the drought, don’t you think? Let’s just hope the end of the world Vampire virus doesn’t strike until AFTER the Cubs end their century long series drought.

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Fat & Crazy

Guide to Life, News

I’m soooo doomed. Yesterday’s Washington Post reported that men in their 40s who carry their extra weight on their abdomen are more prone to suffer dementia in their later years. Apparently, fat is nastier when it surrounds your other organs than when it’s just hanging from your legs and arms. Now I don’t consider myself particularly ‘fat’, but I was told by my doctor last week at my regular physical that I had 20 pounds to lose, and one look at me would make it obvious to anyone where I can find them. Right there on my belly. I still have skinny arms and legs, but my belly sticks out like I’m a pregnant man.

So what might motivate me to action, besides the threat of dementia? A bet of course! My neighbor and good friend, TJ, is in the same boat as me. He’s younger, and so got fat faster than me (jk tj!), but is essentially the same weight as me with the same target of slimming down to 180. We agreed to have our own mini Biggest Loser challenge, and the winner will enjoy a 90-minute massage purchased courtesy of the loser. I don’t know how I will do, but I predict a second place finish.

Stay tuned for news of progress, or failure. Who knows, the dementia may set in early and I’ll just type some gibberish, but that’s already my norm. At least I’m in good company.

Study Links Middle-Age Belly Fat to Dementia
The Washington Post, 3/27/08

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Apple TV Update

Technology, Television
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In the world of Apple enthusiasts, there is an annual event called the Macworld Expo, at which our Macleader, Apple CEO, offers a keynote presentation and tell us, the Mac-minions, what cool new hardware gadgets and software upgrades we can expect from Apple computer. Usually, it is all very drool-worthy, but from time-to-time, even Apple offers up something that is widely considered to be a flop.

One of the announcements at this year’s MacWorld was a software update for AppleTV, called ‘Take 2’. I have an AppleTV, and it serves primarily as a tool to turn my basement Manspace TV into an iTunes juke box. It’s also serves some purpose for viewing digital photos, and exploring YouTube on a big screen. And while I have yet to ever purchase a movie from Apple’s iTunes Store, I have purchased a few music videos. And it’s in this area that Apple TV lacks an obvious feature.

When playing music, AppleTV provides an option to ‘shuffle songs’, randomly playing selections from your library, playlist or album. But when playing music videos, there is no ‘shuffle videos’ option. You must select a video, and play it. If you want to view another video, you must select and play it. Repeat until you’re bored.

AppleTV Take 2 has some nice new features, including connecting now to Flickr and .Mac galleries, in addition to iPhoto pictures. And AppleTV Take 2 is a serious pimp for the iTunes store, in every menu putting options to search and buy content above the choice of perusing your own libraries. A bit cheesy, but not the end of the world. I have yet to try out renting a movie from iTunes, I’ll explore that option later.

But why, oh why, no video shuffle? It would be sooooo cool to to have a video jukebox, why must music videos be played one at a time? After that, my next wish for AppleTV would be that it turn my TV into an external monitor. I count on the fact that Apple has labs full of technicians working to make that happen. Help me. Write to Apple TV Feedback, and tell them that this was a nice small step forward, but there’s some major fixes that they missed.

for further reading…

Wired
Apple TV’s ‘Take 2’ Update Is Finally Ready

MacWorld
Hands on with Apple TV, Take Two

iLounge
Apple Inc. Apple TV Take 2

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Obama’s Online Fundraising

Politics

Since Super-Tuesday, Barack Obama has raised $5.8 million dollars online. I’m very glad to have used my little chart provided by his web site, and helped contribute to that total. Thank you to my friends and anyone else who helps with a contribution.

It’s Obamania! Keep it coming!

Obama Raises $5.8 Million Online After Super Tuesday
Bloomberg, 2/7/08

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Netflix vs. On Demand

Movies, Technology

Netflix.jpgAs a new customer of FiOS TV, and also the owner of an Apple TV, I now have new options available to me in the home entertainment arena, particularly with being able to rent and view a movie on demand.

I have been a customer of Netflix since 2000, and I have rented X movies from them in that time. I don’t think I’ve set foot in a movie rental store since, and the recent closure of my nearest store, I know that in my case, it is Netflix holding the smoking gun that killed them.

So the question is, will my new On Demand options from FiOS and Apple return the favor, and do to Netflix what Netflix did to the bricks and mortar video store? An investigation was warranted.

My first question is one of selection. Which service will provide me the greatest number of titles to choose from? Netflix’s web site proclaims that they have “more than 90,000 DVD titles”, while FiOS and Apple can only weakly claim “over 1,000”. Advantage: Netflix

Next comes convenience. Traveling to a video store is less convenient than browsing the web to select a movie to watch. I find that my new rentals arrive from Netflix within a day after having a new spot open on my list, and having a rental queue always loaded means not even having to think much about what’s coming next. Something I put in the queue will come next. But it’s hard to compete with ‘right now’ for impulse movie watching. Advantage: On Demand

Finally, and most importantly, there’s costs. I am currently on the $18/month Netflix plan, which allows me to have three movies at home at a time, and to keep them for an unlimited amount of time. Prices for on demand rentals from FiOS and Apple range between $2.99 and $4.99 depending on the movie (new releases cost more), and quality (HD movies cost more). In each case, you have 24 hours to watch the movie you’ve rented. Using $3.99 as the average on demand rental cost, five movies would cost me about $20. But a review of my rental history over the last year from Netflix shows me I’m renting an average of seven movies a month. That’s math easy enough even for me; 7 movies from Netflix for $17, or 7 movies on Demand for something between $21 and $35. Advantage: Netflix

So there you have it. I’m sure variables will change with competition for my rental dollars, changes in technology, and other changes. And I’m sure that from time to time the appeal of renting a movie on impulse for immediate viewing will lead me to do an on demand rental. But for my regular rentals, I’m sticking with Netflix.

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349 Days – Super Tuesday

Bush's Last Day

There are 349 Days to go now until Bush’s Last Day, hang in there baby!

Today 22 States will hold their primary elections, making today Super Tuesday. We have a week yet before we get our turn here in Virginia, when we’ll be joined by Maryland and the District in voting on what I’ve heard called The Potomac Primary, and Chesapeake Tuesday (‘Potomac Primary’ turns up 1,010 results in Google, while ‘Chesapeake Tuesday’ returns only 596, so I guess that race is won). Good luck to all the candidates (ok, not really, just trying to be a good sport).

As you can see from my fundraising graphic, and the new sign in my yard, that I’ve made my choice. You can probably tell by the amount also that I’m not exactly yet having a big impact on Barack’s behalf. Hopefully that will change some over time. If you haven’t seen it yet, take a look at the ‘Yes We Can‘ video on Obama’s site. Powerful.

BTW, delayed congrats to the Giants. That was an amazing finish, and an excellent Super Bowl!

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“Free Public Wi-Fi”, A Mystery Solved

Technology

I’m glad to find an answer to this mystery… what is that available wi-fi hotspot that shows up in my list of available wireless networks that is labeled as ‘Free Public Wi-Fi’, but really looks like a computer-to-computer connection? I’ve always avoided it, fearing some kind of hacker lure, like the witch’s house of candy in Hansel and Gretel.

Happily today, a path of blog entries (Joho to Pogue) led to the answer, posted more than a year ago here in Tech Blog.

The answer? A Windows bug. Why is that no surprise?

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And Finally FiOS!

Technology
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I can still remember bringing home and hooking up my 56k modem, and the excitement of the boost to speed it would bring to my dial-up net surfing.

Then, back in 1999 we signed up with Jones @Home, and our Internet started coming in along with the cable TV. And it was good.

And then Jones became Comcast, and one spring day in XXXX we went looking for WGN to catch a Cubs game, and we found that Comcast had dropped WGN in favor of The Food Network. And it was bad.

So we set out to pull our television down out of the air, like our grandfathers had done before us, but not with some spindly aerial antenna working below the clouds, but with a sleek satellite dish, pulling our programs from space. We found we had made a mistake going with the Dish Network, as there were more sports to be found on DirectTV, and so after a year with Dish, we switched. We bought the baseball package and the football package, and it was good.

But then last year we bought our first HD capable TV, and then another. I ordered an HD upgrade from DirectTV, and the installer came to our house, took a look at the sky, and said basically, “No HD for you”. Seems we still have too many trees around here, what a nusiance.

Then, late last summer, our neighborhood’s streets were being torn up, with painted lines and little orange flags. Verizon was laying fiber-optic cable, and soon we’d have a new option, FiOS.

Today was the day, and now our phone (unlimited local & long distance), television (HD, DVR, Movies on Demand), and Internet (15 mps down, 5 up) are all coming in a single bundle, for less money than I’ve been paying Comcast/DirecTV/Sprint for the same, and a 19-inch HD TV was thrown into the mix. And it is good.

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Groundhog Day & The State of the Union

Humor, Politics

This year, both Groundhog Day and the State of the Union address occur on the same day. And as it has been pointed out, “It is an ironic juxtaposition of events: one involves a meaningless ritual in which we look to a creature of little intelligence for prognostication, while the other involves a groundhog.”

Thanks to Alec for the laugh

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