Media Lemur

AMD Unveils Turion 64-Bit Mobile Processor

2005-03-10T14:39:00.000-05:00

Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) has officially unveiled its latest chip for mobile computing, a 64-bit processor aimed squarely Intel's Centrino product, which currently dominates the notebook PC market.

Based on the AMD64 architecture, the Turion 64 is touted as providing extended battery life, security and compatibility with the latest graphics and wireless technology for lightweight PCs.

To date, Intel has owned the lucrative notebook-computing segment. Some analysts have questioned why AMD apparently had ignored the field, which has provided a robust revenue stream for Intel. Then, earlier this year, the company announced plans to create a research facility in Japan to develop mobile chips and attending technologies. It also rolled out a Mobile Athlon 64 microprocessor.

Among those expected to adopt the Turion technology are notebook manufacturers Acer, Fujitsu Siemens and Packard Bell. The more power-hungry Mobile Athlon 64 will remain as a microprocessor for the larger "PC replacement" notebooks.

"The Amazing Race 7" Week 2 Thoughts

2005-03-09T14:47:00.000-05:00

Week 2 of "The Amazing Race 7" aired last night, and I'm still feeling out all the teams.

Of course, one of the teams I was starting to like got the boot last night.

I was liking the chemistry that was just starting to flow between the team of Megan and Heidi, who of course got the boot last night after coming in last, and the brothers team of Brian and Greg, who are currently my favorite team in the race. Add in the fact that these two teams were the last to check in and were battling each other to stay in the race and it made things interesting, although bittersweet as I was looking forward to seeing what might brew between these four.

My personal laugh-out-loud moment of the night came when the Roadblock stated, "Who loves shoes?" I poked fun at the boyfriends team of Lynn & Alex to my girlfriend by saying "We both love shoes!" in a Lynn & Alex sort of way. Not two seconds later did one of them utter those exact words with the same exact inflection I used... "We both love shoes!" It's like they're parodies of themselves.

Rob and Amber are showing theyll be a force to be reckoned with, and even though I'm still of the thought that a team that HASN'T won a million bucks on a reality show should win this race, I do like them so far.

Meredith and Gretchen, the old retired couple, are very very sweet, but I don't see them competing the way last season's old-folks team, Don and Mary-Jane, did. At one point these two were wandering around looking like they'd escaped from their retirement home, and any second the good folks from the home wearing the white coats were going to come and bring them back.

Not much else to say about this episode right now, that I can remember... other than thinking Brian & Greg are really cool, I haven't latched on to one team that I really really want to win... but it's still early, so we'll see how it plays out.

And just for the record, I would have pulled the books. Kudos to Rob and Amber for doing it all in one trip... what were the others doing wrong that they all had to go back?!

National Lampoon's Amazing Race Vacation

2005-03-08T10:26:00.000-05:00

Imagine a car trip to grandma's... kids whining "Are we there yet? Are we there yet?!" on a two hour drive.

Now envision a flight from Mexico to Thailand. "Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet?" Better make sure the door to that plane is bolted shut, because if the parents don't toss their kids out, their fellow passengers will... next season on "The Amazing Race"...

TAR has lowered its age restriction to 8 — and that's not a typo. It's the first time contestants under 21 are being allowed to compete in the globe-trotting reality show. The new rules are for its upcoming "Family Edition" — in which families of four will compete for a $1-million grand prize.

"We don't know what it's going to reap, but we've already received a lot of really good tapes" with contestants as young as 8, says "Amazing Race" casting director Lynne Spillman.

"I was really hesitant about this at first, but we've received some really cute tapes from people who absolutely love 'The Amazing Race.' "

The original cutoff age for "Family Edition" contestants was 12, but they feared eliminating entertaining parents and an older child because they have a family member who is younger.

The "Family Edition" of "The Amazing Race 8" will tape this summer, eliminating the problem of having to take a child out of school. And, since it's a family-oriented edition, the places to which the contestants travel will be family friendly and appropriate for the age range, which I guess eliminates pit stops at some of the seedier locations we've come to expect from TAR. (Cue Kendra from "The Amazing Race 6" saying the people in "ghetto Africa... just keep breeding, and breeding, and breeding...")

Says the casting director: "I hope we're going to have a mixture of nuclear families and non-nuclear families. I'm dying to find an engaged couple with mothers-in-law-to-be, and I'd love to do a 'Brady Bunch' family with two newly married people and their kids. And we always love inter-generational teams."

The deadline for filing applications for "The Amazing Race 8" is Friday, March 11 (go to cbs.com now to sign your dysfunctional... er, loving family up).

Hydrogen-Fueled Batteries On Their Way, Not Nearly As Delicious As Pop Tarts

2005-03-04T11:30:00.000-05:00

A small New Jersey company is working on a hydrogen-fueled battery that it hopes will eventually provide eight hours of power for laptop computers.

At Intel's Developer Forum in San Francisco on Tuesday, Millennium Cell demonstrated an IBM ThinkPad running on a prototype of the battery. Most notebook computers today can run for three or four hours on a fully charged battery. Problem is, Millennium Cell's runs for only three hours... of course, the goal is to increase that performance to eight hours, but it's not currently any better than a regular battery. Maybe I should take a regular battery, but scotch-tape a Pop Tart to it, and make news by saying how "this Pop Tart battery currently only runs for three or four hours, but I swear, we're working on making run for, uh, a billion hours."

Many companies are looking for ways to boost the longevity of laptop batteries (none of then involving Pop Tarts, as far as I know), including a slew of start-ups that Intel has invested in.

And big laptop makers like Toshiba, NEC and others are working on fuel cell technology, mostly based on methanol. Casio, Sony and Samsung are developing fuel cell technology as well. Canon recently presented a paper at a symposium in Japan discussing a prototype of a hydrogen-powered micro fuel cell for video cameras and other devices.

Millennium Cell's product is unusual in that it uses hydrogen and sodium borohydride. In its current state, the Millennium Cell battery looks a bit like a science project. The company outfitted an IBM ThinkPad laptop with a fuel cell that is 6 millimeters thick, none of which is made up of a yummy brown sugar frosting (need... Pop Tarts...). The fuel cell fits across the top of the notebook casing. In the future, the fuel cell would be designed inside the laptop's casing.

A cartridge a little larger than a cassette tape provides the fuel and is attached to the laptop by a thin tube. The tube plugs into the slot for the power cord on the laptop.

Now, to find me some tape and some sweet delicious toaster pasteries...

Which Incarnation of MVP Baseball Shall I Bestow Upon Myself?

2005-03-03T17:20:00.000-05:00

EA's last game in their baseball series (Take Two now has the exclusive rights to MLB games), MVP Baseball 2005, is now out, and normally I would have already been all over it, especially now that it only costs $29.99 as opposed to previous titles which debuted at $49.99.

Problem is... I'm not sure whether to get it for Playstation 2 or Xbox.

It looks like both versions have the same functionality and look great. Usually, when it comes down to this, the tie goes to Xbox, but I can't seem to decide on this one. I guess part of it is that the laser on my Xbox is going to s#!t. Plus I always used to buy the Triple Play games for PSX and PS2 "back in the day".

Either way, I'll be evaluatiing one (or both) soon, and share my thoughts about it here. Just have to finish my 20-year season mode in All-Star Baseball 2005 now (RIP Acclaim)...

"The Amazing Race 7" Week 1 Thoughts

2005-03-02T16:34:00.000-05:00

As I mentioned yesterday right here on Media Lemur, the newest incarnation of The Amazing Race is off. Its hard to get a read this early on the teams, but there's not a team that fully stands out yet as either "love them" or "hate them". Last season I just started off hating Jonathan from almost the start, then grew into really liking Kris & Jon and was hoping they would win. This season, I will only start out with a few observations:

* The gay couple (Lynn and the other guy... can't remember his name right now)... they are more than gay. They're über-gay. There's nothing wrong with being gay, of course, it's just they're at that Will & Grace level of gay where they remind everyone around them every five minutes of their gayness. The frailest women I know are tougher than these guys. The other gay guy on the show (the son on the mother/son team) is more representative of an actual gay person, I think... I'd think the average gay man would be pissed off about being represented by these two stereotype-reinforcing boobs.

* Rob and Amber of Survivor fame... I've admittedly never watched an episode of Survivor in my life. Just never got into it. Because of this, I don't have the familiarity with these two that everyone else seems to have. All my Survivor-watching friends seem to really like them and want them to win... not knowing them well enough, I'm starting with the belief that that she already won a million bucks on Survivor All-Stars, so there's no reason for me to root for them to win this as well when some other regular schmuck team could win it all and have their lives changed in the way Rob and Amber's already have been. However I don't dislike them after seeing them in action, so I'll give them a chance to win me over. All I can say about them so far is that she's hot, and he's got stereotypical Bostonian plastered across his forehead... I was waiting for him to randomly spaz out and start yelling "GO SAWKS!!! GO PATS!!! IT'S A DYNASTY!! A DYNASTY!!!!"

* The team with the older guy that's dating the 27-year-old girl (OK, I'm feeling too lazy to actually look up names right now, sorry) is a bit Jonathan/Victoria-esque, but not so much yet that I'm too worried about it. The guy actually reminded me of an odd mix of Jonathan and Bolo (also from last season). But him yelling at her to "suck it up" as she was complaining about being choked was a little too reminiscent of some bad times with J&V.

* It was kinda f#$%ed up that the "mom/son and two chicks that talk Spanish" alliance led those teams to the wrong sand piles to dig for flight times. I know its a game and trickery is going to happen, but in this instance I can't think of one thing they had to gain from that except being malicious (either way, there were going to be teams on the earlier 7:00 flight as opposed to the 7:40 flight they led people to), so it bugged me.

* I got the feeling CBS was praying the team with the Iraq war POW would make it past the first episode when they were trailing behind toward the end. You know they want to market the hell out of that.

That's all I can think of for now. I'll continue to share my Amazing Race thoughts throughout the season, and hope that some of these teams grow on me, and that it turns out to be another great race.

Check out this week's featured item in the Media Lemur LemurGear store, the TV Addict Baseball Jersey:

XM Changing Subscription Price Structure, Adding Opie and Anthony To Basic Service

2005-03-01T17:23:00.000-05:00

XM Satellite Radio announced yesterday that it will be expanding its basic service package, and that the monthly subscription price for XM's basic service will increase to $12.95 beginning April 2, 2005. XM is also offering existing customers the opportunity to lock in the current $9.99 monthly rate with a one-year prepaid plan and deeper discounts with a two, three, four, or five-year prepaid plan until April 2.

The price change will not affect XM's Family Plan, which allows XM subscribers to add up to four additional subscriptions for $6.99 a month per radio. Beginning April 2, XM's expanded basic service will include the Internet service XM Radio Online, which offers more than 70 channels of XM music and talk programming (previously $3.99 per month), and the High Voltage channel, featuring radio dues extraordinaire Opie & Anthony (previously $1.99 per month).
I love this move by XM on many levels. As a rabid 0&A fan, I'm thrilled to see that they will be available to the entire XM subscriber base instead of just subscribers to their premium channel. Not only will this help "the O&A Virus" spread bigger and faster, but as they said themselves, they're tired of "everyone kissing their asses" and need that random soccer mom coming across the dial and hearing them "talking about boobies"... that;s more fun for them to have when that person calls in to gripe. It's a huge step to not only bringing the show back to the level it was at in their WNEW days, but to new levels that we've yet to see.

I also love this move as an XM subscriber in general, especially now that the XM Radio Online feature will be available to all subscribers as part of the basic service. This not only means that I might be able to sneak in some XM listening in the office, but I can check out some of those online-only channels, especially the novelty channel Special X, which was on the satellites around Christmas time as "Special Xmas" and had me loving it so.

Finally I also love this move as someone who, in general, wants to see XM (and satellite radio in general) succeed. I've considered picking up some XMSR stock (and wish I had done it when I was thinking about it late last week, since this news gave it a nice bump yesterday). XM's success hinges on the success of O&A, whether they realize it or not... the O&A fan base really does tend to spread itself like wildfire (or as they say, a virus), and by making it wholly available, it makes it that much easier for someone who's already an XM subscriber to say to his/her friends, "Hey, if you're gonna get a sat radio, get XM... you've gotta check out the Opie and Anthony show!" The online listening feature is a nice perk they can push in their advertising, and makes it that much easier to stay ahead of Sirius, especially when Howard Stern starts broadcasting from there.

I'll be locking in to the two-year plan myself. It will be well worth it.

What's Amazing Is That It's Already Back On...

2005-03-01T15:38:00.000-05:00

That's right, folks, The Amazing Race is back for the 7th time tonight at 9pm EST with a two-hour premiere. Didn't TAR6 just finish?! I feel like it was just, oh, three weeks ago that Freddie and Kendra crossed the finish line and won the million bucks.

It *was* three weeks ago? Oh... kay.

In any case, take a quick look at the teams we'll be treated to this time around:

http://www.cbs.com/primetime/amazing_race7/index.shtml

Apple Adds New Models to iPod Line

2005-02-23T16:13:00.000-05:00

Apple Computer, Inc. has introduced new versions of its hugely popular digital music player, including an iPod mini that can store more songs, and it cut the price of the current iPod mini model in a bid to boost its share of the market.

Apple now has a range of iPods addressing the full spectrum of the digital music player market, from its $99 iPod Shuffle player to its $449 iPod photo model with a color screen. Included is a newly-unveiled iPod mini that holds 6GB of music -- or about 1,500 songs -- which will sell for about $250, while it cut the price of its 4 gigabyte or 1,000-song model, introduced about one year ago, to about $200. The new mini also has improved battery life of up to 18 hours, the company said.

Apple also introduced an "iPod photo" model with 30 gigabytes of memory at around $350, and offered an add-on that allows users to transfer pictures from a digital camera directly into the music player, which has a color screen.

Baseball Games: Sim vs. Arcade

2005-02-23T09:47:00.000-05:00

Here's a nice article (courtesy of BusinessWeek) that sings the praises of the increasingly-popular simulation baseball game genre. I'm a big fan of the arcade-style baseball games myself but I love the thrill you can get with these sim games -- being the GM and manager of your own team, taking it season to season, drafting and developing prospects, making the big trades and free agents signings, etc etc etc... you can do a lot of this in the arcade games (such as MVP Baseball) as well, but with the focus on statistical accuracy that the true sim games have, its really more of a thinking game than a swing-for-the-fences game. Give it a read!

Macrovision Thinks They've Got One Up On The Hackers

2005-02-17T12:41:00.000-05:00

A new technology from Macrovision Corp. claims to block virtually all known methods for making unauthorized copies of DVDs.

The new technology, dubbed RipGuard DVD, launched this week. It is designed to thwart cracking programs that get around the encryption system used in standard DVDs.

My opinion on this is that the better the protection gets, the better the hackers get. No matter what Macrovision says, chances are you'll see some new software out there soon that will strip that bad boy away with no problem... it's just the way of the world.

There's also compatibility issues to worry about. There *is* such a thing as "too secure". For instance, if your $29 Wal*Mart DVD player can't read this new encryption technology, the disc is too secure. This is one of the biggest things hindering copy protection, and again, it's just the way of the world... no matter what they do, they'll end up either giving the hackers something new to play with, or shooting themselves in the foot.

I guess I could be completely wrong... but don't be surprised to see some fellas over at Macrovision banging their heads against their desks some time soon.

I Stink. And So Does Microsoft.

2005-02-16T16:42:00.000-05:00

Why is it that every time I resolve to update this blog daily, as I originally intended, I just post less and less? Maybe if I resolve to post less, I'll post more. My brain is weird like that, I guess.

So I was reading this nifty article singing the praises of Mechassault 2: Lone Wolf. I bet it would be really nice to play it.

"But you own the game," you might say. And you'd be right.

"But you have an Xbox, and all the necessary peripherals." This is true too.

"Then all you have to do is put the game in, boot it up and you're good to go!!" Slow down.

I love my Xbox, but what kind of Kmart-quality laser did they put into its DVD drive? I have a brand new Mechassault game disc, a laser which I just cleaned that should be able to read it fine... but as it has been doing with many other games (except for Halo 2, oddly enough), I get the dreaded "disc is dirty or damaged" message, as many people have been experiencing lately. So many, in fact, that its the subject of a class action lawsuit against Microsoft. Why is it that a quality piece of machinery can have such an awful laser when a $29 DVD player from Walmart lasts longer?! Why it can only read the Halo 2 disc is beyond me (I'll leave that to the conspiracy theorists). But is it so much to ask to have a nice piece of equipment that doesn't start crapping out after three years?!

Unfortunately I can't bitch about all the money I spent on the console... I won mine from Taco Bell. ::beams proudly:: But even still, it should work, and Microsoft shouldn't have the audacity to charge $100 to fix their mistake.

On a completely unrelated note, pitchers and catchers report today!!! If you know wat I mean by that, you're probably stoked by it too. So that tempers my mood a bit. Baseball's in the air, folks!

Music Download Recommendations

2005-02-10T15:26:00.000-05:00

It's been a while, so here's some fresh download recommendations...

The first three entries on list are influenced by a search for some early 90s music for a side project of mine... which is to say, they're not the greatest songs ever recorded, but they are decent and, at least for me, bring back some memories.

Snow ~ Informer (buy the album)
Ini Kamoze ~ Here Comes The Hotstepper (buy the album)
Damn Yankees ~ High Enough (buy the album)
Johnny Cash ~ Rusty Cage (buy the album)
Bad Religion ~ The Empire Strikes First (buy the album)
The Beatles ~ Get Back (buy the album)

All's Well With Cell

2005-02-08T16:05:00.000-05:00

One of the big stories to hit the media was that of the new processor, code-named Cell. Its developers claim it can deliver 10 times the performance of today's PC processors.

Of note to gamers: it looks like this will be the chip you'll find inside Sony's Playstation 3. They're taking great care to give game developers enough time to truly understand how to harness the capability of this new processor to bring us even more intense beatdowns of GTA hookers and even more body to Pedro Martinez's hair in any of the excellent baseball games I'm sure the PS3 will feature.

Speaking of baseball, Spring Training is almost here... which means its almost time for the new crop of baseball games! Minus All Star Baseball, of course... since Acclaim managed to go down the crapper, which still baffles me. It's a shame, because I always enjoyed ASB... oh well.

PSP Set For March 24th US Release

2005-02-04T10:32:00.000-05:00

With Sony's new video game handheld system set for a 3/24/2005 North American release, that can only mean that you are set for a 3/25/2005 release from your place of employment from spending two hours in the can at work gaming.

The PSP machine, Sony's effort to stick their foot into to Nintendo's long-standing stranglehold on the handheld video gaming market, will be sold as a "value pack" for $250 in the United States and for $300 Canadian dollars. It will include numerous accessories and -- for the first million sold -- a copy of the "Spider-Man 2" movie on the new Universal Media Disc format that Sony designed for the PSP.

The Nintendo DS is sold for $100 less at $150, but the PSP is designed with more multimedia features. It can play digital music, movies and display photos on its 4.3-inch color screen, using Sony's proprietary 1.8-gigabyte UMD discs or a Memory Stick.

It other words, as nice as the DS seems, the PSP may very well trump it with force... we'll find out next month.

Get XM, damn it. It's 10% off.

2005-02-03T09:54:00.000-05:00

I want you to get XM Radio. And sign up for HighVoltage, Opie & Anthony's channel (202). It's what's best for you. I want you to sign up for it so much, that while I would normally drive you to buy your XM Radio through Amazon, since I am a proud Amazon affiliate, today I have to direct you to Tweeter.com, all XM Radio Tuners are 10& off with coupon code XMMLBG. Free shipping to boot. Not sure when that expires but check it out, and help spread the 0&A Virus.

MVP Baseball - Your Source For Late Breaking Baseball News?

2005-02-02T11:04:00.000-05:00

Remember when DC's new baseball team, the Washington Nationals (formerly the Montreal Expos) were about to have a press conference to display their new uniforms... and then the PC was cancelled when the deal to move the team to DC almost fell apart? Well the differences were ironed out, but the uniforms were never unveiled to the public...

Until some new screenshots from MVP Baseball 2005 appeared. How cool is it that a video game (and one which looks like it's going to be awesome, by the way) is basically the place where a whole city of baseball fans see their new team's uniform for the first time?

Hopefully, my Mets will be as improved in MVP Baseball 2005 (not to mention in Real Life 2005) as they appear to be on paper. Spring training needs to start already, especially since I can hear it all on my trusty XM radio. Come on, pitchers and catchers... report already!

And the award for the most neglected blog is...

2005-01-31T16:40:00.000-05:00

...this one. ::looks around sheepishly::

I admit it... it's hard to channel the neccessary time and energy into this blog that it deserves when I've been at it for a couple months and, as far as I can tell, one person that isn't a friend of family member has stumbled upon it and had anything to say about something I wrote. It's one of those "no one else cares... why should I?" kind of things.

But what the hell... I'd like to do my best to make you care. If your eyes just happen to accidentally fall upon this site while you're looking for something else (clown porn perhaps?) I want to make your trip here worthwhile.

IGN has a nifty article on some franchise games coming out in 2005 that actually won't suck. These are the exceptions-to-the-rule, so to speak, since generally, games based on some sort of franchise never do the franchise any justice and completely suck.

on a side note, this is good for a chuckle... apparently this dorky Swedish kid (download the video, courtesy of FoundryMusic.com) was pining away for some young lass when he opted to make this sappy awful music video. Cringe and laugh as he busts a move.

Lemur, out!

Apple's iTunes Hits 250 Million Songs Sold

2005-01-24T17:30:00.000-05:00

With its music downloads selling at a rate of more than a million per day, Apple Computer Inc. said Monday customers have purchased more than 250 million songs from its online iTunes Music Store.

The store, now available in 15 countries, is selling 1.25 million songs at 99 cents apiece per day, the best company named after a fruit said.

Apple helped invigorate the market for legal music downloads when it launched the iTunes store in April 2003. Its robust sales far outpace rival services.

The success is due in part to Apple's wildly popular iPod portable music players, which are not supposed to play songs purchased from competing online music stores (wink wink, nudge nudge).

The company, which unfortunately also makes Macs (just kidding, Mac lovers... I know you can be a sensitive bunch!), sold 4.5 million iPods in the fourth quarter and more than 10 million since its debut in October 2001.

Shares of Apple rose 27 cents to close at $70.76 in Monday trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market. The stock has traded in a 52-week range of $21.70 to $74.42. Why didn't I follow the advice I got a year ago to buy some Apple stock? I didn't think the iPod could have this kind of affect on it... ::bangs head against monitor repeatedly::

Help Spread The Opie and Anthony Virus

2005-01-20T11:13:00.000-05:00

When I got my brandy-new XM Radio for Christmas last month, one of the biggest reasons I was excited about it was that I'd finally be able to listen to the boys again... the boys being Opie and Anthony, masters of funny radio.

Featured on their own channel, High Voltage (channel 202 on your XM dial), they're on live from 6-10am and replays follow for the rest of the day. This is great, as I can catch bits and pieces of the show throughout the day. My XM dial is actually on 202 about 95% of the time right now... I usually don't go cruising for some good music until they're replaying something I've already heard. I used to listen to their show every afternoon back when they were on WNEW in New York before they were unceremoniously booted after the infamous sex-at-Saint-Patrick's stunt (which has been erroneously portrayed in the media over and over again). Now that I've been able to listen to them on a daily basis for a month I can say that the show is just as great as it ever was, and the only thing missing is that they need to get some support from XM's marketing department. Where's the billboard ads? Where's their dumb faces on the sides of some city buses? This, combined with the fact that High Voltage is a premium channel that costs an extra $1.99 a month, will make it hard to keep the 0&A Virus spreading like wildfire as is its destiny. If they don't market the show properly, and people can't tune in to check it out without paying (they're currently only reaching about 2% of XM's subscriber base), how will they be able to succeed?

They've been told that some big marketing ideas are planned for the show in 2005, so we'll see if this comes to pass... but if XM doesn't pony up and push the boys big time they're letting a *huge* opportunity slip right through their fingers.

"The Amazing A-Hole" Is No More!!

2005-01-19T11:20:00.000-05:00

The Amazing Race just took a big steaming dump, relieving itself of the nagging turd known as the team of Jonathan and Victoria. I never thought I'd be so happy to see a stupid team get booted off some reality show, but my ire for Jonathan goes beyond reason.

If you like whiny wife-beating blue-haired rich bastards, then you were probably very disappointed. Otherwise you, too, probably did The Dance Of Joy™ when Jonathan and Victoria didn't read their instructions carefully -- after completing their mud-hut challenge in Ethiopia (where Victoria injured herself while Jonathan could care less), they were to transport two donkeys to some other place in exchange for another clue, yet they only brought one and didn't realize until they were told they were a donkey short. (Why they didn't count Jonathan as an ass, I'm not sure, but I'm glad they didn't.)

Anyway, this pretty much sealed their fate and all that was left was hoping that this wasn't a non-elimination round. I reprised The Dance Of Joy™ when I heard those magic words, "I'm sorry to say you've been eliminated from the race." All is right with the world again.

I still don't get how she could still be with him. She shows all the signs of a battered wife, down to defending him and saying how she enjoyed every minute of the race when she was obviously miserable the whole time. I don't understand the bubble they live in that his undeserved fortune has created for them, but *they are not in a healthy relationship*. This goes beyond TV... I'll never forget her recoiling like a shelter dog with a horrid past when he raised his hand at her in the car a few weeks ago. I guess love (of money) is blind...

EA Gobbles Up Rights to ESPN

2005-01-18T15:45:00.000-05:00

"I want it all... and I want it now". ~ Queen, "I Want It All". I think EA Sports may have had this song looping in their iPods recently...

Electronic Arts may have put the final nail in the coffin of sports game rival SEGA: the gaming giant just announced it has entered a 15-year exclusive licensing deal with ESPN, who themselves were also screwed by EA's earlier move of gaining exclusive rights to NFL-branded games.

Under the agreement, EA has exclusive video game rights to ESPN-branded print, telecast, and online content -- in addition to other ESPN media properties. The agreement covers all gaming platforms -- consoles, PC, handhelds, and wireless, and will begin in 2006, upon completion of ESPN's current licensing commitments.

The agreement is a big F.U. to Take Two and SEGA, which jointly publish a series of ESPN-licensed sports titles. The companies are still reeling from EA's announcement last month that it had acquired exclusive video game rights to NFL properties -- a direct challenge to SEGA's ESPN NFL franchise. This just makes their problems twice as worse.

Until recently, EA's sports titles, such as the Madden NFL series, have faced vigorous competition from SEGA's ESPN Videogames brand, which saw success last year with a strong critical reception and prices cut in half.

Step Away From The Shark, Queer Eye

2005-01-13T17:50:00.000-05:00

One of my guilty TV pleasures is Bravo's Queer Eye For The Straight Guy. I find it to be very entertaining, informative at times, and just plain good.

That said, I had a bad feeling about its new spinoff, Queer Eye For The Straight Girl. But I figured, what the hell, I'll tune in and give it a chance.

I never realized a new show could jump the shark before the first commercial.

After struggling to stay awake throughout this show, I came to a few conclusions. First off, whoever approved this show doesn't understand what makes the original (and, to me, the REAL) Queer Eye work and be so successful. Straight Girl lacks the heart that lies at the center of its parent show. The cast, referred to as the "Gal Pals" (yuck) is not nearly as charismatic and relatable as the Fab Five. It's like they thought they could just have another group of gay people, have them make over somebody, and they've recreated QEFTSG's magic.... but it's just not so.

Even the straight girl I saw being made over said how it all felt "superficial". I don't think any straight guy has ever made a statement like that, and for good reason -- while a lot of what goes on during these makeovers is physical upgrades, they all have some sort of reasonable function, whether it be to improve your appearance at work, show your girlfriend your commitment to her (and to being an adult, you big baby)... stuff like that. This show seemed like it was TRYING to do that, but it seemed so contrived and just felt much shallower than Straight Guy. I mean... they got butt treatments. What practical use does that serve?

They also pretty much shot themselves in their collective foot by debuting the show the same week the Fab Five made over a soldier who was leaving for Iraq in two weeks and was putting together a last-minute wedding ceremony for him and his wife. They did everything they could for this guy, and to make sure both he and his family were taken care of while he was away on the battlefield. This is a long cry from a damn ASS FACIAL.

I truly hope that this new bastard child of a show does not drag down its brilliant predecessor, because the real Queer Eye is still great TV... better than I ever would have expected it to be. But this new thing just ain't cutting it, folks.

DVD Recommendations Du Jour

2005-01-11T16:39:00.000-05:00

It's been a while since I've recommended a DVD to my loyal Media Lemur readers (all two of you) so this is as good a time as any to let you know what you should be adding to your Netflix queue.

Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle ~ Yes, seriously. I know it's a silly title.. and you know what? It's a silly stupid movie. But it's really really good and being stupid and silly and as long as you don't expect some sort of cinematic breakthrough this movie will entertain you greatly.

South Park: Bigger Longer and Uncut ~ I know this has been out a while but this is a must-have in your collection. The DVD itself doesn't have a ton of special features to speak of but the movie alone is worth it... this is the first DVD I ever owned.

The Joe Schmo Show - Season 1 ~ This may be the best TV show you've never watched. The premise--one guy thinks he's on a reality show called Lap of Luxury, with a bunch of other housemates and a host and everything... all of which are actors. He's the only one who thinks its real... and hilarity ensues. Seriously. It's reality-TV parody at its finest, and whether you saw it when it ran on SpikeTV or not, this is a great DVD set to just pop in and enjoy the show in all its uncensored glory (yes, there's boobies for you guys to enjoy). There was a Season 2 of this show as well that was good, but didn't live up to Season 1 and did horrible in the ratings, but I'd still get a DVD set of that were it ever to be released... I wouldn't count on it though.

Apple Keeps Thinking Small

2005-01-11T16:33:00.000-05:00

Apple Computer Inc. grand poobah Steve Jobs introduced a cut-rate computer the size of a paperback book on Tuesday and an even smaller iPod that starts at $99, but holds fewer songs than its hard drive-based siblings.

The new products seek to make inroads against the traditionally more affordable PC market and against lower-cost competitors to Apple's wildly popular iPod.

The Mini Mac computers, smaller than even some standalone external computer drives, go on sale Jan. 22. They lack a monitor, mouse and keyboard. The 40-gigabyte Mini Mac will cost $499, an 80-gigabyte model $599.

The computer comes with Apple's latest operating system, Mac OS X Panther, as well as the newest version of its iLife suite of digital media software programs, also unveiled Tuesday.

The product for the first time puts Apple in the budget desktop PC arena, which so far has been largely confined to personal computers that rely on Microsoft Corp.'s Windows operating system.

Building upon the success in a rapidly growing niche that it already dominates, Apple also is rolling out two lower-priced versions of its iPod music players. The iPod Shuffle, available immediately, is smaller than most packs of chewing gum and weighs less than an ounce. Unlike the hard drive-based iPod Mini, it doesn't have a display. There's a scroll wheel for the controls so a user can either play the songs in order or have the device automatically shuffle stored songs in a random order.

Apple is selling two versions of the iPod Shuffle. The smallest will have 512 megabytes of storage and cost $99. A one-gigabyte version, which holds 240 songs, will sell for $149. The lowest cost iPod is the mini, which costs $249 for four gigabytes — enough to store about 1,000 songs

The iPod has helped infuse new life into Apple. In the past year, the Cupertino-based company's stock has tripled on strong sales of the iPod, which is emerging as one of the 21st century's first cultural icons. Now I'm not a big Apple guy as far as the desktop computers go (although many can argue their case for them very strongly, especially graphic designers) but there's no denying they are the masters of the MP3 market, and analysts expect the new iPods will help Apple hold this market lead even stronger.

Because many rival flash-based players have just 256 megabytes of storage, Apple is "sticking to its cut-above position," said Susan Kevorkian, an industry analyst with IDC. "There are plenty of people who want an iPod but haven't been able to afford the $249 Mini, so offering these lower-priced players allows Apple to attract not just new users but those who already own an iPod but want an even smaller version."