bNowhere

Paranoia: The Barbie Chronicles Episode 2 is out!

2013-02-05T11:54:00.000-04:00

Our fun little Barbie Chronicles project has just turned 2, as in Episode 2. Released on Vimeo last night, Paranoia, as its title suggests, explores some of the paranoid delusions that Barbie experiences in her old house. Watch it on Vimeo by clicking here, or on the embedded video below:

The Barbie Chronicles Episode 2 Paranoia from Franco Esteve on Vimeo.

The first episode of the Barbie Chronicles was more of an artsy expression. In many ways, it was more about the wonderful music from Wagner’s Tristan and Isolde than about the film itself. It was open to a number of interpretations as to its meaning and purpose, exploring social themes about beauty, love, death, etc., depending on your own experience.

Episode two is an entirely different creature. The just released, Paranoia, is set in an old house and shows Barbie waking up to a series of “visions” after reading the scary novel, Dark Places (Click on the link to get it on Amazon.com. It's a great read. UK readers can get it here.). What’s real and what’s not is open to interpretation and is part of the fun (as are a couple of nods to some of the films I love). As always, of course, everything is done the “Tecato” way (Tecato is a Puerto Rican word for drug addict that is also used to describe things of low quality or low production value, cheap), trying to make something beautiful and fun in the cheapest, crappiest way we can, doing everything ourselves.

More images from Episode 2:

I hope y’all enjoy it. If you missed the first episode, you can watch it on Vimeo here or on the embedded video below:

The Barbie Chronicles Episode 1 Reaction from Franco Esteve on Vimeo.

We’ve already started working on Episode 3, and barring any production issues like those that had us having to indefinitely postpone the original Episode 2, should be ready much quicker than Episode Two Paranoia.

Thanks for watching, and if you enjoy the Barbie Chronicles, don’t forget to share, like, and tip on Vimeo.

Keep up with news and information from my projects by following @FrancoEsteve and @bnowhereblog on Twitter, and by visiting www.francoesteve.com and www.bnowhere.com (You are here. Thanks for visiting.).

Keywords: Barbie Chronicles, Episode, Two, Paranoia, Episode One, Reaction, Barbie, Chronicles, Art, Film, Short Film, Movie, Video, Vimeo, Death, Suicide, Fear, Horror, Scary, Fun, Tecato, vision, Franco Esteve

Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness… Revisited

2012-11-05T11:41:00.000-04:00

[Related article: Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness]

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
-U.S. Declaration of Independence, In Congress, July 4, 1776

Drafted by Thomas Jefferson, the Declaration of Independence opens with words that all Americans today feel (even though they're not part of the constitution) form the essence of the United States of America and should forever be taken into consideration as such by any leader aspiring to a public office. Yet, when Thomas Jefferson and the founding fathers drafted the document, they didn't specify that those self-evident truths applied only to Americans, but to "all men", meaning "humanity" (even if the definition of humanity at the time wasn't the same as today).

LLH - "Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness."

These words are all capitalized for a reason. Jefferson wanted to make sure they were understood as essential, important, so let's look at them carefully, starting with Life. For a nation founded on the unalienable Right to Life, as Americans, we certainly love to kill. We don't defend ourselves, we attack. We worship violence, celebrate it, love to watch it on TV, in sports, in events, and in games, video or otherwise. We love death, celebrating it, worshipping it, putting it on a pedestal, and bringing it to others, with no remorse if it's on foreign soil. So much for the right to Life.

[Related article: Pre-owned babies for sale]

Liberty from a country that incarcerates the largest amount of people per capita than all other countries of the world is so laughable as to make anyone cry. If Jefferson were alive today, he would have asked for a redress of grievances, and when everyone laughed while asking what the hell a redress of grievances was, would have organized a revolution to defend the country from our tyrannical government. Make no mistake. Our government is a tyranny. It has been for a long time, and we have accepted and tolerated its existence. Liberty is a mirage and our grievances will never be redressed.

The Pursuit of Happiness is everyone's most quotable favorite of these, but what is the pursuit of happiness? This obviously means different things to different people. It is for this reason that the pursuit of happiness must be globalized and simplified to a number of general ideas like the opportunity to work freely and earn money, to eat and sustain yourself, to pursue enough comfort to survive and live in a secure environment, without worry of pursuit or discrimination by others, etc. The constitutional bill of rights in theory covers some of these protections that are meant to guarantee your Pursuit of Happiness, and yet, a number of politicians labor daily to end these protections for their own benefit, their Pursuit of Happiness, NOT yours.

The combination of these three items are at stake every day in our democracy, but we allow them to be constantly violated without complaint. We ourselves love to highlight these items as the core values of the American people, and yet, we ignore these values both with ourselves and with the rest of the world. If we are to honor these "self-evident" truths, then we must truly hold ALL of humanity equal, and if the right to Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness is truly to be unalienable, then we cannot so blatantly take it away from others both at home and around the world.

Life, Liberty, and Happiness. Life, Liberty, and Happiness. Repeat it one last time: Life, Liberty, and Happiness. Think carefully about each one, and what each one means to you. Should you think these unalienable rights given to all humans in equal standing, then how does that affect your life, your government, your world? What are you willing to do about it?

Just pondering…

Keywords: Life, Liberty, Happiness, Declaration, Independence, Humanity, Pursuit of Happiness, Declaration of Independence, United States, America, United States of America, USA, US, World, Government.

More information:

Thomas Jefferson on Wikipedia.

Thomas Jefferson biography by Christopher Hitchens on Amazon.com.

Declaration of Independence entry on Wikipedia.

Transcript for the Declaration of Independence on Archives.gov.

American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU): "The ACLU is our nation's guardian of liberty, working daily in courts, legislatures and communities to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties that the Constitution and laws of the United States guarantee everyone in this country."

Checks and balances - How does our system of checks and balances is supposed to help in protecting our rights.

Givemeliberty.org - Site dedicated to a redress of grievances and to the constitution lobby.

Franco Esteve's Devils Within: You'll never see smoking in the same way again

2011-07-13T13:45:00.013-04:00

For those of you that have been following my photography projects, or who've seen some of my photos on Flickr or elsewhere, now you can find the Devils Within collection in the book, Franco Esteve's Devils Within, available through the Blurb publishing service. Franco Esteve's Devils Within is an exploration within that spatial interaction that occurs within our lungs, alive, between body and nature, between the smoke and the cell. Its visions look for those demons that exist within us, within ourselves, within the smoker. Each person has their own interpretation, their own understanding, their own vision of that which exists within. In many ways, the images serve as a rorschach test of sorts, and though many see the things which I understood are there, others see their own visions, their own thoughts, their own demons and emotions. It's real. It's there… inside the smoker.

Get your 3D glasses ready!

The book utilizes anaglyph stereo images (red and cyan) to better convey the depth of its photos, like looking through a window into the smoke, and though it's recommended to have 3D glasses available to fully experience the depth of that within the smoke, they are certainly not a requisite (The 2D versions of the photographs are also included). If you need glasses (red and cyan), you can get them from Amazon (USA) here or Amazon (UK) here. These are the most economical glasses and are often given away. You might even have one laying about the house.

People are often surprised to learn that the images in this book and collection are actual photographs and not created through other means or doctored to create the shapes and forms (except to create the 3D window, depth efface in the 3D versions in the book, of course). They are as I saw them through the lens, but I certify that no demons were harmed during their capture. So take a moment to look at them slowly, carefully, deliberately exploring their landscape from up close and from afar. Enjoy the experience of peering into the soul of the smoker. :) 

I sincerely hope you enjoy the book and the images within. It's currently available in a highly economical 7 X 7 inch square format, and has a full preview available so you can peruse the book before purchase. You can get it here. It makes a great gift with some 3D glasses! :) You can also buy framed prints from this collection @Imagekind here.

Stay up to date about this collection and my other projects right here at bNowhere.com, or you can visit me at my official website (www.francoesteve.com) here. You can also follow bNowhere on Twitter (@bnowhereblog) here.

Thank you and Enjoy! :)

Franco Esteve'...

a visions of smoke...

By Franco Esteve

Book Preview

Keywords: Franco Esteve Devil's Within, photography, book, smoke, smoking, demons, devils, art, design, artistic, fine art photography

Register before shopping? Please!

2011-06-27T07:39:00.007-04:00

You want me to what? I don't think so.
You shouldn't have to register to shop.

Ok, to start, I'd like to preface this by saying that I understand the desire for companies to ask users to register their products. It makes it much easier for them to handle warranty information and provides them with information about their customers which they can use for metrics, future products, marketing, etc., and also makes it easier for their customer service to serve their customers. It would seem like a win-win. I understand it, except I don't.

Please register your new toaster:

I bought a new toaster: please register. Why the hell would I register a 20 dollar toaster which I will toss if it breaks down a few months down the line and get another? I don't want to register my toaster. Now, it's true that I don't have to send a card for the toaster if I don't want to, but what happens when the toaster won't work without registration and/or activation.

It sounds silly doesn't it, using the toaster as an example, but that's the direction that companies seem to want to take us. Companies are focused on forcing us to give out our personal information to use their products. Software companies have been doing it for a long time, but more and more companies are asking for more and more information and forcing us to give them something much more valuable than our money... ourselves.

What happens when your new digital, 3D, ultra, super HDTV, mega screen television decides that before you can use it, you must register it online and get an activation code to use its software. Did you not just pay the company 3,000 dollars for the TV? Of course, the TV is yours, but in order to use it, you have to agree to a software licensing agreement, which is for the application software that runs the television. Should you not agree, you cannot use it. Should you not register with your name and information, you cannot use it. It's not yours to use. It's licensed to you. In other words, company X gives you permission to use their software under the conditions that they allow, regardless of what you pay for it.

Too much? Exaggeration? Guess what, you're under the same conditions now. The browser you're using, the operating system you're using it on, the programs you run on your computer are all subject to a license that gives you permission to use the software you paid for under the conditions that the company specifies. You agreed to it, and are subject to it, liable to it, even if you didn't read it. Activation is another word for forced registration and use control. You own nothing. They register your computer's hardware code and tie it to the software you're running. If you install the software on another computer, then you must re-activate. They're controlling how and where you use the software you bought. Register, register, register.

Article continues below the following preview for my latest photography book, Franco Esteve's Devils Within. Buy it Today!

Franco Esteve's Devils Within by Franco Esteve | Make Your Own Book

Article continues here...

They have your personal information. They have a lot of power. Yet, overall, it's not a big deal. You're using their software legally and that's that. You do it once. It's not annoying or difficult and that's that. The problem is that it's become so pervasive that it's everywhere. It's creeping into our appliances. In too many places, we're being asked to register even to shop. I don't mean to buy, but to shop. I don't want to register to look at a catalog. Why should I give my information for nothing?

This is all absolute crap. If you force me to register to look at your shop, I won't buy from it. As the web becomes social, what kind of relationships are we being asked to have with the shops we purchase from? What kind of information are we asked to give away and how does that affect our lives and how much privacy are we really giving up? Looking at all the recent hacker attacks upon Sony and others, and how easy it's become for nefarious entities to take over our information either for identity theft or credit card fraud or simply to expose our personal preferences to those who might not necessarily agree with our ideas, it becomes rather jarring to think about how the appliance one bought, the seller of that appliance, and the company behind it might know more than they really should, might have more power than we really know about (as no one reads their license agreements), and might put our identities at greater risk than if we published them publicly on a billboard. Considering the hacks, we must be ever more vigilant. With all the Cloud computing hoopla things can only get worse in this regard as we give up more and more to the net. Be careful out there.

Note to companies: It's bad etiquette to ask before you buy, to ask just to look, to force to use. Would you give all of your information including date of birth before entering the Mall? McDonald's? the Gap? or your license and registration before entering the parking lot? I thought not.

Just (rant) pondering...

Spain fights obesity through innovative airport program

2010-09-18T08:11:00.009-04:00

Photo: Madrid Airport. Copyright©2010 Franco Esteve. All rights reserved.

Madrid, Spain - The Madrid airport has gone through a number of innovative changes in the last few years. A new train whisks passengers from terminal to terminal at a rate slower than crossing the whole of London, causing high levels of stress for passengers. The new terminal is huge and modern so you have a more pleasant environment when having to run from one side to the other. They've even added a new, fun game dynamic called: Guess your gate number.

This last is an exciting experience where they'll tell you a gate number for your flight, and the information may be accurate or it may not be. When you get to that gate, it's like a suspenseful lottery. Your flight may or may not board there. If it does, you've won and the game is over… or is it? How exhilarating.

This seems to me like an innovative program against obesity, and considering the fantastic competence of the Spanish government which has the country on the brink of bankruptcy, both economically and intellectually, one might think it was on purpose. If you want to lose weight, don't just travel to Madrid, but add the extra excitement of having to get a connecting flight at this airport. It will not only keep you on your toes, as they change the gate number, adding a high level of suspenseful stress to your traveling, but will keep you fit with all the running from one side to another.

I have unfortunately been forced to be in transit at this airport numerous times and can certainly attest that this program fights obesity, having lost a number of calories in the process of going through it. Let me share with you the wonders of going through this airport. For purposes of this example, I did not receive my connecting flight information, so we begin with arriving at a terminal without having any idea where to go.

1. Finding Iberia's information booth: 5 minutes, 30 calories.
2. Realizing you don't have much time and have to change terminals: 10 calories.
3. Running to the train: 15 minutes, 80 calories.
4. Realizing the train takes close to 30 minutes to get to where you need to go: 10 calories.
5. Running to passport control: 10 minutes, 50 calories.
6. Waiting at the passport control line: 10 calories.
7. Running to the security control area: 10 minutes, 50 calories.
8. Realizing they've forced you to leave the secure area, despite being in transit and that you have to go through the entire security process again with everyone else: 10 calories.
9. Waiting in line to go through security again: 10 calories.
10. Going through security: 10 calories.
11. Watching security remove and throw away your duty free items, despite being in transit: 10 calories.
-this of course, thanks to the great decision of having transit passengers exit the terminal to reenter it.
12. Running to the gate: 15 minutes, 80 calories.
13. Cool down: 10 minutes.
14. Realizing Iberia has changed the gate number while you waited: 10 calories.
15. Realizing you're at the wrong gate with little time to board: 10 calories.
16. Running to the new gate on the other side of the terminal: 15 minutes, 80 calories.
17. Cool down: 10 minutes.
18: Realizing the plane is delayed: 10 calories.
19. Realizing the gate number has changed yet again: 10 calories.
20. Running to the new gate number: 8 minutes, 45 calories.
21. Cool down: 10 minutes in front of the flight board to make sure the gate hasn't changed again.
22. Final boarding.

Approximate total time elapsed between one thing and another including rest time and delays: 2 and a half hours.
Original amount of time available to get to the connecting flight: 2 hours.
Approximate calories burned: 525

This program will certainly help a large number of people in keeping the exercise routines they were unable to do while traveling, so kudos to Madrid for considering the fitness crowd and for encouraging people to exercise while at their airport. They continue to improve their program throughout the years, adding inefficiency wherever they can. The recent train is especially notable in that it takes less time to cross London on the tube. Be sure to experience this wonderful new anti-obesity program for yourself by traveling through Madrid, preferably to another domestic destination within Spain, making sure you'll enjoy the fantastic personality of the lovely security personnel. Control your desire to rip them a new one as best as you can. Oh, and be sure to leave plenty of time for your connection, two hours minimum.

Related links:

Iberia: If you've never flown with this airline, now owned by British Airways, the experience is like visiting an exotic location in itself.
Madrid Airport: The main organizers of this wonderful exercise program.

Please note: Your travel experience may vary. None of the information in this article is designed to be accurate or official. To get more accurate information, please contact agents Moulder and Sculley at your local law enforcement agency.

Keywords: Madrid, airport, Iberia, traveling, travel, satire, exercise, obesity, Spain, connecting, flight, transport, security, fitness.

Googlesoft - Google channels the spirit of Microsoft

2010-05-21T18:26:00.005-04:00

Is Google the new Microsoft? A bloated company that throws vaporware and underdeveloped products at every segment having 15 minutes of fame? Do androids dream of electric Apples?

What's going on with Google lately? Every time I turn on the news, they're announcing some new product that copies another in a hot market segment, but it's either coming out "soon" or is underwhelming when compared to its competitors. The latest is the new Chrome Web Store, an Apple App Store competitor for the web and Android OS systems. This of course, following an announcement that they would be making an AppleTV equivalent having the very original name, GoogleTV (not that AppleTV was all that clever to begin with). Now, I know Google's founders and executive team worship Steve Jobs, but come on, at least try to be less obvious and come out with something solid. Soon it will be the Android driven gPad as well…oops, already announced. Where's that BladeRunner when you need him?

Google seems lost in Apple's "Kool-aid," though to their credit, so is the world. Apple has made the smartphone segment hot and sexy, has reenergized and redefined the tablet segment and forced everyone to race to catch up. So Google wants to be Apple…oops, it wants to be Facebook…oops, it wants to be Microsoft…oops…oops…oops. There's another huge company that seems just as lost, one which though very successful in their original segment, seems to want to be everything and cannot seem to focus long enough to actually break from it. You'd think Google would find a different inspiration. Their intent may have been Steve Jobs, but unfortunately their delivery ended up being a Steve of a very different ilk, of a certain je ne se quoi quality that both scares and fascinates with its peculiar, almost multiple personality disorder like, all-over-the-placeness: Steve Ballmer of Microsoft.

How could a company get so lost? How could it change into this creature? Google's original search product not only offered a better search algorithm, but it was a simple, fast, uncluttered, superior product. It was that which helped it to dominate web search and basically annihilate heavy hitters of search such as Yahoo. It made search advertising unobtrusive and useful for both advertisers and users, helping them rise to the top of the money heap. Their corporate culture allowed employees to dabble in interesting side projects, some more useful than others, and though some of these have not necessarily been original, many were interesting takes on those existing paradigms and have become very popular and useful. That is the Google we knew and loved, the one who declared they would do no evil, but this new Google smells of that different animal we all know too well.

It smells like Microsoft, often vilified and even more often deservedly so. They are the ones who see someone develop something cool and are quickly promising their new vaporware product that will ship sometime by the end of the year and does the same thing, and if it does eventually materialize it ends up a ridiculously inferior product. In the past this has helped kill many great products, but in the age of the focused Apple, no longer works. No matter how much money they've thrown at these things, they just can't win with this strategy. Xbox, Zune, WindowsMobile, TabletPCs, Xbox being the only relatively successful one (a well executed product despite the historical hardware quality issues which seem to have finally been resolved), though certainly thrashed by Nintendo's Wii and losing ground to Sony's PS3. Sony has also explored this route and lost. This is why Sony is trying to refocus itself and its many divisions in order to survive and compete in market segments they once innovated and dominated over. So why is Google following the lost boat?

Apple wasn't first to the mp3 player market. Apple wasn't first to the smartphone market. Apple wasn't first to the tablet market. So how have they risen to so quickly dominate these markets? (Though RIM still dominates the Smartphone category, it's the iPhone that everyone continues to talk and speculate about, and it's the iPhone whose sales continue to carve out market share from competitors). This was all done with "inferior" products. The iPod didn't have a radio and for years didn't do video. None of the products accept Adobe Flash. The iPad doesn't have the ports of a computer or the software or the file system or this or that, yet customer satisfaction is 91% according to ChangeWave surveys and is selling like hot cakes with greater demand than at launch. Focused products seem to work better than wannabe everything products. Apple made them both elegant and useful. Sure, power users may want more i/o options or system access, but most people don't care about that. The freedom to download porn is not enough of an incentive for the majority of people. They want a product that just works out of the box without issue, easily and intuitively.

Google is a search company that wants to be a software company, a hardware company, a phone company, an energy company, an internet provider, a retailer, a media distribution company, a social networking company, etc. Branching out is not a bad idea, but focusing efforts in getting a product out there that just works, that does what it claims to do, that does what it does do well, and without much hassle for the consumer who spent his hard earned money on it, would go a long way into making it more of a want to be company than a wannabe company, into more of an Apple of our eye and less of a Microsore. Things like forcing users into Buzz and into sharing without warning is not the way to beat Facebook (even though Facebook is looking more and more like Buzz in that regard recently), but the way to anger users and steer them away. Things like that are just evil (and stupid). So, Don't be Evil Google. Don't be Googlesoft. Just be Google.

Just venting (and hoping Google, who owns Blogger, won't censor this ;) hehe)…

The Oscars put Avatar in The Hurt Locker

2010-03-08T12:47:00.005-04:00

The media had hyped up the battle between James Cameron's Avatar and Kathryn Bigelow's The Hurt Locker. It had hyped up the fact that it was a battle between Cameron and his ex-wife, a divorce that itself had been quite ugly. Hosts Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin even made a nasty crack about it in their opening bits, saying Cameron would give her a Toyota. George Clooney certainly didn't seem amused, making it awkward and even uglier as the camera focused on his serious face. Considering how happy and energetic he had seemed down the red carpet, it lent it even greater weight. The hosts made fun of his seriousness, but it did not seem to detract from the heaviness of the comment and the contrast.

After all the comments, the speculation, and the hype though, the 82nd Academy Awards were pretty much standard Oscar fare, as the Academy played it safe and predictable with its choices. Anyone who followed the awards season was expecting The Hurt Locker to win over Avatar, but of course, the Academy has sometimes offered surprises and with ten Best Picture nominees, I think many were expecting one. Unfortunately, this was not the time for surprises. The first directing Oscar given to a woman was Kathryn Bigelow for The Hurt Locker, which also took Best Picture, as expected (Six Oscars including the top two for The Hurt Locker, verus Avatar's three technical Oscars).

The Show

The broadcast overall may have been predictably safe but not necessarily in a bad way, as the streamlined show, which tends to stretch out in a boring manner, was entertaining overall. A lot of the traditional fluff was removed and the show was better for it. Gone were the torturous, extended dance numbers to the original score nominees, as was the singing of every single original song, sparing us from the million and a half pauses in-between each and the occasional terribly awkward performances. Of course, awkwardness still existed every now and again, as Kristen Stewart definitely showed in her presentation of a wonderful tribute to horror films accompanied by her Twilight co-star Taylor Lautner.

The opening followed excellently in the footsteps of Hugh Jackman's wonderful musical number from last year, except this time, it was performed by How I met your mother's Neil Patrick Harris and framed in a very elegant, classic style reminiscent of old burlesque shows with huge, feather fans and rockette-style dancing. The song spoke about not being able to do it alone and was a great intro for the hosting team of Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin who did not disappoint. They made fun of a number of their peers, but one of the themes that permeated throughout the comedy of the night was Meryl Streep, whose numerous nominations, Steve Martin referred to as "losses". The camera continually focused on her enjoyment of it all in her spectacular and well-commented-on beauty. If anyone had any doubt as to how gorgeous and talented she is, they were certainly reminded of it again and again.

With great cuts to the show come some strange and unusual items. For example, there's the Scientific achievement oscars which were cut down from an honorary clip to a mention at a hundred miles per hour while panning across a group shot of the winners. I think giving them an extra two seconds wouldn't have hurt. There was a short clip of the Governors ball where four lifetime achievement awards were given - move the camera to the two winners present at the Oscars, get up, sit down, goodbye (this was usually a wonderful moment in the show that is now gone, and seemed to me to lack the respect they deserved). Another was the wonderful horror homage introduced by the previously mentioned, horrified Kristen Stewart (perhaps her discomfort was on purpose...NOT!). And last but not least the extended tribute to the late John Hughes which had the entire Breakfast Club (sans Emilio Estevez), Mathew Broderick (from Ferris Bueller's Day Off), Macaulay Culkin (from Home Alone,), and Jon Cryer (from Pretty in Pink) on stage to speak of his influence in front of his family (who had great seats - kudos to the organizers). Perhaps strangest was seeing Judd Nelson from The Breakfast Club up there, looking like the stereotypical "Whatever happened to?" or "Wow, he's still alive?" or "Did he just come out of prison?" candidate, and more bizarre still, they let him speak!

And the winner is…

Thank you Penelope Cruz! She had the honor of providing one of the few big surprises of the night (as she was the first one to give out an oscar), and it was quite a welcome one. As a presenter, she ended the ridiculous saying that has plagued the Oscars for a number of years now, "And the Oscar goes to...". The attempt to devalue the honor of the Oscar as some toned down, politically correct, everybody's a winner, hypocritical bullshit has gone on for far too long. No, they are not all winners. It's an honor to be nominated, but there's a huge difference between being an Oscar nominated actor and being an Oscar winning actor.

Yes, in Hollywood, as in life, there are winners and there are losers. Ask anyone, and of course, they'd prefer to be taking home the little statue. So, it was great, if surprising, to hear the words come out of Penelope Cruz's mouth, subsequently followed equally by every other presenter's, "And the winner is...". Thank you Penelope and the Academy for that. You've saved the word "Actress" and the thrill (and reality) of winning.

The few, the proud

The fact that the show was mostly predictable doesn't mean that it didn't have its moments. Apart from the highly unexpected win by Geoffrey Fletcher in the Adapted Screenplay category for Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire, there were a couple of items that took me by surprise. One was the extremely bitchy thank you speech from Sandy Powell when receiving her Best Costume Oscar for The Young Victoria which she opened by saying, "Well, I have two of these at home" in an I-could-care-less-about-this tone.

Another was Ben Stiller in full Avatar Na'vi garb. This was highly publicized, but I found two things odd here. One was the unfortunate lack of Sacha Cohen who was supposed to do it with him but pulled out, alleging his not wanting to piss Cameron off to which Cameron responded he didn't mind the spoofing of Avatar. The other was choosing to do this bit for the one category that Avatar wasn't nominated for, Makeup. Ben Stiller even mentioned it, and said he would move out of the way to not detract from the winners with his amazing costume. In fact, the makeup almost made me wonder why Cameron used computer generated characters at all...well, not really, but it was both good and funny. :)

An emotional evening

The Academy Awards are usually not without their emotional moments as the winners walk to the stage to stand in front of their peers and accept their well deserved recognition of their work. Some get nervous, some make statements, some forget to thank their significant others, some cry, some dance, some scream. For the most part, they were kept under control, but there were standouts nonetheless. Mo’Nique, the comedic actress who won the Best Actress in a Supporting Role for her breakthrough dramatic performance in Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire said in her emotional speech that she was happy the Academy members chose performance over politics. There were a number of very emotional mentions of recently dead relatives. Geoffrey Fletcher could hardly speak when thanking for his Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar, after which Steve Martin joked that he had written that speech for him.

As always, the faces around the audience spoke loads, particularly those of the losers or those being joked about. The emotions always run high, but in the end, I think they run higher still at all the Oscar parties being held, not by or for Hollywood celebrities, but by people like you and me watching at home, scorecards in hand, hoping to win the bets they made to their friends. How did you do this time? Did you come out a winner? or Did you end up pulling off an Avatar-sized disappointment?

They say the average Oscar bet is fifty bucks. So, were you an Oscar winner this year?

The 82nd Academy Awards Winners List - 2010 Oscars

Best Actor in a Leading Role
• Jeff Bridges in “Crazy Heart”

Best Actor in a Supporting Role
• Christoph Waltz in “Inglourious Basterds”

Best Actress in a Leading Role
• Sandra Bullock in “The Blind Side”

Best Actress in a Supporting Role
• Mo’Nique in “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire”

Best Animated Feature Film
• “Up” Pete Docter

Best Art Direction
• “Avatar” Art Direction: Rick Carter and Robert Stromberg; Set Decoration: Kim Sinclair

Best Cinematography
• “Avatar” Mauro Fiore

Best Costume Design
• “The Young Victoria” Sandy Powell

Best Directing
• “The Hurt Locker” Kathryn Bigelow

Best Documentary (Feature)
• “The Cove” Louie Psihoyos and Fisher Stevens

Best Documentary (Short Subject)
• “Music by Prudence” Roger Ross Williams and Elinor Burkett

Best Film Editing
• “The Hurt Locker” Bob Murawski and Chris Innis

Best Foreign Language Film
• “The Secret in Their Eyes (El Secreto de Sus Ojos)” Argentina

Best Makeup
• “Star Trek” Barney Burman, Mindy Hall and Joel Harlow

Best Music (Original Score)
• “Up” Michael Giacchino

Best Music (Original Song)
• “The Weary Kind (Theme from Crazy Heart)” from “Crazy Heart” Music and Lyric by Ryan Bingham and T Bone Burnett

Best Picture
• “The Hurt Locker” Kathryn Bigelow, Mark Boal, Nicolas Chartier and Greg Shapiro, Producers

Best Short Film (Animated)
• “Logorama” Nicolas Schmerkin

Best Short Film (Live Action)
• “The New Tenants” Joachim Back and Tivi Magnusson

Best Sound Editing
• “The Hurt Locker” Paul N.J. Ottosson

Best Sound Mixing
• “The Hurt Locker” Paul N.J. Ottosson and Ray Beckett

Best Visual Effects
• “Avatar” Joe Letteri, Stephen Rosenbaum, Richard Baneham and Andrew R. Jones

Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay)
• “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” Screenplay by Geoffrey Fletcher

Best Writing (Original Screenplay)
• “The Hurt Locker” Written by Mark Boal

"Up" Balloons Pixar to Oscar's Greatest Glory with a Best Picture Nomination

2010-02-02T17:20:00.009-04:00

The Academy Award nominations for 2010 have been announced a couple of hours ago, and though many were unsurprising, the nomination of Walt Disney's Pixar Animation Studios' film, Up, for Best Picture was definitely unexpected as the Academy has historically ignored animated films for the Best Picture Oscar relegating them to their specific format category, the Best Animated Feature Film Oscar. Pixar had been coming closer and closer to this honor, yet, despite the staggering amount of awards their films had received, it seemed they were never deemed enough when compared to live action films as it pertains to the Best Picture Oscar.

Other nominations for the film include Best animated feature film, Original score, Sound editing, and Original screenplay making for a total of five nominations for the movie. Despite the wonderfully touching story of the film, I would not expect it to win the Best Picture Oscar, but for it to receive the Best animated feature film award and perhaps one of the others. The honor of the nomination alone is impressive, but considering there's a specific category, it will be difficult for Up to achieve the Best picture recognition, though not impossible considering similar cases with the Best foreign film category.

Another surprise is the amount of nominations for District 9, also including a Best Picture nomination. I must admit that the film was very fresh, current and overall excellent, but to see two science fiction films and an animated film nominated for Best Picture is definitely rare. As a fan of both science fiction and Pixar's animated films, I'm definitely glad to see them getting such a level of recognition.

And then there was Avatar

Avatar didn't quite match its Dances with Wolves (12 nominations, 7 oscars including Best Directing and Best Picture) inspiration when it comes to nominations, but nine nominations is certainly impressive and includes the two top honors of Best Picture and Best Directing. It didn't get any for acting though, which is not surprising considering the effects driven (read animated) nature of the film.

That Avatar would get nominated was not surprising, particularly in the more technical categories, and though expected by many for Best Picture and Best Directing, I'm glad the Academy members saw through James Horner's rehash of Titanic's original song and didn't honor it with a nomination. They did give him a well deserved original score nomination though. It was certainly excellent and served the film well.

Perhaps the one omission here was Best Adapted Screenplay. I'm sure it was promoted for Best Original Screenplay, but considering the story reads more like a science fiction adaptation of Dances with Wolves, I'm sure everyone at the Academy laughed that one up quite a bit. Had it been submitted as an Adapted Screenplay, I for one would have been one to happily promote it to Academy members as it was an awesome sci-fi version of Kevin Costner's magnum opus.

In the end, I think Avatar could care less about the awards, as it continues its rise to best selling film of all time (not accounting for inflation), though I'm sure James Cameron and everyone who worked so hard to make one of the best movie experiences in history appreciate the recognition of their labor. When it comes to this year's nominations it's like seeing Dances with Wolves meets Titanic in a Science Fiction dressing. How it all turns out we'll still have to wait and see as the Academy begins their voting process running up to the final awards show in March.

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But there are others

With all the talk surrounding Avatar and the surprise nomination of Up for Best Picture, one cannot ignore such fantastic films as Inglourious Basterds with its eight nominations and Up in the Air with its six and very likely win by George Clooney for a leading role performance (you read it here first, unless I'm wrong and it's Jeremy Renner… but it will definitely be Penélope Cruz for Nine, or is it Meryl Streep?… I think Penélope but this is definitely difficult to predict). The real one to look for is The Hurt Locker which was directed by Cameron's ex-wife and like Avatar, has nine nominations.

The Hurt Locker, for those who have yet to experience it, is a movie based on the real accounts of a freelance journalist, Mark Boal, during his time as a freelance journalist embedded with a U.S. Army Explosive Ordinance Disposal (EOD) squad (read Bomb Squad) during the Iraq War. It follows the unit's tour together as they deal with all the difficulties of the war, themselves, the bombs, the insurgency, etc. It's certainly one of the year's best films if not the best, for the way the Kathryn Bigelow presents the seemingly familiar subject matter of the Iraq war in a way that really communicates, through the relationship of its three main characters, a very real story about war and having to work in a hostile, unfamiliar, and unfriendly foreign environment and all the hell that stems from it.

It's quite a peculiar battle, that between Avatar and The Hurt Locker, James Cameron versus ex-wife Kathryn Bigelow, Most expensive blockbuster success versus Economical, Indie, Critical Sensation, Science Fiction Fantasy versus Crude Earthly Reality. It's a battle of absolute opposites and one whose outcome will be difficult to predict. The Academy tends to favor films like The Hurt Locker over big budget, effects laden films such as Avatar, but in this case (and there have been a number of exceptions), and with the Best Picture category extended to ten candidates, it's a toss up.

The road to March 7th is definitely an exciting one. Time to start the voting lists and the planning for the Oscar parties! Have your picks already? Sound off!

List of Nominations for the 82nd Academy Awards (click here to open their site in a new window):

Actor in a Leading Role
• Jeff Bridges in “Crazy Heart”
• George Clooney in “Up in the Air”
• Colin Firth in “A Single Man”
• Morgan Freeman in “Invictus”
• Jeremy Renner in “The Hurt Locker”

Actor in a Supporting Role
• Matt Damon in “Invictus”
• Woody Harrelson in “The Messenger”
• Christopher Plummer in “The Last Station”
• Stanley Tucci in “The Lovely Bones”
• Christoph Waltz in “Inglourious Basterds”

Actress in a Leading Role
• Sandra Bullock in “The Blind Side”
• Helen Mirren in “The Last Station”
• Carey Mulligan in “An Education”
• Gabourey Sidibe in “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire”
• Meryl Streep in “Julie & Julia”

Actress in a Supporting Role
• Penélope Cruz in “Nine”
• Vera Farmiga in “Up in the Air”
• Maggie Gyllenhaal in “Crazy Heart”
• Anna Kendrick in “Up in the Air”
• Mo’Nique in “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire”

Animated Feature Film
• “Coraline” Henry Selick
• “Fantastic Mr. Fox” Wes Anderson
• “The Princess and the Frog” John Musker and Ron Clements
• “The Secret of Kells” Tomm Moore
• “Up” Pete Docter

Art Direction
• “Avatar” Art Direction: Rick Carter and Robert Stromberg; Set Decoration: Kim Sinclair
• “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” Art Direction: Dave Warren and Anastasia Masaro; Set Decoration: Caroline Smith
• “Nine” Art Direction: John Myhre; Set Decoration: Gordon Sim
• “Sherlock Holmes” Art Direction: Sarah Greenwood; Set Decoration: Katie Spencer
• “The Young Victoria” Art Direction: Patrice Vermette; Set Decoration: Maggie Gray

Cinematography
• “Avatar” Mauro Fiore
• “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” Bruno Delbonnel
• “The Hurt Locker” Barry Ackroyd
• “Inglourious Basterds” Robert Richardson
• “The White Ribbon” Christian Berger

Costume Design
• “Bright Star” Janet Patterson
• “Coco before Chanel” Catherine Leterrier
• “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” Monique Prudhomme
• “Nine” Colleen Atwood
• “The Young Victoria” Sandy Powell

Directing
• “Avatar” James Cameron
• “The Hurt Locker” Kathryn Bigelow
• “Inglourious Basterds” Quentin Tarantino
• “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” Lee Daniels
• “Up in the Air” Jason Reitman

Documentary (Feature)
• “Burma VJ” Anders Østergaard and Lise Lense-Møller
• “The Cove” Nominees to be determined
• “Food, Inc.” Robert Kenner and Elise Pearlstein
• “The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers” Judith Ehrlich and Rick Goldsmith
• “Which Way Home” Rebecca Cammisa

Documentary (Short Subject)
• “China’s Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of Sichuan Province” Jon Alpert and Matthew O’Neill
• “The Last Campaign of Governor Booth Gardner” Daniel Junge and Henry Ansbacher
• “The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant” Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert
• “Music by Prudence” Roger Ross Williams and Elinor Burkett
• “Rabbit à la Berlin” Bartek Konopka and Anna Wydra

Film Editing
• “Avatar” Stephen Rivkin, John Refoua and James Cameron
• “District 9” Julian Clarke
• “The Hurt Locker” Bob Murawski and Chris Innis
• “Inglourious Basterds” Sally Menke
• “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” Joe Klotz

Foreign Language Film
• “Ajami” Israel
• “El Secreto de Sus Ojos” Argentina
• “The Milk of Sorrow” Peru
• “Un Prophète” France
• “The White Ribbon” Germany

Makeup
• “Il Divo” Aldo Signoretti and Vittorio Sodano
• “Star Trek” Barney Burman, Mindy Hall and Joel Harlow
• “The Young Victoria” Jon Henry Gordon and Jenny Shircore

Music (Original Score)
• “Avatar” James Horner
• “Fantastic Mr. Fox” Alexandre Desplat
• “The Hurt Locker” Marco Beltrami and Buck Sanders
• “Sherlock Holmes” Hans Zimmer
• “Up” Michael Giacchino

Music (Original Song)
• “Almost There” from “The Princess and the Frog” Music and Lyric by Randy Newman
• “Down in New Orleans” from “The Princess and the Frog” Music and Lyric by Randy Newman
• “Loin de Paname” from “Paris 36” Music by Reinhardt Wagner Lyric by Frank Thomas
• “Take It All” from “Nine” Music and Lyric by Maury Yeston
• “The Weary Kind (Theme from Crazy Heart)” from “Crazy Heart” Music and Lyric by Ryan Bingham and T Bone Burnett

Best Picture
• “Avatar” James Cameron and Jon Landau, Producers
• “The Blind Side” Nominees to be determined
• “District 9” Peter Jackson and Carolynne Cunningham, Producers
• “An Education” Finola Dwyer and Amanda Posey, Producers
• “The Hurt Locker” Nominees to be determined
• “Inglourious Basterds” Lawrence Bender, Producer
• “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” Lee Daniels, Sarah Siegel-Magness and Gary Magness, Producers
• “A Serious Man” Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, Producers
• “Up” Jonas Rivera, Producer
• “Up in the Air” Daniel Dubiecki, Ivan Reitman and Jason Reitman, Producers

Short Film (Animated)
• “French Roast” Fabrice O. Joubert
• “Granny O’Grimm’s Sleeping Beauty” Nicky Phelan and Darragh O’Connell
• “The Lady and the Reaper (La Dama y la Muerte)” Javier Recio Gracia
• “Logorama” Nicolas Schmerkin
• “A Matter of Loaf and Death” Nick Park

Short Film (Live Action)
• “The Door” Juanita Wilson and James Flynn
• “Instead of Abracadabra” Patrik Eklund and Mathias Fjellström
• “Kavi” Gregg Helvey
• “Miracle Fish” Luke Doolan and Drew Bailey
• “The New Tenants” Joachim Back and Tivi Magnusson

Sound Editing
• “Avatar” Christopher Boyes and Gwendolyn Yates Whittle
• “The Hurt Locker” Paul N.J. Ottosson
• “Inglourious Basterds” Wylie Stateman
• “Star Trek” Mark Stoeckinger and Alan Rankin
• “Up” Michael Silvers and Tom Myers

Sound Mixing
• “Avatar” Christopher Boyes, Gary Summers, Andy Nelson and Tony Johnson
• “The Hurt Locker” Paul N.J. Ottosson and Ray Beckett
• “Inglourious Basterds” Michael Minkler, Tony Lamberti and Mark Ulano
• “Star Trek” Anna Behlmer, Andy Nelson and Peter J. Devlin
• “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers and Geoffrey Patterson

Visual Effects
• “Avatar” Joe Letteri, Stephen Rosenbaum, Richard Baneham and Andrew R. Jones
• “District 9” Dan Kaufman, Peter Muyzers, Robert Habros and Matt Aitken
• “Star Trek” Roger Guyett, Russell Earl, Paul Kavanagh and Burt Dalton

Writing (Adapted Screenplay)
• “District 9” Written by Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell
• “An Education” Screenplay by Nick Hornby
• “In the Loop” Screenplay by Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci, Tony Roche
• “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” Screenplay by Geoffrey Fletcher
• “Up in the Air” Screenplay by Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner

Writing (Original Screenplay)
• “The Hurt Locker” Written by Mark Boal
• “Inglourious Basterds” Written by Quentin Tarantino
• “The Messenger” Written by Alessandro Camon & Oren Moverman
• “A Serious Man” Written by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen
• “Up” Screenplay by Bob Peterson, Pete Docter, Story by Pete Docter, Bob Peterson, Tom McCarthy

P.S. Can someone explain to me what Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is doing on this list?

At $499, The New Apple iPad Makes Netbooks Instantly Obsolete

2010-01-27T18:24:00.009-04:00

Today, Apple revealed the truth behind the rumors by presenting its new tablet to the world, called the iPad. Probably the worst kept rumor in Apple's history, it's a half an inch thick and just 1.5 pounds, lighter than any netbook. The display is a 9.7-inch LED-backlit touchscreen with a 178-degree viewing angle and a 1024X768 pixel resolution display at 132 pixels per inch making for a wonderful viewing experience, but it's the similarities with the extremely familiar iPhone experience that make it so much more attractive.

Giant iPhone / iPod Touch

Like the iPhone and iPod touch, the iPad has an orientation sensor, which switches between portrait and landscape view automatically. It also sports the same intuitive multi-touch features we've all become so accustomed to using. Wi-fi is standard and 3G network access is an extra feature. It's this last which was pleasantly surprising, not because it was included, but because they chose to offer pre-paid, pay as you go payment plans for the 3G use at $14.99 per month for 250MB and $29.99 per month for the unlimited data. So far, only AT&T is offering the plan, including access to its nationwide Wi-Fi hotspots, but the iPad will not be locked like the iPhone and will use GSM micro-SIM cards so that anyone can use it with their preferred carrier should they use compatible technologies.

Compatibility

All iPhone applications are 100% compatible with the iPad, and can be viewed in iPhone size or in a stretched 2X. Developers are rushing to update for the larger screen utilizing the just released iPad SDK. That means that all 140,000 applications on the App store including your current, favorite iPhone apps will be available instantly for you to use on your iPad.

Goodbye Netbooks

At its amazing starting price point of $499 for the 16GB solid state model, and with its amazing screen and features, it's definitely superior to any netbook on the market, but Apple decided to clearly show in its announcement that it was serious about the tablet being more than an iPhone by offering a specially-designed for iPad version of their excellent and popular suite of office applications called iWork.

The software normally includes Pages, Numbers and Keynote ($79) but each can be bought individually at just $9.99 for iPad. You can use an intuitive touch interface and the large touchscreen keyboard on the screen to work with the apps, but you can also use the available keyboard dock accessory which holds your iPad like a normal display, charges it, and provides a full size keyboard to work on. The apps can synchronize easily with your Mac and other versions of iWork.

Its simplicity, size, speed, graphics and overall power and usefulness certainly puts other tablets and of course, netbooks to shame, but the iWork and iPhone/iPod connection is what definitely closes the deal in making this a useful and highly desirable, portable product.

Watch out E-readers

In the announcement, Apple also introduced a new application called "iBooks", an e-book reading application and accompanying store. Though Steve Jobs gave kudos to Amazon when it came to its pioneering Kindle efforts, he said the iPad and iBooks experience intends to improve upon the Kindle model. The software sports iTunes like navigational features making it instantly familiar and accessible. You can touch on the right of the page to turn to the next page, or left to go back. You can skip chapters, and all the expected stuff that goes along with it, but unlike the Kindle, it's fast, and has features only a computer-like display can offer, like color and video integration (E-ink promises color soon, but speed is still lacking), though if it's better to read on than dedicated e-readers remains to be seen.

By applying the weight of their iTunes and App store to the E-book market, Apple is definitely going to make a dent upon Amazon's Kindle store and present strategy, particularly considering the accessible price point at which the iPad is starting. This will allow you to do everything the Kindle, the iPod touch, and some of what a laptop can do in a single, light, and easy to carry device with a friendly and efficient interface connected to the world's most successful online stores to fill it with content.

Out of the park

Though skeptical at first of what Apple would announce as a tablet, and still, questions abound about its inner workings, particularly when it comes to document handling with the work apps and how it will perform in real life, the iPad seems to be an impressive piece of work, a merging of the benefits of a laptop and an iPhone/iPod Touch. At that price point, it definitely surprised every single journalist watching the announcement, as most were expecting something at $1000. The 10 hours of battery life (and days of standby time) were another pleasant surprise (perfect for long flights). With that, the price, and the technical specs, Apple is certainly poised to hit it out of the park.

A real winner

Will it be as ubiquitous as the iPod or iPhone remains to be seen, but considering the functionality, it will certainly be attractive to road warriors and students, much more than crappy netbooks and Windows-based tablets. It could even replace some ultralights for some users. This will depend of course on the needs of the users, but for the majority of users, the iPad is the glove they've been waiting to wear for years.

And Yet, Still Missing

Multitasking is one of the main features that is unfortunately missing as well as the great oversight of not including a camera for one to do videoconferencing through Skype. The former is mostly inconvenient, but the latter is more of a major downer. Perhaps Apple was thinking that including a camera would hurt laptop sales, and if you ask me, that could very well be true. These two items are the only things keeping the iPad from being the perfect portable device in my opinion, but as I mentioned before, considering what it offers, it certainly seems to be an amazing piece of equipment which will serve the needs of the majority of users in a simple, elegant, intuitive, familiar, useful, and relatively affordable package, an enlarged iPod Touch / iPhone.

Technical specifications:

• Size
• Height: 9.56 inches (242.8 mm)
• Width: 7.47 inches (189.7 mm)
• Depth: .5 inch (13.4 mm)
• Weight: 1.5 pounds (.68kg) Wi-Fi model; 1.6 pounds (.73 kg) Wi-Fi + 3G model

Display
▪ 9.7-inch (diagonal) LED-backlit glossy widescreen Multi-Touch display with IPS technology
▪ 1024-by-768-pixel resolution at 132 pixels per inch (ppi)
▪ Fingerprint-resistant oleophobic coating
▪ Support for display of multiple languages and characters simultaneously
▪ Support for 1024 X 768 with Dock Connector to VGA adapter; 576p and 480p with Apple Composite A/V Cable, 576i and 480i with Apple Composite A/V Cable
▪ H.264 video up to 720p

Capacity
16GB, 32GB, or 64GB flash drive

Wireless and Cellular
Wi-Fi model
▪ Wi-Fi (802.11 a/b/g/n)
▪ Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR technology
Wi-Fi + 3G model
▪ UMTS/HSDPA (850, 1900, 2100 MHz)
▪ GSM/EDGE (850, 900,1800, 1900 MHz)
▪ Data only2
▪ Wi-Fi (802.11 a/b/g/n)
▪ Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR technology

Processor
▪ 1GHz Apple A4 custom-designed, high-performance, low-power system-on-a-chip (courtesy of Apple's purchase of PA Semi)

Accessibility
▪ Support for playback of closed-captioned content
▪ VoiceOver screen reader
▪ Full-screen zoom magnification
▪ White on black
▪ Mono audio

Battery and Power
▪ Built-in 25Whr rechargeable lithium-polymer battery
▪ Up to 10 hours of surfing the web on Wi-Fi, watching video, or listening to music
▪ Charging via power adapter or USB to computer system

Input and Output
▪ Dock connector
▪ 3.5-mm stereo headphone jack
▪ Built-in speakers
▪ Microphone
▪ SIM card tray (Wi-Fi + 3G model only)

Default applications:
▪ Safari
▪ Mail
▪ Photos
▪ iPod
▪ Calendar
▪ Contacts
▪ Notes
▪ Maps
▪ Movies
▪ YouTube
▪ iTunes Store
▪ App Store
▪ iBooks

All available worldwide in 60 days (except for the 3G which will come 30 days after that).
Get more information including the full specs at: www.apple.com/ipad

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James Cameron's Avatar True to Its Name

2010-01-21T19:40:00.017-04:00

They say imitation is the greatest form of flattery, and in this way, James Cameron's visual masterpiece, Avatar, flatters and flatters away. Taking the American soldier turns native and fights back story from previous films such as Dances with Wolves and The Last Samurai, it represents a science fiction homage to a number of films and works, manifesting many of their principal elements and inserting his own sensitivities into a visual tour de force.

In Dances with Wolves we saw the natives versus the U.S. government's expansionist agenda and its war against the native americans. In The Last Samurai it was the Americans helping the Japanese corporate/government interests to suppress the traditional way of life of the "native" Samurai. In Avatar, it's corporate miners accompanied by mercenary, military protectors playing the role of outside invaders trying to profit on the planet's superconducting mineral, unobtanium, at the cost of the native wildlife and indigenous people, the Na'vi. That main idea is intertwined with many of Cameron's recurring themes, such as corporate greed (or military interests) over ecology, humanity, and/or common sense as seen in his own previous works (Aliens, The Abyss).

In Avatar, Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), a marine corporal paralyzed from the waist down, is thrust into the world of a moon circling a gas giant planet in the Alpha Centauri system called Pandora, to serve as a replacement for his dead, twin brother who was an Avatar "driver", someone who controls or "drives" a representation of themselves (hence the name of the film), this one a living creature of the native, humanoid species called the Na'vi. The film opens with him waking up from cryopreservation or "cryo-sleep" nearing arrival at the moon, but he soon gets thrust into the stereotypical battle between corporate / military interests and ecological / scientific advancement and protectionism through his interaction with the Na'vi. At first he serves the military, feeling uncomfortable amongst his brother's scientist colleagues and promised by the chief security officer, Colonel Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang), that his invaluable service would be rewarded with a restoration of his real, human legs – in the year 2154 we've finally achieved the medical restoration of the spine –, but soon he finds himself using his Navi Avatar's legs and living amongst their people, learning their ways, and falling in love with their culture and of course, with one of their own women, Neytiri, a sultry, blue version of Zoe Saldana . It all ends, logically, as one would expect: he becomes Navi and joins the moon's native wildlife in fighting against the corporate military.

Though the story is true to its Avatar name, a manifestation or representation of someone else, the presentation makes up for whatever predictability or lack of originality in the story. The predictability or familiarity doesn't detract from the experience of the film, and instead at times, adds to the enjoyment. It's a truly slick package whether experienced in its optimum 3D or the more traditional 2D.

Visual Tour de Force

The visual presentation is where Avatar surpasses all expectations and excels beyond any other film before it. James Cameron made a wise decision when he chose to wait an additional ten years for technology to catch up before making this film. Its level of realism is beyond anything else before it. His use of 3D technology (some of it which he himself helped develop for use in this film) is actually worth watching. It doesn't have any of the gimmicky use of more traditional 3D films (remember the constant sticking something at the camera from those wonderful gems of the past - think Jaws 3D, Friday the 13th 3-D), and therefore gives an amazing sense of depth and realism, adding to the overall immersive effect of the film.

Most of the film is computer generated, utilizing the actor's live performances to animate the Na'vi creatures through special capture technology (similar to that used in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, though more advanced) pioneered by Cameron on this film. I must admit that when first confronted with the computer generated creatures, one can suffer a bit of the uncanny valley effect, but that is quickly overcome as the film dives into the Navi's world and life fully. The world of Pandora is simply put: Spectacular. James Cameron has outdone himself. The moon feels alive and absolutely real. There's truly a seamless interaction between the real life elements and the animated surroundings.

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When presented with such a visual spectacle, it's easy to get lost in its beauty and miss some of the slightly disappointing details. I may be nitpicking, but the dog-like animals (Viperwolf) and dangerous, panther-like creatures (Thanator) seemed a bit too shiny-plasticky, and more akin to a lesser, more artificial looking animation and therefore out of place in such an elaborate, realistic world. One could easily argue that the plasticity of their skin is due to their alien nature, this being Pandora after all and not Earth, but in terms of the design and animation of the film, it was probably the only part of the impressive visuals that I found lacking.

Overall, this film was made for a theater viewing experience. When they say Real3D, Avatar is what they're talking about. This film is such a showcase for the technology, that you have the entire technology industry racing to bring it's 3D shine and luster to their products. It's definitely a new benchmark, a reference film that everyone will have difficulty catching up to.

Let the awards roll in

Avatar is an impressive achievement. Despite its occasional and easily overlooked flaws, it's something akin to the game changing nature of films like Star Wars, Terminator 2 (another equally impressive James Cameron film), Jurassic Park, The Matrix, and Lord of the Rings, just to name a few. It redefines film with its new and effective use of new technologies, of 3D, its overall visual presentation, integration of digital actors, etc. It's certainly worth the 10 to 15 dollars/euros/pounds to see it in its full theatrical splendor, something proven by its title of second highest-grossing film of all time worldwide and second highest-grossing film of all time domestically (in the U.S.).

Having already captured the Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture Drama and Best Director, it's already gathered a striking number of awards and nominations on its way to the Academy Awards, where it's expected to receive nominations for the top spots as well as some of the more technical and specific achievements. Avatar is an unstoppable machine that more than deserves the accolades given to it and to James Cameron, who continues to surprise and impress us with his creative and pioneering efforts, taking risks and making it worthwhile to suffer the lines, the cost, and the annoying guy behind us who won't shut up, to see it in a properly equipped cinema.

Be it in IMAX 3D, Real3D, or in good old 2D, Avatar certainly impresses and is the must see film of the season. If you haven't seen it, what are you waiting for? Go see it!

Now Open! The bNowhere Signature Store at CafePress

2010-01-17T15:31:00.000-04:00

Now you can wear or use products that show you belong to everywhere and nowhere with the bNowhere Signature Store at CafePress. CafePress is known for its quality products printed with custom designs, so I have chosen them for the blog store. Check it out HERE.

You'll be able to find article related designs as well as products with the bNowhere logo. If you enjoyed my latest article on Nudists: The Frontline of Defense, you'll certainly enjoy the four available product designs related to and in support of nudists. You don't have to go nude, but you can support our nudist warriors with one of these products:

The Nudist Warrior design products - Three different tag lines available. Choose the one that fits you best or wear them all.

Vatican Approved Go Nude design products - Vatican Art showing full nudity. Who says god is against nudity.

Nude Femme Glyph design products - The simple code that communicates the female form. Variations available.

Nude Homme Glyph design products - The simple code that communicates the male form. Variations available.

All kinds of products are available with each design, including Flip Mino high definition miniature video cameras, pet products, office products as well as all types of shirts, t-shirts, polos, caps, etc. More designs will continue to be added soon as well as some custom variations. I really hope you like them, and thank you all in advance for your continuing support of this blog and all my other little projects. :)

So, what are you waiting for? Start shopping right NOW!

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Nudists: The Frontline of Defense

2010-01-15T08:59:00.002-04:00

Early this past summer, I went down to a paradisaic beach at a famed resort destination in Europe, laid out my towel and suddenly noticed the hairy, nude ass next to my face thinking that perhaps, that was not how I had envisioned my paradise beach moment. This kind of thing is obviously not common in the U.S., as it can only be done in the privacy of one's home or specialized, controlled locations (read PRIVATE), so it's not something I'm used to. Of course, on occasion one might find oneself on a U.S. beach looking at practically the exact same thing, except for the dental floss between the cheeks, but never totally nude.

As my eyes and mind adjusted to the reality next to me, I began to study my surroundings more carefully. It seemed I had stumbled upon and chosen to bathe at a nudist beach. Bare bodies were everywhere. As they were born, there they lay, swam, walked, and played. For a moment, I contemplated whether I may have been overdressed for this particular location, but I wasn't the only bathing suit clad being at the beach. Here we found ourselves mingling unabashedly and uncaring of each other's presence or chosen attire. There were all types of people, wearing every level of coverage, from full to none. Why didn't anyone care? Why didn't anyone stare or gawk at those who dared to play so freely? Why are we so shocked by nudity, by our own birth clothes? by our own bodies? Worse still, why are we offended by it? In a country that prides itself on liberty and freedom of expression, why are we so repressed?

Other countries obviously don't see it the same way, considering my experience at that beach. There seemed to be some informal segregation at other beaches though, where you had the nudists mainly sticking to one specific section of the beach. This seemed to be more because of the nudists' own preference than that of the clothed bathers. Is our nudity such a bad thing? Are we so wretched a creature in our own skin that we must not allow anyone to be seen in it? If this is so, if this is so immoral, then why are we born this way?

I've heard a number of so called christians in the U.S. claiming the immorality and sinful nature of nakedness, and yet, their holy books, their word of god, says nothing about clothing or nakedness being wrong. The Vatican, the Catholic Church's own bastion of holiness, is covered in nakedness. Naked bodies cover many of its walls, ceilings, and hallways. Many of its images are naked. So what's all the fuss about? Where's the offense? Did their god not create them naked?

I was watching a news broadcast where they interviewed a woman who was in favor of banning nudists entirely in Europe. She said that it was offensive to her children, to their sensitivity. Were her four year old and six year old children no longer innocent at that age that they saw the nakedness as sexual, immoral and offensive? How did they become this way at such a young age? Who took away their innocence? Their nakedness? They see breasts as food. They're still discovering themselves, the world. Their parents fight with them to clothe them. Their awareness of nakedness and its corresponding offense is a learned behavior.

The woman was adamant about it and her neighbors were clamoring to start a ban at their local beach, which everyone shared freely for as long as anyone could remember, clothed and unclothed, with no complaints. Sure, not all naked bodies are what one would call attractive, but in this age of political correctness, do we dare hold it against those who were unfortunately born with a not so favorable figure? Perhaps the naked folks reminded this woman of her own ugliness, of the darkness of her thoughts, her lost innocence. Shouldn't someone have called social services and removed her children away from her corruption, her disgusting view of our own natural state?

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The U.S. is repressed enough. Hell, look at all the hoopla about a "wardrobe malfunction". But if Europe begins to head in a similar direction, will we then be all wearing burkas in a distant future, offended by our image in the bathroom mirror, offended by our having been born naked? Perhaps someone will develop a condom like apparatus to cover our bodies as we exit our mother's womb. I'm sure that would please quite a few people, especially the woman in the broadcast or some other "religious" folk. We need not be offended by how we are born. We need not be offended by our nakedness. One should really look at the reason why one feels this offense before trying to repress other people's freedom and lack of insecurity about their bodies. Those who dare go out naked in public are normally outside society's definition of perfection, so one can't claim that they're sure of themselves because they have perfect bodies. How can they have such a sense of security about their bodies, about themselves? How can they dare to show themselves to the world?

The U.S., that great bastion of freedom, loves to control that so called freedom and box it into locked spaces where no one can see it or experience it beyond what society (and the government) dictates. Its nudists, like native americans and other classifications before them, exist only in "reservations", called nudist colonies, camps, areas. Society boxes them in, labels them perverts, immoral, pedophiles, sinners, corrupt, pornographers, etc. It's a crime. You commit a crime, which means you are a criminal, should you find yourself "exposed" (read in your own natural skin, your body, something you can't get rid of or away from) in public. Who is the corrupt, sick, pedophile, immoral pervert? A person who walks around naked? or the one who looks at him and whose mind is dirty and judges him as such? Are you a pervert because you're naked? because you're unashamed about what your god decided you should be born with? Perhaps it's the one who saw the person's nakedness as something sexual, sick, dirty, corrupt and sinful. It is that person who would take away your liberty and your freedom to cover up his/her own mental illness.

Freedom is something that is very hard to come by and very easy to lose. If you take one out, others follow quickly and with great ease. So as I pondered upon those people on the beach, I couldn't help but look at them in a new way. I couldn't help but see them and think of them as something much more than nudists enjoying paradise. I began to see them in a new light. Their nakedness was their weapon. Their nudity was their bullet. They were fighters in a grand war, a war that has been fought since the beginning of time, a war for freedom. Their quiet statement, as small as it may seem to many, is a major battle for our bodies, for society, for the freedom to exist as we are, for the freedom to live freely beyond the simple nakedness of ourselves. In Europe, if nudity goes, toplessness will follow, and the government will soon be telling you how you can dress on the street, in your yard, in your house. In the U.S. we're not that far off from that (though improving in some areas), but should their freedom to be naked disappear, should nudists be unable to find themselves nude in the openness of even those separate "reservations", it will be one freedom closer to losing another, and another.

It's bad enough as it is with Big Brother keeping such a close eye upon our lives, we don't need to give in our bodies and ourselves to further scrutiny, to further repression. The nudists are our unsung heroes, our warriors on the front lines. They fight when we dare not. We dare not go naked into the night, into the fight. They dare. They go. They live… free. They're free so we can be.

So I looked around the paradisaic beach and thought that perhaps this was my paradise beach moment after all. Perhaps I should make their freedom mine. I stood up, undid my bathing suit, and as I was ready to bare it all to the world …

…I decided to thank every one of them instead, our heroes, our frontline of defense: the nudist.

Nudist Organizations - Fighting for all of us and improving our freedom in the U.S. and beyond

You'll find accurate information about going nude in America (and around the world) in any of the following websites:

*AANR: American Association for Nude Recreation - AANR is the oldest and largest organization of nudists in North America with 50,000 members and more than 200 private clubs, RV campgrounds, travel clubs, and resorts, each offering a wide variety of recreational activities.

*The Naturist Society: The Naturist Society has been a leader in promoting body acceptance through nude recreation for more than 15 years. During that time, the 20,000-member organization has also been a staunch supporter of our right to use appropriate public lands for clothing-optional activities.

*AANR West: The Western Region website of the American Association for Nude Recreation, serving the states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah and Wyoming.

*AANR FLORIDA: American Association for Nude Recreation for the Florida region. Areas covered are Florida, Mexico, and the Caribbean.

*British Naturism: The UKs only International Naturist Federation (INF) member and in existence since 1964, it exists to unite and support naturists, to protect naturist places and provide more, make social nudity more acceptable across the UK and to provide comprehensive information on naturism and naturists around the world.

*International Naturist Federation: The International Naturist Federation is an organization consisting of members in over thirty countries. Together with other interested parties involved in naturist activities, the INF-FNI works to enhance and improve the naturist experience and the naturist business climate by promoting the benefits of naturism to the general public.

*The Fig Leaf Forum: A site specifically designed for Christian naturists/nudists. Their information is both general and focused for those who are religious and are curious or wish to go nude but don't know whether or not that is in conflict with their beliefs.

More information:

*The World's Best Nude Beaches and Resorts: The long-awaited sequel to New York Times bestseller The World Guide to Nude Beaches and Resorts. This guide unveils the top 1,000 places where bare skin is simply the most fashionable thing to wear. More than 50 countries are explored in depth, including the US and Canada, the Caribbean, France, Spain, Italy, Greece, Portugal, Croatia, the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, Scandinavia, Australia, New Zealand and Latin America. Don't get undressed without it!

*Naturism: Wikipedia entry on the subject of Naturism, the cultural and political movement advocating and defending social nudity in private and in public.

*Nudity & Christianity: Jim Cunningham's magnum opus about naturism and christianity.

*Nude News: Enjoy the clothes free lifestyle with links to clubs, articles, organizations, even nude flights.

*True Nudists: True nudists is a FREE online community for naturists worldwide. We are the number 1 resource for nudist resorts, nude beaches or nudist friends in your area.

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Keywords: nudist, nudism, nude, naturist, naturism, body, birth, birthday suit, clothes, clothing, freedom, repression, free, religion, rights, naked, clothing optional, public, public nudity, vatican, society

Dan Brown thrills Da Vinci Code formula in The Lost Symbol

2009-10-15T14:03:00.014-04:00

After six years of waiting, Dan Brown certainly doesn't disappoint with his latest Robert Langdon adventure, The Lost Symbol. This time around, Mr. Langdon finds himself involved in a whirlwind of Masonic symbols, rituals, conspiracies, legends, etc., all within one of the greatest Masonic monuments in the world, which also happens to serve as the capital of the U.S., Washington, D.C., turning what might be construed as a beautiful, yet ordinary capital city (at least to a lot of americans accustomed to seeing it often) into a sprawling temple dedicated to the elevation of men and women to their maximum spiritual potential.

Though often criticized by his peers for the low quality of his writing, or for the inaccuracies of his facts by detractors against the theories and ideas his novels portray, eighty million readers of The Da Vinci Code have given their approval to Dan Brown's style and capacity to weave an interesting story. If nothing else, Dan Brown can bring complex philosophical ideas, throw them together in a highly entertaining way, and create a thriller that is accessible to the masses, yet intriguing enough for the knowledgeable. He has a way of stimulating learning and the exploration of subjects that are often unknown or inaccessible to the majority of the populace. He entertains and informs in the most spectacular and thrilling of ways, with twists and turns that will both shock and delight while simultaneously moving readers to explore the subject matter, locations and overall details presented throughout the story. Let's just say that you'll be immediately searching for Noetic science upon finishing this wonderfully fun story.

The Lost Symbol is not high art, but it's not supposed to be. It's a highly entertaining page turner, an engrossing thriller that will keep you glued to it from cover to cover. When it seems it might be predictable (and truthfully, I must say that it doesn't stray too far from his previously established formula from The Da Vinci Code and Angels & Demons), it changes, it surprises, it shocks, making it a worthwhile read and a welcome addition to Robert Langdon's collection of adventures. The story accelerates at a dizzying pace all the way to its revealing end (Sorry, that's about it. You'll find no spoilers here), and as in his other books, his research and references make you want to seek out more information about the subjects presented. There are many wonders in Washington, D.C., as it has always been an intriguing and fascinating city, but after reading The Lost Symbol, you'll certainly want to look at it again, but through the new eyes that Brown has given you. Like the cities presented in his previous books, a new world is revealed beneath the simple tourist attractions we've all come to think we know so well. The U.S. capital has never looked this mystifying. and it's all been there all along for the world to see.

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In essence, Dan Brown has written yet another easy to read, highly intriguing, hugely fascinating, and absolutely engaging thriller. If you are looking for something interesting and entertaining to read, The Lost Symbol will certainly not disappoint (Da Vinci Code fans will most certainly be satisfied), but if you're looking to read Shakespeare, you're better off reading the master himself. The Lost Symbol, like The Da Vinci Code and Angels & Demons before it, follows along the line of the fast moving thriller novel, but also pushes it beyond with its mesmerizing, real world details and complex and mysterious subject matter. I for one thoroughly enjoyed it, and highly recommend it.

Enjoy! :)

Related links:

Dan Brown: The Official Website of Author Dan Brown.
Washington D.C.: This link takes you to a reader's guide to Washington D.C. from Dan Brown's official site.
The Lost Symbol (U.S. Version): Amazon's The Lost Symbol product page where you can buy the book.
The Lost Symbol (UK Version): The Lost Symbol product page on Amazon UK where you can buy the book.
Criticism: a Telegraph news article about Dan Brown's 20 worst sentences and other criticisms.
Freemasonry: Wikipedia article on Freemasonry.
Noetic Science: Institute of Noetic Sciences website.

Keywords: Dan Brown, The Lost Symbol, The Da Vinci Code, Angels & Demons, Freemasonry, Masons, Rosicrucian, Rose Croix, Symbology, Novel, Book, Review, Thriller, Formula, Story, Washington, D.C., Freemason, Noetic Science

People's Choice Voting Open for Natural Raw

2009-08-01T21:29:00.007-04:00

My recently released photography book, Natural Raw is a candidate for Blurb's Photography.Book.Now competition. If you haven't done so already, go see the book preview, and don't forget to click on that big VOTE button, as the voting for the People's Choice Award is currently open. Go now, tell your friends. Tell everyone you know to go vote for the book. You have until August 20th.

Thanks to everyone in advance and thanks to all those who have already voted or who have purchased the book. The response has been fantastic, and I am really flattered by the wonderful comments and e-mails I've received from all of you. You never know what kind of response you're going to get when you develop any artistic endeavor, but I've been overjoyed with how much everyone has enjoyed both the preview and the book itself. Thank you.

If you haven't seen it yet, go see it. If you haven't voted yet, go vote. If you haven't bought it yet, go buy it! It's a huge, coffee table book I think you're going to love to show to everyone. :) Thanks again.

Natural Raw is finally available!

2009-07-15T07:15:00.008-04:00

For those of you who've known of my photography projects and work, or who have simply seen some of my photos on Flickr, you can finally get some of it in book form. Natural Raw is finally available through the Blurb publishing service.

Natural Raw is my second photography book, but the first available to the general public. It represents a vision of nature that includes its raw forms and expressions as well as the occasional crude, human contribution. Some of these are dramatic and can even be cruel and violent, and yet, others express a peaceful beauty like no other.

This book attempts to express this raw vision, both through its impactful images and through its accompanying written expressions. It attempts to evoke unexpected feelings and thoughts in the viewer, both contrary and predictable. It is my hope that you will enjoy my varying visions, the ethereal brightness, the daze-inducing, happy and flowery views, the dark void within his visions of smoke, the raw crudeness of consumption, and the dreamy nature of colorblind.

I hope you enjoy it. It's currently available in a huge 12 inch X 12 inch format and in high quality premium paper. A preview is available, so you can get a feel for what you're getting. You can get it here, or by clicking on the banner below.

Natural Raw

By Franco Esteve

Book Preview

Guy Code or Why Women Will Never Rule the World

2009-01-05T10:47:00.000-04:00

For years I’ve sat through the trials and tribulations of many a girlfriend, patiently listening to their tales of sex, abuse, and betrayal. The stories included their girlfriends, their boyfriend, their significant others, their colleagues, etc. Often the conclusion and solution were the same as it would be for anyone, but more often than not, in their case, there seemed to be a greater reason, a reason that supersedes all others. A reason that with every story became clearer and clearer. THE reason as to why women don’t rule the world today.

Women certainly have the advantage. Men lose capacity when blood rushes to the lower organ. Their capacity to think, to reason, to many a thing is greatly diminished until release. Men are highly aware, both at a conscious and unconscious level, of this great weakness and the advantage it provides to women. It is men who have the penis envy, and they know it. This is why they have taken great precautions in making sure that their limitations don’t become liabilities, and in fact, have used those same limitations to their advantage in turning the tide of power in their favor.

Despite being emotionally stronger and having a greater tolerance to pain and suffering, women don’t rule. Despite wielding true power, the power of sex, the power of procreation, of education, of control, women don’t rule. Why don’t they rule? Why, with all this power and ability, can’t they rule? What happened to all that girl power? Women’s solidarity? Understanding? Unity?

The unfortunate reality is that despite all this talk about unity, there is none. Despite all this solidarity, it ends at the stealing of the boyfriend, at the backstabbing, at the selfishness, at the lack of code, because in the end, only men, chivalrous knights amongst themselves, have and follow a true, unspoken CODE.

Guy’s are one and all, women are one and none

There’s an old joke, which you may or may not have read (It’s recently been doing the rounds on the internet again.). It goes like this:

–A man’s wife didn’t come home one night and the next day she told him she had slept at a friend’s house. The man called her ten best friends and none of them knew about it.
–A woman’s husband didn’t come home one night and the next day he told her he had slept at a friend’s house. The woman called his ten best friends and eight of them confirmed that he had slept over while two claimed that he was still there.

What this joke illustrates is how men truly cover for and take care of each other while most women simply do not. You may or may not have heard men referring to something called “Guy Code” which is a set of rules and guidelines that men tend to follow. They have even been accurately portrayed a number of times in many a book and movie. Two recent film references are:

1. In the movie Old School, during the kid’s birthday party, Luke Wilson’s love interest brings her boyfriend, whom he subsequently catches in the bathroom making out with one of the waitresses. The boyfriend directly references guy code saying that to tell on him is what “chicks do.” Luke Wilson follows this code and holds back from saying anything until he himself is blamed for said crime, releasing him from the obligation.

2. In the movie A Guy Thing, Jason Lee slept with a waitress at his bachelor party and told his fiancee, who found said waitress’ underwear hidden in his toilet’s water tank, that the underwear she found was a gift he was hiding for her birthday. She saw that it was used and proceeded to call the store Jason Lee had claimed to have bought it at. The man who picked up the phone at the shop covered for him, going so far as to even get angry about people putting them back used in the bargain bins and telling her she could return it. When the clerk hangs up, he turns to a lady in line and says, “It’s a guy thing.”

These are just two moments to illustrate what “Guy Code” is. It is the unspoken guide book, rules men follow and understand innately. It’s normally only mentioned or spoken of when a man has violated it or is approaching a violation or is attempting to violate it. It is extremely important for men in general to adhere to this set of rules. It keeps them united and in power. In fact, when a guy breaks “Guy Code,” he will be banned, seen as untrustworthy by other men. That guy will be cast out in some way or another. He won’t be seen the same way again by others who know of his transgression.

Women on the other hand, have a tendency to look after themselves, betraying their best friend if necessary. I’ve seen stolen boyfriends, career advancements, positions, projects, etc. They’ve done this to people they call friends and even best friends. Sadly, this does not help their cause. You’d think that considering their situation of having to live in a man’s world and within a man’s set of rules and limitations, that they would rally to help each other and change the rules in order to gain the equality, respect and power they seem to crave. Unfortunately, I’ve continued to witness the opposite, women bending over for men (even when they’re beating the shit out of them) and betraying their own to gain a man’s favor or their own. This keeps them forever untrustworthy to each other as they follow no code.

You may of course be saying, “Hey! But I’m not like that,” or “not all women are like that,” and you would be right. The exceptions obviously shine above the rule, but seem few and far between in the overall scheme of things. Women, as a group, need to develop something similar to “guy code” and get their shit together in this respect. In the end, they’ll even find allies amongst men and truly reach the equality they seek.

Women’s Worship of their Captor

I was walking down the street and I noticed someone coming towards me in some priest-like, church looking outfit, when I suddenly realized it was a woman in a burqa. It got me thinking that here’s another reason why women will never rule the world: Religion.

Religion is one of men’s greatest tools for keeping women at bay. To begin with, like many things, it’s ruled by men. Second, it promotes the divine thought that women are either less than men or should serve a man, be that man a god, prophet, or worshiper of such god or prophet. They are designed to promote fear and to control man’s own fear of the true power of women by being proactively on the offensive.

Obviously, if you look at the teachings of Jesus or other prophets, it’s not quite the same as what organized religion promotes, so let’s stick to how men have organized themselves into power.

Exhibit A: Catholicism (and other Christian musings)

Catholics claim to follow the new testament and the teachings of Jesus yet continue to be obsessed with the Old Testament, the Ten Commandments and like other controversial big bang groups, the ever fan favorite Genesis, the idea being to keep the focus on women’s ability to corrupt men’s minds. It was a woman who tempted Adam and therefore caused their having to leave paradise. Original sin exists thanks to a woman. Jesus, God’s son and part of their holy trinity (read: God made man) was of course, a man, and therefore, the worship centers around one. Not only are women in many ways promoted as evil creatures that exist simply for procreation purposes, but they aren’t even allowed to participate as equals in anything having to do with church power (read: NO priestesses).

Ironically, it’s often women who are the most devout members of the congregation. They have been brainwashed to not only accept these ideas, but in fact promote them. Other factions of so called Christianity, have taken these even further, dictating what women can and cannot wear, how they can act, what they can and can’t do, and how they should bow and serve their man (read: Men). Of course, if they actually read their own book, they’d see that Jesus actually worshipped women and saw them as equals, but hey, maybe that’s just my own interpretation of it. I’ll be opening my own brand of Christianity next week, at a church near you.

Exhibit B: Islam (particularly those with a more fundamentalist tilt)

Recalling the muslim woman that prompted this part of the article, and keeping with the reasoning of this particular section, it would stand to reason that the islamic group to which that poor woman belongs to have taken it even further by simply hiding women. Of course, this is a religion also ruled by men, except they seem to be more open about the ideas of what, where, how and when women should do this or that. In some cases women are objects of property, worth next to nothing. Even their offspring belongs exclusively to the man. They are seen as too tempting to be even looked at except by a parent, sibling, child or husband.

This is the great fear of women taken to an extreme, covering them up from head to toe with only eyes free to see where they’re going (unless they’re wearing the full beekeeper version in which case even their eyes are covered). A woman’s face is temptation enough for it to be left unchecked and uncovered. Sure enough, it’s true that not every islamic group reaches this extreme (and as in everything there are plenty of exceptions), but they include some elements of it in one way or another. Again, the prophet (a figure of peace, love, and service to God) may have said differently (both men and women should dress modestly in public) but this is the reality, and as with most religions, it is often women themselves who continue to promote this view and inculcate it into their children’s brains.

Exhibit C: Everything else

There are many other religions in the world, and though there are a few that promote a woman’s power or view them as true equals (very few and with but a small group of followers in comparison), most of them tend to keep women down, and make sure that men remain the dominant sex at all times. The saddest thing remains in that women themselves tend to be the most devout of all practitioners and continue to promote this self deprecating view generation after generation. Of course, they speak of solidarity, understanding, and tolerance of their particular religion and culture, but with it they promote tolerance of intolerance and do even greater damage to themselves.

The Great Educator

Saddest of all in looking at this is that it’s women themselves who continue to submit themselves to this inequality and inferiority. In the end, the greatest betrayal of women is towards women, for it’s women who wield the power of change. Should women actually use this power, the world would be in their hands within a single generation.

Women are the Great Educator. They are the ones who have the greatest direct influence upon their children. They are the ones who indoctrinate their kids, both male and female, with this twisted and even slightly misogynistic view. The men hate the women and the women hate themselves.

How many times have we heard a mother say to a boy, “Don’t cry! Women cry! Not boys! Boys don’t cry!” How many times have we heard, “It’s not the same. Your brother is a man, whereas you’re a girl.” “Men can do that.” “It’s ok ‘cause he’s a man.” “Girls shouldn’t do that.” “She looks disgusting doing that.” “She looks like a man.” “It’s terrible for a girl to do that.” “She’s a whore.” “Slut.” Etc. These are just some of the nicer things I’ve heard even young mothers say to their children. These are the ideas those children will have in their heads. They are the ideas they will promote with their thoughts and actions, women’s inferiority ingrained from birth.

The Great Educator has pushed the twisted values of old, the twisted view of religion, the twisted view of themselves, to their own detriment. Feminists can say whatever they want, but even feminists have continued to promote the old archetypes through their Great Educator role, sad as that may be.

A Final Word

I know I’ve focused on the rule and not the exceptions but the exceptions do not rule. So, get it together women. The world is changing fast and the opportunities are better than ever for you to achieve the ever-elusive equality that you long for and that many women before you have fought and suffered for. So go get it, and make sure your children follow in that new line of thought.

You’re not a bitch for being successful. You’re not a slut for having slept with a few men. You’re also not less for having a child or a family. You’re a person, regardless of your marital status. Get it together with honesty, honor, respect, and code, and you will have it all. It’s up to you.

So what do you think? Will women continue to sabotage themselves? Will the fact that more women are educating themselves trump men? My arguments (though at times expressed in a humorous manner) are but a testament to what I’ve seen and continue to see in society through the media, through contact with people, families, men and women. Has yours been a similar experience?

***Author’s note in regards to religion***: The author means no disrespect to any religion through his humorous analysis of the position of women in certain religions of the world. The author respects all religions and everyone’s right to believe and practice their faith as long as it does not result in the detriment of another human being, be it a man, woman, or child. So say we all.

Keywords: women, girl power, feminism, feminist, misogyny, men, male, power, religion, catholic, devout, islam, veil, burqa, educator, great educator, female, guy code, guys, betrayal, code, A guy thing, Old School, repressed, abuse

No men were injured during the writing of this article. Photos and words are copyright©2008 by bFranco. All rights reserved. Unauthorized use is strictly prohibited.

One Thursday Night of Winter

2008-03-10T20:52:00.013-04:00

1:30 am. Thursday night. Spring had shown it’s face but a few days before, but winter had returned. Still, the sky was clear and the air fresh. A quick glance around revealed no one. The street was free of movement. The city was sound asleep. I crossed the first side street, suspiciously observing for any signs of life. Too many years living in dangerous urban jungles had made me paranoid. Continuing, I could observe that most of the surrounding buildings had gone dark. I arrived at the next side street, which was perpendicular on the right side, but I stayed on the left. I could see the main road at the far end, but all seemed quiet there as well.

Arriving at the next crossroads, I remembered earlier in the day as I went by, I had observed an unusually large pile of fecal matter which I would assume was produced by some enormous creature. Glancing over at the side street on the left side, there it was, right in the center, and despite the fact that someone had actually slipped through the right side, spreading its soft, tanned interior over the asphalt, the multileveled, deep black colored, monument to excrement remained erect maintaining its wonderfully layered, pyramidal shape. The damage had only served to enhance its image by smoothing the right face of the monument.

I finally reached the main intersection where the street connected to the diagonal main. Curiously, each corner harbored a banking institution. My interest was on the opposite side of the oddly shaped intersection. I jumped to the center of the road, seeing as there were nothing but ghosts lining the sidewalks and ectoplasmic images of carriages riding down the road. I hurried over to the cash machine, carefully studying the surrounding area for movement. The machine was encased in a phone booth like, glass structure, its door capable of locking you inside for everyone to see.

I ran inside and slid the latch, locking myself inside. Looking around, I could see that it was safe, but nevertheless, I carefully and hurriedly pulled out my wallet and, after selecting the correct card to use, slipped it into the machine. Less than a minute later, I was pulling the card out, cash in hand, the machine logged out, and waiting for its next customer. After tucking all items safely away, I began my examination of the surrounding area.

Every direction seemed clear, the air silent. Unlocking the latch, I realized that there were what seemed to be vehicle lights illuminating the parked cars right outside the booth. Upon closer examination, I noticed a taxi approaching from the left of my exit. Nothing suspicious there.

I lifted the latch and opened the door, stepping out into the sidewalk. The taxi stopped at the intersection, as another came from the bottom of the main. After carefully following the street signs, they both continued on their way, and I took advantage of the movement by rapidly cutting across the center to retrace my steps back to my point of origin.

As I approached the first intersection, the one where the pyramid stood in the center of the side street, now on the right side instead of the left, I noticed someone was walking down from the main. I slowed my pace in order to be able to examine whoever it was before running into them. They hadn’t noticed me yet. It was an old man, probably around seventy years old, but looking hip in his black leather jacket and black beanie like, wool headgear. You could say he looked like a stereotype thief from about forty years ago, except old and out of shape.

He crossed the street in front of me, casually swinging a boutique shopping bag on his right hand. His awareness was not surprisingly dull as I approached without notice. As he continued I remembered the monument and wondered what would happen since he seemed to be particularly oblivious to his surroundings and was heading straight for the land mine.

I had reached the corner and was beginning to cross behind him. The two were very close now, very close. His mind swam in his own thoughts, for he had yet to notice the gargantuan pyramidal monument, that beautiful onyx structure so carefully laid in his path by a creature with an extremely efficient digestive system and a careless nature. I waited. I had to see. I had to see what would happen. Would he notice? Would he hit it? Worse, step on it? Then again, he would have to practically march in order to straight step on such a large structure.

He continued his approach, and I decided to slowly move in my own direction so as not to be noticed and accidentally startle the unsuspecting victim soon to be covered in soft, black and brown, organic tissue, preventing my witnessing of the event. His feet were getting closer and closer. He did not waver from his path. Here was a man with a purpose, though for the moment, his purpose would be my momentary entertainment from an accidental gag moment.

I had reached the next corner and was ready to continue as he finally reached the structure. For a split second, it seemed he had noticed it and had moved his feet to avoid it, but he hadn’t, straightening his path and beginning his journey over it. His left foot glided smoothly and safely over the monument without damage, and I truly thought he would clear it, safely and surprisingly, without notice. We can thank his right foot for the brilliant rescue of this spectacular moment in the life of this man, a human moment, a personal moment.

His right foot lifted, and as it began its trip around the imaginary arc towards the next step, it slammed straight into the upper front side of the structure, slicing the top off and moving it at speed in the direction of his left foot, slamming into its side and decorating it with a trademark brownish color. He stumbled, digging his foot further into the pyramid, breaking deeper through the black, tough exterior and into the softer, lighter colored tissue. The mound was breaking on all sides and both rolling away and collapsing into the sides of his ankle.

He recovered himself quickly and looked back angrily, as I dashed away attempting to retain my laughter within myself and remain undiscovered. I continued to walk and after a few meters my insides burst into uncontrollable laughter. I thought about how cruel it was to laugh about such an unfortunate accident, and particularly one I myself would have been furious about. I tried to control myself, to no avail. In fact, the more I tried, the further I tumbled into an abyss of hilariousness, my body convulsing and mouth bursting with laughing sounds.

After reaching my point of origin I pondered upon my journey, one final paranoid glance before opening the door, and thought, how curious it was, my city, at 1:30 am on a Thursday night of winter…how curious…indeed.

Localizing: an advertiser’s dream is a consumer’s nightmare

2008-02-27T19:19:00.008-04:00

Personalization has forever been the dream of both advertisers and consumers. Those who sell products would love to target those most interested in order to sell more, and consumers love things designed especially for them. Personalization has always made people feel like someone actually cared to cater to them specifically even if it was a computer doing it. That level of personalization has reached new heights with the advent of the internet, where companies simply tailor everything to your tastes, needs, usage, etc. Amazon analyzes what you buy, what you wish for, what you’ve looked at and recommends things accordingly. The whole website seems designed “just for you” every time you visit.

I must admit, I personally love it. It’s quite useful to avoid all those extras and have what you want at your fingertips. When I access my bank account from my bank’s ATM, it’s personalized as well. I have specifically what I want on the menu, which adjusts in accordance to what I’ve accessed the most on it. The cash presets are those I’ve taken out most frequently, saving me time and hassle (not that typing in a number on a keypad is much of a hassle). It’s not something I necessarily needed, but it’s nice to have it either way.

In this personalized nirvana though there are a number of issues (apart from the possible privacy issues with companies or other people knowing too many things about your habits) that I’ve begun to notice, but the main one is one that has been rearing its ugly head all over the web: Localization.

What is it?

Lo•cal•ize [loh-kuh-lahyz]

–verb (used with object)
1. to make local; fix in, or assign or restrict to, a particular place, locality, etc.
–verb (used without object)
2. to gather, collect, or concentrate in one locality.

Localization takes something and tailors it to a particular place or location. This is excellent for advertisers as they are able to target their message to a specific city, state, or country so that it may be more effective and reach a relevant audience. It makes no sense, for example, to advertise air conditioners in Barrow, Alaska, though a flame-thrower and UV lamps might be a perfect fit. If you don’t really travel much or spend much time away from a single home, this works perfectly well and can be quite useful, but for those who travel often, have two homes in different places, it can be a bit annoying. Also, localization is often used to limit access to a certain technology, product or service. It’s also used in price fixing across different countries in order to charge more for a product in a place where they can afford it and lower the price elsewhere, blocking access to the cheaper price (thought to be illegal in some countries). This can be most easily seen in the regional encoding of movies which I’ve mentioned in other articles and comments here, where you can’t play a movie bought in another region. More on that further below.

Let’s begin with Language

Language is another localization which can be quite useful for people from a specific country. We’re used to english localization, and it makes sense considering it’s the most common language spoken throughout the world, after Chinese, of course. Having said that, it wouldn’t necessarily make sense in China (even if so many of them are).

The beauty of the modern internet is that many websites can read your IP and automatically determine where you are, selecting your personal language for you. This can be quite practical as you don’t have to go and look for the little flag or language button to find a language you understand or prefer. But what happens when that’s not the language you speak?

Most websites allow you to change the language, but some of the most important websites do not, or make it quite difficult to do so. As I’ve traveled and lived in numerous places, this has been one of the most annoying things to deal with. It’s a constant battle with the system to try and keep it in my language of choice. Something as popular as MySpace or even Google would be a constant battle, wasting loads of time trying to keep it in a language I can understand, sometimes having to guess where one can even change the language or country. Soldiers particularly struggle with this constantly as they serve in different places throughout the world.

This is where localization turns ugly and becomes a nightmare to users. The internet was supposed to promote this sense of a global village where users from everywhere could communicate with each other, where borders would disappear and products could be more accessible to people from places you could never reach before, and what not. Something called the “World wide web” might sort of have something to do with that thinking, yet if anything this web is entangling communication and destroying it as programmers insert more limits through localization and disabling access to products, services, and content.

If you sell it, they will come. If you don’t, they’ll pirate it.

As access becomes more ubiquitous, it has become more limited. Companies like Google have localized absolutely everything in order to provide the most targeted advertising (or supposedly “personalized” experience), but have also used that to block users to some of their services. Video services have traditionally been a great example (both free and for purchase) like those at NBC, SciFi, and scores of companies throughout the web (anyone from Europe and other parts of the world can attest to not having any movies or TV shows available for purchase or rent online in iTunes or Xbox Live - see my older article iPod - Where’s the Beef?) where you can’t access the content from anywhere except from the U.S. They read your IP and that’s it. You can’t even pay for the content to get it, not even using your U.S. Address, credit card or account.

The only exception to this is iTunes which still allows Americans to access the U.S. store from outside the U.S. and purchase from it as long as you have a valid U.S. address and credit card. You can imagine which service those who find themselves abroad will turn to for their content. Thank you Apple.

It’s not just Americans abroad but english speakers throughout the world that wish to enjoy their content in its original language. If you wish to experience it and wish to pay for it, sorry, but you can’t. I myself have found the Google wall or the SciFi Channel wall or Xbox Live wall when visiting other countries. For some reason content providers still don’t seem to get it. The users are certainly going to get it, and if it’s not sold to them, they’ll simply acquire it by other means (read Piracy). Many people don’t want it in the language of the country they find themselves in, and this even includes many locals of those countries. This market is not only under-served but being excluded altogether and being forced to pay a premium for the content in a language that isn’t necessarily their own (in case of travelers, students or ex-pats). Also, with so much of that same content localized, why isn’t it made available? If you’re showing the episode for free anyway on SciFi.com, why can’t everyone watch it?

I know I’m stressing the media content side, but I’ve also experienced it on the software or services side. It’s understandable that a little store in Birmingham, Alabama can’t serve or has difficulty in selling products to a guy in India, but digital content and services have no limitations except those put upon them by their masters.

The final nightmare

This is the ugly side of localization, which we have experienced for so many years on DVD, and which thanks to Blu-ray’s win over HD-DVD will continue to exist in that physical format. Unfortunately, the practice has moved over to the so called “world wide web” which is less and less world wide every day, as companies continue to bring down the world to just your door and control what you can do and watch or purchase and in what language. What should be a blessing has become a curse. What should be a dream, has become a nightmare.

What do you think? Have you experienced this while traveling, or while living or studying in a different country than your own?

Keywords: localization, customization, personalization, localize, customize, personalize, consumer, DVD, internet, web, websites, language, country, travel

Toshiba declares itself defeated

2008-02-19T20:39:00.004-04:00

Toshiba today accepted defeat in the battle for a high-definition DVD replacement. It will logically soon follow that Paramount, Universal and Dreamworks will switch to Blu-ray.

Thank you HD-DVD for your security blanket in your combo discs, and for the economical price of your players and discs. My DVDs look great upscaled in your drive and while you live, the HD-DVD side will look even better. Thank you for being region-free.

Unfortunately, that price fixing practice called regional encoding will now continue thanks to Sony and the blu-ray format. There are less regions, but there are regions all the same. Here's to hoping there'll be a region crack soon, or that governments will follow the lead of other countries and make it illegal to sell region locked players. In the meantime, there's the wonderful DVD format, continuing to be king, with its ease of use, compatibility and everything else. Thank you DVD for being so easy to backup to my computer, and for upscaling so beautifully in my cheap HD-DVD player.

Goodbye HD-DVD. At least you'll live 'till you die.

Hello Blu-ray. I will sing your praises when you finalize your format and stop producing obsolete players. I will also sing your praises once somebody cracks your regional encoding. Then we will be best friends.

HD DVD is Dead, Long Live HD DVD

2008-02-03T20:02:00.003-04:00

There's been an epic battle going on, one that not many people even cared about, but epic all the same. To read technology columnists and news outlets, everyone was incredibly interested in this, despite the fact that most people have no idea what an HDTV is, much less that there's a high definition DVD format out there to play on it. They know there's a cool flat panel TV on the market sure, I mean, Bobby Joe has one in his trailer, and it plays DVDs really cool on it, but HD DVD sounds like the same as DVD and Blu-Ray is what they call Billy Ray when he's depressed.

The only truly interested parties are those involved in the battle itself, comparing it to the great battle of Beta vs. VHS which though at first may seem like an accurate depiction, upon close inspection, one finds it couldn’t be further from it. Neither format will conquer thanks to the porn industry as everyone already gets their porn on the internet, and unlike during the original battle, everyone already owns a high quality, digitally restored and remastered version of Beastmaster on DVD (sorry TNT, but it was you who said, “Christmas isn’t Christmas without the Beastmaster!"). Back then, the only way you could watch a movie was in a theater or if the networks or HBO played it on TV. Today, not only does Betty Sue have a DVD player in her trailer, but she owns the full Ernest collector’s edition DVDs. Her husband, second cousin Johnny Lee, even owns, not one but three collector’s edition, digitally restored, Star Wars movies. He just loves that “Chew-bacco" character.

The movie studios, who have already had you buying the same movie on VHS, on DVD, on DVD collector’s edition, on DVD director’s cut, on DVD special super duper collector’s director original cut Blade Runner, and if it wasn’t enough (Ridley Scott should stop ripping us off - yes, I fell for it…I love Blade Runner), on DVD Director’s Final Cut (until the next Final Final definite version cut), want you to buy yet another new format. Most of us have fallen for it at least once, but at least the DVD format made sense. You didn’t have to rewind and fast forward. You could just skip and pause as desired without waiting, and the quality was and still is superb.

Now, the latest craze is High Definition which comes in two main flavors: 1. 720 lines of resolution, progressively displayed (720p), and 2. 1080 lines of resolution interlaced (1080i)…but wait, there’s another version of 1080 but progressively displayed (1080p)…hmm. Some TVs support 1080p, some players don’t and what not, but theoretically, if your signal is a high definition source, and if your TV is bigger than 42 inches, and if you’re standing close enough to it, then you’ll see that Ricky Martin has gone to a dermatologist to fix the craters on his face and that the porn actress suffers from shaving rash. The image is really that good and detailed! So they want you to buy the same movie once more but in one of their new and shiny, high definition enabled, and DVD priced, disc based formats. This means you buy new hardware (more on this below), and replace, ahem, throw away those old, “standard" quality DVD discs. In their new context, “standard" means substandard or in layman’s terms, “shit". Of course, we all know this isn’t true, but through clever marketing, HD DVD’s “The Look and Sound of Perfect" and blu-ray’s “Without blu-ray your HDTV is just a TV" the studios will make us feel our current, high quality, digitally restored and super re-mastered DVD is crap and needs to be upgraded.

The two contenders: HD DVD and blu-ray

As you already know at this point, there are two formats competing for the heavyweight title of the world. They both use the same blue laser technology, but with different implementations. HD DVD was meant to be an upgrade to DVD and is in fact approved by the DVD Forum as the true successor to DVD. It can be produced in the same DVD factory, and therefore is cheaper to manufacture, and those economies can be seen in the extremely accessible pricing. This evolution has its downside in that the amount of storage capacity of HD DVD is 30% less than that of blu-ray, though this has no real bearing on the quality of movies in the format as the space is ample enough and then some. It has nonetheless been used by blu-ray in their marketing to pound on HD DVD.

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Blu-ray was meant to be a state of the art storage technology and 21st century successor to DVD. It’s implementation of the blue laser technology allows it to store more data per layer. On paper, it would seem to be the better format, but it’s filled with drawbacks as a mass market medium and crowned inheritor of DVD. First of all, it’s expensive. If it wasn’t for the fact that Sony included a blu-ray player in every PS3 videogame system, something that has caused it to be much more expensive than competing “next generation" gaming consoles from Microsoft and Nintendo and gravely affected their sales and position in this round of the war for game console dominance, blu-ray players would not be affordable for the consumer (if you think 500 dollars/euros is “affordable"). Sony sells their PS3 at a loss, hoping to make up the money in software sales, allowing them to lower prices and therefore push their high definition format into every home that has a PS3. Second, it’s expensive to manufacture and produce. Third, it’s expensive and complicated to program for. So basically, the main drawback is that it’s expensive, but of course, once adopted by the masses, this should change, right? Well, there’s another problem.

These formats are first and foremost meant to replace DVDs for movies not personal storage and this is where the biggest differences happen. Where HD DVD set their standards early and with a solid vision for the future, blu-ray did exactly the opposite, breeding lots of problems both for producers and consumers. HD DVD players have a certain set of features from day one which blu-ray doesn’t, forcing early adopters to have to buy new players in order to utilize newer released movies and their “upgraded" features in accordance to the version of blu-ray they’re compatible with (1.0/1.1/1.2/etc.). This is terribly expensive and confusing for consumers, which is why HD DVD satisfaction amongst consumers has been much higher than with blu-ray. It also has to do with the complexities of programming the interactive features for blu-ray which uses the Java language versus HD DVDs easy to program but full featured, Microsoft created, HDi system. Simply put, HD DVDs offer a stable and consistent experience for the consumer, and blu-ray discs do not, often crashing and having scores of other idiosyncrasies. Also, because the standard continues to evolve, not all blu-ray movies offer the same quality in compression and sound, which is why earlier discs were often considered of inferior quality to HD DVD despite the formats having equal capacities in this regard.

Today though, apart from the blu-ray versioning fiasco which continues to affect blu-ray hardware (except possibly the Sony PS3), both standards offer the same high definition visuals and sound you would expect from a next generation DVD format albeit at very different price points (400 vs 125 and 30 vs 20). HD DVD should win, and yet, with the recent Warner Bros. announcement, it would seem the exact opposite is going to happen.

HD DVD is better

For the consumer HD DVD has the absolute advantage in its lower pricing, but it has some additional features which make it a better value. Because the format is a true evolution of DVD and is actually created on the same DVD disc, it has limitations as to the maximum amount of storage per layer (15GB per layer versus blu-ray’s 25GB per layer). This limitation is also it’s greatest advantage because it allows what is known as Combo discs which have an HD DVD side and a standard DVD side. You can play the HD DVD side on your HD DVD player and enjoy its amazing 1080p quality and sound while the standard DVD side can be enjoyed in the full DVD quality you’re accustomed to on any DVD player. This gives great value to the consumer by giving them the choice to view the movie in the format that’s available. This is simply not possible with blu-ray.

Another thing is the stability of the chosen interface and feature list. Consumers have been extremely satisfied with the quality and reliability of the format. Their investments are minor as the format is so economical, but they are also assured through a stable platform that is easy to understand and works perfectly from day one.

Finally, there is the fact that all HD DVDs are region free which means that no matter where in the world you purchase your disc, you’ll be able to play it on any HD DVD player. DVDs did not allow this and neither do blu-ray discs (blu-ray has simplified the region locking to a lesser number of regions but is locking nonetheless). Region locking is a movie studio tactic to make sure you pay more for your movies, be it by controlling the release of a movie in theaters and DVD or by charging more in locations that can afford it.

This last offers great value to the consumer but not to the movie studios which is why…

Blu-ray is better

Blu-ray has the clear advantage in terms of movie studio support. Not only does it have Sony’s stable of movies and those it owns from MGM and Columbia, but because of region locking and the false perception of greater piracy security, it has garnered full exclusive support from the majority of hollywood studios. Warner had been the biggest neutral holdout until January of this year, when it announced it would be blu-ray exclusive come May. It has been rumored that Warner was considering going HD DVD exclusive and the rumors include a possible half billion dollar sum to go blu-ray. True or not, the fact of the matter is that come May 2008, the only big studios exclusive to HD DVD will be Universal, Paramount, and Dreamworks (excluding Spielberg directed films). This news has caused every news outlet to report their opinion that without Warner, HD DVD is dead and blu-ray has won. It’s certainly given it an almost unfair advantage, but consumers decide wars with their wallets. This one’s not over yet.

The other main reason why blu-ray is better is the storage capacity, allowing for greater features down the line and greater use as a personal storage medium. Again, this is not really an advantage in terms of movies, but has been a main selling point as to the format. In the end, we’re talking about how one might be better for the consumer, and down the line, if adopted in PCs, more storage is better for consumers.

Why both formats suck

Both formats are not without their problems. First, to truly enjoy and see and hear the difference, you really need to invest in a lot of equipment. Perhaps you already have, but then, you have to reinvest in your movie collection as well, which is what the movie studios want. If you haven’t, you need to purchase a high definition television that can at least resolve the 720p resolution, in a size large enough to appreciate that resolution and be close enough to the screen to see the difference. For the sound you need a decent home theater system, and for the format you need the player and movie content.

Another thing is the fact that they are yet another format for you to keep track of. Is the quality over DVD really worth it? With DVD upscaling, is it worth spending the money? Should you really spend on The Beastmaster yet again? With digital distribution, are these formats relevant at all?

This last is the main question a lot of technology columnists have been asking, yet, with bandwidth limits becoming all the rage and astronomical charges for going over the limit established by your service provider, is digital distribution really practical? A lot of companies are betting on the online rental model, but it takes too long to download a movie in high definition and should your limit be exceeded, you may end up paying twice the price of the DVD to rent a film. Ownership is better. You should be able to pay and keep the movies to watch as you wish and when you wish, but again, was DVD really that bad?

DVD upscaling

There’s another development threatening the two new formats: DVD upscaling. What this means is that modern DVD players will take your “standard" definition DVD and through some beautiful hardware and software make your “standard" movie look closer to its high definition equivalent. I mean, it REALLY makes DVD look twice as amazing as it already was.

This is the real killer here as your existing collection can look twice as good with minimal investment. Here again, the price of HD DVD (at a current low of $130.00) is an advantage as the players are so cheap that you can buy them as a DVD upscaler and should the format disappear, it will have cost you pretty much the same as that modern, upscaling DVD player. DVD upscaling has, for many people, made the war irrelevant, and given DVD the life and recognition it deserved.

Has blu-ray won?

Blu-ray has won in the sense that most studios support it, but it hasn’t won in the minds of consumers. The cheapest blu-ray player, the PS3 has not sold anywhere near expectations and is currently running a distant third in the console wars. In high definition gaming, Microsoft is winning with its Xbox 360 and its amazing Xbox Live online gaming service (Nintendo has won the console wars this round overall with the innovative Wii, but its display quality is standard definition and old generation). Microsoft doesn’t include a high definition disc format out of the box so as to make the price more accessible to those who actually want to buy a game machine to play games, but they do have an HD DVD add on for the current price of $179.00 (this price will probably be much lower over the coming months).

The high definition “revolution" is expensive as it is, but blu-ray even more so. It’s not surprising considering Sony’s history. This past holiday season, it was HD DVD players flying off the shelves, not blu-ray. Of course, if there’s no content, there’s no format, which definitely gives blu-ray the advantage, but all this confusion has too many people buying neither. Also, blu-ray has to lower prices and finally standardize on a feature set to gain higher adoption levels. Already you can see scores of people dumping their early and incompatible blu-ray players on craigslist. This needs to be resolved.

HD DVD’s last stand

Toshiba has gotten extremely aggressive with their HD DVD player pricing, particularly after the Warner announcement, so it makes it worth it to pick one up for the free movies and upscaling DVD capabilities if not for the format itself. A number of big releases are still exclusive to HD DVD, including Transformers, American Gangster, The Star Trek movies and series, Shrek, The Bourne Ultimatum and scores of others, so there is still quite a bit of content you can’t get on blu-ray. Also, the region free advantage allows you to buy blu-ray “exclusives" in HD DVD format from Amazon UK and other overseas suppliers and play them in your cheap Toshiba player. This overseas format jumping has been going on from day one, utilizing the different overseas distributors and suppliers to allow release in the competing format. Region free is mandatory in some countries and should be the same across the globe. It really is an advantage for the consumer, and considering this blog is called bNowhere, it is extremely relevant here.

So go out there and celebrate blu-ray’s alleged win by getting your cheap HD DVD player. You’ll be glad you did, and be sure, you’ll come out of the store happy in your thoughts that “HD DVD is dead, long live HD DVD!"

IBM's Cell Processor on a Mac

2006-02-08T11:43:00.001-04:00

There's been a lot of news lately about Apple Computer's switch from IBM's PowerPC processor to Intel's family of processors commonly seen on Windows PCs. For years, Apple's advertising touted the PowerPC as superior to anything Intel could provide, yet, just last year, Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple, announced that they would abandon the PowerPC platform for Intel's offerings, stating that Intel's processors and their roadmap for the future was much better suited to Apple's power needs.

January of this year, the first Intel-powered Apple computers were finally available, and Mr. Jobs, in his usual, colorful manner, promoted the power of Intel's new dual core as being vastly superior to the PowerPC it was replacing. There's no question that compared to the PowerPC G4 processor offered on Apple's current notebooks, Intel's offerings are monumentally faster, but are Intel's processors superior to the 64-bit G5? Hmm. Though the new iMac computer has been used as a point of comparison, it's not necessarily a fair one, starting with the fact that this new, Intel-powered machine uses a dual core processor versus the old iMac's single core (like having two processors versus one). It also has a more powerful bus, graphics card, etc. Yet, even with all these upgraded advantages, real world tests have proven it's not quite the "twice as fast" that Apple claims, and this is looking at applications optimized to run on both systems, as PowerPC applications run unacceptably slow on this new iMac, slowing the entire system to a crawl.

Microsoft released its new Xbox 360 video game system in November of last year, abandoning the Intel processor for a shiny, new multi-core PowerPC (not unlike the multi-core G5 in PowerMacs). Nintendo will release the Nintendo Revolution video game system later this year with a PowerPC processor. Sony, which will release it's own Playstation 3 this year, has also chosen to use IBM's PowerPC, though the Playstation's will be a special, souped up version, developed in a collaboration between the two companies and Toshiba, called the Cell processor. With all the next generation video game platforms migrating to the PowerPC and Microsoft going so far as to abandon Intel for the PowerPC, are Intel's offerings as good as Apple claims on the desktop high end, particularly when compared to the 64-bit, Dual Core G5? Perhaps not.

This is an important question for all those companies, scientists, and what not, that recently abandoned the Intel platforms they were using for Apple's PowerPC servers and desktops. The current, top of the line Power Macintosh system from Apple uses two dual core, 64-bit G5 processors for a total of four processing cores. Wether or not Intel's offerings are able to match that system's power, has yet to be seen as no professional, MacOS desktop system has been announced yet, but it begs the question as to whether Apple truly made the right decision on the high end.

Mac Cell

IBM officially introduced its Cell processor products today, demonstrating some real time demos of satellite driven landscape renderings and touting the power this will give to scientists and all those on the high end of the processing spectrum. A lot of coverage was given to the applications and the capabilities that this processor would give to end users. Many had speculated in the past, particularly before Apple's Intel announcement, that the new, PowerPC/Cell driven, video game consoles could have something to offer back to Apple in terms of games or power, particularly having something like the Cell processor to compete with the Intel world. We know that's not possible anymore, but...

...during IBM's announcement, I couldn't help but notice that the Cell processor demonstration was running the MacOS! Here it was for the world to see and bask in its incredible power, and leaving the entire world of Mac users to wonder what an Apple-Cell world would have been like. Rumor has it that Apple is collaborating with Intel, leveraging their PowerPC knowledge to design a new, more powerful high-end processor that could compete with the likes of Cell. This remains to be seen as do the new professional level Macs with Intel.

Until that time, I'll continue to wonder, what a Cell driven Mac world would have been like.

iPod Video: Where's the beef?

2006-02-03T15:56:00.000-04:00

When the iPod with Video came out last year, I was one of the first to run out and buy one. I'd been wondering when they would finally include the capability, and was more than excited with the initial result. Also, there was a bonus, iTunes video content. Pixar was the first to include content in the form of their famous, Oscar-winning shorts, and of course, Apple began selling music videos as well. I couldn't wait for the moment in which TV shows and movies would begin to show up, and I didn't have to wait long as Disney and ABC quickly added content to the store. Their content was weak, but included the top 2 shows, and a couple of others. Not long after, NBC hopped on the bandwagon and it seemed like this would be the start of a boom of digital content similar to what happened with music. Not quite.

Six months later, except for a couple of exceptions, the iTunes video store is looking like a network dumping station, and a very light one at that. NBC has added such wonderful shows as: Knight Rider (which we all know will be a hit in Germany, though it's not available at the German store - more on this below), the A-Team ( "I pitty the fool" who spends money on this garbage), The Munsters, Adam-12, Dragnet (Just the facts that NBC can suck), Law and Order, etc. In essence, there's a couple of newer shows, and a bunch of old has been shows. Where's Friends? Seinfeld? Frasier? Cheers? On the positive side, they have the most shows of all. ABC may have been the first out of the gate, but it was only recently they added a couple of more shows. Their original lineup, though including Lost and Desperate Housewives, only added the already cancelled but excellent, Night Stalker (a huge disappointment if you enjoyed it because they didn't include the unaired episodes). Also, where's the WB and its famous cartoon shorts and series? And well, let's not even mention the brilliant idiots at CBS, who are not only absent from iTunes, but have recently claimed to want to distribute their content themselves (at similar prices but with viewing limits). There's one major thing that no one can complain about, at least with the iTunes content ( and particularly for Battlestar Galactica crackheads like myself - the only SciFi show included so far), and it's that the latest shows are posted the day after they air for you to purchase at $1.99 a piece (more on prices below).

You'd think that the networks would be salivating at this new source of revenue, and how it could add to their bottom line, particularly for older shows no longer in sydication. Also, it could bring to the attention of viewers less popular shows and what not. I for one am a perfect example, as I did not have a good first impression of the new Battlestar Galactica series. Everyone I know swore by it, but after watching an episode, I remained unconvinced, unconverted, and unsold on the idea of watching it again. Yet, when they put the complete mini-series and both seasons on iTunes, for a measly $2 USD I was able to give it another go. It turned out that the mini-series was so addictive, that I bought both seasons, and can't wait for the next episode to be posted every week. Also, this can push DVD sales, as iTunes video content is in an iPod compatible format and therefore subject to iPod sizing, which though looking acceptable on a television, is nowhere near the pristine, perfect quality brought by the DVD version. This means, people will pay twice for the same content, though the more saavy amongst you will read on in order to save some money.

Broadcast networks, like the MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America) and RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) before them, and all the others, are completely clueless, and in fact encourage piracy by making their content unavailable on services like iTunes, Google video, and what not. People want their content. If they will not sell it to them, people will find a way to acquire it. Later, they'll be crying about and looking to spend their dwindling fortunes on, piracy and the pursuit thereof. This could all have been prevented or at least partly thwarted.

The missing beef

In all this babbling about video and content available or unavailable at the iTunes Music Store, I have only spoken directly about the United States store, which also happens to be the ONLY store to offer Television shows. There are 21 localized iTunes stores and only ONE (the U.S. store) offers shows at all, whilst nine (including the U.S. store) offer music videos for sale along with the small group of Pixar shorts. This means that twelve offer NO video content whatsoever. If you happen to be one of the millions of iPod with video owners outside of the U.S., there's officially NO content for you. What will you do? Steal it, or convert content you own, of course. This is a major mishap, and has had me wondering where's the beef? for the rest of the world anyway.

The shows are available in other languages already, on DVD and in local broadcasts. You see them everywhere when you travel. So, why aren't they available for you to purchase at those stores? This brings me to a basic thought, and correct me if I'm wrong, but who fuels piracy? Bastardly users or mysterious and bearded pirate cartels wearing eyepatches and a parrot on their shoulder? Of course not, it's the content providers who provide NO legal means for you to fill your lovely new iPod with the content that you love.

What's in the cost of beef?

Another interesting point is the pricing of those few precious videos available outside the U.S. Their standard cost in Euros is 2,49 € per show in the few select countries in Europe that have such a priviledge. This is $2.99 USD at today's exchange rate, whereas the standard price at the U.S. store is $1.99 USD. Yes, a lot of those countries are taxed up the cahoot, but you'd think that content providers would look to be fair and equal, and try to at least reach some parity between the pricing throughout the world, particularly when we're talking about digital content. The content is already there and in the local language, so what's happening here? Part of the point being missed by these providers is the point of the internet itself, the fact that, because it's digital, you can sell it to anyone anywhere at your own personal local price. The distribution is worldwide and unlimited. Let people have it, and for $1.99, charged directly to their credit card, the exchange rate will be automatic and everyone will be happy.

Cutting the meat yourself

Sure, our need for instant gratification will have us jumping at a specific series or another, but others, we might already have on DVD or may wish to wait for. Since you'll also want to have these on your iPod, and for those who have NO digital content available for purchase, there are a number of programs that will do the conversion for you. The latest version of Quicktime allows you to convert your content to iPod format, but doesn't allow the conversion of protected content such as DVDs. In the U.S., it isn't illegal for you to back up a DVD you already own because of fair use laws, but it is illegal for software makers to provide the tools under the DMCA (Digital Millenium Copyright Act of 1998). Thanks to the global power of the internet, these tools are available from where it's actually legal to produce it. A simple search in Google for "DVD to iPod" will yield plenty of options for your favorite computer platform.

One of those available on the MacOS platform is Handbrake (free download). With a single click, you can have your DVD on your iPod in a couple of hours. There are many options available for this process, some simpler than others, some free, some not. My personal favorite on the Mac is Handbrake, but others may be better. Find one you like for your platform, and go fill your shiny new iPod with the content wasting away on your shelf, that could be better served on the road with you. (Handbrake is also available for Linux and Windows)

The final beef

Though I don't condone piracy, it's hard to condemn those who download these shows when they're not even available legally. Many studios complain that piracy is rampant in some of these countries, yet, they don't provide legal alternatives either, or price them competitively at that (99,00 € for ONE season of Star Trek). The iPod video has been out for 6 months, so, where's the content for these markets? The iTunes Music (and now video) Store has proven that people want to pay for content, so get with the program TV execs, and give us the beef we want, else our beef will be with you.

Some additional information:

Apple Computer - makers of our favorite portable player, the iPod.
DMCA - view the Digital Millenium Copyright Act in pdf (requires the free Acrobat reader)
DMCA opinion - The DMCA has many detractors. Here's one.
DMCA Overview - information on the DMCA at Wikipedia.

Pre-owned babies for sale

2006-01-25T08:32:00.003-04:00

Pro life activists have been marching once again in their annual round of protest against Roe vs. Wade and those who believe women should have a choice as to what to do with their own bodies. This time, the mood has been quite different though as Mr. Little Tree has been directly offering moral support in the form of "we will prevail" speeches and what not. With judge hALITOsis about to give America his own form of tooth decaying freshness, as his approval seems imminent, the pro lifers have been patting each other on the back over their grand victory in favor of what they now call the pre-born.

Seeing as that seems to be their new slogan, "Justice for all – Born and Pre-born," utilizing the whole pre-owned, pre-played concept, I've decided here to propose a new slogan for the Pro-choice movement to counteract this "bible toting" (and unfortunately not bible reading) gang of overzealous religious freaks led by their newborn prophet who's as Christian as Hitler was Jewish. It's "To protect the pre-born, you must buy pre-owned." With this new slogan goes a new proposition, sort of a middle ground between both camps. It’s very simple.

The pro-choicers can continue to go to their abortion clinic, but instead of having an abortion, they will inscribe in a pro-life, pre-owned baby list. This matches their pre-born baby automatically with a pro-life member, who will in turn pay for and care for the pre-born baby in question, once he or she becomes a pre-owned one, as well as a fee for the arduous task of carrying the pre-born life to term (i.e. the $10,390 adoption credit per child from your tax form plus all birth and term year costs plus an additional 40% of that for the emotional distress). This would compensate pro-choice advocates for their sacrifice, and satiate the pro-life camp's desire for pre-born babies to become pre-owned.

In considering this resolution to the problem, I forgot to consider the amount of pre-owned children that are still waiting for an owner in the U.S. and around the world. Well, all pro-life advocates must now take responsibility and put their money where their march is in this as well, by entering a matching lottery system that will match an advocate with an orphaned or homeless child ending any and all need for orphanages and homeless shelters for children. This would not only save the children, but save the nation as well, transferring the millions of dollars currently spent on this issue to a more important issue: protecting the burning bush and the incredibly "pro-life" and "Christian" message of death around the world. Their post plan slogan: "Fuck with our oil, we'll pre-kick your ass."

Final Note: If you truly want to be pro-life, be anti-war, anti-violence of any kind, anti-abuse, anti-pre-emptive strikes, etc. etc. If you truly want to stop abortion, then promote safe sex, give your kids depo-provera injections, or condoms. Educate the masses and abortions will only be necessary under circumstances such as rape and what not. Love the born more than the unborn, and more will wish to bring the children into the world instead of fearing it. Abortion should be in the hands of educated men and women, as an educated and legal decision, not as a backwoods, medieval, dangerous proposition bred of ignorance and fear. This is why it became legal, and things haven't changed any since then.

In summary, a well placed condom can save a life, so, pro-lifers, how 'bout giving them out at your next rally? :)

Xbox 360 Conspiracy Revisited

2005-12-27T05:53:00.001-04:00

According to Microsoft the Xbox 360 launch was a huge success, even though the U.S. and Europe, two regions in particular that really wanted to purchase the 360, were left without machines enough to even fill prepaid orders, and Japan, a country that couldn't care less, had more than it could ever want and then some. It had been rumored that supply would be constrained during the launch and that it was a Microsoft conspiracy to appear to have sold more than it had. It would have made sense from a certain point of view to have all stores saying they "sold" out of their 360s, appearing as an extremely successful and desirable product, but considering the holiday rush to buy one, it was more likely that they simply weren't prepared for the launch, wanting so desperately to get a jump on Sony's Playstation 3. This seems to have been proven as all throughout the holidays you simply couldn't get one, and the large video game store chains were left without product to sell, some of them fulfilling pre-orders for the 360s this month and the next.

So, considering this is well known, why am I revisiting the conspiracy? Well, a little explanation first, for those of you who have no knowledge of how the video game industry works. Video game console companies like Nintendo, Sony, and now, Microsoft lose money on every single console that is sold. That's right, they sell the consoles much cheaper than the price it takes to make them. The reason for this is that in order to lure a critical mass of gamers you have to have a very powerful and competitive console within a reasonable price range. The reason you need that critical mass is because that mass will spend all their money on buying the extremely profitable content that will play on that specific hardware (i.e. video games). The other moneymaking area is peripherals such as extra controllers, remote controls, memory cards, etc.

This new Xbox in particular is extremely expensive to manufacture, considering it has the latest and greatest next generation components within it. So, Microsoft, in order to attempt to gain the critical mass, divided the product into 2 packages: Premium and Core. Both packages include an Xbox 360, a controller (the premium having a wireless controller), and a cable to connect the box to the television, but only the Premium brings a connector that can take advantage of the 360's advanced high definition graphics (an RGB component cable). For the Core system you pay what seems like a reasonable and accepted standard price for the latest and greatest, $300 USD. The Premium system costs $100 USD more, which at first may seem like a lot, but you also get more than your money's worth in return. This is where the conspiracy begs to be revisited. The Premium system is a money loser as it comes with the much more expensive wireless controller, a 20GB hard drive, a headset to be used with the incredibly well designed and structured Xbox Live service, the RGB component connector, and an Ethernet cable to get started online right away. This compared to the Core, which only has the console, wired connector, and crappy composite TV connection. The additional components if bought separately, command an incredible "premium". The hard drive alone costs $100 USD, and is REQUIRED if you wish to play old Xbox games or use most of the best features (i.e. Xbox Live!). Be prepared to pay an additional $200 in peripherals if you bought the Core system. It seems like a no-brainer that the Premium system is the one to buy, except, there are NO Premium systems available, only Core systems.

You can actually walk into a store and purchase a Core system. In fact, they'll even have a few in stock. If you want to buy the Premium system, good luck on E-bay paying a few times the price as they are nowhere to be found. Of course, the store will happily sell you the Core with the peripherals necessary to make it a Premium system, and this is where we revisit the conspiracy theory. Considering the amount of money lost on the consoles, could Microsoft had purposefully manufactured a limited supply of Premium systems in order to force sales of the highly profitable peripherals?

In the end, it's Microsoft's battle to lose in this major screw up of a launch the second time around. You'd think that they would have learned something, but it would seem they didn't. The truth of the matter is, that splitting the console packages in two has forced developers to limit their games to the lowest common denominator and therefore will be unable to truly take advantage of the high-end features of the console. This was a very bad call. The peripherals are in extremely short supply as well, which equals lower sales overall and unhappy customers. The loyal fan base which preordered the machine got shortchanged by being un-served, undermining both themselves and the whole preorder system of many retail outlets and chains across the world. The games are nowhere to be seen with no clear "must have" title and in fact, the same titles that sell in other platforms sell at a premium for the 360. The titles don't offer a clear reason to pay $10 to $20 USD more for the exact same game. Sure, the graphics are better, but they're not a significant improvement in some games to merit the extra charge.

Sony will be launching their Playstation 3 in the spring of 2006, and all the demos have so far impressed. They seem to be poised to have a few "must have" killer apps at launch, and will include the next generation blu-ray DVD reader, which will allow you to view all the High Definition DVDs that will be coming out in that format throughout the coming years. Considering their overwhelming dominance of the market, it will certainly be difficult to beat this wonderful, next-generation hardware. Let's see if Microsoft's head start, despite their mistakes along the way, helps them reach an even greater foothold than the last round. We must also not count out Nintendo's revolutionary new console, the Nintendo Revolution, which will bring back all the games of old from their immense library of classics as well as some next-generation beauties.

For those of you wanting a 360, buy the Premium system, and for those looking for games to play on it, look for the only available titles for the cutting edge. Otherwise, steer clear and look for the original Xbox format as your new machine is backwards compatible, thanks to your Premium system's hard drive (required). Enjoy.

For more information:

Core vs Premium comparison - Microsoft Xbox Official Site
Backwards Compatible Game List - Official list of original Xbox games that work on the new Xbox 360 (hard drive required).
Sony Playstation - Official Site
Gamespot - Everything you wanted to know about consoles, video games, reviews, etc. Click on the link to read about the upcoming consoles as well.

Where does one belong?

2005-10-16T02:11:00.001-04:00

Continuing the random trend, and once again digging into the recent past for something free from previous engagements, here is my rage against duality and status. I hope you like it:

Where does one belong?

It used to be education meant respect
Now it means the promise of a paycheck
and it don't even give that
What's Harvard to a bum
What's an intellectual in a slum

College is just a football team
when your high school and the airport
share the same entrance exams

For what are perfect table manners
when your table's at McDonalds
and your meal but fries and a coke

What's knowledge of the classics
or having great retort
when incomprehensible you are
to those who are your cohorts

What is getting up to greet a lady
when your table's standing up
eating a hot dog at the Stop n Go

A kid downstairs clicks away
over and over at a staple
Does that not define society
Has it not become its staple
A sedated monologue of clicks
without a thought
with thoughtless plight

What's my pain but that of me
What's my pain that I can't see
where social education has gone
where self respect is done
and I the homeless Harvard
everyplace but awkward
nowhere to belong

----

Once again, let me know what it means to you. :)