Recent Comments:
Nintendo DS web browser comes to America {Engadget}
Jun 11th 2007 4:01PM I was able to get into gmail with no trouble. My chief complaint is the lack of copy/paste - I'd like to send myself url's (which i might be able to do, i haven't RTFM) and paste text into my gmail, which I also haven't figured out how to do. Maybe I want to do that more on the DS than I do my phone because of the stylus support, but that was one of my very first impressions - hey, how do I select text here?
iriver clix gen 2 unboxing and hands-on {Engadget}
Apr 30th 2007 2:24PM Actually, you're misinformed. AAC isn't an Apple codec. Its owned by the same folks that own MP3. AAC stands for "Advanced Audio Codec" and is really just "MP4." Apple just happened to pick it because it was better than MP3 and available under a similar license.
Digital FAIR USE bill introduced to amend DMCA {Engadget}
Feb 28th 2007 3:57PM I've met Boucher and he is knowledgable on the subject of DRM and committed to doing the right thing for consumers. He's been at this for a while now.
Real Simple's frozen pizza picks {Slashfood}
Sep 7th 2006 6:40PM Our local Whole Foods carries American Flatbread. I used to hate frozen pizza, but now I keep a couple of the AF's around and eat one every now and then. The small one makes two good size servings.
Lenovo teams up with Novell for new, pricey Linux ThinkPads {Engadget}
Aug 17th 2006 2:12PM These are very inexpensive in comparison to the Sun laptops or the old RS/6000 thinkpads IBM used to sell. I bet they will clean up in the small markets that have been traditionally served by very dull, very expensive unix portables. The Novell suite is pretty user friendly and if IBM is going to make sure I get a good overall Linux experience (no searching for device drivers, for instance) then maybe they deserve to charge a premium for it. All in all I feel sure IBM/Lenovo knows more about who wants these and how much they will pay than we do. I'm pretty glad there is a good, well-supported alternative to Windows being offered/supported by IBM. The more viable this option becomes, the better off we will all be down the road.
TomTom ONE makes its way to North America {Engadget}
Aug 17th 2006 2:04PM The user experience is very good on the Tom-Tom. I feel sure that this is why they are slightly more expensive. Tom-Tom used to make mapping software for pocketpc, but I haven't seen it in a while.
You cannot take your built-in GPS on your bike or on a walk, but the tom-tom works well for both of those things, as well as in the car.
Engadget's Cleaning Out Our Closet Contest {Engadget}
Aug 16th 2006 5:04PM Orange SPV e200
My previous job included a lot of Windows Mobile development and I still have some neat ideas for the platform. I'd like to continue my development, but don't want to carry a PDA and can't find a smartphone I can afford. If I get the phone, I pledge to make you want it back by writing a cool app for smartphone and releasing it for free!
The Movie Business Challenge {Blog Maverick}
Jul 28th 2006 6:23PM Sell the people less and the advertisers more. That doesn't mean more ads, but better use of the ad time you have. There's been a paradigm shift. People go looking for content now. They surf the web, they watch tv, they read all kinds of stuff about the movies long before the movie surfaces. They make more informed decisions than they did when friday nights were "go to the movies" night. The studio will sell the movie, you need to position yourself as the best location to consume. The real focus of your dollars should be on making your location the best location to screen a movie. I don't think you have to go crazy on ammenities, but making the movies something to experience is important. Here are a few ideas: 1. Start sizing screens. Put the blockbusters on larger-than-life screens. Put some films you wouldn't otherwise show in a smaller space with a smaller screen. Make the movies look better than hdtv. This is expensive and won't happen overnight, but consider it. I occasionally drive 3 hours to go see movies at an antique movie house that has one enormous viewing area with a balcony, and the screen there is gigantic. I also drive about an hour to see art-house films in a tiny theatre, because its the only way I'll see them on any sort of big screen at all. 2. Pay the employees a little more, or hire an extra person or two, whatever it takes to keep the theatre clean and the interactions polite. This is such an obvious problem that has gone on for so long that it is particularly offensive and nearly everyone I ask tells me this is why they don't go to the movies. The ad revenue is a large part of the big picture now, or so it seems. Use the time before the film more wisely. Don't advertise your theatre chain or tell people they need a beverage. That ship has sailed and you're wasting everyone's time. Don't run slide-show ads before the show, or at least make them look like they are from this century. The slide shows for local businesses are just pathetic. If you need the ad revenue that badly, try talking to the studios. Most people (and most studios) would rather see an additional trailer than the slide show. If the studio isn't paying well for trailers, drop them altogether (or threaten to) and consider 5 minutes of nothing but ads, but choose them wisely. BMW has commissioned some short films advertising their products; why is everyone showing 30-second coke and playstation ads? Reinvent the short as an ad, and get some people together to build some. We had a new theatre open recently that had a large, pleasant crew and didn't show ads before the films, and I've told everyone I know over the last month or so that its safe to go back to the movies. It makes a big difference. I often feel like the people running the majority of theatres must really hate the movies.
