Archive for September, 2006

Big Apple Announcement Today At 1PM EST

// September 12th, 2006 // 4 Comments » // My Stuff, Technology Bits

I love big Apple announcement days! All the predictions and conjecture are often more entertaining than whatever they announce. We know that Jobs is announcing the new movie plan he has negotiated, including two price points at $9.99 and $14.99. Possible additional contenders to be announced today include:
– iTunes version 7
– airVideo (airTunes equivalent for video)
– new bigger screen iPods
– a Mac Media (similar to media PCs)

Personally, I think we’ll get the first two. A new iTunes version seems natural to go with the delivery of movies. Jobs has also talked extensively about how people are not going to watch feature length movies on tiny iPod screens. This is why I think an “airVideo” would enable playing video on your regular TV, thus accomplishing the goal of putting downloadable video content on a bigger screen.

A new series of iPods seems a bit odd to me. People are still happy with the current ones and if a bigger screen means a bigger form factor, most people won’t be impressed. Other options seem more approopriate right now.

A Mac for your entertainment center has always seemed natural since the initial release of the Mac Minis. Apple has repeatedly been surrounded with rumors related to this, but they have never been true. This has always been a long shot, I don’t think the odds have changed. Especially since they retooled the Mac Minis for Intel Core Duo so recently…

Whatever happens, I’m sure Apple will have new fun toys to covet!

apple, steve jobs, ipod, mac media, airvideo, intel, core duo, mac, itunes, digital movies

Sweet LEGO Rubber Band Chain Gun

// September 11th, 2006 // No Comments » // My Stuff


8 barrels, a 64 shot capacity, and an eleven rounds per second firing rate. This is the most amazing rubber band gun I’ve ever seen! The awesomeness factor is even more accentuated because it is made entirely of LEGOs. A DIY dream!

LEGO, video, diy, chain gun, gun, rubberband, rubber band, gum band

DOA: Dead or Alive Movie

// September 7th, 2006 // 1 Comment » // My Stuff

I love movies where girls rip out and kick butt! There is something intrinsically wonderful about female action heroes. Honestly I had not even considered DOA: Dead or Alive as being a movie I was remotely interested in… until I saw this video clip, aptly titled “How to put on a bra”:


How To Put On A Bra 101 – video powered by Metacafe

This of course prompted me to seek out the full trailer:

This is so flippin’ sweet! In general movies based off video games stink. I understand, trust me. This does look like a ton of fun though. It also includes a bunch of relatively unknown actresses who I really like, including: Devon Aoki (Miho from Sin City), Jaime Pressly (Joy from My Name is Earl), and Sarah Carter (Alicia from Smallville).

I hope somewhere local actually gets this movie. As of right now, the release date is slated as today, but I can’t find anywhere within a 100 miles that is listing it…

dead or alive, doa, movie, techmo, trailer, video, video game, bra, heroine, action, My Name is Earl, Devon Aoki, Jaime Pressly, Sarah Carter, Smallville, sin city

Ridiculous 911 Call: Lady Wants Burger Done Right

// September 6th, 2006 // 6 Comments » // My Stuff

The title says it all, here is an emergency dispatch call where a lady argues that the police need to come down and straighten out Burger King. Apparently they were not making the burger she wanted… Wow.

Dispatcher: Sheriff’s department, how can I help you?

Woman: Yeah, I’m over here . . . I’m over here at Burger King right here in San Clemente.*

Dispatcher: Uh-huh.

Woman: Um, no, not San Clemente; I’m sorry, I live in San Clemente. I’m in Laguna Niguel, I think, that’s where I’m at.

Dispatcher: Uh-huh.

Woman: I’m at a drive-through right now.

Dispatcher: Uh-huh.

Woman: I went . . . I ordered my food three times. They’re mopping the floor inside, and I understand they’re busy . . . they’re not even busy, okay, I’ve been the only car here. I asked them four different times to make me a Western Barbeque Burger. Okay, they keep giving me a hamburger with lettuce, tomato, and cheese, onions, and I said, “I’m not leaving . . .”

Dispatcher: Uh-huh.

Woman: I want a Western Burger because I just got my kids from Tae Kwon Do, they’re hungry, I’m on my way home, and I live in San Clemente.

Dispatcher: Uh-huh.

Woman: Okay . . . she said, she gave me another hamburger; it’s wrong. I said four times, I said, “I want it to go. Can you go out and park in front?” I said, “No, I want my hamburger right.” So then the . . . the lady came to the manager. She . . . well whoever she is, she came up and she said, um, she said, um, “Do you want your money back?” And I said, “No, I want my hamburger. My kids are hungry and I have to jump on that toll freeway.” I said, “I am not leaving this spot,” and I said, “I will call the police,” because I want my Western Burger done right! Now is that so hard?

Dispatcher: Okay, what exactly is it you want us to do for you?

Woman: I . . . send an officer down here. I . . . I want them to make me . . .

Dispatcher: Ma’am, we’re not gonna go down there and enforce your Western Bacon Cheeseburger.

Woman: What am I supposed to do?

Dispatcher: This is . . . this is between you and the manager. We’re not gonna go and enforce how to make a hamburger; that’s not a criminal issue. There’s . . . there’s nothing criminal there.

Woman: So I just stand here . . . so I just sit here and [block]?

Dispatcher: You . . . you need to calmly and rationally speak to the manager and figure out what to do between you.

Woman: She did come up, and I said, “Can I please have my Western Burger?” She . . . she said, “I’m not dealing with it,” and she walked away. Because they’re mopping the floor, and it’s also the fact that they don’t want to . . . they don’t want to go through there . . . and . . . and . . .

Dispatcher: Ma’am, then I suggest you get your money back and go somewhere else. This is . . . this is not a criminal issue. We can’t go out there and make them make you a cheeseburger the way you want it.

Woman: Well . . . that is . . . that . . . you’re supposed to be here to protect me.

Dispatcher: Well, what are we protecting you from, a wrong cheeseburger?

Woman: No . . .

Dispatcher: Is this like . . . is this a harmful cheeseburger or something? I don’t understand what you want us to do.

Woman: Just come down here. I’m not . . . I’m not leaving.

Dispatcher: No ma’am, I’m not sending the deputies down there over a cheeseburger. You need to go in there and act like an adult and either get your money back or go home.

Woman: She is not acting like an adult herself! I’m sitting here in my car; I just want them to make my kids a . . . a Western Burger.

Dispatcher: Ma’am, this is what I suggest: I suggest you get your money back from the manager and you go on your way home.

Woman: Okay.

Dispatcher: Okay? Bye-bye.

911, audio, burger king, call, crazy woman, dispatch, funny, humor

Warcraft 3 No CD Hack

// September 5th, 2006 // 147 Comments » // My Stuff

If you are anything like me, you bought Warcraft 3 many years ago and are completely fed up with having to have the CDs with you when you want to play, where you want to play. A group of friends and I play DotA every Thursday night, each of us has purchased at least one copy of the game, but we are lucky if more than one person remembers to bring their CDs. We then spend a great deal of time passing around a CD to (re)spawn games. I will suffer with this no more!

ElliotBack.com provides instructions and the hack download on his site. It appears he has been keeping up with patch versions, currently we are at 1.20e. This is an easy install and a must do for anyone playing Warcraft regularly. It works perfectly with both the original game and The Frozen Throne. There are no known problems running this on Battle.Net.

Update: On the 13th Blizzard fixed some things on BNet to prevent some some crappy script hacks. As a (intentional?) side effect the no cd crack was busted. However the brilliant Vadoff came up with a new solution. The hack is a bit more complicated and the site that hosts the download is crappy. Anyway, here’s the new one. Be sure to read the readme file.

blizzard, dota, frozen throne, hack, no cd, no-cd, nocd, warcraft, warcraft 3

Wii Kiosk Revealed

// September 5th, 2006 // No Comments » // My Stuff

Nintendo Wii KioskImages of the upcoming Wii and PS3 kiosks were sent to GameStop/EBGames this week. I’ve omitted the image of the PS3 because frankly, I just don’t care…

Anyway… I was surprised to see they chose a 4:3 ratio for the display. Widescreen (16:9) seems to be more hip, current, and appropriate. Also, where is the nun-chuk piece? It looks as though they are only putting the wand or wii-mote portion on the kiosks? Otherwise I like the Apple-like white coloring as well as the overall feel of the these kiosks.

Rumor has it these will start showing up in stores sometime from mid to late October. I can’t wait to get my hands on one of these things! I can definitely see myself making a road trip to wherever the first place within 100 miles is that I can play one.

On that note, expect lots of Wii news around September 14th. Nintendo has invited all kinds of industry insiders to a big event in NYC which promises hands on contact with the Wii. Along with that there have been many speculations that this event could also be when they announce price, release date, or both!

kiosk, nintendo, ps3, wii

Feedback Wins; Comic and Movie Coming Soon!

// September 3rd, 2006 // 6 Comments » // My Stuff

FeedbackFeedback (aka Matthew Atherton) won this past week on Who Wants To Be A Superhero?. I had originally thought this reality TV show was going to be laughably terrible, but in the end I found it to be quite endearing.

In the end, Feedback certainly would have been my choice as well. He was a good person with honest interest in superhero’s ad well as the character traits that make a good superhero or good person. His boyish excitement about each and every step and challenge during the show was fun to watch. Major Victory was a close second in my book, but I was not excited to have Fat Momma as my next Stan Lee authored comic adventure.

I’m surprised to find myself looking forward to another season of this show. In the meantime I’ll be watching for both the Feedback comic from Dark Horse and the Sci-Fi Network movie.

character, comic, comic book, comics, dark horse, feedback, Matthew Atherton, movie, scifi, superhero stan lee

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