Caution: Rogue Robots

Me and Christine treated ourselves to a movie this weekend by watching Pixar's latest release titled "WALL•E". The movie is unlike anything we've ever seen (Pixar just can't seem to make a bad movie), the digital eye candy is top-notch of course, but it is the silent movie feel that ironically catches your attention (I was amazed to observe all the kids in the theater quietly entranced trying to absorb the storyline). Three-fourths of the entire film was devoid of dialogue (save for some robotic bleeps here and there) yet still managing to convey a full range of emotions through skillful character animation, a risky yet brilliant storytelling on Pixar's behalf. I won't go into details and spoil the plot, so go do yourself a favor and watch it. And as if the feature flick isn't enough, there's also a Pixar short film called "Presto" that's sure to keep you laughing all the way to the ending credits!

posted at 11:04 PM |  |

 Dusty Road

There it was, collecting dust like some old discarded furniture despite the fact that it's still fully functional given the opportunity. I'm talking about my white Tama Rockstar drum kit here, which, due to lack of space has now been relegated to the confines of our living room closet (usually reserved for coats, shoes and missing people caught wandering our front lawn). Back in the days, this trap set has seen some major action in the form of small gigs, impromptu garage jam sessions, (and mostly) playalongs to whatever music was being blared out on the radio (playing the drums was my after-work stress therapy). But, ever since moving to a place of our own in Vegas with limited square footage (compared to my folk's house in California) and with shared walls, it was just not possible for any in-house playtime without the neighbors banging on our door to tell me to keep it down. There's just no way that I'm going to play drums and "keep it on the down low" at the same time, it's like inviting Jim Carey to a party and then telling him to be quiet and sit still in a corner! This weekend though, an opportunity might arise for some drum thrashing at my in-law's garage. I do miss playing a lot, and sometimes when a good song comes along, I can't help but look at my kit and wish I was pounding on it instead of dusting it off. Damn, we really need to get a bigger house!

posted at 12:13 PM |  |

 Sleeping Beauty

As I lazily got up to get ready for work, I did my usual morning routine of slapping the iPhone's alarm to shut up before leaning over to kiss my wife on the cheek. I don't know if it was the serene way she looked while she snuggled up against her pillow or maybe the deep recess of her dimples appearing as she sleepily smiled to acknowledge my affections -- whatever it was, I just suddenly felt happy that she was there. Suddenly, my day just got brighter...

posted at 8:31 AM |  |

 Need I Say More?

Download Day starts at 10:00 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time (Tuesday, June 17th).

The site is back up again after being slammed for a while. Hopefully, the Firefox 3 website can sustain the reported 13 Gigabits per second download rate it's going. Additionally, you can show the world that you helped set a Guinness World Record with your own personalized Firefox 3 Download Day certificate.

posted at 12:01 AM |  |

 Unilateral

Right on the heels of their recently announced new product releases, my current fave graphics card brand (by fabless GPU developer NVIDIA) garners additional media attention, albeit in less favorable light, by being exposed as attempting to control pricing that is advertised to consumers. This could only mean that wherever you shop, prices will be the same. No more sale discrepancies between competing retailers, and more alarmingly, no more low-ball pricing deals from places such as NewEgg.com. It's not like it really affects my Mac purchase, but who does NVIDIA think they are? Apple?

posted at 4:41 PM |  |

 Bittersweet

Okay, I'll be the first to admit that being an early adopter to any tech gizmo has it's drawbacks: the second version of whatever it is you got is always better, it is always cheaper, and it is always just around the corner as soon as you walk out the store. In fact, here at work, my cowerks labels us early adopters as "beta testers". Sad but true. But what makes us do it, what makes us jump ahead into the pool when no one else has is because we are passionate about the gadget we patronize. We want that first hand experience and couldn't wait for a second iteration of any product before we can revel in it. We want it, and we want it now!

But alas, I also have my limitations despite being labeled as Apple's bitch. And this rings so true for the iPhone, the second version of the iPhone to be precise (recently introduced at the 2008 WWDC in case you were hiding under a rock and didn't know — ha!). Apple had a very open window to hit the sweetspot with this second coming of what the media has labeled the Jezus Phone. Instead, Apple chose to play with our emotions and milk our pockets by producing a half-hearted update instead of an all out revision: NO video recording capabilities, still? NO bluetooth headset playability (A2DP), still? And no 32GB model, still? WTH? I'm not going into details regarding the misses, but Gizmodo parodies my gripes with the 3G iPhone succinctly.

So is the 3G iPhone a good product? Of course! Is it worth getting as an upgrade for current 1st-gen iPhone owners such as myself? Well, your answers may vary, but mine is a resounding no. I'm choosing to hold off on this one until Apple gets the specs I've always wanted out and into whatever next-gen version they have up their sleeve and whenever that is (but please, don't hold my word on it, I am only human after all). In the mean time, I will content myself with the pending software update that's due out this July. That should tide me over until Apple introduces the real iPhone upgrade by Christmas season. Maybe.

Man, this is going to be a long wait.

UPDATE: Another solid reason why I may skip the 3G upgrade path.

posted at 7:48 AM |  |

 New Adium?

Just a few minutes ago, I was prompted by Adium X (installed on the Mac Mini running Leopard) to update. After the script ran itself, Adium was now up to version 1.3b2. So assuming it was a general update, I proceeded to click the 'Check for Updates' menu on the copy installed on another Mac, my MacBook Pro. The process yielded zero results — no updates available, and it says that my current version (v1.2.5) was up-to-date. Adium's own home page makes no mention of this update as well and is still listing v.1.2.5 as the most current version. What gives? Was this a slip up or a random update seeded to just a few people at a time to avoid server traffic problems? If anyone else got this update and knows what has been changed, please clue me in.


(Screenshot taken after install)

UPDATE (to an update): Nevermind my excitement about this 'find', I was just informed that it was a recent beta release. Apparently the copy I had on the Mini had the "Update to beta versions when available" option enabled which explains why I received the notification. And here I was thinking I'm special or something. Bah.

posted at 9:14 AM |  |

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