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February 2008
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Up In The AIR Comments Comment

February 29th, 2008 ,

Adobe AIR 1.0 just launched. AIR is a machinery you outfit your computer with, in order to install and run web applications, without the browser. I predict it’ll be a massive success, once one or two killer apps emerge. One such killer app could be Google Docs.

Hillary Clinton Is Your New HD-DVD Player Comments 5 Comments

February 29th, 2008

Apparently, Hillary Clinton seems to be going the way of the HD-DVD. To the annals of history, that is. Does that make you sad?

Love For Last.fm Radio Comments 10 Comments

February 18th, 2008

It’s been a while since Last.fm launched user-generated radio stations, and it’s certainly been with way too little fanfare. For various reasons I felt compelled to listen to my own Last.fm radio yesterday, and what a great idea that was. As it turns out, I no longer have use for my mp3 collection. I can be my own DJ, wherever I go. Oh, and I can be your DJ too; have a listen to my radio station.

HD-DVD Closes Up Shop [Update] Comments 3 Comments

February 16th, 2008

It seems Toshiba, manufacturer of HD-DVD is ready to concede defeat to Sonys Bluray HD format. Having experienced neither format, I can’t say which is better, but it’s nice to know which type of player not to buy. Now we can look forward to Bourne on Bluray, and in time I’m sure, Star Wars and Indy.

Update: Now official.

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Flash And Quicktime: Not Sitting In A Tree Comments 4 Comments

February 13th, 2008 , , ,

In a recent piece, News Flash: No Flash, John Gruber writes that he finds it unlikely for Flash to appear on the iPhone any time soon. He’s right, as usual, but he’s got a few details wrong.

The single most popular thing people use Flash for is to watch YouTube videos, which you can already watch a subset of using the native Mobile OS X YouTube app. In short, is the lack of Flash keeping people from buying iPhones and iPod Touches?

Right, but wrong. Video is great, but the coming battle won’t be about video. I dare predict that Apple has a dirty secret in their pocket, a secret that’s ready to explode. A secret that’ll bring them head to head (more so) with Adobe, Microsoft and Mozilla. Possibly even Sony and Nintendo.

Firefox 3 Beta 3 Comments 6 Comments

February 13th, 2008 , ,

Arstechnica previews the most recent Firefox 3 Beta 3. A lot of polished edges, including the first taste of the new Firefox branding, the “back / forward” keyhole design — which I honestly think requires a bit of polish. That said, the thing is shaping up quite impressively. The builds I’ve tried are fast again, and Firefox 3 looks like a winner, overall. Mac users will be thrilled to know that Firefox now supports native widgets — a feat they said couldn’t be done, even though Camino did it.

Lost vs. The WGA [Update] Comments 8 Comments

February 12th, 2008

In a strike update report, we’re told that we only have 6 more episodes of Lost this season, but that 6 more could possibly be recorded before the end of the season. That’s a total of 14 of the promised 16 episodes. Considering Lost is fast becoming the best thing on TV ever, I find this quite disturbing. I, for one, would have loved a season cliffhanger mindfuck like that of season 3.

Update: The Lostpedia blog has an update. The good news is that we’ll get the same amount of episodes (48) for season 4, 5 and 6. The bad news is that they’ll be scrambled, so that season 4 will only be a total of 13 of the 16 episodes we were promised. Now let’s just hope they can muster up some good writing for those episodes.

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Widundancy Comments 3 Comments

February 7th, 2008 ,

Not so long ago, I gave a scathing review of the Citizendium, Wikipedia-co-founder Larry Sangers expert-guided alternative. I still don’t believe in the project, but I’ve given quite a bit of thought as to why I don’t believe in it.

I love Wikipedia. Everything about it, even how Wikipedia refuses to censor images of Muhammed in the face of very angry people. I genuinely believe that with the Wikipedia, we have a shot at bringing enlightenment to the world in a sweeping, world-changing way. In fact, I love Wikipedia so much that whenever someone tries to challenge the project, I’m immediately skeptical and negative towards the would-be usurpers. Then again, I occasionally visit both Wookieepedia and Memory Alpha, the Star Wars and Star Trek wikis. There simply exists content that doesn’t fit into an encyclopedia, content that instead fits into either of the aforementioned wikis instead. Irony. Flip-flopping. Hypocrisy. I should know better.

Cloverfield Mini-Review Comments 7 Comments

February 4th, 2008 , ,

Reviews are spoilerfree but beware of comments.

Cloverfield is the codename for a Manhattan event, documented using handheld camera by 5 young New Yorkers throwing a going-away party the night a monster attacks the city.

Essentially that sums up the entire movie. That’s both good and bad, mostly good. The handheld feel and the fact that we don’t see the monster in anything but short flashes, works really well, almost as well as it did with Alien. Despite the premise of the film, the plot is actually somewhat believable, which is impressive considering it’s a monster-flick.

Cloverfield works on many levels, and it’s definately worth 5 stars. To have earned the sixth star, however, I would personally have wanted a more fleshed-out and detailed ending, possibly one that wasn’t so predictable.