Friday, May 28, 2010

UFC 114: Rampage pities the fool... err... Rashad

I do hope Rampage wins. I like Rashad too but he needs some humbling.

Bisping... bleh.

Diego should just move up to heavyweight... he can't seem to win in any weight class.

Hopefully little Nogs can do better than his brother.

This is going to be a good one.

UPDATE (results):

- Gah.... Rashad wins when Rampage could have had it in round 3.
- Bisping bores me
- Little Nogs should have lost.
- Duffey surprisingly KO's Ivan Drago when he was a hitting his fist with his face most of the fight.
- Diego needs to change weight classes again? Heh.

TV: Weekly Musings

I missed my Tuesday update but most of the shows have ended, the big one being Lost.

Lost: The Tuesday show was looking good but I could tell they were running out of time to answer some of the major questions. I have two other posts about the finale and while it was emotionally satisfying, I wasn't really too happy with how they ended it. I've seen some people post alternate endings which were way better and explained the mythology a bit more.

Idol: As predicted (well... not very hard), Casey went... and even though Crystal did much better on the performance night, Lee Dewyze is the American Idol. Fox is going to have to change up the formula, with Simon gone and ratings taking a hit... how much longer can AI last?

Flash Forward: Is Benford dumb or smart? I can't tell sometimes. And he's given up on Olivia in like a few weeks? Boo... but she already gave up on him (although last week's episode looked hopeful... the previews shows she's back in the arms of Lloyd). Maybe they are all in purgatory... they should do it since they are cancelled anyways. Or make Campos and Olivia "wake up" with flashbacks of Lost (that would be awesome).

Fringe: Isn't this like the 2nd time Fringe used the "shell game" on us? I like Fauxlivia better and since she thinks her and Peter are couple... it's going to be interesting. But how long can it last? So Walter is his "own worst enemy" now (I wish they gave that show a proper ending).

Stargate Universe: Gah! LaBamba is back... and he's a traitor too. I never liked that character and so his heel turn really doesn't surprise me. I find it interesting they use McGuyver as comedic relief.

The Ultimate Fighter: Nick Ring is done. Noke should not have lost to McCray. At least Tavares makes it in and I think Tito has some apologizing to do once he reviews the replays of the headkick.

I watched an episode of Burn Notice and I might add that to my list once the season starts next month. Warehouse 13 is also starting and any other summer shows I think are interesting I'll add here too. But nothing can fill the void that Lost left... wah.

Monday, May 24, 2010

Lost Finale: Redemption?

So the side-verse was something like a "purgatory" or a place to resolve any regrets after you died and before you moved on (to the light or wherever). So what exactly was each character's redemption (in no particular order)?

1. Jack:
- Being able to save Locke. Because he didn't believe before and Locke died.
- Being able to have a replacement father/son relationship to make up for the one he had with his father?
- To have an amicable marriage despite a divorce with someone he had a relationship with prior (Juliet).

Sunday, May 23, 2010

Lost Finale Predictions: Jack's sac... rifice.

Before it gets underway, I want to get it on record that I think Jack will either have to be on the island alone or sacrifice his life to make sure everyone else gets to live theirs.

Also:

- Richard is not dead and will have a hand in stopping Smocke.
- Ben Linus will help, probably sacrificing himself too.
- Miles will have some pivotal role.

Will we see Walt, Aaron or Juliet in the finale?

I'll be back to recap but not until 6 straight hours of Lost (Red Carpet, Series Summary, Series Finale, Jimmy Kimmel Wrap-up).

Friday, May 21, 2010

Pacman is old (which means I am too)!

Pacman turns 30 and Google celebrates that with their front page and fully playable game (www.google.com):

This may be dating me but Pacman was a big obsession for me. I played it all the time in the arcades, bought the first Atari 2600 version of it (which was AWFUL), a stand-alone mini arcade version of it (also bad) and even my parents got Pacman fever when I got the Atari 1200XL version (which was exactly like the arcade). They would even be up late at night playing it while I was trying to get some sleep.

Thursday, May 20, 2010

Fake iD/iPhone

I love FoxTrot. I think Bill Amend is a ninja nerd. Only a few more weeks until we find out if the leaks were real or not.


 (FoxTrot 05/16/2010 Sunday Comic)

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

TV: Weekly Musings

Lost: Historical mythology episode! Great... more answers... but more questions too. The one thing that I'm wondering about is the true identity of Smokey. We always knew he was the Man in Black... but now... is the Man in Black really Jacob's brother or just using his identity like he now uses Locke's. I'm not sure he is actually the MIB... but just accesses his memories like he did with Locke. Jacob doesn't seem to treat him like his brother in all the other flashbacks and his brother never wanted to kill him.

Idol: Big Mike goes... which is a shame because he seems like a more current Ruben Studdard. He's got more range at least. This week... probably Casey... Dewyze and Crystal have to be top 2.

Flash Forward: The double-agent gig is over. Is it just me or did they catch the "Big Guy" way to easily? We just get introduced to him and *bam* Benford is throwing on the cuffs. Bah... sometimes this show goes too fast... sometimes too slow. And Demitri... Janice is not into guys... give it up already.

Fringe: Great episode... although cheesy Deus Ex Machina with the Children of the Corn-err-Cortexiphan. Seems like Walternate really doesn't care about Peter... he just wants to make the Big Boom Boom machine work. They should have used Mark Valley as the BF for Altlivia... would have been more impactful.

Stargate Universe: Psychological dysfunction episode. So now we know what some of the characters phobias are. Let's get back to new worlds and alien chasing!

The Ultimate Fighter: Leonidus loses but at least he's not a pushover like they thought. So this week Nick Ring is probably going to be out due to that knee problem... they should have another wildcard fight for his spot.

Thursday, May 13, 2010

Apple vs. Adobe: FIGHT!

So as most people know, the iPhone and the iPad will not support Flash. Steve Jobs has gone on record saying that Apple will not support Flash due to issues such as battery drain, bugs, etc:

http://www.apple.com/hotnews/thoughts-on-flash/

Adobe, of course, doesn't agree. They've even launched their own campaign which I found in our local newspaper as a full page ad starting with "We [heart] Apple". You can see that ad at C|Net:

http://news.cnet.com/8301-30685_3-20004884-264.html

But can you really blame Apple? Flash is not just a video streaming player, it allows you to play games or run apps on the web. Now, what is tagline for the iPhone? "We have an app for that." If you can get applications without having to go through the Apple App Store... you disrupt a major revenue (and ad) stream for Apple. It really has nothing to do with technology or performance... it just comes down to controlling what apps run where. So yes, it has something to do with "open". And mark my words, Jobs says they will be supporting HTML5 but if HTML5 gets to the point where it can run apps like Flash... I'm sure he'll issue his thoughts on that too.

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Another day, another iPhone leak

As reported by Engadget, it looks like TaoViet (is that Vietnamese for 'Gizmodo'?) found an iPhone prototype at a pho bar (I'm kidding about the last part):

http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/12/fourth-generation-iphone-teardown-reveals-a4-microprocessor/

It looks very similar to the Gizmodo prototype so this may be the actual phone that will be coming out in June/July.

Personally, I like the bevel form factor and this may actually get me on the iPhone bandwagon. While I prefer WebOS, there are only 2 phones to choose from (at least until HP can start cranking out more) and I eventually want to get an Android (although I wish the upcoming Sprint EVO 4G had an optical trackpad)... the iPhone is just too widespread to ignore. I just wish they would enable data tethering in the US (which would probably cripple AT&T even more). In just over 2 weeks... we'll see what's going to happen.

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

UFC 113: Shogun > Karate, Daley is a punk, Kimbo sliced.

Is the 205lb title the hardest to keep? Since Chuck had it in 2007, no other fighter has been able to defend it more than once and we've had 5 different champs since then.

Maybe the Spider should move up if he's so bored with the Middleweight field.

Good fight and a definitive winner... Shogun has proven that he's finally adjusted to the UFC after his rocky start.

Paul Daley? Like Ref Miragliotta said... "You've got to be kidding me". What the heck was he thinking? "Oh... I'll just pop him one and have some tea later?" (use a British accent). He may find himself back in the UFC despite Dana's comments... there is no such thing as never... and you have to admit... a Koscheck/Daley II would be a big card (if Koscheck can beat GSP... which is doubtful).

Looks like Kimbo will have to go back to YouTube. Or probably Strikeforce. I still think he's a good draw for MMA but if Meathead can handle him like he did last Saturday... he still has a way to go. He had nice takedowns but his ground defense is horrible. I don't know how many times I've seen him just sit there and get hit... Big Country knew what he was doing.

Can't wait to see Rampage/Evans... maybe they should have moved the fight back a week or two so it can coincide with the release of 'The A-Team'.. heh. Rampage should sport the mohawk for this fight. I hope he wins because although I like Evans... I like Rampage more.

TV: Weekly Musings

Lost: Didn't we all know that Smocke wanted to kill them all along? That's what he told Jacob. Not liking how the Jin/Sun death ended without a mention of their daughter. There has to be some long con going on with Smocke and Widmore (how did he know he would need the watch?). This week we will be getting some background mythology!

Idol: Sorry... not really a fan of the Sinatra week. Aaron goes and this week it's gotta be Casey or Mike... the top two has to be Dewyze and Bowersox.

Flash Forward: Not much movement this week other than Sophia is a cheating... uh... woman. And Mark doesn't seem to notice or mind. Shouldn't there have been some security to disallow the ring from leaving the building?

Fringe: So we finally find out what we've all been thinking... the Secretary is Walternate. And it seems like he's been setting up his own task force on the other side primarily to get back Peter and to get revenge on our side of the alterverse.

Stargate Universe: Seriously? The Oceanic 3 come back because of the FTL sabotage? That's it? It would have been better for them to get captured by the Fish and then a standoff using them as hostages. Another "stone" storyline... I just hope we don't see the LaBamba/Young triangle again.

The Ultimate Fighter: Boo... that fight should have gone a 3rd round. McGee got robbed and Nick Ring doesn't look much like a number 1 pick. I've got a UFC 113 recap here too.

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Kin it work? Windows Phone 6.9?

As most of you know, Microsoft is overhauling their Windows Mobile (nay Windows 7 Phone) this fall with a brand new OS and break from what WinMo used to be. Instead of a mini-computer like interface, they are going to a Zune-like feel with slices of pages.

But we are getting a preview of that with their new "social networking" phones, the Kin One and Kin Two. Not really running Windows Phone 7 and not really a dumbphone, these phones are in between, a full featured phone that's not quite a smartphone (arguably what the iPhone is).

Engadget has a review:

http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/05/kin-one-and-two-review/

While interesting, I'm just wondering if partnering up with Verizon Wireless is the best decision. Since VZW has expensive plans (especially with text and data), it makes you wonder if the targeted texter/Facebooker/Tweeter will want to (or can afford to) use their service. They will be available from Verizon Wireless on May 13.

Finally... a notebook to Envy.

I've been looking at notebooks a long time... and something that has amazed me in the last few years is that no matter how innovative PC manufacturers get, they can't seem to get it right (at least the stuff that I like). From form factor to screen resolution to keyboard layouts... there is always something missing.

One big thing is why can't anyone make a Windows notebook with the same form factor as the Apple MacBookPros? That sleek unibody aluminum design, thin profile and yes... internal optical drive.

Last year, HP came close with their Envy line of notebooks, and it looks like their 2010 iX refresh finally gets it right. Engadget has a great article with hands-on pics and the HP press release regarding the new Envy 14 and the refreshed Envy 17:

http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/05/hp-envy-14-and-17-officially-official-envy-13-slowly-waves-good/

Short list of pros: backlit keyboard, internal slot-load optical drive and ports galore. The 17 is too big for me but I like the 14 (or should I say 14.5) quite a bit. They didn't use the 15 keyboard that had that strange left row of keys but still included the right row for the Home/End/PgUp/PgDn keys.

Hopefully, it has the true 1080p (1920x1080) resolution like the 15, I'm just not a fan of what I feel is a backwards resolution 720p (1366x768). Remember when the standard was WSXGA (1440x900)? They actually took away screen real estate and I'm surprised no one cares. Personally, I miss my WUXGA (1920x1200), even Dell is starting to replace those on their new Latitude line with the 1080p resolution... ugh.

Will the Envy 14 be the answer to my search for the perfect notebook?

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

TV: Weekly Musings

Lost: Richard Alpert story repeat. Really? Bah.

Idol: Sioban Magnus goes. Just proof that the voting audience is dominated by girls voting for guys. When was the last time we had a girl winner? Jordin Sparks? Next on the chopping block, Aaron or Big Mike. Maybe Casey.

Flash Forward: The first half was so uncharacteristic of Janice's strong character so I'm glad the second half... or actually the ending straightened it out. And why is Mark being so stupid? "They called me to say they lost the blueprints." "He showed up because he can't find the blueprints." 2+2=??

Fringe: Filler episode... nice singing by Broyles.

Stargate Universe: Now it's the Oceanic 3. So you think they are going to get alien snatched again and held hostage during the space fight?

The Ultimate Fighter: Yes... team Lidell. Although both fighters seemed to gas so easily. What is it with these guys... don't they train for 3 rounds of fighting?

Mosley vs. Mayweather: I am reminded why MMA is so much better. 12 rounds of punch and grab... bleh. Bring on Pacqiao already... although I'm suspicious why he won't submit to blood/urine tests.