A few weeks back scores of Apple fanboys and girls lined the streets eagerly waiting to get their grubby little paws on the new IPhone 4. Now it seems there will be scores lining up to return them as antenna problems and software issues blight the image of what was heralded as the smart phone of smart phones.
First it was the embarrassing signal drop out when you bridge the phone with your hand – as 99% of people do when they hold a phone. Mr Jobs suggestion – “Just don’t hold it that way”. I’m sorry, but if I had just shelled out up to £600 for a new phone, I don’t want to be told I can’t hold it like a normal phone. Then Apple say they have been calculating signal strength using a completely incorrect algorithm for years, and will be switching to a proven algorithm used by AT&T. Now it’s a software update that’s causing headaches for the millions of IPhone users.
Clearly punishing 3Gs users for not buying the new IPhone 4, the latest software bug effects 3Gs phones and makes then even more susceptible to dropping calls, typically the handset will reboot mid-conversation. Safe to say, the Iphone phenomena is slowly blowing up in Apple’s face!
For me, this justifies what I have said for years. Apple got into the cell phone market with zip experience in the production of mobile technology – they made an interesting device with some nice features, but relied heavily on the aesthetics of the device to cancel out the severe flaws in the Iphone performance as a cellular phone. I’m just surprised it took till version 4 for a serious consumer backlash, which is almost certainly on its way. Good luck with that one Apple!
So, the wife was out for the evening – i cracked open a bud and kicked back to watch the latest offering from Mr Kevin Smith – one of the finest film-makers working today. The film in question – Cop Out. Prior to watching, I had listened with interest to the opinions of the critics – which was a general and resounding thumbs down. Unperturbed, I decided to watch anyway.
First things first – Mr Smith did not write the script or the story. His credits on the film run to direction, that’s it. So regardless of anyone’s opinion of the story or script, that ain’t his fault! Yes, this is a standard Hollywood run of the mill action comedy, but I kind of get the feeling that was what the studio were going for. The scope for Smith to be innovative, creative – clever even with the film were limited at best. No matter who directed this film, it was always destined to be entertaining, but nothing special. Did Smith achieve this? No – he of course did better…….
I could have been watching any standard action comedy, but every now and again, Smith’s genius would claw through the standard cheese. Cleverly handled dream / fantasy sequences of next door neighbours, Smith inspired quirky one liners popping up at just the right moment, and simply fantastic moments of Askewniverse breaking free from the classic Smith Jersey based quintet. Ok, this is not your usual Kevin Smith movie, nor is it within the comfort zone of the majority of Kevin Smith fans – BUT – the man has done a good job with the tools he was given. For what it’s worth, I enjoyed the flick – it didn’t have the gritty finesse of Clerks or Mallrats – the edgy story of Chasing Amy – or the sheer madness of Jay & Silent Bob – but like I say, i’m sure Warner didn’t have any of that in mind for the finished product of Cop Out. My guess is they wanted a steady hand to make the best out of a project that could easily have been a straight to DVD production. What they got was a good return on their investment – I say, job done and well played Mr. Smith. For me at least, your integrity remains intact….
As for the critics – bloody grow up. Recognise that some films are for pure entertainment and are not supposed to be “works of art”. I say if the critics are so hungry for a new Smith masterpiece, they should chip in the money for it themselves – pass it all to Mr Smith and tell him to make whatever his heart desires!! Beyond that, let the man do his job – and do your job properly!
Chances are, if you have a broadband or cable connection at home, you probably have WiFi enabled. Technically, this makes YOU responsible for securing this connection and ensuring no one illeagally accesses your internet connection. So – how secure is your connection? What encryption do you use and can it be easily hacked?
Following a landmark ruling in Germany this week, these are questions we really need to start getting the answers for! A musician has successfully sued the owner of network connection used to download and share music, despite the owner of the connection having proof he was on holiday at the time of the alleged offence. The court in Germany has ruled that the owner of the network was legally obliged to adequately encrypt the network to stop unauthorised use of the connection.
It’s unlikely the UK (or any other country) will follow suit any time soon, and in reality the case will likely be appealed based on the eccentric ruling, however – chances are legislation to clarify the responsibilities of wireless network administrators will start to emerge. But with so many wireless networks operating in private residences under the watchful eye of completely un-tech-savvy users, how workable will this ever be?
So, I hear that the Black Eyed Peas song “I Gotta Feeling” is the best-selling digital song of all time, according to Nielsen SoundScan.
5.56 million digital downloads is the magic number – more importantly however, since my Sony Satio arrived, that’s the ringtone I’ve been using. Clearly now too popular to be cool, the search is on for something else……and have now settled on “Sound Of Da Police” by KRS-ONE. Gets me some right funny looks when I get calls during meetings
What is it with Hollywood these days? I know movie remakes are old news, but generally we’re looking at movies being remade 40-50 years after the original. After this period of time, the industry has something new to add and chances are that the film will be done justice. So why oh why have we just seen a remake of “A Nightmare On Elm St”??? Made in the 80′s, the original Wes Craven film spawned a whole franchise that rolled on till pretty much the end of the 90′s. So why in 2010 are we enduring a remake with Warner stating today that a sequal is in the pipeline!!!!
Were the original movies so bad that they had to start again? Has horror movie technology moved along so much that its worth investing millions in producing new material? No, and not really in my opinion. Sure, special effects in the original movies are showing their age now, but for me the whole point is not the effects, but the tension and suspense that Craven managed to create – especially in Elm St 1.
Will I be watching the new movies? Sheer curiosity dictates probably – will I be shouting “Craven did it better” from start to finish? YUP! Come on Hollywood, get some fkin original ideas!
So, it was Saturday night. Some mates were over and someone says – “Here m8 – fire up youtube and see if you can find any Beardyman”. A few moments later, we were all entranced by the screen. Simply stated – Beardyman is like nothing you have seen before. He’s a beatbox expert – but has exceptional vocal talents and uses live samples of himself to “build songs”. It’s astonishing!
I love music – I love the time and effort that goes into sculpting musical master pieces. To see something like this happen before your eyes knowing what I know about music production is – well, hard to explain. Watch for yourself and make your own mind up – I ‘aint doing the man justice!
"I know that we’ll have a ball – if we get down, and go out and just lose it all. I feel stressed out, I wanna let it go. Let’s go way out – spaced out and losing all control."
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