Skate 10 Pt 4 - 24:50
http://hindsley.us/music/Skate10-pt4.mp3

Rooney: WhenDid Your Heart Go Missing
The Cure: Let's Go To Bed
Producers: Primitive Man
BWO: Chariots of Fire
Everything But the Girl: Missing
Thomas Dolby: Flat Soweto (extremely rare)   more »

Skate 10 Pt 3 - 31:01
http://hindsley.us/music/Skate10-pt3.mp3

Wang Chung: Eyes of the Girl
Oingo Boingo: Just Another Day
ABC: Unzip (uptempo mix)
Santa Esmeralda: Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood
A Flock of Seagulls: You Can Run
Electronic: Some Distant Memory   more »

Skate 10 Pt 2 - 29:02
http://hindsley.us/music/Skate10-pt2.mp3

Lady GaGa: Poker Face (Jody Den Broeder remix)
The Blow Monkeys: This Is Your Life '88
Pet Shop Boys: Up Against It
Meja: All About The Money
KLF: Last Train to Trancentral (Live from The Lost Continent)
Phoenix: Too Young (Zoot Woman remix)   more »

There are a few MUST HAVE apps for Android phones. When it comes to online gaming Cestos is a serious front runner, but not without faults. For starters, without good instructions the game is not intuitive.

The premise comes from playing marbles. In the world of Cestos, you and an Internet opponent each start with three (3) balls (think marbles). There are a number of maps to play on but the primary map is "black hole". The object of the game on black hole is to knock all your opponents balls into a hole at the center of the map. You each take a turn at the same time with a timer giving you approximately 20 seconds to plan out your moves. The bar timer (see illustration at right) draws down atop the screen to let you know time is running down if you delay your planned moves. As it's absent in the illustration below on the left, be aware it only displays between moves. It will not display until each players balls have come to rest. Then the countdown to plot your moves begins. To plan your moves you draw an arrow on screen with your finger tip from each ball (starting point) into the trajectory you intend of various lengths. The longer your planned trajectory the faster and further your ball will go.

Sounds easy? Here are the twists. On every turn you take you leave a mine (bomb) behind at your starting position. The mine blinks RED and takes a second to arm. When it's armed, it turns GREEN (see illustration below left). Theoretically a ball of yours or even your opponent's ball can cross a mine if your ball crosses over the mine before it arms. But watch out, if it arms while cross it, boom ...whoosh. Your ball is sent off possibly ending up in the very hole you are trying to avoid.

You may think, "Well, I just won't move and I can't get into trouble from laying bombs all over." Wrong. You get one turn of rest after every move otherwise a mine will arm beneath you and blow up sending you slightly off an any direction. In essence, Cestos isn't just about you battling your opponent, you are also battling the mines or bombs strewn over the landscape.

Players use the four walls of the screen to bounce off of, and if you are smart and like physics, you highly consider using the walls and mines in your efforts to move around the board.


SKILL LEVEL
As you play, the developers (Chickenbrick Studios) have created a SKILL LEVEL and ranking system.    more »

Skate 10 - 31:35
http://hindsley.us/music/Skate10.mp3

Ministry: I Wanted To Tell Her (remix)
Cash Cash: Interlude (edit)
Cash Cash: Dynamite
AC/DC: If You Want Blood
Electronic: Freefall
Ministry: Work For Love (remix)
Billy Squire: My Kind of Lover   more »

There are men and there are boys. In romance and dating these two are vastly different. I'd have to say for me personally I was not a man until I was a solid 28 or 29. I think up to that point dating for me was innocent, romantic and mainly, immature. Not in the sense that I was a child. I just didn't have ALL it took to be everything a woman needed in a relationship. I mean from romantic savvy to sexual contact. What do I mean by romantic savvy? I mean if she wasn't interested, I needed to have the ability walk away because I had my own life. One she wanted to be a part of or admired. A man can't be anything to a woman until he's something to himself. Call me a late bloomer, I'm sure many guys hit their stride by 26 but I think that's the point of which a boy may become a man. There is so much more to this area I could write a book, I'll stop there. Then there is sexual contact. I'll keep this PG as best I can. Pleasing a woman is an art. It takes time to understand any woman, let alone an entire segment. Women of 23 have totally different priorities than women of 30 and so on. But each and every one are demanding otherwise they'd sleep with every man they met. Women are selective for a reason and once you are in bed with a woman, the relationship takes on a whole new dimension. Never underestimate the power of sexual compatibility. Strange as this may sound and I only speak for myself (I'm not being over-confident) I became a better lover after marriage. I'll stop there. I don't want you to lose sight ...   more »

We've all heard the stories about prenuptial marriage agreements. The term was popularized in the 1970's. When we think of them we think of an older man trying to protect his wealth from a potential gold-digging young wife. At the end of this article I'll expose the irony of this. For now let's consider marriage contracts on a much deeper and modern era level.

Marriage? Contract? The two don't mix you say? Uh... the two are the same. The moment you marry you enter into a legal contract. In today's world it's a business contract. One that is real and you need to understand this is no joke because the way it is currently crafted, it's far from funny.

Marriage is a lopsided business contract, one that you never sign but is still legally binding. One that ONLY favors a woman. Your odds of divorce are approximately 43 percent which usually takes place inside 8 years and if it occurs will be initiated by your wife. Don't assume this will be because you were a bad husband either. You can thank "no fault" divorce laws for this trend.

Oh wait, all that was supposed to be my culminating point. I was supposed to build up to this mind shattering epiphany as I innuendously danced around it. So let's reset. Let's think back to when you as a man were a young man. You were idealistic. You were romantic. There yet? Try this... the very thought of her put a smile on your face. If you could be with her you know that you'd get up every day and be happy, the purpose in your life would be complete. There would nothing you couldn't take on and conquer with her by your side. Remember now what marriage meant to you? If ...   more »

Canadian Woman has an affair. Husband finds out and leaves her. But wait... it's the cell phone companies fault! I was married to woman just like this. Really.

http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/crime/article/810236--toronto-woman-sues-rogers-for-exposing-her-affair?bn=1

If the article is pulled, here is a an archived copy:

Toronto woman sues Rogers after her affair is exposed
May 17, 2010

Betsy Powell

A Toronto woman says the billing practices of Rogers Wireless Inc. led to her husband discovering her extramarital affair.

Now the woman, whose husband walked out, is suing the communications giant for $600,000 for alleged invasion of privacy and breach of contract, the results of which she says have ruined her life.

In 2007, Gabriella Nagy had a cellphone account with Rogers which sent the monthly bill to her home address in her maiden name. Her husband was the account holder for the family's cable TV service at the same address. Around June 4, 2007, he called Rogers to add internet and home phone.

The following month, Rogers mailed a “global” invoice for all of its services to the matrimonial home that included an itemized bill for Nagy's cellular service, according to the statement of claim filed in Ontario Superior Court of Justice.

When Nagy’s husband opened the Rogers invoice, he saw several hour-long phone calls to a single phone number.

“Nobody does business this way and he's not stupid,” says Nagy, who is in her 30s. He called the number, spoke to the “third party” who confirmed the affair, which had lasted only a few weeks, Nagy told the Star.

“My husband didn't tell me that's how he found out, he just left.”

“The husband used the previously private and confidential information that the defendant unilaterally disclosed to the husband to inquire about the people that the plaintiff was telephoning and the nature of such ...   more »

In the spring of 2010 I stood outside on a warm April night along side intent photographers and Vh1. It was the premiere of Breaking Upwards a micro budget film by two young actors and film makers. Much of the press promotional push was on the aspect this film was a 'micro budget' film done for only $15,000.00. Yes, you read it right. There is not a missing zero there. For less than what many people pay for a car this film was completed. How? I'll get to that later, but what I can tell you is it's the most expensive looking $15,000.00 film you may ever see. With that, do not let the budget scare you away from seeing this film. From acting to editing to film quality, it can stand side-by-side with any other film.

Breaking Upwards is more than a little known 'must see' due to it's astonishing low film budget. It's a commentary on the state-of-love in the modern big cities with our gadgets and new rules on love. Billed as a romantic comedy the sharp writing is much of the umph behind the film. Each character brought character to the film, even if you felt some labels applied to them by other characters in the movie did not apply. Shot entirely in NY, there is no doubt the city is a main character and not the usual trite backdrop.

So few people ever visit New York outside of the tourist destinations let alone get a real feel for how the city 'lives'. The young and the hip live in pockets all over the city but as always the uptown areas of SOHO, TriBECA, Greenich Village, and Chelsea are where your intellectual artist reside. Here you find   more »

Two years my small family moved into Fox Run apartments. Specifically the back section named Hunt Club. We had to. An expensive child custody case left us with no choice but to move into an apartment. This month we move. And not a moment too soon.

This last evening an incident took place which we have yet to get justice on. My son was assaulted by an older child in his teens. In fact the boy ran up behind my son got his attention and when my son turned his head, was sucker punched and sent to the hospital.

What's truly disturbing about this is that it could have all been avoided.

It started earlier in the day when my oldest son went to pick up his younger brother after school at his bus stop and walk him home. When he got off the bus, another child (I'll call him Johnny) starts clowning around and with a friend begins knocking things from my son's hands. The two end up with my oldest son's scarf. They won't return it. In fact they taunt him by sticking it down their pants and rubbing it all over their private parts. My son realized he couldn't take matters into his own hands as the boy was small for his age looking around 8 or 9, and in fact was 10 or 11 years old. He had a foul mouth and cursed at my son. My son and his friend (I'll call him Jimmy) come and tell me they can't hit a little kid or use force to get the scarf back and that I needed to intervene.

I commend my son for not giving up the moral high-ground as we go looking for the kid that took the scarf. When we find him, this pint size kid immediately takes the Napoleon approach with me. He's haughty, snide and has no intention of having a civil conversation with me. Meanwhile, I've become accustomed to kids testing adults so I stand my ground with him explaining that this is a small situation and he is making it bigger. After all, it's just a scarf. But Johnny had a smart ass answer for everything. He first said he didn't have it. Then he answered that he gave the scarf to his older brother. When I told him that he created this problem it was his responsibility to go find his brother and return it, Johnny gave me another answer with a smart ass tone, "I have to go do my homework."

It got worse. My oldest son was in tow with his friend Jimmy. At this point the situation isn't out-of-hand, it's just annoying and silly. My son and Jimmy are smiling to each other happy to see this smart ass Johnny is getting an earful from his dad. So Johnny turns from me and barks at my son, "Shut the fuck up!"    more »

Do you ever talk to yourself? Not aloud of course but still - you have these conversations ...everyday. Maybe not everyday. Maybe rarely. Perhaps it's just a fleeting moment. You're driving in your car and you see something that makes you think or you are watching a movie alone and a character says or does something that makes you look at your own life. And you talk to yourself.

I think in these moments is when we really know our true self. And we can't lie. We don't lie. We are at peace with our paleolithic underpinnings. We don't even notice that we are good and evil all in the same breath. We are honest with our self because we don't sit in judgment of our self in the same way others would.

One day I sat on the grass after a long day of running errands. I looked at my old family home and thought of how I grew up there and how in all my life I've done so much, traveled so far and yet here I was back again sitting in the grass in at my old family home. I had to think a moment and evaluate the success or failure of my life. What makes one a success, and what makes one a failure? I sat down, almost in tears as I sighed and thought to myself I was being honest with myself and no one was around to judge me.

No this is not a rant. This is not a philosophy article, it's not an advice or help article either.

Today I just wanted to write something you may not often see me write. That in each one of us there is a person that no one in the world may honestly really know or ...   more »

Seems inline skating is just a lost art in the US anymore. Once again Europe has the edge and insight to know what's hip.

rollTogether#13 - Rotterdam (Netherland) from rollTogether on Vimeo.

   more »

Do you use Facebook? Lately the word is that it gets more hits than Google. Let's face it, if you use Facebook and you have a number of friends, it updates a lot of info for you to keep up with. But there is the problem I have with Facebook. It let's people update inane things. And that is not Facebook's fault. But it illustrates the problem with society today. Unchecked, people say the stupidest things until they learn the hard way they should not be saying stupid things when the WHOLE world can see it.

I'd give some examples verbatim of the embarrassing things I've seen, but that would just hurt feelings. But I'd be a lousy reporter if I didn't use examples to make my point so I will do my best to give real examples without outing people.

Example One: THE POST EVERYTHING FRIEND
This friend posts non-stop things. So many small things that make them seem self-absorbed that when they post something worthwhile you almost don't care. Here are examples:

Watching TV then going out with the girls woo!

Didn't get drunk today

I gotta stop drinking.

I think I'm getting fat.

No work today. Going out with the girls woo!

Can't wait to get off work to take a nap!

I hate mornings, slept in, gotta do laundry ewww

It makes me sad to leave work before sally gets home, I miss my bud

Working til 9 can't wait to sleep

These are a few that I can post. But imagine between these inane posts, this same person posts incessantly about which bar they are going to or how they are changing bars etc... The causal friend sees this as a train wreck unfolding before their eyes. You know you should look away but the idiocy of it all makes you look. Otherwise yes, I would just delete this friend from my list of Facebook friends. It will happen soon enough.

Next is    more »

We go to the movies to be entertained. Some are inspirational. Many films we connect with because we have traveled the same road as the characters we see. Lbs, is a movie with these qualities. Now you may think that I’m talking about a blockbuster hit, a MUST SEE film that already has a media blitz. Lbs doesn’t have the backing of a major film label; it’s just a small indie film that almost got lost in history; good for you it has not.


Neil is an overweight New Yorker living with his parents in Brooklyn. Not exactly the protagonist type in a story you think you can get behind, but he is. When he suddenly has a heart attack, a chain of events bring him to the reality that his health and eating disorder impact everyone that love him. Now you’d think a heart attack alone would be reason to change, but that’s the beauty of Lbs. It’s more real than that. It takes more than a heart attack for Neil to see what he is doing to himself and others. The guilt and shame of his inability to be self-disciplined in his eating don’t occur immediately. His eating disorder soon leads to more disaster in his life. Only then does he make a decision many of us wish we had the guts to make. Neil makes a lifestyle choice. He knows that the temptations of his city life are more than he can handle and as strange as it may seem, he feels the answer is to move away for however long it takes to lose weight.


Neil’s journey is the reward of the film. And his journey is NOT what you would expect as you may feel you already know the ending. A story like this required ...   more »

You may find as I have that SOME elements in this video take the point of misandry too far, there is a reality to the plight men face today. In far too many court cases, or divorce situations in general - men are considered the 'wrong' parent to raise a child simply because they are 'men'. So in that vane, I'd like to share an extension of how men are looked down upon with this video by a British 'man'. Consider that in the U.K. men are still getting a worse shake in custody cases then here in America. So take that into consideration as you watch this video.    more »

Awesome collection of actors for great comedy bit!

   more »

I've been reading that war veterans are upset over this years Academy Award nominee The Hurt Locker. I get it, the continuity is wrong, the story is far fetched and it's generally insulting to war vets.

But what we must all realize, (war vets too) is that it's entertainment. As long as something is plausible then viewers can give a pause to reality and accept the unreal. And frankly to all you war vets, I know you want us civilians to know this film doesn't represent the Iraq War as it truly is. But give most of us credit for knowing the difference between Hollywood and real life. When I watched the character William James strut through enemy fire I knew that man - no matter how big his balls are would do such a lame brain thing in action unless he really just was ready to die and was eventually going to die pulling that crap. In addition, from the simple act of playing paintball week-after-week for years, I've learned you NEVER stand out in the open to take aim. You always shoot from cover. Nobody in ANY armed forces ever shoots from out in the open. I see this in countless films and have to forgive this bravado bull-crap as Hollywood's license to infer a characters bravery. I get it, but it's dumb.

Take for instance that many others go through the same angst when watching things on film that we should all walk out of the theater on but we don't.

Example? Star Wars. You can't have explosions in space. The Death Star, should anything ever be created on such scale, wouldn't explode in flames, let alone any ships.

Then there is TV. Since when do life's problems get resolved in a half an hour ...   more »

Last week (February 18th 2010) a fellow American committed what some are calling a terrorist act. In his anger towards the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Joe Stack (53) made the decision to fly his own small plane into his local IRS building in Austin Texas. When many more could have died there is thankfully so far, only one victim to die from this act. One victim is too many and that is a certainty. I mean no disrespect to Vernon Hunter the lone death of many victims. Vernon Hunter's son Ken Hunter has gone on record calling the plane crash by Joe Stack into the IRS building 'terrorism'. Stack was so pissed at the IRS he torched his own home leaving his wife and daughter homeless. In the end, many call what Joe Stack did an act of terrorism. It's not. Here is why. A terrorist - as sick as they are represent a cause. And they want to use a terrorist act as a means of causing attention for their cause. They want others to join their cause and be inspired by it to do the same. As far as I can remember, terrorist usually give up their lives with hopes of making their loved ones they leave behind rich because family members are often compensated by the terrorist organizations. If that's true, Joe Stack's burning of his own home doesn't line up with the mental model of a terrorist. Joe Stack was not a part of any grass roots movement or organization to further a cause. His battle with the IRS was specific. While it's true that terrorist flew plans into our world trade centers in September of 2001, it by no means - means that flying a plane into a building is a terrorist act. The act ...   more »

   more »

Great movie about someone taking the fun out of being alone...

   more »

I think you need to be a parent to appreciate this. And yes peoples... listen to the lyrics if you want to understand the point to this video. Songs are not just beats, strings and keys. ;-)

   more »

I'm a sucker for a New York story, especially ones that are actually shot in Manhattan, not just fly-over shots of the skyline or shots across the Hudson or East River implying the story takes place there. Much of The Good Guy's appeal is its authenticity. It's as if Wallstreet met The Fountainhead, on a smaller scale.

The Good Guy is presented as a romantic comedy, but as most romantic comedies being produced these days, it's more of a romantic dramady. Set in the post economic collapse of contemporary Manhattan, as you may expect the Wall Street decadence has not faltered. It's a story of integrity in love set against the culture of downtown New York City. That is Beth (Alexis Bledel), a young and attractive Manhattanite is in what seems a loving relationship, wrestling with her desire for some elements to be better. Her boyfriend Tommy (Scott Porter) is coming up short on taking her away on a vacation as he appears more consumed with work.

We begin at the end of the story. Tommy, a young Wall Street hot-shot shows up to his girlfriend Beth's apartment explaining he's had the worst night of his life and in need of his wallet. Meanwhile she won't let him in, she takes it to him at the doorstep then turns him away ...    more »

This afternoon I as driving and talking to my eldest son about right and wrong. In an attempt to explain to him the value of what right is to him alone I explained that in life, we all quietly to our self build a resume of respect for our self.

Think about this carefully. What is it that we value from the people whom are important in our lives, from friends and relatives to people that can be of influence in our business lives such as someone that reports to us or whom we report to? People have no interest in maintaining a relationship with those they do not respect.

In life we all build equity of respect from the world around us. What does an athlete want from his peers? He wants to be recognized as being capable or superior or remembered for a feat. He (or she) wants respect. What does a wife expect to earn from a husband if she stays at home to raise children? Appreciation that ultimately is respect. For my son I expressed to him that in life every one of us is on a path in which we hope to build a resume of respect from all of those that come into our life. I explained that I as his father, his brother, his mother, his friends and even his teachers measure him by an unspoken variable ...respect.

You build on this. In time you build a bank of equity; and equity of respect. Have you heard of the term "self worth"? Sure it has everything to do with self-esteem, but it has a deeper meaning. Your confidence and pride in yourself is spawned from the respect you have for yourself. The exception is of course is those people without a moral compass. But for the remaining 99 percent of us, we operate day-to-day in hopes of doing things that garner respect.

Let's explore the issue of moral compass briefly. Without a moral compass, respect is of no consequence. There are times in all of our lives that we let go of our moral compass. The things we do in that time are usually self-absorbed acts, if anything people fear us, they do not respect us for our actions. While it's true we respect power and what can be accomplished from it, we don't respect the entity, we respect the power. In business some people are sharks, they rise to the top by killing everything in their path, they don't care (no moral compass) what anyone thinks as they rise above others. If the law doesn't catch them, they continue to lay waste to everything in their quest for their own gain. They mistake people's respect for their power as respect from them as a person when in fact there is no respect to be had. Only those that confuse their power and misconstrue what they see respect a shark. A shark in the ocean is a whole other story. Everything in the sea respects the shark.

Yes you go to work for a paycheck, not respect. Or do you? If you earn respect doesn't that give you credibility in opportunity for advancement? And who among us goes to work simply to put in 8 hours and go home? The fact is we all want to push the envelope, we work hoping to leverage everything we do into another opportunity for MORE. We all want to go forward and to do so a key component is respect. Respect you gain from others and respect you gain for yourself.

Have you ever let yourself down? How do we often refer to that act? We refer to it as losing a little, self-respect. Yes, there is an equity of respect.

When you date someone what is it you value most from them? Their desire for your body or the respect they have for your mind? And I said value most. Look -- I like a beautiful body as much as the next guy but if a woman is all beauty and no intellect, I'm not going to be able to sustain a meaningful relationship with her. Without respect for a woman's mind, I have no interest in maintaining a relationship. That is the key for ...    more »

Have you ever refrained from giving someone advice because you know it's beyond they're comprehension of acceptance? No, I'm not talking about telling someone to quit smoking or lose some weight. However those examples would work.

I think a good example is youth. Ever heard of the saying, "the hard way" as in learning the hard way. Some people have to learn the hard way. In youth you can warn someone of the mistakes they are making or the path they are following but it is impossible for your advice to penetrate their level of understanding and acceptance. In a case such as this, all you can think to yourself is: "You won't get it until it's too late."

I write a lot of advice here. I comment for your entertainment. I'm not a know it all although if all you ever did was read my articles you'd think so. So it's important you know I don't run about dispensing advice to everyone around me. I save that for my kids.

We all watch or read the news. We see world events; we often see the future but can't stop it because so many of us have an agenda that only looks over the hood of our car. Yet we all know when driving no one ever looks just in front of our vehicle, we peer down the road. I knew a girl once that was drop dead gorgeous. She ran over guys and felt being a bitch was her right. She didn't have a lot of personality, but she had looks. I warned her, one day your looks will fade and if you don't choose a man early on that is in it for you and not your looks, then later you'll find yourself bitter and lonely even if ...   more »

I don't want to come off like a motivational life coach. This plan is really how you do it. It's simple.

If you want to reach any goal, it can't be a mere vision quest. OK... if it's one goal you have burned into your psyche then yes, that's a vision quest. The New Year's Resolution is different.

First off, most of us have a few resolutions. You can have as many as you want, but the key to each and every one is WRITE IT DOWN.

We've all heard that before. It's not the key to keeping your resolution. The key is to make yourself accountable. To do this, POST your resolutions for all to see. No, not on your MySpace page ...Well maybe. It depends on how personal it is.

No. You post it in your cubical at work, or on the fridge at home. When others see your goals, you are now accountable. Now let's use an example, one all of us can relate to. A new job. Let's say in this coming year you want a new job. Road map it. By January 10th you'll have your resume completed, or updated. Whichever. Then you set small goals. Each week you promise yourself that the resume will be sent out to no less than two new prospective employers per week. If after three weeks you are not hired you will send it to no less than 5 or 8 prospective employers. You make a goal of no less than one interview per week. These are all bullets under your listed resolution/goal.

Let's say it's lose weight, or just plain eating better. For instance last year I gave up donuts. This year I intend to minimize my chocolate consumption. One dark chocolate bar per day and only if ...   more »

It's An Operating System - Not A Phone

First you should know what you are choosing is not a phone as much as you are choosing an operating system or OS.  The term for these phones today is "smart phone".

The iphone uses Apple's existing platform OS X. This benefits users allowing the iphone to live in harmony with Apple computers. You don't need to install any aftermarket software to get the iphone to communicate with your computer, as long as it's an Apple computer.

Apple's core foundation of technology is that they own BOTH the hardware and firmware (operating system). Both are integrated at production level. However buying an iphone is not so good with Windows products. There are workarounds, but that's another story. Apple makes one iphone, other than increased memory and upgrades Apple's phones are all iphones. 

Next is Google's Android. It's the operating system Google created.  Many people ask the question, What is a G-phone or G-Phone?  The answer is simple. Any phone running Android is a G-phone.  So you could own a G1, G3 or any number of phones made by different manufacturers featuring Googles' Android, they will all be G-phones because they run Android. In short, a phone running Android is a G-phone.


Like Apple, Google has integrated their world with the Android phones and leveraged their strengths of Gmail, YouTube, Google and more to give the phone so much power. In fact if you buy a G-phone, you MUST have a Gmail account or create one in order to get through the start up phase of using a G-phone. There is NO way around it, period. Conversely iphone leverages their strength of itunes with their Mp3 player features (ipod) built right in.

If you use Gmail and most people do, this becomes amazingly cool, but we'll get to that.


Both Have Distinct Strengths

Convergence is a buzz term you should be aware of if you are not already.  For years we waited for someone to build a phone, camera, GPS, PDA, Mp3 player, and gaming system all in one device.  At one time PDA's (Personal Digital Assistants now known as Smartphones) like the Palm, Clie and Microsoft Mobile were the forerunners. The iphone and Android blew them into ancient history and are now the powerful front runners. 

Yet both have their own strength. The iphone's strength is itunes as the iphone doubles as an ipod. Let's face it, when most people didn't even know what an Mp3 player was, they owned an Ipod. Go into a store, and they have Mp3 players segregated from Ipods, but they are really the same! In short, Apple set the standard for a great device with both perfect form factor and ease of use. Having that service in an iphone gives the iphone the big advantage in this area. The G-phone (Android) has an Mp3 player but it pales in comparison overall features.

The Android's strength is the power of Google pushing it along and that's a big push from a big world of resources. The buzz word for this is "cloud". Google owns Youtube, Gmail and more. You can ...   more »

Every director has a Sci-Fi on their to-do list of film genre's.   James Cameron wasn't satisfied with Terminator.  In fact he has a others, but Avatar may be his best film making achievement yet when it comes to pushing the envelope on what is possible in film.   In fact technology took years to evolve and make his vision of Avatar possible.  He scrapped the idea of filming Avatar on the heels of Titanic specifically to allow the film industry to mature and make his vision possible. 

What is that you ask?  We've all seen the integration of live actors interacting with celluloid painted characters like in 1988's Who Framed Roger Rabbit? or even as far back as 1945's Gene Kelly dancing with cartoon character Jerry of Tom and Jerry in Anchors Away.   Of course there is the poorly executed interaction between CGI (computer generated imagery) generated Gungan's and live actors in the recent Star Wars films shot in the early 2000's.  That CGI work was designed developed and implemented by ILM (Industrial Light & Magic). Eventually better CGI came about in films like Lord of the Rings where WETA far and away out-performed ILM in seamless human & CGI interaction.   In Avatar, WETA has been teamed up with ILM.  Thankfully ILM's shoddy work in Star Wars does not take place in Avatar.  That's important as hell because Avatar's  entire story hinges on you accepting the world of Pandora as a real environment.  Sadly if the film has any flaws it's some of the environmental experiences that remind you this is a film.  The most glaring example is that when the humanoid characters step on or touch plant life, the plants respond with a burst of light, from fingers touching foliage to feet walking on branches.  Despite it's flaws Avatar holds up nicely in most every aspect. 

Avatar is far and beyond anything ever seen on screen to date.  The integration of live actors and CGI (computer generated imagery) is flawless and never in question in terms of suspending disbelief.   Seeing the film in IMAX 3D is a must and completes the immersive experience.  What is more is the 3D used in Avatar doesn't employ the hokey objects flying off screen at you tactics used by predecessors, instead it's used for depth of field.   The reality is the principal characters portrayed in CGI by Sam Worthington (Jake Sully) and Zoe Saldana (Neytiri - at left) are not merely voiced but they did in fact act out their roles in the film process. 

Now that you've got the lowdown on the hype, what of the story?  Plausible, but like all science fiction action films, many things are stretched.  From the over the top pro-eco environmentalist message which goes as far as to employ the harmony of Zen-like principals to the insulting cliche' treatment of Marines making them out to being no more than    more »