GDC 2009

Finally getting a chance to post some photos from the Game Developers Conference (GDC) last week. It was super cool!! Learned some interesting stuff, met some new friends, and ran into a bunch of old Alias buddies. We went for dinner at a Burmese place, which was sweeeeet.

Activision booth

Blizzard booth

Cabernet and I at the A-desk booth

haha, classic

Me, Cory, Dan

Dinner time

The whole group out for dinner

Great pic that Martin took on their trip back to where they were staying

Cory and Mike "The Bad Pixels" reunion dinner tour: Photo 1

Cory and Mike "The Bad Pixels" reunion dinner tour: Photo 2

Naiqi and Sivanny

Joyce and Kristine

Cory and Mike "The Bad Pixels" reunion dinner tour: Photo 3

Cory and Mike "The Bad Pixels" reunion dinner tour: Photo 4 (and Ryan)

Cory and Mike "The Bad Pixels" reunion dinner tour: Photo 5

Cory and Mike "The Bad Pixels" reunion dinner tour: Photo 6

Naiqi, Stephen and Kristine

WonderCon 2009

I've finally got my Picasa back up and running on the new computer at the new apartment.

Here are some pics from a few weeks back at WonderCon 2009.

R2D2 and some dressed-up people

HUGE crowds!

Crazy!!

Uhhh???

A Cars toys booth? This was a problem for me.

Sweeeeeet Cars

This was super cool, a kid playing a real-time 3D video game

Sick video cards that the 3D game was playing on

Haha PacMan hat?!

Yes, a collection of swords

Hmm... lots of active imaginations at WonderCon this year :)

Ray Park, who played Darth Maul in Star Wars!!

Awessssome!!

Hey, it's Adam West!!!!!!!

Adam West being interviewed

Haha more crazy people dressed up

Pete Docter talking about "Up"

Sweet

Common

McG, director of Terminator Salvation

Jocelyne and Phil were in town and came to visit!!

Norm is here!!

The obligatory tooth brushing shot

Windows Media Extenders for your TV and Tuner Cards

This is pretty cool stuff. I was reading about Windows Media Extenders tonight - they are devices which connect to your wired or wireless (wireless-N, ideally) network, and give you access to the Vista Media Center software from your TV with a handy Windows-branded remote.

Why is this awesome? Well, it's pretty fiercely cool... because it allows you to use your computer as a TiVO-like DVR, which has essentially unlimited space (I have a pretty darn reasonable 1.25 Terrabytes of HD space), and it's FREE. You buy a $50 TV Tuner Card for your computer (which I need to do anyway to convert a bunch of old VHS tapes to Digital), and then plug your cable into your computer's TV Tuner card. Then you have to leave your computer on more often... but the computer essentially becomes your new, high-tech VCR. I believe it can also buffer Live TV (I think) so you can pause Live TV just as you would with TiVO, but it's FREE because your own computer is doing all the work. And the menu/UI in Vista's Media Center is just beautiful, and I can imagine it being very easy to use and useful for this kinda setup. Pretty frickin' cool.

So the thing is you can use an XBox 360 as a Media Center Extender - but I don't have one and it's pretty expensive if I'm never going to buy games for it. Seems like it probably makes a lot more sense just to get one of these external company Media Center Extenders and hook it up. This actually is a lot slicker than doing this with a MacMini because I can easily use my beefy Dell XPS 4-proc machine to be a TiVO for me, and I get much more capabilities than just being able to rent and watch movies from iTunes. This is a really cool idea.

So first things first, I need to get a TV Tuner card for my computer and hook it up so I am actually using Vista Media Center to record live TV (as I would have used a VCR in the past). From there, I can then get one of these Media Center Extenders to hook up to my new TV. This will let me watch pre-recorded shows (even in HD), and I can even set it to record while I am out. Pretty awesome stuff! I thought it would be super cool to be able to stream media content to my TV, but I figured it was gonna be pretty tough to pull this off and I was going to have to plug in my laptop or something. Looks like this is an even better solution and very slick as you get the Vista menu system when you hook this all up. Pretty cool!

A few links with more details:

• Microsoft Extender for Windows Media Center
  
• EngadgetHD's Media Center Extender Shootout
• Newegg seems to have a good price: LINKSYS DMA2200 Media Center Extender with DVD
  

I was planning on getting an Hauppage TV Tuner anyway for my computer, and so I might upgrade this whole setup later on to allow streaming access of this media to my TV, too! Oh, technology!!

The Hauppage WinTV-HVR 1800 MCE Kit seems to be a reasonable card, and is compatible with Windows Media Center as well as having RCA and S-Video inputs for my old VCR so I can transfer old tapes to digital format. Pretty sweet!

Dave Matthews Band - Inside The Studio for Big Whiskey

This is SICK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I love that this is a group of Canadians, too... so awesome!

In late February, a group of 15 DMB fans from Canada discovered the location of the DMB studio and upon arrival, lingered outside hoping for a chance to meet DMB. Rob Cavallo, producer, invited the lucky fans in for an initial listen to material from Big Whiskey and the Groogrux King. Out June 2, 2009

F-35 over the Golden Gate Bridge!!

Whoaaa??!! Could it be real? An F-35 flying over the Golden Gate Bridge?

Or are those just young actors and a 3D airplane with some great special effects (Do you see an attractive young Canadian in a Roots Hat?) ;)

Blarrrgh... sick.

I managed to come down with a cold, which sucks. The weather is beautiful and my sister is coming to visit soon and I have lots of apartment work to do... but I gotta just sit around and do nothing but rub my aching head, sneeze, and drink tea and chicken soup.

Ahhhhh man I have too much to do to get sick. ;)

Anyway just takin' it easy, and I'm gonna go for a little walk. Trying to catch up on a few easy things today, maybe do some laundry or something too. Oh, lazy day...

In other news, the idea of going to Australia sounded awesome cause the flights were so insanely cheap. But I'm gonna keep my eyes on the prize and still aim for Japan and South Korea over the December break. It'll be awesome!! Hopefully I have enough time to plan stuff out well... I think this is gonna be really fun.

4 down, 16 to go

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Alex is here!

Its 21 Celcius and just glorious out here! Just net the owner of blue bottle coffee!

Kevin Smith and Jason Mewes playing Hockey in Brantford, Ontario!!

Wahoo!!!

As if B-Town couldn't get any cooler...

Jay and Silent Bob are playing Hockey... in Brantford, Ontario... for real.

That's amazing!
http://viewaskew.com/events/gretzky/
http://www.newsaskew.com/2009/03/25/cheer-on-kevin-co-at-the-gretzky-street-hockey-tourny/

Cory blogged my shoes

Thanks Cory ;)

http://hardcorymogkenstein.wordpress.com/2009/03/27/mikes-shoes/

New Canon Rebel T1i released today

Yep. I'm buyin' it.

• http://www.usa.canon.com/consumer/controller?act=ModelInfoAct&fcategoryid=139&modelid=18385
• http://i.gizmodo.com/5182772/canon-eos-rebel-t1i-first-hands-on-50ds-sensor-1080p-vids-899-?skyline=true&s=x
• http://cnettv.cnet.com/2001-1_53-50005555.html
  

This is amazing. It even has 1080p video?!! (Only at 20fps, but that might not be a huge deal) That's a big surprise.

This will be my first SLR!

Where The Wild Things Are trailer

Oh maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan.

This is AMAZING. Spike Jonze is a frickin' genius.

http://filmdrunk.uproxx.com/2009/03/where-the-wild-things-are-trailer

New Canon Rebel T1i tomorrow?!!

Looks like the new Canon Rebel is going to come out tomorrow (I've been
waiting for this one for a while!) This is gonna be AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!

Details:
http://www.canonrumors.com/2009/03/canon-eos-rebel-t1i-2/
http://www.canonrumors.com/2009/03/500d-image/

This is not official yet, but the announcement is supposed to be tomorrow...

The "Rumoured Specs" are:
Megapixels: 15.1
ISO: 100-3200
Proc: DIGIC IV
LCD: 3? VGA LCD
crop: 1.6
FPS: 3.5
AF: 9 Point AF
AF: Face Detection
Battery: LP-E5
Feature: LiveView
Feature: Movie Mode w/contrast detect AF

There has also been talk on the forums about a jog wheel, 720 + 1080p
movie mode... even possibly a swivel screen?

Oh man, this is awesome. I am defffffffinitely getting this camera!!

OMG - Karmageddon Remaster of Dave Matthews Band Lillywhite Sessions.... and "Build you a house"

The only phrase I can think of right now is... OMG.

I just found a link to the 2006 "Karmageddon Remaster" of the greatest DMB album ever made, the never-released rough cut from 2000, usually referred to as "The Lillywhite Sessions"...

THIS IS AMAZING. So a guy who called himself "Karmageddon" did the first ever remaster of The Lillywhites (which were originally leaked on Napster back in 2000) and released it in 2006 online. I missed the boat on that "release" and just managed to find it online now. I had this album on tape and rocked out to that in my parent's 1990 Honda Accord just after learning how to drive... this is the album of my senior years of high school... oh MAN!!!!!!!!!! Anyway this is a beautiful remaster and it just sounds so clear and sharp compared to the original recordings (which, again, are the best Dave Matthews songs I've ever heard...)

• Mp3 recordings of Karmageddon remaster of Lillywhites: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=YMVXQK7J
• FLAC recordings of Karmageddon remaster of Lillywhites: http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=2470761895b7a6ad297a0211fc2927a5598ff24d5b37c9cb

Note you can download the FLAC->Wave File decoder here:

• http://sourceforge.net/projects/flac/

The other thing that rocks? While on the weeklydavespeak site I also found a download to a song called "Build you a house" - I've never heard it before, and it's also apparently from around the same time as the original Lillywhite Recordings in 2000. HOLY CRAAAAAAAAP!!!!!!!!!!!!!

• Build you a house: http://www.weeklydavespeak.com/forums/showthread.php?t=206

I AM SO EXCITED TO LISTEN TO THIS.
I think I've got my tunes set for the next 6 months. Remastered Lillywhite Sessions... on repeat. DONE!

Friends at my place

Waterloo meets Boston

Sunset at baker beach

I love this city

Congratulations, Alex!

One of my best friends since I was 14, Alex Finlayson, is moving to the Bay Area!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is freakin' AMAZING news. Alex and I went to high school together and we were best buddies after just a few days in Grade 9 English class! We both ended up in Computer Science in University, and both spent a lot of time doing leadership training and motivational work with new students at our Universities. Our interests have been similar for quite some time, the clear definition being Mr. Kerr's OAC Electronics Interfacing class, which we both attended at Beal Secondary School as "roadrunners" from Central Secondary School in London, Ontario.

This is really fantastic news, and I'm really psyched to have another one of my best friends move out here to come to this area that has now very quickly become my home. The inspiration in the air, the entrepreneurial spirit, the keen sense of adventure... there is a lot about the Bay Area that freakin' rocks, and I'm daaaaaaaaang psyched that my buddy Alex is making his way over here. This really is the hub - so much of the computer, internet and technology revolution has happened (and continues to happen) from about a 50-100 mile radius from here, and maaaaaan it sure is exciting to be a part of it. I have no doubt that Alex will just love it here, and will fit in perfectly with the other ultra-motivated, driven, entrepreneurial people here in San Francisco and Silicon Valley.

If you know Alex, I'm sure he'd appreciate a word of congrats, and you'd better catch him quick! He's moving out here pretty soon.

He'll be working at Apple in Cupertino, on the iPhone!!

What a perfect job for him, and he's just gonna love it. Congrats buddy. Welcome to the greatest and most exciting area in the world for a Computer Scientist!!

Just bought the craziest shoes ever

Just when you thought my Red and White Ferrari Puma shoes were crazy...

I've seen these shoes before and they are totally INSANE! I love them, they are crazy, and I'm near to the only person in the world who could plausibly pull these off in a business meeting at work. Done.

I had a few giftcards sitting around, so this seemed like the best idea. :) Found 'em on sale ('cause seriously, who would buy these except for Mike Jutan?)... great deal.


adidas centennial lo oddity

Attack of the packing peanuts

An explosion. Of awesome?! Note that this post was sent from mobile phone! :-)

Finaaaaaaaaaally solved the multiple photo upload problem

I use Blogger with Picasa exclusively. This should work like it used to back in the "Hello" days where you could send a stack of captioned photos to your blog in 1 swoop. Thus photoblogging became awesome.

Picasa has an annoying "feature" where you can only send 4 images at a time, per post, to your Blogger account. After suffering through tons of manual photo re-sizing while on the road in Europe in 2007, and multiple crazy length posts with like 30 photos since then, I've FINALLY found a good solution to solve this issue.

You still can't caption them, but this is close enough!! Saves literally hours of wasted time selecting 5 images at a time manually, and hoping they get into the document correctly, pretty amazing stuff!!

The secret is: get a Mail2Blogger Blogger email address. This is an email address with automatically converts your message (and photos) to a draft post in Blogger. So you select all the images you want in Picasa, and Picasa resizes your images to 800x600, then it uploads the whole lot of them with room for captions. This is an amazing discovery because it'll save me ages of time on my next trip. Great stuff!!

Tilt-Shift Video

This is sooooo coooool. Tilt-Shift lens on a Digital SLR... gives this cool minature feel... amazing!!


Bathtub IV from Keith Loutit on Vimeo.

Aparment is coming together...

The new place is coming together pretty well. I still have a lot of work to do here, but I managed to get the desk together this afternoon (actually, it was a lot easier than putting together the futon)... but then took about 1 1/2 hours trying to get the supports onto the desk.

Then magically, Frank and Jess came by for a visit and Frank the master craftsman took one look at the desk and affixed the metal supports in about 2 minutes, it was absurdly amazing. That was great and really helpful! Then finished the like 6 loads of laundry I did (re-washing everything again that was in the old musty chest-of-drawers)... so everything is much fresher now.

So that's pretty great. Gonna go fold a bunch of laundry now, and try to pack up the suitcase so I can put together the chest of drawers tomorrow (or soon) and then I'll be pretty much sorted out here in the new place.

Once the new computer is rollin, then I can finally take some pics of the place and blog how awesome it is.

Some comments on the Extended vs. Aired edition of the Jon Stewart/Jim Cramer interview

Aired Comedy Central interview here:
http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=220536&title=jim-cramer-pt.-1
http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=220538&title=jim-cramer-pt.-2
http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=220539&title=jim-cramer-pt.-3

Extended Interview here:
http://blog.indecisionforever.com/2009/03/13/jon-stewart-and-jim-cramer-the-extended-daily-show-interview/

This extended interview is a LOT better than the one that was aired on ComedyCentral. I am a heck of a big Jon Stewart fan, but one thing I think The Daily Show needs to be very careful of is walking on the thin line between exciting, riveting entertainment and true journalistic commentary. Jon always talks about how noone needs to take him seriously because his show comes on "after puppets making crank phone calls" - and while it is true he is on a Comedy network, we ALL know that we DO take Jon Stewart seriously. If he was on CNN I'd watch him just as much as I watch him now, and I'd respect his opinion just the same as I already do.

One issue I see though is that there is (at least in my mind) a fair bit of discrepancy between the aired interview and the extended "full interview". The aired one makes poor Jim Cramer look like he's more often fumbling for his words, and it, in a way, focuses more on the old clips that Jon rolled and how they seem to throw Jim Cramer off track.

So my gripe is not with the interview, Jon's passionate response to the markets or the "shenanigans", or even that Jon brought up some old clips to shine some light on his thesis for the interview. My gripe is that the EDITING of this interview for TV removed the context of some of the back-and-forth... it seemed to me that when it was aired (i.e. the version that MOST people saw), the point of the editing added a much larger embarrassment factor for Jim Cramer. This is just the kind of "sensationalizing" that Jon Stewart always says he hates, and one of his major criticisms against CNBC, too. I just think The Daily Show needs to be extra careful not to fall victim to a similar problem that they are criticizing other networks for doing. The American public is not stupid - and we don't need the extra emotional factor added - just give it to us straight, Jon!

On the other hand, I appreciate that during the Comedy Central airing they said you should come to this site to see the Extended interview, and that's exactly what I did. I understand it needs to be cut for TV airing time, but there's no need to make the guest look weak unnecessarily due to some careful editing.

The full uncensored Jon Stewart vs. Jim Cramer interview

This was so intense.

http://blog.indecisionforever.com/2009/03/13/jon-stewart-and-jim-cramer-the-extended-daily-show-interview/

Jon Stewart vs. Jim Cramer

Oh man, this interview was intense.

After a week of bad-mouthing the CNBC network, Jon Stewart had Jim Cramer on his show. What resulted was an absolutely intense, 30 minute power-slam from Jon Stewart. It seems to me that the news networks pretend that Jon Stewart is "just a comedian", and that since his show is on Comedy Central, somehow that means he can't hold his own in purely intellictual arenas... I tell ya - he even outdid himself this time.

The main purpose of the interview was to try to hash out some of the details about why CNBC touts itself as a business news network and Jon Stewart argued that the network was "in bed" with the seedy Wall Street underground. He talked about the disconnect between long-term pension fund growth from regular Americans, and speculative/risky short-term stock trading by Wall Street "insiders" which rests on the shoulders of the regular Americans who want to protect their future earnings.

This interview was ABSURD!!!!! I feel pretty darn bad for Jim Cramer - it was almost of Jon Stewart vs. the Crossfire dudes proportions... totally nuts. Jon Stewart was SO angry. Just one punch after the next. Jim Cramer didn't stand a fighting chance. Also I should note, it was a good "interview" - though it was really more like a very well-researched, "intellectual rant" than a 2-way conversation. Jon Stewart just ploughed him down. Whether or not he "deserves it" is a totally different story. The video clips were brutal though - just so harsh and such an awkward situation...

New Mac Mini!

I MUST be busy. How the heck did I miss this announcement?

http://www.apple.com/macmini/

Last week Apple announced new Mac Minis!! This is great. I was planning on getting one of these last year and they have improved it in a few ways that benefit my current setup. They now have 2 display outputs, a Mini-DVI port and a Mini DisplayPort. Both can output to DVI or VGA which works well for output to my new LCD TV (which has inputs for HDMI or VGA), and for output to my 2 LCD monitors. The cool thing is that now the MacMini natively supports 2 monitors, since I will obviously want to get a KVM switch (or, actually, probably the software solution "Synergy") and use the Mac Mini and my Windows Dell Desktop on with the same keyboard and monitor setup.

So why else is this cool? Well the potential for more iPhone Development is obviously awesome. But the other cool stuff is that it comes with iLife, which includes RockBand and iMovie and some other really great software packages that I'd love to use.

It has 802.11N wireless which is good (guess I eventually need an "N" router, then) and some other nice features like 5 USB ports on the back. I could see using this as a sort of DVR if I could get a TV Tuner for it somehow and hook it up to my cable. Or more likely I'd connect my desktop to the cable and then stream the DVR-captured TV shows from the Desktop over the wireless network (or wired network, more likely, for speed issues) and output it directly to the TV. The other cool thing is that sites in the US like Abc.com offer HD Streaming on tons of their shows. Since this has a reasonably decent video card now, it could probably handle output to my LCD TV pretty well, and that would mean free (with advertisements) HD streaming LOST episodes on my sweet TV. Interesting possibilities!!

So anyway this is a great invention, and I could definitely find some great use for it. Also with my friend's discounts, I can get quite a good deal on this little guy, so it might be worth it for sure!

So there's a lot of general computer stuff to set up before I could have that crazy streaming-to-the-TV setup, but I think I could make it work. Also other cool options like renting a movie on iTunes and then watching it on my TV would be quite easy to work out.

This is pretty cool and exciting, and I'd probably get just the cheaper Mac Mini, but upgrade the RAM to 2 Gb instead. That takes it to $649 before a discount, which isn't too bad.

Unfortunately I also have my eye on another cool toy, the new Canon Rebel Digital SLR camera which is possibly coming out soon. That looks awesome, and I'd really like to get more into Digital Photography before I go traveling again. That'll be awesome, but it's gonna be about the same price as the Mac Mini, so I'm going to have to hold off for a while on both of these things and save up a lot. But anyway, lots of cool toys lately, and this one is particularly interesting in the realm of "wiring my house" for the "digital content revolution" - or something to that effect. :)

Pandora Radio frickin' rocks

So "Pandora", the online music radio, is absurdly good. I don't have my new desk ready yet, therefore I don't have my new computer up and running yet, therefore my Mp3s are who-knows-where, and I don't even have a stereo system yet, therefore I presumably have no way to play my beloved Dave Matthews Band, right? Wrong! Enter this glorious Pandora radio awesomeness.

I thought that was a reasonable backup plan, and I figured it couldn't be too bad, right? Anyway, it's like glorious. It's what I've always said - wouldn't it be great if I had a radio station with NO COMMERCIALS that also played pretty much ONLY Dave Matthews?! And... problem solved.

This is amazing. I'm on the "Dave Matthews Band Channel" which plays literally a DMB song every OTHER song. They are interspersed with other very very very reasonable Jutan-friendly artists: Jack Johnson, John Mayer, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Counting Crows, Bush (Acoustic "Glycerine??!?!?!?!?!"), even some Pearl Jam and some other kinda chill stuff that would literally be the EXACT kinda stuff I'd choose to listen to anyway. This is amazing.

I am blown away. Who else in the world has my exact taste in music?!?!??!?! Well played, Pandora Radio, well played. Apparently the "Music Genome" project tested a sample of audience which included the Dave Matthews-obsessed and discovered that these key specimens also like other chill/sick jazzy blues-rock from artists with incredible talent, artists who are great on their studio albums but like absurdly awesome when live. I don't know how you'd quantify that as a specific musical taste, but apparently there is some underlying method to my musical-interest madness.

Neighbourhood-y

This new place is freakin' awesome. I can just call friends and wander over to a coffee place when the weather is nice (like right now). My old place felt so out of the way, so removed from being close to friends and stuff. This is so much cooler now... I feel like I have an actual neighbourhood now... this completely changes my weekend plans, my social life, everything. I love this new place for like 10,000 reasons.

Operation De-Chubbify continues

Good news, still on track...

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Zen Bound iPhone App

This is nuts. This app is from a friend of a friend from work... this is amazing. Really pushing the limits of graphics capabilities on the iPhone... pretty impressive work.


Zen Bound iPhone App

JogDial - My buddy Nathan's iPhone App!

Hey all,

My insanely talented buddy Nathan Matsuda just released his first iPhone App.
Check it out!
http://www.nathanmatsuda.com/jogdial/

"JogDial turns any iPhone™ or iPod Touch® into a scroll wheel for your Mac.®"

Pretty amazing stuff, and he's got a Client App that talks to the iPhone App... very cool stuff.

Description from Nathan:

It's just a jog dial, like you'd find in a professional editing suite, except it's on your iphone screen. I just set it next to my keyboard to scroll through clips while I'm editing in final cut. Much easier to find a specific frame then arrow-keying through or whatever. It also works well for navigation long lists of things, like songs in itunes (since it works like the ipod clickwheel), or photo albums.

Sharp website, too!
You can download it now in iTunes here for only $1.99, and support Nathan's work!

Sweeeeeet Lego Wall-E!

Thanks for sending this, Noah! Super cool.

http://www.e-klocki.com/2009/01/13/motorized-wally-from-korea/

My buddy Bill is famous

Booyah!

http://gadgets.boingboing.net/2009/02/24/whats-in-the-bag-win.html

Meshugene Men

Check this out! My buddy Rob is a writer for Jon Stewart's "The Daily Show" and his work is always frickin' HILARIOUS. He wrote the "Jewno" movie last year around this time (parody of "Juno") which was just amazing. This year, Rob comes back with another instant classic, "Meshugene Men". (Parody of "Mad Men").

If you're in NYC Monday March 9th, you should check out Rob's show! (tickets at http://www.92yTribeca.org)


Meshugene Men

My hotttttttttt new TV

I've thought for a little while that having a big, fancy TV was a huge extravagance - it seemed kindof unnecessary and just a little overboard. So I got an old school Sony Trinitron XBR 36" CRT TV from a colleague and hauled all 216 lbs of it into my old aparment. For the moment, I was fine.

So I thought, "I don't need a flat screen, I've got a beautiful picture right here! I've got excellent contrast and glorious colours and sharp blacks and strong reds."

Then I had to move to a top-floor San Francisco apartment with no elevator in the building... and try to determine how many Computer Graphics nerds does it take to haul a 216 lb, front-heavy beast-of-a-TV up multiple flights of stairs. The answer? Get movers.

But the plot thickened, because movers were going to be $400. Ouch. I decided instead to recruit some kind friends and get a ZipCar Toyota Tacoma truck, and lug all my stuff on a day with impending rain... but it was all a complete success. And I sold that darn TV on craigslist and got one guy and is 2 poor buddies to lug the thing outta my old apartment (which was the main floor, thankfully).

Now onwards and upwards. So I modified my original ideas, and decided that LCD TVs weren't just for people with money to waste... it was for people who didn't want to pay $400 to movers every time they wanted to move apartments and had to move a TV of sumo-wrestler proportions to their new home.

After some massive research, emails to friends, reading articles upon articles on CNET, referring to Consumer Reports, talking to co-workers and family and friends... I decided actually against the Samsung LN40A550. I was pretty sure I was going to go for that and turns out when I looked at it side-by-side with the S-Series and V-Series Sony Bravia's at BestBuy, I was not too happy with some of the pixellation that was happening from the source channels. The picture in even the cheaper Sony seemed to be "cleaner" (that's the S-Series) though the colours didn't seem as vibrant in the S-series Sony. Anyway, the pixellation artifacts really bugged me in the Samsung LN40A550, and so I looked at the upgrade one, the Samsung LN40A650, which was almost $1700... and the picture was a lot better and sharper in that one. But it was pretty expensive.

Soooooooo... long story short... the Sony Style store downtown is closing. They will sell their stock and their floor models for a ridiculously amazing price. I ended up getting an absolutely ridiculous price (like 55% off MSRP?!) for the Sony V-Series. Since the deal was so good, I went up a size and got the 46" TV... the KDL-46V4100!! It is gorgeous. It looks AMAZING, the quality is great, the size upgrade from my old 36" CRT to the new 46" LCD is massive. This looks just amazing, the local free HD channels look amazing, and I can't wait to watch some movies on this awesome TV!!

So far there are some amazing features, the menuing system is very, very good. It is clearly modeled after the PS3 system (also by Sony) and it is incredibly simple and efficient. The TV itself looks great, and the quality is awesome. I believe this model has 60Hz Sony "MotionFlow" - the frame interpolation stuff, so I doubt I'll use that all that much... I didn't really like it when I saw it running on the James Bond trailer at the Sony Store... I agree with what some people say, it looks pretty weird.

Anyway this TV is just amazing, and I'll blog some photos soon. I now am officially impressed with large LCDs... as long as you get the deal-of-a-lifetime on them. ;)



Soooo hot. Here are some of the specs.

46" BRAVIA® V-Series LCD Flat Panel HDTV
Model Number: KDL-46V4100
V-Series features: Full HD 1080p, BRAVIA Engine 2™ , Advanced Contrast Enhancer circuit (ACE), 24p True Cinema capable, enhanced XMB™ user interface, BRAVIA Sync capable, piano black gloss finish
(Screen size measured diagonally.)

This is HD done the Sony way. The awe-inspiring KDL-46V4100 brings 1080p picture quality home with amazing, Sony-exclusive features like the XMB (Xross Media Bar®) with 3D graphics, DMex capability so you can add functionality to your TV, and technologies like ACE (Advanced Contrast Enhancer) and BRAVIA Engine 2™ for impeccable picture quality. Add to all this a sophisticated, piano black design, 24p capability so you can get the most out of the movies you watch on Blu-ray Disc™ and DVD media, four HDMI™ inputs along with three other HD-capable connections, and you have a TV that dreams are made of.
16:9 Full HD 1080p

16:9 Full HD 1080p resolution panel (1920 x 1080) accepts any HDTV signal and renders them with optimum resolution.
Motionflow 60Hz technology

Motionflow 60Hz technology allows you to enjoy movies and prime-time TV (film-based content) with a clarity and resolution in motion that will spoil you. Sony’s Motionflow motion-compensation algorithm identifies film content and removes “judder”. That means you'll get a clearer picture during sweeping pans with reduced visible jerking or stuttering.
DMeX™² functionality

DMeX™² functionality lets you expand your HDTV’s capabilities by connecting optional BRAVIA® Link Modules, such as the DMX-NV1 BRAVIA® Internet Video Link module (sold separately).
Enhanced Xross Media Bar™ (XMB™)

Enhanced Xross Media Bar™ (XMB™) makes it simple and intuitive to navigate the television's menus, controls, and user settings.
TV Guide Interactive Program Guide

TV Guide Interactive Program Guide is integrated into Sony’s exclusive Xross Media Bar™ user interface to deliver continually updated program.
BRAVIA® Sync™ capability

BRAVIA® Sync™ capability combines the one-touch access and control functionality of BRAVIA® Theatre Sync™ with the ability to control CEC-enabled Sony® Handycam® camcorders using the TV’s remote and an on-screen display.
HDMI™ and PC connectivity

HDMI™ and PC connectivity transmit both uncompressed digital video and multi-channel digital audio on the same cable for maximum versatility. (4) HDMI™ inputs deliver up to 1080/60p input capable video content. Additionally, a PC input1(HD-15 pin) offers up to a 1920 x 1080p connection to your PC so you can use your HDTV as a computer monitor.
BRAVIA Engine™

BRAVIA Engine™ fully digital video processor significantly reduces noise, enhances overall image detail, and optimizes contrast.
Advanced Contrast Enhancer (ACE)

Advanced Contrast Enhancer circuit (ACE) dynamically controls the backlight improving contrast and resulting in deep blacks in dark without losing fine details in shadows and other dark areas of the picture.
24p True Cinema mode

24p True Cinema mode enables you to enjoy films at their intended 24 fps (frames per second) when viewed using a 24p capable output device, such as a Blu-ray Disc™ player.
S-Force® Front Surround enhancement

S-Force® Front Surround enhancement function generates realistic, virtual three-dimensional “surround sound” from the two speakers in the TV.
Favorites function

Favorites function features rich graphics capability that makes it easy and fun to quickly access video content.
Voice Zoom

Voice Zoom extracts the "center" sound (where the human voice is positioned) so you can control the volume of commentators.
VESA® compatible hole spacing

VESA® compatible hole spacing uses an industry-standard mounting hole pattern that can be used with VESA-compliant mounting brackets.

Big Whiskey and the Groogrux King

hahaha awesome.
From the Dave Matthews Band website:

DMB ALBUM TITLE ANNOUNCEMENT!

You heard it here first, the next Dave Matthews Band studio album, scheduled for release on June 2, 2009 will be titled Big Whiskey and the Groogrux King.

Haha, I'm a WonderCon "Attending Professional"

This is super cool! I signed up as an "Attending Professional" for WonderCon this year in San Francisco, and I'm on their website!!

WonderCon once again welcomes an incredible list of attending professionals from all areas of the pop culture industry, including comics, films and television, animation, toy and action figure design, illustration, video games and much much more.

http://www.comic-con.org/wc/wc09_pros_list.shtml#J

Pretty sweet!
I think it's gonna be pretty fun, despite the obvious nerdiness of going to a comic book festival, there are gonna be a frickin' truckload of frickin' awesome toys there!!!!!!! I bet they'll have the Big Lebowski figures... those would look good on my desk at work. :)

Researching LCD TVs

Spent a bunch of time tonight reading up about LCD technology and trying to figure out which TV to get.

This is a pretty is a pretty interesting article from CNET: "Six things you need to know about 120Hz LCD TVs", pretty cool stuff. Seems like this anti-jitter technology may or may not be good, some people like it and other people think it is doing to much post-processing to the image from a movie, thus modifying the director's intent for the film. Interesting points on both sides. I think I am just gonna have to go to Best Buy and the Sony Style store and see what it looks like in person.

So far I think I've narrowed the choices down to 3 awesome options, they all look good, and I'm gonna have to see if the 120Hz and smoothing options are worth it, or not.

• Samsung LN46A550 review on CNET
• Sony KDL-46W4100 review on CNET

So I think it's come down to one of these 3 options. They all cost about the same amount.

• Sony Bravia W-Series KDL-40W4100 40-Inch 1080p 120Hz LCD HDTV
• Sony Bravia V-Series KDL-42V4100 42-Inch 1080p LCD HDTV
• Samsung LN46A550 46-Inch 1080p LCD HDTV

The W-Series has the Sony 120Hz MotionFlow smoothing function, which is new, but may or may not be good. I want to see what that looks like in person. If I go with that one, they are more expensive so I'll go with a 40" one. The next is the Sony V-series, which is 60Hz, similar presumably to the Samsung A550 series. That's 60Hz so it's cheaper, and so I can get a 42" for about the same price. I am also interested in the Samsung. Those are more affordable, and it's a 60Hz too, so for about the same price I can actually get a 46" one. Gonna have to just go downtown on the weekend and watch a bunch of TVs to see what I really like.

The Nerd Handbook

My buddy Matt just posted a link to this, and I thought I'd post one too... The Nerd Handbook.

This is frickin' interesting. It's a very good article and it points out some pretty interesting quirks and personality traits that you often see in someone with nerdy "leanings" such as, well... me... :)

I agree with Matt that a bunch of this stuff doesn't totally match up to every "nerdy" person. :) For instance, it says how nerds hate small talk, and how they don't like presenting to crowds or meeting new people, or traveling...?!?!? I definitely, certainly, love all of that stuff... a LOT. So I guess I'm not 100% nerdy, so that's a good thing I expect.

I loved the part about recognizing humour potential, and "scanning past experiences" for witty comments to make. Haha, that's awesome. The part about an unquenchable appetite for information is defffinnnnitely true (as well as the part saying "nerds have moderation issues") :) I have been known to spend 10 hours on my computer just reading and reading and reading.. even after a long day at work... crazy business. Yes, I am trying to achieve more moderation in my life, but it's tough!! When there is so much information out there, and so much of it is interesting... it's hard to turn off and just go sit on the couch and read a book.

The best part was about the "relevancy engine" - haha. I definitely do this all the time, and so does my Dad. You can be talking to me for a while, and it's quite possible that my mind is on something completely different than what you are talking about. I'm not being rude - it's just the "relevancy engine" kicking in, and my mind is wandering back to something I saw earlier that day, which reminded me of a lecture from University 6 years ago, which reminds me of some street sign I saw in Australia 9 years ago, which reminds me of what someone told me last week... which sparks an idea for a new iPhone app. :) This was a really cool article about the "nerd's mind" and I think a good part of this is quite (ahem)... relevant. :)

Wall-E wins Best Animated Feature!!!!!!

Oh maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/la-et-oscaranimatedfeature23-2009feb23,0,498059.story

Wall-E won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature!!!!!!!! 2 for 2, baby!!!!!!! ;)

This is just so incredibly exciting. It was SUCH AN AWESOME MOVIE, and I am convinced actually it was really one of Pixar's best films - it's certainly one of my favourites.

It was a dream come true to work on such a freakin' cool project, and I'm really grateful that I was given the chance to test the "technical director" waters, try my hand at the artistic and technical art-side of the job, and get my hands "dirty" with some 3D trash (literally) and get to work on Modeling and Shading for the Wall-E truck scene and scenes of the garbage and landscapes in the first act of Wall-E.

It was so fun to be a part of this project, and it is a movie that will inspire kids and adults alike for years and years to come. Awesome times. :) Congrats to the crew!!!!!!!!!

Moved!!

I just LOVE my new apartment.

Lots of updates soon and some nice photos of the new place, once I get things back in order.

Move Phase #1

Tonight Cabernet and Gatarelli came over (Matt and Sarah) and they were INCREDIBLY helpful and amazing. They helped me pack all my crazy kitchen stuff, wine bottles, glassware, plates, dishes, cutlery, EVERYTHING!! It was just amazing. We even got my new computer totally packed up and moved over to the new place. Sweet.

The truck is working out well and I managed to get it for tonight as well as tomorrow, so I could do the move in two phases. :)

Decided not to move the bed tonight since it's not supposed to rain tomorrow, and it should be easy enough to move over tomorrow with lots of people helping out.

Whew I am tired, we worked on all the kitchen dry goods and dishes tonight, all the cutlery and glassware, art and frames, and got all that stuff and my computer and monitors and speakers over to the new place tonight which is nice. Tomorrow it's just the boxes and boxes of books, some more kitchen stuff and dry goods, and then the furniture... the bed, the bookshelves, the desk, the futon, and the round kitchen table. Not a ton of stuff, and should be quick with so many people helping out.

Alrighty off to bed to get a decent sleep before the big moving day tomorrow.

Moving: Sold TV, got rid of stuff, almost ready to move

Preparing to move is going pretty well so far. I thought it would be insane to decide to move and then move like 6 days later, but packing up and throwing out stuff has actually gone very quickly. I craigslisted a bunch of stuff and finally got rid of my TV which is awesome. A guy came to get it today with 2 of his buddies, and he was so excited about it. He said other people were selling theirs for $300 (I figured that would be the case) so my price of $50 was so good he had to take it. That's awesome - I was hoping for someone to take it who was going to be organized and bring a bunch of friends to help and a nice big truck (they brought a Honda Pilot!) Awesome.

Been looking for new TVs now and Amazon looks like the best deal, actually. Shipping is included and they even have someone bring it up to your apartment, unbox it, and make sure it's working and connected to the cable correctly. Pretty awesome stuff! Looks like I can get a much better deal on Amazon and might try for a Sony 42" now or even looking to see how much the 46" ones are. But hoping to get a smaller set but a higher quality one - CNET has a LOT of reviews to go through. Now that I don't HAVE to get a new TV this week so I get free "old TV removal", I can wait until I find the one I want and then order it from the place with the best price.

My neighbour is very nice, she is in the wine industry and came by to say goodbye and also to bring me 4 more fancy bottles of French wine to take with me to my new place! That was very nice.

Also, Comcast is pretty awesome. I told them I was moving and they scheduled to turn off my cable and internet on the day I move, and scheduled someone to come to my new place to hook them both up the NEXT DAY! And also it's awesome, I said they should cancel my TV for now since I wasn't going to be using it right away... and so he offered to continue my internet and my cable tv, but give me the cable tv part FREE for a YEAR!! Amazing. I was really impressed with their service, actually. It was awesome, and it saves me $300 this year! Amazing.

Now I'm just continuing some more packing. Gonna have to spend a decent amount of time in the kitchen packing up stuff there tomorrow, but shouldn't take too long. Then moving this weekend!!

New Transformers 2 Trailer!!

This is amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Check out ILM's work in the new Transformers 2 trailer... super amazing!!!!!!!!!! This is so awesome, and the effects are insane!!


Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen from Bay Films/Michael Bay Dot Com on Vimeo.

Crazy Ikea Rugs

Going to IKEA tomorrow after I hit up my "bros" over at Pixar for lunch. Good times.

I need to get some carpeting/rugs for my new place, and man there are some awesome (though near insane) rugs at IKEA right now. These are all pretty cheap... and HILARIOUS.

I think I am gonna get the blue one, cause it's crazy, but not totally over the top. These are pretty nuts though... would look nice in my office at work! :)


Hehe, this one is nuts. It's not too big, and I think it's only $30 or something. Kinda ridiculous, but I like how crazy it is. Not so keen on the background being white though... that'll get super dirty.


I love this one, but it's too expensive ($199!) Ouch. It's super cool, but I don't think I want to spend that much on a technicolour rug. I also suppose it's kinda tacky... but I'm a computer scientist... so I'm not supposed to have a reasonably sense of style.


This one is the coolest, I think I am going to get this. It's cheap (like $20) and the right length that I need for the hallway. It's busy/crazy, but not overly insane so I think I really like it.

Don't worry, the rest of my IKEA purchases tomorrow will be in a more regular colour palette :)

Do I dare open the Pandora's box of Twittering?

So I've been trying my darndest not to reveal every single piece of information about myself in small chunks over the last 4.5 years I've been blogging.

Do I dare enter the world of "Microblogging" (aka "Twittering")?!

I am essentially ALREADY twittering since I am updating my Facebook status several times per day... that's basically the same thing. Although Twitter is more like a blog since anyone in the world can read it, I think.

So why the discussion at all? Well I just saw that the one, the only Dave Matthews actually has a twitter account. Even crazier, he updates it a LOT. This means he essentially sends lots of fans back a small, 160 character response to a question/idea/quote they send him. That's pretty AMAZING. Pretty interesting way to follow the life and details of someone you want to "keep in touch with" or just want to follow their Microblog or just want to "Microstalk" them. Anyway seems kinda cool and also super intense in the "always connected" realm. I could see how this could possibly be even worse than my addiction to blogging.

So not sure if I'm gonna open the Pandora's box of Twittering... but for now, this Dave Matthews twitter page sure is cool.

http://twitter.com/DaveJMatthews

Weight Loss: 1 down, 19 to go

Hey all,

So I presume most people are embarrassed to talk about weight - I guess I could say I am, in a way, too.

On the other hand, let's talk about it. :) I was as thin as a toothpick basically until I turned about 16. Then I got broad shoulders, taller, and bulked up a lot. I was doing cardio and weightlifting in Grade 12 and OAC and that was the toughest I've been. I was bulkier in Australia, but still a comfortable and reasonable weight. Then I got to Waterloo. Ouch. The stress of Computer Science at Waterloo and the many, many, many hours of stress mixed with no sleep and bad cafeteria food sent me over the top. I developed the "Freshman 20" like most people do... and I STILL haven't gotten rid of it. It's frickin' ridiculous.

Anyway I'm really fed up of saying that I care about this but not doing anything about it.

I talked to my sister a bunch about this and I've signed up for something called MyFitnessPal. Essentially this lets you track your calorie, fat, carbohydrate and protein intake per day, and subtracts the amount of calories you burn from exercise that day. Now I've heard that "just calorie counting doesn't work" but for me, it's better than not doing anything. I think I've gotten by for too long pretending I can eat whatever I like and not worry about it. So that's totally gotta stop. I keep making excuses (well, it's just a special occasion) but that seems to be the excuse every time...

I don't feel overly ridiculously overweight, but I would like to lose 20 lbs. That would be totally awesome, and I think my Tux will fit better if I get rid of this "Freshman 20" once and for all.

Anyhow, I feel like I need to "go public" with this so that I can energize myself to do better. If I know that one of my blog readers out there, somewhere, is interested in my progress... it then will motivate me personally to succeed at this.

Here's the tracker... so far 1 down, and 19 more to go!

Please wish me success and don't tempt me with cheesecake or Jones Soda. Or if you do, then please share it with me instead. ;)

Created by MyFitnessPal - Free Food Diary

I'm selling my TV

So I did some calculations and the cost to pay movers to move my desk/bed/futon/coffee table and 216 LB beast of a TV is going to be expensive... nearly $400. So if I schlep all that crap myself, and someone buys my TV from craigslist (say, $100), that equals $550 which is about 3/4 of the way to a 40" Samsung 1080p LCD TV. It seems extravagant to buy such a fancy TV, but "the math doesn't lie". Also if you factor in (thanks, Lausch for this piece of genius) that when I want to move again eventually, I'll have to pay movers again to move this heavy beast (another $200 or something)... that means it's the right time to sell this one and get a new one.

If you know anyone who is in San Francisco and wants a Sony Wega Trinitron XBR KV-36XBR200 36 inch CRT TV in excellent condition, originally $1800 TV... for $100... please fwd my craigslist listing, thanks. I'm willing to take less than $100 if they can move it outta my ground-floor apartment.

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sfc/ele/1034171624.html

Hopefully I can get rid of that in a week or two!!

The best movie soundtrack I've ever heard

So right after seeing Slumdog Millionaire a couple weeks ago, I went out to go buy the A.R. Rahman Soundtrack for it. THIS IS FRICKIN' AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!

I've been listening to it almost non-stop for the last week, it is so insanely awesome.

It's such a good fit for the movie too... amazing blend of hip hop, dance, and Indian themes... this is absurdly awesome. I think it's gonna definitely win best song at the Oscars (I think maybe "Jai Ho" over "O...Saya", they are both nominated for the same category)

This rocccccccks.

The Simpsons in HD!

Sunday will be the first time ever that The Simpsons is created/broadcast in HD!! Amazing!

They made a reaaaaaaaally wicked new opening for it too, check it out here. This ROCKS! I love how the TV they are watching is now an HDTV instead of the old pink CRT screen they've had for the last 19 seasons. :)


The Simpsons new main title

iMenorah 1.3 Released - fixes non-USA "international" crashes

iMenorah version 1.3 is now available on iTunes! Includes a bug fix for non-USA ("international") customers who were seeing a crash or the wrong number of candles.

Please stay tuned for details on our upcoming donation to the San Francisco Jewish Community Center.

For more details on iMenorah, see: http://imenorah.mikejutan.com/

I'm moving!

Exciting news!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am moving soon!!!!!! This is really awesome, and I am so excited for my new place. It's really nice there, beautiful garden and nice and chill area, great neighbourhood and it's a really cool place. It's actually got a bedroom now rather than just a studio which is great, and... a.... DISHWASHER!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is amazing news 'cause washing up before/after/during my last Thanksgiving Party was near insane.

I'm planning when I'm going to move in, and how fast I should move my regular run-of-the-mill stuff compared to my furniture and other heavy stuff. More details soon, I am really excited for my new place!!

New Canon SLR, New Apartment?!

Pretty cool stuff going on lately.

I'm waiting for Feb 17th which is supposed to be the Canon announcement for the beginning of this year and it is quite possible they will be releasing the upgrade for the Canon Rebel XSi Digital SLR camera. This is siiiiiiiick cause I've been waiting to get my new camera and I really wanted to wait for this. If it's announced now then presumably it's for the PMA camera show which is March 3-5. So if it's announced next week, I guess that would mean it's available about 2 weeks after that. Pretty awesome stuff!

Tonight I looked at a new apartment, it is BEAUTIFUL. It is so nice, and I like it a lot. I really hope I get it! If so, it's going to be so relaxing there, the place is a lot quieter and a nicer area than where I am now... pretty amazing stuff. The place is amazing for many, many reasons. :) 1 bedroom (finally) so I can stop having my guests in the same room as I sleep in, i.e. less combined snoring and more sleep. The kitchen is newly remodeled, looks fantastic, the appliances are very new and it has a DISHWASHER!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh man, that would have come in handy for the Thankgiving Party I had last year. The owner/building manager/landlord was so great, and you can tell that he takes a lot of pride in the building. He would be so excellent to talk to if there were ever any apartment problems. There's a great spot to store my bike, there's a shared laundry room but there are way less apartments than the complex I am currently in, so I bet it would work out great. The bathroom has a good ventillation/fan system in it, which is a big plus. It was an issue here in my current place that there's no way to get the moisture out of the bathroom other than opening the windows (which lets in the moist air from outside) ;) I LOVE the new apartment, and I should find out really soon if it's mine! Very awesome, this will be such a great change and will even encourage me to cook more at home since it has a super nice, big kitchen. I love it!!!!!!!! I really hope I get it!!

Japan exchange rate is nuts!

I just looked into the exchange rate for USD to JPY and it's terrible. I am still potentially going to Japan and South Korea in December, but if the exchange rate it SO bad, it could have an effect on my trip and it might make more sense to delay it (or go somewhere different for this trip)?

Check this out:
http://www.dailyfx.com/story/currency/jpy_fundamentals/US_Dollar___Japanese_Yen_1233689655719.html

So it's currently 1 USD = 92 Yen. This website talks about the "Purchasing Power Parity" which is basically what a currency "should" be so that prices would remain the same once you factor in the exchange rate. Anyhow it says that the PPP price of the Yen should make it so 1 USD = 120 Yen. I.e. you should be able to buy a lot more in that case. Therefore the USD is undervalued compared to the Yen, (the Yen is overvalued compared to the Dollar), and that's going to make a place that is already expensive even more expensive.

Anyway this is something to think about when planning my trip. It's only 3 weeks and hostels are going to be expensive, but still in the range of $50/night so it's not totally crazy. If it gets a lot worse or something, I could aim for somewhere else... after watching Slumdog Millionaire I would LOVE to go to India. Peru or Chile might be very interesting, and I've never been to South America. Or I could go back to New Zealand. Anyway just a couple ideas in case, but I'd like to stick with the plan to go to Japan and South Korea unless it's totally unaffordable.

A few re-arrangements on the blog

Hey all,

A couple small re-arrangements on the blog here. I've moved around a few things, hid the extra Mike Jutan description, moved blog-specific links to the new Blogger "BlogRoll" gadget, and shuffled around the links section a bit. Any comments would be great, thanks!

Berserker Comic at NYC Comic-Con!

My buddy Nathan did the effects for this video. Awesome stuff! It's an announcement for a new comic series at NYC Comic-Con today. Milo Ventimiglia (Peter Petrelli from Heroes) is Producing.


Berserker Comic-Con launch video

Indian Coffee

Today was Indian food/music day in Jutan land. I went to Blue Bottle coffee today and got one of the last bags of "Balmadi Estate: Bindi" coffee beans they had there, from India. It smells awesome and they told me some cool stuff about how they grow and harvest the coffee, sounds crazy! Anyway it smells awesome and I am excited to try it out.

As well as this tasty coffee, I got the Slumdog Millionaire soundtrack today, and MAN IT IS AMAZING. It's by the Indian composer "A.R. Rahman", who is very well known in India and also is obviously gonna win an Academy Award for this soundtrack - it's absolutely amazing and matches the portrayal of Mumbai in the movie SO well. That movie was reallllllly good, and the music play a really key role in the movie, too.

From http://www.elanorganic.com/India_Balmadi.asp: (looks like this place in San Diego also imports it from India)

India Balmadi Estate: Ramanand & Bindi
Elan Organic Coffees imports a beautiful award winning coffee from the Balmadi Estate, situated in the Blue Mountains of Southern India, the Nilgiris District of the state of Tamil Nadu. It is part of the O'Valley group of plantations that were developed over 150 years ago by an enterprising Scotsman, John Ouchterloney. These plantations are also home to the mysterious Toda tribes.
Elan will be the first to import these coffees into North America! The Ramanand is washed and the Bindi is natural processed, both from the Balmadi Estate.
The Estate produces one of the highest grown coffees in India. Their coffee is nurtured by native shade trees, called Sholas. The producer plants according to bio-dynamics, learned from Rudolf Steiner of Germany. This agriculture method depends not only on the quality of the soil, but also the cosmos-movements of the sun, moon and planets. To maximize the effect of their inputs, the producer follows a bio-dynamic calendar for planting, harvesting and applying natural fertilizers. The Estate is surrounded by a forest in which sambhar, bison, deer, elephants, panther and monkeys roam freely. Every year, the producer plants more shade cover and adds many new varieties of trees, increasing biodiversity and sustainability.
The coffee has won the Flavour of India, Fine Cup Award 2004. for India's best Arabica coffee.

Altitude: 3600-5400 feet
Variety: Kent and Selection 795
Processing Method: Washed & Natural
Grade: Strictly Hard Bean
Species: Arabica
Harvest: November to January

Cup Characteristics: full rich body, sweet acidity, citrus, caramel, apricot tones with a pleasant lingering aftertaste

My buddy Alex re-wrote the iPhone "Phone App" - and it ROCKS

CHECK THIS OUUUUUUUT!!! My buddy Alex in Toronto made a sick iPhone App which is a re-write of the "Phone" App for iPhone. It auto-dials a calling card for you, and it's a great integration with your pre-existing contact list!

Alex gave me 3 FREE App Codes (only valid in the USA - sorry Canadian homeys)

If you have an iPhone and call out of the USA often...
The funniest 3 responses to this post get a FREE AppStore code for my buddy Alexs new app: Alexceed's Connect.


Alexceed's Connect


- Automatically dial phone card for long distance numbers

- Allows you to call extensions with ease

- Allows multiple phone cards with multiple numbers

- View contacts by organization (companies)

- Tutorial link available within app

The app runs similar to the Phone app and can be used to dial any 
number

More details here: http://www.alexceed.com/connect/

Movie Review: Slumdog Millionaire

I JUST got home from the screening tonight of Slumdog Millionaire. Oh MAN it was SO GOOD. The story, the editing, the MUSIC (that was amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!), just unbelievable.
I've hardly ever felt tension in a movie quite like when Jamal sees Latika the first time at the train station... (I won't give away what happens for those who haven't seen it)

Such an intense, epic story - like Tantalus in Greek mythology - but on such a sweet and beautiful personal level. Jamal is such a likeable character, you just want him to succeed SO much. His passion rivals that of Romeo talking about how the walls of the Capulets cannot keep love out, and the kinsmen are no stop to him. :)

I LOVED IT.

The speed and confusion of Mumbai cross-cut with the relative calm of the "Who wants to be a Millionaire" set was very powerful, and the style of narrative was very different than the usual kind of movie that you see. This is not just a movie - it's a cinematic feat. Even being able to film such a movie at all is remarkable in it's own right, but to make a film this powerful and with this much passion... oh man it was amazing.

Strangely enough Slumdog Millionaire is the only one of the 5 Oscar Best Picture Nominated films that I've seen so far! Crazy. I am going to try to see Milk this week and hopefully get to see Benjamin Button soon too. But even though I haven't seen those other ones yet, I think it's gonna be pretty hard for anything to beat Slumdog Millionaire. It was so different than any other film you've seen in a long time, and everything in the film works in beautiful sync - the music, the sound effects, the editing, the direction and story... even the music offers a clash of cultures: classical Indian music mixed with fast-paced dance music and hip-hop. SO AWESOME. This soundtrack/musical score has got to win the Oscar, too. I think this one's in the bag for Best Director, Best Film... probably one of the Sound awards too. Amazing!

Pizzaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!

I love Tuesdays. Not just 'cause I've really gotten into the swing of the week at work and everything is awesome, but because Dominos has an absurd deal that gives you 2 large Pizzas, about 1 1/2 weeks worth of sweet, sweet Pizza (which still tastes glorious for lunches after being frozen) for about $15?!!!

So I love Tuesdays just 'cause I love weekdays. And weekends. But also because of the Pizza.

Oh, tax season, how awesome are you

I know I'm a huge nerd/dweeb/organizational powerhouse for actually getting my act together THIS EARLY and filing my taxes ALREADY!!!!!!!!!

You get all your tax forms by approx Jan 31st, so I figured... what am I waiting for?! They are due on April 15th, but if you wait that long it takes ages to actually get your taxes back. And this year I e-filed everything, and it's super awesome. Anyway I am totally psyched 'cause I never have any clue how much tax I get back, and I wasn't expecting much, but got a nice surprise!

Anyway, I love tax season, and it was fun to do my taxes (oh jeez, here come the Math student jokes) and anyway, great times. The money I get back is going straight into my Japan-trip savings account. I also love saving for cool stuff rather than spending my super hard-earned money on consumerist crap I don't need. Unfortunately any sort of direct money "stimulus package" from the government at tax time is going to result in me doing exactly what they don't want... saving it. I know the rebate last year was supposed to be a stimulus so people would "stimulate the economy" by buying stuff. I wonder with all the economic clouds forming last year if people actually spent any of it, or just paid off loans and put it directly into savings.

Well, another tax year, and another unexpected refund!!! Am I going to put it all on Red 3 in Vegas? Heeeeeeeeeeeecccccck no. And this, my esteemed homeys, is called "sound money management", something this country is unfortunately lacking in... TO THE MAX!

iMenorah version 1.3 coming this week

Dear iMenorah customers,

If you downloaded iMenorah over the Chanukah holidays and your iPod Touch or iPhone's region was not set to US English - you will have had 1 of 2 problems:

• A crash on startup
• The incorrect number of candles being drawn during the nights of Chanukah

Please accept our apology for this bug. This was due to an unforseen bug due to date internationalization formatting with Apple's iPhone SDK. Today, Matt and I were finally able to get together and get it fixed. We apologize for the workaround you may have had to do to make iMenorah function correctly. Please be confident that this will work correctly over next Chanukah... anywhere you may be on the globe!

iMenorah version 1.3 will be released later on this week, following approval from the iTunes App Store.

Transformers 2 Superbowl Trailer!

Holy sweet damn. The Transformers 2 trailer is out!!!!!!!!!!


Transformers 2 Superbowl Trailer

Star Trek Superbowl Trailer

Amazing! Star Trek trailer out today at the Superbowl.


Star Trek Superbowl Trailer