friedman: always supply your comparative advantage

I’m writing this in the event there are avid iPod/iTunes podcast users that, like me, didn’t know they can set iTunes to auto-delete podcasts after they have finished with them.

I listen to/watch anywhere from 2 to 10 podcasts every day. For years it has been a pet peeve of mine that I had to use iTunes to manually delete podcasts that I have listend to/watched in order to delete them from the iPod. I couldn’t understand why Apple didn’t provide an option on the iPod to delete podcasts I was finished with.

Turns out that unbeknownst to me, auto-podcast-delete functionality has been there for quite some time - just not how I expected. iTunes has had a function to do exactly what I wanted it to do - auto delete podcasts when finished - since version 4.9.

Here’s How

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  (4/5) - fantasy, super-hero, action, sci-fi

2008 is the summer of super heroes. First came the terrific Iron Man, then Ed Norton’s Incredible Hulk and Will Smith’s Hancock. The Dark Knight (Christian Bale’s Batman) comes out soon. And then there’s Hellboy II: The Golden Army.

I was surprised how much I liked the original Hellboy (2004). This second treat did not catch me off guard. While the beginning was a bit slow, the wonderful second half made the movie very enjoyable. The movie is Marvel comics meets Lord of the Rings meets Star Wars.

In Hellboy II Selma Blair and Ron Perlman are a bickering, but seemingly happy, married couple. What can I say, I melt a bit whenever I see Selma. She’s a Dale-type through and through. Perlman’s performance captivated me in the second instalment as much as the first. Perlman, Blair and their comrades must save the world from trolls and elves that have broken a millennial long truce between man and elf - or some such thing.

Frankly, the plot didn’t much matter to me. What made this movie wondrous were the breathtaking special effects by Guillermo del Toro who did both Hellboys as well as the Oscar winning Pan’s Labyrinth. The CGI and cinematography are as magical as Hollywood can produce. I wanted to pause and rewind the scenes to examine the excruciatingly detailed beauty. What an imagination this man has.  This quote from Variety’s review is apt:

Not to disparage the f/x guys, but what’s onscreen in Hellboy II is all about the seismic eruptions in del Toro’s head. Comparing his work to most fantasy cinema is like comparing cave drawings to the Cathedral of Cologne.

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Sony Movie and TV Service: The biggest ‘news’ of the Sony press event was the U.S. launch, today, of the previously announced (see here) video service. Sony, Fox, MGM, Lion’s Gate, Warner, Disney, Paramount and Turner Entertainment have partnered with Sony to provide movie and TV content for the on-demand download service. The system uses progressive downloads so users can watch as a movie/TV show as it downloads. Sony says, content is playable a minute or so after ordering. Purchased content only plays on PS3 and PSP. No PC, iPod, iPhone or other device support was announced. No official word yet on how long rentals will be available for viewing - one site mentioned that it will be the usual 24 hours and 14 days to start.

Note: While the previous announcement stated that a service like this would be made available ‘world-wide’, I checked my PS3 in Canada and there was no such content available. Note the “video” button circled in red in the picture above (click for larger view). If it isn’t there, no movies for you!

Resistance 2: They showed a little of Resistance 2. It’s looking good and includes 8 player online co-op support (probably only for certain missions). I quite enjoyed Resistance 1 so I’m looking forward to this one. What is it with the ‘brown’ colour in all the PS3 and 360 games this year?

Massive Action Game (”MAG”): This massively multiplayer shooter looked interesting. MAG supports up to 256 simultaneous players with 8 player squads, ongoing faction campaigns and character growth. The trailer looked great. It’s hard to imagine that 255 players will follow a command hierarchy that goes up to one or two generals. In my experience 8 players will rarely ever co-operate in an online shooter battle. I’ll have to see this one to believe it. See the blatantly pre-rendered trailer below.

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And nothing happened. Nothing captured my interest and certainly nothing was announced to satisfy the hard-core gamers.

New Products

Wii Speak: A microphone that sits atop the TV that picks up all the sounds and voices from a room. This will be used in games in lieu of a headset. But the Wii doesn’t have a system-wide voice system (let alone a decent online game strategy). This will need to be supported from game to game.

Wii MotionPlus: An add-on that plugs into the WiMote to add wrist based twisting motions to its repertoire of recognized real-time movements. One wonders how developers are going to appreciate the burden of developing titles that work with both the WiiMote alone and with the MotionPlus adapter.[gizmodo review here]

Wii Sports Resort: A new game, similar to Wii Sports, but situated at a beach resort. They demoed Frisbee throwing (with a cute dog catching it), sword fighting and lumber chopping. This game uses the new Wii Motion Plus for accuracy. Coming March 2009.

Wii Music:  A new music game featuring 50 virtual instruments was announced. A virtual piano, violin, sax and drum kit were demonstrated. Unlike Rock Band and Guitar Hero, the user doesn’t need to purchase physical plastic instruments. Nor do they follow note patterns on a screen to play. The instruments are ‘virtual’. Waiving/moving the WiiMote around in a manner similar to the instrument being played simulates the instrument. The virtual drum kit (see picture below) that uses the WiiMote and Numchuk as the drumsticks and a WiiFit board as the drum peddle was clever. But the other instruments looked like little more than air-instruments where regardless of what the user does some facsimile of music will be produced. Lame. And it sounded pretty awful. [more info here]

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(Click image to watch abridged version of Microsoft’s 2008 E3 press briefing)

[Full Microsoft E3 2008 coverage is here]

A new Dashboard Interface for the 360: It’s coming this fall. [ Watch demo here]It’s nicer than, but seems influenced by, the PS3 ribbon. It looks like it will be easier to use than the current blade system. I question whether people will want to learn a whole new interface.

Avatars coming on 360: Looks like Microsoft is trying to bring a bit of the Wii and Playstation Home to the 360. I’m not sure if my adult friends will take the time to create their own avatars.

Integrated Netflix coming to the 360: Netflix users will be able to queue up their Internet ordered videos to be played on the 360. This probably won’t be available outside of the U.S. for years (if ever). Regrettably, it appears that movies will only be streamed through the Netflix service and not downloaded. This means (i) fastforwarding and rewinding will janky; and (ii) the quality of the picture will vary depending on your Internet connection speed.

Final Fantasy XIII Coming to the 360! The hitherto PS3 exclusive franchise is coming to the 360 on the same day and date as the PS3. Final Fantasy XIII coming to the 360 is another Microsoft coup. Other than Sony Studios first party games and Metal Gear Solid, I can’t think of any major game franchise that is a PS3 exclusive any more. Interestingly there will be no Japanese 360 version.

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  (5/5) - animation, action, comedy 
Kung Fu Panda is a beautiful, vibrant, original and, dare I say, inspirational, movie. I had high expectations going in and they were exceeded.

With a few notable exceptions (Nacho Libre) I’ve enjoyed pretty much every movie I’ve seen that featured Jack Black. This role, which seemed written for him, is no exception.

Animated features are hardly a novelty these days. We take their high production values for granted. Yet this Dreamworks production is a notch above. It has an authentic Chinese and kung-fu look and feel. The directors and artists pay particular attention to the details of Chines architecture, painting, sculpture and philosophy. The colours are more vibrant, more real than usual. It ‘feels’ warmer and more believable. During the movie I noted to myself that this movie should be well received in China. It’s as close to Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) as an animated movie can get.

It’s funny. I laughed out loud many times. With one exception (hint, there’s a Nacho Libre reference) it does not rely on the inside-Hollywood humour that has become common in animated movies. Instead, the movie’s original story stands on its own.

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  (2.5/5) drama, western

In The Sea of Grass, a cultured Katharine Hepburn leaves big town St. Louis to marry a New Mexican cattle baron Spencer Tracy. When Tracy’s character, who spends more time with his cattle and prairie than is lonely wife, is unable to accept the inevitable settlement of the west, Hepburn is drawn to Tracy’s nemesis, a lawyer (later a judge) played by Melvyn Douglas, who assists homesteaders pressing their land claims against Tracy’s violent control over government-owned land.

Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn are my all-time favourite recurring on-screen couple (followed by Myrna Loy & William Powell, then Bogey & Bacall). Over 25 years they made nine films together. This, their fourth, was the seventh I’ve seen - and my least favourite.

Their performances were generally fine, though spotty in some places. Hepburn’s is better than  Tracy’s, who seemed to be phoning-it-in in too many places. I don’t think Tracy was convincing as a cattle baron. Any number of actors of that era would have been a better choice. Gary Cooper and Clark Gable come immediately to mind. Too much of the plot is not believable. Much does not make sense.

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Diary: Entry #1, 
Reviews: Metacritic | Game Rankings
Reference: GameFAQ |
Developer: EA DICE, Engine: Frostbite
Status: Finished “Welcome to Bad Company” (the intro level)

Pros: Boat load of shooter fun - Immersive - Humorous - Destructible environment - Terrific death/penalty system - Save points therefore a non-issue - Very good graphics/character models - Difficulty Level is just right - Amusing squad - PC can jump

Cons: Fighting with camera while driving - No coop - No customizable controls - Daft syringe/help system - No prone position

Introduction

In Battlefield: Bad Company (“BBC”) you play Private Preston Marlowe, of “B”ad Company, a band of misfits in the 222nd army battalion of the U.S. army -currently fighting the Russian Federation.

Somehow BBC had escaped my radar until I read Paul Thurrott’s review here. Our tastes in gaming are almost identical. So on his recommendation, I decided to try it.

Other than a few hours here and there, I’ve never played a Battlefield franchise game before. So I’m new to this franchise and, so far, I’m really enjoying it! Much,  more so than MGS 4.

Initial Impressions - The Good Stuff

Fun From the Start: From the amusing jazzy-organ playing opening credits/main menu this game felt like was going to be something different.

Immersive: As with other leading shooter, the ambiance, 5.1 sound, terrific graphics and, in this case, almost instant death if hit, give this game a terrific immersive (feeling like you are really there) quality that is still too rare.

Destructible Environment: The much touted destructible environment is definitely fun! But it is odd that you can’t totally destroy a building. You can knock out most of its walls but try as you might its support pillars will not blow up. So you can not, for example, topple over a two story house - even though you can knock out every one of its walls. Kinda lame.

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3G iPhone Hardware Reviews:

• Walt  Mossberg (Wall St Journal)
• David Pogue (NY Times)
• Ed Baig (USA Today)
• *Engadget (including terrific demo video)
• Sydney Morning Herald
• CTV.ca
• infoSync
• Times Online (UK)

iPhone 2.0 Software

• iPhone 2.0 Software Review (Gizmodo)
• Software Update Gives New Life to the first iPHone (CNET’s crave)

Apps and App Store (Apple’s App  Store Site)

• App Store Review (Engadget)
• iPhone Application Overview and Demo Videos (TechCrunch)
• A walk through the App Store, iPhone style (ars technica)
• What’s Good (and Free!) in the iTunes App Store (lifehacker)
• iTunes Remote App (CNET’s crave)
• iPhone Applications all the Rage (Seattle.com)
• Hottest iPhone Apps (PCMag.com)

Related:

• iPhone Launch in Canada Could Lead to Change in Data Rates (PCWorld.ca)
• What we love - and don’t - about the iPhone (thestar.com)
• Canadian iPhone Questions and Answers (CBC: Peter Nowak)
• iPhone 3G Disassembly - battery not soldered (fixit)

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  (3/5) - animation, comedy
Perhaps with all the non-stop publicity and, dare I say, hype, surrounding this movie, my expectations were set too high. Wall-E did not meet my expectations. It’s just an OK movie. The story was unoriginal pabulum, that should, nonetheless, be entertaining for a family that is looking for a safe summertime viewing experience.

Reviewers have mentioned that the movie is a strong critique on consumerism. Yawn! I think it is more of a commentary on society’s willingness to be lead around like lemmings which, perhaps, includes to movies like Wall-E.

Wall-E is the lone, and lonely, remnant of a humanity, which had left earth for the stars centuries before. I laughed a few times, but spent most of the movie thinking about how board I was and trying to understand what everyone saw in this movie. Every scene is predictable. Nothing to delight in that hasn’t been done before. As for the scene pictured on the right, rather than being enchanted with the ‘dancing in space’ routine, all I could think about was “how long will the fire extinguisher last?”

Pixar’s production was typically ‘pixar-perfect’. But a well-made movie without much of story doesn’t a good movie make. Wall-E is about on par with Pixar’s lesser-movies Toy Story 2 (1999), A Bug’s Life (1998) and  Monsters Inc (2001). The Incredibles (2004) (the best of them all), Toy Story 1 (1995), Finding Nemo (2003) (the 2nd best), Cars (2006) and even Ratatouille (2007) were all better Pixar movies than Wall-E.

There were, however, two exceptional aspects to my Wall-E viewing experience. First, I paid $13 for a ticket - the most I’ve spent on a movie ticket in my life. Second, it was the first digitally projected movie I’ve ever seen.

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Official Wimbledon Site | Men’s Draw | Ladies’ Draw |
Wow! John McEnroe opined that the 2008 Wimbledon men’s final was the best match he’d ever seen. At 4 hours and 48 minutes it was certainly the longest (the previous record was the 1982 Connors v. McEnroe final at 4 hours, 16 minutes). I loved it, stomach twisting and turning all the way.

In the end Rafael Nadal won the a gut-wrenching five set  6-4, 6-4, 6-7, 6-7, 9-7 match that spanned two rain delays and threatened to go into Monday. Nadal had two championship points in the 3rd and 4th sets that Roger Federer managed to stave off. But Nadal was just too good. As hard as it is for me to say it, Nadal deserved that win. Point for point he chased down everything Federer threw at him.

(Nadal collapses after his hard-fought win)

    
(Nadal hugs trophy - Federer contemplates defeat)

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Since I wrote about Rafael Nadal’s designer tennis shoes at the 2008 French Open, it is only fitting to post pictures the designer shoes worn by Federer at Wimbledon 2008.

As you can see, he wear’s custom Nike, Zoom Air, Fit Frame tennis shoes. On the left heal, his RF trademark is displayed. On the right heal, the Wimbledon gold trophy is emblazoned with the number 5 - signifying his 5 prior Wimbledon singles championships.

[June 6, 2008 Update: Having lost to Nadal in the finals, it appears that the insignia on the right heal won’t be changing any time soon ]

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[Top 20] [Top 18] [Top 16] [Top 14]

Here are my thoughts on the on July 2, 2008 performances of the seven couples making up the season 4 top 14. This week they have two routines each and Comfort and Thayne are dancing together for the first time. (Click images for larger view)

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Jessica/Will

1. Jive (Choo Choo Ch’Boogie - Five Guys Named Moe): Good jive. Terrific jump over/under through the legs (see picture below). [Watch on YouTube]

2. Lyrical Jazz (Alone - Heart): Finally! A memorable and enjoyable dance from these two. What a terrific opening jump (click picture on left). I now think I might ‘get’ what people see in Will. My third favourite performance of the night. [Watch on YouTube]

Comfort/Thayne - first time as a couple

1. Broadway (Cool - Bernstein and Sondheim): Liked him. As always, didn’t like her. How can anyone not  love the music from West Side Story?  [Watch on YouTube]

2. Smooth Waltz (Hov Arek Sarer Jan - New Age Armenia): Not bad. Especially for Comfort. I didn’t expect her to pull a waltz off as well as she did. Nonetheless, she’s my weekly first choice female to be voted off. [Watch on YouTube]

[July 3 Update: Comfort and Thayne were in the bottom 3 couples this week. Unfortunately Comfort survived to stay on the show for another week.]

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Ah …. Finally …. Wimbledon in HD!

I’m happy to report that NBC lived up to its promise to provide high def coverage of Wimbledon for the first time this weekend. And, surprisingly, they’ll be broadcasting all of the second week at Wimbledon in HD too.

With the U.S. Feb 17, 2009 digital cut over deadline looming, my bet is that the 2009 Australian Open will be carried in HD too, making all four grand slams available in HD in North America for the first time.

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Official Wimbledon Site | Men’s Draw | Ladies’ Draw |
The first week of a grand slam usually offers terrific tennis. This week was no exception. There were some major upsets and terrific matches.  See my “Wimbledon 2008 Begins” post for my Monday observations.

There was a touching moment (depicted in the picture above - click for larger view) this week when Richard Williams went over and shook the hand of Mr. Keothavong after Richard’s daughter Venus beat his daughter Anne 7-6, 6-2 in the 2nd round. Mr. Keothavong was clearly impressed.

Tuesday - Davenport Injury

It was difficult to watch my all-time favourite woman’s player, Davenport’s,  struggle with an ‘aggravated’ knee (an MRI after the match revealed inflammation behind the knee cap - not a permanent injury). Davenport’s career is near and end. It was sad to see her bow out on Thursday. But in an interview on Thursday she said she’ll be ready for the Beijing Olympics in a few weeks.

Wednesday’s Matches

Two of Wednesday’s matches are prime examples of why watching early round grand slam matches can be so fulfilling:

• Nathalie Dechy and Ana Ivanovic played three nail-biting sets. As much as I like Ivanovic I was cheering for Dechy all the way. What terrific play. But for an Ivanovic shot that barely dribbled over the net on match point in the 2nd, 97th ranked Dechy would have won the match against the current world’s number 1.  Below Ana is kissing the part of the net where the ball hit the net chord.

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Reference: Rogers iPhone Facts | RuinedPhone.com
Rogers has announced its (and its subsidiary Fido’s) long awaited Canadian 3G iPhone (details here) data plan pricing. The iPhone will become available in Canada, and around the world, on July 11.

Unlike AT&T and other international carriers, Rogers is not offering an unlimited data plan option. Rather it is bundling rather meagre data tiers to tiered voice plans at considerably higher prices than charged in Europe and the United States (see here). Here’s the details:

• Minimum 3 Year Contract (AT&T offers U.S. customers the option: (i) of a 2 year contract; or (ii) to purchase of iPhone outright with no contract- see below)
• $199 for 8GB 3G iPhone; $299 for 16GB (same as U.S. - announced by Steve Jobs but not yet officially confirmed by Rogers)
• No Unlimited Data Plan. Rogers offers the following mixed monthly voice/data plans:
  • $60 - 400 MB Data - 75 outgoing SMS - 150 minutes*;
  • $75 - 750 MB Data - 100 outgoing SMS - 300 minutes;
  • $100 - 1 GB Data - 200 outgoing SMS - 600 minutes;
  • $115 - 2 GB Data - 300 outgoing SMS - 800 minutes;

*Minutes are weekday minutes. Rates do note include $15 or $20 a month for an options such as Caller ID, more text messages and call forwarding.

By way of comparison the cheapest US AT&T data plan costs $30 for unlimited data and $39.99 for voice which includes 450 minutes, no SMS messages, and unlimited U.S. long distance (for a combined $69.99 total) (See U.S. Plan details)
[See also U.K./U.S./Cdn Price Plan Comparisons]

• $6.95 monthly system access charge is charged by Rogers/Fido on top of data plans. (AT&T does not charge a monthly access plan but does charge a one time $36 activation fee for newbies, $18 for upgrades for existing iPhone customers)
• All Rogers plans include unlimited:
  • evening and weekend minutes;
  • access to Rogers and Fido Wi-Fi hot spots (typically coffee shops);
  • incoming SMS messages.
• ‘Subsidized Only’ There is no option to purchase the phone at full price to avoid the 3 year minimum contract and cancellation fees (a practice prohibited in some European countries and under review by the U.S. FCC). U.S. users can purchase their iPhone’s without a contract for  $599/$699.

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[Top 20] [Top 18] [Top 16] [Top 14]
Here’s the rundown on the June 25, 2008 performances of the remaining eight couples making up the season 4 top 16.  Susie and Marquis were voted off last week. (click images for a larger view)

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Kherington/Twitch – Hip Hop (Don’t Touch Me – Busta  Rhymes): Who chose those hideous orange overalls and why that song? They danced well enough, but the routine annoyed me. I don’t understand how the judges enjoyed it so much. In fairness, hip hop is about looking cool and tough. There’s nothing Kherington can do to pull off  an image of being tough given who she is. [Watch on YouTube]

Courtney G./Gev – Rumba (Wishing on a Star – Rose Royce): Wow! What a spectacular outfit for Courtney. What a vixen! Terrific rapport. Quite the subdued rumba. A bit stilted a few times, but I liked it a lot. The best performance by these two so far. [Watch on YouTube]

Comfort/Chris – African Jazz (Beautiful People – Marilyn Manson): Finally, a routine I enjoyed with these two. Lots of  fun and well done. I still want to see Comfort voted off. Love the Marilyn Manson song. [Watch on YouTube]

[June 27 Update: Comfort and Chris were in the bottom 3 couples this week. Chris was rightly voted off. Comfort was not. Why the judges like Comfort and keep her week after week is beyond my comprehension.]

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MGS 4 Diary: Entry #1, Entry #2, Abandoned!
MGS4 Reviews: Metacritic | GameRankings.com
Reference: GameFAQ Walkthrus |

As beautiful and cutting-edge as MGS4 is, after making it past the laughing Octopus stage in the second act, I abandoned the game, at least for now. This surprises even me. I have been waiting for years to play this game, but the lack of a decent checkpoint system and endless cut scenes turned me off.

Poorly Implemented Checkpoints

You cannot save the game when you want and it’s checkpoints are few and far between. Adult gamers do not have endless hours, nor the desire, to replay extremely long portions of even a great game over and over.

When I play stealth games I want to be stealthy and play it right. This means taking my time, exploring every nook and cranny. Being sneaky. But when I sneak around for 30 minutes, successfully execute difficult manoeuvres and then die, I do not want to play through the whole 30 minutes again. No game should ever force a gamer to replay more than 5 or so minutes. Period.

Yes, I could have cheated and run through sections with abandon, gunned down everyone until killed, thereby learning where all the baddies are and what their tricks are, to avoid them on the next play through. But I refuse to do that. That’s gaming the game and not playing the game. It takes all the fun out of it.

Stealth games, by definition, are designed to be played thoughtfully and slowly. The player should have a realistic chance of beating a level if they play that way. But, when they die, as they will, they shouldn’t be forced to replay the last thirty minutes or an hour to get back to where they were.

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