Month: June 2006

I’m recording every single game in the 2006 World Cup, and watching whatever I can. Most of the games, I skim for goals, or watch a few minutes here and there. During the morning, before going to work (thank you, Pacific Time Zone), I watch a bit of the first game of the day. Then, I avoid news about the games (most of the time) and come home and devour a bit of the best sporting event on earth. The World Cup is better than the Olympics (which I adore) because the television is better, with no advertisements interrupting the flow, and the competition is wide-open. I wouldn’t pretend that all 32 teams are of similar quality, but any one of the top 8-10 teams could take this trophy and revel in that glory forever. Even the usually disappointing powerhouse (yes, I mintend the oxymoron) of Spain looked devastating in their 4-0 spanking of the Ukraine. We’ll see what happens.

It’s actually a bit draining to have this much soccer available, and of such importance and interest to the entire world. The Premier League games I watch most of the year are high quality, and the rhythm of the season draws you in. But it’s not quite so frenetic, with its highs (Australia’s last 7 minutes against Japan) and lows (the entire United States – Czech Republic debacle). Thanks to a tip, I’m enjoying the Tunisia-Saudi Arabia match right now in full. This is normally one I would have skimmed through at triple speed. It’s not the best soccer of this past week, but it’s not one-sided. Game ended 10 hours ago but I don’t know the final score, yet. Live TV is so 20th century!

On a technical note, I’m feeling fortunate that our previous 40 hour Series 2 TiVo had hard drive troubles several weeks ago. The 80 hour replacement is being utilitzed more completely during this tournament! I do wish I had HDTV for this tournament. I haven’t seen a single game in that format, though every single game is being broadcast that way for the first time. Maybe by 2010, in South Africa.

X-Men: The Last Stand, otherwise known as X-Men 3, was playing to a mostly empty theater on Sunday night. I’ve watched the second one earlier this month. I think it’s helpful to have seen the earlier films; I’m not sure anyone would care about these characters without a bit of the back story.

I would see this film if you enjoyed the first two, but not otherwise.

The only character interaction which pulls you in is between Professor Xavier (Patrick Stewart) and Magneto (Ian McKellen). The two British actors do a lot for this film, which is why one of the plot twists bodes ill for future films. (Slight spoiler.) Still, we can all hope that Ian McKellen continues to thrive and is available for the next film. Aside from the obvious point — this is a comic book serial, so it will continue, the director leaves us with a hint of Magneto’s future possibilities.

The camera also lingers a bit more on Mystique in this film, despite an early “departure” from the main story. Villians are more fun, and a good-looking woman (Rebecca Romijn) in blue body paint and little more doesn’t hurt the comic-book audience (read: males from 15 and up).

My one major disappointment was in continuity. I’m not a very “close reader” of film; bluntly, I’m not one for details, usually. But a critical part of the film was as jarring as the difference between night and day. Literally. The climactic battle begins with a team of mutants marching in daylight, but the battle minutes later is in pitch black night. The daylight was sunset, surely, but if I noticed the switch, you know it’s blatant. I was with two friends at the movie, one of whom makes films, and he suggested that the major battle had to happen at night for cost reasons. The special effects would have cost much, much more if the background had to be filled in with something other than the night sky. So be it… just start the battle a bit later next time?

Metacritic score of 58 feels a touch low, at first…I’d say mid-60s. But I suppose judged on its own, not as part of the series, X-Men: The Last Stand needed to do more to earn kudos. The Metacritic summary points as this film as the “climax of the trilogy,” but I would expect another one. (I don’t read film trades, so no idea if this is already a certainty one way or the other.)

Update: Thanks to Rex (comment below), I was reminded that I should have stayed all the way through the credits. Here’s a link to what I missed on Google Video (not sure how long it will stay online; it’s 24 seconds long): X-Men: The Last Stand… credits

Good for the BBC: BBC News live stats

At CNET News.com, What’s Hot is updated with data hourly, and when new stories are published. Some of the Most Popular data is updated in near-real-time, though most is daily.

For so-close-to-real-time it becomes useless (but still interesting), try Digg Spy.

Showing usage back to the users… that’s fun stuff. And it definitely changes behavior.

A long time ago (relatively), Saturday Night Live (SNL) ran a skit about combination sports, like downhill soccer, or javelin baseball. Now a French television station is channeling (ahem) SNL in an advertisement: “The Biathlon”

As a mild spoiler, let’s just say that the targets in this biathlon aren’t all stationary.

This 45 second video clip won’t be available online forever (at least at the URL above), so take a look. Here’s the original location, but the video isn’t working for me in Safari, at least.)

Of course, maybe it wasn’t SNL at all, but that’s what my memory tells me…and Google could neither confirm nor deny my remembrance. Any brain cells firing out there?

Despite the name of this blog, I don’t really have a clock fetish. But I couldn’t pass up the Top 10 Strangest Clocks from TechEBlog. My favorite is #2, the T-shirt.

Saw the Capitol Steps on Friday night… don’t miss them. A public radio regular, the Capitol Steps are equal opportunity musical satirists on political topics, skewering red and blue states almost equally. Of course, in San Francisco, George W. gets most of the “love” when it comes time to poke fun at the politically powerful. The Lirty Dies! section of the show left our cheeks sore with laughter.

Despite knowing that The Da Vinci Code movie had not earned great reviews (Metacritic score of 48), we took it in late last week. I only read the book one year ago, so it’s relatively fresh in my mind. The movie was tolerable, but just a bit slow. That (lack of) pace is certainly a major reason for the poor reviews. Nothing characterized the book more than headlong pace and action… fast enough that you didn’t care about the nature of the writing. When the movie slows down, you start to notice its other weaknesses (the historical imaginings are a bit wild). But, are for so many worldwide, the book earned the movie a viewing.

Just posted my old 802.11b router to Craigslist, as I want to get it out of the garage. Not asking for any money, but I don’t want to ship, either, so this is San Francisco only (or Bay Area). Figured I’d let a few folks know this way, too, just in case, despite the geographical disconnect for many. Still, blog readers come higher in the priority list than random strangers!

I’ve been following the blog of Xavier Casanova because he spends some time on analytics. His company, FAQ, it’s about private, direct, easy file-sharing, focusing on Windows first.

This feels like Slide, which is not without its own competitors already. And, following the thread, I find that there are plenty of others launching to try and re-create filesharing.

Broadly, I think this is a waste of time. A solution in search of an actual problem. File sharing is a form of communication, and these startups understand that, but I don’t imagine their networks (of people, not computers) have much chance of supplanting the large communities which exist already in the instant messenging world or (wait for it) e-mail.

It’s not enough to be better than e-mail (which isn’t easy). You also have to be easier and I fail to understand why any client software is going to solve this problem. If I want to share a photo, why wouldn’t I use one of the dozens of photo services already available? I know this isn’t about photos alone, or even video, which some of these startups are explicitly tackling. But since these teams are using the current popular media types to launch their services, I don’t recognize significant innovation.

I’m not being analytical or thoughtful about this reaction, I know. I just look at the spread of similar services, and I shake my head.

One of my worst purchases ever? The Ambient Executive Dashboard. This device, with its three faceplates, and swinging indicators, promised to open up analog, real-world display of information which is normally constrained (not locked) in digital arenas.

The problems?

First, the device’s wireless coverage was miserable, in an office building in the heart of San Francisco’s business district. My indicators would either not move or swing inconsistently.

Second, the 30 included faceplates are for non-personal information, like weather, traffic, and market indices. Weather and market indices are mildly interesting, but traffic isn’t generic… which route, etc.

Third, the basic device cost $150.

Fourth, the opportunities to customize what information was displayed were limited. You can pay extra for some faceplates which can be tailored via a dedicated website (# of Yahoo Mail messages, etc.), but true personalization is not available. I bought this device well over a year ago, and even today, the developer specifications are still “in preparation” — that was the case when I bought the device, too.

When I left CNET last month, I left the Ambient Executive Dashboard behind. I hope someone else either found a better use for it or threw it away.

I was reminded of my wasted money when I saw mention a few weeks ago of Violet, a French company whose tagline is “The Smart Object Company.” As long as a device is seen as a toy, or a fashion object, I suppose Violet may deliver up to (lower) expectations, with a digital “rabbit.” At least Violet offers an API (look on the right, for a link to the, sigh, PDF).

Ambient and Velvet are among the few companies I know of that are innovating on analog displays of digital information. I haven’t searched/shopped around, so maybe I’m missing entire industries (not just companies) who are delivering great products and services in this category. Am I? I hope so.

There’s something marvelous about the concept, so although I’ve been burned once, I’m still anxious for someone to amaze me. Think about how many digital displays mimic analog displays because of the comfort and immediate comprehension which results. We’re seeing a promise of more realistic analog control of digital devices with new products like the Nintendo Wii, with its motion-sensitive system (photo). So there is hope for the reverse… digital control of analog displays. Yes, our planes are turning into “fly by wire,” but I’m looking more in the personal gadget realm.

Digital displays themselves open new possibilities, of course, at times far beyond what you can do with analog devices. I still hope that CNET News.com does more with What’s Hot, for instance.

But we’re all still human, with more senses than just sight and sound, so engage us!