Saved From the Juicer, For Now

To update you folks out there, my Mac is currently in shop. Apparently, my computer was built with a faulty hard drive so it was destined to poop out on me eventually. (Damn!) I guess updating my operating system just pushed it over the edge. (Even hard drives get stressed out)

Thank goodness for Apple Care or I’d seriously be out a pretty penny. (Perhaps this was Apple’s ploy all along!)

I feel incomplete without my computer! It’s bad when you can’t live without it. (But I want to meet the person who can so I can tell them they’re weird!)

iPhone Leaves People Hot and Bothered

I showed up for work at 5 am (Starbucks in a mall with the largest Apple store in the city) to find people sleeping in lawn chairs and tents as far as the eye can see and a scary ‘little’ line waiting for coffee as well. I guess I underestimated the dedication of apple fans. . . and they overestimated Apple and AT&T’s devotion to them.

Apple made some changes, requiring iPhone fanatics to sign up for a 2-year contract and activate their phone on the spot. AT&T made some changes as well. The mandatory contract is more expensive, an additional $30/month on what most iPhone users already pay. Because consumers weren’t just buying a phone, but setting up contracts, the line moved just below a snail’s pace, leaving that huge line in the hot sun for much longer than expected. You could expect the sleep deprived to be a bit peeved.

Upsettingly, the majority of people in the first half of the line (arguably the most devoted) were denied their AT&T cellphone upgrade, probably because their 2-year contract from last year’s big iPhone release wasn’t quite finished yet. Our espresso bar seemed much more like an alcohol bar with people telling their sob stories about iPhone experiences of the day.

If it wasn’t the extremely slow moving line, the unexpected expense of the contract, or the flat out rejection, Apple fans had plenty else to complain about it and Starbucks was all ears (and caffiene) for the the morning. The phone’s cool factor couldn’t keep them crabby all day, though.

Speed Racer: Saturday Morning Come to Life

Even amidst the trend of remaking classics, no movie has been able to really take me back to the spirit and imagination of cartoons.

Speed Racer did it. Everything about this movie was cartoon. The images, the story, the excitement, the fun. The movie embodied the magical, whimsical, yet fun, thrilling, and simply comical spirit of cartoons. There’s no real way to describe it. It’s cartoon.

Artistically, it’s beautiful. Using every color in the crayon box and some of the coolest computer graphics, every image in the movie is as bold and alive as a kaleidoscope. Electrifying, visually breathtaking, and just plain stylish. It could have easily found success in art house/indie theatres.

As for the plot, it’s got depth to keep an adult entertained, continually throwing them back to the classic good and evil struggles of the cartoon and comic. Speed’s silly younger brother and monkey companion are a hilarious ride for kids. At the same time, the larger than life races with cars that physically shoot daggers and flip over each other keep adults and kids alike thrilled.

I love this movie. The not-so-stellar reviews are really unwarranted and dare I say pretentious views on pure brilliance and cartoon entertainment.

Geek at it’s Finest

Ever wondered how a barcode works? The bars and spaces are read by a laser that convert those spaces to 0s and 1s through a process of. . . I would explain it, but it might take too much of your precious blog reading time. Instead, look at this site: barcodeart.com.

Not only are barcodes explained, but some really fun tricks are done as well. My favorite is the barcode clock. The barcode changes as the time changes.

Along with geeky barcode things, there is a link to this crazy youtube video. I’m secretly jealous that I didn’t have the time or money (in clocks and a wicked electric bill) to do this first.