Links of the Week

PSP 2 Officially Announced (gallery)
Sony has officially announced its next generation hardware and software. The codename of the device is NPG (Next Generation PSP) but PSP2 seems to fit better until the official name is released. The device sports 4 core processor, near PS3 level graphics, two touch screens, two cameras, microphone, speakers, six-axis motion sensing system, GPS, Wi-Fi, and more. It appears to be a touch bigger than the current PSP system but has a lot more power and more potential with Sony envisioning people switching back and forth between saved games on the PSP2 and the PS3. The game will support downloading games from the Playstation Network like the PSP Go does and interestingly it will have a flash drive cartridge support like the Nintendo DS does so retail will be happy. There is no release date or price but I imagine you are looking at around $299 and higher. In additional, Sony announced the Playstation Suite which is an Android application that will allow playing certain Playstation Network titles on Android devices. This is probably what explains the leaked Playstation Phones over the last few months as devices have probably been tested to take full advantage of the PS Suite. Below are various videos from the keynote in Japan.
PSP2 Revealed | Gameplay | Little Deviants

2011 Oscar Nominations
Hit the link for the list of nominated films in the various categories. Few surprises involved with the pack leaders being The King's Speech (12 noms) and The Social Network (8 noms). About the only surprise is Christopher Nolan did not get a Best Director nod for Inception which doesn't really surprise me consider most of the Academy is made up of older (like 55+) members that probably didn't understand most of Inception. That skewed age range is important to keep in mind as it often explains the nomination and winners. The age gap should favor the superior The King's Speech to win Best Film over The Social Network which for reasons I can't fathom is a critical darling. My picks for likely winners for Best Actor are Colin Firth, Best Actress to Natalie Portman, and Toy Story 3 for Best Animated Film. Any other choices would just be random guessing on my part.

Giant Lego Millennium Falcon
Below is a cool video that shows off some of the giant sized Lego Star Wars creations being built for a new attraction for Legoland California.

Bush White House Violated Hatch Act
To no surprise, The Office of Special Counsel has released a report that the Bush Administration routinely violated the law, specifically the Hatch Act, when it used federal workers for GOP rallies and political events. If the Obama administration did this, it would be treated like he tore up one of the last copies of actual Constitution but since it is Bush that did it barely gets a shrug of the shoulders. Yet people wonder how this country got in such a mess.

Jon Stewart Busts Fox News on Nazi References
Fox News as usual just makes it up as it goes as it makes a yet another poor attempt to pretend it always takes the high ground. Last week Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN) made a crass Nazi comparison with the Republican Party. Fox News pundits and "reporters" all condemned it with their usual outrage but as usual the idiot asskisser Megyn Kelly took it a step too far by claiming Fox News never makes Nazi references. So of course The Daily Show effortlessly proved her wrong as the network does it frequently, with Glenn Beck being the king of the Nazi references. Almost as amusing is Bill O'Reilly defending his use of the references by basically saying it’s ok when he does it. Most hypocrites ignore when they are being called out on their hypocrisy but O'Reilly has never been accused of being smart.