Linkfest - More MPAA/RIAA Lies

Oops been a while. Here is the last few weeks of links that grabbed my interest. There is a gallery of a Lego Delorean, an end of the Encyclopedia, exercise myths, more proof of MPAA/RIAA lies used to stomp our freedom for corporate benefit, Keith Olbermann fired, and two amusing videos.

Lego Back to the Future 2 Delorean
Mimicking the style of the high end Star Wars sets, Alex Jones has re-created the Back to the Future DeLorean out of the Legos. Hit the link above too few more of the gallery.

Encyclopedia Britannica Ending Print Version
A true end of an era as the Encyclopedia Britannica is no longer printing encyclopedias after a 244 year run. The last volume will be the 2010 edition. The decision was made due to lack of sales. Sure most kids today probably barely have used a set but still a little sad to see such a thing goes away.

iPad 3 Officially Announced

Today CEO Tim Cook announced the iPad 3. As I predicted, the iPad follows the iPhone 4S in just being an incremental improvement over the previous model. Video of the event is here or the 99 second highlights here.

The improvements (comparison, other tablet comparisons) are really only important if truly anal about graphics and image quality. The device comes with "Retina Display" which is a 2048 x 1536 pixel range which means very crisp quality of images and video. Most programs and movies will not really benefit from this but games will. The CPU is dual core, so faster with improved graphics card and the camera is now 5 megapixels so great improvement there. Again most existing programs will not benefit but games might. The iPad 2 will get a $100 price drop. Hands-on video here.

Linkfest - iPad 3

This bi-weekly list of links that grabbed my interest include a prediction for the iPad 3, a valuable comic collection, death of a hatemonger, some funny, some cool CGI, and two movie trailers.

Apple's iPad 3 Announcement Predictions
Wanted to get my guesses down for what Apple will announce on Wednesday. I think the iPad 3 will simply be a retread of the iPhone 4S release. By that, I mean the improvements will be minor and for most with a previous generation device, it will not really be worth upgrading for. Basically the hardware will just be a little bit better. The chip will be a little faster, the cameras a little better, the screen resolution a little better, the battery life about the same and it will have Siri. The price will remain the same. There will be no smaller model to compete with the Kindle Fire and Nook. The price of the iPad 2 will drop by $100 but mostly to get rid of stock, not to create a new long term price point. The availability will be mid to late March. In addition, Apple will announce something related to rumored Apple TV. I think at most that will just be their existing monitors getting a boost in size and resolution with Apple TV built in that allows for more flexibility on what apps can be installed. Anyone looking for a leap forward in TVs will be disappointed. Bsically to sum it up, those with an iPad 1 may need to make a decision on upgraded but those with iPad 2 probably do not have much to worry about.