Mythbusters Ends in 2016

For many today was Back to the Future Day but for me its just a sad day. A true end of an era as one of my favorite TV shows has been officially cancelled. The news came via press release and Entertainment Weekly in an interview with the two hosts Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman (worth reading as the PR filters drops a bit). The claim is ratings, which isn't really surprising. If you have been watching the show you probably are aware of how hard it is to watch new episodes of the show. Discovery seems to have spent the last five or so years going out of their to figure out ways to kill the show by moving it randomly all over the schedule, announcing new episodes with almost no advance warning and little advertising support. Finally the extremely shortened seasons and exile to Saturday gave them the justification they wanted and so the 14th and final season will start airing on January 9, 2016 ending the show with 248 episodes and 2,950 experiments. The final Mythbuster Tour also begins in November so if interested click here for details. On a lighter note, in celebration of Back to the Future, here is the Honest Trailer.

Apple Announces New Lineup of iPhones and iPads

Today Apple held their press conference to announce their updated line up of iPhones, iPads, and iWatch accessories. Over all the iPhone 6s and iPad mini 4 are just another incremental in processor speed and camera capabilities while the Apple TV is getting a performance boost and OS upgrade. The regular size iPad didn't get any bump in favor of a new model called the iPad Pro which is really just the regular iPad with a larger screen and ability to work with an Apple only stylus pen along with adding the iWatch's Force Touch (now called 3D Touch) to all the new iDevices. 3D Touch allows for the apps and the screen to provide options based on a tap vs press vs deep press. Also they will all come out with iOS9 which will be released to older devices on September 16th. On to the overview.

Lego Hyrule Castle

Check out the video below for a look at a large scale (unofficial) Lego Hyrule Castle from The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess that took two years to build. In the video master builder Joseph Zawarda talks about his creation. For more details about the build click here. For pics of his other Lego Legend of Zelda builds click here.

Nerd HQ San Diego Comic-Con Panels

One of the fun things (at least for those that can't attend) about the San Diego Comic Con is the panels. However, while sometimes the actors and what not embrace the whole experience, most stay in "sales pitch" mode. As a result, 5th annual Nerd HQ results in much better panels as the more intimate setting (only a few hundred people in the room) along with panelists who are volunteering their time rather then completing some marketing obligation The highlights this year, besides the always entertaining Nathan Fillion and Joss Whedon, include the cast of Doctor Who, cast of The Maze Runner, Once Upon a Time, Stephen Amell (Arrow), cast of Mr. Robot and a whole bunch more. If you want to pick and choose which videos to watch, click here.

The Jon Stewart Era Ends on The Daily Show

It is a true end of an era as Jon Stewart signed off of The Daily Show for the last time on Thursday. Stewart led the charge of speaking truth to power, using actual footage, facts and evidence to point out the bullshit that politicians and businesses sell everyday. It is something that the 24 hour news networks and your local news is supposed to be doing but stopped doing a long time ago when they learned more money could just be made by feeding into fear and hate. Its a sad day for those of us that want a little humor with the facts of the day and now instead just have the usual nonsense spin machines to go to (nevermind the tragically that real news only comes from something like The Daily Show and not supposed actual reporters who only seem to be reading from their emails or twitter nowadays).

The final episode, to no surprise, was full of class and a fitting sign off as most of the previous correspondents (the talent in that room when they were done...) all appeared before Stephen Colbert gave a heartfelt speech showing his appreciation of what Jon Stewart had done for him and the others over the years. The next, fortunately brief, segment was some of Stewart's targets giving him a send off, and then this was followed by a walk through the backstage offices to the set as Jon essentially said goodbye to everyone he worked with each day. The last segment was him warning the audience to always remains viligent for the bullshit and to call it out when they see it before he got his own moment of Zen with a mini concert by his favorite singer Bruce Springsteen. Few shows get the final episode nailed right but Stewart has 2,581 episodes of practice and he nailed it to no ones surprise. His legacy established, he will be missed and all I can say is good luck to those that try to fill the mighty large hole he is leaving in his wake.

While not available for embedding, you can watch the final episode here.

Upgrading to Windows 10: Information Worth Checking Out

As of Wednesday, Windows 10 has started to roll out for free to anyone with an authenticated copy of Windows 7 or Windows 8. The roll-out will occur in waves so when you can get your free copy might be from now to weeks from now. There are ways to get it early (link below) but really you might as well just wait for it to happen as Microsoft is still bug hunting. For many the question is "should I upgrade, even for free". The short answer is yes. The long answer is still yes but it can' wait. The key reason is those (mostly minor) bugs. If you don't have the patience for inexplicable problems, give it a few months. Also if your current computer that might get upgraded is critical for say work or other important tasks also wait just in case. If you are using an older version of Windows, say XP etc then chances are you have a really old computer. Upgrading will cost you money ($120 for Home, $200 for Pro) so you might as well just wait until you are ready to buy a new computer. Below are links to key bits of information and tips for Windows 10.

- Key improvements overview - If on the fence, hit the link to see if some of the Win10 improvements are worth it.

- Ten New Things in Win10 - A look at a few of the new features of the OS.

- Win10 Privacy Settings: A run through of the different tweaks you can make to adjust your privacy in the OS.

- Up Now Instead of Waiting on Push - A walk through to get Windows 10 now rather than waiting for whenever Microsoft decides it is your turn.

- Five settings to check: Just some basic settings to setup to your preferences.

- More Tweaks: More suggestions to tweak preferences on Win10.

- Customize Win10 Start Menu - Run though on how to tweak the look, size and contents of the Start Menu

- Cortana Overview - Run through on type of questions can ask Cortana, which is Microsoft's version of Siri and Google Voice.

- Change your default browser: Its not as easy as it used to be, partly for security and partly cause MS would prefer you used their new Edge browser (which is getting rave reviews).

- Stream XBox One to your Windows 10 PC: This assumes you have very good network at your location (may not work well with wi-fi) as it is data intensive (through your router, the info doesn't go through your service provider).

- Disable Bing Search in Start Menu: If you don't want Cortana to provide results from the web along with local computer files, it might be worth cutting this off.

- Replacement Start Menu programs do work: If you just prefer the Windows 7 Start Menu, programs like Classic Start and Win8 (now Win10) still work.

- Delete old builds to free up disk space: After the update this might be useful if you have a computer with limited disk space.

- Best Win10 keyboard shortcuts - I almost never bother with keyboard shortcuts (even though they are useful). For those that do, hit the link.

- Disable sharing wi-fi passwords - In theory this is a good idea as makes it easy for friends and family to join your home wi-fi network. In practice though its best for you to retain complete control on who does join so I recommend cutting this off.

- Cut off sharing Windows 10 Updates: This is actually a good idea for getting people updates even faster but in practice most of us can't keep this own due to ISPs doing bandwidth caps. If your service provider charges by data usage definitely cut this off. As an aside, the tiers program are a complete lie designed to generate profit while costing the ISPs virtually nothing so don't let them or the politicians fool you on its necessity.

- Clean Install Windows 10: Instructions if you want to upgrade and completely install Win10 from scratch.

- Do Not Install The Windows DVD Player: Win10 does not come with a built in DVD player. Which is good because Windows Media Player and Apple's Quicktime both suck. But so does MS charging $15 for an app when you can buy an even better player for free. Instead of that crap, get VLC for free. If you are determined to spend some money, just donate to VLC.

Why Chuck Jones Was Such A Great Artist

From Every Frame a Painting here is a great analysis of what made Chuck Jones' Looney Cartoons stand the test of time despite many of them being nearly 75 years old. If you are a film fan I highly recommend checking out their YouTube channel for a fantastic look at the film making process and how ingenuity and often small choices make for memorable scenes and films. If you like their work you can also support the creator Tony Zhou at Patreon.

Batman v Superman Comic-Con Trailer

Saturday at the San Diego Comic Con 2015, WB premiered the new trailer for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. It looks like the movie is going to directly confront one of the biggest complaints from the first movie - Superman's indirect responsibility for killing what looks like a few million people when a significant section of Metropolis (which in the movie verse is across the river from Gotham). But if pay attention to newspaper articles and the like, it seems the death toll somehow only numbers in the hundreds so I suspect some comic book logic kung fu is used to minimize the damage. For me the real concern is that the movie is making the mistake that now two Spider-Man movies made by wasting precious screen time trying to set up too many other movies in the process. Amazing Spider-Man was so crammed that the resulting noise took down what should have been a good movie but the cramming resulting in rushing important character building moments (Green Goblin, Electro's motivations just not making any sense, death of Gwen Stacy that could have waited for the 3rd movie, etc.). This trailer feels like that. I hope I am wrong.

James Horner 1953-2015

Oscar winner and decades long composer James Horner died Monday when his plane crashed near Santa Barbara. The composer, probably most famous for the score to Titanic, was 61. He probably wasn't world famous but should have been for his music was some of the greatest created in the modern era. His scores include Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (whose queues continued to be use for decades after), Avatar, Aliens, A Beautiful Mind, An American Tail, Fields of Dreams, Apollo 13, The Rocketeer, and many more. Some of my favorite music includes his scores including Searching for Bobby Fischer, Glory, Bicentennial Man, and Braveheart. He really was one of Hollywood's great composers and a loss to music in general. Even without you knowing it he probably helped play a strong part into why you enjoyed some of your favorite movies as his beautiful music accompanied a favorite scene. Condolences to his family.

Avengers: Age of Ultron Trailer #3

Here is the third trailer for Avengers: Age of Ultron. It is looking like this will easily be the film of the summer.

Leonard Nimoy 1931-2015

Today marks the passing of an entertainment legend. Leonard Nimoy died this afternoon at the age of 83 at his home due to end-stage chronic obstructive pulmonary disease that the actor freely admits was probably caused by his years of smoking.

What can you say about his acting, his directing and his writing? His career though wasn't just limited to Spock. Depending on your age you might remember him from Bonanza, The Twilight Zone, Mission: Impossible (the TV series), In Search Of and later Fringe. For Transformers fans he is known as the voice of Galvatron in Transformers: The Movie and Sentinel Prime in Transformers: Dark of the Moon. His directing efforts including Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home and 3 Men and a Baby. (Hero Complex Video Retrospective) He also helped with writing Star Trek IV and Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. His free time was often spent on writing poetry, photography and music where he used his twitter account to remain connected with fans and friends. Regardless of his other work, all roads lead back to Spock. (Top Quotes)

FCC Officially Protect Net Neutrality (Again)

The FCC has officially voted to protect Net Neutrality once again. Neutrality was over turned by the Supreme Court. The new rules exist to try to re-enforce Net Neutrality in such a way that maybe the Supreme Court will leave it alone by reclassifying broadband as a telecommunications service that the FCC is in charge of. The key of the new rules are this:

1) Broadband providers may not block access to legal content, applications, services, or non-harmful devices.
2) They may not impair or degrade lawful internet traffic on the basis of content, application, services, or any classes thereof.
3) They may not favor some internet traffic over other internet traffic in exchange for consideration of any kind — no paid prioritization or fast lanes.

While the press and others try to make it complicated, the definition of Net Neutrality is very simple - "All data is treated equally". It doesn't matter if the data is a video, a picture, text, it gets treated the same. It does not matter the source, the destination or the subject matter - it gets treated the same. The subject could be the Constitution, a cat or a blank page - it gets treated the same. Fox News and others take a "sky is falling" belief on this but really Net Neutrality has been the default rule of the internet since its very beginning.

The main reason they want to reverse Net Neutrality is of course money. Treating all data equals means the ISPs can't charge to not treat it equally. Say by creating the internet version of an airline with first class service (called fast lanes), business class, and so forth. So if Netflix didn't want to suddenly find their videos playing slowly for not reason...they would have to pay a fee. Or if you are Comcast maybe those TV related websites they own load fast but those ABC websites they don't own kind of chug and skip. Perhaps a new music service with big bucks enters the market and gets that first class for their service but that new start up that does it even better just can't afford it so they fade to obscurity because the ISP's throttled their speed for not paying up. You can see how easy it would be to abuse things (and charge for it) if not forced to treat all data equally.

Now some says "this would never happen!". The thing is there is proof that the abuse had already started. Comcast, AT&T, and Time Warner (three of the biggest ISPs in the US) have already been caught throttling Netflix, YouTube, World of Warcraft, Bittorrent and more. Netflix had to pay up to get the video streaming service speed restored. They have all started to introduce tier pricing where you pay more to use more data (which with video on demand can add up real quick). Not because it costs more to deliver more data but simply because they can. Whether you use 1gb a month or 1000gb a month, the cost for them is identical...but with tiered pricing they can just make more money for doing nothing. Sadly the rules do nothing about tier pricing but my point is they already happily abuse the lack of rules to create a reason to make more money while providing no actual additional benefit to the customers. The question isn't if they would abuse the lack of Net Neutrality rules, just when and how much it would cost us when they did.

So what does this mean for the average American? Nothing. Net Neutrality has been in place since the beginning and all this does it make sure it remains in place. While Verizon, AT&T, etc are doing the woe is me game the reality is they should have already been following the rules of Net Neutrality and so nothing has changed for them too. The only reason to complain about rules that tell you "don't run with scissors" is if you planned on doing just that.

Ultimately though even if you don't understand what its all about just think of it this way. Do you trust AT&T, Verizon, Comcast, Time Warner, etc to treat their customers well and with fair pricing? If the answer is no, then you should be for Net Neutrality.

Jon Stewart Leaving The Daily Show at End of Year

It is a true end of an era as Jon Stewart announced today that he is not renewing his contract with Comedy Central to remain the host of The Daily Show. No reasons have been given nor a final air date of his show provided. After nearly 17 years of shining a comedic light on the failures of the media to do their most basic job and our leadership often refusing to lead to the point where The Daily Show is not just a trusted source of information but often the only source you can go too despite the 24 hours news cycle it lampoons (that such a sentence exists and is true is why no one trusts the media anymore).

His first show aired on January 11, 1999 and I missed that. It was not until sometime in 2000 I started watching. I have not missed a new episode in the 15 years that followed. Knowing that someday soon he will not be there to watch and inform simply makes me sad. It is almost like a favorite celebrity has died.

His legacy will live on. Before him the effort to police the media was lackluster at best, now its a thriving industry. Before him it was a regular thing to make fun of our ineffective politicians but most of the time it was of the pop culture variety. He started the trend to also humorously question their decision making and the often questionable motivations. In effect he often questioned why the media didn't do their job and then turned around and did the job for them. It is too early to predict his replacement but he (or she) has some mighty shoulders to stand on and a true north example to follow. Television and the "news" is losing a great one this year, one that cannot really be replaced but its in everyone's best interest for as many of our best and brightest to try.

From Comedy Central:

For the better part of the last two decades, I have had the incredible honor and privilege of working with Jon Stewart. His comedic brilliance is second to none. Jon has been at the heart of Comedy Central, championing and nurturing the best talent in the industry, in front of and behind the camera. Through his unique voice and vision,The Daily Show has become a cultural touchstone for millions of fans and an unparalleled platform for political comedy that will endure for years to come. Jon will remain at the helm of The Daily Show until later this year. He is a comic genius, generous with his time and talent, and will always be a part of the Comedy Central family.

My most memorable Jon Stewart moment continues to stick with me after all these years when he opened his first post 9/11 show (I would embed it but it auto-starts) with a message of sadness but also of hope. Its worth watching even all these years later. Other top moments can be found here.

Here is the transcript of Stewart's announcement on 2/10/15's show.

“Dough Herzog and Michele Ganeless of Comedy Central gave me an incredible opportunity 17 years ago to pilot this wonderful franchise,” Stewart said as his audience grew very quiet. “And 17 years is the longest I have ever in my life held a job, by 16 years and five months. The upshot there being I am a terrible employee.

“But in my heart I know it is time for someone else to have that opportunity. Not right away. We’re still working out the details. I’m up in September. It might be around then, it might be December, it might be July — we’re still working out the details. I don’t have specific plans — I’ve got a lot of ideas….I’m going to have a dinner, on a school night, with my family, who, I have heard from multiple sources, are lovely people.

“I’m not going to be here and try and sum up what this place has meant to me over the years. I couldn’t do that and…I’m not going anywhere tomorrow. But this show doesn’t deserve an even slightly restless host and neither do you. I don’t think I’m going to miss being on television every day. I’m going to miss coming here every day. I love the people here. They are the best, creative and collaborative and kind. I love them, and respect them so much.”

“It’s been an absolute privilege — the honor of my professional life,” Stewart continued. “I thank you for watching it, for hate-watching it — whatever reason you were tuning in. You get in this business with the idea that maybe you have a point of view, and something to express, and maybe you receive feedback. That is the greatest feeling you can ask for, and I thank you.”

Here is to hoping he changes his mind.

Avengers, Minions and Terminator Superbowl TV Spots

This Sunday is Superbowl Sunday which means this is when all of advertising blows what limited creativity they have on possibly interesting commercials. On the movie front that means teases of summer movies. So far the Superbowl TV spots of most interest in the movie category are Avengers: Age of Ultron, Minions, and Terminator Genisys. Sadly not a whole lot new was shown as the 1st and third are from the teaser trailers while Minions is another cute one around watching football.

Terminator Genisys Trailer #1

Here is the new trailer for Terminator Genisys that will be out summer of 2015. The overall story takes a page from Star Trek and X-Men were the previous movies still are technically part of continuity but also reboots that continuity. In this case the idea is the movie takes place in the future we expect - John Connor leads the remains of humanity against Skynet. Only something changes. From Connor's perspective he needs to send his friend Kyle Reese back into the past to find and save his mother (aka the events of the first movie in 1984) only something has clearly changed as Kyle finds himself in a different timeline than one he (and the audience) expects.

Marvel Announces Phase 3 Movie Slate and Avengers 2 Clip

In advance of the teaser scene from Avengers: Age of Ultron (clip below), Marvel announced their phase 3 slate of 9 movies. To no surprise it remains ambitious and tied together by Avengers 3 and 4 but includes a bunch of characters that the average non-comic book fan may not have heard of. The movies are:

2016
Captain America: Civil War (5/6)
Doctor Strange (11/4)

2017

Avengers: Age of Ultron Teaser Trailer

In what was intended to be a boost to the ratings of Agents of SHIELD was foiled when Hydra leaked an early crappy copy of the teaser Wednesday night. Said video spread across the internet like wild fire forcing Marvel to release the below HD version that does a good job of revealing nothing while looking exciting.

Apple Updates iPad Line-Up

As expected Apple has announced its updated line of iPads with the iPad Air 2 and the iPad Mini 3. Like the iPhone, they are really just a marginal update for those that have the previous generation of each device. The Air 2 just have a slightly faster chip and Touch ID while the iPad Mini 3 is really the Mini 2 with Touch ID added (for $100 more). In addition they officially released the next OS X update called Yosemite, announced that Apple Pay begins next Monday, the iOS 8.1 update features and showed up their refreshed Mac Mini and iMac. For anyone rocking an iPad that can already handle iOS8, the news is meaningless. Unless you are a hard core gamer, the slight boost in chip power is irrelevant. You are not going to notice the different in speed. Its the equivalent of buying a porsche to sit in traffic all day while living in a city full of speed traps. Technically the car can go fast but when will you actually use all that expensive power?

Ironically, the real tech news comes from Apple's decision to start moving away from the SIM card with their reprogrammable SIM card called "Apple SIM" that can be used from carrier to carrier simply by using software instead of swapping SIM cards. Basically it would give consumers greater latitude to go "month-to-month" with which ever carrier they choose for that month. The carriers still hold a lot of the power so classic SIM card tray still exists but this is the first of probably a bunch of smaller moves to hopefully eventually retire this tired 20 year old "technology" that really exists to give carriers the power as it acts as a form of DRM protection on their mobile hardware while providing no real benefit to consumers. Now to the announcement highlights.

Sound Advice on Ebola in US from Fox News!?!

Unless you have lived in a cave (driven there by the news on Ebola) then you are away that the United States is currently host to all of two people that have contracted the virus from a third person that came into the States with it (and sadly since died). If you watch the news though, they seem to have one goal - to terrify you into thinking at any moment you or a loved one will die from Ebola. Cause 3 total equates to all 300 million being in danger. Even though we are going on a month now and that total is still just 3. Cause that is how fast moving, dangerous to all, OMG we could die any moment, epidemics work. So here is what I recommend - listen to the clip below from Fox News. Yeah I can't believe it either.

Shepard Smith must be getting torn a new one by upper management (or they ordered it now that their stock portfolios are getting hit) for saying out loud what the press already knows but doesn't want the public to figure out - that there is no danger from Ebola. As he points out, you have a better chance of dieing from the flu then from Ebola. Currently you have a better chance of winning the lottery then you have of getting Ebola. There is nothing to be afraid of.

Anyone currently trying to scare you is the enemy of truth and good. Trying to score points, be it ratings, attention or votes, by scaring people needlessly is just a form of evil. And when its a politician, who has easy access to experts and they in turn also try to magnify that fear, well if there isn't a special place in hell for them then there ought to be. There is nothing to be afraid of. If going be in fear of something, at least next time be informed enough to know if its justified. Also remember, the news no longer exists to inform you. That is counter to their money making through entertainment mandate. You have the internet, start using it to gain knowledge instead of using the lazy route of listening to people who benefit more from scaring you than informing you.

Apple Introduces the iPhone 6 and Watch

Today Apple held a press conference to show off the iPhone 6 which will go on sale at the end of next week in two screen sizes. In addition they showed off the Apple Watch which is essentially the same take on the Android watches that have been on sale for over a year now only their version will not be available until Spring 2015. Overall much like in the last two or so years, the new Apple products are really about the companies attempts to catch up to Android which continues to dominate the mobile market and with features that Apple tends to introduces years later. The advantage to Apple being last (instead of leading the charge like they use too) with new features is they get to see the mistakes everyone else is making and correct for them resulting in a final polish and approach that maintains their sterling reputation for quality products.

As for the release of iOS 8, it will be out on September 17. If you were hoping for iPad details nothing was mentioned but Apple will probably do another press conference in October. A final note is the iPod Classic has officially been discontinued by Apple. If you are a fan of it, keep on eye out for clearance deals but once the remaining stock is sold, that's it except for getting it used. On to the new product details and analysis.

Robin Williams Dead at 63

Damn. One of my favorite actors of all time is dead at the age of 63 after committing suicide this morning in his home. The actor, who has spent decades battling depression and his various drug and alcohol addictions is suspected of dying from asphyxiation. One of my favorite movies of his was Dead Poets Society. I still remember seeing it a theater with my family. I also watch most of his Mork and Mindy episodes as a child. Really I consumed most of his work, be it comedy, drama, TV, movies, it didn't matter. Robin Williams was always entertaining and the best at what he did. I think his demons are really the only reason he isn't one of awarded actors in history as the skills were there and when allowed to be on display he simply had no equal. He was a four time Oscar nominee with nominations for Good Morning, Vietnam, The Fisher King and Dead Poets Society before finally winning Best Supporting Oscar for Good Will Hunting. He also one four Grammy Awards and three Emmy Awards. The actor is survived by his three children Zachary, Zelda and Cody along with current wife Susan Schneider and previous wives Valerie Velardi and Marsha Garces. His humor and gravitas will be missed and a true loss to entertainment.

Supreme Court: Corporate Religious Rights Trump All

It continues to amaze me that in this day and age that birth control remains an issue. Not abortion (that will never go away), but the use of various medical means to avoid even needing to have an abortion. You would think encouraging people to not get pregnant and therefore not potentially want an abortion would be a good thing. So while abortion is bad, so is preventing the means that might lead to that decision. A contradiction and yet one that the Republican party is happy to live with. Why? Because the religious right thinks any form of birth control is bad. Not because of the bible (because that isn't in there) but because of religious tradition.

A tradition founded at a time when populations could easily be decimated by war and disease. Usually war. So it was to the best advantage of those in charge to encourage as much baby making as possible to not only keep the religious ranks (and thus Church coffers) full but also allow those in charge to go off and conquer as needed. Wars are expensive and costly in manpower and the only way to keep numbers up was more children. This constant need to have replenished populace was why the average age of marriage was 10 to 12, the average age of birth was around 13 to 14 and the average age of death was late 20s. This "tradition" is what is fueling the religious arguments of today.

The Legend of Korra Book 3 Trailer

Below is the first official trailer for The Legend of Korra Book 3. In what is likely the final season of the show, the focus seems to be on how the world has changed now that the spirit world and human world are now merged. There is no voice overs or the like, just a whole lot of gorgeous images and scenes. While I hope this show gets more seasons, it doe seem the second golden age of cartoons will be concluded with the show's end as all the cartoon channels are once again drifting to childlike, simplified story telling that marked most of the late nineties and early oughts.

E3 2014

E3 was held this week in LA and once again it was gamer heaven as all the major players in the industry laid out their plans for the next year or so of games. As usually Sony dominated with announcement of Playstation TV (sling games to another TV and play Vita games), a white PS4 combo pack, Playstation Now (rent games) and usual slew of games. Microsoft played it safe by announcing only a bunch of games including a Halo collection. Nintendo, still trying to recover from very poor Wii U sales, also essentially played it safe that once again teased a bunch of potential great games but other than Super Smash Brothers doesn't have anything much left in the tank for this year. Below are links to a detailed summation with trailers for the major press conferences while what follows is really just my overview on things.

Sony | Microsoft | Nintendo | EA | Ubisoft

Apple Announces iOS8 and OS X Yosemite

Monday Apple started their week long 2014 World Wide Developers Conference (WWDC). For the last few years the conference has not been used to announce new hardware but to announce new features, updates, and changes that will be made to the software that will be running on future hardware. Pundits will complain about the lack of hardware announcements...but the pundits are either morons or liars cause they knew there wasn't going to be any hardware announcements. So on the software front, the iPad and iPhone (aka iDevices) will get the iOS8 update in the fall, likely to come with the now traditional hardware refresh of the i-line sometime in October or so in time for Christmas. For their laptops, the next iteration of operating system will be OS X Yosemite. Both will bring a bunch of new features that have, to be blunt, been legally stolen from Android and other apps. They have the usual slight alteration in implementation to avoid law suits but almost none of it is original. Except maybe their new Apple only programming language to replace Objective C called Swift. Still if use Apple products (like me), the changes will be welcome. Highlights below or can watch the keynote here.

Honest Trailer for The X-Men Trilogy

In time for X-Men: Days of Future Past, here is the Honest Trailer for The X-Men Trilogy.

R.I.P. Bob Hoskins

Fantastic character actor Bob Hoskins died today at 71 due to pneumonia that was possibly related this is multi-year fight with Parkinson. The actor retired after learning of the diagnosis after completing his last major role in Snow White and the Huntsman. For most though he is most known for his role of Eddie Valiant in Who Framed Roger Rabbit? Some of his other famous roles include The Long Good Friday, Mermaids, Hook, and Super Mario Bros. Not mentioned by many but one I really enjoyed was his portrayal of Winston Churchill in "When Lions Roared" (I still have the VCR recording of the mini-series). I always thought he was an amazing actor that could play whatever role was thrown at him. If anything, it is a shame that Hollywood didn't pay more attention and use him more. Condolences to his family.

New Amazon Fire TV Announced with Demo Video

Yesterday Amazon has announced their next attempt to get into the daily use of homes with the Amazon Fire TV. The tiny quad-core powered smart TV box is their answer to the Roku, Chromecast and Apple TV. Available now, the $99 box comes with a bluetooth remote, wireless connectivity, voice commands and the ability to play Android games (modified for Fire TV) with either the remote or a separate game controller that costs $40.

Hit the links below for hands-on descriptions and videos. There is also an unboxing and detailed demo video below. Overall the first impressions of the device have been excellent, citing an easy to use controller that does not rely on line of sight, a very fast response time to loading videos and a lot of potential. The game controller turns it into an inexpensive video game console, useful for those that already enjoy many Android based games. Already there is a long list of games and channels that are available right from the start but its not clear if some of those channels require a corresponding cable subscription like they do on other devices (but I assume they do).

Hands-on: Gizmodo | The Verge | Engadget

Reviews: The Verge | Gizmodo

So just based on the descriptions, is it worth buying? If you already own some smart TV solution from the last year or two, I see little additional benefit from buying a second box unless just really love video games. However, if you are new to looking for one of these devices or just wanting to replace a current one, then it does seem superior to current offerings. The AppleTV could have been great but really if you don't live in the Apple ecosystem you are paying a whole lot of money to enjoy only 10% of what it can do. The $99 Roku is an alway recommend but this new box blows it out of the water in speed and potential, along with a user interface that doesn't appear out of date and clunky. Even though it is compared to the Chromecast, that is its own separate thing that is (to me) really designed to share and view tablet content on a TV and more in addition to a smart TV box solution rather than instead of one. As for Amazon Prime subscribers, its an easy choice. There is no reason to get any other box but this one.

Based on descriptions, initial hands-on write-ups and the potential that Amazon's market share brings to bear, if you are in the market to spend around $100 for a smart TV solution, then the Amazon Fire TV may quickly become the leader in the market, especially if Apple continues to limit the capabilities of their own hardware. If you are interested in getting one, the Amazon Fire TV is available now, the game controller accessory will be out on April 24th.

X-Men: Days of Future Past Trailer #2

Today the second trailer was released for X-Men: Days of Future Past that unites the cast from the original X-Men trilogy with the cast of the relaunch that was set in 60s. The movie jumps to the 80s as Xavier is at his most depressed. Meanwhile, in the future the X-Men are fighting a losing battle against extinction and in a desperate gamble sends old Wolverine into the body of young Wolverine (in the 70s) to try and prevent that future from occurring. The movie is based on the early 1980s story of the same name that is considered one of the best X-Men stories ever written and has been frequently emulated in some form or fashion in comics, books and movies ever sense. Based on what is seen hear, this could be an amazing movie.

Comcast Doesn't Give a F**k

This video from Funny or Die pretty much summarizes why the merger between Comcast and Time Warner Cable is a very bad idea. So of course once money and future job promises are completed, the FCC will happily approve it. The last major merger from Comcast was for NBC and its networks. Shortly after the approval one of the people that vote for and pushed for it left the FCC to work for the company. Considering how well that plan worked last time, I expected a repeat performance. I also think at least one of those that have a vote use to work as a high level executive for the company. The Justice Department also have to approve the merger so that might be a roadblock but only if Comcast does something foolish in the next six months or so (like try to block Google Fiber expansion).

NBC Olympics Opening Intro and Closing Ceremony Montages from Years Past

I love watching the Olympics and the 2014 Sochi Games were no different. Sure the drama and individual stories are often exaggerated but really for me it really isn't about team and country. It is about the excitement, the drama, its pure unpredictableness. There are favorites to win but more often than not, the favorites seem to fall short for the simple fact it is the Olympics and nothing less than perfection is required on the day and no human is capable of being perfect on demand regardless of the training involved.

But what I really enjoy is the joy. Regardless of who wins or the country involved, for at least two weeks it doesn't matter. Instead we get to see that pure joy from an athlete achieving a dream, family and friends enjoying the success and fans around the world reveling in the moment. Joy in its purist form that has nothing to with lines on a map or political differences. It doesn't last long but its wonderful to see, if only because if you think about it, how often do you get to see real joy in your daily life? Not much, but for two weeks you get to see it over and over and over.

Best News Bloopers of 2013

A little year end funny with a bunch of news bloopers from the year edited together in two parts. Technically NSFW due to language and sexual references.

Working Life-Size Lego Car

As the below video does show that using a whole lot of ingenuity, 500,000+ Lego, and air Steve Sammartino and Raul Oaida were able to build a car that is drivable and does move forward while powered only by air. Everything about the car is Lego including the engine with its 256 pistons and is capable of a speed of 20 - 30kpm (12.5-18.5 mph). (via i09)

Disney Buys Rights to New Indiana Jones Films

Today Walt Disney Studios and Paramount Pictures have announced a new agreement regarding the Indiana Jones franchise. While buying Lucasfilm gave Star Wars to Disney, the deal did not come with Indiana Jones as Paramount owned the rights to the character and movies. Under the new agreement, Disney will have the rights to make, market and distribute new films using the Jones-verse while Paramount will retain distribution rights to the first four films and get a cut of the future films. Disney did not announce a new film is in the works but if Star Wars is any indication they are working on that as they will want to recoup whatever the unannounced cost of the rights transfer as soon as possible.

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 Trailer #1

The first trailer for The Amazing Spider-Man 2 has been released and it is looking pretty good. The movie, coming May 2014, has Electro (Jamie Foxx) as the main big bad but clearly there is more to the movie with teases of the Rhino, a sick Norman Osborn, Harry Osborn with what appears to be glimpses of Doc Octopus's mechanical arms and the Vultures wings. Probably one of the Osborn's will become the Green Goblin but unknown if that alter ego is in the movie. The suggestion could be the film at least introduces the "Sinister Six."

In the comics that is the name of six Spider-Man villains joining together to defeat Spider-Man, a kind of anti-Avengers team to stop one hero. The idea could be awesome if handled well but as Spider-Man 3 proved, too many bad guys can be a bad thing, especially if forced to spend a good chunk of the movie providing the big bads origin, spending enough time to get the audience to love or hate him and usual story needs. Seems a proper use of the Sinister Six would need to be saved for The Amazing Spider-Man 4 or 5 so that each of the six can get all that done in the previous installments. Again The Avengers formula of using other movies to do the character introductions, origin etc. so that the team movie can just focus on the main story. In this case, assuming The Lizard is one of the six, after the sequel you may or may not have the introductions for Lizard, Green Goblin, Rhino and Electro. That leaves Six mainstay Doc Oct and I guess the Vulture (personally I would swap out Lizard and introduce Mysterio). Any case that is a lot of character origin stuff to juggle unless use three and maybe four to introduce the new characters with the fifth as a kind of grand finale six vs one fight. All that speculation is years away from being proven true or false so instead just enjoy the trailer below. The second video is commentary from the core cast and director for the trailer that is more informative then would expect.

Beautiful Time-lapse Compilations from the ISS

Take a few minutes and enjoy the grandeur of Earth from the International Space Station in the two compilation videos edited by David Peterson using footage from ISS Astronauts including Don Pettit. (via i09)

Man of Steel Honest Trailer, Everything Wrong with Pacific Rim

While I really loved Pacific Rim and Man of Steel, buying both Blu-ray versions on day of release I am more then willing to admit that both movies have flaws. Flaws that the Honest Trailer and Everything Wrong series is happy to use to amusing effect.

Outstanding Lego Arkham Asylum

Lego Masterbuilder Thorsten Bonsch has built an amazing Lego version of Arkham Asylum from the Batman comic books. The large structure doesn't appear to be based on any one version of the Asylum but Bonsch view of how it might look with inspiration from HP Lovecraft. Just as amazing is he created an 82 "making of book" that explains exactly how the built the huge structure. To view his gallery, hit his flickr account and download his making of book (.pdf) here. (via Brothers Brick)

Apple's October Event Introduces iPad Air

Tuesday Apple introduced the next iteration of their iPad, iPad mini, Macbook Pro and Mac Pro. As expected, most changes will not particularly big, just small hardware improvements that only graphic intensive gamers will enjoy. For the iPad, its gets another new name called the iPad Air to highlight that its now at just a pound in weight while the iPad mini enjoys a solid boost with Retina Display but its comes with a $70 increase in price tag. In addition to the hardware tweaks iOS X update, called Mavericks, is free along with new hardware buyers able to get most of Apple's suite of programs for free (iLife, iWorks, etc.). Currently the release date is November 1st for the iPad and later in the month for the mini.

iPad Air
- 20% thinner at 7.5mm, 1 pound in weight, screen resolution and battery life same as previous gen.
- Cameras same but now front camera can shoot at 1080p instead of previous 720p
- Contains the A7 chip, same as iPhone 5s with its 64-bit architecture
- Smart cases now cover entire iPad, not just screen but now at double the price for $80.
- Price: $499 ($16GB), $599 (32GB), $699 (64GB), $799 (128GB) and add $130 for mobile equivalent
- Comparison
- Hands-on: Engadget | Verge | Gizmodo

$24 Billion Lost

The cost of the government shutdown that last 16 days to the United States economy was $24 billion.  $24 billion, with a B. Remember that number the next time Republicans talk about fiscal responsibility.

$24 billion, to gain nothing in return. $24 billion to accomplish nothing except look like fools and please their Tea Party morons, the same morons that later complained when government services were not available when they wanted them, even though their leaders were doing exactly what they wanted.  $24 billion which could have paid for a host of programs, helped a host of people, that painfully proves that government is needed.

While I hope that Republicans look at this and decide that maybe their goal should be to improve government. To fix what is broke, to always improve what is already working, and to cut the fat where clearly it needs to be cut. Sadly, the Republican party lives to break that which works and make worse those things that need to be improved. Sadly, the Republican party believes a hammer is always the solution when a scalpel is needed. Sadly the Republican party is nothing but fools that seem to be determined to destroy the United States just so they can claim a empty victory. The Tea Party is a cancer on American but before they rot away hopefully they will take the Republican party with them. The conservative movement has consistently been on the wrong side of history and sadly it looks like that will remain true.

$24 billion, lost for nothing.

RIP Tom Clancy

Sadly one of my favorite writers Tom Clancy died today at the age of 66. He was most known for the creation of the Jack Ryan character that was the star of a bunch of his books from the mid-80s to today with five movies created based on the character. I have been reading his books since I was in Jr High with some of my favorite books being Red Storm Rising, The Sum of All Fears and Executive Orders. I have long looked forward to each new novel, reading through them in just days. I recommend reading any you can get hold of with a special focus on the Jack Ryan series. While his post 2001 politics often mucked up the books, they were still entertaining reads. His last Jack Ryan novel, Command Authority, will be out at the end of the year. While my mini write-up is frankly crap, I do recommend reading AV Club's look back at this fantastic writer an enduring character that will soon be as well know as Jason Bourne and James Bond. Thanks you John Clancy for the great childhood reads that carried on into adult. Your creativity will be missed.

Republicans Successfully Shut Down US Government

After threatening it for every law, every month, for years, the GOP has finally successfully shutdown the US government. The last time they did this was 17 years under the leadership of Newt Gingrich. This time they are doing it under the pseudo-leadership of Tea Party favorite Ted Cruz. The cause, of course, is Obamacare. Basically this is a hail mary pass to try and end the law that Republicans have been running against for the last four years while offering absolutely nothing as an alternative. Literally. It has been asked on their solutions, their answer on how they would improve health insurance is to improve health insurance. I wish I was exaggerating. That answer isn't a plan. It isn't even a good sound byte. So due to their lack of a concrete plan they have failed to get the support they needed to repeal Obamacare. Now they are hoping to use a shutdown to get the same result. Its kind of the political equivalent of throwing a temper tantrum.

Now to be fair, for once the GOP isn't marching into lockstep over a cliff. It turns out that the "suicide caucus" of 80 House Republicans, representing only 18% of the US population, are leading this charge. Sadly this isn't a situation the framers of the Constitution were prepared for. Who would think that the minority party would devolve into a bunch of children? Can you imagine the outrage the GOP and their followers would have had if the Democrats had even suggested such actions under George Bush? Yet because their team is doing it, suddenly its ok. The Daily Show kind of summarizes my disgust and view on this whole thing.


Sadly those making these decisions are mostly removed from the consequences of it. After all, the average income of Ted Cruz and his ilk is measured in millions. Just a quick reminder, all members of Congress are part of the 1%. The government shutdown impacts the other 99%. For them its no biggie if millions of Americans are suddenly not getting paid, if basic functions that serve people, kids, families and businesses are not getting done. As long as they get what they want, screw the rest of us. Republicans believe in survival of the richest, I just wish the rest of America would wake up (and be less stupid) and realize this belief isn't how you lead a country. I wish they would then vote accordingly and wipe the actual danger that is the GOP out of public office, or at the very least get rid of the 20% far right crazy that is currently driving the series of bad decisions that is harming all of us.

The Story of Metroid

Kotoku has posted a two part article that any Metroid fan will enjoy reading. For those that are not familiar, Metroid is the name of the video game franchise from Nintendo that follows the adventures of Samun Aran who was basically the first major female hero in video games. In the last 25 or so years, only about 8 games have been released for the franchise that have expanded on the universe. As is often the case with Nintendo franchises, there is a continuity to it even if playing the games may not make that entirely clear (like the Zelda series). This confusion gets worse as so much time passes between games that its hard to create the mental continuity of that universe. At the links below is now the unofficial chronological story of the Metroid universe based on the games that finally provides coherence. Even if its not technically official, the details are rich enough to be able to map the entire series events. It sounds dry but its not as it reads like a short story with lots a fantastic fan art on each "page".
Part 1 | Part 2

New iPhones 5c and 5s Announced

Tuesday Apple announced the next iteration of their iPhone line of devices. Only the iPhones and iOS 7 were discussed so its assumed the next iteration of the iPad line will likely be introduced next month in time for Christmas shopping season. Below are the details on the two models but the gist is the iPhone 5 has been discontinued. Instead you can get the iPhone 5c which really is the iPhone 5 put in a strong plastic shell with 5 different color options. After that you have the iPhone 5s that has next generation A7 chip, has a fingerprint scanner, other hardware improvements and constructed as the old iPhone 5 was but now has two additional styles of gold and white. If you are interested in watching the full presentation, you can find it here.

Everything Wrong with The Riddick Movies

In time for Riddick, hitting theaters today, Cinema Sins has posted their "Everything Wrong With" take on the previous two movies - Pitch Black and The Chronicles of Riddick. As usually the observations are amusing and spot on but in this case I don't mind the multitude of mistakes as enjoyed both films.

Iron Man 3 Honest Trailer

I was considering ranting about Syria, but honestly with how politics work (aka governed by corporate dollars), its inevitable. A dance will be done but the US will bomb and invade at some point because the military industrial complex will want the extra few billion in revenue for doing it. So instead of focusing on that noise, lets just enjoy ourselves with some humor. In this case with the latest Honest Trailer from Screen Junkies that makes fun of Iron Man 3. In addition, the voice in the "Honest Trailers" series narrates what random people are doing in movie trailer speak.

San Diego Comic Con 2013 Panel Links

About two weeks ago, the movie, TV and comic book world converged at San Diego Comic-Con 2013. Held from July 18-21, 2013, the con has essentially been taken over by Hollywood to promote upcoming movies, reveal a few tidbits of news (mostly movie titles), and talk about the next season of TV shows. The comics and toys still get their time but usually not nearly the same volume of press attention. Any case this year was chock full of panels. In the past I tried to link to all of them but frankly the effort vs read count is way to low to put that kind of effort in so instead I am linking to a bunch of YouTube channels I used to watch many of the panels that interested me. Check them out, might find some great stuff like Joss Whedon's panel, Marvel movie panel and bunch more.

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Lego Steampunk Castle and World Trade Center

Here are two creations made from Legos that almost seem like works of art. The first is called "Steam Castle Falls" that was shown off at an expo in Rosheim, France. Created by Arnaud Besson, Olivier Curto, and Jimmy Fortel, the wonderful creation is made up of over 20,000 Legos and took over four months to build. The result is a diorama that is just full of medieval details and design. Click here for pictures or more at the links for each buidler's flickr accounts.

The other awesome piece is a re-creation of One World Trade Center complete with light effects. Design by Lego Discovery Center in Westchester County, New York, the piece is 12 foot tall, 110 pounds and comprised of 4,873 bricks. More images of it can be found here.

Supreme Court Upholds Gay Marriage

Today the Supreme Court of the United States did something surprising. In a 5-4 decision, they ruled that the 1996's The Defense of Marriage Act was unconstitutional. The law prevented the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriages even when legalized in states. While most anti-gay focus on the "married" part, the law has repercussions that extend into taxes, death benefits, health care coverage and host of other legal issues that other marriages simply did not have to worry about. In essence the ruling is saying the federal government is not allowed to discriminate based on sexual preference. The case regarding gay marriage is ultimately about a founding and constant principle of this country - equality for all.

The ruling occurred because of an unexpected jumping of sides from Justice Anthony Kennedy, who while Republican, tends to go back and forth across the political dividing line, wrote the majority decision. In other words he behaves like a Justice should and makes me wish the other 8 were just as unpredictable as he tends to be.

XBox 180's On DRM

In a blog post Microsoft has reversed course on their universally disliked DRM policy and declared that how things work now on the XBox 360 will carry over to the XBox One. Before the reversal, the policy was that publishers would have absolute control on your ability to loan out games, sell games or buy them used. Even if the publishers allowed you to sell them, they would also have final say on what retailers you could sell too. In other words the days of trading games with friends, giving them away or just making a few quick bucks when done with them would be over. Now some fans would say that it would not be that bad but the reality is if publishers could do it, they would make the used game market illegal. They have zero interest in encouraging it and would have used Microsoft's technical solutions to try and prevent it. On top of that they had a 24 hour check in to homebase to verify your copy of the game was legit. If could not check in, then your system became an attractive piece of furniture until it could.

The result of this decision resulted in a pretty consistent buttwhupping by the gaming press and fans with many wondering if MS knew what they were even doing anymore. This was followed by a so-so E3 Press Conference that showed off the XBox's traditional bread and butter of shoot em ups and sports game that pretty much everyone ignored in light of their DRM policy. The final nail in the coffin is when Sony used their own press conference to use that DRM policy against them while also beating them on price. The resulting consensus is if going to buy a next gen system, skip the XBox One.

Nintendo E3 2013 Press Conference

Tuesday was Nintendo's turn to show off their slate of planned releases for the Wii U and Nintendo 3DS. To no surprise Nintendo has thrown in the towel on 2013 and conceded the year to the new consoles 6 months before they come out. Instead their focus seems to be on 2014 where they do seem to have a solid slate of new games but most will not be out until late summer or Holidays 2014.

The only big game for 2013 for the Wii U isn't even vaguely original but a remake of The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker. A fine game but its intentional cartoon design means that graphically the only real change will be smoother animation and widescreen but not a real dramatic improvement that makes it worthwhile to buy the system or buy the game all over again for $60. However, 2014's slate includes some pretty good looking games starring a slate of Nintendo classics. Games include Super Mario 3D World, Mario Kart 8, Donkey Kong: Tropical Freeze, Super Smash Bros (which does something useful with classic MegaMan since Capcom is unable), and Bayonetta 2.
The Wii U eShop will also get a bunch of smaller games exclusive to them that have a lot of varied game play. A trailer for those games is here.

E3 2013 Microsoft, Sony Press Conferences

Monday was the first day of E3 and it was a doozy. Microsoft's XBox One was attempting a bit of a comback as the last month of public relations has been very poor thanks to a decision to give control of support to used games and lending games to publishers. The same group that historically have long wanted to ban the selling of used games. This choice was further compounded by Microsoft's decision to assume their customers are thieves unless they prove otherwise by having the XB1 check in every 24 hours. Meanwhile, regarding the Playstation 4, Sony offered no comment on their used game policy or potential to phone home simply saying that they would reveal the system, price and details like that at their E3 press conference. To start lets summarize the information from the two main press conferences from Sony and Microsoft the videos of which are below.

Microsoft

Apple's WWDC 2013 Introduces iOS 7

Today Apple held their WWDC (Worldwide Developers Conference) that is used to introduce their next six months of products to the world. The keynote address showed off their updated late of laptops, new Mac Pro desktop, OS X Maverick update and iOS 7 for iPhone and iPads. The biggest news is for iOS 7 which is a radical change (for Apple) in how iOS 7 looks and feels. The over all result clearly takes design cues from Android and Windows 8 but with few flourishes from Apple. The announcements did not provide updates to iPad, iPhone, or iPod line of products as that will likely come in October when iOS 7 is expected to be ready for release. Lets get into some of the details.

iOS 7

The Government Is Really Spying On You

After 2001, at the behest of the President George Bush, Congress passed a bunch of laws that were designed to find terrorists by any means necessary including spying on phone calls, email and internet activity, often with little or no oversight. While vocally Congress talked about how these immense powers would never be abused, it would never be used to spy on Americans and other noises of "trust me!". Of course since them we have learned that Americans have been spied on from the very beginning and that FBI and other agencies would use their powers not so much to stop terrorists but as fishing exhibitions against whoever they were targeting for whatever reason. Long story short, people were given power and they abused it. The old adage about power made real. Yet despite know people will abuse the power they are giving, we still act amazed when we discover it is happening.

Everything Wrong With Superman Returns

Next week finally brings a new Superman film to theaters with The Man of Steel. So CinemaSins decided to release Everything Wrong With Superman Returns in 6 Minutes or Less. The film, released back in 2006, was a bit of a critical debacle. Which is actually a shame because Brandon Routh actually did a good job in the role of Superman/Clark Kent as did most of the cast (except Kate Bosworth who excelled at looking good but not making a good Lois Lane). Sadly the problem was the story and the inconsistent rules of the story when it came to Kryptonite. The choice to essentially retell the first Superman movie while lathering on the homage in boring ways was just to much for the actors to overcome. A little homage is great but when go so far as to lift the entire story and retell it again, it can be a bit much. Also, no kids. Really, thats just plain dumb.

Percy Jackson: The Sea of Monsters Trailer #2

Below is the latest trailer for Percy Jackson: The Sea of Monsters which is a sequel to Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief. The books are a fun read and I like the first film (does hurt that Alexandra Daddario is gorgeous) so I plan on checking it out.

How Iron Man 3 Should Have Ended

An amusing take on some of the story ideas from Iron Man 3. I especially like the idea of the super powered Pepper Potts replacing Stark on The Avengers.

Lifesize Lego Star Wars X-Wing

To promote the Cartoon Network's The Yoda Chronicles, LEGO has built its largest model ever with their life-sized Star Wars X-Wing made almost entirely from Lego. The stats on this model are very impressive. It contains 5,335,200 Legos, weighs 45,980 pounds, its dimensions are 11"H x 44"W x 43"L, and took 17,366 hours (4 months) to build. It is a replica of the X-Wing set #9493 but at 42x larger then it. It includes a scaled up version of the mini-fig Luke and R2-D2 made out of more Lego bricks. The model is designed so it can be broken down for transportation. It premiered today in New York's Time Square and will spend the rest of the year at Legoland California Resort. A hand-on tour of build can be found at Brothers-Brick and a look at the Time Square event and video of the build is at Gizmodo.

Xbox One Announced

Today Microsoft officially revealed the Xbox One, the next generation console that will compete directly with the Playstation 4. Much like the PS4 announcement, Microsoft focused almost entirely on the entertainment and TV aspect of the system with only a slight mention of games. This decision by both companies makes a lot of sense really since E3 is just weeks away and will be entirely focused on video games. Unlike the PS4 announcement, Microsoft showed off more then a controller, they showed off the system itself (image left). No price point was provided with a release date expected around Christmas 2013.

Specs:
- 8-core Jaguar x86-64bit AMD CPU, DirectX 11.1 graphics
- 8GB DDR3 RAM (think old was 512MB)
- 500GB HDD (old started at 4GB and went up), not swappable but external storage supported
- Blu-ray drive (old system was HD-DVD)
- 3.0 USB, 3 802.11N antennas
- HDMI 1.4 passthrough (so HDMI in from cable box, out to TV)
- 1080p and 4k video, 7.1 surround sound

The Wolverine Trailer #2

A new trailer for The Wolverine, coming out on July 26th. If the lovely woman in the beginning looks familiar, that is Famke Janssen as Jean Gray, the character that died in X-Men 3 and Logan loved. As for the movie itself, I have to admit, can't say I am excited about it. It looks like it might be good but for me the block comes from the comics. I never liked the "Samurai" Wolverine stories that took place in Japan. They all were variations of the same "I must restore my honor!" while killing a bajillion ninjas. Still such a story on paper gets boring over and over but done will on the big screen can be an enjoyable action film. I will likely be there opening weekend regardless of my reservations.

Pacific Rim Theatrical Trailer

This is probably one of the films I am most looking forward to this summer. The scale and scope just makes it seem like it will be a really fun film. Because of the scope, I am giving serious consideration to seeing it in IMAX as might be one of the few films worthy of that extra large size.