November 4th, 2008
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MacBook Notes
November 4th, 2008
I got the new, terrifyingly fast MacBrook Pro yesterday and have three thoughts:
(1) There is a toggle function embedded in the F5 and F6 keys which I can’t actually figure out what it does.
(2) The trackpad gestures really are quite nice.
(3) In a sop to PC converts, Jobs has removed the Apple from the Command key. It’s a shattering loss.
0 commentsPimp My Macbook
October 31st, 2008
So if you’ve got a Macbook and you like the new model Macbooks but are disappointed that Jobs didn’t jump to the next-gen tablet version that some people were hoping for, well, you can give these people $1,299 to mod your old Macbook into a tablet.
Pretty sweet, yes?
0 commentsThe Philadelphia Phillies, World Series Champs
October 30th, 2008
No words, really, for what happened last night. The metaphysical foundations of my universe have been called into question. Salvation? Original sin? Divine grace? Who knows what any of these things mean now.
But if you’ll allow a personal indulgence, last night fulfilled something for me which I never, ever, thought would come to pass: I got to watch the Phillies win a World Series with my son.
Here’s what he looked like the morning after the “rain suspension,” when the full weight of his birthright bore down on him:
And here he is late last night, basking in the championship:
In the years to come, he will not, perhaps, remember the great run of ’08 as clearly as he might wish. But I’ll remember it well enough for the both of us.
0 commentsSailer, Krugman, Vegas
October 29th, 2008
Steve Sailer has a long post taking issue with a Paul Krugman column from 1998. Without taking sides in the larger argument, Sailer links to this amazing story about how the financial crisis is hitting the Vegas strip:
There are more signs of just how much the Las Vegas Strip is hurting in this economic downturn. One of the valley’s biggest casino companies, Boyd Gaming, saw a huge drop in profits, down 73-percent in the third quarter.
The company has also announced the delay of its signature resort, Echelon, will be much longer than anyone expected. The construction site will sit quiet until at least January of 2010.
The Echelon is the super-lux resort being built on the site of the old Stardust. The picture below is from August, when construction stopped:
Just as a stark contrast between what boom and bust look like, Caesar’s Palace Tower was built in something like 6 months with crews working around the clock. This entire casino site in a central location on the Strip is going to sit totally dormant for at least 17 months.
0 commentsSkynet Is Angry
October 29th, 2008
Engagdet has a fantastic video with a robot mimic arguing that he should be allowed to destroy humanity.
Yes, if only Maggie was still in power . . .
0 commentsBlu-Ray Days, cont.
October 29th, 2008
Robin Harris makes a half-convincing case that Blu-ray won the format war only to become a niche videophile medium, like laserdisc. Engadget is skeptical of his argument.
I don’t much care either way so long as studios keep moving back-catalog material over to the platform, though it would be nice to see wider adoption to push the disc prices down.
0 comments"Ya-Ya Sisterhood Bullshit"
October 28th, 2008
M.E. Russell puts together a devastating critique of The Secret Life of Bees and the mini-genre to which it belongs:
These movies tend to be based on the sorts of books Oprah likes to endorse, and they contain some or all of the following:
* A precious, self-consciously offbeat title (“Fried Green Tomatoes,” “Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood”).
* A condescending Hollywood interpretation of life in the South, in which people are either abusive racists full of hate or quirky saints full of hospitality.
* Hollywood stars putting on Southern accents like they’re doing dinner-theater Tennessee Williams.
There’s much more.
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