CES

So CES is over and I just listened to Endgadget’s latest TWiT podcast. It seems like this show is entirely obsolete to the public. The reason that shows like E3 is still successful today is because they focus on one industry. There’s no such thing as a Tech industry anymore: it’s been broken up into several mini-industries like TVs, Cell Phones, Computers, etc. So naturally each of these industries (and lots of individual companies) are having their own shows. There’s just too much at CES for anything meaningful to come out of it. Panasonic TVs are not competing with LG phones, so them being at the same trade show is kinda rediculous.

At the same time, something interesting did come out of CES with Blu Ray and HD DVD’s war becoming a little more decided. Warner decided to drop HD DVD and go exclusively Blu Ray, which gives Blu Ray 70% of movies on their HD format, leaving HD DVD with only 30%. Unfortunately for Sony, they still don’t have a lot of support from the consumers. Who really cares about HD discs right now? I have an upconvert player that makes discs look just fine for a lot cheaper than those $400+ players (my upconvert player was $70). WHat really killed HD DVD was Microsoft’s non-commitment to the platform. If Microsoft had put an HD DVD drive in their 360 from day 1, I think Blu Ray’s fortunes would be reversed. The 360 is selling a lot better than the PS3 (for now) and has sold over 17 Million systems so far. If they all had HD DVD players, that would be an incredible advantage for that camp. But the only option for HD DVD play on the 360 right now is a $180 USB add-0n. Ultimately, this move cost HD DVD a lot of market share, and Sony’s commitment to their Blu Ray format in the PS3 is probably the point that made the difference in the two formats.

Well it’s off to Chipotle for me (could you imagine a Chipotle trade show?). I’m gonna be following Macworld closesly since im lookin to get a Mactop (get it?) this summer.

Bobby’s 13 Keys to Procrastination

These are my stages of procrastination. They’ve never failed me, I wanted to share them.

1 ) do something entirely useless (web surfing, etc)
2 ) open up Word and be intimidated by the blank page
3 ) start to type shit, but in the back of my mind start thinking of ways to get out of it
4 ) realize that whatever i came up with for 3 was a bad idea
5 ) type some more, but making minimal progress
6 ) go get a snack and promise myself that when i get back i’ll start working
7 ) get back, then check the internet again
8 ) eventually get back to work, then get into the groove of things and start gettin through it, mainly thinking “This isnt nearly as bad as i thought it would be”
9 ) be about 85-90% done then realize im tired. then formulate a plan to finish later
10 ) go to bed
11 ) finish later
12 ) turn in on time/excused late
13 ) give myself a pat on the back for another job well done

Broken 360s Suck Ass

A sight that infuriates geeks everywhere. It’s come to be known as the “Ring of Death.” Why? Because it means that your Xbox 360 (you know, that thing you spent $400 on) has reached the end of its life. For those of you who don’t know hoe long the 360 has been out, it launched in November 2005. Originally, it was only covered by a 90 day warranty; but thankfully now Microsoft has extended it to 3 years. I can only imagine how many of these things broke on the 91st day.

I should backtrack to what this problem actually is. If you ever see the picture above, it means that Bill Gates stole $400 from you. He also shat on your lawn and peed in your mailbox. A more technical explanation is that the system has encountered some sort of hardware failure and can’t think of any other way to tell you than to give you an evil eye.

My TV broke once, but it was nice about it. When I turned it on, it said “Need new lamp.” Sure it’s a crappy situation, but it’s willing to cooperate. The 360 isn’t. It offers you no advice, it just tells you you’re fucked.

I called Microsoft back when it was technically still 2007 (it was like December 30th or something) and they asked me if I trouble-shot the problem. I asked him “How do you do that for this error?” to which he replied “Turn the system on and off.” That’s when it became clear to me that Gates & Co. don’t respect my intelligence as a mammal. I’m pretty sure my guinea pig could’ve thought of that. They said they would send me a box to ship the console back in free of charge and that the repair would be free. Well, it took them until today to finally decide to put the box on my door, so God only knows how long it’ll take them to actually fix it.

Oh well, til then you may actually see me reading a book or doing my homework. Or hey, maybe I’ll play that Wii that’s been collecting dust over the last few weeks. Eh forget it. I’ll just sit in front of the TV with the controller in my hand, hoping that some day my 360 will come back to me…

Some day…

Dr. Phil + Britney Spears = -Care

I was watching the Steelers and Jaguars yesterday night on NBC when once every 15 minutes or so, something caught my soul and put it to sleep. It was a commercial for the Today Show, especially Dr. Phil’s upcoming segment. Apparently he visited Britney Spears in the Psych ward of a hospital after her parents plead for his help. According to reports she’d been disobedient and downright insubordinate to hospital staffers and demanded her release (kinda like I pouted and screamed at the mall when I was 7 years old because my mom wouldn’t get me a Flubber toy). On the show Dr. Phil is going to give his diagnosis of Britney Spears, something the entire world is waiting on the edge of their seat to see (If you actually see anyone whose literally on the edge of their seat waiting for this, do humanity a favor and push them off).

This is funny to me because this won’t help Spears out at all. In fact, if Phil can go through with his plans to get her on his show, she’ll be even more of a laughing stock than she already is. Then, in an act of God, Spears, Linday Lohan, and Paris Hilton will all spontaneously combust so we don’t have to hear about them ever again.

You Can’t Be Serious

The NFL says I’m not allowed to write any unauthorized accounts of any of their games but I don’t think they can stop me from commenting on one of the dumbest accounts of a team I’ve ever seen. John McGrath of The News Tribune in Tacoma, WA said:
“It’s one thing when the slain safety is commemorated by hats, T-shirts, souvenir magnets and No. 21 rally towels, as proceeds from those sales are being funneled toward a memorial fund the Redskins have established for Taylor’s 1-year-old daughter.

“On the other hand, what is the team’s motive in releasing a depth chart noting that Taylor will start at free safety for the first-round playoff game scheduled Saturday at Qwest Field? We know what happened – we won’t ever forget the first NFL player murdered during the course of a season – but we don’t need an intentionally committed clerical error to grasp the reality of a senseless killing.

“And so I wonder: Is the inclusion of Taylor on the depth chart a genuine tribute, or the latest nod to a macabre superstition?”

Howabout the latest nod to your dying journalism career? How does what the Redskins do bother you in any way unless they beat your favorite football team? In which case you can feel bad for a little bit but then you shut-up. But they didn’t beat your team. In fact, your team crushed them with ease. So what exactly are you trying to do? The Redskins were able to rally around the memory of Sean Taylor and that fueled an improbable playoff run. Does that sit wrong with you somehow?

I do understand the argument that all of the talk coming out of the Cowboys game (that the Redskins won by 21) was a little over-the-top. Some people either don’t believe in or can’t understand what the players might call destiny or just how significant that number is to them now. Why spoil it for the one’s who do appreciate it and do find comfort in its significance?

This article came out at the wrong time. The only time something like this would be truly appropriate to me is if the players were still talking about it in the 2008 season. At that point it would be like your sibling mourning the death of another sibling: it hurts, but you need to move on at some point. I think that the players will find their own way to do that during the offseason, and except for the inevitable questions and stories at training camp (What’s it like without Sean Taylor, etc.) the Redskins will try to get things Almost back to normal. Almost.

The First Post is the Deepest

Sometimes. Not all the time though. Definitely not here, this one’s gonna be pretty short. I set this up because I wanted to have a place to throw down some random observations about random things that I may come across. It could be about TV Shows, Movies, Music, Games, Sports, I dunno the whole plan yet. Just bare with me here, eventually this place will be interesting.