I have a new podcast episode available for your viewing pleasure. Thanks to Beah for the spaghetti sauce recipe.
I wish I could push these things out faster, but I’m editing on a computer that’s six years old, and I’m lazy. Hopefully I’ll upgrade my equipment in the nearish future so compression doesn’t take forever and I can edit in HD.
Here’s part 1:
And part 2:
I just saw Cloverfield. I’m not good at reviewing movies, but I had one question. At the beginning, I’m pretty sure the text indicated the recording was from an SD card. However, the way the recording plays indicates that it was recorded on linear media, since it bounces back and forth between the main recording and the stuff that was “taped over.” The characters also refer to a tape at the beginning, and there is a scene where they rewind and then don’t cue it back exactly right, leading to another glimpse of the taped over material. Just wanted to point that out.
I finally own a Wii. Arriving at 3:07 AM, I was second in line at the Sunnyvale Circuit City. The first guy got there at 2:30. Later in the morning we were told that there were only eight consoles available. The first eight of us got vouchers at 9:30 (30 minutes before opening) and could finally run to our cars to warm up.
It was a cold and boring wait, but I figured if I could wait in line at a store for 13 hours with no intention of purchasing anything, I could wait in line for 7 hours to get a Wii.
I haven’t even opened the box yet; I went right to bed and didn’t wake up until my phone rang at about 5:45, and then went to dinner and saw Cloverfied. But since I’m now wide awake, tonight should be full of Wii fun.
One of the new iPhone features is the ability to create a WebClip, which is basically a bookmark you can put on the home screen that saves zoom data. If you create a WebClip of most pages, the icon is just a screenshot of the page. But, you may have noticed that some pages have custom icons when you clip them. If you want to do this for your own site, it’s pretty simple. Just create a 57×57 PNG file, name it apple-touch-icon.png, and put it at the root of your domain. If you want to specify an icon at the page level, check out Apple’s instructions.
If a user has created a WebClip before you added the icon, it looks like they’ll continue to see the screenshot until they delete it and create a new one. Same thing goes for updating an existing icon— a user will continue to see whichever icon was downloaded when the WebClip was created. Keep in mind that I determined this after about 3 minutes of testing, so it may be inaccurate.
This is my current icon:
And here’s what it looks like on an iPhone:
Update: There is some discussion on Apple-related sites about Apple’s recommended resolution. You may want to go with a 60×60 or perhaps even 129×129 PNG. We’ll see if Apple comes back with an official word on this.
These are my new shoes. They’re colorful and I love them. My Mom bought them for me.
They got mixed (but positive) reactions at work. Share your thoughts in the comments.
I’d like to point out that this is the first picture I took with my Canon SD1000. I still have my Digital Rebel XT, but I really wanted a point-and-shoot for everyday adventures. So far, I love it, especially the responsiveness of the zoom when reviewing an image on the sizable screen.
Here’s my brief commentary on today’s announcements:
iPhone update
The Maps update with the location detection feature is pretty cool, and I can see it being useful in a city when I’m on foot and not with my in-car GPS. And using Wi-Fi data? I’ve never heard about that— that’s cool. After installing the update this morning I walked around work asking people if they needed to know where they are. I also tested it at every red light on the way home. It’s fast, and it’s precise enough to let you easily figure out which street you’re on. A nice treat is the page peel UI element. I don’t really care for it as a corny video transition or an annoying element in the corner of a web page, but in this case it makes sense and looks great. The graphics capabilities on this device are incredible. As far as Web Clips go, I’ve added Google Reader, WeatherBug, and Facebook. I’m looking forward to the apps that will come after the SDK release.
Apple TV
I wanted an Apple TV when it was first announced, but later decided against it because I couldn’t find a simple, legal way to acquire good HD content. Now I do. And without new episodes of the office being released, I haven’t been watching any HD content on my TV lately. As an added bonus, I don’t have to take sides in the expensive Blu-ray/HD DVD issue.
Time Capsule
It makes sense as a product, but I didn’t reach for my credit card immediately as in my apartment it’s not terribly inconvenient for me to just plug in to the USB drive sitting under my coffee table. However, my router has been acting flaky lately (I think it’s my router— I still have to rule out my Internet connection), so it looks like I have an excuse to buy! Since I’ll be backing up a 100 GB drive, I’ll just go for the 500 GB model.
MacBook Air
Yes, it is cool. Really really cool. Unfortunately, it’s not the computer I’m in the market for. If I didn’t already have a portable, I’d consider it, but since I already have a MacBook Pro and am looking to do some more video editing, I’m actually debating between an iMac and a Mac Pro.
Regarding the keynote itself:
When Steve mentioned the Mac Pro revision at the end, I was reminded how amused I get when they say “our most powerful Mac ever.” Any speed bump to the top of the line product would be the fastest ever! Maybe someday they should release a “slightly less powerful” Mac just for kicks. Stay tuned for Randy Newman’s performance at the end. I LOLed when he alluded to the Macbook Air leak.
Whenever I talk tech, please bear in mind my disclaimer.
I now own two games for Nintendo Wii, and still don’t have a console. I think it’s a bit Wiidiculous that in 2008 it’s still difficult to find an item (for MSRP) that was released at the end of 2006. I’m thinking about hitting a few stores when they open tomorrow morning to see if I can get lucky.
I’m also signed up for Wii Alerts, which helped me score Guitar Hero earlier this week, and I leave this Amazon.com watcher open as well for good measure. Hopefully it won’t be too long before I get one.
Back in the day, one of the staples of my blog was publishing snippets of online conversations. I’m bringing that back. Here we go:
Leah: i have a friend who thought independence mall was an actual mall
Leah: that sounded like something you would have blogged about
Wysz: probably
Wysz: oh
Wysz: someone said something stupid the other day
Wysz: i forget what it was
Wysz: but now that i think about it, i should have blogged it
Wysz: oh, yesterday
Wysz: on the plane
Wysz: a kid looked out the window, and said “mom, look, a plane!”
Wysz: at a frickin airport
Wysz: kids are so dumb
Leah: how old was he
Wysz: like 2 or 3, but still
Wysz: it’s an airport
Wysz: idiot
Leah: then he gets a pass
Leah: you’re going to make a terrible parent
First, a bayberry candle on Christmas Eve:
And just for fun, a Christmas morning visitor to our front door:
My family is here, there are some patches of snow on the roof, the house is decorated, and I bought my lunch (an Italian hoagie) at Wawa. It’s good to be home.
Here’s a shot of my French vanilla cappuccino, with a dash of dark roast and chocolate caramel coffee, for just $1.19:
In thewysz.com news, don’t expect a new Chicken and Ketchup episode for at least two weeks. But I promise I have a few good ones ready to shoot in 2008. I’ve even pre-written a few jokes about spaghetti sauce.