I listen to/watch anywhere from 2 to 10 podcasts every day. For years it has been a pet peeve of mine that I had to use iTunes to manually delete podcasts that I have listend to/watched in order to delete them from the iPod. I couldn’t understand why Apple didn’t provide an option on the iPod to delete podcasts I was finished with.

Turns out that unbeknownst to me, auto-podcast-delete functionality has been there for quite some time - just not how I expected. iTunes has had a function to do exactly what I wanted it to do - auto delete podcasts when finished - since version 4.9.

Here’s How

On the “podcasts” tab in the the iTunes Edit/Preferences screen select the Keep: “All unplayed Episodes” (circled in red below).

That’s pretty much it.

Now, when you have “finished” listening to/watching podcasts, the next time you sync, the play count for that podcast will increment to 1 and the podcast will be deleted from your iPod.

Two Minor Gotchas

1. Need to Force a “Finish”:

You’ll notice I put “finished” in quotes above. The reason is because, your being “finished” with it may not be exactly what iTunes needs for this to work. Read on.

In order to make sure that partially listened-to podcasts aren’t deleted before their time, the iPod will only delete the podcast from your iPod when it has been fully listened to/watched. So, if you are 3/4 the way through a podcast (or stop even a few seconds from the end) iTunes considers that podcast not fully listened to. So it is left in your iPod list for you to continue listening/watching where you left off.

The problem: I usually stop listening to podcasts a couple minutes before the end. I don’t, for example, usually listen to closing outro music or to the podcaster’s goodbyes. So, when I stop and move on to the next podcast iTunes doesn’t consider this to be a fully listened to podcast, does not increment the play count to ‘1′ and therefore doesn’t automatically delete it.

Solution: When you are done with a podcast, before moving on to the next podcast, use the iPod’s fast forward function, to zoom to the end of the finished podcast, thereby forcing the play count to increment to 1. This will result in an auto deletion during your next iPod sync.

2. Auto Delete in iTunes Occurs Only After Next Refresh

While the podcast will be deleted from the iPod on the next sync, it will not be removed from the iTunes podcast list until after the next iTunes podcast refresh.

Solution: If you really care, press the “refresh” button in iTunes after syncing. This will force the refresh which will then delete the fully listened-to podcasts. Otherwise, the solution is patience. Assuming your iTunes is set to refresh the podcast list at least once a day, it shouldn’t take more than a day for fully listened–to podcasts to disappear from the iTunes podcast list.

Bottom Line: If you follow the advice above, you’ll never have to manually delete a podcast again.

A Note About Podcasts on AppleTV

I inadvertently discovered the iPod/iTunes auto-delete functionality when I was looking into whether there is an auto-delete function for video podcasts watched on the AppleTV. Having to manually delete them with my current TiVo video podcast solution was starting to annoy me.

Based on my reading, I’m presuming the same rules apply to podcasts watched on Apple TV. If you want synced podcast to delete from your AppleTV, fast forward to the end when finished. I won’t be 100% certain of this until I’ve tried it myself though. If anyone reading this can confirm, I’d appreciate it.

  (4/5) - fantasy, super-hero, action, sci-fi

2008 is the summer of super heroes. First came the terrific Iron Man, then Ed Norton’s Incredible Hulk and Will Smith’s Hancock. The Dark Knight (Christian Bale’s Batman) comes out soon. And then there’s Hellboy II: The Golden Army.

I was surprised how much I liked the original Hellboy (2004). This second treat did not catch me off guard. While the beginning was a bit slow, the wonderful second half made the movie very enjoyable. The movie is Marvel comics meets Lord of the Rings meets Star Wars.

In Hellboy II Selma Blair and Ron Perlman are a bickering, but seemingly happy, married couple. What can I say, I melt a bit whenever I see Selma. She’s a Dale-type through and through. Perlman’s performance captivated me in the second instalment as much as the first. Perlman, Blair and their comrades must save the world from trolls and elves that have broken a millennial long truce between man and elf - or some such thing.

Frankly, the plot didn’t much matter to me. What made this movie wondrous were the breathtaking special effects by Guillermo del Toro who did both Hellboys as well as the Oscar winning Pan’s Labyrinth. The CGI and cinematography are as magical as Hollywood can produce. I wanted to pause and rewind the scenes to examine the excruciatingly detailed beauty. What an imagination this man has.  This quote from Variety’s review is apt:

Not to disparage the f/x guys, but what’s onscreen in Hellboy II is all about the seismic eruptions in del Toro’s head. Comparing his work to most fantasy cinema is like comparing cave drawings to the Cathedral of Cologne.

The newcomer Anna Walton played Princess Nuala. The  only reason I bring this up is because throughout the movie I thought I was watching Calista Flockhart. They really look alike. I had to laugh at the main villain’s side-kick (pictured on the right). He looks uncannily like  Morn from Deep Space 9 (the alien always sitting at Quark’s bar).

I still don’t understand why Abe, the fish-man, needs a breathing device in some scenes but not in others.

While I was a tad bored for the first part of the movie, the net effect of Blair’s cuteness, Perlman’s performance and the fantastically gorgeous cinematography and special effects resulted in my enjoying Hellboy 2 even more than the first.

Reference: |
Reviews: Roger Ebert | IMDb External Reviews | Rotten Tomatoes | Metacritic

Sony Movie and TV Service: The biggest ‘news’ of the Sony press event was the U.S. launch, today, of the previously announced (see here) video service. Sony, Fox, MGM, Lion’s Gate, Warner, Disney, Paramount and Turner Entertainment have partnered with Sony to provide movie and TV content for the on-demand download service. The system uses progressive downloads so users can watch as a movie/TV show as it downloads. Sony says, content is playable a minute or so after ordering. Purchased content only plays on PS3 and PSP. No PC, iPod, iPhone or other device support was announced. No official word yet on how long rentals will be available for viewing - one site mentioned that it will be the usual 24 hours and 14 days to start.

Note: While the previous announcement stated that a service like this would be made available ‘world-wide’, I checked my PS3 in Canada and there was no such content available. Note the “video” button circled in red in the picture above (click for larger view). If it isn’t there, no movies for you!

Resistance 2: They showed a little of Resistance 2. It’s looking good and includes 8 player online co-op support (probably only for certain missions). I quite enjoyed Resistance 1 so I’m looking forward to this one. What is it with the ‘brown’ colour in all the PS3 and 360 games this year?

Massive Action Game (”MAG”): This massively multiplayer shooter looked interesting. MAG supports up to 256 simultaneous players with 8 player squads, ongoing faction campaigns and character growth. The trailer looked great. It’s hard to imagine that 255 players will follow a command hierarchy that goes up to one or two generals. In my experience 8 players will rarely ever co-operate in an online shooter battle. I’ll have to see this one to believe it. See the blatantly pre-rendered trailer below.

God of War 3 Teaser Trailer: A teaser trailer was shown [watch here]. I enjoyed God of War I and II so I’m definitely looking forward to God of War III. I’m a little nervous with the departure of David Jaffe from the project however.

No Killzone 2 Update: Given how Killzone 2 has been played up by Sony over the last several E3’s it was surprising that it wasn’t even mentioned this year.

Worldwide News Service: As part of the movie and TV service the Playstation Network will provide a ‘world-wide’ news service.  This is to be launched by the end of July. No word on whether ‘world-wide’ means available outside the U.S. or not.

Gran Turismo TV via GT5 Prologue: (Aug 1): Yet another TV-like service was announced. Watch real world racing programming through the PS3 - but only if you own the GT5 Prologue game.

Downloadable Ratchet & Clank: Sony announced that there will be downloadable Ratchet and Clank games over PSN.

Game-Specific Theme Lobbies in Playstation Home: The long-over-due Playstation Home was briefly mentioned and they showed a new ‘feature’ where player avatars can “hang out” and wander around with other player avatars inside games - in a Warhawk hanger or a bar in Drake’s Fortune for example. I hadn’t see this before. I’m assuming these are game-specific lobbies. Otherwise I don’t know why any gamer would want to use these.

Developer Testimonials: I found the high-profile developer testimonials to be interesting. There’s been very little praise from the developer community about  PS3 game development. It was nice to see that ameliorated somewhat by seemingly realistic praise from real-world developers. It seems like they are getting used to developing games on the multi-core system.

132 New PS2 Titles: Amazingly, Sony announced that 132 new titles will ship for the PS2 in this, its 9th year.

Additional Coverage: Engadget | Gizmodo

And nothing happened. Nothing captured my interest and certainly nothing was announced to satisfy the hard-core gamers.

New Products

Wii Speak: A microphone that sits atop the TV that picks up all the sounds and voices from a room. This will be used in games in lieu of a headset. But the Wii doesn’t have a system-wide voice system (let alone a decent online game strategy). This will need to be supported from game to game.

Wii MotionPlus: An add-on that plugs into the WiMote to add wrist based twisting motions to its repertoire of recognized real-time movements. One wonders how developers are going to appreciate the burden of developing titles that work with both the WiiMote alone and with the MotionPlus adapter.[gizmodo review here]

Wii Sports Resort: A new game, similar to Wii Sports, but situated at a beach resort. They demoed Frisbee throwing (with a cute dog catching it), sword fighting and lumber chopping. This game uses the new Wii Motion Plus for accuracy. Coming March 2009.

Wii Music:  A new music game featuring 50 virtual instruments was announced. A virtual piano, violin, sax and drum kit were demonstrated. Unlike Rock Band and Guitar Hero, the user doesn’t need to purchase physical plastic instruments. Nor do they follow note patterns on a screen to play. The instruments are ‘virtual’. Waiving/moving the WiiMote around in a manner similar to the instrument being played simulates the instrument. The virtual drum kit (see picture below) that uses the WiiMote and Numchuk as the drumsticks and a WiiFit board as the drum peddle was clever. But the other instruments looked like little more than air-instruments where regardless of what the user does some facsimile of music will be produced. Lame. And it sounded pretty awful. [more info here]

Animal Crossing: Animal crossing is coming to the Wii.

Statistics Can Say Anything

Nintendo used statistics to contrast the first ‘19′ months of sales on each console. For example Nintendo pointed out that in the 360’s first 19 months they had just 126 games on the market compared to Wii’s 246 in their first 19 months. Whether that is true or not is irrelevant because the 360 is in its 32nd month and by the end of 2008 there will be 1,000 games out on the 360 and about 300 for the Wii. 

Nintendo also failed to mention that their attach rate (the number of games sold per console) is the worst of the three current devices with Microsoft doing circles around the other two. Microsoft has sold more games for the 360 than the Wii and the PS3 combined. This is somewhat astonishing given that the Wii has outsold the 360 2-1. Console owners are playing the 360 far more frequently and playing more games on it than they are the PS3 and the Wii. Most Wiis are sitting unused and collecting dust on shelves around the world. Once the initial novelty of Wii Sports has worn off most Wii’s are rarely used again.

Finally, Nintendo failed to point out that almost all of the big selling Wii titles are Nintendo franchise retreads. Third party games are largely selling poorly on the Wii.

I applaud their initiative to grow the market to grandmas and non-gamers. But the Wii is no longer a main-stream gaming machine. It’s a mass-market toy.

Now, the DS, that’s another story. Kudos to Nintendo for outstanding sales on an outstanding portable game playing device.

Additional Coverage: Engadget | Gizmodo

(Click image to watch abridged version of Microsoft’s 2008 E3 press briefing)

[Full Microsoft E3 2008 coverage is here]

A new Dashboard Interface for the 360: It’s coming this fall. [ Watch demo here]It’s nicer than, but seems influenced by, the PS3 ribbon. It looks like it will be easier to use than the current blade system. I question whether people will want to learn a whole new interface.

Avatars coming on 360: Looks like Microsoft is trying to bring a bit of the Wii and Playstation Home to the 360. I’m not sure if my adult friends will take the time to create their own avatars.

Integrated Netflix coming to the 360: Netflix users will be able to queue up their Internet ordered videos to be played on the 360. This probably won’t be available outside of the U.S. for years (if ever). Regrettably, it appears that movies will only be streamed through the Netflix service and not downloaded. This means (i) fastforwarding and rewinding will janky; and (ii) the quality of the picture will vary depending on your Internet connection speed.

Final Fantasy XIII Coming to the 360! The hitherto PS3 exclusive franchise is coming to the 360 on the same day and date as the PS3. Final Fantasy XIII coming to the 360 is another Microsoft coup. Other than Sony Studios first party games and Metal Gear Solid, I can’t think of any major game franchise that is a PS3 exclusive any more. Interestingly there will be no Japanese 360 version.

Live Game Shows: Microsoft announced a partnership with the Endemol U.S. subsidiary of the Dutch Endemol, a major game show producer, to create live game-show like games playable during prime time, through the Xbox with up to 100 other participants. Real world prizes will be winnable.

Exclusive Portal Something?: Coming this fall. Something related to Portal will be exclusive to the 360. I originally inferred that new levels would be available. But it really wasn’t clear what Microsoft is offering here. If its just the original Portal game split out of the entire Orange Box package I won’t be impressed. Too bad I’ll need to pay for whatever this is with Microsoft Points denominated in 2006 Canadian dollars. 

New Cross-Game Party System: Just as you can party-up in Halo and play with your friends from Halo match to Halo match, soon you’ll be able to party up with your friends and move from game to game - not just within one game. I have expected this for over a year. It’ll be interesting to see how they integrate this into prior games (if possible). More interestingly, incorporating this function into the interface frees up developers from the burden of recreating the wheel every time they want to add party system functionality to a game. Fantastic!!

Sharing Movies with Friends Over XBox Live: Soon 360 users will be able to pop the popcorn, sit down and watch movies with other 360 users - across the city or across the country. Presumably users will be able to talk about the movie through the headset while watching. The implication of the announcement was that only one user needed to purchase/rent the movie for all the friends to share. If this is not the case and all users have to separately purchase/rent the movie, this will be less interesting. I’m not sure if this will be limited only to movies rented through the new Netflix feature or not. It’s also highly probable that this will not work across international borders or be available outside the U.S.

Music Games: Lot’s of new music for both Rock Band and Guitar Hero was announced. I dislike the trend of tying up bands to exclusive contracts with one game or the other. This in no way benefits the users. It keeps the purchasers of one music game from accessing music that is tied to the other game. Just like guitars that can’t be played from one game to the other, some songs/bands will be exclusive to specific games. Sad. I do like Guitar Hero’s decision to make songs purchased with prior versions being playable on future versions. That is a much needed improvement.

Games: No new blockbuster games were announced.

• Gears of War 2 (exclusive): Gears was the only game that I’m interested in. But I was interested in it already. Co-op will return and bot play is being introduced. (Nov 7, 2008)
• Fable 2 (exclusive): I didn’t like Fable I, so I’m not looking forward to Fable 2. I did like that they introduced co-op into an RPG though.
• Fallout 3 (not exclusive - by Bethesda, the same gang that brought us Oblivion). The demo was disappointing. So far I’m not seeing what all the fuss is about. But then again, I’m not an RPG fan. One thing is for sure. You’ll be able to dismember enemies in seemingly infinite gruesome ways.
• Resident Evil 5 (not exclusive): The wonky Nintendo centric control system, camera fighting and on-rails game play made the prior Resident Evils unplayable to me. This one looks like it may be playable. But killing thousands of mindless zombies doesn’t appeal. As with Fable 2 and Gears 2, I’m happy to see the inclusion of online co-op once again.

I especially like the emphasis on online coop shown in these games. After years of anticipation, online coop now seems to be a permanent feature of major game titles.

Additional Coverage: Engadget | Gizmodo

With a few notable exceptions (Nacho Libre) I’ve enjoyed pretty much every movie I’ve seen that featured Jack Black. This role, which seemed written for him, is no exception.

Animated features are hardly a novelty these days. We take their high production values for granted. Yet this Dreamworks production is a notch above. It has an authentic Chinese and kung-fu look and feel. The directors and artists pay particular attention to the details of Chines architecture, painting, sculpture and philosophy. The colours are more vibrant, more real than usual. It ‘feels’ warmer and more believable. During the movie I noted to myself that this movie should be well received in China. It’s as close to Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) as an animated movie can get.

It’s funny. I laughed out loud many times. With one exception (hint, there’s a Nacho Libre reference) it does not rely on the inside-Hollywood humour that has become common in animated movies. Instead, the movie’s original story stands on its own.

As you’d expect, Kung Fu Panda is about an unlikely hero becoming more than he ever thought he could be, facing his fears and prevailing over his own doubts and, ultimately, evil. It’s not original in that way. It’s original insofar as the movie marries the underlying personalities of the actors with those of the characters and the needs of the story. It’s as if the writers studied the actors and crafted an original story to suit their unique characteristics. As a result Po, the Panda, is lovable, chubby, energetic, quirky, whimsical, funny and over confident - just like Jack Black. Dustin Hoffman’s Shifu (the Kung Fu Master red panda) is a short, easily annoyed, somewhat eccentric, yet stalwart character, just as Hoffman is. And Tigress is a proud, disciplined, strong-willed, and confident character, just like Angelina Jolie.

Barring something spectacular, Kung Fu Panda should be a shoe-in for Best Animated Picture. See it on a big screen if you can. It’s fun for the whole family.

Reference: |
Reviews: Roger Ebert | IMDb External Reviews | Rotten Tomatoes | Metacritic

In The Sea of Grass, a cultured Katharine Hepburn leaves big town St. Louis to marry a New Mexican cattle baron Spencer Tracy. When Tracy’s character, who spends more time with his cattle and prairie than is lonely wife, is unable to accept the inevitable settlement of the west, Hepburn is drawn to Tracy’s nemesis, a lawyer (later a judge) played by Melvyn Douglas, who assists homesteaders pressing their land claims against Tracy’s violent control over government-owned land.

Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn are my all-time favourite recurring on-screen couple (followed by Myrna Loy & William Powell, then Bogey & Bacall). Over 25 years they made nine films together. This, their fourth, was the seventh I’ve seen - and my least favourite.

Their performances were generally fine, though spotty in some places. Hepburn’s is better than  Tracy’s, who seemed to be phoning-it-in in too many places. I don’t think Tracy was convincing as a cattle baron. Any number of actors of that era would have been a better choice. Gary Cooper and Clark Gable come immediately to mind. Too much of the plot is not believable. Much does not make sense.

The movie’s overall problem lies in the directing. It doesn’t hang well together. It comes off as too long, too ponderous and boring - though it does pick up a bit in the second half where Phyllis Thaxter plays quite the credible daughter of Hepburn. In his autobiography, the film’s director Elia Kazan said of the film: “It’s the only picture I’ve ever made that I’m ashamed of. Don’t see it.” Understandable.

Without spoiling the plot of the movie, the movie is somewhat of a parallel to the real life tragedy experienced by Tracy and Hepburn. Owing to his Christian faith, Tracy refused to leave his wife for his true love, Hepburn. Instead, they carried on an affair for most of the rest of their lives with Hepburn living and dying alone - having never married, having never had children and having never been able to live with the man she loved.

For those new to Hepburn and Tracy, I suggest starting with Adam’s Rib (1949), then Pat and Mike (1952). Only after watching those two, I suggest seeing the seminal Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (1967) - their last movie together and Tracy’s last movie period. He died shortly after it was made.

Ultimately, The Sea of Grass is only for the died-in-the-wool Tracy-Hepburn fans like me that want to survey the entirety of their otherwise superlative body of work.

Reference: |
Reviews: IMDb External Reviews | Rotten Tomatoes

Diary: Entry #1, 
Reviews: Metacritic | Game Rankings
Reference: GameFAQ |
Developer: EA DICE, Engine: Frostbite
Status: Finished “Welcome to Bad Company” (the intro level)

Pros: Boat load of shooter fun - Immersive - Humorous - Destructible environment - Terrific death/penalty system - Save points therefore a non-issue - Very good graphics/character models - Difficulty Level is just right - Amusing squad - PC can jump

Cons: Fighting with camera while driving - No coop - No customizable controls - Daft syringe/help system - No prone position

Introduction

In Battlefield: Bad Company (“BBC”) you play Private Preston Marlowe, of “B”ad Company, a band of misfits in the 222nd army battalion of the U.S. army -currently fighting the Russian Federation.

Somehow BBC had escaped my radar until I read Paul Thurrott’s review here. Our tastes in gaming are almost identical. So on his recommendation, I decided to try it.

Other than a few hours here and there, I’ve never played a Battlefield franchise game before. So I’m new to this franchise and, so far, I’m really enjoying it! Much,  more so than MGS 4.

Initial Impressions - The Good Stuff

Fun From the Start: From the amusing jazzy-organ playing opening credits/main menu this game felt like was going to be something different.

Immersive: As with other leading shooter, the ambiance, 5.1 sound, terrific graphics and, in this case, almost instant death if hit, give this game a terrific immersive (feeling like you are really there) quality that is still too rare.

Destructible Environment: The much touted destructible environment is definitely fun! But it is odd that you can’t totally destroy a building. You can knock out most of its walls but try as you might its support pillars will not blow up. So you can not, for example, topple over a two story house - even though you can knock out every one of its walls. Kinda lame.

Character Animations/Graphics: Character animations are as good as they get, and dare I say it, possibly better than those in MGS 4, (except for Solid-Snake himself). The overall graphics are also terrific

Sandbox Fun: From the get-go I was able to wander much further afield than similar games without artificial barriers or invisible walls holding me back. The map makes it clear where you can and cannot go. It doesn’t feel restricting like so many other shooters.

White Men Can Jump: As trivial as this may sound, it bothers me when the playable characters in games like Gears of War and MGS 4 can’t jump over even the smallest of barriers. I know Cliffy B wants to avoid the constant bunny-hopping witnessed in the Halo series. But being unable to jump makes the game unrealistic. I’m happy to report that Private Marlowe can jump.

The Not-So-Good

Fighting the Camera: What is it with games that insist on fighting you for the camera? One of my chief criticisms of GTA IV was that when you are driving, the camera is always pulling back towards the center. The same is true in BBC. So far this is my only real criticism of the game.  We are supposed to be looking for gold and collectable’s but the game keeps fighting me as I look around while driving.  It’s not only annoying but it makes me nauseous. The same problem inexplicably occurs on the in-game map. As I scan around the map, it keeps pulling the overhead camera back to the center. Grrr.

No Coop: Every modern 360 shooter should employ a co-op level, and ideally over Xbox Live. There is no co-op of any kind in this game - either local or online. That is a disappointment. But this is the first Battlefield game that’s ever had a single player campaign. So I can’t complain that loudly.

Daft Health System: Three is an unlimited supply of health. Simply jam a syringe in Marlowe’s gut and you are back to full health. I’d much prefer slightly less accurate enemies and a more realistic health system followed by death.

No Lying  Prone: You can stand and crouch but you can’t lie prone. This is the first military shooter (outside of Halo) that I can recall that doesn’t allow the player to lie prone. It’s a bit hard to get used to.

No Customized Controls: If given a chance, I prefer to set up a game with Halo-esque controls. There is no way to customize the controls. That said, I had few problems using EA’s default control scheme. 

A New Take on Save Points and Death

As readers of my MGS 4 Diaries will already know, I hate the tried-and-true game extending game mechanic that most every game employs - that of forcing you rto replay lengthy portions of the game that you already completed when you die. This is especially annoying when a game has either poor auto-save points or does not let you save the game where you choose.

BBC completely eliminates this problem. It makes save points irrelevant because there isn’t really any penalty to dying other than that sinking feeling of defeat you get when you are killed. I like this a lot! I’ve always railed against games that force me to replay parts of a game I already finished. EA may have the perfect solution with this approach.

Thoughts on Difficulty

Some reviewers have complained that the enemy AI’s shooting is too accurate, making the game too difficult. They have also surmised that EA chose not to penalize the player on death owing to it’s inability to properly balance the game.

I have to disagree. In a real war, enemies are accurate and do shoot to kill. If real soldiers took the tactics that the average video gamer takes, they would die pretty quickly.  I like this realism. I like the difficulty when combined with a forgiving approach to death.

I HATE being killed and do anything I can to avoid it. I don’t need the game to penalize me any further. Indeed, providing achievement points for surviving a level without being killed is even more of an  incentive for me to play tactically and stealthily than forcing me to replay long stretches of a game on death.

I am going to caveat my my next statement by noting that I only just started the game and my opinion may change. But so far, I consider this easy-to-be-killed/little-penalty-on-death approach to be superb! I wish more (heck all) games would emulate it. Kudos to EA for trying a novel death/revival construct!

Mowing Down Trees

I noticed that there was an achievement for mowing down trees. So, I spent a good deal of time shooting them for awhile. I understand why the achievement exists. It makes you realize that if trees are obstructing your view of the enemy, you can just shoot them down to get a clear shot.

Xbox 360 Version

I originally set out to rent this game but my local rental shop, Rogers, only had the PS3 version. While I own a PS3, if a game is cross-platform, I choose the 360 for achievements points and for the superior online gaming experience inherent in the 360 platform. Ultimately I purchased it.

Opening Credits

It all started with The Chronicles of Riddick - the first game I recall employing interactive opening cut scenes and Hollywood-style opening credits. Then came GRAW 1 & 2, CoD 4, GTA IV, MGS 4, and now BBC, all bearing compelling/interactive opening credits. I like this trend.

Aim Assist

WARNING: Aim assist is turned on by default - a disturbing trend over the last year or so. Any self-respecting shooter fan will need to turn that off  before starting (Options/GamePlay/Aim Assist).

3G iPhone Hardware Reviews:

• Walt  Mossberg (Wall St Journal)
• David Pogue (NY Times)
• Ed Baig (USA Today)
• *Engadget (including terrific demo video)
• Sydney Morning Herald
• CTV.ca
• infoSync
• Times Online (UK)

iPhone 2.0 Software

• iPhone 2.0 Software Review (Gizmodo)
• Software Update Gives New Life to the first iPHone (CNET’s crave)

Apps and App Store (Apple’s App  Store Site)

• App Store Review (Engadget)
• iPhone Application Overview and Demo Videos (TechCrunch)
• A walk through the App Store, iPhone style (ars technica)
• What’s Good (and Free!) in the iTunes App Store (lifehacker)
• iTunes Remote App (CNET’s crave)
• iPhone Applications all the Rage (Seattle.com)
• Hottest iPhone Apps (PCMag.com)

Related:

• iPhone Launch in Canada Could Lead to Change in Data Rates (PCWorld.ca)
• What we love - and don’t - about the iPhone (thestar.com)
• Canadian iPhone Questions and Answers (CBC: Peter Nowak)
• iPhone 3G Disassembly - battery not soldered (fixit)

Reviewers have mentioned that the movie is a strong critique on consumerism. Yawn! I think it is more of a commentary on society’s willingness to be lead around like lemmings which, perhaps, includes to movies like Wall-E.

Wall-E is the lone, and lonely, remnant of a humanity, which had left earth for the stars centuries before. I laughed a few times, but spent most of the movie thinking about how board I was and trying to understand what everyone saw in this movie. Every scene is predictable. Nothing to delight in that hasn’t been done before. As for the scene pictured on the right, rather than being enchanted with the ‘dancing in space’ routine, all I could think about was “how long will the fire extinguisher last?”

Pixar’s production was typically ‘pixar-perfect’. But a well-made movie without much of story doesn’t a good movie make. Wall-E is about on par with Pixar’s lesser-movies Toy Story 2 (1999), A Bug’s Life (1998) and  Monsters Inc (2001). The Incredibles (2004) (the best of them all), Toy Story 1 (1995), Finding Nemo (2003) (the 2nd best), Cars (2006) and even Ratatouille (2007) were all better Pixar movies than Wall-E.

There were, however, two exceptional aspects to my Wall-E viewing experience. First, I paid $13 for a ticket - the most I’ve spent on a movie ticket in my life. Second, it was the first digitally projected movie I’ve ever seen.

Toronto’s new AMC Metropolis 24 digital theatre at Yonge and Dundas’ Toronto Life Square is, I believe, the first digital cinema in Toronto. I enjoyed the stunning clarity of the digital projection (including the breathtakingly real-to-life-looking movie trailers) more than the movie itself. I’m really looking forward to the future of digitally projected movies! But the Metropolis - Yikes! The cinema itself was great (once you ride the 4 escalators up to get there). But I question the really odd multi-level-cinema-atop-multi-level-food-court architecture of the Toronto Life Square that the cinema sits atop.

As for Wall-E, it is a forgettable, derivative film. There’s nothing new here. One commentator said Wall-E is this generation’s ET. That may be. But Wall-E mimics ET so much that it seems little more than a 2008 ET rip-off.

What did Wall-E see in Eve anyway? She’s definitely not a Dale-type!

Reference: |
Reviews: Roger Ebert | IMDb External Reviews | Rotten Tomatoes | Metacritic

Official Wimbledon Site | Men’s Draw | Ladies’ Draw |
Wow! John McEnroe opined that the 2008 Wimbledon men’s final was the best match he’d ever seen. At 4 hours and 48 minutes it was certainly the longest (the previous record was the 1982 Connors v. McEnroe final at 4 hours, 16 minutes). I loved it, stomach twisting and turning all the way.

In the end Rafael Nadal won the a gut-wrenching five set  6-4, 6-4, 6-7, 6-7, 9-7 match that spanned two rain delays and threatened to go into Monday. Nadal had two championship points in the 3rd and 4th sets that Roger Federer managed to stave off. But Nadal was just too good. As hard as it is for me to say it, Nadal deserved that win. Point for point he chased down everything Federer threw at him.

(Nadal collapses after his hard-fought win)

    
(Nadal hugs trophy - Federer contemplates defeat)

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We had an all-Williams final for the first time in 5 years. Venus won, Serena pouted, Richard went home early. The Williams’ sisters also won the Women’s doubles final, cumulatively ‘netting’ them $2.5 million at Wimbledon 2008. Not bad.

Since NBC chose to show all of the William’s sisters round of 16 matches, all their quarter-final, both their semi-final matches, and even some of their doubles matches (at the expense of many other terrific matches - see my rant here), by the time of the ladies’ finals came around, I had seen more than my desired share of the Williams’ sisters for one week!

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One of the other highlights of the second week was the terrific five set, come-from-behind, round of 16 match between the 12th seeded Scot, Andy Murray, and the 8th seeded Frenchman, Richard Gasquet.  I confess that I’ve never much liked Murray - seems like a bit of a rich and spoiled hothead to me. But the Brits went wild cheering the local boy as he put on a terrific show with some spectacular shot making.

Earlier in the week he got into a bit of a friendly spat with John McEnroe as to whether Murray was fit enough to win a grand slam. On winning the Gasque match, he displayed his biceps as a seeming retort to the McEnroe criticism. Nadal ultimately took him out easily in straight-sets in the quarterfinals.

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