what's iphone'n':
Four
Tomorrow is the season premiere of Lost and I couldn’t be more guammed. It’s gonna be so guammin’ to have a good show airing during the writer’s strike, let alone that show being Lost. I mean, guam! They’re finally getting off that island!
But you’d be a guammed guam fool to believe they’re getting off the island right away or even at all. The people who are coming have made it clear that they’re not focused on rescuing people, but finding the island (I’m positing).
So how do we refer to these new visitors? The other others? Others from different mothers? The thems? “Don’t trust her! She’s one of them.” It’ll be interesting to see how Ben & co. interacts with these boaties.
Find out Thursday! And for the next 6 weeks straight! Pray for a quick writers strike resolution… or for the quick shipment of Robo-Writer 6000’s from my factory! We accept checks!
Spider-Pig, Spider-Pig…
Nice. I just noticed that the iTunes Store now has The Simpsons Movie (itunes link) available for rental. I think that’s a pretty nice get, and should entice people to give the service a try. I’m not too concerned that it’s not for sale, only rental. I don’t see the point of buying movies very much. Sure, you may have some ultra favs that you use to define you as a person to the outside world, but even then, how often do you watch Jackass: The Movie?
I’m quite pleased with online rentals, especially since I live in a tiny studio apartment and my 23” iMac is my HD television set, so consequently, I don’t need an TV to view things on my “television”. I still have to try out the service myself, but I think it should be okay for me… me a childless consumer not subjected to the night-time whims of a fussy shorty.
Daring Fireball and David Pogue have simultaneously complained about the 24 hour limit upon initial playing rule. They both have recounted tales of, after a busy, parent-ful day, starting a movie at 8:00 PM and falling asleep an hour later (pussies) – so now they have to continue their movie the next night before the 24 hour period expires (possibly meaning to continue the movie at 7:00 PM if you have an hour left, but that conflicts with the ‘putting the kids down’ schedule so the movie disappears unfinished). I laugh. But I digress… as I sit in my lonely, lifeless apartment.
Daring Fireball has noted that this time limit is more of a sacrifice given up to the cable provider gods than anything else, impressed upon Apple by the movie studios who wish not to upset said cable provider gods (gosh, could Time Warner, Comcast and other providers be anymore of a downer for our party?). BUT as I alluded to earlier, this service is excellent (just pay as you go, and choose on a whim, unlike Netflix) for me and my god.
Ooooh Couchyus, The Provider! Giver of Life! Taker of naps!
And Macworld will begin! Whore-ray!
Macbook Air? iTunes movie rentals? iPhone SDK preview? Apple TV updates? Ubiquitous wi-fi? The Romans bursting into Moscone and crucifying our one true lord and saviour? Mac mini speed bumped?
You there! The depraved one! Clicketh upon my linketh of glory and salvation, for you shall be reborn into the light and salvationized from the wretched darkness whence you whenced.
Behold, the mighty link of Lost, recapping seasons 1, 2, and 3 (iTunes required).
One of the commenters mentioned that this is available in other places too, like proabably ABC’s website. I just know of this iTunes one – but you can download this version and save it. As it will save you.
Like the others on the Lost island telling the castaways that the people on the boat are bad news, I think media distribution is headed to a worse hell. While watching Lost Missing Pieces from ABC.com, I noticed that not only are you submitted to their ads from Verizon, you can’t control the playback of your video. If you missed what someone said, you have to wait until the video is over, probably watch another ad from Verizon (see I even remembered the company) and then, get to watch your video again.
I saw a headline the other day that our buddies in Redmond, Microsoft, were working on patenting a technology that would make it impossible to skip ads in digital media. Great. The ship off the coast is not Penny’s boat, Naomi has a Locke thrown knife in her back, and the easy times of fast-forwarding through commercials is coming to a halt.
Namaste.
OHMG! OMG! MOGMYGOD! MY GOD OH!!1!!
I just naturally assume, from my veteran years of tv watchin’ and speed watchin, that Lost will be good and enjoyable in it’s upcoming years, but that I’ll always be looking back and thinking, “season 1, that was the best of times. The show came outta nowhere and floored you.” But after watching this trailer, albeit a dramatically cut trailer, could it be that the best years of Lost have yet to come? Heaven and Dharma help us if that’s true.
Man, I love The Macalope. The way he and Daring Fireball’s John Gruber (I still think they’re the same person) tear down the jackasses of the PC blogosphere is just exquisite. In a world where taking shots at Apple just to exasperate the Mac community, gain attention on Digg and get people to check out your article because you’re a hack, or worse, John C. Dvorak, and can’t gain attention any other way, the Macalope is doing more than tow the Apple line, he and Gruber are fighting The Monster The Blogosphere Hath Spawned.
Since corporate media companies have mined the phenomenon known as blogging to the point of death, “journalists” has become a twentieth century notion. You gotta be a blogger to have cred and get read… cool, did I just make up a catchy phrase? Bloggers were known for their on the spot writing and thus became the next best thing to being at the moment. Books are slow, magazines are monthly or weekly at best, but blogs, oh man, so instant. How can you go wrong with blogs? Why read anything else?
Dude, that was so five minutes ago. Hit “refresh” on your browser… see, it literally was so five minutes ago.
Another thing that was mined from blogs was their IMHO-ness. Bloggers opined about their lunch, the movie they saw last night and how they’re battling with their cell phone carrier to get some charges reversed. “This is giving me a headache, I hate it, they suck.” No fact-checking necessary to hit “submit” on that Blogspot page. Your opinion is now out there.
Rats can fit through the smallest of spaces
Fuck journalism and all that baggage, I’m gonna be a blogger and write the next Great American Shit Pile. I’m gonna work for a huge media corporation but hide under the title of blogger and write yellow journalism. The pissiest shade of yellow, in fact!
So I guess it doesn’t really surprise me that Gruber and the Macalope seemed to have increased their take-downs of jackasses in the past few months. And they’re doing it with well thought out writing, logic, and analysis. Ironically, they’ve kinda reversed gears and are defeating the hacks out there with the one thing corporate, quota-based bloggers don’t have: time.
And that’s why you should read Modicum of Modernity – I’m not paid AND I’m a shitty writer. Best o’ both.
