Stylish Gadgets

I finally get to register tomorrow morning at 9AM, so I'll get up at 8:55AM so that I can lock-in my classes. They're all open as of now, and so my days will start at 9AM or 9:30AM every day and end at 2PM or 3PM (including gaps), which sounds pretty good to me. I find the trend of aesthetically pleasing devices to be interesting, and so I thought I'd plug this article from the New York Times. The iPod is an obvious example, but there are also USB drives that look cool and other "giftable" items. Isn't it funny how much marketing influences the development of these products? I'm sure that there are better mp3 players than the iPod, but you know why you don't know what they are? They aren't quite sexy enough among other things. I think there are some negative effects though. Was the USB drive lanyard really meant to be worn day-to-day? It makes me feel sad to see people who actually do wear that thing all the time. Unless you're a network administrator or something, it just makes you look bad. So why is it that wearing an iPod Shuffle makes you look cool? Oh the tangled web we weave when fashion trends enter technology.

I'm sure you want more out of your gadgets this winter than style when shopping for friends and family, and the New York Times have assembled a great list of things I've definitely been pissed about myself at some point or another. Has anyone solved the mystery of plastic boxes that take the jaws of life to open? Honda has developed a $1 million car called the FCX that runs on fuel cells and leased it to a family, but apparently there's a lot of doubt as to the feasibility of this sort of vehicle becoming commonplace. If the oil companies are getting so rich now isn't it in their best interest to beat or help these car companies in alternative fuel possibilities so they can lead their competitors? I don't know how the industry works though; maybe I'm wrong. Lastly, I encountered a blog post with a lot of great thoughts on what a good OS needs to survive (mainly targeted at Linux though, of course). Nerds should definitely give it a look-see.



For those of you who don't know, I'm a big fan of the Silent Hill series and that shot above is among the first official pictures we have from the movie. I think that they're definitely moving in the right direction with the atmosphere so I'm excited to see what the end product is. Another interesting film adaptation is Splinter Cell, and Latino Review has a favorable review of the script. Needless to say, it's full of spoilers but the movie still sounds damn cool. Speaking of video game movies, Halo is supposed to start production in another six months, and I imagine that it'll be quite challenging without a director. Is anyone else lost in how this movie can have a good plot? You'll either be totally thrilled or horribly disgusted to know that there are plans in the works at Paramount to create a sequel to Jackass. This is highly likely since the movie made a ton of money, but it just may not be as funny anymore. Lastly, Quint at AICN has seen Jarhead but doesn't seem to give a clear indication of how good it is, which means that some will love it while others will feel unsatisfied.

I'm all about the Wednesday Mind Hump:

This week's theme is Practice Being Psychic Day! Soooo . . . . (evil grin) . . .

Because you already know what questions I'm going to ask (being that it's Practice Being Psychic Day and all), tell me what questions I was going to ask, and then answer them!

Here goes nothing...

1) How would you "hump up" your Halloween costume?
Probably wear a sign that says "looking for a hot seductress to take me back to Hell". I was Death, by the way.

2) When's the last time you had deja vu?
I can't quite remember, but I have them almost every two weeks. It's really creepy to get them because it makes me think that I'm losing my mind.

That's all I can think of. I wonder if I was right?