Initial Impressions of the Wii

My first few days were without internet access, so I didn't initially get to try that out (and once I did I discovered it isn't what I expected, but more on that later).

First off ... the hardware:

• Beautifully designed. My favorite of all the current consoles.
• The feel of the Wii Remote is good. It isn't too heavy, but is generally very comfortable.
• The Nunchuk controller is similar, but is rather more simplistic. Still, it feels natural to use.
• The range of the Sensor Bar to detect pointing directions from the Wii Remote is somewhat problematic for me right now. I can't find any position that allows me to stand or sit and play without moving the sensor bar, but I think this may be solvable.
• I really wish the console came with video cables better than plain old composite. Honestly, in this day and age, S-Video or more likely, Component really needs to come in box.
• Video generally looks good (given SD expectations), but I haven't tried hooking it up to my HDTV and likely won't until I get my hands on a Component cable.
• Seems I can save just about anything to good 'old SD flash. Nice change from other vendors.
  

Now for the software:

• I started with only Wii Sport. This game is a lot of fun, if not a bit repetitive. My favorite mini-games so far are Golf and Boxing.
• I rather quickly went out and picked up Wii Play bundled with a second Wii Remote. This game is a bargain bin collection at best. It isn't nearly as good as the Sport disc, but you only pay a $10 premium over a Wii Remote on its own, so the value isn't too bad. The Cow riding and fishing are fun. I have yet to get comfortable playing Billiards.
• I think games that demand physical action (sports, etc.) will work beautifully. I'm not sure the novelty won't fade on other titles, but we'll see.
  
• I rented SSX Blur and Elebits last night. Both seem fun, but I haven't really dug into them much yet.

More coming this week:

• Internet Connectivity
• Virtual Console
• More in-depth discussion on the listed game titles
  

Return from the Beach

So, I was really bad about blogging from the beach...

Too much relaxing to do. Let me give a quick run down now that we're back before I go to get some sleep...

• Amazing weather ... most of the week was clear and mid-80's temperature wise. We didn't get any nasty rain until late Saturday
• Ben didn't enjoy the water at all until Saturday morning ... prior to that he was afraid of the surf, but he did get into the sand ... lots of pictures to go through
  
• Ben broke a DVD player ... electronics mixed with a 1 year old is a no go
• I bought a Wii ... wandered into Wal-Mart while wasting some time and they had a single Wii box hidden at the back of the shelf. I will review it in the next few days
• Did lots of walking, 2-3 miles many days, but I still found myself back up about 5-6 pounds over 2 weeks ago. Food like the next entry explains ;)
• I love Buffalo Wild Wings ... really good wings and a good atmosphere

Now just one more day off and then back to work. Be back later with more ...

iPhone review at Yahoo

Review: Two Weeks With An iPhone - Yahoo! News

I haven't read the whole article, but it sounds rather interesting and worth a look...

The "plus" sign is a valid e-mail address character

I really need to go to bed, but I thought I would rant for a quick bit.

If you design a web page that asks for an e-mail address is some manner, you really better $%@& well known the accepted standards for e-mail or rather the "internet message format".

I get so pissed off when a web form won't allow me to enter a plus sign in my e-mail address. This is a valid and useful option. You see, everything after the + to the @ sign is presented but ignored for delivery. So, bill@vinsonweb.com and bill+spammingbastards@vinsonweb.com go to the same address, but I can at least see the address it was sent to. Now, when I give my e-mail address to any old company, I can see if I start getting spam on that e-mail account, I know who to blame.

There is no incentive for companies to fix this as it is used by a small group of people. Well, no reason except for the page designer sleeping soundly with the knowledge that he did his work right and isn't completely inept.

Bye, Bye Wildman look

BEFORE:

AFTER:

MID-WAY SNACK:


So, Ben had his very first haircut today. I was glad. Heather was a bit torn up, but kept it together :) He still has curls, just shorter hair overall. He handled it quite well, but did get a bit fussy towards the end, but never really cried. We ended up using Snip-its and I was pretty well satisfied with the job and with the environment of the place. There were lots of colors, lots of multimedia clips, and quite a number of toys for sale. All in all, a good choice.

You can see a few more photos here.

The Deathly Hallows

So, my hardback book copy of "Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows" arrived today from Amazon and I picked up the audiobook version at Target while we were out. Looks like I've got some great reading during my vacation.

Possible 6G iPod User Interface Redesign and Videos

Mac Rumors: 6G iPod User Interface Redesign and Videos

I could totally see this design and yeah, I would be tempted to buy one :)

Make sure to check out the videos...they're short, but interesting ... if you're into the iPod's GUI ;)

Can't get it out of my head

I am wandering B.J.s with the song "Jinglebell Rock" stuck in my head. I keep humming it and I don't know why. To make things worse ... I can't stop!

Workin' for the weekend

Oh, did I mention my vacation started today at 5PM?

YES!!!! :)

Shuffle while you walk

I went out on the way home and picked up a green iPod shuffle. I must say that I really love this thing. It is small, light, clips to your clothing and in general just works great. It makes my walks much more fun as now I don't have to carry around my comparatively bulky iPod Video 5G. I originally considered the iPod nano, but this won out due to price and size. I also think the nano is due for a major retooling. If they make it cool enough, I might pick one of those up too at some point.

So far, between Heather, Ben, and I we have:

• iPod 20GB 3G
• iPod mini
• iPod Video 5G
• iPod shuffle
  

To a crisp I say...

I must say, I am very tired lately ... of work, of everything. I am just burned out to some extent and I really need my upcoming vacation to recharge. Right now, I have my first "me" time of the day and I am sitting on hold with NetFlix to fix something with my account ... not really relaxing ;)

Well, we hit the beach in a matter of days and really, hitting the beach for me means sleeping and relaxing. Wow! I just can't wait. I have a huge stack of comic book TPB (Trade Paperbacks) and I will have Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows for some enjoyable reading time. I am truly looking forward to book 7 of the series. I had wanted to listen to it on Audiobook, but I must have missed the pre-order guarantee deadline for that edition. If I find it, I will likely pick it up as well.

I'm also going to be working on pulling in all the video I have of Ben that has not been imported into iMovie yet. Probably going on to encode for Apple TV and YouTube from there.

Anywho, I am REALLY looking forward to getting away for a bit. I should still be posting as I can now do it from my Samsung Blackjack via SMS/MMS.

Review: Harry Potter OOTP/Ratatouille

Well, I think both movies were quite good. First off, Harry Potter...


Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - 4 out of 5 stars

This movie was very dark, but then again, so was the book. This shouldn't be a surprise to anyone familiar with the direction the series is taking. Each of the seven editions grows increasingly dark as the children age. There are some great characters that are seen here for the first time, such as Dolores Umbridge, Luna Lovegood, Nymphadora Tonks, and Bellatrix Lestrange. All of these new comers add something to the Harry Potter universe. It has been a while since I read the book, but it felt rather true based on my memory. There are some rather funny scenes, but overall the mood is consistently dark. This story focuses HEAVILY on death and is getting to the point where younger children simply aren't ready for the material. Roger Ebert's review specifically dinged the movie for lacking the wonder of the previous outings, but that simply isn't there by this point in the story. We're in a whole new world at this point and I'm not sure if the criticism is fair. I believe it is a good choice for any fan of the series, but newcomers would definitely need to see/read the previous books. All in all, a great movie experience.



Ratatouille - 4 1/2 out of 5 stars

Ah, on to the rats ;) I wasn't sure about how good this film would be, but I wasn't sure about Cars either and I can definitely say I am impressed. You know, you wonder if rats can be cute and interesting, but this is a great movie. It IS cute, well written, funny, and the animation ... I can only say that my jaw dropped. The fur, the detail in the fur and all of the little touches just make this an amazing visual spectacle. I couldn't decide what to pay attention to the amazing visuals or the great story. This one is up there with the Incredibles, Monsters, Inc., and Toy Story. Patton Oswalt is great as the lead character and rat, Remy. He makes the movie and adds so much to the characters obsessive, creative nature. There are also lots of positive messages for the kids. There is a bit too much in the way of references to "killing" as that is what people typically due to rats, but I think it is only too much for the real young end of the spectrum. Well worth checking out by pretty much all ages.

Just got out of Harry Potter OOTP

I thoroughly enjoyed the movie. It was appropriately dark matching the book's tone. I need to think about a rating, but I am leaning toward 4 out of 5 stars.

I saw this nice standup for the Simpsons and figured I would have to grab a shot. Oh well, I'm off to see Ratatouille as well. It has been years since I did a double feature.

The firetruck I bought Ben

Apple Acquires CUPS

Mac Rumors: Apple Acquires CUPS

This is actually very interesting as this is probably the best open source printing architecture out there, but it needs more polish IMO. Apple is likely to integrate CUPS even more into OS X while hopefully continuing to support all the others UN*X operating systems...

SMS works too!

So, very cool, I can go either direction (cheap ($0.25 per MMS) or cheaper ($0.10 per SMS)) depending on my needs (text or text+image). Alternatively, if I do this a good bit, buying the $5 per month plan sounds like a good direction.

Testing Mobile Blogger

So, I figured I would test out the mobile features of blogger to go (Mobile Blogger). Seems to work rather well, and isn't too pricey to do each month. Maybe I should send to Blogger & Flickr on the same message...

mmmmm...always-on connectivity...

By the by, I snapped this photo outside of Target after picking up a Mega Bloks Mega Fire Truck for Ben. I thought the sky with rainbow had a nice texture to it.

Here is Ben's new toy...

The Badger Song

I know this is old, but I still think it is hilarious and oh, so appropriate for this blog :)

They grow up so fast...

Ben walked today and I didn't get to see it!

Heather and Ben went to a nearby daylilly farm to pick up some flowers for the backyard while I stayed at home and worked on cleaning up our office (which had become quite a wreck). While they were there, Ben took 10 steps in a row by himself. I definitely think that is counting as walking, but I just wish I had gotten to see it :(

It was nice he picked a date like 777 to walk on... :)

[UPDATE 7/9/07] I have since gotten to see Ben take a number of steps on his own...yeah! He still is more comfortable with crawling, but I'm sure that will change in time!

Badgers, Badgers, Everywhere

Another who loves the badger...the one on local TV that is...

Long story short, we have a local automotive dealer using a "badger"ing sales manager to illustrate everything they aren't. Terribly funny commercials, IMHO, but their online presence is darn close to zero. Takes forever to even find their site as they don't seem to have a site for the name their advertising, "Johnson Automotive". They're actually, "Johnson Lexus". No mention of the badger there that I can find. Probably Lexus is too high-brow for a talking badger ;)

UPDATE:

I found copies of the print ads.

I've fallen and I can't get up!

Actually in all seriousness, I have been in a lot of pain today. My back has been sore since Wednesday when we finished putting a patio in, but sometime on Friday, the pain seriously kicked in. I stayed home from work and tried to rest and stretch myself back into some sort of useful shape, but I'm still only part of the way there...

How Bill can be convinced to lower his standards...

I really wish I didn't like getting a good deal sometimes...

I have been using Netflix for the past couple of years if not longer. Well, my brother talked me into trying Blockbuster's online service. Well, long story short, I like it. I like it a lot, but I really dislike Blockbuster as I believe they represent much of what is wrong with the movie industry today (i.e. profit emphasis rather than artistic quality, "exclusives", Wal-Mart like elimination of all competition, caused the death of the local video store, etc.)

All that being said, I love getting movies in the mail, watching them, returning them to the store, getting free in-store rentals, getting my next batch in the mail. It is simply VERY convenient. Guess I have to just accept that I am going to compromise my personal stance for a few more movies a month and a bit of convenience :(

Review: Transformers

4 out of 5 stars

So, I went to go see Transformers on Monday night which was opening night for the flick. Theater was crowded, but not horrible as there were several showings at all at once. I'll cut to the chase and simply say that it was a LOT of fun. It is a great popcorn flick and if you did enjoy the 80's toys and cartoon, you'll definitely find a lot to enjoy here. The robots do look different than they used to and some of the action is too fast and motion blurred, but I can't say I even realized nearly 2 and a 1/2 hours had passed when it ended. There was a good area of action and comedy to hold my attention. Shia LeBeouf was great in his role. He added a strong human element to the movie and was very well cast. I especially enjoyed the scenes with his whole family. I haven't bothered to look them up on IMDB, but I got the best chuckles when they were all at home. John Turturro was honestly a riot as a slightly over zealous government agent. One of the weak areas was Megan Fox's acting. However, it was obvious she was cast as an eye-candy love interest. She is absolutely gorgeous and as I was leaving the theater I heard MANY people discussing the "checking out the engine" scene. I must say, she played her part admirably ;) One note, this movie is NOT for young children. I would absolutely draw the line at 9 or 10 years old. It is a bit too aggressive and violent (albeit without blood) for the younger kids. 

There have been quite a large number of negative reviews and it has finally dipped into a "rotten" state over at Rotten Tomatoes. I think some of the reviewers are being too hard on it explaining that their negative review is due to how they feel non-fans will react, but at the same time, they say anyone who grew up with the show and toys will love it? Seems a bit harsh to hold that stance given how many people know and love those toys, but oh well...