Iron Man is the Perfect Summer Movie

Turn ye back for there be spoilers....


I'm going to post this while I'm still in a tizzy over Iron Man. I loved it. The tech was sexy and made for a extremely visually pleasing movie. I haven't really seen Robert Downey Jr. do anything in recent memory so I was a little unsure about how this was going to turn out. I also was never a big fan of Iron Man/ Tony Stark. (Unless you count Ghostface Killah. I'm more in to The Genius and Method Man though.. I know... digressing) Because they didn't go into too much back story, this movie is accessible for a lot of viewers. I went in with zero expectation. I came out squealing and making a big fuss over this movie. It was just a whole lot of fun.

If the tech and effects don't get you, the lack of bad dialog should. There are a lot of comic book/ sci-fi summer movies with dialog that just plain sucks. I didn't cringe when the actors spoke and everything was natural. Gwyneth Paltrow is just divine. I knew she was going to be a hit in this movie simply because her AND the head of Iron Man made the cover of this month's Vogue Magazine. That's huge! In the link be sure to check out the photo gallery. Drool worthy!

So let's see... gadgets, explosions, sexy effects, good dialog, awesome actors... what else am I forgetting....

Oh yeah... at the end of the movie, Samuel L. Jackson makes an appearance as Nick Fury. ...nothing big....
@$*&^$!!! I can't wait!

No seriously, that tech was soooooo sexy.

T-Mobile is Killing My Dreams of Using Twitter on a New BlackBerry Curve

For the past month of so, I've been mulling over buying a new smart phone. I'm fine with the $300 price tag for the device. What I'm not ok with is the service plans available with the device. Using AT&T's BlackBerry Curve is OUT because their phone doesn't have Wi-Fi. If it had GPS AND Wi-Fi AT&T's Curve would be IN. I decided on T-Mobile because they have the option of a one-year contract and an unlimited texting plan. This week, I'd pretty much decided to bite the bullet and sign a contract with T-Mobile. I was actually going out to do that today.

This morning on Twitter, I start seeing all of these tweets about T-Mobile blocking Twitter. This is a huge deal breaker. I was already iffy on going with a BlackBerry because I couldn't really use Skype with it. The whole point of me getting a smart phone is so that I could participate on Twitter at work without using the work computer. I also wanted mobile web browsing and a camera phone on the go. If I can't use Twitter or Skype on the service/phone, then the whole thing is useless. Now I have to find and decide on ANOTHER phone. *sighs*

Here are some links:
Alternageek: T-Mobile blocks Twitter?
CNET: Twitter doubly dead for some T-Mobile users
Techcrunch: T-Mobile Turns Off Twitter?
T-Mobile Shuts Down Twitter Service for Good?
T Mobile Blocking SMS Codes for Twitter (and potentially other third parties)
Letter to T-Mobile CEO: Killing twitter will be a PR nightmare


I am going to wait for an official response before I make my final decision.

[updated 4:56 p.m. CST]
Twitter's Blog: T-Mobile + Twitter-- Looks like Twitter is saying this is a glitch. I hope it's a glitch and the people that talked to T-Mobile's tech support just got bad support people who didn't know how to handle the call. I still want an official response from T-Mobile.


[updated 12/19/07] Turned out to be a technical issue. I was really hoping for this news. Also, I felt that the customer service email was served up by an employee who didn't really know what they were talking about. I've worked with reps like that who don't really care and play hard ball. Too bad that email got circulated. It's also too bad because I had the BlackBerry curve in my hands this weekend. I put it back because I wasn't sure about the whole blocking issue.
T-Mobile Mix-Up Was Technical

Webkinz: Another Virtual World Gateway for Kids

Webkinz are regular stuffed animals. The gimmick is that you can adopt a virtual version of your pet and play with it in a virtual environment. Apparently, this toy is the latest toy craze. I just heard about them two weeks ago but I hear the demand for them rivals the Cabbage Patch Fiasco of 1982. I'm not sure this is true. I've been in toys stores all this weekend and I didn't hear anyone talking about them. In fact, I couldn't find any; not even an empty place where they used to be.

Either way, I like them because it introduces children to virtual worlds. The bad thing is that communicating as animals in a virtual world has a bit of a "furry" undertone to it. I guess kids won't think of that unless adults point it out.

I'm thinking about getting one for my niece but I want more evidence that this toy is interesting to kids.

Darth Vader Wii for $15K

Engadget reported that Technabob reported that some guy is selling a Darth Vader Wii on eBay for $15000. :)

Dude claims:

Originally designed and built to promote the release of LucasArts "Unleash the Force" game, on the Wii in Spring 2008. Only 4 of these were produced. I have 2, and will be selling this one to one lucky buyer before Christmas.

... it even includes"2 Black Nunchuk".

Note that the guy doesn't show an actual picture of the unit. He says it was used in a The Force Unleashed promo deal. I'm surprised the guy didn't say the thing had actual George Lucas epithelium on it. The upcoming Force Unleashed game is girlie squeal-able but this guy is crazy. If someone actually bids on this, I will personally hunt them down and smack them.

Kindle: I'm Not Thinking So

Look at the size of that thing! My hand is cramping from looking at it. The Kindle does not look cool. It looks like the clunky tech from Star Trek: TOS. This hardware is NOT sexy. It looks like a medical device.

You have to pay 99 cents to read a free blog like mine and I get no money from it!!! HELL NO!

There are monthly subscriptions for newspapers from US$9.99 to US$14.99, magazines at US$1.99 and US$2.99, blogs (yes free blogs) for US$0.99 each per month, and Word document and photo email attachment support for US$0.10 each.

NO back light but you can buy a light attachment. *gasp* Somebody was smoking crack on that one. It's $399 with NO touch screen.

The idea was to mimic the experience of reading an actual book as much as possible, Bezos said, though he acknowledged that Amazon "will never outbook the book." Suggested accessories on the Kindle purchase page actually include a clip-on reading lamp.

FAIL! I was excited about it. I wanted to like the Kindle but it's so huge. I don't want another gadget to pack around or I'll be wearing a gadget belt for real.

Plus, I get motion sickness if I read and travel. It's why I love audio books. I won't be spending money on this... evar!!!

I Want the 3 Skypephone NOW!

I'm in the market for a new mobile phone. I love the BlackBerry Curve but I'm not satisfied with any of the service plans available. What I'm really looking for is a bit of freedom. It seems like I won't be able to get that freedom because I'm in the US. I'm talking bout the new 3 Skypephone. It's not much to look at. It doesn't have a QWERTY keyboard; something I'm really craving right now. It *does* have Skype which is something that I'm really, REALLY interested in using. I like Skype as a communication service. I like the features such as being able to block callers. I can IM with my friends that use Skype via phone or computer. I'd buy it right this second if they sold it in the US. From the looks of it, there are no plans to sell it in the United States. I'm pretty pissed about this. Get it together Skype, get us those phones now!

I was seriously considering buying the phone and trying to mod it. I don't the first thing about that so I guess I'll have to wait until Skype gets off their cute bums and get this service in the US.

Links:
Skype's info on the phone
Official 3 Skypephone website
http://www.3mobilebuzz.com/