Soon to be gone...

Tris that is, gone from the iTunes app store that is for iPhone and iPod Touch users. It will be removed from the app store tomorrow. So let's see what's hot for free games for the iPhone and iPod Touch right now this instant, shall we?

Thought so. Well, everyone's grabbing this while they can because the official Tetris client for the iPhone and iPod Touch is apparently lame. Oh, and $9.99 too. Can't beat free... Even though I do acknowledge that the company that owns the rights to the game does have a bit of a legitimate gripe here.

I got a new toy...

Thanks to a combination of waiting for the right moment, gift certificates and free super saver shipping from Amazon.com, I find myself now the proud owner of a Logitech Harmony Remote 550 for a mere fraction of its suggested retail price.

So...what do I think of this miracle device? Actually, now that I think I have it set up correctly, I quite like it. Sure there was some trepidation about the initial setup and install of the software to program the remote. The new 7.5 version was released just a few days ago, and the comments on Versiontracker.com worried me about the stability and usability of the software. Then I remembered that I was reading comments from users on Versiontracker.com and carried on with the install of the software. Software which, unlike was written about to the point of near-hysteria on Versiontracker, worked perfectly for me. Some of the more strident comments were amusing enough since they were criticizing Logitech for emphasizing work on the Windows version of the software over the Macintosh version. However, the software is primarily browser and Java based...so really fairly platform agnostic. Sometimes my Macintosh brethren do need to pull their heads out of somewhere and seriously get a grip.

For those of you who may be unfamiliar with Harmony remotes, it's a universal remote, and if you know me at all, you know quite well that I've been in need of one for some time. However, instead of the TV/DVD/VCR/CD function-type buttons that you'd find on a typical universal remote, the Harmony-series is instead task-oriented. Post-setup, you use an LCD screen (with a lovely blue glow on my model) to select from a menu of what you would like to do. For instance, if I want to watch TV, I scroll to that on the LCD screen, click the button while pointing the remote at the equipment like any other remote and then the TV will power up if need be, flip to the HDMI input, turn on the receiver and set that input appropriately and then control my HD cable box to change channels, watch shows on the DVR and turn the volume up or down on the receiver. If I want to play my XBOX 360 after that, I just scroll to that selection, push the button and then the input switches over to my VGA input, the audio switches over appropriately and it will even power up the XBOX for me. When I'm done, a single button powers down everything I want powered down. Clever. Very clever.

So basically instead of reaching for four or five remote controls, all I need is the one and instead of flipping  between different modes to switch over inputs and so on, it does all the work for me. I like it! I like it quite a bit! In fact, anyone with a whole mess of equipment to control and enjoys LCDs with a soft blue backlighting should pick one of these up. There are more expensive models of this remote, but this one was perfect for my needs and budget.

Oh so very, very recommended...

A couple more ComicCon observations and memories...

Watching Robert Culp walk across the dealer room and looking like he could still take on half the people there and kick their asses at age 77.

Did I mention the astounding number of people in full face masks that were also carrying rather unnervingly realistic looking weaponry? Up to and including firearms?

Warner Bros. were giving away each day rather large bags made of Tyvek for people to use to carry around their swag. Some enterprising people took it upon themselves to use these bags to create wearable clothing. A full suit pants and jacket in one case out of I believe Watchmen bags. I sat near them on one of the shuttles and they commented that they were going to get extra bags from WB next year to make clothing in advance of the show. That sorta takes the spontenaeity out of it...

Wow...traffic...

So I was looking at my traffic stats for the past couple weeks, and I should go to San Diego Comic Con every month it seems...were they to have San Diego Comic Con monthly...and if I were in Southern California to make it even semi-feasible. But there wasn't a slight uptake in traffic to the site here, there was an exponential increase in traffic. People must have been looking for pictures from the show floor. I do hope that everyone enjoyed the pictures as provided. I also hope that nobody things I came away from the con this year with a negative impression of the show. There were lots of great things to do and see. In fact, there was an embarrassment of riches to be had at San Diego this year (and likely the past few years, and I expect going forward into the future). The issue I have is with the size of the venue as even with taking over the whole convention center, all 125,000 of us were packed in fairly tightly.

Tonight I watched my traditional birthday viewing of Star Trek II. This time, however, I rented a HD version of the movie from iTunes and watched via my AppleTV. So a brief report may be in order. It looked KINDA better than my DVD. But this is a movie from 1982, so while it is on film and theoretically could be scanned in for HD, there is only so much that you could expect from it. It's also the theatrical print as well, not the extended version currently available on standard definition DVD. I may have to try again and rent a more recent movie in HD to see if there is a strong, noticeable difference in picture quality.

Speaking of Star Trek...the Las Vegas Star Trek convention unveiled another set of four posters with the rest of the recast Enterprise crew...

For those playing at home, clockwise from top left are the new Mr. Sulu, Scotty, Chekov, and Dr. McCoy. Of course, at San Diego, we had the first set of four posters made available to the public...

Top left clockwise are the villain of the movie, Nero, Uhura, Kirk and Spock. I'm back to running a little cold on this movie to just hoping that it doesn't suck. My fingers are crossed...

ComicCon ramblings

Back from ComicCon (obviously) and now that a week has passed and I am caught up and rested from my rest and relaxation, I can discuss calmly and sanely, my days in San Diego.

It was insane.

Insane, but fun. The trip down as mentioned was uneventful, if not a bit illogical. There are direct flights from Eugene to San Fransisco. There are direct flights from Portland to San Diego. My flight was from Eugene to Portland to San Fransisco to San Diego. Find the logic. Please. I certainly wasn't able to. My room in San Diego was just that. A room. Four walls, a window and a door. Plus bed, table and a place to put your clothes. Realistically this was all I needed while down there, but it was still somehow a bit off putting, even though it was amazingly cheap. I believe the accurate term used to describe this is a hostel. Do not let the very nice lobby of this location fool you. It worked very hard to earn that star and a half.

But the important thing is of course the show itself. I reiterate, it was insane and sold out all four days with 125,000 people milling around the dealer floor, conference rooms and the Great Hall H where all the pronouncements of cool for the upcoming year were made. Now the last time I went, many years ago, they convention was not using all of the space available in the convention center and I commented that it certainly was a bit busy on Sunday, the last day of the show and usually the slowest. This year the convention was bursting at the seams and taking up every square inch available in the convention center and if there was slowness anytime I didn't see it and nobody chose to bring it to my attention.

I did meet up with some guys I work with who are in Symantec's Culver City office, and I got to touch base with my pal Bill and my new pal Jane (who is totally awesome). Dinner with Bill, his wife Kayre and Jane was fantastic and the iPhone's GPS saved my bacon when I was getting oriented in San Diego to walk to the restaurant (along with being able to get my email, etc. while I was down there without having to lug my laptop). Twinkle on the iPhone was also handy to see what other people were up to locally and answer any questions on the fly if possible.

Friday night I had Sophie's Choice with going to the Mystery Science Theater 3000 reunion or the first live taping of The Totally Rad Show. I opted for TRS since I figured that MST3K's line would get capped fast - and I was right. Of course I completely blanked that the Eisner Awards were also Friday, and not Saturday as I was assuming. So I missed out on Bill hosting the ceremony. Ah well...

The show floor was fairly clearly divided between comics - what the convention was obstenibly about, and media - games, television and movies. Sure, artists alley was down next to video games, but that was just throwing crumbs to the people who were there strictly for the comics. In fact, once you walked past the Image Comics area at the show you were squarely in multimedia land and the traffic was honestly a little more crowded. No thanks to G4 television, who at least tried to keep traffic moving past their booth, and even less thanks to Paramount who encouraged people to cluster around their booth waiting for freebies (unlike other booths who were getting orderly lines formed to keep everyone moving). As a result the Paramount booth, sitting right along the main aisle for that side of the show was responsible for some massive traffic jams.

But I did have fun and left Sunday afternoon to make it back home. Sure, I made it to the airport in time like a good little traveler. I even got through security with a minimum of fuss. No thanks to Delta who had a delayed flight out of San Diego, making my trip from gate 1B to 12D in Salt Lake City an insane mad dash with me pulling my wildly flailing bit of luggage behind me as I didn't even have time to swing carry on in front of me to push and not pull. On the second moving sidewalk I heard the final boarding call for the flight to Eugene. When I saw the escallator heading down to the gate I very nearly gave up. But if there was anywhere I was going to be stranded due to a missed flight, it sure wasn't going to be Salt Lake City.

Pictures are available as mentioned before in the gallery...