Prisoners (2013)
March 4, 2014This past weekend, I watched Prisoners (imdb, iTunes, amazon), and I really enjoyed it.
Google Keeps Project Ara
February 28, 2014I have to admit, I was a little surprised to hear that Google has hung on to Project Ara. I had assumed that it would go with Motorola, not because Google is afraid to set their sights high, but simply because I just don't believe that Ara has a reasonable chance of making a mark on the mobile landscape.
Luther - Season 3 (TV)
January 24, 2014Season 3 of Britain's Luther (wikipedia, amazon, iTunes, imdb) is riveting, like the previous two seasons. The cast is outstanding, from Idris Elba on down, the stories are gripping (if occasionally violent), they aren't afraid to cut characters when...
Masters of Sex (TV)
January 15, 2014It's great.
Knack (PS4)
January 14, 2014One of the video game titles that Santa brought for my son is a game called Knack. Co-incidentally, I'd played this very game at a PS4 demo station at Target in early December, and liked it. Having now played about three quarters of the game, I'm still reasonably happy with it.
Apple's "Your Verse" Ad ad and the iPad as a Camera
January 13, 2014Apple's Your Verse ad is all over the internet today; it's a new ad, and a good one, but what struck me immediately about the ad is how much Apple is emphasizing the iPad as a camera. I was a little surprised to see very little commentary on it at...
Resogun: Save the Last Humans
January 11, 2014My son wanted Skylanders: Swap Force for Christmas. Our aging collection of consoles (XBox, PS2, Wii) wasn't a good fit. Only the Wii would play it, and the Wii version of Swap Force has a reputation for being glitchy.
The Wii U has had a rough start, so I didn't seriously consider it. I briefly considered getting a previous-generation console (PS3, XBox 360), which would have given us access to a library of older games and probably allowed us to play many new console games for a year or two. I suspect that might have been the best choice, but the enthusiast in me wanted the PS4, and I was somewhat nervous that we might be in this same position next year with a new game requested for Christmas that can run on PS4 but not on PS3.
So after Santa brought my son a PS4, Skylanders: Swap Force, Knack and a second DualShock 4, I tried hard not to go wild and buy myself a bunch of games. I mostly succeeded.
Batman Animated Television for Children
January 10, 2014My son has been interested in comic characters about as far back as I can recall, and he's had a particular attraction to Batman, so, although he's not quite six, he's already seen almost all of the Batman animated television that exists. Along the way, I've had the opportunity to refresh my own memory of some of these television shows and watch others I'd never seen, so it seemed worth summarizing.
Skeptical of Motorola's Ara, Too
October 29, 2013As I wrote before, I'm deeply skeptical of the idea that we can make truly modular mobile phones out of blocks that don't come with significant trade-offs that make them unsuited for most people.
This morning, The Verge reports that Motorola has unveiled...
Google, Android and Control
October 21, 2013Ars Technica's "Google's Iron Grip on Android: Controlling open source by any means necessary" is an interesting look at some of the problems Google faces with Android and the strategies they've had to use. I wrote it up in more detail on the Codiform...