If You’re Not, You Should Be–Apps

This series is designed as a way to call attention to things, practices, places, activities, or anything else you might not be aware of that I think are worth checking out. I try to cover as wide a variety of topics as I can.

This week is going to be all about apps for smartphones and tablets. In addition to the three I’ll highlight below, there are plenty of others worth checking out, so I’ll return to this topic from time to time in the coming week.

Twitter Apps

To get the most out of Twitter, you really need to be using on your phone. This allows you to get the most up to the minute information on what’s going on in the world, as well as to make timely and relevant posts of your own. The only problem with this is that Twitter’s official app is quite poor. It tends to be buggy, and is far from full featured. Fortunately there are plenty of other great alternatives. It might take sampling a few to find the one that fits you best, but it’s worth it. More control of checking for updates, autocomplete names, link shortening, choosing file sharing sites, persistent searches, creating and managing lists, and more can be found in most of the competitors. Tweetdeck used to be my recommendation for both Android and iOS, but since Twitter’s acquisition of the company updates have been non-existent. For Android I now recommend Tweakdeck, an independent effort based on Tweetdeck’s design, and for iOS both HootSuite and Tweetdeck are good options.

Comixology

If you have a smartphone or tablet and are at all into comics, you owe it to yourself to check out Comixology. In addition to having most new titles the same day as print, they have a massive selection of back issues, many of them for under a dollar, as well as frequent sales and free issues. As much as I enjoy supporting my local comic shop, it’s hard to resist the ease of purchasing the comic on my device, avoiding the hassle of having to store the issues once I’ve read them, and the extra attention to the art that the Guided View mode brings. Any comics purchased within the app can be viewed on any of your Android or iOS devices, as well as online. There are also Marvel and DC specific flavours if you’d prefer to only see comics from one publisher (though I’m not sure why you would).

Andie Graph

This last one is Android specific, since Apple won’t allow this type of app, but I use it so frequently that I had to include it. This is an emulator for the Texas Instruments line of graphing calculators. Very simple to use, you simply install the app and then download the ROMs for the calculator models you’d like to use (readily available via a Google search). It currently supports the TI-82, 83, 83+, 85, and 86. It turns your phone into a fully featured graphing calculator, just like the one you’re probably most familiar with from high school.

Let me know if you try any of these apps, or if there are any other you think I should check out.

Sleep well,

DTE

Insert Title Here – Hugo, Awake, and The Lorax

Every week there are tons of newly released films, Blu-rays, books, comics, and CDs, but the truth is, very few of them are worth your time. That’s where this feature comes in. Each posting attempts to highlight the best new media releases of the coming week. It’s far from exhaustive, and of course it will be mostly according to my taste, but I’ll try to do my best to include a wide variety, so hopefully you’ll see something that interests you too.

Hugo

Scorsese’s latest earned huge critical praise and scored five Oscars at yesterday’s ceremony. Despite making several attempts, I never made it to see this one in the theatre, but with its Blu-ray release on Tuesday, I’m definitely going to be checking it out, and you probably should too.

Awake

This is quite an ambitious new series from creator Kyle Killen, whose previous work includes the critically adored (but quickly cancelled) Lone Star. Jason Isaacs stars as a cop who is involved in a car accident and falls into a coma. He wakes up to discover that while his wife survived the crash, his son was killed. However once he goes to sleep he wakes up to a different reality where his son survived and his wife was killed. He has no way of knowing which is the actual reality and which is merely a dream. The procedural element involves two cases in each episode, one in each reality, both of which will inform the other. It’s an ambitious concept that will be hard to keep going week to week, but I’m definitely interested in seeing them try.

The Lorax

Produced by Illumination Entertainment, The Lorax looks like it should be a faithful telling of the Dr. Seuss classic. Illumination demonstrated that it was able to blend humour and heart in their last film, Despicable Me, so hopefully this one follows suit.

Sleep well,

DTE

Week Links 6

Week Links is a collection of some of my favourite links from around the web that I stumbled upon during the past week. You may already be familiar with some of them, but I think they’re worth checking out if you haven’t already.

Lego Millennium Falcon Animated Build

If you’ve ever built a Lego model or worked with 3D modelling software, this is a pretty interesting video. A step-by-step animation of the building procedure for the 5000 piece Lego Millennium Falcon. It really doesn’t need any more explanation than that – just watch it and enjoy.

Comic Con Episode IV: A Fan’s Hope

Morgan Spurlock (Super Size Me, Greatest Movie Ever Sold) and Joss Whedon (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Firefly, The Avengers) team up to create this documentary on the San Diego Comic-con. If the film lives up to the recently released trailer, it should be a very interesting look into the convention and geek culture in general. The fact that the creators are bona fide geeks themselves surely helps prevent this from being another “hey, look at the freaks” documentary and instead take an honest look at the people and the culture.

Fox News Attacks “Obama’s Liberal Agenda” in The Lorax and The Secret World of Arrietty

After attacking The Muppets for trying to indoctrinate our children with the “Liberal Agenda” Fox News has now gone after two new films: The Lorax and The Secret World of Arrietty. Of all the coverage this story has received, The A.V. Club’s is my favourite because they are least afraid to come right out and show how ridiculous this claim is. Fox warned parents about the liberal agendas “so disgustingly pervasive, they were first planted over half a century ago by “the president’s liberal friends in Hollywood” such as Dr. Seuss and English author Mary Norton, then brought to life by Obama’s super-duper liberal pals in Japan.” The fact that so many other “news” organizations tip-toed around Fox’s blatant fear mongering and distortion of the truth, and that there are so many viewers that let both Fox and the other news outlets get away with such shoddy, pseudo-journalism is fairly terrifying. As it says in Seuss’ “ultra-liberal” Lorax “Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.”

Sleep well,

DTE

If You’re Not, You Should Be 5

This series is designed as a way to call attention to things, practices, places, activities, or anything else you might not be aware of that I think are worth checking out. I try to cover as wide a variety of topics as I can.

Every time I hear about GoodReads, my first instinct is that it’s something I should join. Then, after a few more moments of thought, I realize that I don’t read nearly enough, in either quantity or variety, to really have much use for it. I still like the concept, though, so in that spirit, today’s post is all about books, fiction in particular.

American Gods

I haven’t enjoyed a book as much as this one in a very long time. In the story, all the gods of myth are real, and they are kept alive by people’s worship. The old gods, however, are losing out to the new, modern gods of the internet, technology, etc. and the book examines their struggle for survival, framed in a cross country road trip. This really is a fantastic book, and its follow-up, Anansi Boys, is also worth checking out.

World War Z

This book chronicles the aftermath of a zombie outbreak in a very unique fashion. Each chapter is presented as an interview with a different person telling their experiences during the outbreak. Though each person can only relate a very narrow perspective, they coalesce into a complete, extremely real feeling document. You don’t have to be a fan of zombies to enjoy this one, and in fact its biggest fans may well be history buffs.

The Wicked Years

What started out as a single novel telling the story of The Wizard of Oz from the perspective of the Wicked Witch, positing that maybe she wasn’t so wicked after all, has grown into a hit Broadway play and spawned three sequels. If you’ve seen the musical, the novel will still be very much a new experience for you, as the story similarities are only present in the broad strokes. This vision of Oz is much grittier and more adult, but still retains a sense of wonder and magic. I’m currently in the middle of the third book, and I’m eager to dive into the final entry.

Those are my top fiction picks for the moment. In the coming weeks I’ll take a look at non-fiction. Have you read any of the books I included? What books should I be checking out?

Sleep well,

DTE

Insert Title Here 5.5

After scouring the web for interesting new releases this afternoon, I’ve only now stumbled upon these two, which definitely need to make the list.

Slippery When Moist

Garfunkel & Oates consistently deliver hilarious and catchy songs on a wide variety of topics. Their YouTube music videos are always entertaining and certainly worth checking out. Their new album is released tomorrow via iTunes and is bound to be worthwhile.

Dragon Age: The Silent Grove

Dragon Age was Edmonton game developer Bioware’s second major original property success, following Mass Effect. It was a return to the standard fantasy elements of many RPGs, but featured a mature, complex story, compelling characters, and genuinely difficult decisions. In addition to the games, there is also a fairly highly regarded series of novels expanding the world. From the same author, we now have a bi-weekly comic series published by Dark Horse. The series is digital only, and with a price of only 99¢ there’s no reason for any fan of the series to pass it by.

Sleep well,

DTE

Insert Title Here 5

Every week there are tons of newly released films, Blu-rays, books, comics, and CDs, but the truth is, very few of them are worth your time. That’s where this feature comes in. Each posting attempts to highlight the best new media releases of the coming week. It’s far from exhaustive, and of course it will be mostly according to my taste, but I’ll try to do my best to include a wide variety, so hopefully you’ll see something that interests you too.

Wanderlust

I’m including this one based purely on the strength of its writers. The trailers look uninspiring, and it’s been ages since Aniston was in anything worth watching, but with Ken Marino and David Wain helming the script, this should, at worst, be an enjoyable distraction.

Puss In Boots

In a year lacking in an abundance of quality animation, this was one of the few brighter spots. Strong animation combined with Brian Lynch’s entertaining script make this worthy of its Oscar nomination.

The Fox Effect

In the same vein as the excellent Rolling Stone article, this book examines the transformation and influence of Fox News in the United States. Regardless of your feelings on the network, it should make for a fascinating read.

Sleep well,

DTE

Shots In The Dark

I’ve been making my attempt at predicting the Oscar winners for several years now, and some have been more successful than others. This is not going to be one of those successful years. That is a statement that I can fully stand behind. As I mentioned in my film roundup for 2011, this was not a good year at the movies. There were few truly high quality films released, instead we were mostly assaulted by half-baked cash grabs. Now that we’ve arrived at awards season, this is made abundantly clear by merely perusing the list of Oscar nominees. Many of the categories are so devoid of anything truly remarkable they’re almost not worth including. The problem with this, as far as prognostications are concerned, is that if no films stand out, the votes are diluted among several contenders, leading to surprising, unpredictable results, giving us the name of this post. About the only category that is a sure thing is Visual Effects – I’ll go ahead and spoil it now, the award’s going to Rise of the Planet of the Apes. Everything else is pretty much up for grabs.

Nevertheless, I’ll do my best to forecast the winners, but bear in mind that these should be taken with a bigger grain of salt than usual. As always, I’ll list the categories and nominees, with the winners highlighted in red. Let’s get to it.

Best Picture
"The Artist"
"The Descendants"
"Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close"
"Hugo"
"Midnight in Paris"
"The Help"
"Moneyball"
"War Horse"
"The Tree of Life"

Best Actor
Demian Bichir, "A Better Life"
George Clooney, "The Descendants"
Jean Dujardin, "The Artist"
Gary Oldman, "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy"
Brad Pitt, "Moneyball"

Best Actress
Glenn Close, "Albert Nobbs"
Viola Davis, "The Help"
Rooney Mara, "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo"
Meryl Streep, "The Iron Lady"
Michelle Williams, "My Week With Marilyn"

Best Supporting Actor
Kenneth Branagh, "My Week With Marilyn"
Jonah Hill, "Moneyball"
Nick Nolte, "Warrior"
Christopher Plummer, "Beginners"
Max Von Sydow, "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close"

Best Supporting Actress
Berenice Bejo, "The Artist"
Jessica Chastain, "The Help"
Melissa McCarthy, "Bridesmaids"
Janet McTeer, "Albert Nobbs"
Octavia Spencer, "The Help"

Best Director
Woody Allen, "Midnight in Paris"
Michel Hazanavicius, "The Artist"
Terrence Malick, "The Tree of Life"
Alexander Payne, "The Descendants"
Martin Scorsese, "Hugo"

Best Original Screenplay
Woody Allen, "Midnight in Paris"
JC Chandor, "Margin Call"
Asghar Farhadi, "A Separation"
Michel Hazanavicius, "The Artist"
Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo, "Bridesmaids"

Best Adapted Screenplay
Alexander Payne, Nat Faxton, Jim Rash, "The Descendants"
John Logan, "Hugo"
George Clooney, Grant Heslov, Beau Willimon, "The Ides of March"
Aaron Sorkin, Steven Zaillian, "Moneyball"
Bridget O'Connor, Peter Straughn, "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy"

Best Animated Feature
"A Cat In Paris"
"Chico & Rita"
"Kung Fu Panda 2"
"Puss in Boots"
"Rango"

Best Foreign Language Film of the Year
Bullhead (Belgium)
Footnote (Israel)
In Darkness (Poland)
Monsieur Lazhar (Canada)
A Separation (Iran)

Original Score
"The Adventures of Tintin," John Williams
"The Artist," Ludovic Bource
"Hugo," Howard Shore
"Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy," Alberto Iglesias
"War Horse," John Williams

Best Original Song
"Man or Muppet," The Muppets; Music and Lyric by Bret McKenzie
"Real in Rio," Rio; Music by Sergio Mendes and Carlinhos Brown, Lyric by Siedah Garrett

Best Achievement in Art Direction
"The Artist"
"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2"
"Hugo"
"Midnight in Paris"
"War Horse"

Best Achievement in Cinematography
"The Artist"
"The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo"
"Hugo"
"The Tree of Life"
"War Horse"

Best Achievement in Costume Design
"Anonymous"
"The Artist"
"Hugo"
"Jane Eyre"
"W.E."

Best Documentary Feature
"Hell and Back Again"
"If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front"
"Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory"
"Pina"
"Undefeated"

Best Documentary Short Subject
"The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement?"
"God Is the Bigger Elvis"
"Incident in New Baghdad"
"Saving Face"
"The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom"

Best Achievement in Film Editing
"The Artist"
"The Descendants"
"The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo"
"Hugo"
"Moneyball"

Best Achievement in Makeup
"Albert Nobbs"
"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2"
"The Iron Lady"

Best Animated Short Film
Dimanche/Sunday
The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore
La Luna
A Morning Stroll
Wild Life

Best Live Action Short Film
"Pentecost"
"Raju"
"The Shore"
"Time Freak"
"Tuba Atlantic"

Best Achievement in Sound Editing
"Drive"
"The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo"
"Hugo"
"Transformers: Dark of the Moon"
"War Horse"

Best Achievement in Sound Mixing
"The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo"
"Hugo"
"Moneyball"
"Transformers: Dark of the Moon"
"War Horse"

Best Achievement in Visual Effects
"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2"
"Hugo"
"Real Steel"
"Rise of the Planet of the Apes"
"Transformers: Dark of the Moon"

That’s it for this year. With any luck some of those will be right. The Oscars air Sunday February 26th starting at 4:00 pm pacific on ABC.

Sleep well,

DTE

Week Links 5

Week Links is a collection of some of my favourite links from around the web that I stumbled upon during the past week. You may already be familiar with some of them, but I think they’re worth checking out if you haven’t already.

Bill C-30

The more we learn about Bill C-30, the more terrifying it becomes. Now, not only does it give law enforcement complete access to anything you do, send, or receive online, it also gives MPs the ability to grant anyone they see fit the same rights, as well as to copy and retransmit anything of yours they feel like! This is a bill that needs to be stopped. If you live in Canada, take the time to contact your MP.

The Heartland Institute Leak

Damaging documents, allegedly from the Heartland Institute, were leaked online, revealing the anti-global warming propaganda organization's backers and strategies. Heartland has of course denied their validity, but in the same release admits documents were stolen, that they haven’t had time to read the released documents, and apologizes to its backers who were named. While the documents may or may not be fake, anything that helps to expose the double talk this organization routinely uses is a good thing.

Metal Cells

The article does a much better job explaining it than I could, so follow the link and read it. In essence, scientists believe they have created cells which can replicate and evolve that is non-carbon based for the first time. Very cool.

That’s it for this week. I’ll have another post tomorrow with my predictions for this year’s Oscars.

Sleep well,

DTE

If You’re Not, You Should Be 4

This series is designed as a way to call attention to things, practices, places, activities, or anything else you might not be aware of that I think are worth checking out. I try to cover as wide a variety of topics as I can. This week is graphic novels.

Sandman

There are plenty of graphic novels that you should read, but for this week I’ve chosen to focus on only one. Neil Gaiman’s Sandman is a perfect introduction to the world of graphic novels for those who think they are above them. Though the days of comics being solely simple stories aimed at children are long gone, they have yet to be accepted as serious literature by society at large. Sandman is easily one of the finest examples of the art form. Though as it begins it seems like another simplistic, villain of the week type of series, by the end of the first volume its gargantuan ambitions become clear. It quickly becomes positively transcendent, an epic delving into the meaning of life and death, morality, and the nature of man, densely packed with elements of classic literature and world mythology. Though it can be enjoyed on a surface level, the reader willing to put in the effort to seriously study its ten volumes will be richly rewarded. Over the course of its 75 issues, it was awarded 26 Eisner awards. These works really cannot be oversold, they’re just that good. If you’ve never read then, don’t hesitate to check them out, and if you’re already a fan and have some money to burn, Vertigo recently released the entire series in a beautiful, five volume Absolute Edition that would make a fine addition to any library.

In coming weeks I’ll do a more complete roundup of graphic novels worth reading, but, as far as I’m concerned, Sandman is the cream of the crop.

Sleep well,

DTE

Insert Title Here 4

Every week there are tons of newly released films, Blu-rays, books, comics, and CDs, but the truth is, very few of them are worth your time. That’s where this feature comes in. Each posting attempts to highlight the best new media releases of the coming week. It’s far from exhaustive, and of course it will be mostly according to my taste, but I’ll try to do my best to include a wide variety, so hopefully you’ll see something that interests you too.

Comic Book Men

This one is a bit of a cheat, since it premiered yesterday, but there's so little coming out this week that I've decided to include it. A "reality" show set in a comic book shop, starring the guys from the Tell 'em Steve Dave podcast should be a sure bet. The pilot mostly lived up to its potential, with only a couple moments that were blatantly manipulated by producers. The bigger problem is the disjointed editing. The scenes are all entertaining and work well on their own, but the manner in which they are currently being cut together makes it all feel a little muddled. Regardless, comic fans or listeners of the TESD podcast should enjoy this.

The Secret World of Arrietty

Studio Ghibli consistently produces some of the world's most beautiful hand drawn animated films. This is the story of a Borrowers-esque family of 4" tall people and what happens when one of them is discovered by the humans whose home they inhabit. Though it was previously released in Japan in 2010, this is the English language release and should be a welcome change from the increasingly similar CG animated films that fill theaters most of the year.

Sleep well,

DTE

Week Links 4

Week Links is a collection of some of my favourite links from around the web that I stumbled upon during the past week. You may already be familiar with some of them, but I think they’re worth checking out if you haven’t already.

The Extended Avengers Super Bowl Commercial

I cannot wait for this to come out

While there were few commercials worth mentioning during this year’s Super Bowl (and even fewer if you were watching from Canada, where they reverted to the old technique of blocking the American version of the broadcast), the highlight was definitely this look at The Avengers. While no plot was revealed, it hints at some great set pieces, Joss Whedon’s signature dialogue, and has the first glimpse of the Hulk in action. Can’t wait for a full trailer.

Needing/Getting

Pretty inventive

Not my favourite song, but this new OK/Go video is fantastically inventive, featuring all of the musical instruments played by striking them with appendages affixed to a car. Worth spending 4 minutes on.

Double Fine’s Kickstarter Campaign

Double Fine is a game studio headed by Tim Schaffer, and is also home to Ron Gilbert. Together, the two of them helped shape the adventure game genre in the early ‘90s at LucasArts, creating games like Day of the Tentacle, Monkey Island, Full Throttle, and Grim Fandango. Since forming Double Fine, they’ve put out the critically adored Psychonauts, as well as the popular Brutal Legend, Stacking, and others. They recently started a Kickstarter campaign to try to fund a new adventure game, since modern publishers are reluctant to revive the genre. They set a goal of $400,000 to make the game. Within 8 hours of creating the campaign, they had met their goal. Within the first 24 hours, they were over $1,000,000, the fastest project in Kickstarter history to do so, and one of only two to reach this milestone. As of this writing it’s sitting at nearly $1.5 million, with 31 more days to go.

Sleep well,

DTE

If You’re Not, You Should Be 3

This series is designed as a way to call attention to things, practices, places, activities, or anything else you might not be aware of that I think are worth checking out. I try to cover as wide a variety of topics as I can. This week is all about cloud storage. Cloud storage services have been around for several years, but most people were largely unaware of them until Apple launched its iCloud service in Fall 2011. While it works well for some things, like photos, calendars, and contacts, it has been widely criticized as lacking as an overall service, particularly by those used to Apple’s soon-to-be-defunct MobileMe service, which was much more robust. Today I’ll offer up my favourite cloud storage services. They will all work on any platform and, best of all, they’re all free.

Dropbox

This is the service I use the most, because it’s so simple and versatile. Sign up for a free Dropbox account and install the program on any computer or device you’d like – PC, Mac, iOS, Android, Blackberry. You’ll now have a new Dropbox folder. It behaves exactly like any other folder on your computer or phone – you can drag and drop to it, save, delete, whatever you want. The only difference is that anything you place in this folder will instantly be available on all of your other devices. It works for all types of files and is ridiculously easy. You can even set up a special folder that allows others to access it via the internet. The reason I prefer this service over some of the others is that it doesn’t require learning how to use a new program to upload and download files. It works just like all your other folders and files sync automatically. If you want to sign up, just click here (as a bonus, signing up via that link nets us both some extra space).

Evernote

Evernote is another great program, this time focused on storing short notes, pictures, and voice recordings. To use it, you sign up for an account and install the program on any computer or mobile device you’d like. You can then create notes that are instantly accessible across all your devices. I use it to save lists, things I’ve found online that I’ll need later, to make myself voice memos, and to remember products in stores.

Google Docs

The third and final service for today it Google Docs. You can use it to upload, store, and edit any Office file, as well as create brand new documents, spreadsheets, slideshows, forms, and more. It’s a great way to keep your documents organized and accessible. Additionally, since it allows you to set up documents to be accessible to a select group of other people, or even the internet at large, it’s a great tool for collaboration and group work. To use it, all you need is a Google account.

That’s it for today. I hope you try out some of these services, and if you know of any other good ones, be sure to let me know.

Sleep well,

DTE

Insert Title Here 3

Every week there are tons of newly released films, Blu-rays, books, comics, and CDs, but the truth is, very few of them are worth your time. That’s where this feature comes in. Each posting attempts to highlight the best new media releases of the coming week. It’s far from exhaustive, and of course it will be mostly according to my taste, but I’ll try to do my best to include a wide variety, so hopefully you’ll see something that interests you too.

Lady And The Tramp

As I mentioned last week, not every film needs to be repurchased on Blu-ray if you already own it on DVD, but the two types that see the biggest improvement on the HD format are black and white films and animated films. Lady and the Tramp has never been one of my favourites of the classic Disney films, but its Blu-ray presentation is sure to be beautiful and as an animation fan, this one is hard to resist.

September

With a new album coming out March 20th, The Shins have begun slowly releasing new material after a five year absence. This b-side released this week is very true to their old sound, which should please long-time fans. Personally, I can’t wait for the new album, which you can pre-order here.

Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace 3D

I’m a little conflicted with this one. I’ve never hated The Phantom Menace as much as a lot of other Star Wars fans do, but it’s certainly the weakest of the entire series. Additionally, I usually do my best to avoid seeing any film that was converted into 3D after filming, as opposed to being shot in 3D originally. Post-converted films tend to look exactly like the cheap cash grabs they usually are – just multiple flat planes, rendering characters as little more than cardboard cut-outs (some of TPM’s harshest critics would probably argue that that makes it the perfect companion to this film). Regardless, I’m a diehard Star Wars fan, and the chance to see the space battles and lightsaber fights in 3D is probably going to be too much to resist. I wouldn’t necessarily recommend you check it out, but I’m sure I’ll be there.

Sleep well,

DTE

Week Links 3

Week Links is a collection of some of my favourite links from around the web that I stumbled upon during the past week. You may already be familiar with some of them, but I think they’re worth checking out if you haven’t already.

The Accoutrements Horse Head Mask

What’s great about this isn’t the product itself, a slightly creepy rubber horse mask, but the customer submitted images of the product. I’m a big fan of the snarky and intentionally ridiculous reviews that can be found on some Amazon products (Three Wolf Moon t-shirt, anyone?) and this is just the natural evolution. There are 15 pages of great pictures. Seriously, check them out.

Jump From Paper’s 2D Bags

These are just plain cool. The large black borders and deceptive assemblies make these fully functional bags appear to be only two dimensional. Most of the styles are very female oriented, but I’m a big fan of the one displayed above, “Play Hooky”.

Bill C-11, SOPA, ACTA and the TPP

This is a very informative article on the various internet censorship laws our politicians, at the behest of their big media bankrollers, are trying to push through into law in Canada and the United States. If you use the internet at all, you owe it to yourself to become educated on this topic, and then take the time to contact your representative. Though the wording of each is different, they all have the power to fundamentally change the way the internet works, for the worse, shutting down its most useful and popular aspects and putting thousands out of work, all to protect politician’s paymasters in an industry that is refusing to adapt.

Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom

The article I linked to covers it all in much more depth, but the short version is this is an RPG to be played on a massive scale all throughout the Magic Kingdom and Walt Disney World. It’s still in the testing phase at the moment but will see official rollout soon. I will definitely check it out the next time I’m in Florida.

This Is Aperture

Portal and Nightmare Before Christmas?

This fan made video combines two of my favourite things, the brilliant game Portal 2 and the film The Nightmare Before Christmas. It’s a reworking of the song This Is Halloween, but with the Portal characters and I absolutely love it.

That’s it for this week. I’ll be back again on Monday with the regular features, and there are two of the old style, lengthy posts coming up soon.

Sleep well,

DTE

If You’re Not, You Should Be 2

This series is designed as a way to call attention to things, practices, places, activities, or anything else you might not be aware of that I think are worth checking out. I try to cover as wide a variety of topics as I can. This week is all about reading. It’s not about what you read, though. It’s all about how you read it.

E-Reader

The e-Reader has quickly become a crowded market in the last few years. There are still those who claim that they value the feel of a book in their hands, and for some types of books that is still a valid comment. For your typical novel, however, it is far more convenient to carry around a thin device than a weighty hardcover. In Canada, we have three main choices for brand: Kobo, Amazon, or Sony. If you travel south of the border, you can add in the Barnes & Noble Nook. There are two different styles of reader – e-ink, like the original Kindle and Kobo, as well as Sony’s line-up, and LCD tablets, like the Kindle Torch, Kobo Vox, and the Nook. e-Ink most closely replicates the feel of reading from paper, won’t cause eye strain, and is cheaper, but it can’t display color and doesn’t have a backlight so it can’t be read in the dark. All of the tablets run on a modified version of the Android operating system. They can display full color and, depending what limitations the manufacturer sets, can also be used to play games and movies and thousands of apps from the Android Market. The downside is that they are pricier and heavier. All four makers have their own online bookstores for purchasing content, but Kobo and Sony will also allow you to purchase material elsewhere. Kobo, Amazon, and Sony all have apps that give you access to your full library on your Android or iOS device (note that Sony only offers an Android option, Apple users are out of luck). Personally, I go for the Kobo e-ink as the best combination of value, features, and the ability to load content from any source.

RSS Readers

RSS has been around for years, and yet it’s still one of the lesser known internet features. Odds are that most of the sites you visit make use of this format already, and if you take advantage of that fact it can really save you time online. RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication. Essentially, it’s a way to view all the new content on a website as it is published, without having to wade through their pages and ads. All you need is an RSS reader. There are tons to choose from, but my favourite is Google Reader because of it’s simple layout and integration with the rest of the Google family of products. All you have to do is hit the “Subscribe” button and paste the address of the RSS feed you’re interested in. The site name will be added to the column on the left, along with a count of all the new stories that have been published since you last looked at reader. Clicking the site name will bring you to all the articles, which you can then scroll through, peruse item by item, or click on to view in their original form on the website. If you regularly visit a large number of sites this can be a huge timesaver. You don’t have to worry about missing anything and you can quickly view all the content.

1Book140

This one’s about creating more engagement with what you read. There are plenty of people who are interested in book clubs but aren’t in one for a variety of reasons. They’re too busy, they can’t find one in their area, they seem too geeky/female/insert-derivative-term-here to be public about their desire. 1book140 mostly solves these problems. What started as one guys idea to try to get a large number of people on Twitter all reading the same book at the same time, under the name 1book1twitter, has since evolved into a monthly, online book club. Time commitment problems are solved, since there are no set meetings to attend and there’s no reading schedule, instead there’s just a discussion schedule. Read the book at your own pace throughout the month, and discuss each chapter using hashtags whenever you are ready. The only rule is that you don’t post discussion of chapters ahead of the discussion schedule, to prevent spoilers for other readers. You might think that using Twitter as the discussion medium would limit the depth of the conversation, but they can actually be incredibly detailed. I’ve taken part in several, dating all the way back to the initial book, Neil Gaiman’s excellent American Gods, and it’s always been a very enjoyable experience. Since today is February first, they’re about to start a new book, and it’s also a good month to check it out for those who are big fans of long form prose, as this month the choice will be a graphic novel.

And that’s it for this week. If this inspired you to check out any of the above, let me know! And feel free to suggest anything you think is worthy of inclusion on these lists.

Sleep well,

DTE