iPhonery: There’s a lot of buzz surrounding the upcoming release of the iPhone 3G S. It looks like ATT has sold all of its pre-order inventory. A guy at the local Apple store told me today that they have sold a ton of pre-orders, and that next Friday will be a crazy day. Apple has an excellent compilation of “how-tos” for the world’s greatest phone. That link is a mandatory bookmark for all iPhone users. Postage is a neat-looking iPhone app that lets you create and email postcards, but then you have to print them to put them on the fridge. Photogene looks promising, though I haven’t tried it yet.
Sneaking in the Kid’s Room: Everyone knows that I have very mixed feelings about Facebook. When I spend time there, I feel like I’m sneaking into the kids’ rooms. It is, however, the only way to interact with a lot of people who don’t have a presence on the greater web. What I’m trying to say is that, yes, when the opportunity presented itself, I capitulated to a vanity URL (facebook.com/newsome).
Wild Life Department: Back in the early 70’s, my mom and I saw a black squirrel in the woods by the road. It was one of those things you never forget.
The End of the World as We Read It: OmegaMom has a good run-down of some post-apocalyptic science fiction. That’s my favorite sub-genre. I’m currently reading and enjoying the Pelbar Cycle books. Here’s a pretty good, but incomplete, reading list to get you started.
Sirius XM Deathwatch: So now they are going to jack up the monthly rates even more? Fat chance. My Sirius XM connection is down to a single, stretched thread, thanks to the increasing costs, and the better options via Pandora and Slacker Radio.
Department of Sound: 30 Days Out has a good read on one of my favorite blues singers. One of my favorite later Howlin’ Wolf songs is this version of Little Red Roster off of The London Sessions. Also, don’t forget that I’m recommending a lot of great music at our sister site GoodSongs.Com (RSS feed). Elsewhere, Cover Lay Down continues to rocket up my music reading list.
Apptic Blast: Here are four great Windows clipboard alternatives. And four alternative file copiers. Finally, here are some good multitasking desktop apps.
I’m a Frayed Knot: Everyone should know how to tie some basic knots. Here’s a wallet card. Or for those hip like me, an Evernote card. Speaking of wallets, here’s a very interesting iPhone app to keep barcodes from all your affiliation cards. I try to stay unaffiliated, but I have gathered a couple of grocery cards along the way.
One Sentence Movie Reviews: I have recently watched (links to Netflix; 5-point scale): Taken (4)- very good action flick, with great appeal for dads. Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist (3)- definite chick-flick characteristics, but I liked the music element and that both the main characters were really good kids (Kat Dennings is a lovely young lady; and I noticed when researching this post at IMDB, 22 years old today; happy birthday!). Gran Torino (3)- overacting and the unnecessary verbalization of the obvious makes a great concept only a pretty good movie (nice ride, though). The Dark Knight (3.5)- I avoided this one for a long time because of the Ledger over-hype, but it and he were both excellent, particularly until the last half-hour or so. The Wrestler (4)- I loved it, Mickey Rourke was excellent and, seriously, could Marisa Tomei be any hotter without spontaneously combusting? Slumdog Millionaire (incomplete)- I had really high expectations for this one, but I just couldn’t get into it, and didn’t finish it before my on-demand time limit expired.
Blessings: I am so glad the fracking digital conversion is over. It was the most over-discussed, non-event since Y2K. And, no, I really don’t care if someone (or even 880,000 someones) ignored the deluge of public service notices and screen crawls and is somehow surprised that his ancient television not in any way suddenly quit working. Technology helps those who help themselves, and all that.
Shaken, Not Stirred (but We Can All Realize Our Dreams): I have reached Level 30 in Spymaster, which is as high as you can currently go. As I noted the other day, it’s a good start, but the game needs a lot more depth. Follow me if you’re a spy, and I will follow you back (as long as you have a legitimate, non-MLM, non-unintentionally-Deep Thoughts-like Twitter account). I’d rather be spammed a thousand times on Twitter than see another absurd to the point of self-parody, uplifting, self-affirmation post. And while I’m at it, do people really think blasting regurgitated quotes ads value?
Newsome.Org 