Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe Trailer

I'm a Mortal Kombat hater (for some reason I like every fighting franchise except for MK), but even I have to admit that Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe looks pretty good.

The iPhone Wait, The App Store etc.

I wonder how long I have to wait before I can upgrade to an iPhone? Supplies are low, and it seems like new accounts are favored over existing customers.

I think that Apple miscalculated the number of 16GB phones required. Given a choice, I think most people would rather spend the extra $100 for the extra storage.

Personally, I don't even have capacity issues with my first generation 4GB Nano, and the syncing is usually related to cycling the podcasts that I listen to every day. 8GB is probably satisfactory for me, but if I get an iPhone, I expect it to last a few years, and who can predict what I'll be using it for 2 years from now?

I was going lukewarm on the phone (because of the rates) until I started browsing the iPhone app store a couple of nights ago. I remembered that there are going to be some key apps that I want (Evernote, Things) that will fill in address the shortcomings in my current Windows Mobile device (I did think about getting an iPod Touch and keeping my phone, but that seems a little unwieldy).

There are some questionable apps in the App store, however. The most notable one being a "Contraction Timer" for pregnant women. Priced at $9.99 (are you kidding me?), it seems to be on the very expensive side, considering that it's a limited use application. The fact that the screen shots fail to impress lead me to think that sales will not be brisk. Given that Apple won't be paying out until the total amount payable reaches $250, I suspect the author will be waiting quite a while before he gets a check cut from Apple.

Speaking of iPhone Apps, I received a mailer from TapTapTap, a new iPhone company started by Sophia Teutschler, of CoverSutra fame, and their little suite of apps is attractive (think Delicious Generation), well priced, and useful.

Instructables: Make Your Own Ugly Doll

This has got to be one of the better instructables in recent times.

Merlin Mann Summarizes iPhone's Load Issues on Day 1

Merlin has an excellent compendium of stories of those activation issues for new iPhone buyers around the world.

Good thing I decided not to wait in line!

Being a new Evernote Devotee, he also has a first look at Evernote for the iPhone. I want an iPhone just for Evernote and Things.

Blackberry Thunder

Crackberry is reporting that the upcoming BlackBerry Thunder touchscreen phone is going to use a haptic keyboard. This should be an awesome (and likely spendy) phone when it comes out.

I'm probably in the minority when I say that I don't really see this phone as "true" competition for the iPhone. To me, they're both in different spaces, servicing somewhat different needs.

While I am rooting for Android also, there is something to be said about products from companies that control both the hardware and the software platform. That's why I think that RIM and Apple are going to be the players offering the most compelling products in the smartphone space.

You can slap a lot of lipstick on Windows Mobile and release a nice phone like the Sony Xperia, Samsung Instinct or HTC Diamond, but in the end, you're still stuck with an OS that sees phone functionality as an afterthought.

My HTC Excalibur (aka T-Mobile Dash) is a prime example - it has a great form factor with more than decent build quality, but you can always count on the OS to ruin the overall experience.

Multimon Taskbar - Add a Taskbar to Your Second Monitor

Multimon Taskbar is a very useful piece of freeware for Windows that adds a taskbar to your second display.

SVN Clients for Mac Compared

Ok, no more Rogers iPhone stories, I promise.

Jade Ohlhauser has an in depth comparison of the two new Subversion clients for the Macintosh, Cornerstone and Versions.

The winner?

Despite the content viewer, great history browser, and mostly superior UI of Cornerstone, I'm going to go with Version's better management of working copies and repositories. It's a tough call, and I could live with either one.

iPhone Hubbub Continued

Even Consumer Reports is weighing in on all the negative Rogers hype. I don't think I've ever seen a backlash on a Canadian company this huge (this is now bigger than the Bell Canada net neutrality controversy). There are definitely some corporate communications lessons to be learned in this post-blog, post-social media world.

Bell and Telus... Jealous of Rogers' Bad Publicity

Not content to allow all the bad PR around Rogers to steal their thunder, Bell and Telus have found a way to take back some of that negative attention that Rogers' iPhone plans are getting.

iPhone Lust Fading

With all of Rogers' negative press and my own reluctance to get shafted in an expensive 3 year plan, I'm finding my desire to buy a 3G iPhone waning rapidly.

To provide some context, I hate my current Windows phone. Actually, I don't hate the phone, I just hate the OS (Windows Mobile) and can't stand using it. At this point, I'd rather be stuck with my despicable phone than to fork out another huge chunk of cash to my cellular provider.

You definitely won't see me lining up this Friday, that's for sure.

Plex Makes the Mac a Compelling HTPC

Plex, a Mac port of XBMC, makes the Mac Mini a compelling HTPC. The compact footprint of the Mini, combined with its near silent operation and bundled remote are extremely hard to beat. I have never been 100% sold on the Apple TV, and with the existence of Plex/XBMC for the Mac, remain unconvinced.

Rogers & iPhone - The Plot Thickens...

I've decided to wait a week or so before pulling the trigger on the iPhone, and it seems like there might be good reason. AppleInsider is reporting that Apple isn't too pleased with the plans available:

Blogger Daniel Smith claims multiple sources, including a senior Rogers representative, claim that Apple has diverted a significant amount of its initial iPhone 3G Canadian deliveries to Europe in retribution for the carrier's steep rate plans, which at similar prices offer a third fewer minutes and limited data compared to AT&T.

Stores may be getting just 10 to 20 iPhones each and are being told to "exercise caution" not to promise ample stock on launch day, according to the rumors.

Better GMail Firefox Plugin Updated

Gina Trapani recently updated her excellent Better GMail plugin for Firefox.

Incredibly enough, after years of being a diehard Firefox user (read about it here and here), I'm now a Safari user at home and an IE user (out of necessity more than choice) at work. The recent release of 3.0 was not enough to get me to go back. Go figure.

Run Your Diesel Car on... Grease

The Greasecar Vegetable Fuel mod for diesel cars puts a whole new spin on "Greased Lightning".

A few years ago, I remember reading an article in Wired on how peeps with modified VW diesel cars in the US would troll fast food restaurants for their waste oil. The restaurants happily gave away the oil (oil recycling generally involves a fee), and the drivers got free fuel. With today's gas prices, I can imagine this mod being a big hit.

Lifetick: Web Based Goal Setting

Lifetick is an interesting service. It allows you set goals online in your typical 2.0 fashion. Worth $20 USD a year? Not too sure about that.

Web Based White Noise Generator

Simply Noise is a handy web-based white noise generator that can help you relax or block out distractions. Very cool.

This is the perfect accompaniment to a "distraction free" writing tool like WriteRoom.

3D Mammograms Increase Detection by 23%

From Engadget:

Scientists have developed stereo mammograms -- breast X-rays taken with special cameras and at multiple angles -- that they say can help them increase detection of breast cancer by 23-percent while decreasing false alarms by 46-percent. By overlaying images taken at different angles or using 3D glasses, Researchers at the Mayo clining say they can now see behind dense tissue that would normally block potential problem areas.

This can only be good news.

Fully Restored

Thanks to Yahoo's backup scheme, I have now managed to restore all of the post content that got wiped out by a RapidWeaver snafu.

I'm still not sure if Blogger is going to stick as the engine of my blog (the main deficiency being the inability to create a tag cloud on sites not hosted at BlogSpot).