Tablets are cool ...

Polo. Small but tough.

Somebody is going to get in trouble - Polo. Small but tough.

Sideways

Movie: Sideways Official web site Yahoo! Movies My Netflix rating: 4 stars (really liked it) Apple.com trailer: IMDB for Sideways

I saw an excellent movie this weekend at the Bijou called Sideways starring Paul Giamatti and Thomas Haden – it’s got my recommendation.

Short story – two middle aged guys, Miles (Giamatti) and Jack (Haden), drive up to California’s wine country the week before Jack’s wedding for a wine-tasting, bachelor party, bonding, kind of thing and not surprisingly end up in all kinds of trouble. Miles is a washed-up and depressed writer that works as a high-school English teacher to get by and Jack is a washed-up x-soap actor that’s trying to save himself by marrying into a wealthy family – they both need help.

I enjoyed the movie for its scenery, sharp dialog, rich character development, and wealth of juicy wine tasting dialog. Miles is wine connoisseur of sorts so there’s a lot of wine tasting going on and a quarter of the dialog is dedicated to just lines about wine. Not knowing a lot about wine – it kept me interested.

So go see it and bring a bottle of wine with you – just not a merlot.

The Brain & Pinky

Mac mini - On my mind

The Mac mini crosses my mind way too often, usually at least once before I have my morning coffee. I'm a PC guy so it's a little unsettling. True, I've always respected Apple's design skills and Job's marketing skills but I've never really considered buying a Mac. My 1st computer was an Apple IIe but my parents bought that. I used MACs occasionally while I studied at the University of Oregon - mostly for working in PASCAL. For the 1st time I find myself thinking about buying a MAC. Why am I hesitating? This question justifies a list.

• $500 can buy a lot of different things.
• I don't really want to start a software library for another
• platform.
• I'm worried about seamless compatibility with my two Windows XP machines at home.
• I'm worried about the quality of the product. Did Apple test it well? Are there going to be heat related failure issues?
• How fast does a G4 feel? Is my Sony Intel P4 going to make it feel like my Apple IIe?
• What will my peers think?

Why do I want one? It looks cool.

• I want to be part of the exclusive Apple owners club. Hmm...
• I want to be friends with Steve Jobs.
• I want to make slick home movies. But I just invested in Adobe�s
• Premier Elements and Photoshop Elements.
• I want to be able to talk positively or negatively about Apple
• based on experience not conjecture.
• I want to keep Microsoft on their toes. If I support both platforms, maybe Bill wil work harder to keep me as a customer.
• Installing Linux on a Mac mini might be fun.

Hold on a second. My beautiful wife bought me an iPod for Christmas - does that get me into the club? Steve, will you be my friend now? Or, do I have to spend a little more to join? So I find myself sitting on a white-picket fence, gazing at a beautiful Apple orchard; wondering if I dare jump off and take a bite of one of the big shinny red apples.

HOW-TO: Turn your Mac mini into a media center

HOW-TO: Turn your Mac mini into a media center - Engadget - www.engadget.com

Google Video Search Launched

Google Video Search - how cool is that.

Microsoft Office Outlook Live

Neowin.net - Where unprofessional journalism looks better - Microsoft Office Outlook Live Released.

Apple's Mindshare

Apple's 'mindshare' off the charts, says ZDNet Research

Microsoft Windows Antispyware BETA

I started the process of installing Microsoft's new Antispyware BETA software on the four (can you believe that) computers I use for work and for play. Surprisingly, the experience has been a good one - so far. Two of my machines were clean as a whistle - one however was seriously in need of a counter-espionage campaign. The FREE (love that, watch out Symantec) antispyware tool uncovered 17 different spyware and adware application of various types happily working away on my PC - this was the oldest and most traveled of all my machines so I wasn't surprised by the results of the 1st scan. Again, surprisingly, the software easily removed all off the applications from my machine - deported them back to that dark place on the Internet.

It's late - just wanted to throw a positive word out for this latest effort on Microsoft's part to spread good will. I won't give them too much credit for the software because it's just the result of an acquisition but I will give them credit for buying the right software and making it available to their users quickly and for FREE. I'd like to see them get this serious about the e-mail problem.

JibJab - 2nd Term Released

New Second Term JibJab released. Didn't like this one as much as the 1st two but it's still worth taking a look at. Looks like Yahoo! opted to host it for them this time - good way to drive traffic to the site.

Apple Shuffle Disected

I thought this was cool - Ipod Shuffle Disected via AppleMatters.com.

Funhaler

Where was the Funhaler when I really needed it? My wife and I have always had (well it's better now) a difficult time getting our kids to use an inhaler. Thanks Infamed - looks like fun.

[credit to: Gizmodo]

Jonathan and Victora - Beat by an Ass

Jonathan and Victoria - booted from the 6th season of the Amazing Race. Thank you very much Mr. Ass.

Desktop Search

New resolution - more frequent blogging ; )

I thought it would be interesting to test Google's objectivity by sending it this query on the hot phrase for 2005 "desktop search." Suprisingly Google returned a pretty intereresting result. Here's the top-five results.

#1 - Google Desktop Search
#2 - About Google Desktop Search
#3 - Copernic: Software to search, find, and manage information
#4 - MSN Toolbar Suite Beta with MSN Desktop Search
#5 - Slashdot | Yahoo Release Desktop Search Tool Beta

Can't blame them for #1 and #2, they're obligated to their shareholders. #3 was nice to see becase right now the Copernic solution is my favorite - although I haven't tried the MSN or Yahoo! options yet. The MSN search tool is next on my list to try and frankly I don't think I'll ever get around to trying Yahoo's implementation - after all, they didn't even really make it onto Google's short-list ; )