brainmower

I use both Plex and Boxee as my home media center apps. I stopped using Boxee for a long time because they dropped Hulu (or vice versa).

Each app has it’s own advantages/disadvantages. For instance, Plex does a better job of browsing movies while Boxee does better with music.

I recently upgraded to the latest version of Boxee and I’m digging a few of the new features. Pandora on Plex is just plain ugly. Check out Pandora on Boxee (it’s damn sexee!):

Pandora on Boxee

I’ll probably continue to alternate back and forth. Now that Boxee’s Hulu is working again Boxee has a slight edge because of the superior way Boxee handles music, which is what I do most on my computer/TV etc.

Either way, I’ll be keeping both Boxee and Plex updated and check on them regularly. Much thanks and appreciation to the work of both teams. Great job!

Let’s get the good stuff out of the way. This movie nailed difficult casting choices. Quinto as Spock etc was very well done. Casting helped build the backstory of how these characters met because each character was easily recognizable. There was never a moment of disbelief that this character was not the younger version of a McCoy, Kirk, Chekov etc. They just “fit”.

Now that the good stuff is out of the way…wow did that movie fucking suck. Rotten Tomatoes gave it 95% fresh? That seriously dampens my faith in Rotten Tomatoes. Every sequence of events was cliche or partially borrowed from another movie. I’m going to highlight just a few areas because I don’t have the time to detail the level of pure crap that this movie put on the screen for two hours. Spoilers galore, you’ve been warned.

-In the future, Vulcan and Earth have zero defense. Drop a tethered planet core mining drill from space in the midde of San Francisco because we have no way to stop it. Awesome.
-When sending three people to blow up the mine, we’re going to give the only explosives to Ensign Olson. Guess what happens to Ensign Olson.
-Romulons have Red Matter which grants them the ability to create blackholes. Guess where they keep it! On an unguarded spaceship that can be flown right off their own ship in minutes.
-Hey, let’s do this Star Wars thing with a monster chasing Kirk only to get eaten by a bigger monster because we can’t write an original scene to save our lives. Also, lots of bouncy cameras.
-Old Spock has just seen his planet blown up but he’s going to deceive Kirk because he wants Young Spock and Kirk to be BFF. OK! That sounds super logical.
-Check it out, we’re gonna beam only our Capt and First Officer aboard the enemy ship because that’s how they did it in the ’60’s and we are gonna rock it ol’ skool!
-Kirk in bed with a hot green chick, because we can’t stop ourselves from recycling tired ideas.

To sum it up Star Trek is a good looking movie. Excellent casting. Purely horrible story. I can’t believe it’s getting great reviews. Society as a whole is braindead.

Went to the Red Bull Air Races today.

Red Bull Air Races

Few more pics and video here.

Not being in the office!

So, I signed up for Tumblr.

Many of the people I follow on FAVRD have a Tumblr and their Tumblr’s are hysterical. I felt like I was missing out on some jokes and, since I have an overpowering need to be accepted by the cool kids to stem my insecurities have accounts on most social sites, I figured I’d give it a try.

I love Wordpress (which runs this site) but I see the potential of Tumblr for someone who just wants to post random funny stuff as easily as possible.

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles is in danger of being canceled after just two seasons. The Season 2 finale aired tonight. Disclaimer: I am not a big fan of TV in general but I will watch certain shows.

Terminator: TSSC, which is based on the Terminator movie series, has had it’s ups and downs. Tonight’s season finale (and the previous two episodes) were FANTASTIC. I hope that Fox will realize that there is value in keeping good TV on TV and not be solely driven by revenue. One can dream! No one needs another reality show pukefest on television. Terminator has potential to run a long time, if Fox can keep the faith.

Terminator has taken chances. If you’re a fan of the show, you know what I mean. If you’re not but curious, check out how they kill one of the main characters (MAJOR SPOILER). You have never seen a main character die this way. Shocking, but completely in line with how Terminators roll. Makes the show even more awesome!

I’m doing my part. You can vote to keep the show on television. Go there, vote early, vote often.

Three final reasons this show deserves to stay on-air: Shirley Manson (yes, from Garbage), Summer Glau and Lena Heady. These ladies kick ass on this show and I feel their characters are just now hitting their full stride.

Just added Google Friend Connect to the blog. 

So yeah, I’m lonely bored right now.

I am coming around to really liking Google Voice.  Google Voice is more than just another phone number, it has:

-web based SMS
-voicemail transcribed to txt. (very slick!)
-advanced call routing/handling, including time based clauses
-easy to use Gmail like interface
-integration with Google Contacts

Google Voice centralizes all of my SMS and voice communications with the added benefit of using my Google Contacts.  I can offer a single phone number to callers, change where those calls ring on the fly, block callers and give priority to friends/family.

At first I was not impressed with Google Voice, now that the dust has settled, I am definitely a fan.