All Hail the Lame Duck President!
(or “Guess What Unexpected Thing Happened!?”)
Let’s cut to the chase. Codeweavers made a plea to President Bush to bring down gas prices, never expecting it to actually happen. Well, they bet that if it would happen, they would give away their CrossOver Pro software for free for 24 hours! (Normally $70!)
CrossOver allows you to run windows software without a copy of Windows. While not as versitle and compatible as Boot Camp, VMWare Fusion, or Parallels, it DOES work quite well with many windows titles, and the price is right!
SO… Stop reading, and go here immediately! (Once you get your e-mail be SURE to log on and register your copy before midnight tonight CST!)
As for 2 Live Fool’s hype-free zone… opinion… here you go. CrossOver is way behind in it’s usage and and overall acceptance. This giveaway should enable CodeWeavers to claim usage number at or above the current market leaders VMWare Fusion and Parallels. In general, this is a great opportunity for the company to expand it’s user base, and entice new users to PAY for their ongoing support plans and upgrade fees. This is a generous giveaway for users, and a truly profitable opportunity for CodeWeavers. Bravo!
The Google Android phone was released today. Will it be able to compete with the iPhone? Absolutely! We examine the Android Phone, the new iPhone 3G, the new iPod Touch, and the new nanos.
You’ll love getting the new fools updates on the newest digital revolution releases! You won’t be disappointed!
Android Lives! How does it compare to the iPhone? The new iPod Touch? Nanos? [40:28m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download
Bottom line–free is free. Okay, I know some of us guard our precious minutes each day like we’re Warren Buffett and we huff and puff while watching ads that run before our favorite web videos, TV shows or online whatever. I’m certainly one of those people and, yes, it gives me great power to rant and sigh as I sit through the commercials. But in the end, I’ll drive and park seven blocks away to avoid paying a $3 valet tab, AND I’ll sit through commercials if I don’t gotta pay one penny. So after five months of private beta testing Hulu has officially launched and I’ll say it here first, it’s going to kick some major bootie.
God bless The Happy Tree Friends! As reported today by those who know, Moscow has banned this sweet, innocent cartoon from Russia’s delicate soul, sparing millions of citizens pain and suffering. Reason cited: “It’s too violent” said Rossvyazokhrankulutra (government watchdog).
The nightmare continues… and I don’t mean that John Carpenter’s masterpiece “Halloween” has been remade by Rob Zombie; the remake joins the ranks of films lost to the internet before theatrical release.
The new Rob Zombie film that opens this weekend has been leaked in DVD quality to the internet. Stereo sound, and all of the gore you’d expect. This isn’t good news.
When you have a film as expected as this one, this leak could be disastrous to the film’s release. Especially the opening weekend. Given the fact that this is a work print, it could also be destructive to the DVD release if the key deleted scenes are included in the work cut. From reports, this cut is a widely commented July cut of the film that didn’t test as well as the studio would have liked, and therefore there were many edits and the ending was supposedly reshot.
More and more films are showing up on the internet in the highest quality, and these leaks are leaving a major wake in their path. “Highlander: The Source,” “Hostel: Part II”, “Sicko” are just a few that have suffered.
Given the huge investment made by the studios, you can expect that the whole studio system will begin to lock up and lock down all outside production. Folks, with film industry strikes on the horizon, leaks of films on the net, and an overall eight-hundred-pound-gorilla mentality, you can expect to see the studio system of internal production departments increase in the near future with Fort Knox security being employed. Just wait and see…
It is every Producer’s biggest nightmare. Your film is released in full quality, stereo mix, etc. on the internet almost a year before it is supposed to be released. Late last year this EXACT event happened. Anyone who truly wanted to see the film, obtained a copy, and did. While the Producers claimed that the film wasn’t finished, reports are that every aspect of the film was polished, and overall, it was an enjoyable film. However, when no theatrical release date was set, the question of what was going to happen with the film came up. It’s reported by the Adrian Paul Newswire blog that the film is now destined for it’s premiere as a television movie for the SciFi Channel on September 15th at 9 PM followed by an encore showing at 1AM.
This is a shame, and something to seriously appreciate when you’re making a picture. Often events such as these happen when someone involved ‘burns’ someone else. As a fellow Producer, I truly hope that they catch the individual who leaked the film. As for the picture itself? I recommend that you take the time on September 15th to see it!
Have the Blockbuster Online guys hacked Netflix???
Last night I went to log in to Netflix to watch a streaming episode of Masters of Horror only to find their website down with a promise of restoration by 8PM. I came back at 8, and it said 11PM, I came back at 11, it said 2AM. This morning I returned to the site, at 8AM, and it wait ‘be back up at 9AM… 9 AM said 11AM, and now it simply reads “temporarily unavailable.
It’s reported that Netflix shares are now at an all time low, and that the company recently reduced the price of all of their plans by roughly $1. What they didn’t expect was the site to go down.
The Boston Herald reports that Netflix claims that they will be back online by 4PM but doesn’t state the reason for the outtage.
You can be sure that some hacker at Blockbuster is getting a huge bonus today. Amazing when you consider the power of a intelligent nerd in a closet… Hail nerds!
I was checking out the new list of the revised 100 greatest films at the AFI’s site and found something interesting.  The way they display the movies is in a flash animation that shows the movies DVD cover, which I find incredibly crass, but that’s another story.  So in the case of Star Wars, you’ll see the 2006 Photoshopped “art” and in the case of Raiders of the Lost Ark you’ll see the pan-and-scan cover for “Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark”.ÂÂ
Number 65 on the list is The African Queen, a film that has not been released on DVD yet.  I’m including a picture of what they have displayed on their page.
While Apple’s new iPhone ‘Activation & Sync Video’ has mostly accurate information on their plans, the final review, right in the middle of Apple’s new iPhone Activation & Sync Video you’ll see the following:
Apple announced:
In general this is strange because they also show a $10 upgrade to 1500 SMS minutes in the same video:
It seems that the upgrade for a current AT&T customer to the iPhone data plan is $20 for 200 included SMS text messages, and $30 for 1500. What Apple showed above is a better deal than what is currently being offered for the iPhone so this is likely why it was changed. All of the data plans should have included 1500 SMS text messages.
AT&T’s unlimited plans currently include 1500 SMS text messages, and it looks like the Apple plans were going to include this many as well. But if you look at what is being offered… only 200 SMS text messages, this is shameful. These should be free to begin with, but SMS messages are a profit center for cellphone carriers, and instead of including Apple’s text messaging client ‘iChat’ as part of the unlimited internet plan, they are using the expensive SMS messaging. You only get 200 SMS text messages (incoming or outgoing) on the current plan, and according to an AT&T representative, any additional text messages are $.10 each.
For more information about how SMS text messages, especially only 200 is not only restrictive, but potentially manipulative in causing higher cellphone bills with the iPhone, stay tuned for my next blog to be posted later tonight.
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