Samsung A900M

I've been thinking about getting a new cell phone ever since Charity got her Treo a year ago but never really bothered since, well, my existing one worked just fine. When her parents decided they wanted to join the cell phone revolution, I took the opportunity of getting a new one (a Samsung A900M) and passing on my old one to them.

The good: this thing is svelte! No more bulging pockets, yay! Double yay for being able to surf the web with a decent browser (Opera Mini) and running Java apps in general (the GMail app is fantastic). But the best feature I've seen so far is its support for GPS navigation. Didn't know it was available until I was fooling around with it last week while driving, and it works wonders. No more getting lost!

The bad: why don't new cell phones have distinct keys? Flushed buttons may look good and all, but they're impossible to use without looking at them.

The ugly: getting nickel and dimed for every little feature. New theme? $2/month. New ring tone? $1/month. If it was a one time fee, I might at least consider it, but a monthly fee? No way. And worse of all, I just learned today that my trial use of the GPS navigation app about to expire. I didn't even know I was in some trial period. If I want to keep using it, it'll cost me $5/month. Are you kidding me? I can just use Google Maps for free, assuming I can figure out where I am, and that's more of a hassle than a problem.

Thanksgiving

A belated Happy Thanksgiving to all!

I'm not quite sure what happened, but it was Wednesday night one minute and Monday morning the next. I spent Thanksgiving with Charity's parents in Sacramento, that much I know.

I'm also fairly sure I did the whole Black Friday wait-in-line thing for the first time ever. Proof is in the shiny new 42" plasma TV that just arrived this morning (a Panasonic TH-42PX60U). I've been watching the price of these things for a while now, and Best Buy finally had an offer I just couldn't refuse.

Now I need to upgrade all my other components to match this one... ;)

TV Online

It looks like almost all the major networks now offer a video archive off their website. The exception is the new CW, but then it's not exactly a "major" network now, is it?

Off them all, I like CBS the best. It has the nicest interface, and appears to have at least the last 4 episodes archived. ABC and Fox are pretty good as well, but I have issues with both. ABC because I usually have problems with the video (hiccups, etc.), and Fox because they don't archive any of the shows I'd be interested in.

As for NBC, they have an absolutely horrible interface. It's almost impossible to figure out which shows have complete episodes available, and from what I can tell, they only have the last episode available. Unless you've missed something, it's really not worth visiting their site at all.

Even with all the problems though, it's nice to see progress on this front. I can only that the networks will improve their services and really expand their archives. It's quite nice to be able to join a show mid-season and and catch all the previous episodes.

Slapstick

Slapstick explained.

*rofl*

Too Slow!

Unbelievable... Charity and I were thinking of grabbing the domain name markandcharity.com and discovered that it has already been taken!

*grumble*

Bond, James Bond

I can't remember the last time I've gone to see a movie on its opening night, but I'm glad I did for Casino Royale. In a word: spectacular! Daniel Craig is totally believable as the new Bond, very much in the style of Connery's Bond -- ruthless and physical -- but updated for today's world. And it gets even better: the script is actually quite good. For once the silly one-liners were kept to a minimum. My favorite quote:

Bartender: Shaken or stirred, sir?
Bond: Do I look like I care?

I don't think I can say much more without giving anything away, so I won't. It's a great movie that I would have enjoyed watching again. Easily a 5/5 - go watch it now!

P/S - There's a great parkour chase sequence at the beginning of the movie!

New Shows

Who says there's nothing good on TV? Last season may have sucked in terms of new shows, but they seem to have figured out what they've been doing wrong. I've been very pleasantly surprised by a few new shows this season.

Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip is a reasonably good West Wing replacement, but my top pick so far is definitely Heroes, also on NBC. I watched the first 5 episodes back to back and just did not want to stop.

I also like Jericho, on CBS, but I'm wondering if they can keep up the momentum of the first few shows. There hasn't been much progress/revelations in the last couple episodes, but it's still holding my attention for the moment.

Finally, Day Break just premiered this week on Fox, and it's looking pretty good as well. The premise is interesting enough -- like Groundhog Day except for the fact that the guy who's repeating the same day actually carries over his physical injuries through each cycle. What I want to know is whether this is supposed to be a one season show, or if they really think they can prolong it indefinitely. I'm hoping for the former.

Get Out and Vote!

Tomorrow is election day. Are you ready to vote? Have you done your homework?

If so, you might be interested in watching HBO's Special on Hacking Democracy, which is available on Google Video.

This year I decided to vote by absentee ballot, and it was so convenient that I think I'll be voting like this from now on.

Books

Books are usually the first leisure activity that gets dropped by the wayside when things get hectic at work, but I've managed to continue reading after getting back from vacation despite the work that's piled up. Partly from procrastination, partly from a refusal to get my nose back to the grindstone, but I've managed to finish a couple more that's been sitting on the shelves for a while now.

I haven't read any good books based on the Arthurian legend for a while now, and I'm glad I stumbled over Jack Whyte's The Skystone: The Forging of Arthur's Britain. Believe it or not, it's historical fiction, and it's the first of six in the Camulod Chronicles. It's also absolutely captivating, and I'd recommend it to anyone. Now I've just got to get my hands on the rest.

Also finished Anne Bishop's The Invisible Ring, which I picked up because I've seen good things about her The Black Jewels: Trilogy. I couldn't find the latter, but decided to give the former a shot since it was set in the same world. Any interesting read, but it hasn't really made me want to run out and grab the trilogy either.