Apple is getting better at the gifting, Day 5 brings the film Hugo!

Today is Day 5 of the 12 Days of Gifts promotion that Apple is doing from December 26th until January 6th. Today the free gift is the movie Hugo. I've discussed Hugo before and called it the only movie really worth watching in 3D. For those that haven't seen the movie yet, now is a good time as any to get started on this amazing film. And it's well worth buying it on 3D Blu-ray, something I'll probably never say about any other movie (I think most 3D sucks; Hugo does it quite well though.)

If you haven't done so already, download the '12 Days of Gifts' app so you'll never miss another free gift.

Web Browser comparison between DS Lite and 3DS XL

I recently bought the Nintendo 3DS XL Zelda Limited Edition which comes with A Link Between Worlds (but as a Digital Download, not a physical game card, which I'm not too happy about.) I wanted to test out the web browser and see how it compared to the one for the Nintendo DS Lite.

First of all, I wanted to see what the make of the browser was. If Nintendo was still using Opera or something else, and what version. I found that the browser in the 3DS XL is based on NetFront, which uses WebKit unlike Opera which used Nitro. Though WebKit is the same thing both Apple Safari and Google Chrome use, I did run into a few notifications on some sites run by Google that asked me to "use a modern browser such as Google Chrome." Another interesting point is that the 3DS XL browser identifies as a Nintendo product (it didn't on the Lite). The two User-Agent Strings are below:

Nintendo DS Lite
Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Nitro) Opera 8.50 [en]

Nintendo 3DS XL
Mozilla/5.0 (Nintendo 3DS; U; ; en) Version/1.7552.US

One big problem I had with the DS Lite version was the constant running out of memory what I tried to use site like gmail.com to check my email. Using the 3DS XL proved no problem at all. I was able to log in just fine. The only issue was again, being asked to use a "modern browser" by Google. Overall the web browsing experience on the 3DS XL was quite good, though I'll stick to an iPad for my mobile Internet sessions. Not just for the larger screen, but also because some websites just rendered better on the iPad. On a side note: If you do have an iPad, I would recommend trying out Coast. It's a pretty snazzy web browser by Opera that's designed to take advantage of touch gestures.

***

Now you may be reading this and wondering why I'm comparing the 3DS XL browser to the DS Lite, and not the DSi. There's a good reason for that, I don't own a DSi or the original 3DS for that matter. I bought the original Nintendo DS, and then got the DS Lite when it came out for two main reasons.

1. It was easier at the time to get my hands on the DS Lite version of the Web Browser (DS and DS Lite used two different versions. Both required an expansion card that went into the GBA port, and the DS Lite was shorter and had an extra tab on it that meant you couldn't put it in an original DS without modifications. And even then, you could never get it back out, since the slot on the original was deeper than the DS Lite).
2. The original DS was awkward to hold on its side, which was a requirement for certain functions of the game Crosswords DS. Also the build quality of the original DS was just horrible, and I wanted something that didn't look like it would break from just staring at it.

I skipped the DSi because it was basically just a DS that had a built-in web browser, whereas the DS and DS Lite had a game card with the browser on it. Also the DSi added a store for downloaded games and a camera, but those were not compelling reasons to buy it. Then Nintendo tried to make more sales by making the DSi larger with the DSi XL. Also not interested. Next the 3DS, a DS that plays games in 3D. I've explained in previous posts what I think of 3D, it's just a stupid gimmick. So again, not interested. Then came a new Zelda game that was only for the 3DS called A Link Between Worlds. And with that, a limited edition 3DS XL with a Zelda paint job. I wanted to play the game, and thus Nintendo finally compelled me to buy a 3DS (XL). So now I'm the owner of a Nintendo 3DS XL and I decided to test out the web browser and write this long post. More backstory than I usually add to posts, but I didn't want you to wonder why I didn't mention the DSi web browser in my comparison. And just for the heck of it, here's a picture of the three DS units I own. The original, the Lite, and the 3DS XL.

Watch ABC, Crackle, Bloomberg, & KORTV all added to the Apple TV

I predicted it and now it's here ABC on Apple TV (as well as three others). That's right, Apple TV now added four new channels/apps on it. Watch ABC, Crackle, Bloomberg, and KORTV. The downside is Watch ABC requires you to register your cable provider before you can watch full episodes. This is stupid considering that ABC is an over-the-air channel which anyone can get for free without a cable subscription. Just put some rabbit ears on you TV and you're all set. However the channel on an Apple TV (and their iOS app) requires a cable subscription. What kind of moronic crap is that?

For those that don't know, Crackle is a service by Sony that lets you watch a number of TV shows and movies without a subscription. Mostly Sony owned or licensed content. Also if you're a Rurouni Kenshin fan, do NOT watch it on Crackle, because the Sony sub was TERRIBLE!!!

Bloomberg is a business channel, mostly. I don't really watch it.

Apple TV also added KORTV for those that enjoy shows from Korea, some free content or $5.99 to get access to more.

PBS and Yahoo! added to Apple V

Today as a birthday present (not that Apple really did it for my birthday, but it's a nice thought) on Nvember 19th, Apple released tw new partner channels for the Apple TV. PBS and Yahoo! Screen. This is also good for Yahoo!, which has struggled in the past to have an identity. Yahoo! Screen has been on the iPad for a while, but now yavng t n the Apple TV as well will help beng in a new audience. This might also help PBS get more viewers, and thus more donations from generous viewers. PBS is something we all benefit from, but few donate to. Although you have to activate PBS by either creating a PBS account, or signng in with Google+ or Facebook. And then you have to choose ONE oft he PBS choice to get your content from. Where I live, I get three PBS stations, I had to choose only one. So it's not an ideal implementation of PBS of the Apple TV, but it's better than nothing. 

The travesty that is iBooks

Both the iBooks and iTunes U apps for iOS have been updated with the minimalist style of iOS 7, and they suck! Apple took what was friendly about iBooks and turned it into the Kindle app. Reading a book in iBooks feels exactly like I'm in the Kindle app on the iPad. At this point, I might as well just buy a Kindle and throw out my iPad!

As most people do, I have all my previously downloaded apps backed up on my computer. So reverting to the previous version wasn't a problem for me. Before reverting, I did take a single screen shot for comparison.

The new iBooks app:

The previous iBooks app, which I reverted back to:

The bookshelf also changed, now it looks like the Newsstand shelf in iOS 7.

Skeuomorphism is alive and well in both iOS 7 and OS X Mavericks

Open the Notes app on iOS 7 or the Game Center app on Mavericks, and you'll find that Skeuomorphism isn't completely dead on Apple devices.

Amazon increased the minimum price for free shipping

Amazon.com is now requiring a minimum purchase price of $35 for free shipping. The minimum for years used to be $25.

According this, the reason is as follows:

Amazon's minimum order size for free shipping has changed to $35. This is the first time in more than a decade that Amazon has altered the minimum order for free shipping in the US. During that time, we have expanded free shipping selection by millions of items across all 40 product categories. Look for "FREE Shipping" on product pages to discover eligible items.

Millions of Amazon customers have already made the choice of faster shipping by becoming Amazon Prime members. Prime includes unlimited Free Two-Day Shipping, with no minimum order size, on more than 15 million items, as well as unlimited streaming of over 41,000 movies and TV episodes through Prime Instant Video and access to over 350,000 books to borrow through the Kindle Owners' Lending Library. The service is so popular that more than a year ago we began shipping more items with Prime than with free shipping. Start your 30-day free trial today.

Whichever shipping speed you choose, thank you for shopping at Amazon.com.

Though that's really not much of a reason. It seems more like just advertising for their Prime membership.

Don't waste your time making a bootable USB key for Mac OS X 10.9 Mavericks

If you're planning on putting OS X Mavericks on a USB key for the purpose of being able to install on multiple computers without having to download multiple times, don't bother. Mavericks will still contact the Apple servers to download "additional components" – and what's worse – this install takes LONGER than installing the "normal" way. People that were hoping to do a "clean install" using this method, will find out they have to wait several hours in doing so!

New stuff from Apple

Today Apple held a keynote to talk about more stuff being released. To kick things off, OS X Mavericks is available today and for free! I suggested such a thing two weeks ago and was mocked for it, but it seems I was correct after all. Here are some quick highlights from the event.

The new line of iPads were announced:

iWork and iLife for iOS was updated with a new look for iOS 7.

Before:


After:

Supposedly iWork and iLife for OS X was also updated, however I have yet to see the updates myself.

Also the new Mac Pro now has a price, its $2,999.

Update: iWork and iLife finally had the updates show up about two hours after I posted this. Everything was automatically detected and asked to update, except for GarageBand which seems to be a manual update. That's probably a good idea, since the new version of GB has some features removed. I'm keepng the older version for this reason. That being said, it is free in the Mac App Store if you decide to get it.

Batman and Hamlet

There are several key elements that connect Batman to the Shakespearean story of hamlet. I will outline three of them below.

Both have had a parent murdered

• The father of Hamlet was murdered by his uncle, who then married his mother to become the new king.
• Joe Chill murdered both parents of Batman, as they were leaving a movie house in which they were watching The Mark of Zorro (1940) starring Tyrone Power.

Both have a dark and tortured soul

• When Hamlet first enters the stage in Act 3 Scene 1, he starts contemplating suicide. The death of his father drives him mad and brings his to debating if he should take his revenge or just end his own life.
• The death of his parents causes Batman to have a split personality. His psychosis causes him to reverse his roles, turning Bruce Wayne into the alter ego and making Batman is his "real" self.

Both are obsessed with avenging his parents death.

• Hamlet waits for the right time to kill his uncle. He could have done it in Act 2 but waits three more acts until everything is "just right" for his plans of revenge.
• Batman has multiple origin stories, in some he kills Joe Chill and in others he doesn't. In either case, he deals with his vengeance by fighting crime and putting as many criminals as possible in jail.

Peanuts (Charlie Brown) and the way iCloud screws it up!

Since Apple first introduced iTunes in the Cloud for TV Shows and later Movies, it had it's "windowing" problems. Originally only a handful of videos showed up in iCloud due to deals HBO had with the various studios to not allow streaming during certain times of the year. HBO eventually allowed for streaming at any time of the year, and thus we now have the massive iCloud libraries that we have (since not just purchased videos, but free ones you got with the purchase of a Blu-ray Disc or DVD are also available in iCloud.)

However one thing has always remained screwed up since Day 1, and it has been the way Peanuts is handled in iTunes. First of all, I've never been able to stream the Easter special, as you can see below:

As you can see, it doesn't even show up in the cloud, I still have to stream it from my computer to my Apple TV. But more annoying than that is how certain episodes are being grouped together.

This causes headaches when trying to view the Halloween, Valentine, & Election Day specials on the Apple TV. If one doesn't realize he/she needs to dig down into other shows, he/she may miss it entirely.

I don't know why Apple has so many issues with Peanuts, but I hope someday they work it out with the studio that publishes these shows to gets them fixed (though it's been a couple of years with no results, so I doubt it).

Update: Arter sending an email to iTunes support, I received a canned response. The support representative didn't even take the time to replace "_customer_" with my name when he pasted in the pre-approvd canned reply.

The Three Keyboard Comparison in iOS 7

Just for a quick comparison, here are the three keyboards close-up. Last time I just compared two of them, so here's all three.

Two new channels for Apple TV

Sometime between early this morning and this afternoon, Apple has added two new channels to their TV device. "Watch Disney Junior" and "MLS"

I'm not much into sports, so MLS will join MLB, EPSN, NBA, & NHL as things I hide using the Restrictions setting (formally known as the Parental Control setting).

Disney Junior marks the 3rd channel by Disney to get not the TV. The first two were Disney Channel and Disney XD. Which begs the question, why isn't ABC on the TV? ABC, for those that do t know, is owned by Disney. 

Apple fixed the update bug in Apple TV

A bug that caused some Apple TV units to be "bricked" via an update resulted in apple pulling the update. It's back now, which means Apple apparently fixed the problem. If you haven't updated prior to the pull, now is your chance.

One good thing about the music app in iOS 7

One thing that really annoyed me about iOS 6 was the removal of Cover Flow in the music app. It was the way I always browsed through my music on previous versions. Now in iOS 7 it's sort of back. Unfortunally it's still not available on the iPad (it never was), but at least on iPhone and iPod touch when you turn your device sideways you can see the lovely album covers!

Here's what Bold Text looks like in iOS 7

In the Accessibility section of the Settings in iOS 7, you can turn on Bold Text. Since you have to restart your device each time, it can be a little time consuming to compare "before" and "after" to figure out which you prefer. Luckily I did it for you! Below are the screenshots.

With "Bold Text" turned off (default)

With "Bold Text" turned on

The fragmented keyboard in iOS 7

Apps that haven't been updated to use the new design language in iOS 7 will continue to use the older keyboard from iOS 6 and below. Hopefully more developers will fix their apps soon, because this just causes design fragmentation and this non-uniform keyboard across apps looks bad.

This is Safari vs. Atomic Web Browser in iOS 7

Americans Keep It Classy

Americans keep it classy... as far as aesthetics are concerned. About a week ago, I had the unfortunate mishap of ordering from B68 Solutions Limited on Amazon. The reason I say unfortunate is because B68 tried to get away with shipping me the international version of a movie on Blu-ray Disc.

The problem with DVDs and Blu-ray Discs from Europe, is that the placement of the rating is ugly. There is no aesthetic vision when it comes to the placement. Just look how it stands out on my bookshelf:

Notice the gaudy rating symbols on the spine. And it just gets worse from here. Now let's look at the disc itself, as well as the plastic case:

Horrible placement. Garbage all over the case and on the disc. I've ordered a replacement directly from Amazon and will be returning this eyesore. Since the replacement hasn't arrived yet, I don't have a North American copy to show you, so I choose another movie instead just for comparison purposes.

And where is the rating you my ask? It's neatly on the back, out of obstruction so you can admire the beauty of minimalism. Back cover, bottom right is the U.S. rating, and bottom left is the Canadian rating. Not all over the front, back, and disc like it is in Europe!

UPDATE (Sept. 16):
My replacement from Amazon arrived so I can show you a true comparison between the North American and International version of the movie. As you can see in one of the photos below, besides the gaudy ratings, the case is also slightly thicker. This causes the backlash of running out of space on the shelf.

Today Apple announced the new iPhone 5C and iPhone 5S

The iPhone 5 has been replaced today with the iPhone 5C and iPhone 5S. The iPhone 4S remains as a free option at many carriers after rebate. Pre-orders start on September 13th, with sales starting the following week in the U.S. and other countries.

As many as guessed from the leaked photos on the Internet, the "C" in "5C" is for color. The phone will be offered in green, blue, yellow, pink, and white. With cases being sold in the same colors, plus black. The cases will cost $29 and the iPhone 5C will cost $99 and $199 for the 16GB and 32GB versions respectively.

The iPhone 5S will come in silver, gray, and gold. It looks just like the previous iPhone 5 did, but has better battery life and the new A7 chip in the iPhone 5S makes this the worlds first 64-bit phone. There is also a fingerprint scanner built into the Home button. The iPhone 5S also includes an M7 chip which measures motion date and enables a new generation of health and fitness apps. The Nike+ app will take advantage of the M7 chip. The camera is also improved with a slow-motion mode, taking 120 frames per second so you can smoothly slow down the action. The prices for the iPhone 5S are $199 for 16GB, $299 for 32GB, and $399 for 64GB. Apple is also selling a leather case for the 5S which will cost $39.

Oh and as a special treat, Elvis was in the house! No, not that Elvis, Elvis Costello. He was playing a song from his new album being released next week.

As for iOS 7, it will be released on September 18th.

Jessie, a horrible show on the Disney Channel

As many already know, a recent update to the Apple TV brought with it new channels/apps. One of these is "Watch Disney Channel" which allows you to watch select episodes from select shows on demand, as well as watch what's currently playing live on the channel. As I was familiarizing myself with the selection of shows, I came across the show "Jessie." I put on the most recent episode that Disney offered, episode 25 from season 2 titled "Break-Up and Shape-Up" and the episode was so horrible that I could barely it. I suffered through it to see if it got any better, but it didn't.

In the episode, the main character Jessie Prescott (Debby Ryan) talks about an old ex boyfriend named Ted. She said he's the only guy she broke up with because he was "heavy, hairy in the wrong places, smelly, toll booth attendant" and then implied that he might have actually been a troll. But then when she sees him again, he changed. He "started working out, losing weight, and got the hump removed." and suddenly Jessie was all over him. She was drooling and jumped on him at first sight. Later in the episode Ted took his jacket off, and again Jessie drooled. She has a boyfriend named Tony, but that doesn't stop her from ogling Ted.

Jessie belittles Tony because his job as a doorman apparently isn't "special" enough for her. She insults his work, rather than being proud that he has a job in the first place. In the end of the episode Jessie admits to Tony that she was attracted to Ted, and then breaks up with him. Jessie and Tony part as "just friends" because as she puts it "the spark is just gone" and that since they notice other people it's a sign they should see other people.

This sends the wrong message to young girls, that physical appearance is more important than emotional, intellectual, or spiritual qualities. The show also sends the message that it's ok to be materialistic and expect their boyfriend to have a super amazing job, rather than be understanding of the job he has. Girls are also told by this episode that if they see another guy that's attractive, it's ok to ruin their current relationship for the new guy whom they hardly even know. Disney is basically saying it's ok for young girls to grow up as shallow, emotionless, sluts who go after any guy they think is hot. Parents, do your children a favor and don't let them watch this atrocious show.

Hugo, the standard for 3D

Having viewed several 3D films over the years and being disappointed by all of them, I didn't have much hope for Hugo (2011). As I mentioned before, I didn't think modern 3D could ever live up to what it once was, due to directors cutting corners and making their 3D effects laughable. However, Martin Scorsese has succeed where others have failed.

Scorsese has used 3D space correctly. The foreground, mid-ground, and background are all beautifully presented in Hugo. Is the film perfect? No, there are several instances continuity error. Two most noticeable are in the book store and in the clock apartment that Hugo lives in. Going down the stairs of the book store Isabelle is in front, but in the next shot Hugo is in front. The other error mentioned is with the automaton. In one shot it's hand is stopped on the right, resting on the paper. However after a quick shot away, we return to it's hand on the left and in the air, before it starts drawing again. There are several more examples of this in Hugo. Also in the 3D there are a few frames that show blur which isn't there in the 2D version. And I don't know why Scorsese decided to have it snow inside a building. Throughout Hugo you can see snow flakes floating in the air, inside the train station, which has a roof. The snow should have been kept to the outdoor scenes only.

Ellen Lewis – the casting director – did a great job in casting Ben Kingsley to play the role of Georges Méliès. The two men look alike, and this helped to make this motion picture look authentic. Here is a comparison photo I compiled:

Méliès lived from 1861 until 1938. He was the first to use stop-motion photography, as well as special effects such as dissolves and fades. He was also one of the first people to include animation into his films, such as hand-drawing certain effects (disappearing in a puff of smoke). He was also the first to create real narrative films. Méliès actually told stories with his films, before that motion pictures didn't really tell a story, they just showed everyday things such as a woman sweeping the floor, a man sneezing, men leaving work at the end of the day, or a train coming into the station.

Motion Pictures began when two men had a bet about running horses. One man said all four legs lifted off the ground, the other said that at least two leg always stayed on the ground; similar to how a human runs. They set up several cameras around a racetrack and set them to take pictures at intervals. As they were flipping through the photos, they noticed that it looked like the horse was running when the pictures were moved at a quick pace in order. Since that time, motion pictures have continued to be this everyday thing. If it wasn't for Méliès, films today may still be of ordinary things.

VLC is back in the App Store

On the left is the old VLC app, on the right is the new VLC app.

Back in 2011 Videolan pulled VLC from the App Store because they felt the TOS went against the spirit of Open Source software (i.e., it was no place for VLC). But now VLC is back in the iOS App Store. Included with new features. Now you can send videos from your computer to your iPad directly (without needing iTunes) via Wi-Fi. You can also watch videos from the web by entering I the URL. (Before you had to open the unplayable video in Safari, and wait for the "open in" button to show up, then chose VLC).

Anyone who downloaded the old version years ago before it was pulled will know what I mean when I say it was too limited and crashed a lot. The new version has many improvements that will sure to delight both veterans and newcomers alike.

Why is it so hard for some studios to produce good packaging?

Some studios put DVDs in "books" with scratch-causing cardboard sleeves. Other studios stack discs in a spindle. And then there are others with a good idea, but execute it poorly.

An example of a poorly executed idea, are the Dragon Balls DVD season sets. The spines create Shenron in all it's glory, but only if you remove the partially embossed slipcovers.

Slipcovers on:

Slipcovers off:

It makes no sense why someone would produce a design like this that can only be seen if you get rid of part of the packaging (a part that a lot of people like keeping on).

Google Maps on iPad

Last night Google updated their iPhone app to also work natively on the iPad, as well as a list of new features. Download it if you miss Google Maps on your iPad!

Why I ditched the Disney Movie Club

Like most people, I was sucked into the Disney Movie Club by the allure of inexpensive movies. For the privilege of purchasing five movie for only $1 a piece, I had to commit to purchasing five more movies at their regular price of $29.95.  Although the Disney Movie Club sells their movies at far higher prices than other retailers, for around $155 to get ten movies, I figured it was a decent deal (not a good deal, but a decent one). I can of course, get ten movies cheaper elsewhere, but I wanted to give Disney a shot.

After the five movie commitment is met, you can cancel or continue at a "VIP" level, and I even considered sticking around. What changed my mind and made me decide to cancel after my commitment, was the horrible customer experience I had with the Disney Movie Club.

I ordered two films, one being Oz The Great and Powerful and I waited ten days (Disney tells you to wait 7-10 for delivery). On the tenth day my order still had not shipped and I called up Disney, I was told Oz was on back order. I was a bit puzzled that they couldn't ship the other movie, since other online retailers will do that for you (Target, Macy's, Amazon, etc.) but Disney decided to keep a hold on the one movie until both could ship. I asked the person on the phone if my order could be split, so I could at least get one of the movies I ordered. I then asked if it would affect the shipping cost, and was assured that it would be the same (he lied, I was charged an extra $2 for splitting the order). I called back a few minutes later and asked if the Oz movie could be cancelled and another ordered in its place, because I didn't want to wait on a back order. I then asked if the two movies would ship together, and was told yes she'd put them together in one shipment. Wrong, another lie. The two movies were on different shipments, and I was still charged the $2 extra (it's not about the money, it's the principle).

So after being lied to twice, being overcharged on shipping, and having to wait close to 20 days for a movie that I was supposed to get in 7-10 days (and there was no reason for it, they had the movie I'm stock), that's why I decided to give the Disney Movie Club the boot. And I say, good riddance to bad rubbish!

Why 3D is a waste of money

Unlike what Hollywood tries to pawn off on a misinformed consumer, 3D technology is nothing new. The first 3D film I saw was in 1990, I was 10 years old and on a family trip to Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida. In one of the Disney theaters, I was presented with a 3D short film. The visuals were spectacular; Goofy was only inches from my face. It felt like if I reached out, that I could actually touch the characters.

Now fast forward 23 years to the present, 3D movies in comparison are terrible. Take The Avengers for example, released last year. In a movie lasting 143 minutes, only 10 seconds of it could actually be considered 3D. The rest of the movie was simply holographic. Think back to a holographic baseball card you may have had as a kid, or even the holographic image glued to the slipcover of the 3D Blu-ray for The Avengers; it shows depth, but you can still tell it's a flat card. That's all the movie shows, depth, with the occasional "jump off the screen" moment. Each scene that showed any true 3D laster a 1/2 second, spread throughout the movie, it adds up to about 10 seconds in total. Despite the movie being mainly holographic, it wasn't entirely. Toward the end of the movie, when you see reactions on the TV, that's a flat shot. No holographic effects at all. Then in the following scene when everyone is standing by their cars, we go back to the holographic imagery. In Coraline (2009) this happens quite often. The so-called "3D" is turned off so much, that it feels like a 2D movie.

Why are people paying extra for a mediocre experience, one that is over 20 years old? Since Hollywood was losing theater viewership for the more comfortable and personal home theater experience, they decided to pull an old technology off the shelf, blow the dust away, and pretend it's new. But it's not new, instead they took an old technology and made it even worse. The 3D movie I saw 23 years ago is far superior to the junk Hollywood is producing today. And people are paying a premium to get ripped off. That's why when I had a choice between a reasonably high ticket price to see Iron Man 3 in 2D or an outrageous ticket price to see Iron Man 3 in 3D, I choose the 2D version. Not just for the price, but also because I knew I'd get a better viewing experience in 2D than I would in the faux 3D.

The reason Hollywood is producing junk these days, is because they spend more time and money putting everything in 3D than they do coming up with a good story. Despite high box office results, the Transformers movies sucked. They do, you can admit it. The old cartoon from the 1980s was good, so what happened? More focus was on the special effects and cutting deals with Chevy, than they were with having a good plot and telling Chevy NO, Bumblebee is NOT a Camaro, he is a Volkswagen Beetle! Consumers have more voting power than they think, and they cast their vote with their dollars. If you want better movies, instead of junky 3D flicks, stop spending money on this 3D nonsense.

Amazon.com needs to step up their game with the customer support

I called last week to ask if an order I made back in May was in stock, because I was concerned that the status hasn't changed to "preparing to ship" yet. A woman named "Andrika H" said she checked the stock and assured me that the item would arrive by July 3rd.

It's now July 3rd, and not only did the item not ship, but I just received an email a few minutes ago telling me the order was cancelled.

Hello,

Due to a lack of availability, we will not be able to obtain the following item(s) from your order:

Watsuki, Nobuhiro "Rurouni Kenshin, Vol. 4, Vizbig Edition"
Watsuki, Nobuhiro "Rurouni Kenshin, Vol. 7, Vizbig Edition"

We've canceled the item(s) and apologize for the inconvenience. We must also apologize for the length of time it has taken us to reach this conclusion.

Why does it take two months to decide that you can't get an item? I could say well hey, everyone makes mistakes. But when customer support tells me one week prior to the delivery that it would arrive on time, and then it doesn't... There is no excuse for that. This isn't the first time Amazon has wronged me. They've sold me a counterfeit product in the past, not some 3rd-party merchant, but Amazon themselves. I've also been denied a legitimate Amazon Associates payment a few months back. I don't know what is wrong with Amazon lately, but their customer support sucks!

Siri knows stories!

I was testing the volume of Siri and asked her to tell me a story, and she told me one...

Siri is pretty entertaining =)

Office 365 for iPhone is here

But at a price tag of $100, does anyone want it? Here are some screenshots of the description and IAP pricing.