Steve Jobs is on stage at the WWDC right now with Intel CEO Paul Otenllini. Jobs is demoing all of the new Tiger features, etc. on an Intel based Mac… some highlights include a port of Mathematica and the fact that every Mac OSX update for the past five years has been compiled and compatible with Intel processors.
There you have it… For more updates, check out The Mac Observer’s Live Coverage.
It’s Official: Mac OS for Intel
June 6, 2005 by
It’s Official: Felt Was ‘Deep Throat’
May 31, 2005 by
Woodward, Bernstein and Bradlee have confirmed: W. Mark Felt was ‘Deep Throat’. I think Bradlee summed it up best, when he said, “The thing that stuns me is that the goddamn secret has lasted this long.”
One of the best kept secrets in all of Washington. Now, maybe we can solve the number one secret: who shot Kennedy?
A Good Attitude
May 31, 2005 by
This is a small snippet from Mark Cuban’s Blog about HDNet Films and 2929 Entertainment, and how Cuban intends to revolutionize the way we see movies. That’s not the important part. The important part is his attitude:
“I’m sure mistakes will be made along the way. I’m sure that there will be surprises. I’m sure we will have to do quite a bit of adjusting to make the program a win win for all involved.
So what?If it works, everyone, particularly consumers benefit.
If it doesn’t, everyone calls me a dumbass, and we go back to doing it the way it was always done.
I can handle that.”
That attitude what makes him an entrepreneur–and a success.
Criminal Justice in America
May 26, 2005 by
The Suburban Ecstasies has a really great post entitled: Twenty Incontrovertible Truths About the American Criminal Justice System, From Someone Who Knows and Has No Interest in Lying to You About It.
You should read it even if you are not a law student or lawyer. You should read it because it’s chock full of things you should know and understand as an American (or know and understand about America for my worldly readers).
[Via ambivalent imbroglio]
Ismail Merchant: 1936-2005
May 25, 2005 by
Ismail Merchant, better known as one half of Merchant Ivory Productions, passed away today. He had been producing films since 1960 and his works included: A Room with a View, The Remains of the Day, Howards End, and Le Divorce just to name a few.
Some Hard Truths
May 20, 2005 by
Sherry has a rundown of the Legal Lies that are bandied about in the legal profession, especially to law students and young lawyers. As a law student myself, I can attest that I’ve been told more than a few of these by people before. Some of them I still tell myself occasionally.
Revenge of the Sith
May 20, 2005 by
I did not have a chance to see Revenge of the Sith on Wednesday (damn you, Property final!). But I did catch the very first show as soon as I was done issue spotting about equitable servitudes. In fact, I ran into a classmate there, so all law student’s aren’t evil after all! Unless we were there to root for the Sith. Hmmm. Anyway, here’s my rundown, including some responses to other criticisms I’ve seen elsewhere.
Note: There will be spoilers, so don’t read further if you:have not yet seen the move; and/or care.
Overall Impressions
I liked it. I was predisposed to liking it. I grew up on Star Wars and I am a geek. And this is the episode where Anakin becomes Darth Vader, one of the greatest movie villains of all time. I mean, c’mon. What’s not to like? It would have really had to suck bad, and it did not. My all time favorite remains The Empire Strikes Back but this was dark in the same tradition as Empire, and tied the first three episodes nicely together leading into the original episode IV.
The Visuals
Okay, Lucas has these down. The movie look really, really great. I wasn’t blown away by the effects of the first two. They were meh. Good, but not jaw dropping. I think nearly all of the visuals in this one were perfect. Everything just looked great.
The Action
Nice. Very nice. The fight between General Grievous and Obi-Wan was quite cool, the battle scenes in general were great, and the fight between Obi-Wan and Anakin was pretty killer. But once again, the show stealer was Master Yoda. Watching Master Yoda and Sen. Palpatine/Darth Sidious battle it out in the Senate chambers was pretty damn cool. I mean, c’mon, Yoda meets the Emperor? That’s good stuff. It beats the hell out of an extended pod-race, let me tell you.
Darth Vader
Oh yeah, baby. I’ve heard a few people express dismay that Anakin’s transformation to the Dark Side was too quick-but that is forgetting the other two movies. It’s not like Anakin just got all uppity in this movie; he had discipline problems before, and a serious chip on his shoulder from his mother’s death. I mean, a Jedi doesn’t exact revenge the way he did against the Sand People, now does he? When you combine that, with him being played as a double agent, his obvious sense of entitlement and desire for power, the thing with Padme is just the straw that broke the camels back. He was headed to the Dark Side a while ago, folks. This is just the final step. So if it seems like a baby step, in a way, it is, he’d already made most of the journey.
The Acting/Dialog
Okay, for everyone who says, “the acting was so wooden, it wasn’t very good” or “god the dialog was awful,” I would like to quote my niece, who express as only an teenager could, “Well, duuuuh.”
Look people, this film is not high art. It’s not a Shakespeare Sonnet. It’s talky movie; no My Dinner with Andre here. It’s a damn space western/space opera for chrissake. Stop for a moment and consider, if you will, that maybe–just maybe–the acting is supposed to be wooden? And the dialog is supposed to be cheesy? It’s not like Star Wars had the Gettysburg Address in it.
George Lucas has certainly written better, and Natalie Portman has certainly acted better. But the bad acting/dialog is part of the genre, damnit. Get over yourselves and enjoy the movie, you over analytical twits. To all of you griping about the dialog and acting, you’re nothing but a bunch of scruffy nerf herders.
The Recap
I loved it. I’ll go see it again, just to see if I missed any pointers to the original series, those little gems that were thrown in for fans and people who grew up on the originals. And the story wasn’t bad, it appeals to my own dark side, and nicely tied together all the loose ends from the first two episodes. It’s well worth the money, and I think it will stand out as the best among the first three in much the same manner as Empire stands out among the next three. If you haven’t already, go see it.
The times, they are a changin’
May 20, 2005 by
I’m late in the game with respect to commenting on the changes which are being undertaken over at the Legal Underground.
Obviously, I am dismayed that Evan felt these changes were necessary to avoid problems in the perception (certainly not the reality) of what blogging means to a practicing attorney. However, I’m not convinced changing the blog is the right solution. It seems to me to be treating the symptom, not the disease. The real treatment should be educating clients and law partners about what blogging is and what it isn’t. For example, the recent exchanges at Between Lawyers.
But it’s Evan’s decision to do what is best for his circumstances; I wish him well no matter what shape the blog takes. I have no doubt he will find ways to keep the content fresh and interesting, and I will remain a frequent reader. Although, the law student roundup will be sorely missed.
Chicago Crime
May 20, 2005 by
If you live in Chicago (or are just curious) there’s a new service at chicagocrime.org that combines Chicago Police Crime stats with Google Maps to create very detailed maps of crime in Chicago. You can look at crimes by crime type, street, date, police district, location, or view a city map. You can even get RSS feeds. Incredibly cool and kind of creepy, all at the same time.
[Via beSpacific and What are you loooking at?]
Who is Being Obstructionist?
May 19, 2005 by
The Republican leadership would like Americans to believe that the Democrats are being unreasonable and obstructionist. But we’re not stupid. Look at the numbers:
Since Bush took office, he has made 218 judicial nominations and the Senate has confirmed 208 of them. Ten, including Owen, failed to win confirmation because of Democratic filibusters. Seven of those 10 were renominated at the start of this year. [Chicago Tribune]
So, “let’s do the numbers“. The Senate, Democrats and all, have approved 95% of Bush’s judicial appointees. Meanwhile, the Republican leadership wants to destroy hundreds of years of Senate tradition. Makes sense to me. Especially when the hypocrite leader of the anti-filibuster movement has supported the filibuster in the past.