Last night I had a chance to finally meet Leo Laporte at a party at the Alibi Room commemorating 100 episodes of "The Lab with Leo" on TechTV Canada. I was a bit of a dilettante viewer in the glory days of the now-defunct TechTV, but once Leo started the TWIT podcast network, I quickly became a huge fan of his work, especially This Week in Tech and Macbreak Weekly. It was nice to tell him his efforts inspired me to start Radio Free Skaro, which Steven and I had discussed but never really gotten around to doing for a full year before we started (which makes it doubly strange that we're closing in on our 50th episode next week.)
I also got to meet Victor Lucas, who created the Electric Playground and who is the driving force behind The Lab with Leo. I spent many a Saturday morning watching what at the time was the only show about video games worth a damn (the 1up Show and their various audio podcasts being worthy contenders nowadays), so it was neat to thank the guy for his efforts.
I didn't bring a camera, but others took my picture, so I'll post those later. Meantime, here's some thoughts from other people at the party.
So Apple revamped the entire iPod product line today, starting with the newly chunky (and video capable) Nano and ending with the very new, very sexy iPod Touch. The newest high-end iPod does nearly everything the iPhone does except make calls, and it'll do even more once people hack it (as they have done to the iPhone.) W00t!
Even though media attention is lauded on the iPhone and the iPod, very little is made of the fact that Apple's computers, particularly laptops, are gaining more ground than any other manufacturer (and now run Windows, too.) Fortune points out how excellent software and a growing consumer base are making the Mac a force to be reckoned with...again.
I'd go further and say that, of late, video games have made better experiences than movies, full stop. But that's doubly true in the case of horror, since games can (and will) throw as much scariness at you as possible,... More...
When I was a child, myself and every sugar-addled lad I knew who was forbidden from playing with guns would improvise and create a Lego gun, and then run around the house "shooting" our siblings. Clearly, parental strictures irked the... More...
Engadget pleads with Palm to get its act together and not release another series of phones that dropped out of a wormhole from 2001. I was a happy Handspring Visor owner (until I dropped it one sad day in the... More...
One of the cooler seminars at Barcamp Vancouver 2007 was John Beihler's rundown on the state of iPhone hacking. Besides explaining ways for Canadians to work around the fact that the phone isn't available here yet (within limits, you can't... More...
While America throws money down the drain trying to redraw the map of the Middle East and debates how many angels can dance on a stem cell (and why that stem cell was clearly created 6000 years ago), Asian countries... More...
Well, laptop converted into a steam-driven information conveyance, at any rate. The Wall Street Journal (now a Lord Murdoch daguerreotype!) brings the goods in the form of a moving picture.... More...
You bet your ass they are. The National Post breaks down how Rogers, the Canadian wireless service most likely to carry the iPhone, gouges the living hell out of their customers with outrageous data rates. Not that the other carriers... More...
John Gruber of Daring Fireball raves about it, as does Kottke. Here's a Flickr stream of first-day photos. And me? Well, I have nothing to add, and neither does the rest of Canada, because we can't get our hands on... More...
John C. Dvorak (who gets no spam, by the way) is sick and tired of all the iPhone hype. Can't say I blame the guy, though since Canada is deprived of the vaunted "Jesus Phone," the hype here has been... More...
The hype machine is kicking (even further) into gear, as Apple posts a guided tour of the iPhone and teases all of Canada in the process with what we want, but can't (thanks to our retarded telcos) have.... More...
Not anytime soon, according to the Globe and Mail. Can't say I'm surprised, and with current Canadian data plans, the phone would be cripplingly expensive to use at its full potential anyway, but...somewhat disappointing regardless.... More...
In an article that will either be held up as prophetic or mocked for years to come (such is the power of the iPhone), New York magazine examines Steve Jobs influence on business and culture and leans towards "he may... More...
By Jove, this contraption makes me want to re-invade the Crimea. If you want to fashion your own steampunk computer from brass and wood, here's how. And if steampunk is something of general interest to your personage, here's a fine... More...
Apple's World Wide Developer's Conference, coming up this week, is usually a showcase not only for the latest OS X innovations but also a few hardware surprises. Any predictions for what's in store for us when Uncle Steve takes the... More...
Palm, the company that pioneered PDAs and then languished for years before sort of coming back with the Treo, seems to want to plant one foot firmly back into the grave. The company has just announced the Foleo, a quasi-laptop... More...
This is pretty much the sweetest Mac rig I've ever seen. Three 30 inch monitors, side by side? Me wantee.... More...
Technology Review asked some designers to list off what they regard as iconic pieces of gear. There's some nice vintage and new stuff here, enough to make gadgeteers and designers alike drool with appreciation.... More...
Apple's ace in the hole has always been design. With a few notable exceptions (like the Dirty Hippie iMac) even Apple's crappier products have at least looked good and held industrial and interface diesgn to a higher standard than their... More...
Looks like all my tortured metaphors linking ex-Sony chief Ken Kutaragi and the War on Terror have finally borne fruit. The madman behind the Playstation 3 is moving on, presumably because his console/Foreman grill isn't selling so well. 1up.com recaps... More...
As a guy who worked for years in TV and who has no time for film traditionalists, in addition to having an unhealthy love for computers, I know which dog I back in this fight. Filmmaker magazine details where the... More...
Sony's Playstation 3 roll-out has been one bad decision after another, from Ken Kutaragi announcing people will work extra hard to ge the console to poor sales to, well, this abomination of a commerical from Europe. (I'd embed the video,... More...
Well, maybe not quite that extreme, but according to the Wall Street Journal, Sony madman Ken Kutaragi is a loose cannon as well as a liability for the (once) esteemed brand. Most of the article focuses on the struggles of... More...
Rogers, the only GSM provider in Canada, has vaguely hinted at the fact that it'll carry the iPhone in Canada, according to Engadget. They haven't said when, nor have they announced any price cuts in their outrageous data plans ($200... More...
Not everyone is going nuts over the sexy as hell iPhone (although clearly I am.) An article in Computerworld details how announcing the phone so early, and not addressing various features, may actually hurt Apple. Personally, I think Apple's on... More...
While usually my Metro duties consist of taking pictures at parties and various other fashionable events around town, I had a chance to nerd it up recently and cover the launch of the World of Warcraft: Burning Crusade expansion on... More...