Category: Day-To-Day Geek Stuff

iPad2…Is It Worth It?

Last week Apple announced the iPad 2.

We knew it was coming. The rumor mill was running rampant and leaked shots were showing up all over the net. The first question a lot of people asked me was…

“WHAT DO YOU THINK?”

And my immediate answer was “It’s great”.

No, I’m just saying that because I drank any kind of Apple Kool Aid.

I’m saying that because I do think it’s great. When I heard there was an announcement coming I was expecting to be greatly underwhelmed. I knew the front and back cameras were coming, that was a given. But when I started reading down the list of what it did I was incredibly surprised.

Here’s what jazzed me the most…

  • It’s thin! It’s incredibly thin! I cannot believe how thin they go it. On top of that it’s got the same battery life as the original.
  • 1GHz Dual Core Apple A5 chip – Yes, I know the Motorola Zoom has a dual core processor. I’m just happy the iPad has one now too.
  • 9x faster graphic performance – Faster is always better!

The one thing that impressed me the most and I definitely didn’t see coming was
VIDEO MIRRORING

Now finally I’ll be able to display anything I’m doing on the iPad on a bigger screen. I can now travel and do presentations showing anything I’m doing. I’ll even be able to show actual apps. Yes!

So after I glowed over the incredible new iPad, the question I got next was….

“ARE YOU MAD ABOUT HAVING THE OLD ONE?”

No. It’s been a great device that has saved me in so many instances. Most recently I spent 3 hours at a car repair shop and got a good amount of work done without having to lug a laptop and battery adapter. It’s still a great device and if you don’t need the latest greatest I’d go pick one up while Apple clears them out.

So then comes…

“ARE YOU GOING TO GET THE NEW ONE?”

Yup. I’m sold. Count me in.

So then what about my old iPad? Oh I’ve figured out a way to move on up to the iPad 2 and get money for the old one?

How’d I do that? You’ll have to check out my blog post on blog.car.org tomorrow where I’ll let you know about some options for trading in your old iPad so you can get the new one.

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More Geek Posts…Now at the New Official C.A.R. Blog Site

Love my blog posts? Love the information I share? Looking for more?

Look no further than the official blog site of the California Association of REALTORS®!

No, it won’t be duplications of the blog posts here. It’ll be fresh, new content.
It will be content that’s “EXCLUSIVE” to the C.A.R. Blog!

It won’t be as often as here, but when one is posted it’ll be worth it.

The cool thing is, there’s lots of other great content that’s getting posted to the C.A.R. blog from my various colleagues.

You’ve got the master of words, Josh Sharfman who is bringing all kinds of great tech stuff.

Then you’ve got the queen of numbers, Sara Sutachan keeping you up to date with the latest market data.

Of course there’s going to also be posts from our C.A.R. social media organizer/maven/princess, the always charming Lindsey Moss.

In addition to these three fine folks, there’s also great posts from our communications, legal and legislative departments.

So what are you waiting for?

Go and check it out, and check out my first post on speeding up your iPad and iPhone!

Another Oscar Ceremony Goes Into The History Books…

Another Oscar Sunday has come and gone and now comes the post-Oscar analysis.

I managed to correctly pick 17 of the 24 awards. Amazingly two of my wild guesses for Animated Short (Lost Things) and Short Film (God of Love) were right. Not bad but still under my highest of 20 of 24.

A few thoughts on last night’s show…

* While I liked the show and was impressed by how tight they kept it, it was altogether just ho-hum. Loved the stage and and the arches of video though. Very cool!

* James Franco, great actor but horrible award show host.

* Anne Hathaway, great energy which frequently got sucked away by James.

* Kirk Douglas, you’re still the man!

* Best Picture montage  – Could watch that a few times.

* Best speeches – Melissa Leo, Tom Hooper, David Seidler, Natalie Portman and Colin Firth

* The closing with the kids from PS 22 was heart warming to begin with, it went to absolutely unbelievable when the winners from the night came out on the stage behind the kids. 24 statues that prove that dreams do come true.

And the Academy Award Goes To – Chris’ Oscar Picks

I love the movies. It’s as much a part of me as is technology.

As I told a friend the Academy Awards is like my Superbowl.  It’s the one event where you better not call or e-mail cause you’re not going to get a hold of me.

This year I managed to see 9 of the 10 movies nominated for Best Picture.
The only one I missed was 127 Hours. Unfortunately it was only playing at theaters a fair distance away from me and I don’t know any academy members.

However, having now seen the majority of them I’m gonna offer my opinion (like so many others) on who I think should win, and will likely win. Some of them will be absolutely wild guesses.

Feel free to use my picks in your Oscar party pools. If you win big as a result of this list, feel free to send a Starbucks gift card my way. You know, if you’re feeling generous. 🙂

Best Picture
“Black Swan,”
“The Fighter” COULD WIN
“Inception,” SHOULD WIN
“The Kids Are All Right,”
“The King’s Speech,” WILL MOST LIKELY WIN (MUCH DESERVED)
“127 Hours,”
“The Social Network,”
“Toy Story 3”
“True Grit”
“Winter’s Bone”

Actor in a Leading Role
Javier Bardem in “Biutiful”
Jeff Bridges in “True Grit”
Jesse Eisenberg in “The Social Network”
Colin Firth in “The King’s Speech” SHOULD  & WILL WIN
James Franco in “127 Hours”

Actor in a Supporting Role
Christian Bale in “The Fighter” SHOULD & WILL WIN
John Hawkes in “Winter’s Bone”
Jeremy Renner in “The Town”
Mark Ruffalo in “The Kids Are All Right”
Geoffrey Rush in “The King’s Speech”

Actress in a Leading Role
Annette Bening in “The Kids Are All Right”
Nicole Kidman in “Rabbit Hole”
Jennifer Lawrence in “Winter’s Bone”
Natalie Portman in “Black Swan” SHOULD & WILL WIN
Michelle Williams in “Blue Valentine”

Actress in a Supporting Role
Amy Adams in “The Fighter”
Helena Bonham Carter in “The King’s Speech”
Melissa Leo in “The Fighter” WILL WIN
Hailee Steinfeld in “True Grit” SHOULD WIN
Jacki Weaver in “Animal Kingdom”

Animated Feature Film
“How to Train Your Dragon” POSSIBLE UPSET WIN
“The Illusionist”
“Toy Story 3” SHOULD AND MOST LIKELY WILL WIN

Art Direction
“Alice in Wonderland”
“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1”
“Inception”
“The King’s Speech” WILL WIN
“True Grit”

Cinematography
“Black Swan,”
“Inception,” SHOULD WIN
“The King’s Speech,” WILL WIN
“The Social Network,”
“True Grit,”

Costume Design
“Alice in Wonderland,” SHOULD AND WILL WIN
“I Am Love,”
“The King’s Speech,”
“The Tempest,”
“True Grit”

Directing
“Black Swan,” Darren Aronofsky SHOULD WIN
“The Fighter,” David O. Russell
“The King’s Speech,” Tom Hooper WILL WIN
“The Social Network,” David Fincher
“True Grit,” Joel Coen and Ethan Coen

Documentary (Feature)
“Exit through the Gift Shop,” WILL WIN…WILD GUESS
“Gasland,”
“Inside Job,”
“Restrepo,”
“Waste Land,”

Documentary (Short Subject)
“Killing in the Name”
“Poster Girl”
“Strangers No More”
“Sun Come Up” WILL WIN – ANOTHER WILD GUESS
“The Warriors of Qiugang”

Film Editing
“Black Swan” SHOULD WIN
“The Fighter”
“The King’s Speech”
“127 Hours”
“The Social Network” WILL WIN

Foreign Language Film
“Biutiful,” Mexico WILL WIN
“Dogtooth,” Greece
“In a Better World,” Denmark
“Incendies,” Canada
“Outside the Law (Hors-la-loi),” Algeria

Makeup
“Barney’s Version,”
“The Way Back,”
“The Wolfman,”  SHOULD AND WILL WIN

Music (Original Score)
“How to Train Your Dragon,” John Powell
“Inception,” Hans Zimmer SHOULD AND WILL WIN
“The King’s Speech,” Alexandre Desplat
“127 Hours,” A.R. Rahman
“The Social Network,” Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross

Music (Original Song)
“Coming Home” from “Country Strong,”
“I See the Light” from “Tangled,” SHOULD WIN
“If I Rise” from “127 Hours,”
“We Belong Together” from “Toy Story 3,” WILL MOST LIKELY WIN

Short Film (Animated)
“Day & Night,”
“The Gruffalo,”
“Let’s Pollute,”
“The Lost Thing,”  WILL WIN – YET ANOTHER WILD GUESS
“Madagascar, carnet de voyage (Madagascar, a Journey Diary)”

Short Film (Live Action)
“The Confession,”
“The Crush,”
“God of Love,”  WILL WIN – ONE MORE WILD GUESS
“Na Wewe,”
“Wish 143,”

Sound Editing
“Inception,” SHOULD AND WILL WIN
“Toy Story 3,”
“Tron: Legacy,”
“True Grit,”
“Unstoppable,”

Sound Mixing
“Inception,” SHOULD AND WILL WIN
“The King’s Speech,”
“Salt,”
“The Social Network,”
“True Grit,”

Visual Effects
“Alice in Wonderland,”
“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1,”
“Hereafter,”
“Inception,” SHOULD AND WILL WIN
“Iron Man 2,”

Writing (Adapted Screenplay)
“127 Hours,”
“The Social Network,” SHOULD AND WILL WIN – PURE GENIUS WRITING
“Toy Story 3,”
“True Grit,”
“Winter’s Bone,”

Writing (Original Screenplay)
“Another Year,”
“The Fighter,”
“Inception,” SHOULD & WILL LIKELY WIN
“The Kids Are All Right,”
“The King’s Speech,” POSSIBLE WIN, STILL DESERVED

STS-133, Discovery’s Final Voyage

Many that know me, know of my love for the Space Shuttle program. It’s something that’s always had a special place in my heart and something that I am going to be sad to see end.

God willing, and weather permitting the Space Shuttle Discovery and the crew of STS-133 will launch today at 4:50pm EST/1:50pm PST. Its mission that was originally scheduled to launch back in December.

I was fortunate enough to see the Space Shuttle Challenger land on it’s maiden voyage, and managed to see a shuttle launch from afar in Orlando. I’m still trying to figure out a way to see the launch a little closer for the final mission in April CORRECTION – The final mission will be the Shuttle Atlantis in June. Still, crossing fingers.

No matter what though, today I’ll be glued to the computer watching the shuttle and its crew fly into history. While the Discovery rockets into space to take components to the International Space Station, it will as it always has also take the pride, hopes, dreams and inspirations of a little kid who continues to believe in the space program and our human desires to explore the beauties of space.

Good luck, and Godspeed Discovery.

Seriously? More Than Meets The Eye…

Get your full nerd/geek on in the theater with these Transformer 3-D glasses that you can use while you watch Transformers: Dark of the Moon this July.

Read more about these here at www.electronichouse.com.

While I am generally mocking them, there’s a good chance my 14 year old will be sitting next to me wearing one of these when we go to see the movie. Only way you’re getting these on me is for a large chunk of money.

Seriously??? They’re All Gonna Laugh At You!

I can read your mind...

This won’t help you with your stress…it’ll just increase it from everyone laughing at you with this on your head.

My Blackberry Is Not Working!

Love those Brits!

Many thanks to Betty Thomas for passing this one on to me!

Volkswagen:The Force – This Is So Me As A Little Kid…

When I was a kid our Star Wars costumes were these cheap plastic things that ripped so easily if you bent the wrong way. Had they had a costume like they have now, this would have been so me about 30 years ago.

Of course costume or not doesn’t stop me from trying to pull Jedi mind tricks on people.

:::WAVING HAND::: You will visit my blog again, and again, and again…

Seriously Mr. Jinx???

Mr. Jinx's new Side Business

Someone saw “Meet The Parents” one too many times!