Notifying the Next of Kin 

Microsoft has announced the death of it’s social-networking phone, the Kin. After less than two month’s on the market, the social-networking device targeted at tweens to college drop outs. The alleged iPhone killer neglected little things the kiddies wanted like, customization, apps and some level of coolness. What kid wants a phone called “Kin?” Sounds like your talking to your hillbilly cousin in West Virginia.

Just for the record:

Apple iPhone 4, 3 days, 1.7 million sold. VS. MS Kin & Kin II (Yes, two models), six weeks, <10,000 units sold (according to MS insiders via endgaget.com)

Crime in 3D

The biggest failing of “Avatar: The Airbender” is not the bad acting, M. Night’s directing or scripting massacre of the popular anime story or the terrible martial arts choreography.

The real crime is the marketing of the movie in the 3D format.

I have complained about 3D effects being slapped on movies–most notably the recent Wonderland debauchery–tend only to make the movie darker and generally unwatchable in order to throw a couple of beach balls at the audience. I was worried that this would happen to Avatar, especially since the early trailers did not mention 3D.

However, “Avatar” does something even worse than this.

There were no 3D effects in the movie! The trailers were in 3D. The beginning title sequence and all the production houses’ logos had 3D. The credits had 3D. During the actual movie, none.  I am not talking about effects that were really bad. I am saying that not a single fireball, ice ball or earth clod that came out of the screen. No arrows, spears or swords threatened the goggled eyes of the audience. Nevertheless, glasses were still required to reintegrate the separated colors of the film, which is  doubly annoying when you already have to wear glasses.

So, not only was this movie bad, but fraudulent as well. The studios, producers, director, special effects companies and the movie theaters should be sued for misrepresentation, false advertisement and anything else a smart lawyer can think of.

Changing the Way We Work

As an experiment, I wrote this weeks column on my iPad, and the overall experience was pleasant. While not perfect, Pages for the iPad worked quite well and getting use to the touchscreen keyboard was not difficult. The hardest parts were the change in layout, with symbols and numbers being on different “screens”, and adapting to the word-suggestion tool.

The iPad’s size was no hindrance. In fact, it worked quite well in my lap or on the table.

Nothing under here--Sorry, the original photo seen here was lost in the server crash.

In addition, the picture of me working was taken on my MyTouch Slide and edited on the Android smartphone with Photoshop Mobile. However to be honest, the pic will probably have to run through regular Photoshop to be converted into the proper format. I did crop and color correct it on my phone though.

This is just a test of the changing ways we can work. I am finishing this article while in between matches during a pool tournament at a local biker bar. Making boredom productive, or wasting valuable free time working…depending on how you look at it.