Polygon has a great article detailing the rise of Cities:Skylines along with the fall of SimCity. They go through the ups and downs of the company CEO right about the time they were to pitch Cities:Skylines, which had the wind taken out of its sails when EA announced plans to bring out a new version of SimCity.
Continue reading Polygon looks at the rise of Cities:Skylines
The BBC has a great article on the damage done from rare-earth mineral mining in mainland China. This tailings lake spews the leftover byproducts from the extraction of rare-earth minerals that are used in the production of tech gadgets. The pictures and video alone tell a interesting story.
Neodymiumum is the biggest offender, as it is used to make the super small magnets in our earbuds and smartphone speakers. The process used to extract this mineral is highly caustic and is probably the reason that China is the worlds largest exporter.
Link: http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20150402-the-worst-place-on-earth
As a young kid and tech junkie in the late 90’s, I remember getting the original Tiger Direct catalogs. All of the products had articles written around them like a J. Peterman catalog. As the Internet took over, the catalogs disappeared and small blurbs on websites optimized for search engines took over.
It was the first piece of software I ever purchased, a utility that made Windows 3.1 able to use long file names like its newest cousin, Windows 95. I gave my mom the money to put it on her credit card and order it for me. Two weeks later it arrived and worked like a charm. Minus the slight fact that it was not compatible with the way Windows 95 and all othe subsequent operating systems handled long file names.
It was a quick trip down memory lane when I saw this article describing the guilty pleas of the two Fiorentino brothers who founded tiger direct. Apparently using your company like your personal bank account, getting kickbacks from suppliers, and over charging your own company is not the best way, and legal way, to run a business. I hope the fancy cars and big houses were worth the fun for a bit. Glad I could contribute to the fun!
Fox Business: Systemax brothers guilty of fraud
That is too funny.
Huh. pic.twitter.com/RiBSXMTmk8
— Ryan McGee (@ESPNMcGee) March 29, 2015
Once again the Macalope skewers the “any people that support Apple are brainwashed cult members crowd.” The funny part is that those who spout this are just as loud and fervent as the so called ones they say belong to a “cult.” I’d say they are members in a religion of their own, “I hate Apple more than anything.”
Macalope: http://www.macworld.com/article/2902041/the-anti-beatitudes-calling-apple-a-religion.html#tk.rss_all
Blazing Saddles has to be one of the funniest movies ever made and surely could not be made now. There are so many off color jokes that are sexist, racist, and ethnically insensitive a movie studio would run as fast as possible. That said, if you don’t laugh at the movie and enjoy the story line there is quite possible something terribly wrong with you.
The railroad discovers quick sand as they are going across the southwest desert and needs to be diverted. Unfortunately the town of Rock Ridge lies directly in the path of the new railroad and the townspeople do not want to let them pass. The governor and attorney general Headly Lamar has other plans and sends Bart, a former railroad construction slave, to be the new sheriff. Instead of the townspeople revolting they instead rally behind him and fight off the railroad mercenaries. The movie ends with one of the most hilarious fight scenes that have ever been filmed.
There is a star studded cast from Gene Wilder as a drunk gunslinger to Alex Karras as a huge oaf who is highly philosophical. Cleavon Little plays an African-American sheriff at a time where there were none and does an amazing job.
A must see, must own movie. If you have only seen this movie on television then you are missing out on tons of jokes, one liners, and double entendre.
Rene Ritchie at iMore has an article up that is sure to rile the Apple haters and make the latent Apple complainers reach fever pitch. It seems that when the Apple Watch goes on sale in a few days you will not be able to mix and match and create your own watch combo. This is not to say you cannot buy alternate bands for your watch, but the base watch body will come with a predetermined band from Apple. I’m sure this will be touted as an injustice and have papers drafted making this a war crime.
But is it?
One thing people seem to misunderstand is that when you buy something that is higher end or designer, you are buying their vision, their design. Apple is trying to play off this high design style with the watch which is why you at the very least have to buy into their vision of what the watch “should” look like.
Those that will complain are those that think the Burger King slogan of “Have it your way” is the only correct answer. They don’t stop to think, if you go to a high end restaurant you are going there because of the chef’s creations. Why would you spend that much money only to tell the man with the pedigree that you are paying to dazzle you, how to cook your food? It would be the same as hiring Picasso to paint a painting for you and then tell him not to use blue, because you don’t like it.
And if you think I’m incorrect, go to your local Target or Walmart and ask to buy a $30 Timex watch with the band of your choosing. I’m pretty sure they will tell you it comes with a band. Then visit your local jeweler and try to buy a Citizen with your choice of band. That option doesn’t exist either.
iMore: http://www.imore.com/no-apple-watch-mixing-and-matching-come-april-10-collections-are-it
If you are looking for a movie that is under 2 hours with nonstop action with very little plot and storyline, John Wick is for you. This is fully a guy flick, and any man will instantly connect with the character, especially if you are a dog lover.
It is obviously over the top and not realistic. If that is what you are looking for, keep moving. The one thing that I do like though is the gun play is very realistic. No unlimited amounts of ammo here. The fight scenes are good as well. Body blows do seem to have an effect on him.
While I have never been a Keanu Reeves fan, I’ve never been a hater either. He does a good job in the movie, showing good emotion and toughness with that little bit of Keanu that SNL made fun of in the Celebrity Jeopardy skit. He makes John Wick really seem like a pissed off guy ready to exact his vengeance.
This is definitely a movie to rent. I wouldn’t buy it and probably would never watch it again. But if later on it is on TV or Netflix and there is nothing else to watch, it is a good time waster.
If you are looking for a good war movie to watch and not feel like you wasted two hours, Fury is for you. It has a very shallow story/plot line but delivers a lot of good action back to back. There are a few awkward scenes in the movie where a sub plot was forced in. These are easily overlooked as the war time action and heroics pick back up.
Some will complain about some “historical inaccuracies” regarding the tanks of WWII. Remember this is a movie, not a documentary. They do hold to historical details such as the US Sherman tanks being severely outgunned by the German Tiger.
Brad Pitt as usual does a great job as a battle hardened leader, and the surrounding cast has a good variety of characters that the dynamic of the tank crew for the most part just works. The final battle scene, while over the top, will keep you entertained and wondering what happens right up until the end.
Grab this one at the RedBox or wait until it is available on Netflix. Not one I would purchase, unless it was really cheap on sale.
SideNote: I rented this on BluRay and it makes me laugh that as picture quality has gone up, we make a concerted effort now to make it look old with filters and post processing.
Definitely one of my favorite movies. This is a true American classic with great movies, great car chase scenes, and us against the world mentality. If you have never seen this movie, you should put it at the top of your list. The amount of quotable lines that everyone will know is off the charts in this one.
