Lunch Time Point Of View

1-18-08 or Cloverfield: What is it?

2007-07-22T12:00:00.000-07:00

So there has been this movie preview that was attached to the front of Transformers that has been generating a ton of buzz lately and all that is known about it really is its move release date which is January 18, 2008, hence the 1-18-08. This is a movie from the mind of J.J Abrams the creator of Lost and everyone knows how mysterious that show is. There are tons of rumors flying around about this latest project of his so I thought I would try to sum most of them up for those who are interested.

First off, the official site of this film so far really leaves you with a sense of "WTF!". It is a simple flash based site with nothing but time based photos from the movie. You can drag the photos around all you want and pick which one takes the fore front, but other than that... there is nothing else to do on the site. New photos keep popping up over time on the site, but again they are just images of what looks like mass confusion and terror.

Right around the same time that site went live, another site popped up called Ethan Haas Was Right. This is another flash driven site that would appeal to the puzzle fanatic. I won't go into any details about this site, but one thing is for certain, something to do with that site will be commencing on August 1st of this year (or 8-01... nice play on numbers there J.J.). J.J. Abrams has stated that this site has nothing to do with his movie, but he has been known to throw out curve balls like that to disuade fans before.

On the Ethan Haas subject, a blogspot was started at the same time called Ethan Haas Was Wrong. This blog seems to be set up to counter act the rantings of the individual on the Ethan Haas Was Right site. Interesting to note is that the author of the blog is from Latvia... and that is all that is know about him/her. Many of the posts are in a different langauge that I haven't been able to have translated by other sites like Google Translate.

Yet another site tied to the film is
SLUSHO!. This site definitely raises some questions and you definitely need to check it out. There is quite the history on the site about how SLUSHO came to be and how you could see how this ties into the film possibly. The funny thing is this was discovered by someone who spotted a SLUSHO t-shirt in the trailer. J.J Abrams has confirmed that this is one of the film's sister sites. The site appears to have more info coming in the future as well.

The only thing that is apparent about this film is that it is a MONSTER movie. Could it be another attempt at Godzilla. Many believe this isn't so since this is a Paramount production and not Sony who currently still holds the rights to that franchise. Another thought is that it could be Cthulhu. Interesting to note is that J.J. Abrams himself does have a small Cthulhu image on his myspace page too.

There is yet another blogspot site, I Saw Him, that posts from the point of view of someone who has seen the monster in question first hand. The only clue it gives is that it has the head of a lion. Now this blog has not been confirmed to be part of this mystery, but it does share the same theme as the Ethan Haas Was Wrong blog.

Going with the lion head idea, some have linked this movie to be the Voltron movie. This to me is WAY out in left field as Voltron is way more sci-fi than what this trailer eludes too. Also a film like Voltron should appeal more to kids than adults in my mind. Personally, I just can stand Voltron... I never got into it as a kid and I just think this notion is stupid.

And finally, and this is my favourite, the last rumor tied to this film is that it is the RAMPAGE movie. That's right, that ultimate 80's arcade game where you get to be either a giant gorilla, lizard or werewolf and wreak total havoc on cities throughout the U.S. could be coming to the silver screen. This could be the best rumor at present as the trailer does support lots of chaos and explosions. This theory has some potential in my mind.

What ever this movie is about, it should be good if J.J. Abrams is attached to it. Keep your eyes peeled on August 1st as I am sure there will be more answer and questions revealed on that date.

OpenDNS: Speed up your Internet connection

2007-07-06T12:00:00.000-07:00

Like most internet users out there, I am always looking for little tricks and tips to help speed up my internet connection. Currently, I am using Shaw High-Speed and I have considered upgrading to Shaw High-Speed Xtreme-I, but I just don't want to fork out the extra money per month for it. So for those of you who are looking for a cheap way to increase your internet connection, I suggest OpenDNS.

OpenDNS has huge servers all over the globe that cache websites on their servers and continue to update those caches on a regular basis. So when using OpenDNS while browsing the internet, the page requests are going through OpenDNS and OpenDNS feeds you the site content for that cached site. This makes your page load times faster. It's easy to get started with OpenDNS and the best part is it's FREE. It works on all major platforms (Windows 98 - Vista, Mac OS 9 - X, & Linux/Unix) and they even provide set up instructions for many different routers.

In order to use OpenDNS, you must create an account with them. All information is kept private of course. Once you are up and running, you can start checking some stats on your OpenDNS account such as total requests made from your network and unique domains that you have visited after one day of use.

example of Total Requests Stats

example of Unique Domain Stats

Another interesting feature they offer is checking to see if a website is cached on their servers. This will let you know if your favourite websites that you frequently visit are stored in their caches. They offer some other great web browsing features, but I will let you check them out for yourself.

Transformers: A Must See!!!

2007-07-03T12:00:00.000-07:00

I saw Transformers last night and all I can say is "WOW... Well done Mr. Bay & Mr. Spielberg!"

The movie made me feel like I was 8 years old all over again. It has everything you would want in a great summer blockbuster: non-stop action, special effects, humor, etc. Right from the start of the movie, as soon as you hear that first transforming sound effect you get sucked in.

The theatre was packed for the preview showing and that added to the entertainment. Everyone was cheering and yelling when key characters would take the screen. My wife came along and she loved the film. She finally understood why I was so excited for this movie. Actually, every girl that was with our group thought the movie was great and they all fell in love with Bumblebee.

If there is one film you should see this summer... make it Transformers... you won't be disappointed.

Transformers Preview

YouTube & Me

2007-07-02T12:00:00.001-07:00

Like many users on the Webernet, I have posted some videos of myself goofing around and they are Apple themed. Since I really didn't have much to talk about today, I thought I would post my works of art here for all to view and comment on.

Which Gaming Console To Buy?

2007-06-30T12:00:00.000-07:00

This morning my wife convinced me to go shopping at the mall (first mistake right there) as she needed new bikinis and bras for our upcoming Vegas trip (not such a mistake after all). When we got to the mall, we each went our separate ways for the first bit. She went straight to the clothing stores and guess where I went first? That's right... FUTURESHOP! It's just a conditioned response for me now and I'm sure I can say the same for all other guys out there.

Anyway, as I was entering through the shiny glass automatic sliding doors I noticed two signs on either door. One read "We've got Wii's!!!" and the other read "We've got PS3's!!!". Instantly I thought, why don't I have a gaming console yet? And then I remembered, I have a wife (second mistake right there... kidding). But seriously, my wife knows that I have had some interest in getting a gaming console for some time now.

It all started when a friend of mine had some people over for drinks. The drinks were flowing and people were having fun, when suddenly my buddy comes walking out of the living room with a plastic guitar over his shoulder. He looked at me and said “its your turn to rock out.” Well with an invite like that how could I say no. My buddy passed me the guitar and I got into my power stance in front of his 42” LG plasma TV. Moments later I was rockin’ a little GNR (Guns N’ Roses) on GUITAR HERO II. That sealed my fate right there… I was hooked. Now, my buddy has an Xbox 360 and I had seen some other games on that system which looked pretty fun too. So I thought “that’s it… I want an Xbox.”

About two weeks later, my boss at work thought it would be fun to have a departmental FUN day at the end of the workweek. Included in this fun was getting a chance to play on Nintendo’s Wii console. Now I had heard some good things about this somewhat little underdog system, but let me tell you… it’s so much fun. We mainly stuck to playing Wii Sports so there was a lot of doubles tennis going on and boxing (employees getting to beat out their work related frustrations on one another… very therapeutic really). By the end of the day I was hooked on this little-console-that-could. But then I heard that there was no Guitar Hero for the Wii.

No you can see my dilemma. I know I don’t want to buy a PS3 (then again I have never played it), but the Xbox 360 and the Nintendo Wii are both on my radar. I like the fact that you can get up and move around while playing the Wii (and I also heard that Guitar Hero III will be released sometime in the fall for all major console systems including the Wii). What I like about the Xbox is that you can rock out right away with Guitar Hero II and they have a lot of great game titles out for the system and as an added bonus you can watch HD movies through the system with the HD DVD player for the Xbox 360.

What to do, what to do? I do think I will end up going with the Wii just because it is fun and, to back up my point about the wife a few paragraphs ago, my wife has played the Wii as well and liked the fact that you got up and moved around while playing. So, now it is just a matter of being able to find one in stock somewhere and getting the guts up to buy it.

Wii would like to play… but I would love to play right now!!!

First POV and it's on the iPhone

2007-06-29T12:00:00.000-07:00

Its the end of the work week and it is also a momentous day in history for Apple fans...

And in case you have been living under a rock for the past year the momentous day I am talking about is the iPhone launching today. It seems people have already been gathering in numbers since Monday to get their hands on this nifty little item that is sure to turn the mobile phone market upside-down.

The unfortunate side to this is that the iPhone is not available in Canada as of yet, just like the iTunes Movies/TV service, and there is no set date, to my knowledge, for the device to be released to the American neighbours of the North. I have to admit that I am a tad jealous over the Apple users of the States for being able to obtain these wonderful new toys first before us Canucks.

Maybe we proud Canadians need to start developing devices that could only be available to us first before anyone else in the world? Sure, we have Tim Horton's and that is just engrained in our day-to-day lives, but maybe we need to think bigger. Here's an idea, and believe me it ain't great, the iCanoe. Just think of it. It could integrate GPS and portage itself to different lakes for you. It could give you rowing techniques and history of all the lakes and rivers of Canada. Maybe you feel like re-living the glory days of the cours-des-bois and want to follow a route they took across this HUGE country. And since we are on the french subject, the iCanoe could teach you how to speak French-Canadian while you are in Quebec.

Hey, its something to think about for those tech firms of Canada.

On that note... Au revoir!