3:10 AM
I’ve just updated the comic for Wednesday, January 27th. Currently the common opinion online and in tech circles is that Apple will be making a major announcement or two at today’s big Apple Event. I’m starting this blog post now as a place holder. As the day unfolds and more news is available I plan to return to the blog and post some of my opinions. Here’s what I’m hoping for/expecting at this time. The new Apple Tablet being a 10 inch iPod Touch like device with a service to download books, magazines, etc. via an iTunes like feature. But more than the iSlate, or iTablet or what ever they’ll call the blasted thing, my dream is that Steve Jobs comes out on stage today makes his keynote address, and then… one more thing… the end of AT&T’s shackles on the iPhone. He doesn’t even need to announce new carriers, just announce the end of exclusivity with AT&T and open the path to me finally being able to get a Verizon iPhone.
11:30 PM
Well, an exciting day as we are introduced to the iPad. Sounds like it’s a giant iPod Touch with 3Gs connectivity. It’s still tied to AT&T, which I still hate with a rage that burns hot like the heart of a star, but now there’s no long term contract, only a month to month subscription. It’s a fully functional iPod. It can run iWorks (brief yawn). But the feature I’m excited about is the iBook and iBookstore features. I firmly believe this will do for digital book distribution what iTunes did for music downloads. If this goes the way of iTunes, will we see self-publishing change completely? Imagine, just as you are now able to upload your podcast for distribution via iTunes, you could also soon be uploading your digital book to share with the world.
My final thoughts on the day, iPad? Really, with all the other choices you picked iPad? Doesn’t anyone on the development team have a wife or daughter? Almost immediately the jokes started flying, and very soon someone found a link to this iPad skit for MadTV here made years ago when iPods were first flooding the market. I don’t mind all of the i names, but this one will take a while to not snicker like a junior high student when I hear it and think of the video.
I was five years old the first time I can remember watching Star Trek. As best I remember it was “Assignment: Earth” I remember being fascinated by the cat in that episode. That day, I was unknowingly infected with a virus that would be in my system for the rest of my life. That day, I became a Trekkie. In the years that followed I became more and more obsessed with the show. I memorized every detail about the universe in which they lived. In time I established myself as a Starfleet Captain, Commanding Officer of the U.S.S. Yorktown, NCC-1704. If you were in my circle of friends at the time, chances are you had a rank and duty on the ship. I went to every movie. I watched every episode multiple times. For a time, I think I actually lived in the 23rd Century.
But as time went on and I grew up it became harder and harder to live both in the 23rd and 20th centuries and eventually, with a tremendous amount of effort, I was able to get my addiction under control and be not much more than a fan; albeit a fan with a tremendous amount of trivia knowledge about the shows, but a fan non-the-less.
Everything was fine for several years, but then I started hearing rumors about a new MMO based in the Star Trek Universe. There had been Trek games before, but after years of playing World of Warcraft, EverQuest and City of Heroes, I knew this had the potential to be dangerous. And then the open beta came. Screen shots from within the game appeared online. Trusted friends and colleagues reported back to me that this was the most awesome game to have the Star Trek name on the cover in history. That’s when I felt it again, that tug. It was as if Roddenberry’s voice called to me from beyond the grave, “Come back to us, we’ve missed you”
Now, in order to live what approximates a normal life, I must not fail to the temptation of getting Star Trek Online when it goes live on February 2nd. Thankfully it is still Windows only so I am able to sit on my Mac and use that as an excuse. But today I caught myself printing out instructions on how to load Boot Camp on my Mac and emulate a Windows OS environment and play PC games. PC games like Star Trek Online.
My name is Tovias, and I am a Trekaholic.
Imagine this: It’s 3 AM and you wake to someone trying to step over you who has the depth perception of a one year old child and you find yourself being used as a step stool as they frantically try and get by. If that’s easy to imagine, then you just went through what I went through. Also imagine an airport the size of a small restaurant, stuffed with people. Then imagine three-fourths of those people farting all at once. Imagine the smell, if you’re gagging then you aren’t even close to imagining the real pain my nose is experiencing. Now that pretend time is over, let’s get down to business.
I haven’t blogged in awhile, and I won’t be so quick to make up an acceptable excuse, let’s just say I’ve been lazy. Between work, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, my son and sleep, I haven’t had the time or energy to blog. That list is not in order of importance by the way. I love this site, and Tovias is a really dear friend to me, so I won’t continue to shy away from my duties as contributing editor. To those of you who happen to follow my life a little bit, i.e. following me on Twitter, Facebook or know me personally, should know for the past couple days I’ve been with a US Navy ship as they helped in the relief effort for the people of Haiti. As of yesterday I’ve been holed up in an airport in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba awaiting a plane ride home. Not too much to that story, I don’t have my passport, so that means until it gets here I’m a resident of the beautiful country of Cuba. ¡Andale! ¡Andale! ¡Arriba! ¡Arriba! right? I’m sure no one but myself found that remotely hilarious, but this is my little rant, not yours. To wrap up that thought, my passport should be here sometime today and I should be on a plane back to the good ol’ US of A.
Like I’ve said in my previous posts, I’m here to round out the views on entertainment that differs from the Star Trek of legend and BBC shows Tovias likes to indulge in. Not saying the BBC is for old people, because that’s far from true. Anyone of age should check out Secret Diary of a Call Girl, and by anyone of age I mean dudes. It’s a awesome show about a, um, let’s see, a promiscuous woman who gets paid for her time, plain and simple. Also, the main character is played by Billie Piper, hot name right? Any Doctor Who fans probably have been waiting for this show for a while. I apologize beforehand to Tovias and if any of the words in the particular paragraph makes any unwanted ads pop up, if so I hope he removes it.
But lets get to the shows I like. Starting with Criminal Minds. This show is eff-ing awesome. To those not in the know, it’s about a team of FBI agents who make up the Behavior Analysis Unit (BAU). Instead of pulling the Horatio Caine and looking for clues with cool shades to find criminals, the agents in the BAU think like the criminal, they figure out what makes him a criminal and what makes act the way he or she does. Then they make a profile of the unidentified subject (UNSUB) and then catch his or her ass. I highly recommend this show to anyone who’s a fan of cop shows. I give it two analog sticks up. Mind you this review is really bare because I would hate to divulge too much of the show and ruin it for anyone.
The next show on my list is Chuck. An everyday nerd is sent all the government’s secrets and they are encoded into his brain, making him what they call the Intersect. A hot CIA agent and bad-ass NSA agent protect him. Then he goes and gets in a bunch of little adventures, all while trying to find a way to remove the Intersect from his brain. Another must see.
I plan on collaborating with Tovias to come up with some official review template in the next couple of days so I can start reviewing more games and anime series, so keep a look out for that. So wrapping up after that extremely long sentence, that’s it for now. I’m going back to sleep on cot and jacket/pillow.
