Greater Satellites

Here are just a few other names of people you might know who share the same birthday as me…

• Christian Bale (actor, kind of like me sometimes)
• Phil Collins (drummer, kind of like me sometimes)
• Gene Hackman (awesome, kind of like me sometimes)

And then there are some not-so-notable people who also share the same day of birth:

• Andy Milonakis (possible rapist)
• Wilmer Valderrama (possible terrorist)
• Dick Cheney (possible destroyer of the world)

In this instance, the good definitely outweighs the bad. Yessss

[12:00] Jackie:“U.S. taxpayers would get checks of several hundred dollars from the government under a plan to stimulate the economy, sources said today. Sources on Capitol Hill and at the Treasury Department said negotiators agreed to cut checks for $600 per individual and $1,200 per couple.”
[12:00] Me: so… $600 per individual regardless
[12:01] Jackie: yea
[12:01] Jackie: lol
[12:01] Me: when do i get my check?
[12:02] Jackie: lol im about to read about this
[12:02] Jackie: that would stimulate my savings
[12:02] Me: that would stimulate my PS3 game collection
[12:02] Jackie: lol
[12:02] Jackie: ill stimulate you
[12:03] Me: i’ll stimulate you at the same time
[12:03] Me: stimutaneously, if you will

Check out her awesome blog, by the way, at http://her-new-obsession.com

I held off writing a post about the death of Heath Ledger for a few reasons up to this point, the primary reason being that I wanted to know about his cause of death before throwing my hat into the ring.  Using uninformed opinions to jump to illogical conclusions is a job for the associated press which, over the past few days, I’ve come to loathe.  Their outright disrespect of the deceased is utterly astounding and incomprehensible.  It’s obvious from footage shown over the past few days that he was never one for interviews or press junkets, and it seems to me that the media is compensating for his lack of participating by exploiting him now.

My condolences to his family, especially for his daughter who may only vaguely remember him as she grows up.  I’ll admit I was never a huge fan of his career, but I’ve liked what I’ve seen of him.  Whether he was regaling A Knight’s Tale or facing off against The Dark Knight, Heath will most probably go down as a talent that was taken from us too soon.

I’m my never ending quest to have one of the sweetest, most future-proof home entertainment setups I can afford, here are a few things that I’ve been doing in preparation before I take the plunge:

• Research… Then Do Some More Research: This is the most obvious, but also the most important. You should know what you want to be capable of doing, then follow thru with research on whether something you’re eyeballing has the capacity to perform. Want to be able to watch Blu-Ray movies at the highest possible quality? Then you’re going to need a TV that is 1080P capable, which leads me to my next point…
• Know Thy Terms: Do you know what the “P” in 1080P stands for? Do you think that Plasma is just something the green poltergeist from Ghostbusters was made of? These are things that are important to know, and can be explained pretty easily on Wikipedia, Consumer Reports, and even just general tech sites. I wouldn’t trust retail outlet explanations, just like I wouldn’t trust their prices. Oh, speaking of which…
• Shop Around: Say you scoop up a PlayStation 3 and want to reduce cable clutter, so you opt to buy an HDMI cable. If you go to Best Buy, you can expect to pay a pinch over $72 for a 4′ Monster Brand HDMI Cable. After following thru with the previous two steps, you’d know that there’s nothing really unique about that Monster Brand Cable when you compare it to, say, a 6′ Monoprice HDMI Cable for the low, low price of $5.24. A side-by-side comparison of these cables would render the picture virtually identical. Your wallet will thank you.
• Don’t Buy Brand Spankin’ New: I know it’s tough not to scoop up seven new things each year right after CES, but it’s better than paying the early adopter tax. Technology tends to get better first, then smaller second; so once a TV is packed with all the features that would make it competitive, the only thing to do would be to make it smaller, thinner, sexier. Usually when you look back at the model that’s being replaced by a newer one, you’ll find that the aesthetics are the biggest refresh of them all.
• Check Reviews Online: Amazon, Froogle, Best Buy, Circuit City, Newegg… The list goes on and on of sites that offer people the ability to rate and review their recently purchased products in a variety of different ways. Be sure to read thru a few reviews from various websites to ensure that whatever you’re looking to buy meets the high standards you should be setting for your gear.
• Don’t Be Afraid To Spend: This one seems pretty obvious, but it really isn’t. If you’re going shopping for your new TV at Kmart, don’t expect too much out of it in any sense. Conversely, you don’t have to spend an exorbitant amount of money at places like Tweeter either. Sometimes your best bet is to find what you’re looking for in person and then purchase online for a discounted rate.
• Don’t Get Locked Into One System: Sure, a HTIB is a total package, and priced to sell, but don’t think for a second that you’ll have many options in the field of expandability. Sometimes it’s better to custom tailor a solution that you can upgrade piece-by-piece in the future. For instance: buy a receiver, speakers, DVD player, etc as a separate package and you won’t ever have to worry about being behind the curve because you can just upgrade one component at a time.

Follow these few simple guidelines and you’ll be well on your way to owning some versatile electronic audio-visual-computing equipment.

If you got the vague reference in the title of this post, then no doubt you were like me for the past six months in following all of the viral marketing for a little piece of film released yesterday called Cloverfield. My initial review and impressions are as follows (warning: SPOILERS):

(more…)

Jackie and I were watching this video the other night and at the end I was just… Well.  I don’t think there’s a word that properly describes the state it left my mind in… I want to say baffled, I also want to say stupefied and dumbfounded, as well… Let’s just settle on dumbafflefied.

Does he even know what the hell he’s talking about anymore?