Media Lemur

AMD Unveils Turion 64-Bit Mobile Processor

2005-03-10T14:39:00.000-05:00

Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) has officially unveiled its latest chip for mobile computing, a 64-bit processor aimed squarely Intel's Centrino product, which currently dominates the notebook PC market.

Based on the AMD64 architecture, the Turion 64 is touted as providing extended battery life, security and compatibility with the latest graphics and wireless technology for lightweight PCs.

To date, Intel has owned the lucrative notebook-computing segment. Some analysts have questioned why AMD apparently had ignored the field, which has provided a robust revenue stream for Intel. Then, earlier this year, the company announced plans to create a research facility in Japan to develop mobile chips and attending technologies. It also rolled out a Mobile Athlon 64 microprocessor.

Among those expected to adopt the Turion technology are notebook manufacturers Acer, Fujitsu Siemens and Packard Bell. The more power-hungry Mobile Athlon 64 will remain as a microprocessor for the larger "PC replacement" notebooks.

"The Amazing Race 7" Week 2 Thoughts

2005-03-09T14:47:00.000-05:00

Week 2 of "The Amazing Race 7" aired last night, and I'm still feeling out all the teams.

Of course, one of the teams I was starting to like got the boot last night.

I was liking the chemistry that was just starting to flow between the team of Megan and Heidi, who of course got the boot last night after coming in last, and the brothers team of Brian and Greg, who are currently my favorite team in the race. Add in the fact that these two teams were the last to check in and were battling each other to stay in the race and it made things interesting, although bittersweet as I was looking forward to seeing what might brew between these four.

My personal laugh-out-loud moment of the night came when the Roadblock stated, "Who loves shoes?" I poked fun at the boyfriends team of Lynn & Alex to my girlfriend by saying "We both love shoes!" in a Lynn & Alex sort of way. Not two seconds later did one of them utter those exact words with the same exact inflection I used... "We both love shoes!" It's like they're parodies of themselves.

Rob and Amber are showing theyll be a force to be reckoned with, and even though I'm still of the thought that a team that HASN'T won a million bucks on a reality show should win this race, I do like them so far.

Meredith and Gretchen, the old retired couple, are very very sweet, but I don't see them competing the way last season's old-folks team, Don and Mary-Jane, did. At one point these two were wandering around looking like they'd escaped from their retirement home, and any second the good folks from the home wearing the white coats were going to come and bring them back.

Not much else to say about this episode right now, that I can remember... other than thinking Brian & Greg are really cool, I haven't latched on to one team that I really really want to win... but it's still early, so we'll see how it plays out.

And just for the record, I would have pulled the books. Kudos to Rob and Amber for doing it all in one trip... what were the others doing wrong that they all had to go back?!

National Lampoon's Amazing Race Vacation

2005-03-08T10:26:00.000-05:00

Imagine a car trip to grandma's... kids whining "Are we there yet? Are we there yet?!" on a two hour drive.

Now envision a flight from Mexico to Thailand. "Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet?" Better make sure the door to that plane is bolted shut, because if the parents don't toss their kids out, their fellow passengers will... next season on "The Amazing Race"...

TAR has lowered its age restriction to 8 — and that's not a typo. It's the first time contestants under 21 are being allowed to compete in the globe-trotting reality show. The new rules are for its upcoming "Family Edition" — in which families of four will compete for a $1-million grand prize.

"We don't know what it's going to reap, but we've already received a lot of really good tapes" with contestants as young as 8, says "Amazing Race" casting director Lynne Spillman.

"I was really hesitant about this at first, but we've received some really cute tapes from people who absolutely love 'The Amazing Race.' "

The original cutoff age for "Family Edition" contestants was 12, but they feared eliminating entertaining parents and an older child because they have a family member who is younger.

The "Family Edition" of "The Amazing Race 8" will tape this summer, eliminating the problem of having to take a child out of school. And, since it's a family-oriented edition, the places to which the contestants travel will be family friendly and appropriate for the age range, which I guess eliminates pit stops at some of the seedier locations we've come to expect from TAR. (Cue Kendra from "The Amazing Race 6" saying the people in "ghetto Africa... just keep breeding, and breeding, and breeding...")

Says the casting director: "I hope we're going to have a mixture of nuclear families and non-nuclear families. I'm dying to find an engaged couple with mothers-in-law-to-be, and I'd love to do a 'Brady Bunch' family with two newly married people and their kids. And we always love inter-generational teams."

The deadline for filing applications for "The Amazing Race 8" is Friday, March 11 (go to cbs.com now to sign your dysfunctional... er, loving family up).

Hydrogen-Fueled Batteries On Their Way, Not Nearly As Delicious As Pop Tarts

2005-03-04T11:30:00.000-05:00

A small New Jersey company is working on a hydrogen-fueled battery that it hopes will eventually provide eight hours of power for laptop computers.

At Intel's Developer Forum in San Francisco on Tuesday, Millennium Cell demonstrated an IBM ThinkPad running on a prototype of the battery. Most notebook computers today can run for three or four hours on a fully charged battery. Problem is, Millennium Cell's runs for only three hours... of course, the goal is to increase that performance to eight hours, but it's not currently any better than a regular battery. Maybe I should take a regular battery, but scotch-tape a Pop Tart to it, and make news by saying how "this Pop Tart battery currently only runs for three or four hours, but I swear, we're working on making run for, uh, a billion hours."

Many companies are looking for ways to boost the longevity of laptop batteries (none of then involving Pop Tarts, as far as I know), including a slew of start-ups that Intel has invested in.

And big laptop makers like Toshiba, NEC and others are working on fuel cell technology, mostly based on methanol. Casio, Sony and Samsung are developing fuel cell technology as well. Canon recently presented a paper at a symposium in Japan discussing a prototype of a hydrogen-powered micro fuel cell for video cameras and other devices.

Millennium Cell's product is unusual in that it uses hydrogen and sodium borohydride. In its current state, the Millennium Cell battery looks a bit like a science project. The company outfitted an IBM ThinkPad laptop with a fuel cell that is 6 millimeters thick, none of which is made up of a yummy brown sugar frosting (need... Pop Tarts...). The fuel cell fits across the top of the notebook casing. In the future, the fuel cell would be designed inside the laptop's casing.

A cartridge a little larger than a cassette tape provides the fuel and is attached to the laptop by a thin tube. The tube plugs into the slot for the power cord on the laptop.

Now, to find me some tape and some sweet delicious toaster pasteries...

Which Incarnation of MVP Baseball Shall I Bestow Upon Myself?

2005-03-03T17:20:00.000-05:00

EA's last game in their baseball series (Take Two now has the exclusive rights to MLB games), MVP Baseball 2005, is now out, and normally I would have already been all over it, especially now that it only costs $29.99 as opposed to previous titles which debuted at $49.99.

Problem is... I'm not sure whether to get it for Playstation 2 or Xbox.

It looks like both versions have the same functionality and look great. Usually, when it comes down to this, the tie goes to Xbox, but I can't seem to decide on this one. I guess part of it is that the laser on my Xbox is going to s#!t. Plus I always used to buy the Triple Play games for PSX and PS2 "back in the day".

Either way, I'll be evaluatiing one (or both) soon, and share my thoughts about it here. Just have to finish my 20-year season mode in All-Star Baseball 2005 now (RIP Acclaim)...

"The Amazing Race 7" Week 1 Thoughts

2005-03-02T16:34:00.000-05:00

As I mentioned yesterday right here on Media Lemur, the newest incarnation of The Amazing Race is off. Its hard to get a read this early on the teams, but there's not a team that fully stands out yet as either "love them" or "hate them". Last season I just started off hating Jonathan from almost the start, then grew into really liking Kris & Jon and was hoping they would win. This season, I will only start out with a few observations:

* The gay couple (Lynn and the other guy... can't remember his name right now)... they are more than gay. They're über-gay. There's nothing wrong with being gay, of course, it's just they're at that Will & Grace level of gay where they remind everyone around them every five minutes of their gayness. The frailest women I know are tougher than these guys. The other gay guy on the show (the son on the mother/son team) is more representative of an actual gay person, I think... I'd think the average gay man would be pissed off about being represented by these two stereotype-reinforcing boobs.

* Rob and Amber of Survivor fame... I've admittedly never watched an episode of Survivor in my life. Just never got into it. Because of this, I don't have the familiarity with these two that everyone else seems to have. All my Survivor-watching friends seem to really like them and want them to win... not knowing them well enough, I'm starting with the belief that that she already won a million bucks on Survivor All-Stars, so there's no reason for me to root for them to win this as well when some other regular schmuck team could win it all and have their lives changed in the way Rob and Amber's already have been. However I don't dislike them after seeing them in action, so I'll give them a chance to win me over. All I can say about them so far is that she's hot, and he's got stereotypical Bostonian plastered across his forehead... I was waiting for him to randomly spaz out and start yelling "GO SAWKS!!! GO PATS!!! IT'S A DYNASTY!! A DYNASTY!!!!"

* The team with the older guy that's dating the 27-year-old girl (OK, I'm feeling too lazy to actually look up names right now, sorry) is a bit Jonathan/Victoria-esque, but not so much yet that I'm too worried about it. The guy actually reminded me of an odd mix of Jonathan and Bolo (also from last season). But him yelling at her to "suck it up" as she was complaining about being choked was a little too reminiscent of some bad times with J&V.

* It was kinda f#$%ed up that the "mom/son and two chicks that talk Spanish" alliance led those teams to the wrong sand piles to dig for flight times. I know its a game and trickery is going to happen, but in this instance I can't think of one thing they had to gain from that except being malicious (either way, there were going to be teams on the earlier 7:00 flight as opposed to the 7:40 flight they led people to), so it bugged me.

* I got the feeling CBS was praying the team with the Iraq war POW would make it past the first episode when they were trailing behind toward the end. You know they want to market the hell out of that.

That's all I can think of for now. I'll continue to share my Amazing Race thoughts throughout the season, and hope that some of these teams grow on me, and that it turns out to be another great race.

Check out this week's featured item in the Media Lemur LemurGear store, the TV Addict Baseball Jersey:

XM Changing Subscription Price Structure, Adding Opie and Anthony To Basic Service

2005-03-01T17:23:00.000-05:00

XM Satellite Radio announced yesterday that it will be expanding its basic service package, and that the monthly subscription price for XM's basic service will increase to $12.95 beginning April 2, 2005. XM is also offering existing customers the opportunity to lock in the current $9.99 monthly rate with a one-year prepaid plan and deeper discounts with a two, three, four, or five-year prepaid plan until April 2.

The price change will not affect XM's Family Plan, which allows XM subscribers to add up to four additional subscriptions for $6.99 a month per radio. Beginning April 2, XM's expanded basic service will include the Internet service XM Radio Online, which offers more than 70 channels of XM music and talk programming (previously $3.99 per month), and the High Voltage channel, featuring radio dues extraordinaire Opie & Anthony (previously $1.99 per month).
I love this move by XM on many levels. As a rabid 0&A fan, I'm thrilled to see that they will be available to the entire XM subscriber base instead of just subscribers to their premium channel. Not only will this help "the O&A Virus" spread bigger and faster, but as they said themselves, they're tired of "everyone kissing their asses" and need that random soccer mom coming across the dial and hearing them "talking about boobies"... that;s more fun for them to have when that person calls in to gripe. It's a huge step to not only bringing the show back to the level it was at in their WNEW days, but to new levels that we've yet to see.

I also love this move as an XM subscriber in general, especially now that the XM Radio Online feature will be available to all subscribers as part of the basic service. This not only means that I might be able to sneak in some XM listening in the office, but I can check out some of those online-only channels, especially the novelty channel Special X, which was on the satellites around Christmas time as "Special Xmas" and had me loving it so.

Finally I also love this move as someone who, in general, wants to see XM (and satellite radio in general) succeed. I've considered picking up some XMSR stock (and wish I had done it when I was thinking about it late last week, since this news gave it a nice bump yesterday). XM's success hinges on the success of O&A, whether they realize it or not... the O&A fan base really does tend to spread itself like wildfire (or as they say, a virus), and by making it wholly available, it makes it that much easier for someone who's already an XM subscriber to say to his/her friends, "Hey, if you're gonna get a sat radio, get XM... you've gotta check out the Opie and Anthony show!" The online listening feature is a nice perk they can push in their advertising, and makes it that much easier to stay ahead of Sirius, especially when Howard Stern starts broadcasting from there.

I'll be locking in to the two-year plan myself. It will be well worth it.

What's Amazing Is That It's Already Back On...

2005-03-01T15:38:00.000-05:00

That's right, folks, The Amazing Race is back for the 7th time tonight at 9pm EST with a two-hour premiere. Didn't TAR6 just finish?! I feel like it was just, oh, three weeks ago that Freddie and Kendra crossed the finish line and won the million bucks.

It *was* three weeks ago? Oh... kay.

In any case, take a quick look at the teams we'll be treated to this time around:

http://www.cbs.com/primetime/amazing_race7/index.shtml

Apple Adds New Models to iPod Line

2005-02-23T16:13:00.000-05:00

Apple Computer, Inc. has introduced new versions of its hugely popular digital music player, including an iPod mini that can store more songs, and it cut the price of the current iPod mini model in a bid to boost its share of the market.

Apple now has a range of iPods addressing the full spectrum of the digital music player market, from its $99 iPod Shuffle player to its $449 iPod photo model with a color screen. Included is a newly-unveiled iPod mini that holds 6GB of music -- or about 1,500 songs -- which will sell for about $250, while it cut the price of its 4 gigabyte or 1,000-song model, introduced about one year ago, to about $200. The new mini also has improved battery life of up to 18 hours, the company said.

Apple also introduced an "iPod photo" model with 30 gigabytes of memory at around $350, and offered an add-on that allows users to transfer pictures from a digital camera directly into the music player, which has a color screen.

Baseball Games: Sim vs. Arcade

2005-02-23T09:47:00.000-05:00

Here's a nice article (courtesy of BusinessWeek) that sings the praises of the increasingly-popular simulation baseball game genre. I'm a big fan of the arcade-style baseball games myself but I love the thrill you can get with these sim games -- being the GM and manager of your own team, taking it season to season, drafting and developing prospects, making the big trades and free agents signings, etc etc etc... you can do a lot of this in the arcade games (such as MVP Baseball) as well, but with the focus on statistical accuracy that the true sim games have, its really more of a thinking game than a swing-for-the-fences game. Give it a read!

Macrovision Thinks They've Got One Up On The Hackers

2005-02-17T12:41:00.000-05:00

A new technology from Macrovision Corp. claims to block virtually all known methods for making unauthorized copies of DVDs.

The new technology, dubbed RipGuard DVD, launched this week. It is designed to thwart cracking programs that get around the encryption system used in standard DVDs.

My opinion on this is that the better the protection gets, the better the hackers get. No matter what Macrovision says, chances are you'll see some new software out there soon that will strip that bad boy away with no problem... it's just the way of the world.

There's also compatibility issues to worry about. There *is* such a thing as "too secure". For instance, if your $29 Wal*Mart DVD player can't read this new encryption technology, the disc is too secure. This is one of the biggest things hindering copy protection, and again, it's just the way of the world... no matter what they do, they'll end up either giving the hackers something new to play with, or shooting themselves in the foot.

I guess I could be completely wrong... but don't be surprised to see some fellas over at Macrovision banging their heads against their desks some time soon.

I Stink. And So Does Microsoft.

2005-02-16T16:42:00.000-05:00

Why is it that every time I resolve to update this blog daily, as I originally intended, I just post less and less? Maybe if I resolve to post less, I'll post more. My brain is weird like that, I guess.

So I was reading this nifty article singing the praises of Mechassault 2: Lone Wolf. I bet it would be really nice to play it.

"But you own the game," you might say. And you'd be right.

"But you have an Xbox, and all the necessary peripherals." This is true too.

"Then all you have to do is put the game in, boot it up and you're good to go!!" Slow down.

I love my Xbox, but what kind of Kmart-quality laser did they put into its DVD drive? I have a brand new Mechassault game disc, a laser which I just cleaned that should be able to read it fine... but as it has been doing with many other games (except for Halo 2, oddly enough), I get the dreaded "disc is dirty or damaged" message, as many people have been experiencing lately. So many, in fact, that its the subject of a class action lawsuit against Microsoft. Why is it that a quality piece of machinery can have such an awful laser when a $29 DVD player from Walmart lasts longer?! Why it can only read the Halo 2 disc is beyond me (I'll leave that to the conspiracy theorists). But is it so much to ask to have a nice piece of equipment that doesn't start crapping out after three years?!

Unfortunately I can't bitch about all the money I spent on the console... I won mine from Taco Bell. ::beams proudly:: But even still, it should work, and Microsoft shouldn't have the audacity to charge $100 to fix their mistake.

On a completely unrelated note, pitchers and catchers report today!!! If you know wat I mean by that, you're probably stoked by it too. So that tempers my mood a bit. Baseball's in the air, folks!

Music Download Recommendations

2005-02-10T15:26:00.000-05:00

It's been a while, so here's some fresh download recommendations...

The first three entries on list are influenced by a search for some early 90s music for a side project of mine... which is to say, they're not the greatest songs ever recorded, but they are decent and, at least for me, bring back some memories.

Snow ~ Informer (buy the album)
Ini Kamoze ~ Here Comes The Hotstepper (buy the album)
Damn Yankees ~ High Enough (buy the album)
Johnny Cash ~ Rusty Cage (buy the album)
Bad Religion ~ The Empire Strikes First (buy the album)
The Beatles ~ Get Back (buy the album)

All's Well With Cell

2005-02-08T16:05:00.000-05:00

One of the big stories to hit the media was that of the new processor, code-named Cell. Its developers claim it can deliver 10 times the performance of today's PC processors.

Of note to gamers: it looks like this will be the chip you'll find inside Sony's Playstation 3. They're taking great care to give game developers enough time to truly understand how to harness the capability of this new processor to bring us even more intense beatdowns of GTA hookers and even more body to Pedro Martinez's hair in any of the excellent baseball games I'm sure the PS3 will feature.

Speaking of baseball, Spring Training is almost here... which means its almost time for the new crop of baseball games! Minus All Star Baseball, of course... since Acclaim managed to go down the crapper, which still baffles me. It's a shame, because I always enjoyed ASB... oh well.

PSP Set For March 24th US Release

2005-02-04T10:32:00.000-05:00

With Sony's new video game handheld system set for a 3/24/2005 North American release, that can only mean that you are set for a 3/25/2005 release from your place of employment from spending two hours in the can at work gaming.

The PSP machine, Sony's effort to stick their foot into to Nintendo's long-standing stranglehold on the handheld video gaming market, will be sold as a "value pack" for $250 in the United States and for $300 Canadian dollars. It will include numerous accessories and -- for the first million sold -- a copy of the "Spider-Man 2" movie on the new Universal Media Disc format that Sony designed for the PSP.

The Nintendo DS is sold for $100 less at $150, but the PSP is designed with more multimedia features. It can play digital music, movies and display photos on its 4.3-inch color screen, using Sony's proprietary 1.8-gigabyte UMD discs or a Memory Stick.

It other words, as nice as the DS seems, the PSP may very well trump it with force... we'll find out next month.

Get XM, damn it. It's 10% off.

2005-02-03T09:54:00.000-05:00

I want you to get XM Radio. And sign up for HighVoltage, Opie & Anthony's channel (202). It's what's best for you. I want you to sign up for it so much, that while I would normally drive you to buy your XM Radio through Amazon, since I am a proud Amazon affiliate, today I have to direct you to Tweeter.com, all XM Radio Tuners are 10& off with coupon code XMMLBG. Free shipping to boot. Not sure when that expires but check it out, and help spread the 0&A Virus.

MVP Baseball - Your Source For Late Breaking Baseball News?

2005-02-02T11:04:00.000-05:00

Remember when DC's new baseball team, the Washington Nationals (formerly the Montreal Expos) were about to have a press conference to display their new uniforms... and then the PC was cancelled when the deal to move the team to DC almost fell apart? Well the differences were ironed out, but the uniforms were never unveiled to the public...

Until some new screenshots from MVP Baseball 2005 appeared. How cool is it that a video game (and one which looks like it's going to be awesome, by the way) is basically the place where a whole city of baseball fans see their new team's uniform for the first time?

Hopefully, my Mets will be as improved in MVP Baseball 2005 (not to mention in Real Life 2005) as they appear to be on paper. Spring training needs to start already, especially since I can hear it all on my trusty XM radio. Come on, pitchers and catchers... report already!

And the award for the most neglected blog is...

2005-01-31T16:40:00.000-05:00

...this one. ::looks around sheepishly::

I admit it... it's hard to channel the neccessary time and energy into this blog that it deserves when I've been at it for a couple months and, as far as I can tell, one person that isn't a friend of family member has stumbled upon it and had anything to say about something I wrote. It's one of those "no one else cares... why should I?" kind of things.

But what the hell... I'd like to do my best to make you care. If your eyes just happen to accidentally fall upon this site while you're looking for something else (clown porn perhaps?) I want to make your trip here worthwhile.

IGN has a nifty article on some franchise games coming out in 2005 that actually won't suck. These are the exceptions-to-the-rule, so to speak, since generally, games based on some sort of franchise never do the franchise any justice and completely suck.

on a side note, this is good for a chuckle... apparently this dorky Swedish kid (download the video, courtesy of FoundryMusic.com) was pining away for some young lass when he opted to make this sappy awful music video. Cringe and laugh as he busts a move.

Lemur, out!

Apple's iTunes Hits 250 Million Songs Sold

2005-01-24T17:30:00.000-05:00

With its music downloads selling at a rate of more than a million per day, Apple Computer Inc. said Monday customers have purchased more than 250 million songs from its online iTunes Music Store.

The store, now available in 15 countries, is selling 1.25 million songs at 99 cents apiece per day, the best company named after a fruit said.

Apple helped invigorate the market for legal music downloads when it launched the iTunes store in April 2003. Its robust sales far outpace rival services.

The success is due in part to Apple's wildly popular iPod portable music players, which are not supposed to play songs purchased from competing online music stores (wink wink, nudge nudge).

The company, which unfortunately also makes Macs (just kidding, Mac lovers... I know you can be a sensitive bunch!), sold 4.5 million iPods in the fourth quarter and more than 10 million since its debut in October 2001.

Shares of Apple rose 27 cents to close at $70.76 in Monday trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market. The stock has traded in a 52-week range of $21.70 to $74.42. Why didn't I follow the advice I got a year ago to buy some Apple stock? I didn't think the iPod could have this kind of affect on it... ::bangs head against monitor repeatedly::

Help Spread The Opie and Anthony Virus

2005-01-20T11:13:00.000-05:00

When I got my brandy-new XM Radio for Christmas last month, one of the biggest reasons I was excited about it was that I'd finally be able to listen to the boys again... the boys being Opie and Anthony, masters of funny radio.

Featured on their own channel, High Voltage (channel 202 on your XM dial), they're on live from 6-10am and replays follow for the rest of the day. This is great, as I can catch bits and pieces of the show throughout the day. My XM dial is actually on 202 about 95% of the time right now... I usually don't go cruising for some good music until they're replaying something I've already heard. I used to listen to their show every afternoon back when they were on WNEW in New York before they were unceremoniously booted after the infamous sex-at-Saint-Patrick's stunt (which has been erroneously portrayed in the media over and over again). Now that I've been able to listen to them on a daily basis for a month I can say that the show is just as great as it ever was, and the only thing missing is that they need to get some support from XM's marketing department. Where's the billboard ads? Where's their dumb faces on the sides of some city buses? This, combined with the fact that High Voltage is a premium channel that costs an extra $1.99 a month, will make it hard to keep the 0&A Virus spreading like wildfire as is its destiny. If they don't market the show properly, and people can't tune in to check it out without paying (they're currently only reaching about 2% of XM's subscriber base), how will they be able to succeed?

They've been told that some big marketing ideas are planned for the show in 2005, so we'll see if this comes to pass... but if XM doesn't pony up and push the boys big time they're letting a *huge* opportunity slip right through their fingers.

"The Amazing A-Hole" Is No More!!

2005-01-19T11:20:00.000-05:00

The Amazing Race just took a big steaming dump, relieving itself of the nagging turd known as the team of Jonathan and Victoria. I never thought I'd be so happy to see a stupid team get booted off some reality show, but my ire for Jonathan goes beyond reason.

If you like whiny wife-beating blue-haired rich bastards, then you were probably very disappointed. Otherwise you, too, probably did The Dance Of Joy™ when Jonathan and Victoria didn't read their instructions carefully -- after completing their mud-hut challenge in Ethiopia (where Victoria injured herself while Jonathan could care less), they were to transport two donkeys to some other place in exchange for another clue, yet they only brought one and didn't realize until they were told they were a donkey short. (Why they didn't count Jonathan as an ass, I'm not sure, but I'm glad they didn't.)

Anyway, this pretty much sealed their fate and all that was left was hoping that this wasn't a non-elimination round. I reprised The Dance Of Joy™ when I heard those magic words, "I'm sorry to say you've been eliminated from the race." All is right with the world again.

I still don't get how she could still be with him. She shows all the signs of a battered wife, down to defending him and saying how she enjoyed every minute of the race when she was obviously miserable the whole time. I don't understand the bubble they live in that his undeserved fortune has created for them, but *they are not in a healthy relationship*. This goes beyond TV... I'll never forget her recoiling like a shelter dog with a horrid past when he raised his hand at her in the car a few weeks ago. I guess love (of money) is blind...

EA Gobbles Up Rights to ESPN

2005-01-18T15:45:00.000-05:00

"I want it all... and I want it now". ~ Queen, "I Want It All". I think EA Sports may have had this song looping in their iPods recently...

Electronic Arts may have put the final nail in the coffin of sports game rival SEGA: the gaming giant just announced it has entered a 15-year exclusive licensing deal with ESPN, who themselves were also screwed by EA's earlier move of gaining exclusive rights to NFL-branded games.

Under the agreement, EA has exclusive video game rights to ESPN-branded print, telecast, and online content -- in addition to other ESPN media properties. The agreement covers all gaming platforms -- consoles, PC, handhelds, and wireless, and will begin in 2006, upon completion of ESPN's current licensing commitments.

The agreement is a big F.U. to Take Two and SEGA, which jointly publish a series of ESPN-licensed sports titles. The companies are still reeling from EA's announcement last month that it had acquired exclusive video game rights to NFL properties -- a direct challenge to SEGA's ESPN NFL franchise. This just makes their problems twice as worse.

Until recently, EA's sports titles, such as the Madden NFL series, have faced vigorous competition from SEGA's ESPN Videogames brand, which saw success last year with a strong critical reception and prices cut in half.

Step Away From The Shark, Queer Eye

2005-01-13T17:50:00.000-05:00

One of my guilty TV pleasures is Bravo's Queer Eye For The Straight Guy. I find it to be very entertaining, informative at times, and just plain good.

That said, I had a bad feeling about its new spinoff, Queer Eye For The Straight Girl. But I figured, what the hell, I'll tune in and give it a chance.

I never realized a new show could jump the shark before the first commercial.

After struggling to stay awake throughout this show, I came to a few conclusions. First off, whoever approved this show doesn't understand what makes the original (and, to me, the REAL) Queer Eye work and be so successful. Straight Girl lacks the heart that lies at the center of its parent show. The cast, referred to as the "Gal Pals" (yuck) is not nearly as charismatic and relatable as the Fab Five. It's like they thought they could just have another group of gay people, have them make over somebody, and they've recreated QEFTSG's magic.... but it's just not so.

Even the straight girl I saw being made over said how it all felt "superficial". I don't think any straight guy has ever made a statement like that, and for good reason -- while a lot of what goes on during these makeovers is physical upgrades, they all have some sort of reasonable function, whether it be to improve your appearance at work, show your girlfriend your commitment to her (and to being an adult, you big baby)... stuff like that. This show seemed like it was TRYING to do that, but it seemed so contrived and just felt much shallower than Straight Guy. I mean... they got butt treatments. What practical use does that serve?

They also pretty much shot themselves in their collective foot by debuting the show the same week the Fab Five made over a soldier who was leaving for Iraq in two weeks and was putting together a last-minute wedding ceremony for him and his wife. They did everything they could for this guy, and to make sure both he and his family were taken care of while he was away on the battlefield. This is a long cry from a damn ASS FACIAL.

I truly hope that this new bastard child of a show does not drag down its brilliant predecessor, because the real Queer Eye is still great TV... better than I ever would have expected it to be. But this new thing just ain't cutting it, folks.

DVD Recommendations Du Jour

2005-01-11T16:39:00.000-05:00

It's been a while since I've recommended a DVD to my loyal Media Lemur readers (all two of you) so this is as good a time as any to let you know what you should be adding to your Netflix queue.

Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle ~ Yes, seriously. I know it's a silly title.. and you know what? It's a silly stupid movie. But it's really really good and being stupid and silly and as long as you don't expect some sort of cinematic breakthrough this movie will entertain you greatly.

South Park: Bigger Longer and Uncut ~ I know this has been out a while but this is a must-have in your collection. The DVD itself doesn't have a ton of special features to speak of but the movie alone is worth it... this is the first DVD I ever owned.

The Joe Schmo Show - Season 1 ~ This may be the best TV show you've never watched. The premise--one guy thinks he's on a reality show called Lap of Luxury, with a bunch of other housemates and a host and everything... all of which are actors. He's the only one who thinks its real... and hilarity ensues. Seriously. It's reality-TV parody at its finest, and whether you saw it when it ran on SpikeTV or not, this is a great DVD set to just pop in and enjoy the show in all its uncensored glory (yes, there's boobies for you guys to enjoy). There was a Season 2 of this show as well that was good, but didn't live up to Season 1 and did horrible in the ratings, but I'd still get a DVD set of that were it ever to be released... I wouldn't count on it though.

Apple Keeps Thinking Small

2005-01-11T16:33:00.000-05:00

Apple Computer Inc. grand poobah Steve Jobs introduced a cut-rate computer the size of a paperback book on Tuesday and an even smaller iPod that starts at $99, but holds fewer songs than its hard drive-based siblings.

The new products seek to make inroads against the traditionally more affordable PC market and against lower-cost competitors to Apple's wildly popular iPod.

The Mini Mac computers, smaller than even some standalone external computer drives, go on sale Jan. 22. They lack a monitor, mouse and keyboard. The 40-gigabyte Mini Mac will cost $499, an 80-gigabyte model $599.

The computer comes with Apple's latest operating system, Mac OS X Panther, as well as the newest version of its iLife suite of digital media software programs, also unveiled Tuesday.

The product for the first time puts Apple in the budget desktop PC arena, which so far has been largely confined to personal computers that rely on Microsoft Corp.'s Windows operating system.

Building upon the success in a rapidly growing niche that it already dominates, Apple also is rolling out two lower-priced versions of its iPod music players. The iPod Shuffle, available immediately, is smaller than most packs of chewing gum and weighs less than an ounce. Unlike the hard drive-based iPod Mini, it doesn't have a display. There's a scroll wheel for the controls so a user can either play the songs in order or have the device automatically shuffle stored songs in a random order.

Apple is selling two versions of the iPod Shuffle. The smallest will have 512 megabytes of storage and cost $99. A one-gigabyte version, which holds 240 songs, will sell for $149. The lowest cost iPod is the mini, which costs $249 for four gigabytes — enough to store about 1,000 songs

The iPod has helped infuse new life into Apple. In the past year, the Cupertino-based company's stock has tripled on strong sales of the iPod, which is emerging as one of the 21st century's first cultural icons. Now I'm not a big Apple guy as far as the desktop computers go (although many can argue their case for them very strongly, especially graphic designers) but there's no denying they are the masters of the MP3 market, and analysts expect the new iPods will help Apple hold this market lead even stronger.

Because many rival flash-based players have just 256 megabytes of storage, Apple is "sticking to its cut-above position," said Susan Kevorkian, an industry analyst with IDC. "There are plenty of people who want an iPod but haven't been able to afford the $249 Mini, so offering these lower-priced players allows Apple to attract not just new users but those who already own an iPod but want an even smaller version."

CES Roundup, Music Download Recommendations, and More...

2005-01-10T10:45:00.000-05:00

I wanted to do a nice roundup of the Consumer Electronics Show that just wrapped up this past weekend in Las Vegas, but found a good article on LinuxWorld that probably does it better than I could, so here's a link:

http://www.linuxworld.com/story/47714.htm

It's a good read so check it out. It looks like the tech industry is on the rebound... and I certainly hope so, as it would benefit my personal fortunes greatly...

Also, its time for the weekly music download recommendations for those of you still filling up that new iPod you got over the holidays:

The White Stripes ~ Fell In Love With a Girl (buy the album)
Temple of the Dog ~ Hunger Strike (buy the album)
The Used ~ Take it Away (buy the album)
"Weird Al" Yankovic ~ Angry White Boy Polka (buy the album)
The Offspring ~ Genocide (buy the album)

Also, I'd like to make a quick comment on my Halo 2 experience. I LOVE THIS GAME. More than I ever thought I would. I'm addicted to playing online, and I'm not even that great at it. I have improved a lot though... I'm probably good for 5-10 kills. I love duel-wielding weapons, so I'm still looking for the optimal combo... I'm liking the results I get wielding a SMG and a Plasma Rifle though.

I just can't use that stupid Battle Rifle. I hear people rave about the power it has but I'm completely useless with it. I guess I'm doing something wrong... if anyone wants to offer some insight into this weapon I'd love to hear it.

80-inch Plasma TVs - The Cure to Any Illness

2005-01-06T11:00:00.000-05:00

Seems like a lot of things have been happening lately that have been keeping me from my Media Lemur duties. This time, it was a really nasty stomach virus that knocked me out for a few days. If only I had one of these bad boys while I was stuck in bed this week...

That would be Samsung's prototype 102-inch plasma screen, of which they will be selling an 80-inch version in stores this May. it was unvaled at the Consumer Electronics show this week, and was attracting plenty of attention, as you would imagine.

Other new products in Samsung's lineup include a camcorder with a five-megapixel camera lens, wide-screen LCD TVs up to 57 inches, and a number of home theater systems.

Happy New Year from Media Lemur!

2005-01-01T16:25:00.000-05:00

Hello out there, and HAPPY NEW YEAR from Media Lemur! I'm hoping 2005 will be the Year of the Lemur, and while the chances of that are not so good (traffic here isn't exactly off the charts yet) we'll see what we can do to make it possible.

Not much news to report this weekend with all the New Year's festivities everywhere, so I'll kick off 2005 with the first Weekend Music Download Recommendations of the year.

Beastie Boys ~ Sabatoge (buy the album)
Gary Hoey ~ Auld Lang Syne (buy the album)
Yellowcard ~ Only One (buy the album)
The Fixx ~ Saved By Zero (buy the album)
The Ataris ~ In This Diary (buy the album)

Mid-Week Download Recommendations

2004-12-29T17:39:00.000-05:00

Since I missed the Weekend Music Download Recommendations this past weekend again due to Christmas, it's only right I squeeze one more set before 2004 rolls out in favor of brand-spankin'-new 2005.

So here it is... your Lemur-Approved Music Download Recommendations:

Kickin' Kazoos - We Three Kings (buy the album)
They Might Be Giants - Au Contraire (buy the album)
Fool's Garden - Lemon Tree (buy the album)
Los Lonely Boys - Heaven (buy the album)
Mighty Mighty Bosstones - Impression That I Get (buy the album)

2005: Year of the PSP

2004-12-29T17:27:00.000-05:00

It's coming. And you know you want it.

Sony's Playstation Portable, or PSP, is preparing to take the world by storm in 2005. With dazzlingly sharp graphics on a nicely-sized 4.3 inch display, and weighing in at just 10 ounces, this game packs a lot of punch (and a lot of screen) in a small 7" by 3" package.

There's the Wi-Fi wireless connectivity. There's the USB 2.0 port that the PSP can use to get friendly with your computer. There's the fact that Sony is prepared to offer Hollywood movies in the proprietary UMD disc format the PSP uses so that you can view movies on the go on this bad boy. There's the MP3 compatibility which allows you to listen to your music on the PSP (presumably off of a Memory Stick, since the PSP has a slot for one of those, too).

Want to play a video that doesn't come on a UMD disc? Convert it to the MPEG-4 video format that the PSP and Memory Stick support.

The display, from Sharp Corp., is said to be surprisingly easy on the eyes. The removable lithium ion battery lasts about four to six hours for games on a single charge. And the built-in 802.11b Wi-Fi chip allows up to 16 PSPs to play together.

PSP also has a microphone slot for future software with voice-recognition and an infrared connection whose uses aren't yet clear.

All of this capability may give the PSP an edge over the Nintendo DS, which is strictly a game machine.

As for recording your own content for playing on the PSP, Sony hasn't said whether it will sell recordable versions of UMD discs.

The PSP is already on sale in Japan and is on its way to the US and Europe next year, and it's likely it will sport a price tag similar to the $190 the device currently costs in Japan. PSP games range in price from $24 to $46, but unfortunately there aren't many yet. About a dozen are available so far in Japan, including "Hot Shots Golf" from Sony Computer Entertainment and "Vampire Chronicle: The Chaos Tower" from Capcom Co. Sony says some 100 games are in the works, with about 20 titles promised by the end of the year. By contrast, about 15 Nintendo DS games are on sale in Japan so far. But Nintendo DS, which costs about $145, can also play all the Game Boy Advance games.

[non-multimedia news] Tsunami Relief Efforts

2004-12-28T17:25:00.000-05:00

The more I read about the earthquake and resulting tsunamis that have devastated several Asian countries, the more it sinks in just how monumental this loss of life is... I believe the last number I saw had the death toll at 59,000 and counting. And as they keep finding new caches of bodies, and as disease from rotting corpses sets in, this may very well top 100,000 people lost to this natural disaster, not to mention the scores of people left homeless and with no wordly posessions other than their own lives that they managed to cling on to.

Amazon is currently collecting donations on behalf of the Red Cross to benefit the international relief efforts directed at the carnage left behind by the tsunamis. Considering this is considered to most likely be the costliest disaster in the history of the world, this might be a good time to put off buying another DVD or video game for a bit (yes, you read that correctly) and show some goodwill toward those in need. I believe the minimum donation is $5, and every little bit helps. Give it a look.

Interactive Times Square Jumbo TV On Its Way

2004-12-28T11:14:00.000-05:00

If you know anything about New York City's Times Square, you know about the famous Sony Jumbotron that anchors the southern end of the square. What you may have also noticed is that over the past decade that screen has been joined by now-commonplace billboard-sized screens, the newest of which is one of the largest outdoor full-color high-definition video screens in the world designed by Mitsubishi Electric Power Products' Diamond Vision division.

Mounted in a giant picture frame on Seventh Avenue between 44th and 45th Streets, the screen is 21 feet 5 inches high by 37 feet 9 inches wide and about 4 feet deep, although most of the depth is taken up by the catwalks used to service it. With a screen area of about 800 square feet, it's about 80 times bigger than the largest home TVs. The screen, across Times Square from the glass-walled studios of MTV, the Viacom division that owns it, can broadcast music videos, news, content from MTV's website and live events taking place in the studio and elsewhere.

Next month, a sweet new interactive feature will be added: Pedestrians will be able to use their mobile phones to play along with programs on the screen, including text-message-based video games. And MTV executives say they are considering ways to enable viewers to hear the screen's offerings as well, either over low-power radio broadcasts or by dialing a special number on a cellphone.

I'm no huge fan of MTV but I have to admit that this sounds pretty cool. Imagine being able to interact with one of those mammoth screens from your cell phone... I'd love to give that a shot. If this new feature comes out next month as scheduled, I'll have to make a trip out there to check it out.

¡Viva La Weirdolucion!

2004-12-27T16:40:00.000-05:00

As I've been enjoying my new XM Radio, I've become hooked on one of their four stations playing non-stop Christmas music, called Special Xmas. This is a holiday-themed version of a channel called Special X, which played all kinds of offbeat weird music, which is just my style. I looked forward to enjoying Special X year-round, until I looked into it a little more.

Turns out that at one time, it was an awesome dementia-minded station, but sometime in the past year it was booted (probably in favor of some unneccessary NASCAR channel), much to the dismay of its many fans. It was later brought back in watered-down form, and even then it was only available on their Internet-only streaming service, which is an additional $3.99/month. (The current Special Xmas channel I've been enjoying is only temporarily on their satellite service.) This, to me, is not in the spirit of XM... if I want to hear weird music online, I'll find a free Internet radio station that's playing some. If XM is going to do a novelty channel, they need to do it right, and have it available on their satellite service. A channel like this would totally set XM apart from AM or FM, and isn't that supposed to be the point? Supposedly, in its heydey, it's exactly what I'm now asking for, and I'm hoping that there's still a chance it will be brought back to the satellite dial on a permanent basis. I've seen some online petitions and message boards clamoring for this very thing and plan on looking into this more as I'd love to be able to sample what Special X was like back in the day... I've read tales of polkas, hillbilly music, teaching parrots to do stuff, all led by some character called Generalissimo Ortega, leader of La Weirdolucion. Just reading about it, and hearing this year's Special Xmas, the apparently watered down version of what used to be in previous holiday seasons, makes me want my Special X.

Bring back Special X... let weirdness have a home... ¡Viva La Weirdolucion!

Merry Belated Christmas... Did Santa Treat You Well?

2004-12-27T09:58:00.000-05:00

Well, Media Lemur is back from its unannounced Christmas hiatus.. sorry 'bout that. I had a great Christmas and I hope Santa treated you as well as he treated me... everyone seemed to know exactly what to get me despite not having asked for anything specific from everyone, and they kick ass for that. Allow me to run down some of the new awesomeness in my possession...

XM Satellite Radio - This came from my girlfriend, and I give her much LemurLove for doing so. This thing friggin' ROCKS. More specifically, she got me the Delphi SkyFi 2 Receiver, the Delphi SA10001 XM SKYFi Boombox, and the Delphi SA10002 XM SKYFi Vehicle Kit. Corny as it may sound, I spent a good part of the weekend listening to their all-Christmas novelty song channel, Special Xmas, because it amused me to no end and educated me in some of the finer Christmas tunes I'd never heard before ("Blue Christmas" by Elvis Frogsley? "Carol of the Meows" by Guster? NICE!) ... and I finally get to hear Opie and Anthony again, FCC be damned. My old terrestrial radio won't be getting much use from this point forward...

Epson Stylus RX600 Photo Printer - Thanks Mom and Dad! This thing cranks out some beautiful photos that finally do my camera justice... looks like Ofoto may be losing a customer (by no fault of their own... if you're photo-printer-less, they're the Lemur-approved choice for online digital photo processing) ...

Halo 2 - Like I even need to expound upon this one for you. I now have my own copy of the year's hottest game, and it lives up to the hype... despite the fact that I suck royally at it still. But I'm working on that... oh yeah, and I also received the Plantronics GameCom Halo 2 Edition Xbox Headset, which not only looks awesome but finally replaces my busted original Xbox Live headset.

Rumble Roses - Hot chicks mud wrestling. Santa must really love me. This PS2 title packs more fun than you'd think... it's a solid wrestling title, and it has hot chicks mud wrestling. Did I mention the hot chicks mud wrestling?

Mech Assault 2 - The first MechAssault on Xbox was my crack for a while... I was completely addicted and spent many many hours playing it... I'm guessing the same is about to happen with MA2 when it arrives (it was preordered for me and is due to hit stores tomorrow).

One non-multimedia gift I'd like to point out is the book The Bad Guys Won! by Jeff Pearlman, which is about the 1986 World Champion New York Mets (ah, how I long for a good Mets team again)... I've gotten about two chapters into it so far and I can see why so many fellow Mets fans over at NYFS (best Mets fan site on the web, PERIOD) raved about it. If you're a Mets fan or a baseball fan in general, this one looks to be worth giving a read.

I hope Santa left you with some Lemur-Approved multimedia goodness this Christmas... if not, there's always those gift cards and exchanges, right?

[Site News] New LemurGear? Fo' Shizzle!

2004-12-21T13:22:00.000-05:00

Just a quick update to let you know that there's some new items in Media Lemur's LemurGear Merchandise Shop, including two new items featuring the soon-to-be-recently-departed (from his office, not from this Earth) Secretary of State Colin Powell.

Colin Powell "Fo' Shizzle!" Green T-Shirt
Colin Powell "Fo' Shizzle" Messenger Bag
Colin Powell "Fo' Shizzle" Jr. Ringer T-shirt

How does this relate to the TV and video games theme of the LemurGear Store? Well, think of how many times you've seen Powell on TV! Plus, this whole Iraq War is already creative fodder for the video game industry... so why not?

Samsung's Big-Ass Plasma

2004-12-20T15:09:00.000-05:00

Samsung SDI has developed what it says is the world's largest PDP (plasma display panel), measuring 102 inches diagonally. (side note: DROOL!) The company plans to start producing the panels during the first half of 2005. Samsung SDI expects Samsung Electronics to buy the 102-inch panels and make them into TVs at a later time. The company would not reveal the prices for the panels at this time.

The panels are capable of a high-definition resolution of 1920 pixels x 1080 pixels, a brightness of 1000 candelas per square meter and a contrast ratio of 2000:1, Sohn says. The production technology used to build the panels could potentially help to reduce prices for smaller PDPs. Rather than using a separate piece of glass for each panel it makes, the company can fabricate four 50-inch panels from a single, larger piece of glass, resulting in a lower cost per panel, according to the company.

As well as being good for consumers, the lower prices would be a boost for electronics companies like Samsung Electronics, which has seen growing demand for big-screen TVs, he says. Samsung SDI will produce the 102-inch panels on a newly-built manufacturing line. Production volume has yet to be announced but is not expected to be large.

The giant panel will give Samsung SDI bragging rights over South Korean rival LG Electronics, which has been in a big-ass game of one-ups-manship with Samsung over who can produce the biggest panel. In October 2003, LG Electronics announced the development of a prototype 76-inch screen. Three months later, Samsung SDI said it had developed an 80-inch panel, but TVs have not yet been made commercially at that size, Sohn says.

Weekend Download Recommendations

2004-12-19T01:18:00.000-05:00

We're chock full 'o' download recommendations once again... many of you may have a shiny new iPod sitting under the Christmas tree (or maybe you found one dangerously close to your menorah... careful, you wouldn't want it to get hot wax all over it... that can't be good for it)... so you're gonna need some good tunes to pack it full with, and Media Lemur can help you get a good start.

Burning Brides - Heart Full of Black (buy the album)
Merry F&#%ing Christmas - South Park's Mr. Garrison (buy the album)
What Can U Get a Wookie For Christmas - Star Wars Christmas (buy the album)
Matinee - Franz Ferdinand (buy the album)
Boy Band - Arrogant Worms (buy the album)

Enjoy!

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas Coming to Xbox and PC

2004-12-17T12:36:00.000-05:00

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is due out on PC and Xbox in June 2005, Rockstar Games revealed this week as part of publisher Take-Two's latest financial statement. Both versions will ship on June 7th in the good ol' US of A.

This is the first time that Rockstar and Take-Two have publically confirmed an Xbox version, although the Xbox "Double Pack" of GTA III and Vice City they released as soon as their PS2 exclusivity arrangement on those titles expired at the beginning of 2004 was a pretty big hint of things to come.

Whether Rockstar chooses to make any improvements to either version remains to be seen, but typically the PC and Xbox versions have benefited from superior visuals and, in the case of the PC versions, a radio station set aside for playback of your own MP3 music while driving.

In a very "well, DUH" statement, Take-Two chairman and CEO Richard Roedel was able to confirm San Andreas "was the largest videogame launch in Take-Two's history", although there's no specific info on how many units it's sold so far.

The Amazing A-Hole

2004-12-15T13:10:00.000-05:00

After watching last night's edition of The Amazing Race, I feel a little griping is in order.

Not that there's anything wrong with the show, because it's been very compelling TV. But I've had just about enough of one team, specifically the male half of the team. I'm talking about Jonathan and Victoria, the "married entrepeneurs" or whatever. Or to be more specific, "the ass with the blue hair and his battered wife"... yeah, that sounds about right!

From the beginning of the race, Jonathan rubbed me the wrong way. I could tell right off the bat that this guy was a rich egomaniac, living in a completely different universe from the rest of us. However, as we see his interactions with wife Victoria more and more over these past few weeks, you can tell that this is not a healthy marriage. I'm not sure that ANY relationship with Jonathan can be a healthy one, but this one has gotten downright scary. At one point in a past episode (either last week's or the week before, I can't remember), there was a moment in the car where they were arguing (again) and Jonathan raised his hand real quick as if he was about to hit her, then didn't... what was more telling was how Victoria recoiled at the mere sight of his hand. The best analogy I can make to this is if you've adopted a dog from a shelter that was abused earlier in its life, and whenever it sees a raised hand or a rolled up newspaper it runs for cover. Methinks this woman was been struck before by the blue-haired fiend.

If this wasn't proof enough, last night it became fairly apparent. In the closing moments of the show, Jonathan and Victoria were in a foot-race with another team to be the first team to arrive at the Pit Stop, and Jonathan kept whining about how he couldn't carry his bag anymore. First he wanted to leave it with a random stranger, then he just dropped the bag altogether, despite pleading from Victoria not to because she was worried it would get stolen and many of their necessities were in the bag. Because of her worries, Victoria picks up the bag and his now running with both her bag and his bag, and despite her yells for help, Jonathan just kept running. After inevitably being beaten out by the other team (THANK YOU... he doesn't deserve to be winning any cruises) he stops his run and she catches up, crying. His response: he gives her a push, or more of a push/hit, for *ahem* costing them the race. (He neglects to mention that they were in front by a decent margin when they were driving to the Pit Stop, but he inexplicably pulled over and told her to drive, then she couldn't figure out how to adjust the seat so that her feet could reach the pedals, so he just got back in and kept driving, but not before the winning team drove right past them.)

I would love nothing more than, at some point in this race, Victoria has just had enough, and she leaves him for good in the middle of some third-world country, and takes all their money to fly herself home or something. And I hope that people he does business with stop doing business with him after seeing what a maniac the guy is. How did someone so stupid end up rich with a Ferrari, anyway? Shows you how unfair life is, because this guy, as a human being, isn't worth the blue hair dye in his stupid hair. He needs to go, and soon.

Weekend Download Recommendations.. Forget That It's Tuesday Already

2004-12-14T16:41:00.000-05:00

Nothing like Weekend Music Download Recommendations coming on a Tuesday afternoon... GO ME!

Dick's Automotive - The Rugburns (buy the album), which can be compared to...

Albuquerque - "Weird Al" Yankovic (buy the album), which is a style parody of "Dick's".

Offspring - Self-Esteem (buy the album)

Oh Holy Night - Avril Lavigne and Chantal Kreviazuk (buy the album), surprisingly good considering it involves Avril Lavigne.

HermAphrodite - Stephen Lynch (buy the album)

Enjoy this Lemur-Approved listening material.

EA Secures Gets Exclusive NFL Rights For Video Games

2004-12-14T10:37:00.000-05:00

No more value-priced NFL games from ESPN... no more football games from
anyone who's initials aren't EA, actually.

Electronic Arts announced yesterday an exclusive licensing agreement
with the National Football League and Players Inc. to develop, publish,
and distribute interactive football games. These agreements give EA the
exclusive rights to the NFL teams, stadiums, and players for use in its
football video games for the next five years.

Say adios to ESPN NFL 2K6, NFL GameDay, NFL Blitz... your football video
game selection will only consist of Madden, NFL Street, and a new
unannounced football management game that is in the works from EA
Sports.

Midway, publisher of the NFL Blitz series, looks like they're going to
have some fun with this, however. They've hired the writer of the show
"Playmakers" to develop a new title, Blitz: Playmakers. The game will
feature everything the NFL hated about the TV show, including drug use
and other off-the-field habits the NFL likes to pretend never happen.

When asked about it by an IGN reporter, a source from Midway stated,
"Enough of the 'No Fun League'... it's now time to talk about and
prepare for the game the NFL wouldn't let anyone make...Blitz the way it
should be played."

Quick Notes for a Busy Monday

2004-12-13T17:38:00.000-05:00

I'm bogged down at work today without much time to write too in-depth on anything, so instead I'll provide you with a bevy of links on what's going on...

Simpsons Movie In The Works? ...boo-yah!

Pedro Martinez to Mets ... not multimedia related, unless you consider the impact this will have on the cable network the Mets are working on setting up. Again I'll say... boo-yah!!

Playing the Dating Game, DS Style ... umm... yeah...

Check back later for some music download recommendations, since those never made it up this past weekend.. D'OH!

Xbox Modding Lands Two in "Federal Pound-Me-in-the-@$$ Prison"

2004-12-09T12:38:00.000-05:00

Looks like the feds crack down on console piracy.

According to reports, two people have been arrested for selling modded
Xbox consoles. Three "Pandora's Cube" game store locations in the
Washington, D.C. area were raided by federal authorities, and two store
employees were arrested on charges of conspiracy to commit copyright
infringement and conspiracy to traffic in a device that circumvents
technological protection measures.

The arrests in Maryland and Virginia were a joint effort of the U.S.
Department of Justice's computer crimes unit, the U.S. Attorney's Office
for Maryland and the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The Entertainment Software Association says the Pandora's Cube stores
were selling modified "Super Xbox" consoles for $500. The systems had
been retooled with larger hard drives, software to enable full games to
be ripped to the drives, some pre-loaded with up 15 or more games.

These consoles were on open display, the ESA reported. It is not clear,
however, whether the stores were selling the pre-loaded versions of the
modified consoles.

(Site News) $10 off of $50 Order at Media Lemur's LemurGear Store

2004-12-08T16:28:00.000-05:00

Media Lemur's LemurGear merchandise shop (hosted at CafePress.com) is currently having a Holiday Sale! You can get $10 off a $50 order until 12/20/2004 by using Coupon code: CPFESTIVE

Also, tomorrow (12/9) is the last day to use Super Saver Shipping and still receive your order in time for Christmas.

I'm always working on putting new items in the store, but there's some nifty stuff in there now for you to browse that would make for a cool gift for a fellow multimediaholic in your life. A couple of my favorite items:

TV Addict Baseball Jersey - $17.99
"Work Sucks" Video Gamer's License Plate Frame - $11.50
Dog of a TV Addict Doggie T-Shirt - $14.99

There's some other goodies too, of course. Give it a look... happy shopping!

Halo 2 Quadruples Xbox Live Traffic

2004-12-08T11:48:00.000-05:00

Traffic on Xbox Live's service provider networks quadrupled following the 11/9 launch of Halo 2 -- which set entertainment industry records ablaze by selling 2.4 million units in the US and Canada on the first day of availability, raking in approximately $125 million. A new study by broadband traffic measurement specialist (there's a specialty in that?) Sandvine Inc. shows that these traffic levels are continuing, raising Quality of Service concerns for service providers eager to keep gamers on board.

Sandvine said that "the explosion in Xbox Live traffic attributed to Halo 2 should be seen as a clarion call." In other works, wake up and smell the coffee... online console gaming is officially huge. In order to avoid network disruptions or that nasty lag that we all hate as it degrades the pace and flow of your virtual ass-whoopings, network admins must be capable of identifying game traffic and setting QoS policies that protect it from interference.

You can read Sandvine's "Broadband Trend Analysis: Online Gaming" at their website.

Boring Home Videos in HD? BRING IT ON!

2004-12-07T14:35:00.000-05:00

For all you people who wish they could make a high-definition home video of your baby's first steps, or your buddies getting drunk and jumping off the roof, or yourselves making fools of yourself on a tryout video for a reality show, your day has sort-of come.

Sony is introducing a new HD camcorder, the HDR-FX1, that is capable of recording in 1080i mode. The catch: the HDR-FX1 is too large for most people. Besides the chipset taking up some space, it also boasts the largest Li-ion rechargeable battery possible, offering a capacity of 47.5Wh, with a continuous recording time of six hours and thirty minutes of HD goodness.

Although it sounds like the HDR-FX1 might be available to general consumers, they point out that due to its large size, most people will be turned off by it. This is one small step for man, and one giant leap in camcorder technology... now the fun part is waiting to see just how small they can make a camcorder that can record in 1080i, because they *are* working on it.

Weekend Music Download Recommendations

2004-12-05T22:14:00.000-05:00

Wow, for a new web site, you'd think I'd be better about updating this more frequently... oops.

Well, it's been very busy behind the scenes in Media Lemur land, but I wouldn't forget to give you your weekly music download recommendations to load up into those iPods you've been clamoring to get your grubby little hands on...

A.M. 180 ~ Grandaddy (buy the album)
Dominick The Donkey ~ Lou Monte (buy the album)
The Night Santa Went Crazy ~ "Weird Al" Yankovic (buy the album)
Live For The Moment ~ Monster Magnet (buy the album)
Float On ~ Modest Mouse (buy the album)

Enjoy this Lemur-tested, Lemur-approved listening!

Want an iPod Mini $234.14 Shipped Free? How About a Free Wireless Router?

2004-12-02T11:24:00.000-05:00

Just a quick note to let you know that Amazon currently has the best deal around for the Apple 4 GB iPod Mini in any color (except for a couple that are $249) for the nice low price of $234.14 shipped free.

As I mentioned in my Black Friday post last week, this is a great gift idea. As I said in that post:

"The iPod craze is still going strong, and anyone would love to bring a crapload of their favorite songs (4 GB worth, to be exact) everywhere they go. Can't go wrong here."

If you don't care about the mini-proportions of this unit and want the full-sized iPod instead, you can snag the 20 GB version for $275.04, also shipped free.

Also, if you need a free wireless router (and who doesn't?), you can snag one from Staples with a $40 rebate (Search for SKU 504004 and select the last rebate - expires 12/4) and a $20 rebate (expires 6/1/05). There's free shipping to boot, so it really is entirely free.

Lynch Thrills The Crowd as Hedberg Kills The Show

2004-12-01T00:04:00.000-05:00

I can take the almost $50 price tag of my ticket to see Stephen Lynch and Mitch Hedberg's co-headlined show at Morristown Community Theatre in Morristown, NJ in two ways...

a) $50 to see Stephen Lynch
b) $25 to see Stephen Lynch, $25 to see Mitch Hedberg

As it turned out, it's a good thing I'm secure and happy with looking at it as Option A, because Option B would have left me feeling much more disappointed. Even an Option C of paying $49 to see Lynch and paying $1 to see Hedberg would have been disappointing, given the way things panned out.

After a pretty good opening act who's name I can't remember, Lynch came on first and absolutely rocked the house. I laughed so hard I was tearing at times. His songs are so wrong they're right. He's a great live entertainer if you're hard to offend, and any chance you get to see him, I suggest taking.

However, if you're buying a ticket to his current co-headlined tour with Hedberg, then buyer beware.

Mitch Hedberg can be a brilliant stand-up comic at times. I've seen him on Comedy Central, Letterman, and Conan O'Brien, and his album Mitch All Together (buy it at Amazon) is chock full of the hilarious one-liners you'd expect from him. Some examples of his one-liners:

"I like Kit-Kats, unless I am with four or more people."

"Bigfoot is blurry, that's the problem. It's not the photographer's fault. He's a large, out of focus, monster, and that's extra scary to me."

"I bought this parrot, and he talked, but he could not say I'm hungry, so he died."

"I would imagine if you could understand Morse Code, a tap dancer would drive you crazy."

Expecting to be dazzled with his weird cerebral comedy, and already high off of Lynch's hour and a half of gut-busting laughter, we anxiously awaited his arrival to the stage.

Turns out he was pretty much getting drunk off his ass throughout the entirety of Lynch's set. He bumbled his way on to the stage, but started off OK. But the alcohol (or whatever else he may have been on) must have set in about 4-5 minutes later, because he was completely lost. He was stumbling over his words, and at many points was cracking up at his own punchlines before he could finish them. When he realized that he was losing the crowd, he spent way too much time talking about how bad he was doing, which just brought it down even more. At one point, he looked at some lights on the side of the stage and said something that sounded like "baghlrlghlllalmunbalumba looks like 9/11 oogaderpamumbalumbadoo". The crowd pretty much stared at him dumbfoundedly as they not only had no idea what he was trying to say, but in assuming he was making some sort of 9/11 joke (in the NY/NJ area, which isn't all that smart) the room just went completely limp. At this point was when I think the fact that he was completely lost set in. (I realized later on that what he was trying to say was that the two lights shining upward on the side of the stage reminded him of the 9/11 Twin Towers of Light tribute... still not funny.) At one point, he just froze up and didn't know what to di, and someone from back stage called out to him to tell his laundromat joke. This was far from the smart witty comic he appeared to be when he was sober on TV.

After a while, the crowd just gave up and started leaving, with the remaining people either too confused to know what to make of all of it, or just waiting to see if he would pass out on stage (which he apparently did at an earlier show on the tour). It's a good thing Lynch was so good, because he basically saved the evening from being a waste. I still wish I could see a true Mitch Hedberg live performance, but I certainly wouldn't risk a high ticket price to do it unless there was someone like Lynch on the bill for the evening as well to offset the possible disappointment.

I would still recommend checking out Mitch All Together, because it really is very good (or his other album, Strategic Grill Locations, which I have not heard but hear is also funny), but until he gets his act together (since this apparently was not a problem until just recently) it's risky business going to see him live.

Music To Run People Over To

2004-11-30T12:01:00.000-05:00

In case you're living under some massive all-consuming rock, you're probably aware of the fact that people love Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. A lot.

Well, except for the critics who say it's destroying society, but I try not to think about them all that often.

Anyway, one of the great things about any of the recent installments in the GTA series, especially the newest offering, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (buy it at Amazon), is the super-gigante soundtrack, packed with 100+ songs, making it one of the most massive and comprehensive in-game soundtracks ever. And while you're actually playing the game, the music is distributed over 11 different radio stations that you can dial into... sweeeet.

Well, Rockstar Games isn't known for missing opportunities to capitalize on something they've created that is a huge hit, so to that end, here comes the super-duper-gigante 8-CD Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas Soundtrack Deluxe Box Set. Set to be released December 7th, all the tunes you've come to associate with your GTA carjacking and bonecracking are now available for you to pop into the CD changer in your car to cruise around to.

Just to ramble off some of the artists featured on this box set... Rage Against the Machine, Public Enemy, Kool & The Gang, Stone Temple Pilots, Rick James, Willie Nelson, Soundgarden, Cypress Hill, KISS, James Brown, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Faith No More, Depeche Mode, Jane's Addiction, Booker T & The MG's, The Who... a very eclectic mix.

Check out the album at Amazon (including full track listings for all eight discs) now to see exactly what you'd be getting. It's a great value for the sheer amount of music you get, and would make a great gift for the Grand Theft Auto lover in your life (whether it be someone else, or you, you greedy bastard).

Thin is In... Too Bad Your Old TV Can't Go on a Diet

2004-11-29T10:46:00.000-05:00

As I touched upon in a previous article, most people aren't spending thousands upon thousands dollars on a television. More than two-thirds of TVs sold in the US this year will cost less than $400 dollars, and somewhere close to 90 percent will cost less than $1,500, according to various analysts and executives.

Fortunately for these budget-conscioous people, slim digital TVs are coming down in price. Non-HDTV plasma displays are increasingly popular to bargain hunters, and both compact rear-projection sets and small-to-moderately-sized LCD screens are becoming increasingly available. This shows an interesting trend: consumers seem to care a lot more about how thin their television is than whether or not they're getting a high definition picture. Turns out they're willing to sacrifice picture quality to get the coolness of the flat-panel look.

This is whu the hottest new segment in the TV business is the enhanced-definition plasma set, or ED. These sets don't offer full high-definition quality, but have enough pixels to display DVDs to their fullest potential and, even on normal broadcasts, are usually a notch above conventional analog sets.

Oh yeah, and they cost about $2,000 less than an HD set of the same size.

Example: you can buy a 42-inch Panasonic ED set for around $3,000, or from a lesser-known brand for around $2,000. An HD set of the same size will run you about $5,500 for the Panasonic or up to $8,000 for a top-of-the-line set from Sony.. and an HD LCD screen can be even more.

Also cheaper than the plasma and LCD flat panels are the new digital rear-projection sents, collectively known as microdisplay units. But don't let the "micro" fool you--these screens are anything but small. They're not as thin (about 18 inches deep), but they're certainly thinner than the old CRTs and offer great HD picture to boot. Samsung has been the big player in this segment of the market with their DLP sets, although Sony now offers a 42-inch HD microdisplay model for around $2,500.

It pains me to say it, but some of you still are only looking to get a 27, 23, or (perish the thought) 21 inch screens. It is impractical to make plasma screens this small, so LCD dominates this segment of the market. Of course, LCD costs about double what a standard CRT of the same size would cost. Example: Sony's 23-inch LCD model (which requires a separately-purchased tuner to display HD images) costs $1,800. A similarly equipped 27-inch CRT model only costs $750.

Don't feel bad if you end up buying another analog television this year... we'll still love you the same. And hey, you can still buy a 27-inch flat-screen CRT for under $300 that surpasses the picture quality of TVs that cost $800 five years ago. And you wouldn't be alone... of the roughly 26 million stand-alone TVs that Americans will buy this year (stand-alone meaning they're not one of those VCR/DVD combos), more than 75 percent will be keeping it old-school with analog tubes. But of you can wait, those digital sets will get cheaper next year...

2004-11-27T11:59:00.000-05:00

Sorry for the lack of updates this Thanksgiving weekend... too much turkey to think about updating this page. Here's your weekend music download recommendations:

Malaguena Salerosa ~ Kill Bill Vol. 2 Soundtrack (buy the album)
Superhero ~ Stephen Lynch (buy the album)
Hold Me Now ~ The Polyphonic Spree (buy the album)
Friday Night ~ The Darkness (buy the album)
Firefly ~ Breaking Benjamin (buy the album)

And, of course, I couldn't not recommend:

Thanksgiving Song ~ Adam Sandler (buy the album)

2004-11-26T12:21:00.000-05:00

Just reporting in quickly on this Black Friday to offer up some more gift ideas for the fellow multimediaholics in your life...

ATI Radeon X800XT Platinum Edition Graphics Card - Sweet graphics for your favorite PC gamer... 'nuff said.

Apple iPod Mini Portable Music Player - The iPod craze is still going strong, and anyone would love to bring a crapload of their favorite songs (4 GB worth, to be exact) everywhere they go. Can't go wrong here.

Namco II: Ms Pac-Man with 5 TV Games - This is a great gift if you're looking for something in the under-$20 price range. There's a lot of these plug-right-into-the-TV gizmos out there, but right now I'm digging this one, featuring Ms. Pac-Man, Xevious, Pole Position, Mappy and Galaga. This is especially great for someone who likes old-school video games but doesn't really feel like shelling out the cash for one of the newer consoles.

SmartJoy Frag for PS2 or Xbox - I love the possibilities on this one. For anyone who's ever complained that they can't play first-person shooters on a console because they can't aim with the gamepad, and always yearned for the ease of a keyboard and mouse like on PC FPS's, this is your dream come true. Available for PS2 and Xbox, this adapter will allow you to plug in any PC mouse and keyboard into your favorite console and click your way to all the frags you could possibly imagine. Which actually leads me into my final recommendation...

Logitech MX 1000 Laser Cordless Mouse - Great for anybody, very great if they use their TV as a PC monitor and don't want to be held back by a short cable, and essential if they're using the SmartJoy Frag mentioned above. It has a comfortable design and should work on just about any surface, even the Cheetos-stained coffee table in your gaming room.

More Tidbits on WWE Wrestlemania 21 For Xbox

2004-11-24T10:31:00.000-05:00

Some more tidbits have emerged concerning WWE Wrestlemania 21 for the Xbox. IGN has supplied some of the first screenshots available for the game, and what they have so far is pretty impressive. The character models are looking very true to life, especially that close up shot of The Hurricane.

One of the most promising things to emerge is something that will make people upset with the two-player singles match limitation of WWE SmackDown! vs. RAW for PS2 very happy -- four-player head-to-head online support on Xbox Live. Also available will be multiple match types and voice chat. I can imagine it now... me getting some smack talked to me from some kid twelve years younger than me as he prepares to assault me with a steel chair. But that's not a bad thing... that's a good thing. Also, you can use the game's create-a-belt feature to design your own championship belt which you can then defend online, which would make those of you who love to do the online wrestling federation thing ecstatic.

No more details are currently available concerning the online mode but these features alone makes me very very happy.

WrestleMania 21 also will feature a new "pro-reversal system", an innovative countering system that offers a different counter for every move. Also said to be much-improved from the RAW series on Xbox is the story mode, which promises a unique character-building experience akin to some RPGs you've played, letting players upgrade their superstar's appearance, abilities, entrance, costumes, and moveset.

March 2005 can't come soon enough... the weird buzzing sound my Xbox makes will be filling my house non-stop once that game hits shelves.

DVD Player Shopping For Dummies... and Not-So-Dummies Too

2004-11-23T17:16:00.000-05:00

I've put together a handy dandy list of some great DVD players that you can refer to while doing your holiday shopping, whether it be for a loved one or yourself. Nothing says I love you like the gift of a spatula.. er, DVD player.

SET TOP DVD PLAYERS

Philips DVP642 DiVX-Certified Progressive Scan DVD Player

Toshiba SD-3960 DVD Player

Pioneer DV-578A-S Universal DVD/CD/SACD/DVD-Audio player

Sony DVP-NS575P/S Progressive Scan DVD Player

PORTABLES

Toshiba SD-P1400 Portable DVD Player

Panasonic DVD-LS50 Portable DVD Player

RECORDERS

Panasonic DMR-E50S DVD Recorder

Pioneer DVR-810HS DVD Recorder with TiVo Basic Service

Sony RDR-GX7 DVD Recorder

Lite-On AllWrite LVW-5005 DVD/CD Recorder

Transformers Mania Abounds

2004-11-23T15:16:00.000-05:00

My inner geek (as well as the outer one) anxiously awaits the Summer 2006 release of the new big-screen adaptation of Transformers. IGN has a little interview with screenwriter John Rogers where even he seems giddy about the whole thing.

A few tidbits about this movie:

* No director has been named yet, despite rumors aligning Robert Zemeckis with the role. However two favorites have been floated about: Roland Emmerich (Independence Day) and Jonathan Mostow (Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines).
* No voice talent has been hired yet, and while they *are* considering some of the original voice actors from the 80s cartoon (i.e. Frank Welker) they aren't looking to stock the cast with a bevy of celebrities since, in the words of producer Don Murphy, "celebrity voices for a film like this is moronic." I like this guy already.
* Also according to Murphy, they "are NOT doing anything to do with Beasts and Dinos and (expletive). ... The next few weeks will have us, ala X-Men, decide on 7 core members of each team. (Fellow Transformers producer Tom) DeSanto will be there to make sure we stay true."

Murphy apparent has his own message board which I am about to check out, as should you.

While you're waiting another year and a half for this movie to grace theatres, here's some DVD recommendations from Amazon that can help you pass the time:

Goodbye Game Boy Advance... Hello Nintendo DS!

2004-11-22T15:01:00.000-05:00

Nintendo's new portable handheld video game system, the Nintendo DS, hit store shelves yesterday to rave reviews and a flurry of sales. I haven't had the opportunity to test it out firsthand as of yet, but the folks over at IGN posted a nice overview of the system that you should check out.

One of the cool features on the DS is the PictoChat. Using the stylus or thumb pointer that comes with the DS, you can write messages on the touchscreen and chat with other people online in the DS chatrooms. This is pretty nifty to me, especially since I'm such a sucker for online features in video games.

One other item of note is the fact that the screen on the DS is a back-lit LCD as opposed to the frontlit screen on the Game Boy Advance. This means brighter, more vibrant color, which was the big gripe I had with my GBA. The DS is also GBA-compatible so those GBA games you have scattered all over your desk won't go to waste, and they'll look much better to boot.

Give IGN's breakdown a look-see... makes me want to try out this little gizmo sooner rather than later.

Surprise Surprise... People Want HDTV But Don't Think They Can Afford It

2004-11-22T10:19:00.000-05:00

In a survey which has results that probably surprise no one, consumers are showing a reasonable knowledge of and interest in HDTV, but it is still seen by many as beyond their means. 89% of Americans are aware of HDTV, up from 74% in 2002. (Apparently the other 11% are living under giant rocks.)

Due to huge advertising efforts, and the fact that this past summer's Olympic Games in Athens were broadcast in high definition for the first time, awareness is certainly at an all-time high. But just because you salivate whenever you look at an HDTV doesn't mean you can afford it. At least, that's the sentiment of 72% of Americans (down from 76% two years ago). The percentage of people who actually intend to buy an HDTV in the near term is only 13%, which is actually down from 15% last year.

Of the people who consider themselves fairly knowledgable about HDTV (45%), most agree that it delivers superior quality picture (94%), digital quality surround sound (87%), and that they get to watch stuff blow up on a full widescreen picture (92%).

The fact that people want HD but aren't ready to shell out the cash for it yet shouldn't be suprising considering that even entry-level sets are priced in the thousands. You can't exactly go to Wal-Mart and pick up an HDTV with the price rolled back to $69.99 with the purchase of a box of Shrek Twinkies and a pair of Faded Glory jeans. However, with more HD signals becoming available, and the technology slowly coming down in price, HD will eventually have its big boom. I think the estimates of HDTV being the standard by 2008 may be pushing it a bit, but it will be the standard eventually... and those will be good times!

Your Weekend Music Download Recommendations

2004-11-20T23:36:00.000-05:00

Looking for some good tunes to download for this Saturday evening? Here's five new music download recommendations you can look out for on iTunes/Napster/whatever it is you use...

Franz Ferdinand - Take Me Out (buy the album)
The Hives - Walk Idiot Walk (buy the album)
Bouncing Souls - These Are The Quotes From Our Favorite 80s Movies (buy the album)
"Weird Al" Yankovic - Wanna B Ur Luvr (buy the album)
Cher w/ Beavis and Butthead - I Got You Babe

I'm not kidding about that last one, either. It cracks me the hell up. Enjoy this Lemur-approved listening!

WWE WrestleMania XXI Coming To An Xbox Near You

2004-11-19T15:47:00.000-05:00

For anyone who played the games in the "WWE RAW" series on the Xbox, you know that the games were good, but never got anywhere close to being as enjoyable or popular as the SmackDown! series for PS2. Well, it appears THQ has realized this, and the result is the upcoming "WWE WrestleMania XXI" title for Xbox, effectively stealing the WrestleMania franchise from the GameCube (which now features WWE Day of Reckoning), and featuring Xbox Live online game play to boot... WHOO!

As it turns out, THQ has completely scrapped the RAW game engine in favor of a completely new engine from a new developer, Studio Gigante (creator of Tao Feng). It is said that it will boast new game play modes and improved TV-style visuals.

WWE WrestleMania XXI is slated to be released around the same time as the WWE pay-per-view of the same name, in March 2005. You can already preorder the Prima strategy guide for it on Amazon, which is set for a March 15, 2005 release.

Media Lemur's DVD Picks For Your Holiday Shopping

2004-11-19T10:58:00.000-05:00

The holiday season is upon us, and aside from cheer and good will and all that jazz, this means two things:

The time to start buying those holiday gifts is here again
Stores will be bombared with an avalanche of new DVD releases

The good news is that those DVDs give you a nice pile of cool stuff to choose from when shopping for your loved ones, and I'd like to give you some of my picks for the best of this crop (links courtesy Amazon.com):

ACTION

COMEDY

Your Wrasslin' Recommendations For The Week

2004-11-18T16:17:00.000-05:00

This week saw the release of two cool items for wrestling fans: WWE ThemeAddict, The Music: Vol. 6 on CD and The Rise and Fall of ECW on DVD.

Any WWE completist will want the ThemeAddict CD (even if WWE insists on pronouncing it "thim-ADD-ict", which is silly), which includes the entrace themes for such WWE superstars as Triple H, Shelton Benjamin, John Bradshaw Layfield, and Gail Kim... oh wait, she got fired. And her theme is still on there. And they didn't include Randy Orton's theme.... weird. Especially since they were able to squeeze in the theme for the recently-debuted Carlito Caribbean Cool (who is just that.... cool) ... oh well. It's still a really cool CD, which also comes with bonus DVD footage of some superstars' arena entracnce videos.

Hardcore wrestling fans (especially ECW fans from back in their heydey) will LOVE The Rise and Fall of ECW. It's a great in-depth look at ECW's history, and WWE doesn't try and revise the history and actually lets some of ECW's former major players tell the story the way it was. Makes for very compelling viewing and if you like hardcore wrestling, this is a must-own.

They're Putting Pop-Up Ads WHERE?!

2004-11-18T09:23:00.000-05:00

Have you ever been watching TV, and while enduring another round of commercials, wonder, "Gee, it would be swell if they could somehow make commercials more annoying."

Your wish is TiVo's command.

Beginning in March 2005, TiVo users will begin seeing static pop-up ads, or "billboards" during commercials, when trying to skip the commercials. Their hope is that roughly 5% of viewers skipping the ad will see the pop-up and say "Wow, maybe I should go back and watch that commercial." Oy.

The craze of DVR units such as TiVo has been a concern to advertisers for some time now. They worry (rightfully so) that their ads will be rendered useless as viewers fast-forward to ignore them. 2 million homes currently have TiVo and 20% of households are projected to own some sort of DVR by 2008.

In reality, I understand the problem. Television programming revolves around advertising dollars, and if they don't have the ad dollars, shows don't get made. While I get that, there's two things in play here:

1) People are already paying $12.95/month for the ability to skip the ads.
2) Do they really think pestering people with an ad while trying to skip an ad is going to get their interest?

This is all pretty tame compared to what's going on over in the Senate, where they're expected to vote on the Intellectual Property Protection bill, which would prohibit technology that skips commercials during a DVD or televised movie... basically meaning it would be illegal to fast-forward through a commercial.

OY.

Shop for TiVo products at Amazon.com today.

South Park: Quest For Ratings

2004-11-17T18:00:00.000-05:00

There's a new episode of South Park on tonight, and South Park Studios has the description up:

Episode 811: Quest for Ratings

The boys of “South Park” produce their own morning news show on the school’s closed-circuit television station and are immediately caught up in the intense competition for ratings.

I saw the commercial for this and it looks pretty good. This new batch of episodes, in general, has been pretty solid and I'm hoping this one will continue the trend.

South Park will continue to have new episodes through the beginning of December, when Season 8 will and the show will go into reruns again until Season 9 starts up in February 2005.

Buy South Park DVDs at Amazon.com today!

Just Watch Me Gobble Up Those Dots

2004-11-17T15:22:00.000-05:00

OK, I'll preface this by saying that I know this looks really really stupid. And it probably is. Really.

But if you reach way down to your inner geek (and some of us don't need to reach as deep as others), you can't help but think it would be cool to live the life of Pac-Man... gobbling up dots and feuding with ghosts in your neighborhood streets. Well, as you can see on this article from CNN, that uber-geek dream may be a virtual reality!

Using a combination of Bluetooth and GPS technology, you can wear this backpack and goggles and see this Human Pac-Man world. You can walk around and gobble up dots while walking into them, and people surfing online (on PCs and mobile devices) can connect and act as a helper.

I admit it... I'd love to try this thing out at least once. Forget that it's funded by Singapore's military (imagine a solider out in the field getting help from someone based at a computer) ... it looks fun and should it ever come state-side I'd get on line to give it a spin.

Satellite is Alright!

2004-11-16T16:58:00.000-05:00

Yahoo! has a good article that begs a great question: XM or Sirius? I've heard this question a ton of times, and as a former stockholder in Sirius I've been tracking the satellite radio industry for almost a year now. I know people who own both, and both swear by their service of choice.

The general consensus, however, seems to be that, to the surprise of many, satellite radio isn't a flash in the pan, and certainly isn't going to be a never-was. With Howard Stern heading to Sirius and the NFL and National Public Radio already there, and with XM already securing such programming as Major League Baseball, NASCAR, and the Opie and Anthony Show in its stable, both services have some heavy hitters lined up.

They each have over a hundred channels each of commercial-free music, information, and entertainment, accessible everywhere in the United States, and rumors have Sirius making headway in Canada sometime soon. Of course, all this satellite goodness isn't free. XM runs $9.99 a month, while Sirius is a slightly heftier $12.99 a month. The units are not exclusive to the car, meaning you can hook up your Sirius receiver to your home stereo (as my friend has now done), or, if you're leaning toward XM, you can get their nifty boom box that also supports AM/FM and has a CD player built in.

Really, it seems like it's hard to make a wrong choice between these two. I certainly haven't picked one yet... I do have a soft spot in my heart for Sirius since I was a shareholder for a while)... but I also would love to be able to hear Opie and Anthony again. As is alluded to in the above-linked article, the best choice may be... if you have the resources, why limit yourself to only one?

It's Amazing. It's a Race. It's... Back!

2004-11-16T15:05:00.000-05:00

Tonight, at 9pm EST, on CBS, The Amazing Race is back for a sixth go-round on your TV. The premiere is two hours, so surround yourself with snacks and beverages early.

My early support goes to the married pro wrestlers, for no other reason than the fact that they're married pro wrestlers. It's a very scientific deduction, actually. I just got into this show last season and was surprised at how much I got into it. It's funny, I'm not a big reality TV fan, but every now and then one of them sucks me in, and this is one of them.

Now if only I could get SpikeTV to bring back The Joe Schmo Show... ah, Joe Schmo, I hardly knew ye...

Microsoft Drops The Hammer on Xbox Live Hackers

2004-11-16T10:19:00.000-05:00

Did you notice that there was a spike in the number of people being kicked off Xbox Live in the days leading up to the release of Halo 2? It wasn't your imagination, and it wasn't a coincidence...
Halo 2 was expected (and rightly so) to attract a slew of new users to the Xbox Live online gaming community, and as such Microsoft cracked down on users suspected of hacking their Xboxes to make "unauthorized modifications".

Some of these hacks are harmless--for instance, running Linux or playing Music--but others do it to cheat on games, or of course, play pirated copies of games (an old favorite of the gaming community). Using an unspecified method of detection, they've been cracking down big time on these hackers. A representative from Microsoft has said they are not interesting in suing individual users, but they do want to ban these people from playing online to establish a level playing field and protect themselves from pirating at the same time.

There's little legal risk in modifying your system for relatively harmless actions such as making players invincible and the such. Where it gets hairy is when the person is altering their system's security codes and settings to play pirated and other unauthorized games. While every hacker is getting the big Xbox Live ban from Microsoft, it has focused its legal efforts on these people who are into game pirating, especially those who they believe are manufacturing pirated games or mass-producing Xbox modifications.

The Xbox is especially vulnerable to hacking for the very same reason it was a rapid success: its popular built-in hard drive more closely resembles a regular PC structure, whereas the other systems rely on less familiar technology.

So if you're the proud owner of a hacked Xbox, you probably only have two options: un-mod your console, or banish yourself from Xbox Live before Microsoft has the chance to do so.

But I Don't Wanna Be Super-Sized...

2004-11-15T11:21:00.000-05:00

I just checked out the Super Size Me DVD this past weekend, expecting to spend about an hour and a half rolling my eyes and arguing with my girlfriend about how this guy making this movie was way overdoing his McDiet to make it seem worse than it actually is, and to gain some attention for himself in the process.

While I'm not going out and picketing McDonald's this week after seeing the movie (I still think it's silly for people to sue McDonald's because they're fat), I do have to admit that it makes a compelling argument and that it's scary what fast food can do to your body.

The director and "star" of the movie, Morgan Spurlock, spends 30 days subjecting himself to an all-McDonald's diet, with the rules being that he has to try everything on the menu at least once, and he can't consume anything that is not sold at McDonald's (including the Asprin one of the many doctors monitoring him wanted him to take for the good of his heart). The obvious results: he got fat real quick, his cholesterol (among other things) skyrocketed, and he could
no longer please his girlfriend in the sack. (His girlfriend, by the way, is a vegan chef. Coincidence.....?)

To watch this by itself would have produced the reaction I expected to have, but what was striking was his in-depth look at how fast food companies weasel their way into school lunch rooms and into the hearts of young kids at an early age, to hook them early on the food and associate it with good experiences and happy feelings. Spurlock himself gained a weird addiction to the food... he felt like crap when he wasn't eating, but felt great once he ate again, only to feel like crap a little later. Sounds a lot like drugs. Which reminds me of another interesting anecdote from the film--that a drug used to save overdosed heroin addicts (blocks the receptors in the brain to get the person down off the drug) can be given to a person who loves chocolate, and that person will suddenly lose all interest in chocolate. Weird stuff.

I'm not promising this film will change your life in any way (I'm sure I'll still have to satisfy an occasional Mac Attack every now and then) but it does make for interesting viewing, so if you get a chance, check it out. And make sure to watch the special feature that shows how some sandwiches and fries from McDonald's and a local NYC restaurant break down over time in glass jars... and pay close attention to those McD's fries... if you've ever found an old McDonald's fry in your car after it's been sitting their for God knows how long, you probably already know the result...

DVR Mania

2004-11-15T10:00:00.000-05:00

If you loooooooove the TiVo, you're not alone. For all the products that claim it will "forever change the way you **fill in action here**", TiVo actually does forever change the way you watch TV. Pausing, rewinding, and doing slow-motion replays of live TV make this unit your best friend in a matter of seconds. I can't tell you how many times either the phone rings or a loud conversation enters the room where I wish I could do just that.

However, as synonymous as TiVo has become with this technology, actually known as the digital video recorder, or DVR, some other major players are looking to cut into their market share and give you some more choices for your DVR needs.

For instance, many major cable TV companies have recently introduced DVRs integrated with their cable tuner boxes, which pack some extra goodies TiVo doesn't offer -- for instance, some have two tuners, allowing viewers to record two shows at once and simultaneously watch a third show that's already recorded. Many of the cable boxes can also record HDTV programs, making copies that look as crystal clear as the source they were recorded from.

These cable DVRs run about $13 a month including equipment rental. In contrast, TiVo also runs about $13 but you also have to buy their equipment on top of that.

Satellite TV companies also sell DVRs. DirecTV, for example, features a two-tuner TiVo device, which costs only $50 but can't record in HD. Only one TiVo model can give you the same functionality as the new crop of high-definition cable DVRs, but it'll help you along on your way to the poor house at $999. DirecTV also changes $5 a month for the service and requires customers to sign up for a one-year programming contract.

Dish Network also sells an HD DVR that costs $999.

You'd think TiVo would have announced plans for more afforable HD DVRs... they haven't. But they have managed to stay ahead of their two closest rivals thus far, mostly because their interface is super-user-friendly.

If you're thinking about getting a DVR, you have lots of options. To recap, here are the four basic categories to consider:

» Cable DVRs: These DVRs are built into set-top boxes from cable-TV companies. They generally cost about $13 a month more than a plain-vanilla cable box. Most have two tuners and can record high-definition programs. There's generally no up-front investment, except an installation charge from some cable companies.

» Satellite DVRs: DirecTV and Dish Network both offer DVRs. DirecTV's DVRs incorporate TiVo's technology. Dish has its own system that isn't as easy to use as TiVo. Equipment can cost as much as $1,000, although Dish DVRs are free, and DirecTV's entry-level TiVo is only $50. Both charge $5 a month for the service.

» Standalone DVRs: TiVo, Humax, Pioneer, and Toshiba are among the companies that sell boxes that work with the TiVo service. Prices range from about $50 to $600.

» DVRs built into computers: Some personal computers are sold with a version of Windows known as Media Center that makes it easy to record TV shows on PCs. These DVRs download program listings over the Internet, and there's no monthly service fee. They're available from most PC makers. CompUSA.com recently listed eight models from $900 to $2,600.

Your Need For Speed Will Soon Be Fulfilled

2004-11-14T14:05:00.000-05:00

Need For Speed Underground 2 is hitting shelves this Tuesday, 11/15/2004, and from what I've seen of it so far it looks like it's going to give Gran Turismo 4 a run for its money. This sequel to 2003's best selling game in the world was an ambition undertaking for Electrionic Arts and it looks like they will not disappoint.

To start off with, it's touted as being a 40+ hour game with a very smart AI that will take you out every chance it gets. You'll have to make your way through a huge five-part city known as Bayview, and not only racing, but exploring all the nuances along the way that help ingratiate you into the import tuning culture. Maybe this isn't your style if you just want to pick up the game and race the night away without any distractions, but the added beef in this game may be for you if you want to do some stuff outside of the car as well as within. A lot of the cars can present challenges themselves--SUVs and trucks, for example, are a cool addition but the handling on those suckers will surely be a pain. Some of the regular cars are not exactly a racer's dream either (who races a Toyota Corolla?!) but I'm sure you can upgrade them in such a way that you can have some fun with them.

Unlike previous Need for Speed titles, cars don't sustain damage in this game. While part of me loves this (I admit it--I suck at racing games, and often find myself slamming against the walls at every turn), this probably won't appeal to the hardcore racing gamers who want an authentic experience. Although, if you've bought NOS for your car, you do lose NOS if you slam into other cars so at least there is some consequence.

The graphics look amazing, and from what I hear the sound will be great (despite some bad uninspired voice acting). And if you want to uber-customize your car, you've come to the right game. Basically that is the drawing power of the game--upgrade the crap out of your car to your heart's content. That's enough to make me want give it a play and make the meanest baddest Corolla ever. That would help with my morning commute... ::evil laugh::

Weekend Music Recommendations

2004-11-13T23:47:00.000-05:00

For you music downloaders out there (whether it be iTunes, Napster, or whatever) , here are your Lemur-approved weekend music download recommendations. I'll be doing this mostly every weekend, suggesting music ranging from new to old and everywhere in between.

Somebody Told Me ~ The Killers (buy the album)
I'm Not Okay ~ My Chemical Romance (buy the album)
Poison ~ Alice Cooper (buy the album)
Maybe Katie ~ Barenaked Ladies (buy the album)
Somebody To Love ~ Queen (buy the album)

Enjoy!

The Three Faces of Xbox 2

2004-11-12T11:35:00.000-05:00

Apparently, someone who signed a non disclosure agreement with Microsoft about Xbox 2 didn't see the "non" part of that.

It has leaked out that Microsoft will be launching three versions of the Xbox 2, one of which is a fully functioning PC. Your three Xbox 2 flavors are Xbox Next, Xbox Next HD, and Xbox Next PC. Xbox Next is the standard unit, which will not include a hard drive, as the current Xbox does. This allows Microsoft to cut costs on this basic unit. Xbox Next HD, however, will sport a hard drive (as suggested by the HD in the title) and because of this will have increased functionality from the basic unit. Xbox Next PC will be an entry-level PC that runs Windows and all standard PC software, and will include a CD burner, wireless keyboard, mouse, and controller, and will be optimized for connectivity to a high-definition TV or PC monitor. It will also sport Media Center functionality, which means you can use Xbox Next PC for your movies, music, and photos. The unit will also play most available PC games.

Specs for the system note that web browsing and instant messing would be key applications in this setup, and that the entire console will be smaller than the current Xbox (a complaint by many consumers). The unit will not be very upgradeable however--it is said that it will not be possible to upgrade the shipping memory or processor. (We'll see what hackers have to say about that.)

Xbox Next and Xbox Next HD are slated for an Fall 2005 release, while Xbox Next PC is tentatively scheduled to be release almost a year later, in Fall 2006. This year-long gap between releases is weird, and speculation says that this suggests that Microsoft feels it needs this time for the market to accept the TV media functionality, but can still beat Sony by releasing Xbox Next before PS3 while letting the market know that a PC version is also on the way.

America Offline - AOL Tells Broadband Customers To Find New Carriers

2004-11-12T09:37:00.000-05:00

America Online, which had stopped signing up new subscribers to its
broadband service earlier this year, has notified its existing broadband
customers in nine Southern states that they need to find themselves new
ISPs by Jan. 17, 2005, or suffer the consequences -- be downgraded to
AOL's dial-up service. ::covers ears to drown out the screams::

AOL representatives have been emailing its customers in those states
letting them know that they can switch to BellSouth's high-speed
broadband service for a special promotional rate, which is probably not
a bad idea although I would suggest doing your homework first and making
sure you can't find yourself a better deal.

The affected states are Florida, Kentucky, Georgia, Louisiana, Alabama,
Mississippi, Tennessee, North Carolina and South Carolina, and the
service is expected to be phased out in the same way throughout the rest
of the country over the next year or so. I'm not from the south so I'm
not familiar with the services available to you folks down there, but
I'm sure you can all find something better than the $54 you were paying
for AOL broadband... and definitely a better deal than their $24 dial-up
service. If you're from the South and have any advice for your fellow
Southerners, please post them on the Comments for this article.

WWE SmackDown! vs. RAW, Online Mode Revisited

2004-11-11T16:22:00.000-05:00

After playing a good amount of the online mode in WWE SmackDown! vs RAW for the Playstation 2 (and by good amount, that means by girlfriend is already sick of it), I'd like to expand my thoughts on it a bit.

Let me start off by saying that this feature's very inclusion is still awesome and is hands-down the best new feature in the series. Having said that, I want to address some of its shortcomings right off the bat:

First of all, would it have killed them to include more online modes? As it is, you have two, count 'em, TWO choices. A plain ol' singles match, or a bra-and-panties match with the Divas. That's it. When I heard this game would sport online mode, I had grand aspirations of playing an online Royal Rumble that would blow away any online gaming experience I'd ever had. Obviously that's not going to happen here, since they seem content in keeping it restricted to connecting two players to each other at a time, but having said that, there's plenty of two-player modes they could have incorporated. Where's the steel cage? The ladders? First Blood? Ultimate Submission? IronMan? ANYTHING? No dice here... regular singles match or bra and panties match... do not pass go, do not collect $200.

I know that sounds like I'm really disappointed with this game, but I've actually gotten mostly past it. Why? Because just being able to fight with another human being, and sometimes being treated to their create-a-wrestler creations (some of which have been very inspired), is a real treat, and it sure beats wrestling the CPU over and over again. It helps you bring your game up a notch... keeps you on your toes. And I haven't had too many problems with laggy connections, which is a huge plus. I've had a little trouble getting a game going at times but I think there was only one time I couldn't get a game going at all, and it was at 8am in the morning when I guess no one was interested in getting the smack laid down on them.

The verdict: while not the deepest online mode they could have included, it's definitely better than no online mode at all. Here's to hoping that the next offering in the series adds more modes (and hopefully more players) into the mix, but until them I'm a happy camper with this game.

Counting down the minutes (about 100 of them to be exact) until I leave work and try and weasel in some wrasslin' without getting the smack laid down on me...

Gran Turismo 4 Races To The Finish Line

2004-11-11T15:17:00.000-05:00

A party was held yesterday in Tokyo by Sony to celebrate the completion
of the much-anticipated Gran Turismo 4 for Playstation 2. The finished
product, set for release in North America and Japan this December,
sports about 700 cars, including some that haven't even been released to
the street yet in real life (...what's that you ask? Don't look at
me...)

GT4 does not, unfortunately, have online play enabled. I've heard
something about a separate Gran Turismo product scheduled for release
later in 2005 that would have this feature, but I'm not sure how much
sense that makes. The specific release date seems to be set for
December 14, 2004, which is curiously close to the holidays, which makes
me wonder if the online mode is getting cut solely to make the game
available in time for holiday shopping.

Regardless, this game is looking like it's going to be pretty sweet, and
a hot gift to get for someone who loves racing games. I think the
intense detail being put in to this game will help numb the effects of
no online mode for many... I mean, 700 cars? You better start stocking
up on your sleep time *now* if you plan on driving all of them...

$100 Million? That's Chump Change For Halo 2...

2004-11-11T10:04:00.000-05:00

As incredible as the $100 million projection for Halo 2 on its first day of release sounded, it gets even better... because, as it turns out, it beat that projection by 25%.

Halo 2 ended up earning $125,000,000 in first day sales, breaking the first-day earnings record of any entertainment release... read that again.. ANY ENTERTAINMENT RELEASE... including the biggest Hollywood blockbusters, as I alluded to in my previous Halo article. So Spider-Man, Luke and Anakin Skywalker, Neo, or anybody else you can think of can't touch Halo.

That dollar amount translates to about 2.4 million units sold of the game. It's only been out a couple of days and it's already shattered records... who knows how it will continue to perform. But there's no denying it -- this game has made entertainment history. And from what I hear (I've yet to actually play it myself, although that will be happening shortly) the game is mostly living up to the hype.

WWE Upgrading to HDTV

2004-11-10T16:32:00.000-05:00

An excerpt from the press release:

Snell & Wilcox today announced that its standards converters have been selected by World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. (WWE) to facilitate the media and entertainment company's move toward high-definition (HD) broadcasting. With its purchase of a Ukon universal converter and upgrade of its Alchemist Platinum Ph.C standards converter to include HD outputs, WWE has started its migration to HD broadcasts of its professional wrestling events.

Basically, this means that if you're a WWE fan, and haven't hooked yourself up with some HD goodness just yet, now might be the time to consider doing so. I can already see some high-definition Diva puppies popping out of the screen before my very eyes... oh yeah, and the wrestling action should look pretty awesome too.

A DVD to Bust a Gut To

2004-11-10T15:50:00.000-05:00

If you're not familiar with Stephen Lynch... well then, you should be.
What's wrong with you?!

His new DVD, Stephen Lynch "Live At The El Rey", is Lemur-approved
viewing material. Unless, of course, you DON'T want to laugh your ass
off. Lynch is the master of raunchy twisted songs, and some of his best
are on display on this DVD. A sampling of his lyrics, from
"Grandfather":

When grandfather dies / life will be strange
When grandfather dies / my whole world will change
When grandfather dies / I'll scream and I'll yell..
'cause i'll be f***in rich as hell!

A stroke would be nice / Disease would be cool
I'll scatter his ashes in my new swimming pool
I'll jam with the Stones / I'll dine with the queen
So let's say we / unplug that machine

And that's just one I deemed tame enough to post here without incurring
the wrath of sensitive readers or get, uh, questionable Google ads.

I'm actually going to see Stephen live in Morristown, NJ the night
before Thanksgiving and can't wait. I saw him live once before, back in
2002 at Rutgers University (my alma mater), and it was great. He
interacts with the audience brilliantly and while that comes through
very well on the DVD I suggest taking a trip over to StephenLynch.com
and looking to see if his tour is coming anywhere near you. If you
don't want to take my word for it, check out the DVD and you'll see what
I mean. Enjoy the dementia!

Limited Edition Droolworthy Sound Card

2004-11-10T12:30:00.000-05:00

Today, Creative Technology announced the limited edition Sound Blaster Audigy 4 Pro sound card. If 113db SNR Digital to Analog Converters producing superior 24-bit advanced HD audio (the highest signal-to-noise ratio of any consumer sound card) tickles your fancy, then you may want to take notice of this bad boy.

Priced at $299.99, where it will be released this month (not sure of a US launch date yet), this is a card best suited for someone willing to dish out some serious coin for premium sound quality -- hardcore PC gamers, amateur musicians, or just audiophiles in general. And if you know and love such a person, and have more money than you know what to do with, then perhaps this should be on your holiday shopping list for them...

Why it's limited edition, I couldn't tell you. Other than the fact that they probably really want to hype the fact that this is a special sound card targeted at people who would actually gush over a sound card... did I mention it has a remote control? And that it comes with software that supports automatic scheduling of recordings from any source - streamed Internet content, vinyl records, cassette decks - and cuts the single audio stream into individual tracks. Recording from low quality source material? That's OK... the software can fix that too. Would you believe me if I also told you it came with games? "Thief: Deadly Shadows" and Hitman: Contracts (both with full advanced HD support) are included with the Sound Blaster Audigy 4 Pro.

Sweetness.

An HDTV-compatible LCD TV and PC monitor in one? Sweet!

2004-11-09T20:53:00.000-05:00

Sharp has unveiled what it has dubbed the "IT-TV", model # IT-23M1U, a 23-inch wide aspect ratio display that doubles as both a PC monitor and a digital HDTV-compatible LCD TV.
DROOL!

This unit sports a high contrast ratio of 550:1 and high brightness of 500 nits, and is great for everything for working with CAD to playing games and watching TV or DVDs. It also boasts a response time under 16ms, which means it performs well with quickly moving/high data images without any ill effects such as ghosting.

The IT-2EM1U also comes equipped with built-in 1o-watt stereo speakers with Virtual Dolby Surround (Pro Logic II) technology for 3D sound effects, which is said to reproduce the theatre surround sound experience.

This unit is launching with an estimated price of $1,499. Time to start looking for change in the washer and dryer...

$100 Million Dollar Day For Halo 2? I'm In The Wrong Business...

2004-11-09T16:55:00.000-05:00

Peter Moore, a corporate vice president with Microsoft's games division, is calling a $100 million day on Xbox's "Halo 2" today on its first day of release. Not only did they presell 1.5 million units, Moore said one retailer sold 8,500 units in the first 11 minutes of sales, while another sold 200,000 units by daybreak Tuesday.

$100 million. How huge is that? Consider this: Spider-Man, which currently holds the opening-weekend box office record, made $114,844,116 at the box office its first week... and that's counting three days. Coming in second? Shrek 2 at $72,170,363. That's a lot of dough to be made by Microsoft, and a lot of Xbox owners who's worlds are about to get rocked by what will most likely be contending for Game of the Year, rivaled only by Rockstar Games' "Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas" for Playstation 2.

SoundBridge and Your Digital Music Collection - A Match Made in Heaven

2004-11-09T12:35:00.000-05:00

If you have a ridiculous amount of digital music stored on your computer, you probably wish you could do more with it than listen to it from your desktop or burn it. You've probably wanted to really unlock the potential of all your tunes and somehow get your home stereo system hooked into your network so that you can enjoy that music to the fullest. This has been possible for a while but had been difficult to achieve over secure networks.

"'scuse me while I whip this out." ~ Sheriff Bart, Blazing Saddles

Roku brings to you the SoundBridge, a nice looking unit that comes in two sizes -- the M1000, their 10-incher that runs for $200 ($250 with Wi-Fi wireless networking) and the 17-inch goodness of the M2000, which at $500 comes standard with Wi-Fi with a display so large you can easily select music with a remote from across the room.

With either iTunes or Windows Media Player 10 installed on your PC, and a little bit of network configuration, the SoundBridge will connect to your music library and you're set. It's really cool and comes in really handy, especially if you're hosting a party. I've been to more than one party where someone as physically moved their PC next to their stereo, usually dragging it up and down a flight of stairs or two, messed with a bunch of cables and generally got very frustrated before finally getting everything hooked up, just to unhook it at the end of the day and have to repeat the whole process the next time they're having a shindig. If this sounds like you, untangle yourself from the mess of cables and look into a SoundBridge... you'll probably be happy you did.

Sony KDE-50XS955 Is Your Daddy... as is Halo 2

2004-11-09T00:31:00.000-05:00

So I'm gearing up to watch WWE RAW in just a few minutes, and was thinking... what TV would I ideally be love to watching this on?

Sony KDE-50XS955

Oh yeah, that's the stuff.

50" High-Definition XS Plasma Wega TV with built-in HDTV tuner and CableCARD slot. Forget that it's 50" (OK, that's hard to forget, I know) ... the color and clarity on this thing is simply amazing. It's 160 degree viewing angle is perfect and video games come to life on this set. The price will scare you ($6999.99, five or take, depending where you look) but this baby is well worth it.

What we can save you a couple bucks on, however, is Halo 2. I don't think I need to tell any of you how anticipated this game is and my guess is that it will not disappoint. eCost has it for a low $42.95 for the next 66 hours and 26 minutes (according to their site), or until the remaining 58 copies of the game they have sell out. You know you want it...

Show The Love for "Weird Al" Yankovic

2004-11-08T20:27:00.000-05:00

Media Lemur's favorite musical artist is "Weird Al" Yankovic, and if you've got the respect for the Weird One that the Lemur does, then mosey on over to the website for the Weird Al Star Fund. They're collecting funds to get Al his own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and the Lemur says he deserves it.

While you're at it, pick up his recent Grammy-award-winning album, 2003's Poodle Hat, or his DVD, The Ultimate Video Collection, chronicling Al's hilarious music video library along with some other goodies.

Layeth the Smacketh Down

2004-11-08T18:46:00.000-05:00

THQ's WWE Raw vs. Smackdown! for Playstation 2 is the pro wrestling game that every other pro wrestling game has been leading up to.

OK, a lot of people (most likely those who are more inclined to go with a more sim-type wrasslin' game) will disagree with me on that... but certainly, fans of PSX/PS2 Smackdown! series will agree that it's all lead up to this, for a couple of reasons:

a) ONLINE PLAY!
b) Much-improved career mode

I've been saying for a while now (mostly to myself, since I haven't been committing this kind of stuff to a blog until now) that they desperately needed to add online play to truly boost the replay value of these games once you've unlocked everything, won the heavyweight title, and honed your skills to the point that the CPU is no longer a challenge. Now you can bring the pain to countless poor slobs online, which is especially fun when you're dueling your create-a-wrestler (forever the key component to these wrestling games) against theirs.

So far, in playing the career mode, the biggest differences are the superstar voiceovers (some of which are much better than others... you'll see) and storyline continuity. So far it's been a pretty interesting ride. One weird aspect is that a lot of the storylines revolve around winning the contracts of various WWE Divas, which of course doesn't sit well with my girlfriend... seems she doesn't think collecting women is an endearing aspect of the game.

If you're a fan of wrestling, and own a PS2, I probably don't need to nudge you all that much to go buy this game... but here's a good ::nudge:: anyway. As for the rest of you, at least give it a rent if you like fighting games... you might find that the depth of this game will reel you in, even if you have no idea what a slobberknocker is or why Rico.. uh, looks like that.

Welcome to Media Lemur!

2004-11-08T16:15:00.000-05:00

Thanks for visiting Media Lemur -- swinging through the trees of the media jungle. Here, you'll find recommendations on anything media -- TV (both equipment and shows), computer and video games (consoles, games, accessories, etc.), DVD's (both players and discs... seeing a trend here?) ... basically, if you're the kind of person who dreams of having the ultimate extreme media room in there house, soundproofed so you can crank it up as loud as you want without disturbing the neighbors, engaging in some major warfare online in Star Wars: Battlefront or watching a South Park box set, etc etc etc... you get the idea. If you're a multimediaholic, then you've stumbled over to the right place. More to come... enjoy!