Hit Shows from MTV Networks Available on the iTunes Music Store

MTV Networks and Apple today announced that 14 hit television shows from MTV, MTV2, COMEDY CENTRAL, Nickelodeon and The N are now available for purchase and download on the iTunes Music Store. The new content features top-rated favorites such as “Punk’d,” “South Park,” “Dora the Explorer,” “SpongeBob SquarePants” and “Laguna Beach.” [Jan 26, 2006]

This is huge. We travel by car a lot.

I buy these little cartoon game carts for $15 bucks or DVDs.

Now I can get exact favorite episodes for $1.99

Very cool.

It’s getting exciting again.

On Nov. 22nd 2005 Microsoft rolled out the highly anticipated XBOX 360. In order to take advantage of the Christmas rush and to beat Sony and Nintendo to market with the next generation game console. http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/fun.games/01/16/xbox.360.reut/index.html

I do like the new design but I have not gotten one. For 5 reasons.

1. Why? It doesn't have Halo. Halo is what made me buy the XBOX. It was the one game that made me buy the hardware to play it. I have tested all the XBOX 360 games that launched with it and there is nothing in there that is as compelling as HALO. (BTW:HALO was written on and for the MAC and then MS bought Bungie, but that's another story.)

2. Microsoft Blew it. They projected 4.5 MILLION units sold by June 2006. Yet they only sold 600,000 through the biggest holiday season ever. They were so focused on deploying at the same time world wide they ignored thier core audience. Now as we move into 2006 its too close to the launch of PS3 and people will wait and compare. MS Blew it!

3. Price. Face it it's a new world when we pay $400 for a game console and $60 bucks a game.

4. Price of the XBOX. For $129 bucks I get to play great games and they are releasing some 400 more titles for XBOX this year.

5. Availability. Face it. If it sits there in a pile whispering your name as you check out at target or Walmart you make excuses and end up buying it. If it was there, they would have sold it.

Wow, this took a long time to do. I was out of town and missed the expo. Dang it.
But they really made all the rumor sites eat thier words. I thought for sure a new shuffle(black) and a new imac mini (black - intel inside).

if you have not seen it. Watch the keynote. Compare that to the ones from CES and see what I mean. Steve Jobs is a rock star.

This is the Apple recap page. http://www.apple.com/hotnews/articles/2006/01/mwsf/

So they released
1. new FM ear bud for ipod
2. ilife 06 - major upgrade with iweb! Well worth it.
3. iwork 06 - not sure about this upgrade value. i'm still upset that the flash conversion of keynote did not work at all.
4. new iMAC intel core dou - Twice the speed, Same Price. WOW!
5. new Mac Book Pro - with intel core dou - 4 times the speed of my Powerbook G4.! Super WOW! only $2,000.

If you are a developer of mac software and need a machine that will allow you to develop for future intel platforms these are the machines to get.

If you run Photoshop all day for work, do not get these machines yet. You want Photoshop to run native.

Is it just me or did Steve seems to be making fun of Adobe? the load time for thier app is and has always been bad. Is there bad blood there? You knwo how these deals work. Microsoft says that Adobe can't release a new version for any platform other than windows first and since vista is so late, adobe has to sit on it. and that pisses off steve. well at least that is what I'm thinking.

Next Year CES and Mac World will be during same week. Hmmmm. What's a nerd to do?

At the Consumer Electronics Show in Vegas, actor Tom Hanks joins Sony Chairman and CEO Howard Stringer. Hanks appears in the upcoming film "The Da Vinci Code."

7 minutes Jan 5, 2006 11:29:00 AM

Funny Actor, Director, Chairman of Sony Interaction.

The Films that Tom Hanks and Ron Howard have created will live on in the history books as some of the finest ever made.

http://news.com.com/1606-2_3-6019990.html?tag=ne.vid

At CES in Las Vegas, Sony talks PlayStation 3

In his keynote, Sony CEO Howard Stringer says the PlayStation 2 and Portable outsold Microsoft's X-box during the holiday season.

4 minutes 55 seconds Jan 5, 2006 12:58:00 PM

http://news.com.com/1606-2-6020203.html

Yes, I love xBox over PS2. But I think Sony has done it. It's about the content, not being first to market. I have yet to see a game on xbox 360 that makes me say that I must have the xbox 360.

Jack Handey, in The New Yorker:

This is not some brightly colored, sugarcoated piece of candy that you can brush the ants off of and pop in your mouth.

This is not playtime or make-believe. This is real. It’s as real as a beggar squatting by the side of the road, begging, and then you realize, Uh-oh, he’s not begging.

http://www.newyorker.com/shouts/content/articles/060109sh_shouts 

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8530918890580805143 

Last year I went to my first CES. Remember this? Anyways due to my obligations I could not go this year. But here are a few Images from CES yesterday that I grabbed off the web.

Bill Gates eats McDonalds

In this shot, Mr. gates is getting out of his limo prior to the Keynote. I love seeing how the richest man in the world eats McDonalds. How can we serve him here in Ashland, We closed ours.

Sony is to bring its Librié e-1000 electronic book to the US in March, the company annnounced at CES today. Wow, another try at the electronic book?

Intel showed off thier new logo and brand. Intel the #1 brand in the world, next to Nike.

I love the new logo. It reminds me of John Deere. I'm sure we will have Intel on Stage next week at MacWorld.

Look closely. Philips is showing the 270 minute MPEG-2 HD Video DVD that holds 50 Gigs!

Woo Hoo!