Thoughts about my Fantasy Football teams this year

Props to an artist going it Alone Tonight

It’s hard enough to be in a band, let alone BE the band.

Alone Tonight, the premiere single from The Aesthetic, has a double meaning as both the name of the song and I’m sure the feeling it’s lone member feels, having to fill the roles of producer, songwriter, singer, musician, marketer, distributor, well, you get the idea. It’s just just him folks.

Since the break-up of Silent Sirens, Chicago’s own Jesse Christenson is striving to carve out a name for himself with this solo effort. With the upcoming debut album, Genesis, Christenson builds upon the energy and complexity we heard from his work with the Sirens, but now takes his vocals from background to center stage.

As we hear in Alone Tonight, Christenson demonstrates the confidence that he can take risks musically in his arrangements, offering some pleasant surprises to the listener that do not detract from the emotion and tempo that resonates throughout.

You can hear Jesse finding himself in his vocals, and although that same confidence might not be yet at the same level of the music, there are plenty of signs that he, as well as us are listening to the beginnings of something special.

As the title of the album suggests, this is indeed a Genesis, and I for one can’t wait to hear more.

You can find a link to Alone Tonight via the Aesthetics Twitter page or on Facebook.

So long and thank you.

Something for the road perhaps?

As you may have noticed, it's gotten a little dusty around here lately. Recent changes in my normal routine have compelled me to put down the keyboard. This will the last post at Cornfedtech.com.

Since beginning this venture more than 2 years ago on Tumblr, eventually moving here to blogger, It has been a great to see folks stopping by, if only for a few minutes, considering the nature of my blog was not unique. I have a great respect for those who give their all, day in and day out, creating good content that can be read, seen, listened to by as few as a handful, or go viral, getting millions of hits.

In the end, even posts on the most mundane of topics sometimes proved to be the most fun and rewarding.

But most of all, it was the comments, even if they disagreed, that I appreciated most. Participating in the conversation was the goal from the beginning. Each of us can and should contribute, even in some small way, so that we make these tubes a better place-considering we spend so much damn time here to begin with (Farmville? Really? Sigh...).

Although this is the last stop for me, I encourage you (yeah, I'm looking at you back there...) to put in your two cents to this Internet thing and go create something great, even if it's only great to you. What matters is it's you. Your voice. Your opinions. Your commentary.

Cats? Sure, go nuts.

Fin

What a printer SD card slot can teach you

Canon's PIXMA MP48o

You can learn something new everyday. I received a Canon MP480 Photo All-in-One Printer, as shown above, as part of a PowerShot bundle earlier this year for my birthday. The printer itself was a much needed upgrade from another hulk of a printer that I had gotten the year before which drained ink from it's numerous tanks faster that most Hummer's running around out there.

Aside from reducing the number of tanks from 6 to 2, the MP480 comes with a very serviceable scanner and has some nice interface options including, bluetooth, a USB port and memory card slots that let you operate and let friends and family print and make copies without having the computer on.

Nothing new right? But wait, there's more.

I love the SD card slot, but I use it when my Mac is off. But over the weekend, some relatives were over and were using the printer to take pics of the kids while I had the computer on and I noticed iPhoto fire up and recognize the card as if it was my other USB card reader. Several months after I got the printer, I hadn't realized the Canon's card reader had this dual fashion of both a stand alone reader for the printer and the Mac.

It also worked an an older Toshiba laptop I recently was using as an Unbuntu Linux test machine. I'm sure then it'll work on the PC side.

With USB ports at a premium, unless you want to populate your desk with hubs, an embedded card reader on your printer has a great deal of functionality while the computer is off and on.

And it's great to find a new feature even after you think you got it down and the manual has been put away!

CNET gets down with the Beatles, Rock Band Edition

Hope everyone is enjoying the Labor Day Weekend. Although for some lucky souls, their work involves testing out the Beatles Rock Band Edition, due this Wednesday, 9/9/09.

CNET's crew of Dan Ackerman, Jeff Bakalar, and Scott Stein give you a full report:

"Music aside, this is essentially the same Rock Band game you've been playing for two years, but with nicely done overhauls of the menus, graphics, and interface, including some very cool animated Beatles segments. The biggest change to the actual gameplay is the inclusion of three-part vocal harmonies (you'll need three USB mics). We found out the hard way that these songs are actually pretty tough to sing, and nailing the harmonies is even tougher...

While there's a welcome free-play mode where all 45 included songs are immediately available to play, that's fewer songs than some previous Rock Band or Guitar Hero games include, and the track selection is sure to be missing at least a few of your favorites. There's clearly a big push to sell individual songs and whole albums as downloads (at $1.99 per track), starting with "Abbey Road" in October...

Three-part harmony allows up to three Beatles karaoke-ers to jump in and sing along, and the effect is simple and fun, focusing more on hopping in on a comfortable note than nailing parts perfectly."

I'm curious of how fast the game will fly off shelves this week. Also competing for your Beatle dollars us a new boxed set with remastered set. One can only imagine that digital downloads can hopefully not be too far away...

Word lives to sell another day

Steven Musil of CNET reports that Microsoft has won a stay against a ruling in a Texas court that would have halted sales of Microsoft Word due to XML patent infringements of i4i Incorporated. That keeps the product on the shelves for now.

"In filing its formal appeal last week, Microsoft made a number of arguments for overturning the infringement finding, saying that the judge made several procedural errors and failed to live up to his role as "gatekeeper."

In addition to pursuing its appeal, Microsoft has other options including creating a technical workaround, removing the XML function, or reaching a settlement with I4i"

Of course another option is for Microsoft to throw some money at the issue and just make it go away. The 200 Million in damages they are talking about is pretty much chump-change for Redmond.

How painfully easy it is to get me started on eReaders

It was in the middle of adding a comment on a great post by Ed Oswald of the Technologizer, that I had realized I was writing I lengthy post.

There are a few hot-button tech topics out there for me. eReaders and eBooks are one of them.

To that end, Oswald notes that based on some research, eReaders need to be much cheaper in order to reach critical mass.

"While the Amazon Kindle and to some extent the Sony Reader have ignited the e-book industry, analysts say that the market will not be able to grow much further without a serious price drop. Forrester Research studied the problem, and found the “magic price” where consumers would start considering a purchase was around $150.

It gets worse though: the actual price that consumers want to pay is much lower, sitting at around $90. This is nowhere close to the current retail prices of e-bookreaders: Sony’s somewhat close to the magic number with it’s cheapest at $199, but Amazon’s way overpriced in consumer’s eyes at $299."

That apparently tripped the comment trigger for me. I guess it takes so little ;)

"I think if you factor in the popularity of the price point of the $99 8GB (older model) iPhone when the 3GS first launched this summer (real cost aside for a moment), I think you see some data that could support some critical mass. I think you’re right though, that removing the EV-DO card might be a way to get a cheaper model, perhaps with a higher priced one getting it.

For me the bigger barrier to entry is the cost of the eBooks themselves. Although I have found the Kindle App for iPhone to be a very doable and convenient way to read that fits a busy schedule, I am constantly running up against a price point that (paperbacks and older books) that is very close to what I could get at a borders and Barnes and Noble-who are doing some competitive pricing on their own. Plus how do I know that the ebooks I buy are going to be able to port over to other devices. Expensive and DRM’d to kingdom come? Hmmm…

eReaders I think have a very small window to themselves if we are in fact gearing up for a tablet boom in the coming months/years. If I can get a Kindle app on a tablet, that sports all the other applications that smartphones are sporting, who wants to wait around for a cheap, dumbed down eReader?

We are talking here about a battle for the backpack and the backpocket of people and we are getting to the point where people want to carry less around with them.

So to get back to your title, it’s time for a price drop RIGHT freakin’ now."

Alright, I'm coming down off the soapbox. It's just that the view is so great from up there.

Seen and Noted : Nokia unveils N97 Mini

The thing I guess to take out of this announcement is that we all learned that there is an event called Nokia World ('09 in Stuttgart, Germany). But we also learn that everywhere outside of the U.S. gets a broader range of Nokia hardware.

That said, what's notable about this device for me is the touch screen interface, (with slideout keyboard) Facebook integration and a 5 (yup) megapixel camera.

Here's the official dope:

"the N97 mini still packs 8GB of storage, a 3.2-inch touchscreen and full QWERTY keyboard into its 14.2mm thin frame. It’s also the first Nokia device to sport Lifecasting with Ovi – a new partnership with the world’s largest social network, Facebook. The N97 mini is based on the same tilt display design of its N97 big brother, built into a smaller body complete with new design touches.

The Nokia N97 mini works seamlessly with Ovi Store where users can add new applications, widgets, ringtones and other content to their device. It also sports Ovi Maps and comes with integrated A-GPS and compass along with with voice navigation for driving or walking. Over 155,000 points of interest are also available through Lonely Planet guides and restaurants through Michelin Guides.

Up to 12 days standby time are on offer and up to 28 hours music playback (in offline mode). The 5-megapixel camera comes with dual LED flash and video light, along with a Carl Zeiss Tessar lens. The 8GB of on board memory can be expanded to 24GB with the addition of a 16GB microSD card.

The Nokia N97 mini will be available next month for an estimated retail price of EUR450 ($640.71) before taxes and subsidies."

Marguerite Reardon of CNET:

"The handset maker also announced two new music phones: the X6 and the X3. The X6, which has a touch screen and 32GB of built-in memory, will be Nokia's new flagship music phone. The company expects to ship the new phone in the fourth quarter for a list price of 450 euros, or $639. As with the N97, users will also get the Comes With Music service bundled into the phone...In yet another attempt to diversify, Nokia also plans to offer more sophisticated hardware, in the form of a mini-laptop or Netbook--last week it announced the new device, dubbed the Nokia Booklet 3G. At the event in Germany on Wednesday it announced that it will ship the mini laptop in the fourth quarter with a list price tag of 575 euros, or about $817."

Is there a Verizon Storm 2 on the Horizon?

Bonna Cha of CNET reports that you can get a good deal these days on the oft maligned Blackberry Storm.

"This is the second price drop for the Storm (first was from $199.99 to $149.99), leading many to believe that the carrier is clearing out inventory to make room for the RIM BlackBerry Storm 2. While RIM has confirmed only that it is working on the device, it has not commented on a release date, pricing, or final specs. "

However some sites around the tubes are running with a supposed leaked document from Verizon that says the Storm 2 could see you in September to mid-October.

James Falconer of IntoMobile.com:

"If the docs are to be believed, then you can look forward to a BlackBerry Storm 2 (9550) on Verizon starting on the 29th of September for business customers. Also, the device will rear it’s touchscreeny-goodness in Verizon stores on the 14th of October (for general consumption).

Of course, no pricing details are available at this point… But this is the latest. Believe it or not, I’m still chalking it up to rumor until I get more confirmation."

I would hold off on getting a Storm at this point even if we are a couple more months away from a new model. The Storm has no where to go but up.

Done with Snow Leopard? How about an Apple Event?

News is traveling fast around the tubes that Apple has confirmed a September 9th media event.

Slash Lane of AppleInsider:

"Members of the press received their invitations for Apple's media-related event Monday via e-mail. Last week, sources confirmed to AppleInsider that the event would be held the Wednesday after Labor Day. The now-official keynote will begin at 10 a.m. Pacific Time (1 p.m. Eastern).

With a graphic stating "It's only rock and roll, but we like it," the invitation references a classic Rolling Stones lyric. It also features a take on the company's standard-style iPod silhouette graphic."

Erica Ogg of CNET:

"Because the date is a Wednesday, as opposed to Apple's traditional preference for events on Tuesdays, it's possible there could finally be an announcement regarding The Beatles catalog coming to iTunes. September 9 is also the day The Beatles' remastered digital albums and Rock Band video game will be released."

A number of outlets will be live-blogging the event and we will provide you with links as that date draws closer.

Disney nabs the web-crawler and Marvel for 4 Billion

Disney announced today that they have made an agreement to acquire Marvel Entertainment Incorporated in a deal worth 4 Billion in stock and cash.

According to the release:

"This transaction combines Marvel's strong global brand and world-renowned library of characters including Iron Man, Spider-Man, X-Men, Captain America, Fantastic Four and Thor with Disney's creative skills, unparalleled global portfolio of entertainment properties, and a business structure that maximizes the value of creative properties across multiple platforms and territories," said Robert A. Iger, President and Chief Executive Officer of The Walt Disney Company. "Ike Perlmutter and his team have done an impressive job of nurturing these properties and have created significant value. We are pleased to bring this talent and these great assets to Disney."

"We believe that adding Marvel to Disney's unique portfolio of brands provides significant opportunities for long-term growth and value creation," Iger said.

"Disney is the perfect home for Marvel's fantastic library of characters given its proven ability to expand content creation and licensing businesses," said Ike Perlmutter, Marvel's Chief Executive Officer. "This is an unparalleled opportunity for Marvel to build upon its vibrant brand and character properties by accessing Disney's tremendous global organization and infrastructure around the world."

Under the deal, Disney will acquire ownership of Marvel including its more than 5,000 Marvel characters. Mr. Perlmutter will oversee the Marvel properties, and will work directly with Disney's global lines of business to build and further integrate Marvel's properties."

Paul Thomasch of Reuters:

"For Disney, movies like those should help address a key area of concern among investors: How it can better reach more young males.

"This helps give Disney more important exposure to the young male demographic that they have sort of lost some ground with in recent years," said David Joyce, an analyst with Miller Tabak & Co.

Disney Chief Financial Officer Tom Staggs told Reuters on Monday, "(Marvel's) audience is surprisingly broad. It transcends gender and age and has real potential worldwide. They skew a little more toward boys than many of our properties."

Though I wonder how much Stan Lee gets from this?

Excelsior!

To Live and Die in Snow Leopard - An Installer's log

Grasshopper you journey only now begins...

David Carradine did not drop by during the time I was installing Mac OS X 10.6, but I did get my $30 dollars worth of entertainment for the evening considering the wonder and drama that goes into any OS upgrade that's not a wipe and install - Mac or Windows. Even though arguably this isn't the seismic shift of some previous versions, there was enough going on under the hood that left me wondering what I'd see on the other side.

A big help going in was the Snow Leopard Compatibility chart that showed you current state of some of the main Mac Software. Not really meant so much for Apple's own stuff, but the great collection of third party apps we live and die on.

Over the week I had been uninstalling things like the iStat Menus which were apps that ran on start up. If I saw a regular application that I saw had an issue, I checked for an update, which developers are really doing a good job of doing, considering the release date being pushed back.

Another good piece of advice came when you first start installing, which is to click the 'Customize' button just prior to install and for me at least, check 'Rosetta' which installs the Apple software that lets you run older Power PC apps. That said, I was not sure that my older Creative Suite (CS1) from Adobe would work, as well as my ancient copy of Toast, but it's probably time to upgrade that anyway. Time to let go and live in the now, I guess.

Another Customizing tip. Apple lets you choose not to install a bunch of printer drivers and basically just look for your printer's driver. You can also opt out of other languages, which may get everything done a little faster and save some more space.

The install took about 40 minutes and the machine rebooted a couple of times and then finished the installation. Pretty undramatic- which is a good thing.

My Mini booted up and looked just the same as I had left it earlier. I checked the Internet connection which was fine and checked the free space on the HD. Just as they have been saying, Snow Leopard does go in a little slimmer and gives you back some room. That's one of those things where I say - 'don't know what you did to get it there, but I like it.'

Then I started going through the critical apps making sure everything was still working.

MacHeist buyers rejoice since it looks like we either can get updates or run as is. Programs like Acorn, Boinx, Picturesque, Delicious Library, Little Snapper, etc. worked fine. Ambrosia, the maker of Wiretap Studio came out with updates yesterday which made it SN ready.

Dropbox runs a little wonky, so I went to their site and uninstalled for now. Pixen, a drawing program also did not work.

Other than that I was pretty much OK.

Do spend some time with Quicktime X. To me this was the big visible upgrade. Considering you can now record audio, video and do some screen capturing, and video trimming, like in the iPhone app, Apple has really made a great improvement to the program. But you can also still get and use Quicktime 7 if you have apps that need that version.

I think though that Snow Leopard really sets the stage for new applications and with Grand Central Dispatch and Open CL, start taking advantage of the horsepower of the multi-core Intel systems.

This update was probably a little too big to push over the internet, and thus probably made more sense to put on a DVD.

MacCast host Adam Christianson does a live install on USTREAM on Saturday

The bottom line is that it's a good idea to get Snow Leopard (if not now then definitely at some point) if you have the newer models, especially since some of the improvements will work well with that hardware. I think though that the Quicktime update is pretty solid and some of the extra menus in the dock items will make your life a little easier. I like getting the hard drive space back and I think overall we're seeing the maturity of OS X.

Which ain't such a bad thing.

Today the desktop, tormorrow, China - From CNET

While Snow Leopard leaves stores starting today bound for your desktop, Apple has inked a deal with China Unicom to start selling iPhones in China.

From Jonathan Skillings of CNET:

"The news was, by and large, expected. Reports of an impending deal had been circulating for some time now. And at least as far back as March, China Unicom--the country's second largest mobile operator--had been posting iPhone photos and specifications on its Web site. Apple had also been in on-again, off-again talks with the country's largest carrier, China Mobile."

That point is echoed by Chris Foresman of Ars Technica:

"Entering the Chinese market is a major coup for Apple, as the country's roughly 700 million mobile subscribers represent the largest potential market for the iPhone in the world. If Apple is able to reach just two percent of those customers (that's Apple's current share of global mobile market), that represents 14 million more iPhone sales—a 56 percent increase over the roughly 25 million Apple has sold so far, over two years and in 80 countries."

Could Could Howard Stern go it alone? - From the BuzzMachine

Taking a break between Snow Leopard and Beatle Mania this week, I thought Jeff Jarvis, author of the BuzzMachine among other things picked up on an interesting story by David Hinkley of the Daily News regarding Howard Sterns' possible future after his term is up with Sirius XM; could he go it alone?

"I’ve talked with a measurement company that did a study on his impact on satellite and concluded that a majority of users were there and paying $12.95 a month because of him. So say that half those people – 3.5 million – would pay half that much – $6 – to get Stern anywhere and on-demand. That’s $252 million. Absurd? OK, so charge $1 a month; that’s $42 million (though at a lower price, the volume would surely increase)."

He adds that Stern basically would need staff and bandwidth, much like Leo Laporte's TWiT network of podcasts and streaming audio/video.

Longtime Chicago sports talk personality Mike North hit the internet airwaves this spring after having his contract not renewed by AM670 the Score, although that venture has run into a bit of a financial snag as it's investor has run into some legal trouble.

That said, even without the big numbers Stern use to broadcast to, he still could talk to a very large and profitable audience and not really have to share the loot. Given the capacity of smartphones and mp3 players to receive streaming audio, it could be a win-win for him to be as Jarvis puts it 'The Stern Broadcasting Corp.'

Get your system ready for the big cat - From Lifehacker

Gina Tripani, founder and oft contributor to Lifehacker has a nice step-by-step post on getting ready before you stick the disc in this Friday (so to speak).

Clean up, back up, and pay attention to the prompts. Also bear in mind that some apps may not be compatible. In fact, maybe take some time as she says and go through your drive and see if there's anything you don't need to come along for the ride. And if you have an external drive - all the better, in case something goes wrong.

It should be stated that this is an upgrade and not a fresh install, but Apple has mentioned that this system is a tighter one than 10.5 and should be some gigabytes lighter.

Best yet grab a single or six of your favorite beverage, because you know where your butt is sitting on a late summer Friday night. Yup, same as mine.

Yeah, I'm lookin' at you.