Microsoft announces Surface computer

I'm dumbfounded. Microsoft announced a product this week that looks innovative, fun, and useful. It's not just another me-too clone of someone else's product. It works from Microsoft's strengths. And it looks like it could be a hit from both the corporate and consumer perspectives. That is, if Microsoft doesn't screw it up from a usability perspective like they do everything else that they touch.




From TechCrunch:

Surface turns an ordinary tabletop into a dynamic surface that provides interaction with all forms of digital content through natural gestures, touch and physical objects.

The new product is aimed directly at hotels, retail establishments, restaurants and public entertainment venues and should be commercially available towards the end of the year.

Surface uses the same "multi-touch" concept as the upcoming Apple iPhone -- multiple fingers can be used to create gestures and manipulate digital objects in much the same way as one would manipulate physical objects. It's not hard to see that a large segment of the computing future is going to work this way, and probably the not-too-distant future. It reminds me a lot of the table-top arcade games you used to see in pizza parlors.

I haven't even touched on the way the Surface computer interacts with physical objects like cell phones and digital cameras (those equipped with the right wireless technology, anyway). Watching the nerds from Popular Mechanics drag a photo from a camera to a cell phone as easily as one would from one folder to another on your computer's desktop has a cool factor I never thought I'd see in a Microsoft product.

Just so long as it doesn't run Vista.

Pirates put a hit on DVD-sniffing dogs?

I thought studios had been equipping theaters with night-vision goggles for years, but apparently it's the new hot thing in Malaysia, that hotbed of DVD piracy.

The Motion Picture Association, which is training Malaysian ushers to catch the pirates, said cinemas had caught 17 people in the past two months . . . .

Malaysia is on the U.S. watch list for movie and software piracy, but local authorities have launched a major crackdown on producers and retailers of illegal DVDs since the country began free-trade talks with the United States a year ago.

OK, so I guess that's news. But why did they bury this little tidbit at the end of the story?

The [Motion Picture Association], which represents the big Hollywood studios, recently brought to Malaysia two dogs trained to sniff out DVDs--with stunning results. The two labradors, Lucky and Flo, have sniffed out more than a million DVDs and have broken a fake DVD ring.

They have been so successful that authorities believe that Malaysian pirates have put a bounty on the dogs' heads.

Somebody should make a movie outta that.

Let are kids walk!

Is it cruel of me to think this juxtaposition of story and photo is hilarious?

I don't care.

A moment of silence . . .

... for the under-appreciated (and apparently under-watched) Veronica Mars, which was not picked up for renewal by the unbelievably messed-up hybrid network, the CW. Hope for a reprieve is dim at best.

Network prez Dawn Ostroff said:

"Veronica Mars is over. We're talking about something else [featuring series star Kristen Bell]. I don't know if it's going to be anything. I'm being honest with you. It could come back in some form, but I don't know what form that would be."

The season (and series) finale of the show airs this coming Tuesday.

To quote my wife: "And yet, America's Next Top Model lives on. There's justice for you."

Tyrannosaurus Fest the 3rd: June 9th 2007

In or near the Dallas TX area? Feeling like watching weird movies for hours on end might be a fun way to waste a Saturday? Send me some e-mail and I'll send you the details.

Ninja News Alert

From First Coast News:

ORLANDO, FL (AP) -- A man dressed like a ninja broke into an Orlando home, smashed furniture, attacked two people and then vanished without a trace.

Three people were inside the home watching a movie Sunday afternoon when the ninja ran in, punched one man in the mouth and then kicked another man.

The victims -- who did not want to be identified -- reported that the costumed man slammed the DVD player and VCR into a dresser. Then he pulled out a knife and started waiving it around. The victims say the intruder didn't steal anything from the house but took several pictures with his cell phone camera.

When it was time for the ninja to make his escape, he didn't disappear in a cloud of smoke. The victims say the man ran down the street to a black BMW and drove off.

If ever there was a time to buy ninja insurance, this is it. When the ninjas start attacking us randomly in our homes, the end times are a-comin'.

Cult Movies Podcast Episode #38

We've managed to keep the podcasts going at a fairly regular pace. Episode 38 features a discussion of the recently released Spider-Man 3 and a preview of other movies coming out in May. Join us, won't you? No iPod required.

Independent video stores struggle in the face of Netflix

From the Arizona Daily Star:

After years of struggling to compete against chains like Blockbuster, Hollywood Video and Movie Gallery, independent video stores throughout the country are finding it even more difficult to survive in the age of online video rentals.

Well, duh.

I honestly can't remember the last time I was in an independent video store. Austin has its fair share (I Luv Video and Vulcan Video are the two most prominent) but they're not located conveniently for me and all of my video needs are currently covered by Netflix, Amazon, and other specialty internet sources.

Anyone out there supporting their local mom and pop stores? Leave a comment and let me know.

Robot Chicken "Star Wars" special

Coming soon to a television near you.

South Park creators team up with Pretty Woman screenwriter for giant lizard pic

I'm pretty sure it doesn't get much more awesome than that. From a recent Wired blog entry:

J.F. Lawton, the guy who wrote Pretty Woman, took a different tack when pitching his new movie. It obviously worked. South Park creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker are going to collaborate with Lawton on Giant Monsters Attack Japan! which will eschew CGI for actors dressed in rubber suits.

To sell his vision of a retro sci fi comedy, Lawton defied plain vanilla screenplay format convention -- no pictures, ever - - and spiked up his screenplay with some of his favorite freaky lizard pics.

"I knew that I was dealing with a lot of imagery that is very familiar to any 14-year-old kid who's into anime and reading manga and all that, but might not be obvious to a studio executive," he told L.A. Times Scriptland.

I guess the puppets were too hard to pull off a second time -- they decided it was time to go for the suitmation instead. Either way, my butt will be there.