Monthly Archives: January 2008

Gaming, Just Stuff

Mana Potions

I was listening to Casually Hardcore last week while I was at work.  And they were talking about Mana potions (the real life ones you can order from Mana Potions).  Seems some of their listeners (perhaps guild mates, couldn’t tell for sure).. chipped in and ordered them some to try as a sample.  Their on-air reaction was….. interesting.  So, a co-worker who was listening also, and I decided to order some… we got them this past Friday.

We split a 4 pack, and both tried one at work… the taste was…. unique.  I honestly can’t think of anything to compare it to.  Not gross, but very citrusy.

They are actually an energy drink, following the ‘loads of vitamin B, instead of lots of caffeine’ model.  Doing it as a ‘shot’ which, from the size of the bottle, is the intended drinking fashion, does produce a slight buzz, nothing huge (at least, for me).

My only real complaint about it, is that considering the prices charged, the logo should be printed on the bottle, not on the crooked plastic label with the nutrition information.  That way, you can easily reuse the bottle as a shot glass, and keep the cool logo on it.  With it as it is currently, the logo can get washed off with the plastic label if you wash the bottle too many times.

Apple

Drool Worthy

So, anyone wanna give me enough money to buy anything I can fit into, ohhh…say, a standard ‘inter office mail’ sized envelope?

In case you missed it, at Macworld yesterday, Apple released the new Macbook Air… it is super super thin… less then an inch at its thickest point (.8 of an inch, to be exact).. fits inside an envelope, and has decent specs for the size of the unit.

If anyone is feeling generous… I’ve got an ancient iBook that can used replacing 😉

Tech

Format wars are over!

Well, mostly anyway.  Yesterday, Warner Brothers announced that they will be exclusively releasing their titles on Blue Ray DVD only, and abandoning the sucky ass HD-DVD platform completly.

Thier press release:

(January 4, 2008 – Burbank, CA) – In response to consumer demand, Warner Bros. Entertainment will release its high-definition DVD titles exclusively in the Blu-ray disc format beginning later this year, it was announced today by Barry Meyer, Chairman & CEO, Warner Bros. and Kevin Tsujihara, President, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group.

“Warner Bros.’ move to exclusively release in the Blu-ray disc format is a strategic decision focused on the long term and the most direct way to give consumers what they want,” said Meyer.  “The window of opportunity for high-definition DVD could be missed if format confusion continues to linger.  We believe that exclusively distributing in Blu-ray will further the potential for mass market success and ultimately benefit retailers, producers, and most importantly, consumers.”

Warner Home Video will continue to release its titles in standard DVD format and Blu-ray.  After a short window following their standard DVD and Blu-ray releases, all new titles will continue to be released in HD DVD until the end of May 2008.

“Warner Bros. has produced in both high-definition formats in an effort to provide consumer choice, foster mainstream adoption and drive down hardware prices,” said Jeff Bewkes, President and Chief Executive Officer, Time Warner Inc., the parent company of Warner Bros. Entertainment.  “Today’s decision by Warner Bros. to distribute in a single format comes at the right time and is the best decision both for consumers and Time Warner.”

“A two-format landscape has led to consumer confusion and indifference toward high definition, which has kept the technology from reaching mass adoption and becoming the important revenue stream that it can be for the industry,” said Tsujihara.  “Consumers have clearly chosen Blu-ray, and we believe that recognizing this preference is the right step in making this great home entertainment experience accessible to the widest possible audience.  Warner Bros. has worked very closely with the Toshiba Corporation in promoting high definition media and we have enormous respect for their efforts.  We look forward to working with them on other projects in the future.”

So, if you’ve been waiting for a clear winner before buying, now you can go buy Blu Ray, and know that you’re not buying the losing platform.  This announcement puts something like 70-75% of the studios in the Blu Ray camp, leaving Paramount pretty much as the only ‘big’ studio still only in the HD DVD camp.  And I’d have to imagine that after this announcement, it won’t be long before they go Blu Ray also.

Yay!  Now, if someone would just knock a couple hundred bucks off the price tag of the average Blu Ray DVD player so I could afford it…