perpetually reincarnated
Well, kids, we’re consolidating. This blog is now happening on the main page because - well, let’s face it - that old homepage wasn’t doing much good for anyone. So point those zippy feed readers here. That is all.
I’ve been supremely enjoying Uncov - it’s a welcome dose of reality in the Web 2.0 world of overly effusive TechCrunch posts. That said, I can’t help smacking my head at their latest redesign - not only does the new Uncov look way too colorful and friendly for the caustic tone of their writing, but now they’ve even added their own job board (along with the reams of Adsense that were already there) for recruiting people to the very same types of companies they rip so mercilessly. Sigh. A 2.0 site trying to make money ironically? I suppose anything’s game these days.
There have been some uncommon instances of one-uppery that have been occurring of late. As in: I learn something surprising, and just about when I’ve managed to come to terms with it something else comes along to just completely blow my mind. You know, like the prestige part that they keep alluding to in The Prestige. For your consideration:
It’s the logical rejoinder, of course, to that jubilant post of a scant few weeks ago. And sometime during this past Sunday - maybe while Rex Grossman was skillfully evading those snaps being delivered to him by his own center, or lofting one of those beautiful completions to the Indianapolis defense - I realized we’d run out of steam. But it’s ok. It was still a frakking good year. And for two weeks, it was pretty sweet to have the entirety of national media focused on your home team.
So let’s not dwell on this Super Bowl thing any more than we have to. Ever. And I promise I’ll start posting things of relevance again - or at least things of arcane innuendo, like you know I’m good for.
You know what I really like working towards? That “Gotcha!” moment. The “Oh, and one more thing…” scenario, where you suddenly unveil some secret project that makes the world go bonkers. In fact, I’m pretty sure I’m a little too obsessed with imagining these moments.
But one look at Steve last week showed me that it can be done…it can still be done even with millions of people watching your every move. I mean, how the frak did they manage to keep the iPhone under wraps for TWO WHOLE YEARS? Why does no other electronic device in the world (tablet PCs included) have anything remotely like multi-touch yet? Why are our wireless carriers so backwards that they don’t allow regular cellphone makers to innovate like this? Everyone knew the iPhone was coming and it still blew my mind - it was like the man had literally appeared on stage with a piece of The Future in his hands.
I’m not saying the thing is perfect, but hot damn - that moment certainly was. God bless you, Steve Jobs. You truly are the bee’s knees.
Seriously. This has been a pretty poor week for getting extra stuff done after I come home from work, so I’m writing this primarily just to prove that a) I do remember how to write on here, and b) I have actually accomplished something after work. That something being the creation of this entry which you have just now reached the peaceful conclusion of.
This was almost going to be a post about things that are lame. About how the new layout for Valleywag looks awful. About how the new writer for TechCrunch more often than not seems to write like a 10 year-old. About how even the Daily Show feels like it’s starting to hurt America (or perhaps just my head) with its increasing snarkiness. About the perilous new season of Veronica Mars. About how Firefox for Mac is torturously slow. About how Rex Grossman can’t throw his way out of a paper bag (prove me wrong tomorrow, Rex, prove me wrong). About how I’ve almost kinda been feeling like Rex Grossman this past month.
But life is too short for that. And while it’s true that I’m apparently more inspired to write when I learn something outrageous or ridiculous rather than something great and true, I’m going to focus on the good. So here are some things I do think are cool:
Came across this TV spot for Gears of War today and it just really drew me in. Sure, channeling “Mad World” is straight out of Donnie Darko but I like the angle they’re taking here - it’s an innovative way to highlight the game’s graphics and not at all how I would have expected them to sell an action videogame. Check it out.
Well, the bots have finally done it: they’ve found this blog, and they just can’t seem to get enough of their Veronica Mars. Hard to blame them, really. I’ve gotten 21 comments at the time of this writing - I wonder how long they can keep it up.
