The Cost Of Memory In Smart Phones

Okay so here's my starting point:

Micro SD Card 16GB: (I'm going to round this to an even $10.)
http://www.amazon.com/Sandisk-16GB-MicroSDHC-Memory-Class/dp/B001F7AJKI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1355249561&sr=8-1&keywords=card+sd+16gb

Micro SD Card 32GB: (I'm going to round this to an even $20.)
http://www.amazon.com/SanDisk-Mobile-microSDHC-Memory-SDSDQ-032G-AFFP/dp/B007KFXIDE/ref=sr_1_fed0_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1355249542&sr=8-3&keywords=card+sd+32gb

Micro SD Card 64GB: (I'm going to round this to an even $50.)
http://www.amazon.com/SanDisk-microSDXC-Memory-Adapter-SDSDQUA-064G-U46A/dp/B007WTAJTO/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1355250115&sr=8-7&keywords=64gb+sd+card

Now...

Nexus 4    8GB: $300 (Google Play Store)
Nexus 4  16GB: $350 (Google Play Store)
iPhone 5  16GB: $200 (Verizon Wireless)
iPhone 5  32GB: $300 (Verizon Wireless)
iPhone 5  64GB: $400 (Verizon Wireless)

Is Google really telling me that 8GB costs $50?

Is Apple really telling me that 16GB costs $100 in one upgrade and that 32GB costs $100 in a different upgrade?

Through Amazon 1GB costs $.63 until you get into the 64GB territory where it costs $.79 a GB because apparently there are limitations or something on space.

Through Google 1GB costs $6.25.

Through Apple 1GB costs $6.25 until you get to the 64GB model which you are then paying $3.13 for 1GB.

It seems even Apple is being ridiculous with the pricing, you get half off the price of GB's if you get the largest size.

Are we as consumers really just going to sit here and take it?

Does anybody even care?

I've considered myself a power user for years and 32GB should just be the standard size for any Smart Phone.

It's time we stop accepting this as normal.

Holy Motors Review

I just recently watched Holy Motors and felt a review was necessary. The movie instantly dives in without explanation and starts delivering one the most heart felt and strange movies I have ever seen. The main character Oscar begins by bringing us into his world of appointments and totally fragmented yet poignet take on characters and the lives they affect. It's not clear right away what the point of these appointments will be. We just get thrown into the situation he has been in many times before and are along for the ride and he is our chauffeur, which interestingly enough has his own chauffeur. This movie is one abstract thought after the next all brought to life by Oscar. Throughout you see him changing his makeup down to the smallest details and you see the dedication actors can have for their craft not only literally by Denis Lavant (Oscar) but by the character he plays. We see Oscar constantly putting on make up and diving into characters and spending time and energy doing so. He does it for the beauty of acting. He is here to perform for us because he loves doing it.  It is the most intriguing aspect of the movie. Some lessons or thoughts thrown our way as the audience include: a man performing for us, the audience is asleep, reality and the unreal, having kids, getting old, losing love, weird trumps beauty, man with beast, punishment is being yourself, accepting death, everything is okay when you see the next generation will take over, cars talking, killing yourself or your clone, this is for our entertainment. So many times the movie speaks to a jaded movie goer it's clear this movie wants me to care about cinema again and for me to understand that I shouldn't take things for granted. There are often times something happens in the movie and I get nothing from it. Other times I get deep meanings that I haven't thought of before. I can only hope and imagine that the parts that did nothing for me do something for someone else. It's the classic thought of "well maybe he had a better idea" syndrome. You can't continue to do the same thing and doing something differently is knocking on the door of enlightenment. Bottom line is this: Holy Motors may not be fully appreciated by everyone but will garner new fans of cinema that will show them the rabbit hole cinema is and simply please the movie goers that have already "seen it all". 

Halo 4 And The Future Of Gaming

HHHAAAAAAALLLLLLLOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ...................4.

So here it is, 2 weeks later after Halo 4 launched. It's the best Halo to have ever been made. And quite frankly I was worried that this was going to be just more sequel b.s. and milk everyone for their hard earned dollars. 343 has picked up and evolved Halo in a direction I didn't think was going to happen. Let me talk about m 3 favorite features. Number 1: streamlined game replay and sharing. Call Of Duty Modern Warfare 3 had quite a nice jump into getting people their replay footage but after awhile it wasn't worth the effort to get my footage. Halo give you a folder to store your stuff and a folder to share with everyone else. It's simply brilliant and simple. Number 2: 4 digit in game ID. I can't tell you how often in CODMW3 I would not get my headshot or get my head taken off because a team mate has a 29 digit gamer tag that shows up and takes up 40% of my screen. Halo maxes at 4 digits and keeps the heart of gameplay totally in tact. Number 3: graphics! It's soooo nice to see a jump in graphics in anything these days. Texture, lighting, and models have all pretty much been the same in COD since COD4. Halo finally takes the time out to improve everything. It is noticeably better and I appreciate every hour that went into making Master Chief look totally realistic with no aliasing, pixelation, or mapping lag. It gives me a little boost to see that if the graphics can and do improve then the next gen consoles will probably look pretty darn good. And if they don't, I'm sticking with my 360. It's also apparent to me that traditional controllers need to always be there. I have been using a d-pad and buttons since NES. I appreciate the creativeness that get injected into the motion controllers and cameras, but I've used them all and there is still nothing like a trusty rusty XBOX 360 controller. Although XBOX needs to get up on the d-pad game. They simply need to jack the PS3 d-pad. I can safely say at this point that Halo has won me back and away from COD and even Battlefield. It's amazing what can be done when you inject mechanics that work with a franchise that has history, compelling story, and style. And now a few images I like:

Battlestar Galactica Joy!

I just finished watching episodes 1-4 of Battlestar Galactica: Blood And Chrome. I have to say it's pretty darn exciting to see what young Bill Adama was like. I have read that this will only be a 10 episode web series. Hopefully this may trigger enough excitement to get another spin off series or continue on more with Blood And Chrome. The only issue I really see them running into is offering me more to learn or understand about humans and where we're heading. Battlestar Galactica already covered pretty much everything there is to know or offer about who we are and why we do the things we do. I would like an answer about Kara Thrace but I'll just stick to my own thoughts about her story at the end. Everything about Blood And Chrome is a continuation of what Battlestar Galactica started. The CG looks even better and the writing looks like it will continue in the same vein as well. I love this universe and often consider Battlestar Galactica to be the best TV Show ever made. So here's to hoping the new way they will be marketing Blood And Chrome is successful and we get more from the Battlestar Galactica Universe! So Say We All Mother Frakers!

Watch episode 1 of Battlestar Galactica: Blood And Chrome here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pT79x4qM4FE

Top 10 Bond Villains Of All Time

I recently saw Skyfall in theaters and I have to say it's in the top 3 Bond movies of all time. It's a wonderful new direction to take James and gang. Skyfall has one of the greatest Bond villains of all time. After I thought about it I decided to go ahead make a Top 10 Bond Villains Of All Time. The only James Bond movie I haven't seen is Die Another Day.


10 Max Zorin

There's something so unsettling about a person who appears normal and is a ruthless killer underneath. Max Zorin is one of the strongest examples of this in the Bond franchise. Not only is he unnerving, but he's played by Christopher Walken.

9 Oddjob

A small man that kills people by throwing his hat at them. How much more crazy and off the wall can you get than this?

8 Le Chiffre

Bad ass modern bad guy who makes all the right moves except deciding to mess with James Bond.

7 Jaws

This character is even more ridiculous than Oddjob and even more iconic. Throwing in the love story in Moonraker makes Jaws an interesting Villain. He does what he's told but has a heart at the same time.

6 Red Grant

Classic Spy Espionage with Great Britain vs Russia, Sean Connery vs Robert Shaw. The fight between these two is so brutal and epic that it will forever remain a classic fight scene.

5 Goldfinger

"No Mr. Bond, I expect you to die!"

4 Alec Trevelyan

Classic MI6 Agent goes rogue and tries to take out 007 in the process. Amazing fight between Sean Bean and Pierce Brosnan.

3 Dr. No

Think about this for a moment. This Doctor became so powerful and mad that he captured James Bond and just toyed with him over and over. The items mentioned about Max Zorin stand as the best example here.

2 Raoul Silva

Old and new is the name of the game for this Villain. He's a Cyber Terrorist which is the latest and greatest and at the same time totally twisted which is really a staple for James Bond Villains. He meets Bond's wit and then outdoes him at every turn until he decides it's time to end his own life more or less. So much struggle, anger, psychotic behavior, and mind games I have a hard time believing this is the same James Bond from the 70's that was basically like watching a cartoon (Roger Moore I'm looking at you). And then on top of it all it's hands down the best performance a Bond Villain has ever had. Javier Bardem fits Rauol Silva better than Heath Ledger fits the Joker, that's how good I thought it was.

1 Ernst Blofeld

The number 1 reason Blofeld is at the top of this list is that he is synonymous with James Bond. You take him away and you take away the history James Bond has shot his way through. He defined a new level of Bond Villain and forever holds one of the most iconic scenes in movie history; the classic camera set at his hands petting the cat while he talks and makes us wonder who this man is.

To hear my thoughts on Skyfall check out the Podcast I did with my friend Ryan Estabrooks here:
http://learnedfromfilm.blogspot.com/2012/11/what-ive-learned-from-film-ep-26-skyfall.html

iPod Limits

Just a quick rant about the limits of the iPod music quality it can output. Straight up it can only output at 24bit/44.1kHz. There are so many lossless audio files out there that are way higher than 44.1kHz. I have Led Zeppelin vinyl rip FLAC's that are 192kHz and damn it there should be a way to listen to them via my iPod so I can take it to my car and headphones. I'm no Audio Engineer and if there is something greater than 24/192 I suggest we just max it out right now and match whatever the highest quality is that gets mixed at and make it available. And... give me a high capacity iPod or let iCloud stream ALAC or something... give me some way to enjoy 100% pure music. Sheesh... gotta get by with this b.s. 24/44.1 for now. Rant over.

Music In The Cloud

An amazing day for music would be the day when we see Apple streaming ALAC (Apple Lossless) from the iCloud, Google streaming FLAC (Open Source Lossless) from the Play Store, and Microsoft streaming WAV (Windows Lossless) from XBOX Music. But right now we're stuck with 320kbps mp3's for Google, 256kbps for Apple, and 320kbps mp3's for Microsoft as well. Of course I don't imagine a high volume of people taking notice to this issue. After all there are still people that say the can't hear the difference between their cassette tape and vinyl.

The Top 10 Things I Want From Star Wars Episode 7

As a kid I grew up watching the original Star Wars Trilogy. For the longest time Return Of The Jedi was my favorite. Then I became and adult and watched them again. A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back are still great movies. Return Of The Jedi, not so much. Then the New Trilogy came out and made very little to no impression on me. I watched those again recently and the only thing worth a damn are the bad ass fight scenes. The acting in the New Trilogy is cold, sterile, and a symptom of acting in front of green screen. Not that it can't be done, but with mediocre writing and mediocre actors, it's not really going to turn out very well. And it didn't. I then heard the news about Disney and Lucasfilm and the potential to do another Star Wars Trilogy. This could potentially be the biggest Trilogy in movie history. The key ingredient to making it the most successful Trilogy ever is sticking to what made the first movie great. A boy becoming a man in a world of dangerous bounty hunters and discovering his destiny. And along the way finds out what he is made of and makes friends along the way. Keeping that sense of discovery and sticking to timeless themes that don't get bogged down with cold acting, ridiculous plot points, and action scenes that have no build up and end up become meaningless and forgetful. So while I do like Star Wars there is room for me to love it again. If they do the following things then I think they could win me back very easily.

The Top Ten Things Star Wars Episode 7 Needs:

10) A really hot girl fight scene with the Princess Leia Slave outfits.

9) Zero Hayden Christensen.

8) Zero Jar Jar.

7) Zero Ewoks.

6) Zero CGI and 100% Live Set Pieces (like the original 3).

5) Han Solo to shoot someone first in the face again.

4) Decent writing that makes sense.

And

Now

The

Top

3

Things 

Star

Wars

Episode

7

Needs:

3) Mark Hamill back as Luke as well as all original cast.

2) A Boba Fett, Darth Maul, and Luke Skywalker battle.

1) George Lucas to stay the fuck away from it.

The Top 10 Guns Of All Time

The Wolf Returns to give me his list of Top 10 Guns Of All Time!

(The Wolf is the Alias for a friend of mine keen to Hunting, Hooning, and Fishing.)

The Top 10 Guns Of All Time begins... NOW!!!

10) Heckler and Koch MP5

This is the coolest submachine gun ever built. I mean how cool was it in the movie Die Hard. “Now I have a machine gun too. Ho, Ho, Ho”.  When you see someone carrying one of these you know some bad shit is about to go down. There are so many configurations with this gun that sometimes it is almost unrecognizable.  I personally think the grip handle on the front is the best look for this little badass of a gun.

9) Ruger 10/22

The king of .22 rifles. This gun can be modified in more ways imaginable with the huge assortment of accessories out there. This is another one of those guns that every enthusiast must have. It is cheap fun and it is extremely accurate.

8) Barrett BMG

Any gun that can take out someone from over a mile away is one of the best guns ever built. Considering that it is chambered in .50 cal means that the bullet is going to be heavy. To think that an expert marksman can put that big bullet into the target at over  5,280 feet is simply astonishing.

7) Remington Model 700

The quintessential hunting rifle. This gun has been to every continent and killed every animal on that continent. The folks at Remington knew what they were doing when they built this rifle. Not only is it used by almost every hunter in North America, it is used by multiple law enforcement agencies as a sniper rifle. The possibilities are endless with this rifle and without it, hunting and hostage negotiation would not be what they are today.

6) Remington 870 Wingmaster

The shotgun that everyone should own. The Wingmaster is the single most produced shotgun ever and it is the most reliable shotgun ever. Duck hunters have been known to drop these into mud and still have the ability to shoot ducks after they clear the barrel of any obstruction. Law enforcement adapted the Wingmaster to riot control and to this day you will see an 870 on any bird hunting trip. This shotgun reigns supreme for hunting, law enforcement, and home protection.

5) Sig 226

One of the best handguns ever designed and executed. The gun is single action or double action with a perfect weight and balance to it. The decocking lever allows the shooter to safely neutralize the weapon without fear of accidental fire. The 226 fits the hand perfectly and the high capacity magazine provides the additional rounds needed for modern day law enforcement. At first it was chambered in 9mm but with the rise of the .40 S&W the manufacturer added .40 to the list. 

4) Glock

Any model. Ugly as homemade sin but one of the most reliable and safe handguns ever built. It’s a favored gun by any and all who shoot, want to shoot, or think they are a gangster. If you consider yourself a gun enthusiast and you don’t own a Glock, well, you really aren’t an enthusiast.

3) M1 Garand

This rifle was the modern replacement for the bolt action WWI Springfield rifle. It is chambered in .308 and is a workhorse of a firearm seeing duty in all major conflicts from WWII through Vietnam. This rifle allowed the soldier to shoot semi automatically, reload faster, and continue a barrage of bullets while taking out an enemy position. The variants from the M1 Garand continue in service today.

2) Browning BAR

This rifle is pure viciousness. Chambered in .30/06 (yes .30/06!!) and fitted with a 20 round magazine, this rifle literally shoots through anything. It isn’t controllable when held in the hands but it isn’t meant to be held. It is a heavy pig of a gun that grunts out loud noises and thereby creates a psychological warfare device. There are stories of entire platoons hitting the ground when they heard a BAR go off. Yes it is just that bad. Clyde Barrow used to take BARs and saw them off for robbing banks. 

1) Colt 1911

Hands down this is the single most identifiable firearm of all time. It is also the best design ever created for a sidearm. Chambered in .45 Automatic Colt Pistol, it is a hand cannon that anyone can control with a little practice. This sidearm is still the favored weapon of servicemen and competition shooters all over the world. Many thought that the 8 round capacity of 7 + 1 was not enough but those people couldn’t be more incorrect. 1 round from a .45 anywhere on the human body will stop the person. You cannot say the same about the 9mm or .40 S&W. 

Halloween Joe's Top 25 Cars Of All Time

So my friend Halloween Joe saw my recent post of "The Top 50 Cars Of All Time" and we joked around about him making his own list of top cars. Well here we are and the only criteria for the best cars here is does Halloween Joe like it?

But first a quick little background on Halloween Joe:

My first car was a piece of glory. My 1988 Ford Tempo got the job done in a stylish and efficient way. It was in this amazing charcoal color and came loaded with heat, A/C, and a cassette deck. I was the envy of all of my friends when I bought my first CD-to-Cassette adapter so I could actually play CDs using my portable CD player. Learning how to drive in Michigan, I was thankful for the 4 cylinder engine and that the car was front wheel drive. It was especially fun when the passenger side brakes stopped working and I couldn't stop on the icy roads without fish-tailing or turning completely sideways. Never a dull experience. This car was retired and eventually turned into a demolition derby car after I upgraded to a 1994 Chevy Corsica. This Corsica was great. Burgundy is a great color for a car... really.  This was the first car that I installed a CD deck in. I was living the high-life with my CD player!  I only had a couple thousand miles on it before I let it sit for about a week while it had an oil leak I didn’t realize. I started the car up, made it about a half mile down the road and noticed that I had no oil pressure. This seized up the engine and I was quickly forced to search for a new car. From there, I got a 1998 Chevy Lumina. This thing was a beast! I got admired by all sorts of old ladies who dug my wheels (really… it was an old person car!). I installed 2 15in. sub woofers and new infinity 6x9s’. I turned that car into the ultimate old-lady mobile to the ultimate old-lady with hearing disorders mobile. I drove this car through college and into my first adult job. Now that I was making some money, I decided to let that car go and get something a little new.

I am now in a 2005 Chevy Cobalt. This car is pretty good. I have almost 200,000 miles on it, and it has been more than reliable (knock on wood).  I’ve had to replace almost the entire suspension after 60,000 miles, but so far, that is the only real work I’ve had to put into it.

Alrighty here it is, 

The Top 25 Cars Of All Time (according to Halloween Joe)

25

1953 Iso Isetta
Best bubble-shaped 1 cylinder car ever made. Period.

24

1932 Ford Deuce Coupe
Not just Tim Taylor's first hotrod… but this beast was the first production car to include a V8 and completely changed the landscape of American Muscle cars.

23

1987 Dodge Omni Sport
Not really sure what makes the sport version sporty, but I DO know that this hatchback is one of the coolest Dodges EVER…. The best feature has to be that the temperature controls are to the left of the steering wheel, making only the driver able to change temperature. Perfect for married couples who bicker about cabin temperature!

22

1997 Plymouth Prowler
Look like you're driving a really fast car without ACTUALLY driving a really fast car!

21

1983 Ford LTD Country Squire
5.0 - Liter V-8 with a hood-routed gas tank. The Family Truckster!

20

The Mirthmobile (AKA 1976 AMC Pacer)
Not just ANY Pacer… this Pacer includes a mounted CD player AND a licorice whip dispenser!

19

Speed Racer's Mach 5
5000 Horsepower. Enough Said.

18

1973 Buick Regal
Top Notch Luxury from this first generation Buick

17

1960 Fiat 600 Multipla
32 Horsepower, 4 Cylinders, top speed of 96 MPH. So many windows, it's like you're driving a convertible bus!

16

1982 Camaro Iron Duke
Why would you want your Camaro to be like everyone else's? THIS Camaro goes zero-to-sixty in 20 seconds! Be the envy of all your friends!

15

1961 Amphicar
Be it land or sea, this car can't be beat! Top speed of 7mph in the water… the fastest water car on this list!

14

2001 Pontiac Aztek
Stylish. Affordable. Practical. Why lug around a tent when you can just connect it to the car?

13

Gadget Mobile (AKA Lancia Monte Carlo Spider)
Is there anything this car CAN'T do?... I didn't think so.

12

58 Plymouth Fury
This is the car that Christine was modeled after. Ultimate killing machine.

11

1981 Delorean DMC-12
Do I REALLY need to give a description about this? This is the only car in history that could travel back in time.

10

Mutt-Cutts Van (AKA 1984 Ford Econoline Van)
Mobile grooming van. Can safely get you from Providence, Rhode Island to Nebraska without any worries!

9

1985 Yugo GV
Features 'carpet' as a standard accessory. Pure Class…. Just don't drive on any bridges.

8

1951 Studebaker Commander
After changing the body style from previous years and taking away unnecessary qualities such as aerodynamics, this Studebaker appears to be smiling at you! Who doesn't like that?!

7

The Homer
Separate front AND back seat bubbles, bowling trophy hood ornanemt, three different horn sounds. 

6

1928 Model A Business Coupe
Roll down those mean streets of Chicago with your mob-boss in this classic car. Beautiful design.

5

1985 Pontiac Parisienne Station Wagon
Load up the kids and get ready to puke your guts out in the backwards facing seat of this beast! The ultimate demolition derby car.

4

1969 Oscar Mayer Wienermobile
First Weinermobile built on a Chevy Motorhome Chassis as well as the first Weinermobile to travel to foreign soil! This record-breaker deserves a top five spot.

3

1996 Buick Funeral Coach/Hearse
This car is to die for! Plenty of room in the back for you and that special someone to cozy up under the stars.

2

Grandpa Munster's Drag-u-la
350HP, Ford Mustang V-8, two four-barrel carburetors. This car was so bad, Rob Zombie wrote a song about it.

1

1956 Chevy Belair Nomad
Chromed-out, fluted roof, American V-8… tons of muscle! The closest thing to a hearse without getting a hearse!

And there you have it folks. You can catch Halloween Joe at The Creepy Hollow Haunted Woods: http://www.creepyhollowwoods.com/

Be on the lookout for this Mad Man