The Internet Workshops

The new and not-so-anticipated Star Wars:  The Clone Wars movie was released today in many theatres around the nation to an audience that may not have even wanted this movie to come about.  According to his original plan, George Lucas set out to make Star Wars Episodes 4, 5 and 6 in the late 70s early 80s.  Then in the last decade Lucas Arts produced episodes 1, 2 and 3.  The newer movies were a breath of fresh air - although the first seemed too childish.  But nontheless, the recent films tied together many if not all of the loose ends in the Star Wars saga.  However, this new computer animated film seems to portray the journey of Anakin Skywalker during the Clone Wars which is a period of time that begins at the end of the second movie and continues through the third.  Personally, I don’t understand why this movie is needed because Revenge of the Syth was such a great movie that tied key elements together and gave the Star Wars audience such a great feeling.  The only theory I have to why this movie was actually developed is because of its kid-like nature and its appeal to a younger audience.  Revenge of the Sith was the most visually grueling Star Wars movie out of the six and thus rated PG-13.  However, this new movie almost gives a warm and inviting feeling to the audience as it is displayed with computer graphics and it introduces a new female character that seems to be funny and adventurous, as seen within the television spot.  I have not yet seen this movie, so this is in no way an official review.  However, I do believe that this movie is geared toward a younger audience and will not be a fulfilling film for any hardcore Star Wars fan.  But like everything else it is up to you to make that decision!

Today was yet another amazing day in the Olympics as Michael Phelps continues to stun the entire world with his incredible skill and swimming capabilities.  Phelps claimed his sixth Gold Medal this year with his Olympic and World record setting time of 1:54:23 in the Men’s 200m Individual Swimming.  He swam a close race, next to Laszlo Cseh of Hungary, for the majority of the event.  However, Phelps broke ahead as he spun and launched off of the side of the pool and bulleted towards the finish.  His ability to rapidly turn around allowed him to stay ahead of Cseh by several feet to claim the Gold Medal.  Cseh came in second with 1:56:53 and received the Silver Medal for Hungary.  Missing Silver by one hundredth of a second was American swimmer Ryan Lochte who finished third and received the Bronze Medal with a time of 1:56:54.  The swimming competitions have been very close as have the rest of the events in the Olympics this year and we look forward to many more competitive events in the coming days.

The famous company Harmonix that brought Rock Band into the world has just unleashed a new monster in Rock Band 2!  It seems that the instrument peripherals are staying the same except for a few minor adjustments in the durability of the products.  However, the setlist is bigger and badder than ever.  Harmonix really delved deep into the rock genre and pulled songs from every era of rock and compiled it into something unbelievably awesome.  Bands like Guns n’ Roses, AC/DC and Band Company come together with bands like the Red Hot Chili Peppers, System of a Down and Jimmy Eat World.  Rock Band 2 has really strived to make a setlist that appeals to everyone who loves to rock.  New improvements will be seen in the menus as well as you can rock out solo or with others without having to go back to the main menu each time someone joins or drops out.  As stated at E3, Harmonix truly took the suggestions and criticisms of the Rock Band audience to heart and has really stepped up its game.  Look for Rock Band 2 to release in the US on September 23rd, 2008.

For the full songlist and more information on Rock Band 2 click here.

For some time now, cable companies have been working to capture the attention of the consumer and lure him or her into believing that one setup is better than another.  Comcast, Verizon and Dish Satellite are three large companies that have been working towards improving their channel lineups and their user friendly interfaces.  To begin, let’s start with Comcast.   Comcast Digital Cable is a very respectable source of television, phone and internet.  They provide a wonderful array of channels including around forty HD channels with the basic package.  Their Internet Service Provider (ISP) was very quick and responsive and blew Verizon DSL out of the water as it loaded pages quicker and made downloading and uploading a breeze.  I had Comcast for a television source for a while and I was highly satisfied until a better offer came along.  Now Verizon Fios is still a newer source of tv, internet and phone, but it seems to be more powerful and better to use than Comcast’s plan.  Fios has not yet been installed everywhere, so it may not be an option for you, but consider this; with the Fios TV, Verizon has given the customer a whole new way to surf their channels.  The easy - to - use interactive interface allows the user to be able to view any given show, a description of that show, the year it was made, the tv rating and sometimes even the actors or actresses who star in that show.  In addition, one can search for any movie, tv show, actor or actresses and find out if that movie or show is going to be on tv; when and where.  The Fios Video on Demand (VOD) is more advanced than Comcast’s version as well.  Many people have been having difficulty even connecting to Comcast’s On Demand service let alone watching movies.  However, I have never had any problems with connecting to Verizon’s service and it is always much faster and more responsive.  Now the Internet…Once you have experienced the capabilities of Fios Internet, you will never want anything less.  I used to have Verizon DSL which was tolerable, but forget about downloading anything.  Game demos of about 500 MB would take several hours to download even from respectable and quick websites.  But now, Verizon has given us the gift of speed!  That 500 MB game demo will now take between 4 to 10 min depending on the source.  I was thrilled when I discovered this.  Finally, let’s discuss Dish Satellite.  Now personally I have never experienced Dish on a regular basis, but there are many attributes to Dish that are different from Comcast and Verizon.  Dish has not yet improved its interface to reflect the caliber of Verizon, however its new TurboHD packages seem to compensate that with new HD channels.  But think about this; there are several different packages to choose from with Dish.  The one that includes all of the HD channels is at least $34.99/mo.  Comcast and Verizon both offer all three services for about $29.99/mo each.  Keep in mind, when I subscribed to Verizon I received the Movie packages for free for the rest of the year as part of a promotion.  Once again I leave the decision for you to decide, but my overall bet would be to go with Verizon Fios as it is the fastest and possible the cheaper of the two cable companies, given that it is available in your area.

The LG Dare exclusively on Verizon Wireless was a new experience.  The new cell phone actually looks and feels much like the iPhone.  It contains an accelerometer that allows it to detect when it is being turned and moved.  However, it seemed as though the phone had a slow response time when it was tilted or shifted as it took several seconds to actually shift the picture.  The phone also exploits touch technology and much like the Apple iPhone you can scroll through you list of text messages, emails and music with just the tip of your finger.  But here’s the catch; it seems as though the phone must be calibrated for the user before the touch technology will work properly.  For example, the user would be able to scroll somewhat seemlessly through lists of songs and text messages.  However, when he would pass the device off to a friend, the friend would have a difficult time trying to scroll.  In this manner, the phone’s touch technology proved to be very choppy and non responsive.  Like many new phones today, the Dare boasted a web browser and e-mail support.  So in other words, I would recommend experiencing the Dare for yourself before making your decision.  In my opinion, the Dare came up a little bit short of my expectations because of some of its slow responisve attributes.  Overall, the Dare does look to be promising because of its design, but don’t expect anything new as it possesses many of the features that other phones have.

Research in Motion (RIM) has announced their latest endeavour and it is beautiful.  The Blackberry Thunder or the Blackberry 9500 is a cutting edge handheld device.  The new device looks to have many of the same features as the Curve including web browsing, e-mail support, media player, memory card slot, calendar and other applicaitons.  However, the new model seems to boast a brand new interface that exploits the advantages of touch technology.  For the first time RIM has developed a device that is completely touch activated except for four simple buttons.  The new touch keypad will take some adjusting, but in time the device proves to be promising.  RIM has been known for excellent products and thereby the Blackberry Thunder looks to be a fast and responsive device.  No other details have been released, but more news will emerge in the coming weeks as the Blackberry Thunder gets ready for its national debut.